EXERCISE 1

INNOCENCE AND EXPERIENCE

This is an excerpt from a story about Japanese immigrant families in the United States. The two families in the story are that of Mr Oka’s and the writer’s. Kiyoko was Mr Oka’s daughter who arrived in the United States at the age of 14 and the writer was 9 when she first met her.

            Kiyoko-san came in September. I was surprised to see saw very nearly a woman; short, robust, buxom; the female counterpart of her father. Mr Oka brought her proudly to us.

            “Little Masako here,” for the first time to my recollection, he touched me; he put his rough, fat hand on the top of my head, “is very smart in school. She will help you with your school work, Kiyoko,” he said.

            I had so looked forward to Kiyoko-san’s arrival. She would be my soul mate; in my mind I had conjured a girl of my on proportions: thin and tall, but with the refinement and beauty I didn’t yet possess that would surely someday come to the fore. My disappointment was keen and apparent. Kiyoko-san stepped forward shyly, then retweeted with a short bow and small giggle, her fingers pressed to her mouth.

            My mother took her away. They talked for a long time-about japan, about enrolment in an American school, the cloth Kiyoko-san would need, and where to look for the best values. As I watched them it occurred to me that I had been deceived: this was not a child, this was a woman. The smile pressed behind her fingers, the way of her nod, so brief, like my  mother when father scolded her. The face was inscrutable, but something-maybe her spirit-shrank visibly, like a piece of silk in water. I was disappointed. Kiyoko-san’s soul was barricaded in her unenchanting appearance and the smile she fenced behind her fingers.

            She started school from third grade, one below me, and as it turned out, she quickly passed me by. There wasn’t much I could help her with except to drill her on pronunciation- the “L” and “R” sounds. Every morning walking to our rural school: land, leg, library, loan, lot; every afternoon returning home: ran, rabbit, rinse, roll. That was the extent of our communication; friendly but uninteresting.

            One particularly cold November night-the wind outside was Icy; I was sitting on my bed, my brother’s and mine, oiling the cracks on my chapped hands by lamplight-someone rapped urgently at our door. It was Kiyoko-san; she was hysterial, she wore no wrap, her teeth were chattering, and except for the thin straw zori, her feet were bare. My mother led her to the kitchen, started a pot of tea, and gestured to my brother and me to retire. I lay very still but, because of my brother’s restless tossing and my father’s snoring, was unable to hear much. I was aware, though, that drunken and savage brawling had brought Kiyoko-san to us. Presently they came to the bedroom. I feigned sleep. My mother spoke firmly: “Tomorrow you will return to them: you must not leave them again. They are your people.” I could almost feel Kiyoko-san’s short nod.

            All night long I lay cramped and still, afraid to intrude into her hulking back. Two or three times her icy feet jabbed into mine and quickly retreated. In the morning I found my mother’s gown neatly folded on the spare pillow. Kiyoko-san’s place in bed was cold.

            She never came to weep at our house again, but I know she cried. Her eyes were often swollen and red. She stopped much of her giggling and routinely pressed her fingers to her mouth. Our daily pronunciation drill petered off from lack of interest. She walked silently with her shoulders hunched, grasping her books with both arms, and when I spoke to her in my halting Japanese, she absently corrected my prepositions.

Spring comes early in the valley; in February the skies are clear though the air is still cold. By March, winds are vigorous and warm and wild flowers dot the desert floor, cockleburs are green and not yet tenacious, the sand is crusty underfoot, everywhere there is a smell of things growing and the first tomatoes area showing green and bald.

            As the weather changed, Kiyoko-san became noticeably more cheerful. Mr Oka, who hated so to drive, could often be seen steering his dusty old Ford over the road that passes our house, and Kiyoko-san, sitting in front, would sometimes wave gaily to us. Mrs Oka was never with them. I thought of these trips as the westernizing of Kiyoko-san; with a permanent wave, her straight black hair became tangles of tiny frantic curls, between her textbooks she carried copies of Modern Screen and Photoplay, her clothes were gay with print and piping, and she bought a pair of brown suede shoes with alligator trim.

(Adapted from Judith A. Standford 1996. Responding to Lliterature.

Mountain View California: Mayfield Publishing Company.)

1.The writer was disappointed with Kiyoko because she

A. looked like her father

B. behaved like her mother

C. was not too communicative

D. was more mature than she expected

2. Kiyoko-san’s soul was barricaded in her unenchanting appearance and the smile she fenced behind her fingers. Which of the following words fits Kiyoko’s description ?

A. unrevealing

B. unattractive

C. resourceful

D. spirited

3. She was hysterical because of

A. her inability to adjust to life in the US

B. the quarrel in her family

C. her lack of money

D. the cold winter

4. In Paragraph 2, Mr Oka said that Masako (the writer) was very smart. In which paragraph did the writer say that Kiyoko was in fact smarter ?

A. paragraph 4

B. paragraph 5

C. paragraph 6

D. paragraph 7

5. The function of paragraph 10 is to

A. describe the passing of time

B. emphasis how hard life was in winter

C. signal a change to Kiyoko’s behavior

D. show that life was becoming better for the farmers

6. The description of Kiyoko in paragraph 11 implies that she

A. was traditional

B. had conformed

C. became inhibited

D. became defensive

7. with reference to Kiyoko, which of the following is not a characteristic of being westernized ?

A. reading  modern screen and photoplay

B. wearing brown suede shoes

C. dressing in bright clothes

D. having straight black hair

8. the writer’s intention may be described as

A. narrating changes in the rural life of migrant families

B. contrasting traditional values among migrant Japanese families

C. tracing the adjustments made by Japanese families in the United States

D. highlighting the difference between her life and other Japanese immigrants