《英语短篇小说教程》练习参考答案unit3
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《英语短篇小说教程》
练习参考答案
1
Keys to Unit Three
Richard Selzer:
The Discus Thrower
1) Questions for
discussion
(Suggested answers for reference)
(1) What impression do you get of the
patient from the description given in the story?
(In spite of his serious illness, the man
never moans or complains. He talks little and
generally keeps the physical suffering to
himself. He tries to maintain an image of a real
man
although he is in the grip of Death. He
behaves in the manner of Hemingway’s “tough guy” –
acting by the principal that “A man can be
destroyed but can not be defeated.”)
(2)
In the short conversations, we hear the patient’s
demand to know about exact time and his
demand
for shoes. Why is he still interested in time and
what does he want shoes for since he can’t
walk anymore?
(His interest in exact time
and his demand for shoes seem to suggest that,
deep in his heart,
the man refuses to accept
the fate. It might be the result of fierce
psychological conflict within the
patient,
with reality and rationality on one side, and wish
and will on the other side. Some
abnormal
behaviors indicate the man’s unwillingness to
reconcile with the fate in spite of his
self-
restrain.)
(3) Read carefully the
paragraph about plate-throwing. Why does the
writer give such detailed
description of it?
What is your interpretation of this rather
abnormal behavior?
(From the detailed
descriptions of his “discus” throwing, we seem to
learn that the man is
rather skillful at that,
and that he might have had some training in the
sport of throwing discus.
Then why dose he
throw plates? Is it because it brings back the
memory of the best moment in his
life when his
physical power wins the glory and cheers? By this
impulsive “reliving” or
“restaging” of the
explosive energy he once had, the man gains some
satisfaction – he laughs after
it – and proves
that he is still alive. This action reveals the
complicated inner world of a man who
is forced
to face death.)
(4) Why does the writer
choose “The Discus Thrower” as the title? Is it
coincidence that the short
story has the same
title as the famous Greek sculpture Discobolus
(Discus Thrower)?
(In the Greek
sculpture, we see the frozen moment of beauty:
male vitality, energy and
muscle power. It is
a celebration of life and physical capability.
This patient might once be a
discus thrower,
professional athlete or amateur, and now forms
such a contrast to the sculptured
image. This
leaves a lot of room for reader’s own reflection
on life and death.)
2) Explanation and
interpretation
(Explain the implied meaning
of the following sentences, and point out their
significance
in the context of the story.)
2
(1) a. From the
doorway of Room 542 the man in the bed seems
deeply tanned. Blue eyes and
close-cropped
white hair give him the appearance of vigor and
good health.
b. He lies solid and inert. In
spite of everything, he remains impressive, as
though he were a
sailor standing athwart a
slanting deck.
(The patient is fatally ill,
but he looks, or keeps an image of a strong man.
His life is
threatened by disease, but the
spirit of a strong man is still there. He does not
collapse, but
does what he can, though rather
vainly, to struggle to maintain the dignity of a
man.)
(2) “Yes,” he says at last and
without the least irony. “You can bring me a pair
of shoes.”
(see suggested answer to Question
2.)
(3) It’s a blessing, she (the head
nurse) says.
(Though the head nurse is the
one who has complained a lot about the patient’s
unreasonable
behaviors and upon his death she
says “It’s a blessing,” it does not mean that she
is cold blooded,
and thus feels relieved of
her troubles. She means that God has allowed him
to go, so he no longer
needs to suffer and to
struggle in this world. It is thus a blessing from
God.)
(4) He is still there in his bed.
His face is relaxed, grave, dignified.
(He is
dead, possibly dying with relaxed feeling as he
has kept his final image of being a true
man
with dignity and can now sleep in peace.)
3