Gender Readings. Top Ten. Ренц Т.Г - 27 стр.

THE AUTHOR
     Dorothy Parker was born in 1893 and was a poet, satirist and
drama critic as well as a short story writer. The Collected Short Stones,
from which The Last Tea is taken, was published in 1939. She died in
1967. In The Last Tea a young man and a girl meet for a cup of tea in a
tea-room. They have been friends for some time, but now something
has happened to change things between them.

READING NOTES
     I simply went ahead and ordered: I ordered without waiting for you.
     I was dying for a cup of tea: I was longing for a cup of tea.
     easy on the sugar: don’t use so much sugar.
     Whadda matter?: What is the matter?
     I’ò in terrible shape: I’m not feeling at all well.
     Was it feeling mizzable?: Were you feeling miserable? it: you
     I’m all shot: I’m feeling terrible.
     Ãò through: I’m finished.
     I’m off the stuff: I’ve given up drinking alcohol.
     it gave me the jumps: it made me feel nervous.
     she was throwing a party: she was giving a party.
     dame: slang for woman.
     a looker: a good-looking girl.
     public school: state-school, not privately run (in America).
     Can she step!: how she can dance!
     I must have been fried pretty: I must have been very drunk.
     influence: the power to get jobs for people.
     Garbo: Greta Garbo, famous Swedish-born film actress in the 1930s.
     Keep your hair on: calm down, don’t get so excited.
     crab about: shout about, be annoyed about.
     I was mean: I was unkind.

A. Points to consider:
      While reading the story, think about the following:
      a) the behaviour of the young people to each other;
      b) the way in which the girl tries to get the young man’s
interest;
      c) the use of slang.

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