Gender Readings. Top Ten. Ренц Т.Г - 42 стр.

us. There are two other friends of Richard’s I do want you to meet.
Old friends.”
      On the way to the bus Trudy said to Gwen, “Don’t you find it
dull going to Mrs Seeton’s every Sunday?”
      “Well, yes, my dear young thing, and no. From time to time
one sees a fresh face, and then it’s quite amusing.”
      “Doesn’t Richard ever stay at home on Sunday evening?”
      “No, I can’t say he does. In fact, he’s very often away for the
whole weekend. As you know.”
      “Who are these women?” Trudy said, stopping in the street.
      “Oh, just old friends of Richard’s.”
      “Do they see him often?”
      “Not now. They’ve become members of the family.”

THE AUTHOR
     Muriel Spark was born in 1918 and educated in Edinburgh. Her
works include critical biographies of nineteenth-century writers, poet-
ry and novels. Among her novels are The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
(1961), The Girls of Slender Means (1963) and The Mandelbaum
Gate (1965).
     “A Member of the Family” is about Trudy and Richard, who meet
on holiday, but turn out to have rather different ideas about marriage.

READING NOTES
      rather: of course, certainly.
      bed-sitting-room: one room used for sleeping, living and eating in.
      Kensington: part of West London where many older houses have
been converted into bedsitter flats for single people.
      on a much larger scale: much bigger.
      counting twenty: count up to twenty to stop herself losing her
temper.
      puffy: with a lot of material in it.
      close confinement: having been kept indoors together.
      a connoisseur’s place: a place for people with good taste in art,
architecture, etc.
      briefly dressed: with few clothes on.
      galvanized: suddenly active, as if forced, e. g. by an electric shock.


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