Gender Readings. Top Ten. Ренц Т.Г - 81 стр.

      gray is an American spelling of “grey”.
      risked. The young man was not certain whether the girl would
bå willing to answer him or whether she would be offended at being
spoken to by a stranger.
      the formula, with which park chairmen open their meetings. This
phrase shows the realism and sophistication of O’Henry chairmen and
meeting are used in a punning sense. The title of a person who presides
formally at a public meeting is here transferred to the kind of man
who sits down beside unaccompanied girls and tries to scrape up an
acquaintance with them.
      in a long lime: a colloquial, American usage. In British English it
would be “for a long time”.
      Didn’t know: you didn’t know.
      lamps: slang for “eyes”. This, and the word honeysuckle are the
kind of language the young man believes suitable for a girl who would
be willing to let him make advances to her.
      One’s name ... one’s portrait: the use of one’s for “my” is
intended by the girl to emphasise her high position in life.
      the holy of holies: the very small and select group of people who
are the leaders of society. (Literally, the holiest part of a temple.)
      sick of: tired of.
      one of lowly station: a humble person. This is an old-fashioned phrase
and suggests that the young lady has been reading romantic fiction.
      drone: idle person. Literally, a male bee which does not work.
      were the man: if the man were.
      glaring: brightly-lit, dazzling.
      glancing pointedly at the clock: in order to call the attention of
the girl in gray to the fact that she was late.
      New Arabian Nights: this is a collection of short stories by the
British writer Robert Louis Stevenson (1850—1894). The princi pal
character in them is Prince Florizel of Bohemia who goes in disguise
amongst his subjects and is involved in a series of fantastic adventures.
No doubt this book gave the girl her idea of posing as a society lady
mixing with humble people.

A. Answer these questions:
       1. What subject did the young man choose for his first remark
to the girl in gray?
       2. Why did he change his manner of speaking to her?
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