NAVOTAS NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
2nd Quarter S.Y. 08-09
Worksheet in English III
NAME: _________________________________ Year & Sec: _____________ Date: ______________
"COME IN, MARY"
Pearl S. Buck
1. Mary was eight years old when I first heard of her
through a letter. It told of a child whom everyone had
forgotten. She was in a home where children were kept
for a time when parents could not care for them. Children
came and went, but Mary stayed. No one was sure who
she was, but she looked partly Oriental. She never talked,
so she must be mentally retarded. Could Welcome House
take her? the letter asked. Welcome House is an adoption
agency I had helped to found a few years before. It was
not equipped to do anything for Mary. I tried to forget the
little girl whom everyone else had forgotten.
2. Sometime in the night I awoke to a question: How did I
know Mary was mentally retarded? I had not seen her.
The people in the institution were good people, but busy.
Perhaps no one had taken the time to find out exactly
what Mary was. I must find' out. I rose and wrote a letter.
Would they send Mary to me for a few months?
3. A few days later, at my open door stood a kindly
middle-aged woman. With her was a small, delicate girl,
in her hand a little red handbag, cheap but new.
4. “Come in," I said. "Come in. Mary."
5. Mary did not look up. She stood waiting, clutching the
red bag until the woman pushed her gently into a chair.
6. "That's the way she is.", the woman said. "Never
moves, never talks."
7. “What else can you tell me about her?"
8. "Nothing," the woman said. "She's just like this - never
does anything until someone makes her."
9. Mary did nothing now.- She sat very still, not looking
up or seeming to notice where she was.
10. In the weeks that followed, we talked to Mary as if
she could talk. Luckily, there was a litter of new kittens in
the barn, and she began to laugh as she played with them.
I let her come and go as she learned to swing under the
big tree in the backyard. , back to each other after every separation. One evening,
11. Wherever she went, she carried her red bag. Then one
day, at last she left it upstairs. Other good days followed.
She ran over the meadows; she stopped being afraid of the
cows; she no longer hid when a visitor came, for she
knew that it did not mean she was going to be taken away.
12. It was a month before she began to talk. She began
then because there were things she wanted - an orange, a
doll, a pretty dress. In two months, she was chattering,
and we decided to send her to school. We found a
sympathetic teacher who agreed not to insist on her
learning to read immediately. Mary watched the other
children. She learned to play games before she learned to
read. In six months, there was no doubt about her. I look
her to a psychologist for thorough tests.
13. "She's all right," he said, "quite normal, but she has
been emotionally shocked - lost, if you like. Now she's
finding herself. She has
to find herself first before
anyone else can find her."
14. Still later, we gave
her up for adoption; we
were too old to be her
parents.
15. "You must have a
young mother and
father," I told her. "We
will be your
grandparents."
16. She accepted this, after getting to know the younger
couple and their two children who wanted her. Though a
few tears hung on her dark lashes that morning, I
pretended not to see them.
17. Her parents came over for consultation now and then,
and she ran to the barn to look for new kittens. It was not
all easy, her parents said. She was normal, but she would
have to work hard. College? Well, maybe.
18. Meanwhile, she was growing pretty. Her dark hair
curled about her face, and her eyes, once so dull and
unseeing, grew bright and sparkling. Sometime in her
high-school life, Jonathan began to notice her. He was a
tall, brilliant boy, interested in science and mathematics.
We trembled, her parents and I.
19. "Don't let her settle her heart on him," I -begged.
"She's too young and so is he. I don't want her hurt.
Besides, will his family accept her? We can't tell them
who she is – except what she is now."
20. The parents were wise. They saw to it that the boy did
not see Mary too often. Mary herself was very busy. She
was learning to sew and to cook. She saw other boys. She
finished high school and went away to college.
21. Our fears were groundless after all. The two came
they came to see me.
22. "Mary and I are going to be married," Jonathan
announced.
23. They were married one June afternoon in the little
church where Mary was baptized. The best man was
Mary's adopted brother; the maid of honor, her adopted
sister.
24. Mary came down the aisle, hand on her father's arm,
face radiant with Joy and beauty. The tears came to my
eyes - not sentimental tears, but tears of joy and
fulfillment. I remembered the child's face, the hopeless
child so many years ago, the lost child.
25. After the ceremony, Jonathan's mother took my hand.
"I want you to know," she said, "that we consider it an
honor to have Mary in our family. We love her."
26. Mary knew at last who she was. So did we.
LEARNING THE MEANING OF WORDS
A word may have more than one meaning, as shown by
the sentences given below. Decide on the meaning of
each italicized word according to the way it is used in
the sentence. Choose your answer from the meanings
given for each set of sentences.
I. 1. There was a litter of new kittens in the barn.
2. The rescuers put the wounded men on a litter.
3. Please do something about the litter in your room.
4. All of us should take care that there is no litter in
our streets.
a. a condition of disorder or untidiness
b. a number of young brought forth at one birth
c. a kind of stretcher
d. scattered rubbish
II. 1. "Don't let her settle her heart on him," I begged.
2. Our neighbors have left for Mindoro to settle there.
3. This water will become clear when the sand
particles settle.
4. I settle my accounts at the end of the month.
a. take up residence; live
b. pay
c. decide on definitely
d. sink to the bottom
III. 1. With her was a small delicate girl.
2. I bought a dress in a delicate shade of pink.
3. Such delicate lace surely costs a lot.
4. The world faces a very delicate situation in the
Middle East.
a. soft or faint in color; not bright
b. requiring great care or caution
c. fine in texture or quality
d. weak or frail; in poor health
IV. 1. Mary's face was radiant with joy and beauty.
2. The sun is a radiant star.
3. We learned about radiant energy last week.
a. bright with happiness
b. carried or transmitted in wave motion
c. sending forth rays of light
POST READING
SEQUENCING EVENTS
Arrange the following events as they appeared in the
story. Write 1 for the first, 2 for the second, 3 for the
third etc.
______ a. In high school, a tall, brilliant boy, Jonathan,
began to notice her.
______ b. Later she was given up for adoption to a
young couple with two children who wanted her.
______ c. The wedding took place in June, in the
church where Mary was baptized.
______ d. Mary was eight years old when she came
into the life of the author-
______ e. After Jonathan's post graduate studies, the
two decided lo get married.
______ f. Marry grew up to be a pretty and charming
girl with a graceful figure.
______ g. Mary was believed to be mentally retarded
for she doesn't talk and never moves unless someone
makes her.
______ h. After high school each went his own way but
always came back to each other after every separation.
______ i. After the wedding, Jonathan's mother told
the author that they consider having Mary in their
family an honor.
______ j. After two months with the author. Mary was
chattering and was going to school.
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE is a language used
for descriptive effect in order to convey ideas or
emotions which are not literally true but express
some truth beyond the literal level. Figures of
speech are expressions that show comparison or
association to give more color, flavor or
concreteness to one's written or oral speech.
There are many kinds of figures of speech, but
here, only twelve kinds will be considered:
a. Simile. This is the figure of speech that shows
comparison between two objects or subjects of
different nature but with the use of "as" or "like,"
they just turn up with a very interesting
relationship with the use of "as" or "like" the
comparison is indirect.
Ex: Her heart for him has hardened like a stone.
Your smile is as sweet as honey.
b. Metaphor. Like the simile, this figure of speech
also establishes comparison between two objects of
different nature but said comparison does not use
"as" or "like", thus, considered a direct
comparison.
Examples:
• Professor Hudson is a walking encyclopedia.
• Variety is a spice of life.
c. Personification. This is a figure of speech that
makes non-living things, living; or non-human
creatures, human by making them act or do
something living things or human creatures are
capable of doing.
Examples:
• I see the moon wink at you.
• When I entered my room last night, a tribe of
mosquitoes were rehearsing their war song.
d. Onomatopoeia. This figure of speech lies in the
expressions or words whose sounds echo or
suggest the meaning.
Examples: The thunder roared.
The lightning flashed.
e. Hyperbole. This is the figure of speech that
makes a deliberate exaggeration usually to give a
special effect to one's feeling or thought.
Examples:
• I have been to all places looking for you.
• Believe me, I will move heaven and earth to
get for you your most cherished diamond ring.
f. Litotes. This expresses an understatement by
meaning something positive but stating it in the
negative.
Examples: Terry Bon is a no mean pilot.
Getting married is no joke.
g. Irony. This figure of speech expresses
something in words that mean their opposite. It
usually carries a sarcastic tone.
Examples: It was kind of you to scold me again.
What a great way to lost!
h. Oxymoron. This figure of speech expresses a
feeling or thought in terms contrary to each other.
Examples:
• I hate love for all the pains it caused me.
• It seems that his pleasure is my agony.
i. Synecdoche. This figure of speech makes use of
a word name of a part for a whole or of a word
name of a whole for a part.
Examples:
• We live in one roof.
• His father gave him a brand new wheels.
j. Metonymy. This is a figure of speech that names
one thing with another term logically related to it.
Examples:
• The senator takes the floor for his privilege
speech.
• There is no bad bread between Cely and me.
k. Allusion. This figure of speech refers to
important names and events in literature,
mythology, history, Bible or contemporary times.
Examples:
• Beware of a Judas Iscariot in your group.
• My uncle is a Silas Mariner.
l. Apostrophe. This is the figure of speech that
addresses the dead or inanimate objects as though
they can hear or the absent as though they are
present.
Examples:
• Rain, rain go away
Come again another day.
• O, sweet woods, the delight of solitariness! O,
how much I do like your solitariness!
("Solitariness" by Sir Philip Sidney)
A. Write on the blank before each number the
figure of speech given by each of the following
sentences:
_________ 1. Her young heart melts for him like
ice-cream under the sun.
_________ 2. His face beams like the full moon.
_________ 3. Nilo is a termite in our relationship.
_________ 4. The youth are the hope of their
fatherland.
_________ 5. The sun bursts forth its golden
fingers once again.
_________ 6. Love fills with happiness the
vacuum in his heart.
_________ 7. The fleeting bee is whispering
something to you.
_________ 8. The six puppies yelp for milk.
_________ 9. The bell tinkles every hour.
_________ 10. Sandra cried a bucketful of tears.
_________ 11. My hair grew white waiting for
you.
_________ 12. Taking a bar is no joke.
_________ 13. The Marasigans are only banana
magnates.
_________ 14. Thank you for all your insults.
_________ 15. I can't tell you how happy I am in
this stuffy office.
_________ 16. Misery is our only luxury in life.
_________ 17. The sound of silence woke me up.
_________ 18. Did you see the face that launched
a thousand ships?
_________ 19. The crime was seen by a dozen
eyes.
_________ 20. Two heads are better than one.
_________ 21. Do you play Beethoven?
_________ 22. Teddy Bear apologized to the bench
for his deliberate foul on Greg Mate.
_________ 23. O world, I cannot hold you close
enough!
_________ 24. Wake up our Rip Van Winkle in the
room before his time for office ticks against him.
_________ 25. O, Justice, be not elusive to me!
Forming Figurative Language
B. On the blank before each number, write the
letter of the phrase in Column B that best complete
the comparison in Column A.
A
______ 1. The branches of the tree stretched
upward like
______ 2. His weekly allowance was stretched
like
______ 3. He kept yawning and stretching like
______ 4. Books are like
______ 5. When she is angry, her words are like
______ 6. The books are arranged in a neat row
like
______ 7. He felt his heart pounding, like
______ 8. The road looked like
______ 9. She stopped short in the middle of a
sentence as though
______ 10. Far down below us, the cars looked
like
B
a. her speech had been cut by a knife.
b. a twisting ribbon in the moonlight.
c. soldiers on parade.
d. a man's arms extended in prayer.
e. ants crawling along the pavement.
f. a cat just getting up from a nap.
g. a rubber band about to break.
h. ships that take you to strange lands
i. a hammer on an iron bar.
j. icicles freezing in the air.
Pre-Reading
I. Write A for antonym if the pair of words have
opposite meanings and S for synonym, if they have
similar meanings.
 ________ 1. courage – timidity
________ 2. unfailing - lasting
________ 3. enthusiasm – passion
________ 4. supple - agile
________ 5. worry – fear
________ 6. temperament - emotion
________ 7. power – vigor
________ 8. cynicism - pessimism
________ 9. old – young
________10. optimism – pessimism
III. React to the quotation below lifted from your
reading text.
Youth is not a time of life; it
is a state of mind.
IV. Read the essay silently.
YOUTH
Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind. It is not a
matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees: it is a
matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor
of the emotions. It is the freshness of the deep springs of
life.
Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage
over timidity of the appetite, for adventure over the love
of ease. This often exists in a man of 60 more than a boy
of 20. Nobody grows old merely by a number of years.
We grow old by deserting our ideals.
Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm,
wrinkles the soul. Worry, fear, self-distrust bows the
heart and turns the spirit back to dust.
Whether 60 or 16, there is in every human being's heart
the lure of wonder, the unfailing childlike appetite of
what's next and the joy of the game of living. In the
center of your heart and my heart there is a wireless
station: so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope,
cheer, courage and power from men and from the
Infinite, so are you as young.
When the aerials are down, and your spirit is covered
with snows of cynicism and of ice of pessimism, then
you are grown old even at 20; but as long as your aerials
are up to catch waves of optimism, there is hope you
may die young at 80.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. What are the qualities of youth that are
mentioned in the selection?
2. Do you agree to the writer when he stated that
youth is not a time of life but a state of mind?
Why?
3. What does the writer mean when he said that
“to give up enthusiasm, wrinkles the soul”?
4. What is the purpose of the author in writing the
selection?
5. What does the last paragraph imply? How can
you apply the insight given to your daily life as
a student?
EXERCISE A: Recognizing Parallel Structures.
Write the parallel structures in each sentence. Then
identify what each is composed of: words, phrases, or
clauses.
EXAMPLE: Swimming during the summer, skiing
during the winter, and running daily keep me fit.
Swimming during the summer, skiing during the winter,
and running daily (phrases)
1. In our garden, we planted tomatoes, squash, and
lettuce.
2. My evenings are spent doing homework, watching
television, or crocheting an afghan.
3. The rain fell steadily; the wind howled mournfully.
4. All of the puppies gleefully hopped, jumped, and
cavorted.
5. We looked at slides that showed us opening presents,
blowing out candles, and eating ice cream and cake.
6. The road was deserted, rain was falling, and we were
lost.
7. He ran out the door, down the steps, and across the
street.
8. On vacation I wore sweaters, jeans, and sneakers
every day.
9. Success is what I hope for, what I work hard for, and
what I deserve.
10. Walking the dog and cleaning my room are two of
my chores.
EXERCISE B: Correcting Faulty Parallelism: Write
the sentences, putting each in proper parallel form.
EXAMPLE: She left me angry, frustrated, and wearing a
frown.
She left me angry, frustrated and frowning.
1. We have things to do, people to see, and places that
should be visited.
2. I enjoy my job because of the opportunities it offers,
the fringe benefits I receive, and I earn a good salary.
3. We should invite people with whom you work and
your friends from the swim club.
4. I have poor handwriting more because I am careless
than that I have never been taught.
5. If I have the money and time becomes available, I
will go.
6. The couple did not like the house since it had poor
plumbing, and they would need to landscape the yard.
7. The comedian was clever, original, and kept us
laughing.
8. I had steak, Tanya ate flounder, but a hamburger is all
that Steve ordered.
9. I voted for the sale of state bonds, for more state
parks, and to have the state cut property taxes.
10. My father both prepared the main course and the
dessert.
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