POEM 1 – In the midst of hardship

English Version 中文版

At dawn they returned home 天亮了，村民返回家园。
Their soaky clothes torn
And approached the stove 他们湿透的衣服有无数的洞。
Their limbs marked by scratches 他们缓缓地走向暖炉
Their legs full of wounds 他们的四肢布满划痕和擦伤。
But on their brows
但是他们的眉目间
There was not a sign of despair
看不见一丝绝望
The whole day and night just passed 雨季的一天过去了。
They had to brave the horrendous flood
他们必须面对可怕的洪水
In the water all the time
Between bloated carcasses 一直待在水里
And tiny chips of tree barks 浮着的动物尸体和一片片的树皮
Desperately looking for their son’s
他们在拼命的寻找着儿子最钟爱的
Albino buffalo that was never found
但是却一直无影踪的白色水牛
They were born amidst hardship 他们一直活在贫困之中
And grew up without a sign or a
成长的过程里学会了不抱怨
complaint
Now they are in the kitchen, making 现在的他们在厨房里一边开着玩笑
Jokes while rolling their cigarette leaves 一边卷着烟叶呢。
MEANING

At dawn (Meaning)

Why did they return home at

dawn?

Soaky (Meaning)
Why were their clothes their

soaky and torn?

Why did they approach the stove

right after back home?

‘their limbs marked by scratches

their legs full of wounds’. Explain

‘but on their brows there was not

a sign of despair’. WHY?

Brave (Meaning)

Why did they had to brave the

horrendous flood in the water all

the time?
bloated carcasses (Meaning)

Why were they desperately

looking for their son’s albino

buffalo that was never found?

Why did they grow up without a

sigh or a complaint although they

born amidst hardship?
Exercise 1
Write TRUE or FALSE for each statement below. If the statement is false, write the correct
statement in the space provided.

1.The family just experienced a bad flood 5.The flood victims’ hands and legs were covered
True False by cuts all over
True False
2.The family lived in city
True False 6.They returned home in the afternoon after the

3.The flood lasted for one day and night flood

True False
True False
7.Once the family was back home, they felt
4.Animals and humans were drowned in the relieved
flood True False
True False
8.They would rather enjoy themselves than
complaint about the flood
True False
Exercise 2
Choose TRUE or FALSE for each of the statement below.

1.When did the family go back home? (A) Give up quickly

(A) Late at night (B) Run away from it
(B) In the afternoon (C) Protect yourself from it
(C) In the evening (D) Endure it with resilience
(D) Early morning
6.If an animal is an albino, it is_____in
2.Why do you think some family members complexion.
approached the stove? (A) White
(A) To wash up (B) Grey
(B) To cook a meal (C) Black
(C) To eat together (D) Cream
(D) To keep their food
7.Why did the tiny chips float in the floodwater?
3.What was not seen on their brows? (A) They were light
(A) A sad look (B) The trees were uprooted
(B) A happy look (C) The water caused the chips to break off
(C) An expression of hopelessness from the tree barks
(D) An expression of disgust (D) The trees were cut down by the
villagers
4.The word ‘horrendous’ means
(A) Exciting 8.What type of life is a life of hardship?
(B) Enjoyable (A) A happy life
(C) Tragic (B) An easy life
(D) Awful (C) A life of suffering
(D) A life of torture
5.If you have to `brave` a danger, you have to
Exercise 3
Rewrite the quotations from the poem in your own words.

1. Not a sign of despair _________________________________________________________________

2. Their soaky clothes torn _________________________________________________________________

3. Their limbs marked by scratches _________________________________________________________________

4. Had to brave the horrendous flood _________________________________________________________________

5. Born amidst hardship _________________________________________________________________

6. Grew up without a sigh _________________________________________________________________

not feeling gloomy their hands and legs had cuts all over born in suffering

their clothes were drenched and torn had to put up with the dreadful flood accepted their life without complaining

Exercise 4
Read the following passage. Fill in the blanks with one suitable word or phrase.

The flood victims are glad to go back home. They have gone through a

(1)_____________________________ time. The floodwater (2)_____________________________ very high. They were

wading among (3)_____________________________ and chips of the barks. It was an

(4)_____________________________ sight. As their son had lost his buffalo, they were looking

(5)_____________________________ for it. However, they(6)_____________________________ to find it. Back home,

the women started cooking. The men stood in the (7)_____________________________ talking. They were also

rolling (8)_____________________________. This was a time to feel (9)_____________________________ and complain

about their (10)_____________________________.

1.difficult 3.dead bodies 5.desperately 7.kitchen 9.relieved

2.rose 4.unpleasant 6.failed 8.cigarette leaves 10.suffering

Exercise 5
Read the following passage and answer all the questions in full sentence.

1. When did the people in the poem return home?

=
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. What kind of a setting do you see in the poem, ‘ In the Midst of Hardship’ by Latiff Mohidin?

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. Describe the conditions of the people in this poem.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4. Despite the conditions of the people in the above poem, did they give up? Which line tells you this?

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. What do you understand by ‘ but on their brows, there was not a sign of despair’?
zs
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6. What natural disaster had occurred to the place?

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

7. Name the animal that had gone missing in this poem.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

8. Do you think the people in the poem are rich? Justify your answer with evidence
from the poem?
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

9. Why do you think the people are desperately looking for the lost animal?
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

10. What is alliteration? Give an example of alliteration from the poem.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

11. Do you think the people here are hopeful and optimistic? Justify your answer.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
12. What can you learn from this poem?

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

13. Do you think the poet has chosen a good title for this poem? Give a reason for your answer.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

14. Do you like the poem? Give a reason for your answer.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 POEM 2 – He had such quiet eyes

English Version 中文版

He had such quiet eyes 他有着一双孤寂的双眼

She did not realise
可惜她没察觉到
They were two pools of lies
Layered with thinnest ice
那是隔着一层冰的两滩谎言
To her, those quiet eyes 对她来说，那对眼睛仿佛正在叹气
Were breathing desolate sighs 致使她想要紧紧的抱着他
Imploring her to be nice
引领他上“天堂”
And to render him paradise
If only she'd been wise 如果她曾经理智过
And had listened to the advice
Never to compromise 有听劝告——
With pleasure-seeking guys
不和花花公子搞 3 搞 4
She'd be free from “the hows and 她现在就不会这么后悔了
whys”
Now here's a bit of advice 这里想劝告你
Be sure that nice really means nice
要确保你的“他”是真诚对待你的
Then you'll never be losing at dice
Though you may lose your heart once
这样你才不会在爱情里输了筹码
or twice 尽管你还是有可能会失恋那么几次
REVISION ON THE SPOT

two pools of lies (Meaning)

Why didn’t she realize the man’s

eyes were two pools of lies?

thinnest ice (Meaning)

‘breathing desolate sighs’. Explain.

Imploring (Meaning)

Paradise (Meaning)

Why does her decide to render him

paradise?

pleasure-seeking guys (Meaning)

Why should the girls never
compromise with pleasure-seeking
guys?

"the hows and whys". Explain.

free from "the hows and whys".
Explain.

Nice
‘Be sure that nice really means nice’.

Explain.

at dice (Meaning)

never be losing at dice. (Explain)

Why do we have to make sure that

the loved one is sincere to us?

lose your heart (Meaning)
Exercise 1
Match the words in Colums A with their meanings in the Column B.

Column A ABC Column B

1.Realize a. sensible
2.Layered b. covered
3.Breathing c. conciliate
4.Desolate d. inhaling
5.Imploring e. know
6.Render f. provide
7.Wise g. begging
8.Compromise h. unhappy

Exercise 2
Referring to the poem, give the meaning of each of these quotations.

1.Pools of ice _______________________________________________________________

2.Layered with thinnest ice _______________________________________________________________

3.Desolate sighs _______________________________________________________________

4.Paradise _______________________________________________________________

5.Free from the hows and whys _______________________________________________________________

6.Losing at dice _______________________________________________________________

7.Lose your heart _______________________________________________________________

8.Once or twice _______________________________________________________________

dishonesty unhappy not getting hurt being hurt rarely

thinly covered glory/happiness failing to protect from fall in love

Exercise 3
Choose the correct answers.

1.The persona in the poem desribes a woman 2.She sees sincerity in his eyes instead of________
_____ (A) Joy
(A) In pain (B) Anger
(B) Who deceives a man (C) Sorrow
(C) Who is deceived by a man’s eyes (D) Lies
(D) Who deceives others

3.To woman, the man looks________ 4.If one is in paradise, one is in ________
(A) Happy (A) A state of extreme happiness
(B) Sad (B) A state of confusion
(C) Excited (C) Need of help
(D) Dissappointed (D) A state of grief
5.What does the man desire from the woman? 8.What is the advice given in stanza 2?
(A) Money (A) Not to be deceived by the man
(B) Assistance (B) To believe in everyone
(C) Pleasure (C) Not to get a life partner
(D) Advice (D) Not to fall in love

6.In stanza 2, to be wise is to________ 9.What is the main idea in stanza 3?

(A) Perform well (A) Readers’ response to the poem
(B) Carry out instuctions (B) Dealing with man

(C) Give good advice (C) Listen to good advice

(D) Listen to good advice (D) Advice to the readers

7.The word ‘compromise’ means________ 10.The phrase ‘lose your heart’ means ________
(A) Agree (A) Get hurt
(B) Conciliate (B) Fall in love
(C) Dispute (C) Lose one’s mind
(D) Work together (D) Hurt others

Exercise 4
Read the following passage and answer all the questions in full sentence.

1. The eyes have a lot of functions other than seeing. Explain one function of the eyes that you know
and give an example when that function is being used.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Do you believe in ‘seeing is believing’? Give a reason for your answer and relate it to
the poem “He
had such quiet eyes”.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. Why do you think the persona in the poem fell for the guy’s quiet eyes? Give a reason
why she likes
his ‘quiet eyes’.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. How can you help a friend who fell for a person who you know is a pleasure-seeking person? Give a
suggestion on how to help this friend.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. Which one is easier to do, giving advice or listening to advice? Give a reason for your answer with
close reference to the poem.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 Short story – fruitcake special

Anna, 一个美国化妆品公司的化学师是这个故事的主人翁。当她尝试把一小
片她的午餐--水果蛋糕放进试管调配出新的香水后，奇妙的事情开始接踵而
来。其中一件就是她的老板，外貌协会的 Mr. Amos，竟然约她吃晚餐！难
道老板终于发现到她的 了吗？
但是，当天晚上的 Mr. Amos 却是判若两人，对 Anna 无比冷淡，甚至强调
今天约她出来只是单纯犒赏 。Anna 非常的疑惑也很愤怒，她认为老板
在耍她，所以她在 Mr. Amos 表态后决定进厕所冷静一下。本来以为是女人
味不足，所以她决定把自己爱用的香水 Intrigue 拿出来喷喷，结果…她没带！！

袋子里只有之前在公司用水果蛋糕制作的香水 T_T…好吧，死马当活马医
了，全喷了。可是当 Anna 这么做了过后，奇怪的事情又发生了。一踏出厕
所，在外候着的一位男侍应生就被她的 电到。回到座位时，Mr. Amos
的态度也有了天与地的差别，殷勤到一个极点。疑惑还没解决，这时候她被
其中一位侍应生告知有电话找她，结果是之前那位男侍应生的杰作。
满头问号的回到座位的 Anna 发现 Mr.Amos 身旁多了一个人，也就是他的
现任女朋友 Sabina。最令人惊讶的是，Mr. Amos 竟然当着对方的面表白说

他爱上了 Anna。在这一连串的事情之下，Anna 已经隐隐猜到这些事和那个

新制的香水估计脱不了关系。看着眼前的争执以及插一脚进来的男侍应生，
Anna 决定用迅雷不及掩耳的速度从餐厅消失。
第二天，Anna 并没有去上班。她决定找出那个香水的原料之一 Fruitcake
到底是怎么回事。她询问了送这个蛋糕给她妈妈的 Aunt Mimi，结果那个买
蛋糕的 Old Lady 在上星期去世了。重点是，她生前有 7 个老公！！
两天的自我放假后，Anna 回到公司时，同时告知老板 Mr. Amos 要找他。
当她进入办公室后，Sabina 也在里面。一开始的时候，Mr. Amos 先向 Anna
道歉，也解释不知道自己在那天晚上为什么会有那样的表现等等。在一旁的
Sabina 接着把主导权抢过，说 Mr. Amos 真正的意思是想要说他不知道为什
么当下会被 Anna 这种外貌的女性所吸引，一切都是个误会，因为 Mr. Amos
不可能会喜欢她的。Anna 感觉到被侮辱，一气之下把手袋里的 Fruitcake
香水泼在 Sabina 身上就转身走出办公室，她决定要辞职！
后来她跳槽去了另一家公司 Intrigue。同时，曾经暗恋她的 Pizza 小子，
Armstrong 带着 Pizza 和鲜花来找 Anna。他向 Anna 表白说他对 Anna 一见
钟情，而且他现在已经有所成就，拥有着一件 Pizza 专卖店，所以他希望
Anna 可以答应与他约会。
Its a story about Anna, a chemist who works in a cosmetic company in USA.
She discovers something amazing when she tries putting up a piece of her
favourite fruit cake into her chemical mixture to create a new kind of perfume.
Trying out her new invention, she sprays the perfume on her that brings rewards
her attention from men. One of them is her boss, Mr.Amos who then invites her
for dinner.
However, something strange happens that night, Mr. Amos behaves totally
different. So, Anna wonders the reason that brings her to the ladies. She uses
the other perfume to the dinner,Intrigue which could be the reason. She is
going to spray some more perfume, but Intrigue is not anywhere in her bag,
instead the fruitcake perfume is there. She sprays some fruitcake perfume, and
things awkwardly 'shines' toher. Even the waiter takes a shot on her. She
returns to the table but a phone call is waiting for her. Thus, she goes get the
phone call.
Returning to the table, Anna finds that Mr. Amos is now joined by his
girlfriend, Sabina the model. Surprisingly, Mr. Amos tells his current girlfriend
that he is in love with Anna. Upon all this, Anna has already know that all those
awkward and strange behaviors come from that perfume effect. They fight and
Anna is forced to walk out of the scene and she returns home by taxi.
Anna misses the work on the next day and finds out the ingredients in the
fruitcake from Aunt Mimi. Anna learns that there is a secret ingredient in the
fruitcake from Aunt Mimi who buys the cake from an old lady. Sadly, as Anna
tries to find the old lady, she learns that the old lady has already died.
After a two days off, Anna returns to office to find Mr. Amos's note asking
her to see him. As she enters Mr. Amos's office, she finds him with Sabina. Mr.
Amos apologizes to Anna and explains that he has no idea what could he behave
such a way the other days. Sabina cynically says to Anna that what Mr. Amos
wants to say is that he himself does not understand why he could get attracted
to Anna. Anna feels insulted. She takes the fruitcake perfume and pours in on
Sabina. She quits job.
She finds another job with the Intrigue company. Armstrong, the pizza
delivery man, one day comes to visit Anna. He brings pizza and flowers. He
confesses to Anna that he falls in love with Anna at the first sight. Now, as he
owns a pizza company, he asks Anna for a date.

Short story – qwertyuiop

这个故事描述的是一个年轻的女秘书 Lucy Beck 与已经死去的前任秘书

Miss Broome 之间的故事。
17 岁的 Lucy Beck 在 Diploma 毕业后非常急切地想找到一份工作赚钱，好
早点离开母亲、家里。可是她的前景并不太客观，因为她的成绩一直都是垫
底的，就连校长都对她不抱任何希望。
但是出乎意料的，Lucy 找到了一份在 Ross and Bannister’s 公司的差事。
一天上班时，她才发现这个职位不是这般容易得到的。她碰上了
—Miss Broome 的鬼魂!!
而且她还一直不停的干扰 Lucy 打字，不过到最后 Lucy 还是非常坚持外加
有毅力地无视她顺便把第一份工作“顺利” (?)完成。

Harry Darke,这个唯一的知情者其实事先有偷偷暗示了这份工作的困难度。
当他第二天回到工作岗位时发现 Lucy 也在，顿时惊讶万分。同时也在Lucy
的追问下把 Miss Broome 的故事告诉了她。
为了让往后的工作顺利，Lucy 决定通过打字机来与 Miss Broome 的灵魂沟
通，顺便冰释前嫌（最好别再出现 = =…）
最后在她打了一份给 Miss Broome 的告别信后，她就再也没有出现了。
The short story QWERTYUIOP describes a young secretary's struggle with the
spirit of her predecessor, Miss Broome.
Miss Broome was the previous longtime secretary of Mr Bannister.
At 17, Lucy Beck wanted a job desperately to move away from her mother.
When she graduated from the Belmont Secretarial College, things did not look
good.
She had always been at the bottom of her class and her usually upbeat principal,

Mrs Price, did not hold out much hope for her being successful at a job.
However, Lucy did get a job as a secretary at Ross and Bannister's.
On her first day, she realised that the position came with some baggage.
The ghost of Miss Broome was determined to be around to haunt her
typewriter.
Only Harry Darke knew about this and he hinted it to Lucy.
At first, no matter what she tried to type, Lucy could not finish her work because
the letters QWERTYUIOP kept popping up on the paper.
When she finally realised that she was powerless to complete her work, she
reconciled with Miss Broome's spririt. This was by communicating with the spirit
through the electric typewriter.
Finally, she managed to get rid of the spirit by typing a goodbye letter to Miss
Broome.
 drama – gulp and gasp

整个故事由坏人 Lord Septic 和坏人手下 Crouch 之间的对话开始。Lord

Septic 告知手下他计划得到这个他们现在正待着的火车站。当他们正在进行
对话时，1 卖花女 Rose 出现了。Lord Septic 让 Crouch 把她赶走，结果
Crouch 把 Rose 的花都丢在地上就走了。这时英雄 Percy 出现，帮 Rose
把地上的花捡起来。在这当儿，Percy 也和他分享了自己的故事，他是孤儿，
父母亲唯一留给他的就是一个刻着 NSL 的钥匙。结果，Crouch 去而复返，
两个男人起了争执，不幸的是 Percy 被 Lord Septic 偷袭，敲中头部晕了过

去。Rose 接着被绑在列车轨道上。瞎眼的她不知道 Percy 在转醒后就离开

了那里去找解救她的方法。在绑着 Rose 的时候，Lord Septic 回忆起了某个
场景—他的父亲为了把别人的财富占为己有，把对方，也就是 Lady Gatsby，
绑在轨道威胁她。一旁听着的 Rose 察觉到 Lady Gatsby 就是 Percy 的母亲，
也就是这个火车站的真正主人。突然，Percy 出现把两个坏蛋制服，也及时
解救了 Rose。Rose 把她所听到的告诉了 Percy，Percy 找到了宝藏后向她
求婚。坏人就等着警察来解决吧！

This story started with the conversation between Lord Septic and Crouch. Lord
Septic was telling Crouch about his plan to own the railway line they'd been at
that night. During the conversation, a flower-seller named Rose, came. Lord
Septic asked Crouch to tell her to get off. Crouch then threw away Rose's flowers
and then he left. Percy came and helped Rose. They shared each other stories.
Percy then told Rose that he's an orphan and the only thing he had, is a key with
letters NSL on it. They were about to hug when Crouch came back. They had a
fight, and unfortunately, Percy was beaten by Lord Septic on his head. Till then,
he was unconscious. Rose was tied down to the railway track, unknown that
Percy had run away. While tying up Rose, Lord Septic reminisced the event of his
father tying up Lady Gatsby to the same track. But then, it turned out Lady
Gatsby is Percy's mother and Percy is the real owner of the railway track. All of a
sudden, Percy came, managed to stop the train and save Rose. Lord Septic and
Crouch were tied right after it. Rose told Percy the truth. Percy then proposed
Rose and the two villains were left to be arrested.