1. a) Who is the narrator? How is he/she related to, Sam?

The narrator is a woman, her name is not mentioned in the text. She is Sam's wife.

b) Justify your answer by quoting from the text.

"we produced two sons” (line 4-5)  

"our honeymoon “  (1ine 12)

"my husband's parents" (line 16)

 

2. Match one element from column A with an element from column B.                  A                                                                                B

1. Sam had a heart-attack                                                     a) in 76

2. They had children  .                                                          b. in the late 70’s

3. They got married                                                              c) the early eighties

4. Sam found a good job abroad                                          d. at the age of fifty-two.

5. They moved back to England                                           e) in the summer of  ‘99

 1. d

2. c

3. a

4. b

5. e 

3. What consequences did Sam's job have on his life? (30 words)

Sam was very involved in his job which led him to have a very busy life; after a first heart-attack, bad signs threatened him again: as a result the family decided to move back to England.

 

4. Choose the right answer.

They decided to     a) buy a brick house in Richmond.
b) rent a place in Dorset.
c) buy a farmhouse in Devon.
d) rent a flat in Torquay.

 

b) rent a place in Dorset

Questions 5, 6 and 7. Focus from line 18. to line 29("We'd done well ... world sporting fixtures)

 

5.  a)1.19. "There was no immediate hurry for either of us to find a job." 

What does it reveal about their standard of living while abroad?(15 words)

 

It reveals that they had lived a very prosperous life and had managed to put aside some money

 

b) 11.1 9-20. "Or so we imagined." - What does this mean?(20  words) 

 

They finally realised they would have to find a job quickly and that they were wrong to imagine they could live on their savings.

 

6. How do they see the British society on their return to their homeland? (30 words)

 

This was a dramatic change for them to see that Britain had turned into a consumer society but also to accept that the standard of living had considerably increased and that their lives would never be like before.

 

 

7. Find a key sentence showing it wasn't difficult for their children to adapt to their new  environment

 (Line 25-26) "Hastily the boys abandoned us for their own age group”

 

 

 Questions 8 to 12. Focus on lines 38 to the end

8. a) Who was Sam in touch with some time after their return?

He was in touch with Jock Williams

 

b) What did they talk about on the phone?

They talked about their financial situation.          

 

9. Say who the underlined words refer to. (l.39-1.42) 

“I took time to wonder why it never seem to occur to Sam that Jock was as big a fantasist as  he was, particularly as –Jock had been trumpeting ‘mega-buck sales’ down  the  phone to him for years but had, never managed to find the time – or  money?- to fly out for a  visit. `What did you say ? »

 

(a) I = The narrator ( Sam's wife )

(b) He = Sam 

(c) Him = Sam

(d) You = Sam