E - Klasse 7 - Arbeit Nr. 6 - GreenButterSolutions

The Last Guy Standing

 

On Saturday afternoon at 2 o'clock, the staff of Forest Trace, a *retirement community just outside Fort Lauderdale,

Fla., clears aside the tables and chairs in the *foyer of the main building to create a circle for the women and men to

dance, though when I say the women and men, I mainly mean the women and Hy Kaplan.

When I walk into the lobby at 2:30, Kaplan, 93, is *twirling Thelma Kahn in the middle of a circle of two dozen watchful

women in *wicker chairs.

It is a scene of *ethereal beauty. The couple dance among tall white *pillars, and sunlight streams in through the

skylight high above, giving Kahn's puffy white hair a *halo. After a few more twirls, Kaplan returns Kahn to her chair

and approaches the next lucky lady.

This is how it works: Kaplan escorts each partner to the center of the circle, where, depending on the song and

Kaplan's mood, they will fox trot, waltz, tango or even merengue.

As the afternoon wears on, Kaplan's white-leather *loafers bounce gracefully about the carpet, and no matter how

good or bad his partner, he always demonstrates a little *showmanship, throwing in a Westchester step here and

there, doing other little fancy things with his feet that I don't know the name for. When the song is over, he extends his

 arms to the next woman down the line, who always accepts them. There's something in Kaplan's manner that makes

it seem as if he has a job to do, as if he's unloading a truck of women in boxes whom he must dance with one at a

time before the *quitting whistle blows.

I ask the woman seated in front of me if Kaplan is the best dancer here. “Well”, she says, “he doesn't have much

competition”.

 
With the help of your dictionary translate the following words into German. Mind the context.

Vocabulary:

retirement:  

foyer:  

twirling:

  
wicker:  

ethereal:  

pillars:  

halo:  

loafers:  

showmanship:  

quitting whistle:  

 
Questions on the text. Tick the right answer.

1.1. How many women are watching Thelma Kahn dancing?

☼ 20
☼ 15
☼ 24

1.2. When the song is over, Kaplan

 

☼ takes a little rest.
☼ drinks something.
☼ takes the next woman.

1.3. Kaplan makes it look like

☼ he’s having a lot of fun.
☼ he has a job to do.
☼ he doesn’t like women very much.

2.1. Mrs Smith is a driver. (careful)

 

  
2.2. She came round the corner. (careful)

 

  
2.3. Mr Jones drives on busy roads, especially at night. (careful)

 

  
2.4. Sarah will have to leave tomorrow. (unfortunate)

 

  
2.5. You are not nervous before a test, are you? (extreme)

 

  
2.6. Why was John so nervous? (extreme)

 

  
2.7. The actress played. (good)

 

  
2.8. Mrs Wood left the party. (early)

 

  
2.9. "No," he answered (friendly)

 

  
2.10. Miss Turner is a cook. (good)

 

  

3.1. - I (not be) to the zoo a long time.

- Well, I (not be) last month. Let's go together at the weekend.

3.2. - They (live) here ten years. And you?

- Let me see 1997.

3.3. Janet (work) in the same clothes shop five years. She's fed up.

3.4. - What has happened to Christine? I (not see) her yesterday.

- Oh, I don't know. I (not see) her   a few days.

3.5. Joff  (play) the guitar he was a boy, so he's quite good.

3.6. - I (have) this terrible stomach ache last night.

- That's nothing. My mother (have) toothache two days now.