When I was a little girl, loved for my mom to tell me stories about herself. No matter how tired she was, she never adumbrated them. She would fill them with minutest details, and they were always fascinating. My favorite story was the one about how my mom met my dad: “I was 17-years-old, but I already knew the kind of man I would marry. He would not be too garrulous. I tell you, Rosa, it’s important for a man to take time to listen to what you have to say, and never impertinent. Politeness is a good trait.”
“Well, I’m supposed to be telling you about the day I met your daddy, right? Okay, so I was riding the Amtrak train between Providence and Philadelphia during my freshman year at Brown, and the door at the end of my car rattled open. He was tall and swarthy. He wore a thick ivory cable knit sweater with a gray wool scarf wrapped firmly around his neck. I couldn’t tell what his heritage was and that intrigued me. What was he---Indian, Portuguese, Peruvian?” Mom would pause here and I would shout “Cape Verdean!” She’d continue. “Well, if I had been shy I might have just looked out the train window. But then where would I be now? You wouldn’t even be here! So I let my eyes lock with his as he wobbled down the moving train.”
“He smiled a slight smile, not a big one. His eyes raised just enough to let me know he had sported me too.” I always loved this line and would smile at the image of my dad stumbling down the train and then noticing my radiant mom. “So Rosa, once we spotted each other, your dad found infinite reasons to walk past me to go to the cafe car. I was sitting by myself along the aisle. So finally, I just slid over to the window, leaving the seat next to me empty. Your dad came back with two cups of hot cocoa and sat down with a smile. And we had the most delightful conversation!”
“I could tell right then that this was no ephemeral crush---this was the real deal. I was going to end up loving this man forever.” Here comes the part I loved best about the story. “We pull into the train station in Philadelphia, and it’s time for me to get off. He was heading on to Washington where he was going to school. I prepared myself for some hackneyed expression as I got off the train. You know, great meeting you, or you’re the apple of my eye. I also worried he might try to sneak a smooch. Which would have been a big turn off. We’d just met! Instead, he took my hand gently and gave it a little squeeze. He said, 4If it’s the thought that counts, consider yourself kissed.”
Mama said she just about died when he said that! Then she said to herself, “That man will be my husband.” And so he is.
1.As used in this passage, which is the best antonym for “adumbrated” (Para.1)?
2.Why might the author have chosen Rosa as the narrator even though it is her mother who is telling the main story?
3.What is implied in the underlined sentence in paragraph 2? (“Well. If I had been shy, ...the moving train.’’)
4.Which is the best antonym for “hackneyed” (Para. 4)?
5.What may Rosa’s mom be meaning to convey to her child by telling this stoiy?
