Page 105 - Think 4. Teacher's Book B2

Unit 9
Take charge Literature; Reading
Warmer Literature
Ask students to make a list of five
sad novels or films and to discuss
what happens in them in pairs or
small groups. Elicit a few in open
class.
1 Check/clarify: butler, pier.
2 Tell students not to worry about
difficult vocabulary at this stage
as this will come up later. Set
a three-minute time limit to
encourage students to read
quickly and focus on the question.
b a certain path in life, it proved to be a misguided one, but
3 9.06
1 LD 2 S 3 M 4 LD 5 M and S
Culture notes
Kazuo Ishiguro (b. 8 November
1954) was born in Japan to Japanese
parents. His family moved to England
in 1960. He has written seven
novels. His second novel, An Artist
of the Floating World, won the 1986
Whitbread Book of the Year Award.
He received the 1989 Man Booker
Prize for his third novel The Remains
of the Day, which was made into a
film starring Anthony Hopkins and
Emma Thompson.
The Remains of the Day was
published in 1989 to critical acclaim.
The novel recounts the memories of
a butler who has spent most of his
working life in the employment of an
upper-class English family. The butler
tells stories of his working life and
of his love for a housekeeper who is
now married with children. The film
of the novel received eight Oscar
nominations but won no awards.
T90 Take charge | Unit 9
1 Look at the photos and read the introduction to the
extract. Do you think you would like to read the book?
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
Stevens has spent his life as a butler, working for Lord Darlington. He is now an
elderly man. At the end of the book, he finds himself sitting alone on a bench,
on a pier at the seaside. A stranger begins to talk to him, and Stevens starts to
tell the man about his life and his feelings about Lord Darlington.
‘You must have been very attached to this Lord whatever. your feet up and
And it’s three years since he passed away, you say? I can enjoy it. That’s
how I look at it.
see you were very attached to him, mate.’
‘Lord Darlington wasn’t a bad man. He wasn’t a bad Ask anybody, they’ll all tell you. The evening’s the best
Ask anybody, they’ll all tell you. The evening’s the best
man at all. And at least he had the privilege of being part of the day.’ […]
It is now some twenty minutes since the man left, but
able to say at the end of his life that he made his own
mistakes. His lordship was a courageous man. He chose I have remained here on this bench to await the event
that has just taken place – namely, the switching on of
the pier lights. As I say, the happiness with which the
there, he chose it, he can say that at least. As for myself,
I can’t even claim that. You see, I trusted. I trusted in his pleasure-seekers gathering on this pier greeted this small
lordship’s wisdom. All those years I served him, I trusted event would tend to vouch for the correctness of my
companion’s words; for a great many people, the evening
I was doing something worthwhile. I can’t even say
I made my own mistakes. Really – one has to ask oneself is the most enjoyable part of the day. Perhaps, then, there
– what dignity is there in that?’ is something to his advice that I should cease looking
‘Now, look, mate, I’m not sure I follow everything you’re back so much, that I should adopt a more positive outlook
saying. But if you ask me, your attitude’s all wrong, see? and try to make the best of whatever remains of my day.
Don’t keep looking back all the time, you’re bound to get After all, what can we ever gain in forever looking back
depressed. And all right, you can’t do your job as well as and blaming ourselves if our lives have not turned out
you used to. But it’s the same for all of us, see? We’ve all quite as we might have wished? […] What is the point
got to put our feet up at some point. Look at me. Been in worrying oneself too much about what one could or
could not have done to control the course one’s life took?
happy as a lark since the day I retired. All right, so neither
of us are exactly in our first flush of youth, but you’ve got Surely it is enough that the likes of you and me at least try
to keep looking forward.’ to make our small contribution count for something true
and worthy. And if some of us are prepared to sacrifice
And I believe it was then that he said:
‘You’ve got to enjoy yourself. The evening’s the best part much in life in order to pursue such aspirations, surely
of the day. You’ve done your day’s work. Now you can put that is in itself, whatever the outcome, cause for pride and
contentment.
2 Read the extract quickly and decide what seems to
confirm the theory that the evening is the best part of
the day.
a the switching on of the pier lights
b the fact that the people on the pier are enjoying themselves
c knowing that your day’s work is done
9.06 Read and listen to the extract again. Who do
3 these sentences refer to? Write LD (Lord Darlington),
S (Stevens) or M (the man).
1 He made his own mistakes in life.
2 He didn’t choose his own path in life.
3 He is happy in his retirement.
4 He died three years ago.
5 He is no longer a young man.
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