Questão 741720

Text to answer questions 42 and 43.

1 No matter where I was posted, whether abroad or

back in Ottawa, I usually managed to spend a brief

summer vacation in France. There I dispensed with

4 women altogether, caught up on my reading, and tried to

write a book. I meant it to be a summary of recent times,

with my experiences and judgment used tactfully, never

7 intrusively, as a binding thread. I would have called it

“My Century,” but the title had already been employed by

a celebrated Polish poet. Every year at high summer, I was

10 driven to unpack my Hermes, set it on the marble table in

the shadiest part of the terrace, roll in a sheet of Extra

Strong, and type “Chapter 1.” I could see a tamed and

13 orderly design of streams and rivulets (early youth,

intellectual awakening) feeding a tranquil river that

debouched into a limpid sea. Unfortunately, it wanted only

16 a few minutes for the sea to churn up and disgorge a ton of

dead fish. Most people considered great were in reality

only average; middling masters I held in contempt; as for

19 amateurs in any field, I saw no reason why they should not

be airlifted to Mongolia and left to forage. Obviously, this

was of no interest to anyone except cranks; yet I felt no

22 spite, no disappointment, no envy of younger men. I had

done nearly everything I wanted, and had been as

successful as my aunt had hoped.

25 After half an hour I would push the typewriter aside,

open a thick notebook, uncap the gold Parker I was given

years ago for having passed, unexpectedly well, an

28 examination in political science, and write, “Chapter 1.”

Then I would cap the pen and stare at the Mediterranean,

wondering if the wisp of darkness on the horizon could be

31 a mirage projection of Corsica.

Apart from this activity I ate breakfast and lunch at

home, went down for a swim early, when no one was

34 around, played some tennis at a court up near the railway

station, and dined with elderly neighbors. At the end of a

few weeks I bolted the window shutters, disconnected and

37 locked up the telephone (so that burglars would not be

tempted to make long-distance calls), and returned to the

39 wrack and low tide of my profession.

GALLANT, Mavis. Let it Pass. In: Montreal Stories.

Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 2004. (adapted)

Based on the text, mark the statements below as right (C) or wrong (E).

The word “contempt” (line 18) can be correctly replaced with disdain.