Hedonia w wersji do nauki angielskiego ebook

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Hedonia to utrzymana w konwencji thrillera dystopia podejmująca temat współczesnego świata i granic wolności osobistych. Główna bohaterka, trzydziestokilkuletnia kobieta, zmęczona codziennością i skuszona wizją życia w „doskonałym społeczeństwie” postanawia podążyć za swoimi marzeniami. Szybko okazuje się, że nie wszystko w nowym, utopijnym świecie jest takie, jak tego oczekiwała. Czy absolutny brak zasad i poszanowania godności kobiety są tym, do czego dążyła, przeprowadzając się do Hedonii? Seria przykrych wydarzeń sprawia, że zaczynają prześladować ją koszmarne sny, a walka o przetrwanie staje się głównym zadaniem życia w świecie, który okazuje się bardziej dystopią niż utopią.

Opracowany przez nas podręcznik oparty na oryginalnym tekście noweli został skonstruowany według przejrzystego schematu:

BEFORE YOU READ THE BOOK 

hedonism – a philosophical and ethical doctrine that suggests that pleasure or happiness is the most important or most desirable end in life.

Mill&Locke – John Locke and John Stuart Mill were two influential philosophers who made some important contributions to the fields of political philosophy and ethics. Locke (1632–1704) believed that people are born with so-called natural rights including life, liberty and property. He also advocated for a limited government that does not infringe in individuals’ natural rights. Mill (1806–1873) was a strong advocate for freedom of thought and expression. His main concept of government was the Harm Principle stating that the only legitimate reason for the exercise of state power over an individual is to prevent harm to others. It is a central tenet of liberalism.

hippie (hippy) movement – a countercultural movement in the 1960s and 1970s that rejected the main concepts of mainstream American life.

Liberal arts – (“free arts”) traditional academic course in Western higher education. This educational approach focuses on the development of intellectual and critical thinking skills, as well as getting a broad base of knowledge in various disciplines. It includes a range of subjects in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences and fine arts. This model of education is often contrasted with vocational or more specialized education.

utopia vs. dystopia –utopia describes an ideal, perfect society in which people live in peace, there is no poverty, crime and all people enjoy a high standard of living. Dystopia, on the other hand, refers to a nightmarish society, characterized by suffering and often a loss of individual freedoms.

CHAPTER ONE

BEFORE YOU READ THE CHAPTER

women’s lib – women’s liberation is a social and political movement that emerged in the mid-20th century. It sought to address and solve the long-standing inequalities and discrimination faced by women in various aspects of society.

B.A. – stands for “Bachelor of Arts.” It is an undergraduate academic degree typically awarded to students who have completed a program of study in the liberal arts, humanities, or social sciences.

Other degrees 

M.A. – Master of Arts. An M.A. is a graduate-level academic degree that is typically earned after completing a bachelor’s degree.

B.S. – Bachelor of Science. This is an undergraduate degree that usually focuses on scientific and technical fields, such as biology, chemistry, engineering, computer science, and physics.

M.S. – Master of Science Similar to M.A., but with a focus on science and technical disciplines.

Ph.D. – Doctor of Philosophy. A doctoral degree that signifies the highest level of academic achievement.

Put the verbs into the correct tense.

1. She ………………… (write) a letter to her friend yesterday.

2. We ………………… (keep) our promises since the beginning.

3. I ………………… (look for) my keys all morning, but I can’t find them.

4. The company ………………… (launch) a new product next week.

5. He ………………… (persuade) me to go to the party tonight.

6. By the time I got there, they ………………… (finish) the project.

7. I ………………… (always/believe) in the power of education.

8. She ………………… (complain) about the weather all week.

9. If you work hard, you ………………… (convince) the team to join your project.

10. I ………………… (interrupt) him while he was speaking.

Key

1. wrote, 2. have kept/have been keeping, 3. have been looking, 4. will launch/is launching/is going to launch, 5. persuaded, 6. had finished, 7. have always believed, 8. has been complaining, 9. will convince, 10. interrupted

ULTIMATE FREEDOM

The colorful advertisement beckoned me from the page. It was telling me like other ads that what it has to offer is the best in the world. I didn’t believe most ads, but this one was different. It seemed so trustworthy.

“Come and enjoy the ultimate freedom in Hedonia,” it said. I was ready to believe. The pictures were incredible. Sandy beaches in the warm yellow-orange light of the tropical sun with gorgeous guys with no shirts playing volleyball, mountains with snow caps, trees bending with fruit. It seemed impossible, like a doctored, airbrushed picture, but for some reason I believed in it.

The phone number at the bottom of the ad, written in big red numbers, ingrained itself upon my mind. For the whole day I went around work thinking of nothing but “ultimate freedom” and beaches with many gorgeous men walking around in their little Speedos. My day went by very slowly because I could not wait to get out of the stuffy office.

My life was full of problems. I hated the boss. He was so sexist that you couldn’t say anything about women’s lib in the office. Some of us junior executives and the secretaries tried to launch a lawsuit against him, but he threatened to fire us, and none of us wanted that with unemployment in New York being as high as it was. We didn’t want to end up on the streets begging or selling ourselves. It was a tough choice, but we decided to keep our jobs and drop the lawsuit. He never let us forget our “attempt at overthrowing the sovereign” as he called it. I think after the lawsuit he became even more sexist. One thing was for sure, if a secretary wanted to go higher in the hierarchy there was only one way of getting there.

I was happy with my position where I was so I didn’t try to please the boss so he would give me a raise. I wasn’t complaining. This was my best paying job that I’d ever had in my life. I lived alone in a little apartment which wasn’t a Hilton suite, but it was nice and cozy. I had enough money for a small car and all my needs and wants, especially with the added bonus of alimony payments from Jake. I couldn’t complain about the money. For some reason though I had been feeling very miserable in the last weeks. I think it may have been the whole situation our country was in. We had a president who was an international hero but wasn’t doing anything about women’s and minority rights. We had a political system that allowed the rich to get richer and the poor to get poorer. I had, long ago, wanted to move to a communist country. Maybe then there would be equality. An ideal country for me, though, seemed a Liberal country in the classical sense of the word. One thing I got out of my Liberal Arts degree at University was my political ideology. I truly believed in a state run according to the principles set out by Mill and Locke. A system of government based on the consensus of the governed, we had that, but also a system with as few laws as were possible to maintain order and peace. A system with ultimate freedom. Maybe that’s why the ad appealed to me so much.

When I was young, I always had someone to give me orders. My dad. He never left me alone, never gave me my freedom, so I ran away from him. I left the house before I turned nineteen and joined the hippie movement. There I felt I had rights. Nobody told me what to do. Everything was decided communally. Then it ended. Our commune was abandoned because some of us got arrested, others fled to Canada. I was on my own again, and I had to fend for myself. I went from job to job looking for something that I would like, something that would give me freedom. That proved to be impossible. I couldn’t do anything, so I went back home and went to college. True, my parents welcomed me home with open arms, like the prodigal son, but soon it was the same. Daddy’s yelling and orders, orders, orders. Orders coming out my nose. I could only stand a year of it, then I left again. I got my B.A. later, when I lived alone.

Again, I went from job to job looking for something that I’d like, but I couldn’t find it. Then I met Jake. I thought this was it, this was what I was looking for. We got married and soon I had my baby. Then it all turned upside down. Jake was from a large land-owning family. He had been dispossessed because of something he did when he was young and so he did not have any land. He had his job and that was all. We never owned anything. We rented apartments, took busses and subways to work, so something inside him snapped. He wanted to own something. The only “things” within his reach were me and the baby. He wanted to own us both.

I managed to get away. First, I literally ran away, then I got a divorce. He had Jenny. He had a job, so he got custody. I was furious, but there was nothing I could do. Eventually we worked out our differences and became friends, but the memory of him wanting to own me, like a piece of furniture, remained.

I became a junior executive in my accounting firm under a very good boss. She was smart, beautiful, and nice. Now we had this guy who was a mean, stupid, ugly, sexist bastard. Once again, I felt owned. He was my boss, so it was his job to give me orders, but not like the ones he gave me. I was strong and endured a lot of things, but now for some reason, I couldn’t stand it anymore. I knew it was time to leave. So, I spent the whole daydreaming of ultimate freedom on the beaches and mountains of Hedonia with gorgeous, smiling guys aiming to please me.

At five o’clock I finally took the elevator to the lobby and went out into the chill of a January afternoon. The Christmas decorations on Fifth Avenue were still hanging on the lampposts and buildings, meaningless now that the holidays were over. I walked down 45th Street toward Times Square and then I hailed a cab.

“Where to?” Asked the cabby as politely as those words can be said.

“Pembroke Street, Coney Island” I answered absently. We were off through the antlike traffic of rush hour New York City. I kept thinking about the ad. The muscular guys from the pictures were whispering my name and the words “ultimate freedom” over and over again.

Somewhere around Union Square I decided. I saw a pay phone and I told the driver to stop. I gave him a twenty and not waiting for the change I rushed to the phone. The red numbers were going through my head as I hesitated one more time before depositing my quarter. Finally, I picked up the receiver and dialed the number.

“Hedonian embassy, may I help you?” said a young handsome voice at the other end.

“Yes,” I muttered, “I’m calling about your advertisement in the Times.”

“How may I help you?”

“I think I’d like to go.”

“Wonderful,” the voice sounded genuinely pleased, “would you like to come by and talk it over with us? There are many arrangements to be made.”

“Yes, I’d like that.”

“Well, we are at 444 East Twenty-Second Street, fourth floor, suite 19. Come by any time tonight, we are open until midnight.”

“Thank you,” I uttered “I will be there very soon.”

“Alright then, see you soon. Bye, bye now.”

I felt almost relieved, as if this had been a burden on me all day. And I also felt wonderful, almost ecstatic, I couldn’t wait to tell the news to Jenny. Immediately I picked up the phone again and dialed her number.

“Jenny. Guess what? Did you see the ad in the Times… yes, the one for Hedonia, how did you know… yes, I’m going.” For a moment there was silence on the other end, and then Jenny spoke.

“Can I go with you?”

We met in front of the building at 444 East Twenty Second Street at seven. Jenny looked radiant as always, she was wearing her favorite coat, the one she got from me on her seventeenth birthday. She was carrying a suitcase which, as she explained, she packed in a hurry.

“I just brought a few of my favorite things” she said before we entered the building. I asked if she thought we would be going right away, and she answered she didn’t think that at all, she just didn’t want to go back home. She said she would stay with me for the few days, just until we left, if it was OK of course. I smiled.

“You know you can stay with me anytime.” I told her.

We went inside and took the elevator to the fourth floor. Just down the hall on the right was a huge glass door on which written in large red letters were the words “Embassy of the Republic of Hedonia.” I pushed the door, and we went into a red carpeted room. There was a desk on the right behind which a young man with long blonde hair was sitting. His face was young, yet I could see that he had been through a lot. Jenny liked him right away. She smiled at him, and he smiled back.

“You must be the lady that called,” he said stretching out his hand to Jenny and staring into her eyes.

“No. Actually I’m the lady that called” I interrupted.

“Oh, forgive me madame.” He bowed his head to me as a sign of apology. “I did not recognize you, but now that you have spoken it is clear that I have made a mistake” he tried to cover up his gaffe, speaking and moving suavely. “So, you are the one interested in emigrating to Hedonia.”

“Actually, we both are” Jenny jumped in, staring at him in turn. “Oh yes! That is wonderful” he exclaimed. “Please ladies, follow me.”

We walked behind him into an office the door of which was graced with a gold plaque with the word “Ambassador” engraved on it. The room was a little darker than the reception area, but it was much cozier. The carpeting was the same, but the old-fashioned furniture and artwork on the walls and the fireplace in the corner made the room much nicer.

The man sitting at the old mahogany desk was about my age. He was quite large, and his face was red. He was wearing a pin stripe suit, and he was grinning from ear to ear.

“Welcome!” he bellowed, “please sit down. Let me start by saying how glad I am that you have decided to emigrate to Hedonia.”

“We didn’t” I broke in “I was thinking of going when I saw your ad, but not emigrating. I thought it would be a tourist visit.”

“Ah, my dear lady. Unfortunately, that is impossible. You must have not read our advertisement very carefully. It statedplainly that in order to go to Hedonia one must emigrate. It is not unreasonable. Once you see it, you will never want to leave. We have no tourists in Hedonia. We used to get them, but they all liked it so much that they stayed for good. It is truly a wonderful place, as you will see.”

His tirade shocked me somewhat. To my even greater surprise Jenny was not astonished at all. She was still staring at the young receptionist who was now sitting comfortably in an armchair by the fireplace.

“I really did not know…” my voice trailed off.

“Oh, please madame, do not be frightened, you do not have to make up your mind this instant. Come let me show you our movie.” Saying that he pressed a button on his desk and the wall behind him parted and a screen appeared.

Images flashed before our eyes of blue seas, yellow beaches, green rivers, white houses, red sports-cars, naked musclemen, orange sunsets, and on, and on, for what seemed like an eternity, and yet when the movie was done, I discovered that it only lasted three minutes. I was not sure what happened then, but now I suspect that the movie was full of subliminal messages, for when it was over, I had no qualms about signing the appropriate immigration papers.

The Ambassador only wanted our addresses and assured me that my things would be transported to Hedonia immediately if I wanted to leave right away on the ten o’clock flight. If not, he said I could go home, pack, and then take the two-a.m. flight. I chose the second option, because I wanted to have time to call my parents and some friends and my boss to tell him I wouldn’t be in in the morning. Jenny went with him to catch the first plane. It all seemed so natural. I don’t know why I didn’t question the expediency with which everything was done, after all it was hard to believe. But I didn’t, I went home and called my boss, then I packed, and then I called my mother in St. Paul.

“Hello,” she said in a trembling old voice that made me feel guilty for a moment because I hadn’t called her in quite some time.

“Hello ma,” I said.

“Hello darling, how are you? You haven’t called in so long, I was worried. Is your job okay?”

“Yes ma, I’m fine.”

“Are you sure dear? Are you eating well? You never were a very good cook; you should get a nice young man who can cook.”

“Ma please, I’m fine.”

“Good.”

“I have some important news ma.”

“You do? Are you getting married? You’re not in trouble, are you? Your father would be so upset, but if it’s a wedding he’ll be so happy.”

“No ma it’s not a wedding. I’m leaving the country.” There was a moment of silence, then. “You’re leaving the country?”

“Yes ma. I’m going to Hedonia.”

“Where?”

“Hedonia.”

“Why? Don’t you love your country?”

“I do but…”

“But what dear?”

“This place is perfect. Freedom ma, absolute freedom, the ultimate freedom. No more work in a stuffy office in a big smoggy city. No more rush hour traffic, no more of this garbage. It looks really wonderful.” I don’t know why I thought “ultimate freedom” meant all these things.

“If you don’t like the city, why don’t you just come home, we’ll give you the keys to grandma’s camp in the woods, you can go live there for a while.”

“No ma, I’ve decided. I don’t want to stay in the States.”

“Is this another spur of the moment thing, like your move to the big city and your marriage.”

“Ma, I told you not to bring that up,” the anger in me began to swell.

“I’m sorry dear, but it seems just like that. Spur of the moment. You always were very impulsive.”

“It’s not an impulse, it was a well thought out decision,” I lied.

“If you say so dear, but daddy will be so disappointed that you’re leaving the States. I suppose you’ll never visit any more.”

“Of course I will ma. I’ll come back often.”

“That’s what you said when you left for New York.”

“But you know that I don’t have enough money to come back.”

“Well, what makes you think that you will now?”

“I know ma. I’ll make lots of money, and everything is cheap there. I’ll write often too.”

“I know you will. When are you leaving dear?”

“Tomorrow morning.”

“What about Jenny?”

“She’s coming with me.”

“I see.”

A pause, then “I’ll miss you” I said wiping the tears that were slowly trickling from my eyes.

“We’ll miss you…”

And I hung up the phone.

About half an hour later my phone rang. It was daddy.

“What’s this I hear about you leaving the country?” He asked in a stern voice.

“I’m going away to Hedonia.”

“Hedonia! Why in the world would you want to go to live on a little island in the middle of the ocean, tossed by the wind and current of the sea.” Daddy was very melodramatic.

“I’m not going because it’s far away but because there’s freedom there.”

“Freedom! Since when do you not have freedom in the U.S. of A.? What in the world are you talking about! Of all people you’re a good one to be talking about freedom. Who left home before turning nineteen to `find freedom’ and became involved in some hippy movement of long-haired, unwashed, drug addicted freaks in order to exercise her freedom of speech? Who went for months on end without writing, calling, or sending word home just because she wanted to be on her own? And who came home only to beg for money when she had no job? Tell me who was the person that did this? Did we ever even so much as scold you for doing that? Did we ever refuse to help you when you were in need? And you left us anyway. Went to explore the country, to seek your own fortune. Moved away to New York, married some guy, got pregnant, got divorced. Never wrote, never called, never came home. And now this. Leaving the country! I never heard of such a thing.”

I was crying. He was absolutely right. Nothing he said was untrue and it all hurt. I wanted to tell him I did all that just to go against tradition, just to disobey him, just to disobey the customs, but he would never, he could never understand.

“Well, I won’t stand for it you hear?” He continued. “I will not let you leave the country. I forbid you to leave the country!” He yelled and I hung up on him, like I had so many times in the past. This phone-call only convinced me that what I was doing was right. No one would ever order me to do anything. Everywhere I went all my life it was always the same “do this, do that,” well I was sick of it.

It sounds childish for a forty-year-old to say that. It sounds to like something a teenager would do. It was. I had done that as a teenager. I had gone away but it obviously wasn’t far enough. This would be my final departure. I would never come back to my dad, my boss who told me what to do, my ex-husband who still thought he had something to say, and everybody who ever had anything to order me. I was leaving all of this behind and I felt that it was about time.

Exercises

1. Complete the gaps with the words from the list.

1. Some junior executives were allowed to ………………… a lawsuit.

2. I ………………… before picking up the receiver.

3. The lady looked ………………… wearing stylish vintage clothes and sapphire earrings she got on her 50th birthday.

4. To my great surprise Jenny wasn’t ………………… at all.

5. The blurred photo ………………… me from the front page of the magazine.

6. ………………… rate is getting higher and higher nowadays.

7. I’d love to have somebody to give ………………… .

8. I felt ………………… hearing the voice from the distance.

9. There was a huge glass door with words ‘Embassy of the Republic of Hedonia’ ………………… on it.

10. The wall behind ………………… and a screen appeared.

2. Complete the table with:

A. British English/American English counterparts.

BRITISH ENGLISH

AMERICAN ENGLISH

flat

1

lift

2

scream

3

underground

4

rubbish

5

cosy

6

taxi

7

B. synonyms from the text.

keep

8

escape

9

due to

10

appear

11

persuade

12

stop

13

surprised

14

finish

15

perfect

16

moment

17

upset

18

look for

19

final

20

3. Make collocations by matching words from two columns.

1.

stuffy

A

some reason

2.

alimony

B

payments

3.

for

C

of the moment

4.

minority

D

suit

5.

prodigal

E

hour

6.

rush

F

message

7.

antlike

G

rights

8.

pin stripe

H

son

9.

subliminal

I

office

10.

spur

J

traffic

4. Insert the missing prepositions.

1. My life was full ……. problems.

2. I truly believed ……. a state run according to the principles set out by Mill and Locke.

3. A system of government is based ……. the consensus of the governed.

4. I was ……. my own again.

5. I was surprised and I had to fend ……. myself.

6. The only “things” ……. his (Jake’s) reach were me and the baby.

7. She (Jenny) was still staring ……. the young receptionist.

8. She was now sitting comfortably ……. an armchair by the fireplace.

9. ……. the whole day I went around work thinking of nothing but “ultimate freedom”.

10. I couldn’t complain ……. the money.

Key

1.

1. launch, 2. hesitated, 3. radiant, 4. astonished, 5. beckoned, 6. unemployment, 7. orders, 8. relieved, 9. written, 10. parted

2.

A)

1. apartment; 2. elevator; 3. yell; 4. subway; 5. garbage; 6. cozy; 7. cabby

B)

8. maintain; 9. run away; 10. because of; 11. seem; 12. convince; 13. interrupt; 14. astonished; 15. end; 16. ideal; 17. instant; 18. miserable; 19. seek; 20. ultimate

3.

1. I; 2. B 3. A; 4. G; 5. H; 6. E; 7. J; 8. D; 9. F; 10. C

4.

1. of; 2. in; 3. on; 4. on; 5. for; 6. within; 7. at; 8. in; 9. For; 10. about