Lesson 10 The Road Not Taken

Communicative Functions

What would you do if you were in my shoes?

I'm very upset.

So do you intend to study abroad?

Listen & Think

A. 충고 요구하기

M: I have a problem.

W: What is it?

M: I failed my math test.

W: Oh, no. That's terrible.

M: I can't tell this to my parents! What would you do if you were in my shoes?

W: I would be honest.

Question1: What is the man's problem?

Question2: What does the woman suggest to the man?

B. 화난 것 표현하기

M: What grade did you get?

W: I don't want to say. I'm very upset.

M: You can tell me. Besides, you probably did very well.

W: I got a B+.

M: A B+? What's wrong with you? That's a good grade! I got a C+.

Question1: Why is the woman upset?

Question2: What grade did the man get?

C. 소망, 의지를 묻고 말하기

M: Have you decided which college you're going to?

W: Not yet.

M: Do you intend to stay in Seoul or study abroad?

W: I intend to stay in Korea for a while.

Question1: Which college is the woman going to attend?

Question2: What does the woman intend to do?

Listen & Do

A. Listen & Match

Listen to the dialog and fill in the empty boxes with correct places.

M: Congratulations! I hear you're going to Laurel University.

It's a very good university, isn't it?

W: Yes, but I'm not sure whether I can go there or not. My mother wants me to          study here. Since she's never lived in a big city, she worries about so many          things.... even the traffic accidents rates in big cities disturbs her.

M: I understand how she feels.

W: Still, I really want to go to Laurel University.

What would you do if you were in my shoes?

M: If I were you, I'd go to Laurel. It's a great opportunity.

W: Oh, but how do I persuade my mom to let me go?

M: Tell your mom that big cities are safer than she thinks. In the past ten years, the     traffic accident rates in big cities have been actually going steadily down.

W: Really?

M: Sure. I read it in the newspaper. On the contrary, the traffic accident rates in          small towns have risen. In rural areas, the traffic accident rates have                  stayed about the same, but in big cities, it has gone down.

W: Thank you. You're an angel. See you later!

B. Listen & Write

Listen to the dialog and fill in the blanks with your own words.

M: What's the matter with you, Marie? You look upset.

W: I just had the worst taxi driver. He drove like crazy!

M: Did you tell him to slow down?

W: Of course. I asked him to slow down, but he ignored me.

M: Oh, you must have been very scared.

W: Well, it made me mad, so I said if he didn't stop the taxi, I would call the            police. You know, I had a cell phone.

M: Did he pull over?

W: Yes, he stopped the taxi and I walked home.

C. Listen & Answer

Listen to the dialog and answer the questions.

[Telephone rings]

M: Hello, Joan. This is Mark.

W: Oh, hi, Mark! I've just read in your letter that you and Michelle got engaged.          That's wonderful news! Congratulations!

M: Thank you, Joan.

W: I'm so happy for you, and I'm sure you'll be very happy together.

M: Thanks a lot. Actually, we're having a little party on Friday.

I hope you'll be able to come.

W: Oh, yes. I wouldn't miss it for the world. Well, I bought a little gift for your            engagement. I'll bring it on Friday.

M: That's very nice of you.

W: It's a cuckoo clock. I hope you like it.

M: Of course. I love cuckoo clocks. Thank you.

Listen & Speak 1

Listen to the dialog and practice with your partner.

W: Oh, I'm reading one of my favorite poems.

M: What is it?

W: It's The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost.

M: I know that poem.

W: Ms. Kim said that she would give us extra credit if we did an oral presentation.

M: Are you going to do it?

W: Well, I'm not sure. What would you do if you were in my shoes?

M: I think you should recite the poem.

W: I think you're right. Can I practice reciting it in front of you?

W(teacher): Sure. I'm all ears.

Key point

W: What would you do if you were in my shoes?

M: I think you should recite the poem.

Listen & Speak 2

Fill in the blanks with sentences from the examples below and practice          with your partner.

A: What are you thinking about?

B: Excuse me? What?

A: What's on your mind?

B: I'm very upset because I don't know what I should do.

A: Why is that?

B: My parents want me to go to America.

A: So do you intend to study abroad?

B: Maybe, but I don't know yet.

A: Well, I hope you make the right decision.

B: What would you do if you were in my shoes?

A: It□s up to you. You should do what□s best for you.

Read & Think : The Road Not Taken

M1:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

The Road Not Taken is a famous poem by the American poet Robert Frost. The story of the poem is very simple, but its meaning is a little more complicated. It's about the difficult decisions we have to make as we travel along the road of life. Some of these decisions are very difficult to make. They affect the rest of our lives, and they cannot be undone. Ultimately, we cannot help wondering if we have made the right decision.

The poem begins with a traveler coming to a fork in the road. He has to decide which way to go to continue his journey. Our life can be likened to a physical journey filled with many twists and turns. Throughout this journey, there are times when choices between different paths have to be made. Choosing which path to take can be very difficult, and the decision we make may change our lives. The fork in the road in the poem represents such a choice for the traveler.

The traveler wishes he could take both paths at the same time so he could avoid having to make a decision, but he knows this is not possible. Just as you cannot walk down two separate paths at the same time, there are times in life when we cannot do two things at the same time. We must choose one or the other. Imagine a woman who has to choose between two men who want to marry her. She cannot marry both.

The traveler looks down each path as far as he can see. He tries to decide which one would be better for him to take. He can see only a little way down each path, and it is difficult to tell which is better. They look rather similar, although one path looks as if more travelers use it than the other.

In the same way, when we have to make a difficult decision between two similar choices, we try to imagine how each choice will affect our future. However, we can see only a very little way into the future, and so more often than not we cannot know for sure which is better. Sometimes one choice is more popular for the majority than the other, but the path that is better for most people may not be the best for us. Should we take the popular path, or ".... the one less traveled by"?

In the long run, the traveler decides to take the less popular path, although at one stage he seems to think the two paths are equally worn. In making his decision, the traveler tells himself that he can always go back to the other path another day; "I kept the first for another day!" Then he realizes that the path he has chosen will lead to other paths and that he will probably, after all, never come back.

So it is with life. Many of the important decisions we make in life cannot be undone. Think of the woman in the previous example who has to choose which of two men to marry. She has to reject one of the men in favor of the other.

When the traveler realizes that he cannot go back and that he will never be able to take the other path, he sighs. He seems to feel some sadness. After we have made a difficult decision, we sometimes wonder whether we made the right choice. This is something we can never know for sure because we don't know what would have happened if we had taken the other path. At any rate, the traveler in the poem "... took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference." It changed his life.

Why is this poem so popular among Americans? There may be two reasons, both of which are connected to the individualism of American culture. Decision-making is a very individual process among Americans. Of course, Americans often listen to other people's advice before making a decision, but basically they make decisions on their own. They pay far less attention than in other cultures to the opinions of parents and seniors. In the poem the traveler seems a rather lonely character facing the world alone.

Another reason for the popularity of the poem is that the traveler chooses the less traveled path, and Americans think this is very positive. Doing your own thing, rather than doing what everyone else does, is regarded as admirable by Americans. They believe that most successful people, including poets, take the less traveled path.

Study Notes

A. Sounds

1. Listen carefully.

hot   stop   job   bottle   money   something   tough   enough

2. Listen carefully and fill in the blanks. Read the sentences out loud.

a. The cup is too hot to (touch).

b. He didn't have (enough) money to buy a house.

c. Learning a new language is a (tough) job.

d. Did you take part in the (job) yesterday?

3. Listen to the linking sounds and repeat.

It's^about^the difficult decisions we have^to make^as we travel^along the road^of life.

Do It Yourself

Listen & Do

1. 대화를 듣고, 여자가 구입하기로 한 것을 다음 중에서 모두 골라 쇼핑카트로 연결해 봅시다.

W: Ken, would you please bring me one of those carts over there?

M: What for? You said you would just buy some bread.

W: I change my mind. I'd like to buy some groceries.

M: Don't buy too much, Jennifer.

W: Don't worry. We need some milk, strawberry jam, and... yes, we need a loaf of        bread. Oh, should we get some cheese?

M: No, I'm sure we have some in the fridge.

W: Oh, I see. Wow, those are nice oranges, but they're a bit expensive.

Should I buy them or not?

M: If you're not sure whether to buy something or not, don't buy them.

Then you won't regret it later.

W: You're right.

2. 녹음된 질문에 대한 적절한 응답을 다음 중에서 골라 번호를 써 넣어 봅시다.

1: Would you like to see the movie, The Road Home?

2: What are you going to buy for Jane's birthday?

3: Do you intend to go abroad?

4: When are you going to the library?

Read & Think

다음 글을 읽고, 물음에 답하시오.

Poems are not made by dreamers for dreamers. They are made out of life experiences by individuals who

have lived actively and thought freely, who have been soldiers, athletes, statesmen, farmers, musicians,

businessmen - the list is as endless as the activities of life, but poetry is not life itself. Life, as we live it, is made up of innumerable experiences of every sort, often without pattern or meaning. Out of this mess the poet selects and re-arranges details and events; he orders, clarifies, and intensifies the raw material of life in such a way as to create new experiences that are meaningful.

1. 위 문장에서 다루지 않은 내용을 골라 봅시다.

① 시의 소재                  ② 시가 만들어지는 과정

③ 시의 유형                  ④ 시를 쓰는 사람

2. 다음은 위 글을 요약한 것입니다. 빈 칸에 알맞은 말을 위 글에서 찾아 써 넣어 봅시다.

Poems are made out of life           but poetry is not          itself. The poet creates new                       experiences by rearranging details and events of our life experiences.

Let's Learn More 1

Listen & Do

대화를 듣고, 여자가 남자에게 건강을 위해 가장 우선적으로 권한 것이 무엇인지 골라 봅시다.

W: Jack, did you see the doctor? What did he say?

M: I have a little heart trouble, but it's nothing serious.

W: Heart trouble is very serious!

M: You worry too much.

W: You must stop smoking right away. It's bad for your heart.

M: The doctor said the same thing.

W: When are you going to stop?

M: Right now. Anyway, it's time to take some medicine.

Could you bring me some water?

W: Okay.

Read & Think

다음은 Frost가 자신의 시 The Road Not Taken을 쓰게 된 배경에 대해 말한 것의 일부분입니다. 주어진 질문에 답해 봅시다.

While living in Gloucestershire, England in 1914, I frequently took long walks with my closest friend, Edward Thomas, through the countryside. Thomas would choose route where he could show me rare trees and beautiful flowers; but he often regretted the choice before the end of such a walk. He would sigh over what he might have shown me if we had taken a "better" direction.

1. 이 글에 나타난 Frost의 경험 중, The Road Not Taken에 직접적으로 반영되지 않은 것을 골라 봅시다.

① Thomas와 함께 자주 산책을 했던 일

② Thomas가 아쉬움의 한숨을 쉬곤 했던 일

③ Thomas가 산책로의 선택에 대해 후회하곤 했던 일

④ Thomas가 진귀한 나무와 아름다운 꽃을 보여주었던 일

2. 이 글을 통해 알 수 있는 사실을 다음과 같이 우리말로 요약할 때, 본문을 참조하면서 빈 칸에 들어갈 적절한 말을 써 넣어 봅시다.

∀ Robert Frost의 유명한 시 The Road Not Taken은 Frost가     에 거주하는 동안 자신의 친구 Edward Thomas와 함께 했던      으로부터      을 얻은 시였다는 것을 알 수 있다.

Let's Learn More 2

Listen & Do

1. 대화를 듣고, 남자가 느꼈을 감정을 골라 봅시다.

W: May I help you?

M: Yes, I was supposed to meet Mr. Graham in the coffee shop downstairs at one       o'clock, but he didn't come.

W: Oh, I'm sorry. He called in sick this morning. He couldn't come to the office.

M: What? Why didn't he call me and cancel the appointment?

I've waited for him for an hour. I'm very unhappy about this.

W: I'm sorry, but...

M: Didn't he say anything about me?

W: I'm afraid he didn't. Maybe he was too sick to call you.

M: Nonetheless, he called you. I can't believe this!

2. 잘 듣고, 여자의 문제점과 남자의 조언을 각각 써 봅시다.

M: Good evening, everyone. This is 777 on your FM radio dial.

Now, it's time for Advice from Uncle Amber. Why don't you call us and talk           about your problems? Uncle Amber will give you good advice!

The telephone number is 782-1446. The fax number is 783-1447.

[telephone rings] Oh, we've got our first caller. Hello?

W: Hello? I'm Tricia Jackson. I'm a high school student.

I have a bad habit of being late for school. I miss my bus a few times a week.

M: Do you get up late?

W: Sometimes, but no matter how early I get up, I always forget to do something         until the last minute. What would you advise me to do?

M: Hmm, many people have this problem. Recognizing that you have a problem and     asking for help is a good sign. Ask your dad or mom to help you make a list of      things you need to do every morning. If you use this checklist, you'll never miss      your bus again.

Read & Think

다음 글을 읽고, 물음에 답하시오.

Everyone is a traveler choosing the roads to follow in his or her journey of life. There is never a direct path that gives us only a single direction to follow. □ Regardless of the message that Robert Frost wanted to communicate, his poem "The Road Not Taken" has left its readers with many different interpretations. Readers' experiences and the attitude with which they see their futures determine how they understand the poem. However, this poem clearly demonstrates □ Frost's belief that it is the road that people choose that makes them who they are.

1. 밑줄 친 □부분과 가장 관련이 깊은 말을 골라 봅시다.

① 작품의 본질적인 가치는 영원히 변하지 않는다.

② 문학작품의 해석은 그 작품을 읽는 사람들의 몫이다.

③ 시를 해석할 때는 작가가 전달하고자 하는 의미를 파악해야 한다.

④ 비평가들은 작가가 전달하고자 하는 의미를 파악해야 한다.

2. 밑줄 친 □Frost's belief를 우리말로 간단하게 요약해 봅시다.