Expressions with "take" and idioms with colours (New Destinations B1+)

New Destinations B1+ Module 8 Expressions with "take" and idioms with colours

SPANISH STUDENTS 10/22/25 In the sentence 'The author chose to juxtapose the wealthy neighborhood with the impoverished area to highlight social inequality,' what does 'juxtapose' most likely mean based on context clues? * 1 point to separate completely to describe in detail to criticize harshly to place side by side for comparison When reading 'This paradox confused everyone: the more he tried to save time, the less time he seemed to have,' what can you infer about a paradox? * 1 point a mathematical equation a simple solution a type of poem a contradictory statement that reveals truth The passage states: 'The author's use of symbolism was evident when the broken mirror represented the character's shattered dreams.' Based on this context, symbolism involves: * 1 point using objects to represent deeper meanings creating rhyming patterns writing in chronological order using literal descriptions only In the text 'Please elaborate on your answer by providing specific examples and detailed explanations,' the word 'elaborate' suggests the need to: * 1 point use simpler words change the topic add more detail make it shorter The critic wrote: 'The actor's performance captured every nuance of emotion, from subtle sadness to barely contained rage.' What does 'nuance' refer to in this context? * 1 point subtle variations in meaning simple emotions loud expressions obvious differences When the text says 'The implication of her silence was clear to everyone in the room, though she never spoke a word,' what does 'implication' mean? * 1 point a command given a direct statement a question asked a conclusion drawn indirectly The scientist stated: 'Based on our limited observations, our hypothesis suggests that plants grow faster with classical music.' What is a hypothesis? * 1 point a type of experiment a proven fact a final conclusion a possible explanation needing more evidence In 'Three witnesses were able to corroborate the defendant's alibi, strengthening his case significantly,' the word 'corroborate' most likely means: * 1 point to question or doubt to confirm or support to change the story to ignore completely The passage reads: 'The student needed to justify her controversial thesis with solid evidence and logical reasoning.' What does 'justify' mean here? * 1 point to make it longer to make excuses for to avoid explaining to prove something is reasonable When the text states 'The researcher was able to synthesize information from five different studies to create a comprehensive theory,' what does 'synthesize' involve? * 1 point copying one source exactly combining multiple sources to create something new rejecting all previous research focusing on only one idea When a reader encounters 'The symbolism in the novel was complex, with the recurring image of doors representing new opportunities throughout the story,' they should: * 1 point memorize all symbols skip symbolic passages look for deeper representational meanings focus only on the literal meaning If a teacher says 'Your essay needs more elaboration - expand on your main points with examples and analysis,' what critical thinking skill is being requested? * 1 point developing ideas with supporting details summarizing briefly using fewer examples changing the topic entirely In the passage 'The dark clouds gathering on the horizon seemed to foreshadow the troubles that would soon befall the village,' what literary technique is being demonstrated? * 1 point The author is using environmental details to hint at future plot developments The author is focusing on realistic weather descriptions The author is using weather to predict actual meteorological events The author is describing a coincidental weather pattern When analyzing 'Sarah knew the antagonist in her favorite novel wasn't just evil—he represented the fear of change that many people experience,' what deeper understanding about antagonists is revealed? * 1 point Antagonists are always completely evil characters Antagonists can represent abstract concepts or human struggles Antagonists must be human characters Antagonists only exist to create action scenes In the sentence 'The protagonist's journey wasn't just about reaching the destination—it was about discovering who she truly was,' what does this suggest about effective protagonists? * 1 point Protagonists must always succeed in their missions Protagonists should remain unchanged throughout the story Protagonists undergo both external and internal development Protagonists should focus only on external goals When the text states 'The word 'home' carried different connotations for each character—warmth and safety for some, confinement and obligation for others,' what critical reading skill is being highlighted? * 1 point Memorizing dictionary definitions Understanding that words have only one correct meaning Identifying grammatical structures Recognizing that word meanings can vary based on personal experience In 'While the denotation of 'snake' is simply a reptile, the author's use of it to describe the character suggests something far more sinister,' what analytical skill is required? * 1 point Understanding reptile biology Memorizing animal classifications Distinguishing between literal and figurative meanings Identifying sentence structure When examining 'The author's tone shifted from hopeful in the opening chapters to increasingly cynical as the story progressed,' what does this reveal about sophisticated writing? * 1 point Tone is unimportant in storytelling Tone changes reflect the author's developing attitude toward the subject Only the ending tone matters Authors should maintain the same tone throughout In analyzing 'The theme of the novel wasn't stated directly but emerged through the characters' repeated struggles with moral choices,' what does this demonstrate about themes? * 1 point Themes develop through patterns in the narrative Themes are only found in the conclusion Themes should always be explicitly stated Themes must be simple moral lessons When the passage reads 'From the character's nervous glances and hesitant speech, readers can infer that she's hiding something important,' what critical thinking process is being described? * 1 point Following explicit plot statements Memorizing character descriptions Making random guesses about character motivations Using textual evidence to draw logical conclusions In 'The ending was deliberately ambiguous, allowing readers to decide whether the character's actions were heroic or selfish,' what does this suggest about sophisticated literature? * 1 point Good stories always have clear, definitive endings Unclear endings indicate poor writing Ambiguity can enhance reader engagement and interpretation Authors should avoid confusing readers When analyzing 'The controversial decision to ban the book sparked debates about censorship versus protecting young readers,' what critical thinking skill is most important? * 1 point Choosing one side immediately Examining multiple perspectives before forming an opinion Avoiding difficult topics entirely Following popular opinion In 'Each character's perspective on the same event revealed how personal experiences shape our understanding of truth,' what deeper concept is being explored? * 1 point All perspectives are equally valid Perspective is unimportant in understanding events There is only one correct way to view any situation Personal background influences how we interpret events When the text states 'The community proved resilient, rebuilding not just their homes but their hope after the disaster,' what does this reveal about the concept of resilience? * 1 point Resilience encompasses both practical and emotional recovery Resilience is an innate trait that cannot be developed Resilience means avoiding all difficulties Resilience only involves physical recovery In analyzing 'The author's portrayal of the character's empathy—her ability to understand her enemy's pain even while fighting him—added complexity to the conflict,' what does this suggest about empathy? * 1 point Empathy means agreeing with everyone Empathy makes people weak in conflicts Empathy should be avoided in difficult situations Empathy can coexist with opposition and create moral complexity When examining 'The character's integrity was tested when telling the truth would hurt people she loved,' what does this reveal about integrity? * 1 point Integrity means always following rules regardless of consequences Integrity means never causing any harm to others Integrity is only important in public situations Integrity involves making difficult moral choices even when costly In 'The student learned to advocate for her ideas by presenting evidence rather than just stating opinions,' what critical skill is being developed? * 1 point Supporting positions with logical reasoning and evidence Avoiding controversial topics entirely Learning to argue loudly and persistently Always agreeing with authority figures If you rewrote a scene from 'The Birchbark House' from Omakayas's grandmother's first-person perspective instead of Omakayas's, how would this most likely change the reader's understanding? * 1 point Nothing would change since they're both female characters The language would become more formal and difficult The story would become less interesting because adults are boring Readers would gain wisdom from experience but lose the innocence of childhood discovery In a plot diagram, the rising action serves which critical purpose beyond simply building toward the climax? * 1 point To provide background information about the setting To confuse readers so the ending is surprising To develop character relationships and establish stakes that make the climax meaningful To make the story longer and more detailed When analyzing the falling action in 'The Birchbark House,' which element would be most important to consider when writing an alternate version? * 1 point Whether the consequences of the climax align with the new direction you want the story to take Making sure it's shorter than the rising action Including a moral lesson for readers How quickly the conflicts get resolved In the exposition of a story, conflict serves which essential function that many readers don't realize? * 1 point To immediately grab attention with action scenes To provide comic relief before serious events To show off the author's writing skills To establish what the characters characterization/personality, which determines what they' must learn to overcome as they face more problems

Q1. A teacher designs a lesson where students compute real-life percentages such as discounts and savings. 👉 A student calculates 15% of 200 to determine savings in a purchase. What is the correct result? A. 20 B. 25 C. 30 D. 35 Q2. In a classroom activity, learners compare numbers to find the highest common factor for grouping materials evenly. 👉 What is the GCF of 24 and 36? A. 6 B. 8 C. 12 D. 18 📘 FRACTIONS, DECIMALS, AND POWERS Q3. A learner converts fractions into percentages for data interpretation. 👉 What is 3/4 expressed as a percentage? A. 50% B. 60% C. 75% D. 80% Q4. A student models exponential growth using repeated multiplication. 👉 What is the value of 252^525? A. 25 B. 30 C. 32 D. 64 📘 ALGEBRA (EQUATIONS AND EXPRESSIONS) Q5. A teacher guides students to solve equations that represent real-life situations. 👉 Solve: 2x+8=202x + 8 = 202x+8=20 A. x = 4 B. x = 6 C. x = 8 D. x = 10 Q6. Students simplify expressions to understand relationships between quantities. 👉 Simplify: 3(x+4)−2x3(x + 4) - 2x3(x+4)−2x A. x + 12 B. x + 4 C. 5x + 4 D. 5x + 12 📘 FUNCTIONS AND GRAPHING Q7. A student analyzes a linear equation to determine its rate of change. 👉 What is the slope of y=3x−5y = 3x - 5y=3x−5? A. -5 B. -3 C. 3 D. 5 Q8. A learner evaluates functions to predict outcomes. 👉 If f(x)=2x+3f(x) = 2x + 3f(x)=2x+3, what is f(4)f(4)f(4)? A. 7 B. 9 C. 11 D. 14 📘 GEOMETRY Q9. Students explore geometric shapes and their properties through visual models. 👉 What is the sum of interior angles of a triangle? A. 90° B. 180° C. 270° D. 360° Q10. A student calculates the area of a classroom table with dimensions 8 cm by 5 cm. 👉 What is the area? A. 26 sq cm B. 30 sq cm C. 40 sq cm D. 48 sq cm 📘 MEASUREMENT AND FIGURES Q11. A learner determines the volume of a cube used in a science experiment. 👉 What is the volume of a cube with side 4 cm? A. 16 cubic cm B. 32 cubic cm C. 48 cubic cm D. 64 cubic cm Q12. Students identify shapes used in design projects. 👉 How many sides does a hexagon have? A. 5 B. 6 C. 7 D. 8 📘 STATISTICS AND PROBABILITY Q13. A teacher helps students interpret data sets using measures of central tendency. 👉 What is the mean of 4, 6, 8, 10, 12? A. 6 B. 8 C. 10 D. 12 Q14. A class experiment involves flipping a fair coin. 👉 What is the probability of getting heads? A. 1/4 B. 1/3 C. 1/2 D. 2/3 📘 WORD PROBLEMS (APPLICATION) Q15. A car travels 180 km in 3 hours during a learning task on speed. 👉 What is its average speed? A. 45 km/h B. 60 km/h C. 75 km/h D. 90 km/h Q16. Students analyze work efficiency in a project. 👉 If 5 workers complete a task in 12 days, how long will 10 workers take? A. 3 days B. 6 days C. 8 days D. 12 days Q17. A student solves a problem involving ratios in a classroom population. 👉 If the ratio of boys to girls is 3:2 and there are 30 students, how many boys are there? A. 12 B. 15 C. 18 D. 20 Q18. A learner determines the duration of a scheduled trip. 👉 A journey starts at 8:30 AM and ends at 11:15 AM. How long is the trip? A. 2 hrs 15 mins B. 2 hrs 30 mins C. 2 hrs 45 mins D. 3 hrs 15 mins Q19. A student computes simple interest for financial literacy. 👉 What is the simple interest on ₱1000 at 5% for 2 years? A. ₱50 B. ₱75 C. ₱100 D. ₱150 Q20. A learner solves a perimeter problem involving a rectangle. 👉 A rectangle has a length of 12 cm and perimeter of 34 cm. What is the width? A. 5 cm B. 7 cm C. 10 cm D. 11 cm ✅ ANSWER KEY (BASED ON YOUR REVIEWER) (All verified from your uploaded file) [ilide.info...002acd4e5a | PDF] QAnswer1C2C3C4C5B6A7C8C9B10C11D12B13B14C15B16B17C18C19C20A

Orchard / fruit trees Importance of fruit trees • Fruit trees are important for the following uses: They are a source of food, they produce fruits Some are used for making medicines Others provide shade and can also act as wind breakers. Those with beautiful flowers are very decorative. They contain vitamins which means they have nutritional value. Classification of fruit trees • Fruit trees are classified as indigenous and exotic. Indigenous fruit trees • are those that natural grow in a country. • They take longer to grow. • Examples of indigenous fruit trees are: English name Shona Name Snot apple Water berry Red ivory Fig Monkey orange Wild custard apple Mobola fruit Exotic fruit trees • These are trees that were brought from other countries. • They are commercially grown in orchards. • Common exotic fruit trees include: • Exotic fruit trees grow faster than indigenous. Ornamental horticulture • It deals with the growing of decorative plants. • Decorative plants are collectively called ornamental plants. • They include trees, shrubs, flowers and lawn grasses. Importance of ornamental plants They beautify the environment. Flowers often produce a pleasing fragrance. Flowers attract insects like bees that are responsible for pollination. Plants produce oxygen that we need for breathing. • Some are used for making medicines. • Lawn grasses prevent soil erosion. • Plants provide shelter for birds and insects. Classification of ornamental plants • There are four classes of ornamental plants. Trees Shrubs Flowers Lawn Trees: • Ornamental trees are very useful as decorative plants. • This is because most of these trees produce beautiful flowers and some are ever green. • Examples of decorative trees include flamboyant, jacaranda, pines, Cyprus. Shrubs: • A shrub is a woody plant with many branches but smaller than a tree. • Some of them are ornamentals because they produce beautiful flowers. • Others can be cut into decorative shapes. • The golden duranta is good example because it can be cut into nice shapes. • The bougainvillea is another example of a decorative plant because: It can act as a climbing plant. It produces decorative flowers. It can also be cut into any shape using a hedge shear. Flowers: • Flowers have the following functions: They are used for decorations at weddings, hotels and parties. They are used as an expression of love and appreciation such as valentine’s day and get well soon messages. They are useful in bee farming called apiculture as they are a source of nectar used for making honey. Flowers produce a pleasant fragrance used in the production of soaps and scents for perfumes, deodorant and lotions. Lawn: • A lawn is an area of grass that is kept cut short and is usually part of someone's garden or backyard, or part of a park. • Some lawn grasses grown in Zimbabwe are Durban, kikuyu, couch and buffalo lawn. • They prevent soil erosion. • They also provide a comfortable outdoor resting place. Forestry Importance of trees • Trees are important to us and animals. • The Forestry Commission is responsible for taking care of trees in Zimbabwe. • Trees are also important to the environment because: They are a source of fuel in the form of firewood. They are used for making most of the furniture we use. Most medicines come from both exotic and indigenous trees, for example pine trees and gum trees are used for making cough medicines. Trees provide browsing animals like the kudu and giraffe with food. Fruits from both exotic and indigenous fruit trees are a rich source of vitamins Trees give out oxygen which we need for breathing. Trees provide timber that can be used for roofing. • Trees are grouped according to where they come from. • The groups are indigenous and exotic. 1 . Indigenous trees : • These are local trees that have always been grown in their country. Shona name English name Mutohwe Snot apple Mususu Yellow wood Mubvamaropa Blood wood Muuyu Baobab Muonde Fig tree Musasa msasa Characteristics of indigenous trees  take longer to mature  Do not produce straight poles  Grow on their own  Hard wood 2 .Exotic trees : • These are trees that have been brought from another country to be grown in Zimbabwe. Characteristics of exotic trees  They are brought in a country from another country. Grow very fast.  Have soft woods  Usually grow straight  Usually grown in orchards and plantations Common exotic trees in Zimbabwe are: Gum trees Pine trees Wattle Cyprus Date palm Mango Apple pawpaw Causes of plant damage • plant damage is when cultivated crops are kept from normal growth that leads to reduced yields. • plant damage is caused by both living and non living things. • Some of the common causes of crop damage are: (a)Pests • These are living organisms that cause physical damage to crops. • Examples of pests are weevils, army worm, aphids, cutworms and locusts. (b) Diseases • Plant diseases are caused by living organisms called pathogens. • These pathogens infest the plant and take away nutrients. • Fruit rot and bacteria spot are some of the examples of plant diseases. (c) Weeds • these are plant which grow where they are not wanted. • For example if black jack grows in a groundnut field, it is a weed. • Weeds compete for nutrients with cultivated plants. (d) Very high temperatures • High temperatures may cause crops to wither. • High temperatures may also lead to lightning and fires. • This can burn up crops. ( e) Frost • Frost damages crops in winter. • Tomatoes, potatoes, and beans are easily damaged by frost. (f) Drought • drought is when there is no rainfall in a season where it supposed to be raining. • It is one of the most serious forms of crop damage. • Plants wither and die if there is no rainfall. ( g) Animals • Wild animals like baboons often eat maize crops before they mature. • Birds also are a problem to crops like sorghum. Signs of plant damage • There are various signs that show plant damage. • Some can be corrected but some lead to total loss. • Some signs of plant damage include: Lodged plants Flowers and small fruits blown to the ground Dull leaf color Wilted plants Stunted growth

She went by the name of Belisa Crepusculario, not because she had been baptized with that name or given it by her mother, but because she herself had searched until she found the poetry of "beauty" and "twilight" and cloaked herself in it. She made her living selling words. She journeyed through the country from the high cold mountains to the burning coasts, stopping at fairs and in markets where she set up four poles covered by a canvas awning under which she took refuge from the sun and rain to minister to her customers. She did not have to peddle her merchandise because from having wandered far and near, everyone knew who she was. Some people waited for her from one year to the next, and when she appeared in the village with her bundle beneath her arm, they would form a line in front of her stall. Her prices were fair. For five centavos she delivered verses from memory, for seven she improved the quality of dreams, for nine she wrote love letters, for twelve she invented insults for irreconcilable enemies. She also sold stories, not fantasies but long, true stories she recited at one telling, never skipping a word. This is how she carried news from one town to another. People paid her to add a line or two: our son was born, so-and-so died, our children got married, the crops burned in the field. Wherever she went a small crowd gathered around to listen as she began to speak, and that was how they learned about each others' doings, about distant relatives, about what was going on in the civil war. To anyone who paid her fifty centavos in trade, she gave the gift of a secret word to drive away melancholy. It was not the same word for everyone, naturally, because that would have been collective dece it. Each person received his or her own word, with the assurance that no one else would use it that way in this universe or the Beyond. Belisa Crepusculario had been born into a family so poor they did not even have names to give their children. She came into the world and grew up in an inhospitable land where some years the rains became avalanches of water that bore everything away before them and others when not a drop fell from the sky and the sun swelled to fill the horizon and the world became a desert. Until she was twelve, Belisa had no occupation or virtue other than having withstood hunger and the exhaustion of centuries. During one interminable drought, it fell to her to bury four younger brothers and sisters, when she realized that her turn was next, she decided to set out across the 2 plains in the direction of the sea, in hopes that she might trick death along the way. The land was eroded, split with deep cracks, strewn with rocks, fossils of trees and thorny bushes, and skeletons of animals bleached by the sun. From time to time she ran into families who, like her, were heading south, following the mirage of water. Some had begun the march carrying their belongings on their back or in small carts, but they could barely move their own bones, and after a while they had to abandon their possessions. They dragged themselves along painfully, their skin turned to lizard hide and their eyes burned by the reverberating glare. Belisa greeted them with a wave as she passed, but she did not stop, because she had no strength to waste in acts of compassion. Many people fell by the wayside, but she was so stubborn that she survived to cross through that hell and at long last reach the first trickles of water, fine, almost invisible threads that fed spindly vegetation and farther down widened into small streams and marshes. Belisa Crepusculario saved her life and in the process accidentally discovered writing. In a village near the coast, the wind blew a page of newspaper at her feet. She picked up the brittle yellow paper and stood a long while looking at it, unable to determine its purpose, until curiosity overcame her shyness. She walked over to a man who was washing his horse in the muddy pool where she had quenched her thirst. "What is this?" she asked. "The sports page of the newspaper," the man replied, concealing his surprise at her ignorance. The answer astounded the girl, but she did not want to seem rude, so she merely inquired about the significance of the fly tracks scattered across the page. "Those are words, child. Here it says that Fulgencio Barba knocked out El Negro Tiznao in the third round." That was the day Belisa Crepusculario found out that words make their way in the world without a master, and that anyone with a little cleverness can appropriate them and do business with them. She made a quick assessment of her situation and concluded that aside from becoming a prostitute or working as a servant in the kitchens of the rich there were few occupations she was qualified for. It seemed to her that selling words would be an honorable alternative. From that moment on, she worked at that profession, and was never tempted by any other. At the beginning, she offered her merchandise unaware that words could be written outside of newspapers. When she learned otherwise, she calculated the infinite possibilities of her trade and with her savings paid a priest twenty pesos to teach her to read and write, with her three 3 remaining coins she bought a dictionary. She poured over it from A to Z and then threw it into the sea, because it was not her intention to defraud her customers with packaged words. One August morning several years later, Belisa Crepusculario was sitting in her tent in the middle of a plaza, surrounded by the uproar of market day, selling legal arguments to an old man who had been trying for sixteen years to get his pension. Suddenly she heard yelling and thudding hoofbeats. She looked up from her writing and saw, first, a cloud of dust, and then a band of horsemen come galloping into the plaza. They were the Colonel's men, sent under orders of El Mulato, a giant known throughout the land for the speed of his knife and his loyalty to his chief. Both the Colonel and El Mulato had spent their lives fighting in the civil war, and their names were ineradicably linked to devastation and calamity. The rebels swept into town like a stampeding herd, wrapped in noise, bathed in sweat, and leaving a hurricane of fear in their trail. Chickens took wing, dogs ran for their lives, women and children scurried out of sight, until the only living soul left in the market was Belisa Crepusculario. She had never seen El Mulato and was surprised to see him walking toward her. "I'm looking for you," he shouted, pointing his coiled whip at her, even before the words were out, two men rushed her -- knocking over her canopy and shattering her inkwell -- bound her hand and foot, and threw her like a sea bag across the rump of El Mulato's mount. Then they thundered off toward the hills. Hours later, just as Belisa Crepusculario was near death, her heart ground to sand by the pounding of the horse, they stopped, and four strong hands set her down. She tried to stand on her feet and hold her head high, but her strength failed her and she slumped to the ground, sinking into a confused dream. She awakened several hours later to the murmur of night in the camp, but before she had time to sort out the sounds, she opened her eyes and found herself staring into the impatient glare of El Mulato, kneeling beside her. "Well, woman, at last you've come to," he said. To speed her to her senses, he tipped his canteen and offered her a sip of liquor laced with gunpowder. She demanded to know the reason for such rough treatment, and El Mulato explained that the Colonel needed her services. He allowed her to splash water on her face, and then led her to the far end of the camp where the most feared man in all the land was lazing in a hammock strung between two trees. She could not see his face, because he lay in the deceptive shadow of the leaves and the indelible shadow of all his years as a bandit, but she imagined from the way his 4 gigantic aide addressed him with such humility that he must have a very menacing expression. She was surprised by the Colonel's voice, as soft and well-modulated as a professor's. "Are you the woman who sells words?" he asked. "At your service," she stammered, peering into the dark and trying to see him better. The Colonel stood up, and turned straight toward her. She saw dark skin and the eyes of a ferocious puma, and she knew immediately that she was standing before the loneliest man in the world. "I want to be President," he announced. The Colonel was weary of riding across that godforsaken land, waging useless wars and suffering defeats that no subterfuge could transform into victories. For years he had been sleeping in the open air, bitten by mosquitoes, eating iguanas and snake soup, but those minor inconveniences were not why he wanted to change his destiny. What truly troubled him was the terror he saw in people's eyes. He longed to ride into a town beneath a triumphal arch with bright flags and flowers everywhere, he wanted to be cheered, and be given newly laid eggs and freshly baked bread. Men fled at the sight of him, children trembled, and women miscarried from fright, he had had enough, and so he had decided to become President. El Mulato had suggested that they ride to the capital, gallop up to the Palace, and take over the government, the way they had taken so many other things without anyone's permission. The Colonel, however, did not want to be just another tyrant, there had been enough of those before him and, besides, if he did that, he would never win people's hearts. It was his aspiration to win the popular vote in the December elections. "To do that, I have to talk like a candidate. Can you sell me the words for a speech?" the Colonel asked Belisa Crepusculario. She had accepted many assignments, but none like this. She did not dare refuse, fearing that El Mulato would shoot her between the eyes, or worse still, that the Colonel would burst into tears. There was more to it than that, however, she felt the urge to help him because she felt a throbbing warmth beneath her skin, a powerful desire to touch that man, to fondle him, to clasp him in her arms. All night and a good part of the following day, Belisa Crepusculario searched her repertory for words adequate for a presidential speech, closely watched by El Mulato, who could not take his eyes from her firm wanderer's legs and virginal breasts. She discarded harsh, cold words, words 5 that were too flowery, words worn from abuse, words that offered improbable promises, untruthful and confusing words, until all she had left were words sure to touch the minds of men and women's intuition. Calling upon the knowledge she had purchased from the priest for twenty pesos, she wrote the speech on a sheet of paper and then signaled El Mulato to untie the rope that bound her ankles to a tree. He led her once more to the Colonel, and again she felt the throbbing anxiety that had seized her when she first saw him. She handed him the paper and waited while he looked at it, holding it gingerly between thumbs and fingertips. "What the shit does this say," he asked finally. "Don't you know how to read?" "War's what I know," he replied. She read the speech aloud. She read it three times, so her client could engrave it on his memory. When she finished, she saw the emotion in the faces of the soldiers who had gathered round to listen, and saw that the Colonel's eyes glittered with enthusiasm, convinced that with those words the presidential chair would be his. "If after they've heard it three times, the boys are still standing there with their mouths hanging open, it must mean the thing's damn good, Colonel" was El Mulato's approval. "All right, woman. How much do I owe you?" the leader asked. "One peso, Colonel." "That's not much," he said, opening the pouch he wore at his belt, heavy with proceeds from the last foray. "The peso entitles you to a bonus. I'm going to give you two secret words," said Belisa Crepusculario. "What for?" She explained that for every fifty centavos a client paid, she gave him the gift of a word for his exclusive use. The Colonel shrugged. He had no interest at all in her offer, but he did not want to be impolite to someone who had served him so well. She walked slowly to the leather stool where he was sitting, and bent down to give him her gift. The man smelled the scent of a mountain cat issuing from the woman, a fiery heat radiating from her hips, he heard the terrible whisper of her hair, and a breath of sweetmint murmured into his ear the two secret words that were his alone. "They are yours, Colonel," she said as she stepped back. "You may use them as much as you 6 please." El Mulato accompanied Belisa to the roadside, his eyes as entreating as a stray dog's, but when he reached out to touch her, he was stopped by an avalanche of words he had never heard before; believing them to be an irrevocable curse, the flame of his desire was extinguished. During the months of September, October, and November the Colonel delivered his speech so many times that had it not been crafted from glowing and durable words it would have turned to ash as he spoke. He travelled up and down and across the country, riding into cities with a triumphal air, stopping in even the most forgotten villages where only the dump heap betrayed a human presence, to convince his fellow citizens to vote for him. While he spoke from a platform erected in the middle of the plaza, El Mulato and his men handed out sweets and painted his name on all the walls in gold frost. No one paid the least attention to those advertising ploys; they were dazzled by the clarity of the Colonel's proposals and the poetic lucidity of his arguments, infected by his powerful wish to right the wrongs of history, happy for the first time in their lives. When the Candidate had finished his speech, his soldiers would fire their pistols into the air and set off firecrackers, and when finally they rode off, they left behind a wake of hope that lingered for days on the air, like the splendid memory of a comet's tail. Soon the Colonel was the favorite. No one had ever witnessed such a phenomenon: a man who surfaced from the civil war, covered with scars and speaking like a professor, a man whose fame spread to every corner of the land and captured the nation's heart. The press focused their attention on him. Newspapermen came from far away to interview him and repeat his phrases, and the number of his followers and enemies continued to grow. "We're doing great, Colonel," said El Mulato, after twelve successful weeks of campaigning. But the Candidate did not hear. He was repeating his secret words, as he did more and more obsessively. He said them when he was mellow with nostalgia; he murmured them in his sleep; he carried them with him on horseback; he thought them before delivering his famous speech; and he caught himself savoring them in his leisure time. And every time he thought of those two words, he thought of Belisa Crepusculario, and his senses were inflamed with the memory of her feral scent, her fiery heat, the whisper of her hair, and her sweetmint breath in his ear, until he began to go around like a sleepwalker, and his men realized that he might die before he ever sat in the presidential chair. "What's got hold of you, Colonel," El Mulato asked so often that finally one day his chief broke 7 down and told him the source of his befuddlement: those two words that were buried like two daggers in his gut. "Tell me what they are and maybe they'll lose their magic," his faithful aide suggested. "I can't tell them, they're for me alone," the Colonel replied. Saddened by watching his chief decline like a man with a death sentence on his head, El Mulato slung his rifle over his shoulder and set out to find Belisa Crepusculario. He followed her trail through all that vast country, until he found her in a village in the far south, sitting under her tent reciting her rosary of news. He planted himself, spraddle-legged, before her, weapon in hand. "You! You're coming with me," he ordered. She had been waiting. She picked up her inkwell, folded the canvas of her small stall, arranged her shawl around her shoulders, and without a word took her place behind El Mulato's saddle. They did not exchange so much as a word in all the trip; El Mulato's desire for her had turned into rage, and only his fear of her tongue prevented his cutting her to shreds with his whip. Nor was he inclined to tell her that the Colonel was in a fog, and that a spell whispered into his ear had done what years of battle had not been able to do. Three days later they arrived at the encampment, and immediately, in view of all the troops, El Mulato led his prisoner before the Candidate. "I brought this witch here so you can give her back her words, Colonel," El Mulato said, pointing the barrel of his rifle at the woman's head. "And then she can give you back your manhood." The Colonel and Belisa Crepusculario stared at each other, measuring one another from a distance. The men knew then that their leader would never undo the witchcraft of those accursed words, because the whole world could see the voracious-puma eyes soften as the woman walked to him and took his hand in hers. Copyright © 1989 by Isabel Allende From The Stories of Eva Luna, Translated by Margaret Sayers Peden

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