Reading Check

1. Spain (Paragraph 1)

2. Abortion/an operation (Various paragraphs)

3. Spanish (Paragraph 102)

4. Licorice (Paragraph 26)

Short Answer

1. The man is trying to pressure Jig into getting an abortion. (Paragraphs 41-99)

2. Answers will vary. A possible answer: Jig is characterized as imaginative (Paragraphs 9 and 70-72), but also detached. (Paragraph 63)

3. Answers will vary. A possible answer: The American is characterized as oversimplifying the situation (Paragraph 47) and pushy. (Paragraphs 98-99)

4. The pregnancy is causing tension because it threatens to interrupt the couple’s carefree life of travel and leisure. The American wants to end the pregnancy (Paragraph 49), but Jig’s terse unwillingness to agree to it causes the story’s palpable tension. (Paragraph 70)