She was one of those prettyand charming girls who are sometimes, as if by a mistake of destiny, born intofamily of clerks. (31) _______, no means of being known, understood, loved, orwedded by any rich and distinguished man; and she let herself be married to alittle clerk at the Ministry of Public Instruction.

(32) _______because shecould not dress well, but her unhappiness seemed to be deeper than one mightexpect. She seemed to feel that she had fallen from her proper station in lifeas a woman of wealth, beauty, grace, and charm. She valued these above all elsein life, yet(33) _______.She cared nothing for caste or rank but only for anatural fineness,an instinct for what is elegant, and a suppleness of wit.These would have made her(34) _______If only she could attain them...

She suffered, feeling bornfor all the delicacies and all the luxuries. She suffered from the poverty ofher dwelling, from the wretched look of the walls, from the worn-out chairs,(35) _______.All those things, of which another woman of her rank would nevereven have been conscious, tortured her and made her angry. The sight of thelittle Breton peasant who did her humble housework aroused in her despairingregrets and distracted dreams. She thought of silent antechambers hung (36)_______, lit by tall bronze candelabra, and of two great footmen in kneebreaches sleeping in big armchairs, made drowsy by the heavy warmth of thehot-air stove. She thought of long salons(37) _______, of delicate furniturecarrying priceless curiosities, and of coquettish perfumed boudoirs made fortalks at five o'clock with intimate friends, with men famous and sought after,(38) _______and whose attention they all desire.

When she sat down to dinnerbefore the round table (39) _______,opposite her husband, who declared with anenchanted air. "Ah, the good pot-au-feu! I don't know anything better thanthat,"she thought of best dinners, of shining silverware, of tapestrywhich peopled the walls with ancient personages and with strange birds flyingin the midst of a fairy forest; and(40) _______served on marvelous plates, andof the whispered gallantries which you listened to with a sphinx-like smilewhile you are eating the pink flesh of a trout or the wings of a quail.

(From The Necklace)

A. the equal of the greatest ladies ofthe land

B. from the ugliness of the curtains

C. who thought of herself as anoutstanding woman in the field

D. covered with a tablecloth three daysold

E. whom all women envy

F. a woman who was leading a child

G. fitted up with ancient silk

H. She had no dowry, no expectations

I. She dressed plainly

J. with Oriental tapestry

K. she thought of delicious dishes

L. she could not attain them
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