| A | B |
|---|
| Still his hands swam frantically between the slippery silks, looking for his cotton shirts and wool pants. | uncontrollably emotional, crazily |
| What fine food we treated ourselves to with our meager allowances. | very small |
| And he would refuse to eat everything offered to him, always turning his nose away as though someone were offering him a stinky pickle and not a sweet cake. | vegetable or fruit which has been kept in vinegar for a long time |
| "Oh, it's too terrible to think, too terrible to say," I said between gasps and more wailing. | a short, quick breath of air |
| "Stand still, Ying-ying!" she cried, her usual lament, while I giggled and wobbled on the stool. | to make a quiet laughing noise |
| "The third word in the next line," explained Baba, "was worn off the slab, its meaning washed away by centuries of rain, almost lost to posterity forever." | the future |
| The Huangs asked only that I never tell anybody of any importance about the story of my doomed marriage. | certain to fail or be destroyed |
| Amah had shown me that the snake had come out of a colorful box decorated with five evil creatures: a swimming snake, a jumping scorpion, a flying centipede, a dropping-down spider, and a springing lizard. | animal |
| ...she quickly twisted my hair into a single braid off to the side, weaving into it five strands of colorful silk. | single, thin piece |
| And then, after I ceased to be amazed with the pleasant sounds of my voice saying new words, I tugged Amah's sleeve and asked: "Who is the Moon Lady?" | to stop |
| So we decided to hold parties and pretend each week had become the new year. | make believe; act as if something were real when it is not |
| The matchmaker bragged about me: "An earth horse for an earth sheep. This is the best marriage combination." | to say something in a very proud way that you have something or have done something; boast |
| She is crying with a genuine feeling...... | real, sincere |
| I once sacrificed my life to keep my parents' promise. | to give up something in order to do something else |
