La lección-prueba de control

Entonces, ustedes han pasado (deberían de haber pasado) el curso completo del idioma inglés. Ahora es tiempo de mostrar un poco de independencia, evaluando así su nivel de conocimiento.

A continuación se les invita a leer y escuchar un texto adecuado para esto: Rost’s story. Ya habíamos mencionado quién es Rost y qué es este mundo extraño a su alrededor en la lección 39. La traducción del texto no está proporcionada a propósito para que no la miren, sin embargo, hay pistas para todos los momentos difíciles. Están marcados con una línea de puntos por debajo de la palabra o frase, hay que pasar en mouse por encima de ellas o presionar con el dedo, tal y como se hacía anteriormente con las claves. Tomando en cuenta las pistas, no ha de haber dificultades con el texto, pero si al final del todo no entienden el texto, quiere decir que no pasaron la lección del control y tienen que repasar este curso. Lo mismo ocurre con el audio. Si no pueden entenderlo escuchando, significa que hicieron mal trabajo con el texto o que en general estaban ignorando la presencia de los audios en las lecciones anteriores, que contenían muchos audios, suficientes para que ustedes ya se acostumbraran al discurso inglés, además, en todo el curso se usaron audios claros y de alta calidad.

La principal dificultad del texto es una gran cantidad de palabras nuevas, aparte tienen que recordar las palabras ya conocidas. Por lo tanto, el vocabulario de la lección está dividido en dos partes. Primero aprendan la primera parte, es obligatoria y contiene palabras importantes o fáciles o significados adicionales de las palabras ya conocidas. La segunda parte no es obligatoria si no la aprenden, simplemente revísenla. Aparte, en el texto van a encontrar algunas pistas adicionales marcadas con una línea de puntos.

Vocabulary

I

II

— I want to know Rost’s story. Why he was made an outcast. He never told me – said he took an oath of silence. What did he do? What crime did he commit?
— I will tell you if you wish. But it is a long story. Are you sure you want to hear it now?
— Of course, I want to hear it. Tell me.
— Rost never committed any crime. He was an outcast by choice.
— What? What do you mean?
— Many years ago... a band of murderous outlanders, twelve in number, struck without warning. At Mother’s Vigil they took hostages, and then pressed on, headed for Devil’s Thirst.
— Mother’s Vigil? Where’s that?
— You would know it as the Forsaken Village. But at the time, many families lived there. Rost’s was one of them. His mate was killed fighting the outlanders. And his daughter was among those taken hostage.
— His daughter? What was her name?
— Alana. She was just six years old.
— Nora braves couldn’t stop twelve outlanders? Or rescue the hostages?
— It was quite impossible. We outnumbered them, but every time a brave came within bowshot, the outlanders killed a hostage.
— What did they come here to do?
— That was never discovered. We couldn’t track closely enough to observe them. We know they camped beyond Devil’s Thirst for two days. There were reports of... strange noises. And then, as suddenly as they came, the outlanders made their way back to the border and disappeared.
— What happened to Rost’s daughter? She was... killed?
— Rost was one of the braves who tracked the outlanders – keeping his distance. There were six hostages still alive when they reached the border, Alana among them. Rather than release them, the outlanders slit their throats, and left the corpses just across the border, mocking us.
— Why?
— Cruelty. They knew the faithful Nora would not leave the Sacred Land to collect the bodies, let alone pursue them. They thought themselves safe from our vengeance.
— Are you saying that Rost went after them? That he became an exile?
— No. Rost was beside himself with grief, but even so, he would never have broken taboo.
— Then what did he do?
— He called upon the most terrible and secret rite of the Nora tribe. He begged to be made a Death-Seeker.
— A Death-Seeker? What is that?
— One who dies to go seeking, and in seeking, brings death to others. ...
— I don’t understand.
— ... He gathered the bodies of the slain, and returned them. And then he set out in pursuit, not as an exile, but a weapon of vengeance. A barbed arrow, shot from a bow, never to return.
— But... Rost did return.
— Yes. A full year later, and terribly wounded. He collapsed at the border of the Sacred Land. A hunting party came upon him. He was... delirious. In agony. By law, he should have died where he lay... but one of the hunters broke taboo, and reaching across the border, she dragged him to our side.
— Who was she?
— A brave who’d lost a mate and two sons to the very outlanders that Rost pursued.
— So Rost never finished his mission?
— To the contrary, he killed all twelve. Tracked them to disparate places the world over, he said. ... The last he killed nearly got the best of him. Wounded, he stumbled and crawled back to us, hoping to die as close to the Sacred Land as he could. He never expected, nor asked, to be dragged across the border and nursed back to health. That was done to him. Leaving us, the Matriarchs, in a difficult position.
— Why couldn’t you just welcome him back?
— Rost had been made a Death-Seeker, Aloy. He no longer had any place among the tribe. By law, he should have been driven back out. But we couldn’t bring ourselves to do that. So we offered a compromise.
— You made him an outcast.
— Yes, we offered to do so, on the condition he never speak to anyone of this... exception.
— After all he did, all he suffered, to be declared an outcast was his reward?
— Rost was overjoyed. He never expected to live another day in the Sacred Land... He resolved to spend the rest of his days in solitude, and was happy to do so.
— But then you found me, and gave me to him.
— Yes. Another compromise. The Matriarchs feared you, and would not let you be raised by the tribe. And so we turned to Rost. I knew that he would take care of you, bring you up, teach you to worship All-Mother and respect the ways of the tribe.
— He certainly tried, anyway... You took a man who’d lost his daughter, and made him raise an infant girl? Doesn’t that strike you as callous?
— I’m inclined to think the course of events has shown the wisdom of our choice. And I’m quite certain that from the moment he laid eyes on you, he saw you as a gift, and never a burden.
— All right, Teersa. That’s quite a story.

Las palabras de despedida en la tumba de Rost:

Well, I’ll... I’ll try to come back if I can, but... I... I guess this... this might be it. Thank you, Rost. Thank you for everything.