The following two excerpts have been taken from the book, ... - Words And Expressions 1

The following two excerpts have been taken from the book, Tuesdays with Morrie, written by Mitch Albom.
The book is about a college Professor, Morrie and one of his students, Mitch Albom, who is also the author of the
book. Mitch sees his professor in a television show and he is reminded of a promise he made sixteen years ago as his
student, to keep in touch with him. He comes to know that the professor is stricken with a rare and incurable disease.
Mitch travels a long distance to meet him and after the first meeting they meet every Tuesday till Morrie passes away.
After reconnecting with his teacher, Mitch finds himself his teacher’s pupil once again.

Listen attentively to the two excerpts from the book, Tuesdays with Morrie and answer the questions that follow. You can listen to the recorded excerpts or you can ask your teacher, friend or sibling to read aloud these excerpts.

1. I remembered what Morrie said during our visit:
“The culture we have does not make people feel good about themselves. And you have to be strong enough to say if the culture doesn’t work, don’t buy it”. Morrie, true to these words, had developed his own culture—long before he got sick. Discussion groups, walks with friends, dancing to his music in the Harvard Square Church. He started a project called Greenhouse, where poor people could receive mental health services. He read books to find new ideas for his classes, visited his colleagues, kept up with old students, wrote letters to distant friends. He took more time eating and looking at nature and 

wasted no time in front of TV sitcoms or “Movies of the Notes Week”. He had created a cocoon of human activities—conversation, interaction, affection—and it filled his life like an overflowing soup bowl. 

2. The last class of my old professor’s life took place once a week in his house, by a window in the study where he
could watch a small hibiscus plant shed its pink leaves. The class met on Tuesdays. It began after breakfast. The
subject was ‘The Meaning of Life’. It was taught from experience.
No grades were given, but there were oral exams each week. You were expected to respond to questions, and
you were expected to pose questions of your own. You were also required to perform physical tasks now and
then, such as lifting the professor’s head to a comfortable spot on the pillow or placing his glasses on the bridge of
his nose. Kissing him goodbye earned you extra credit. No books were required, yet many topics were
covered, including love, work, community, family, ageing, forgiveness and, finally, death.

1.Who is Morrie?
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2.How did Morrie develop his own culture of living?
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3. What was the name of the project Morrie had started?
What was it about?
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4. What did human activities mean to Morrie?
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5. Why was the subject of the class ‘the meaning of life’?
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