Papa, who was in the midst of drinking his café au lait, said "ouch! catastrophies in view! and Mama, that didn't please her that Papa said that, and she began to cry (not with tears) that each time his/her Mama, my Grandmother, was doing something, Papa was finding fault, and Papa said that he was wanting to drink his café au lait alone (quietly) and Mama told him that oh! of course, she was just good for preparing the café au lait and for doing the housework, and Papa said that he had never said that, but that that wasn't too much to ask , that wanting a little peace in the house, he who was working hard, so that Mama would have enough to prepare the café au lait. (WHEW, whoever is telling this finally stopped for breath!) And while Papa and Mama were talking, I opened the package, and it was terrific: it was a box of colored pencils! I was so happy that I began to run, to jump and to dance in the dining room with my box, and all the pencils (sont = misprint) fell.
That starts well! Papa said
I don't understand your attitude, Mama said.
And then, first of all, I don't see what the catastrophies are that can provoke these colored pencils. Non, really, I don't see.
There is some slang there and popular language. For example "terrible" is a good think, not a bad thing! The idiom "trouver à redire" = to find fault with, I doubt you would know that one.
Bonne chance pour demain!
Sra (aka Mme)
i understand what this paragraph is generally talking about but i feel that i really don't understand it (i have a reading comprehension quiz on this tomorrow) can someone help?
Papa, qui était en train de prendre son café au lait, a dit "aie, des catastrophes en perspective!" et maman, ça ne lui a pas plu que papa dise ça, et elle s'est mise à crier que chaque fois que sa maman, ma mémé, faisait quelque chose, papa trouvait à redire, et papa a dit qu'il voulait prendre son café au lait tranquille, et maman lui a dit que, oh! bien sûr, elle était juste bonne à préparer le café au lait et à faire le ménage, et papa a dit qu'il n'avait jamais dit ça, mais que ce n'était pas trop demander que de vouloir un peu la paix à la maison, lui qui travaillait durement pour que maman ait de quoi préparer le café au lait. Et pendant que papa et maman parlaient, moi j'ai ouvert le paquet, et c'était terrible: c'était une boîte de crayons de couleur! J'étais tellement content que je me suis mis à courir, à sauter et à danser dans la salle à manger avec ma boîte, et tous les crayons sone tombés.
Ça commence bien! A dit papa
Je ne comprends pas ton attitude a dit maman
Et puis, d’abord, je ne vois pas quelles sont les catastrophes que peuvent provoquer ces crayons de couleur. Non, vraiment, je ne vois pas
2 answers
oh merci beaucoup! It really makes sense now...i was wondering why he thought the colored pencils were "terrible" because i didn't know "terrible" meant a good thing...thank-you!