“ordinary” was the worst word she could find for anything. she and i would argue fiercely because i wanted to be ordinary as desperately as my mother wanted to be “i can’t 2 that hair-do”, she said when i went to the hairdresser with my friend and came back with a pageboy haircut straight out of seventeen magazine, “it’s so terribly ordinary”. not ugly, not unsuitable. but ordinary. her fear of ordinariness came out most strongly in her clothes. “couldn’t you please something else? ” i asked her when she was dressing for parents’ day in tight-fitting pants and a bright pink sweater, with a mexican cape. “what’s wrong with my outfit? ” what wasn’t wrong with it! “it’s just that i wish it would be something more plain,” i said sheepishly, “something that people won’t at.” she looked at me angrily and drew herself to her full height of five feet ten inches. “are you of your own mother? because if you are, isadora, i feel for you. i really do.” 1. a) unusual; b) peculiar; c) uncommon d) odd; 2. a) agree; b) approve; c) stand; d) vote 3. a) wear; b) put; c) clothe; d) dress 4. a) peep; b) watch; c) glance; d) stare 5. a) over; b) up; c) on; d) at 6. a) shamed; b) sorry; c) ashamed; d) angry 7. a) regretful; b) unhappy; c) guilty; d) sorry