...woman well socialized...

[Ook Choi]

Bernard concluded that there is no better assurance of long life, health, and happiness for a man than a woman well socialized to devote her life to taking care of him and providing the security of a well-ordered home.

This is from my textbook, I would like to understand it in grammatical sense.

What is the subject of the text in red? I mean i know it is woman, so is there omission before well?
maybe "who is" ? if this is right, when can I omit like that?

 

[bhaisahab]

Bernard concluded that there is no better assurance of long life, health, and happiness for a man than a woman well socialized to devote her life to taking care of him and providing the security of a well-ordered home.

This is from my textbook, I would like to understand it in grammatical sense.

What is the subject of the text in red? I mean i know it is woman, so is there omission before well?
maybe "who is" ? if this is right, when can I omit like that?

That sentence is a complete mess I'm afraid.

 

[Gillnetter]

Bernard concluded that there is no better assurance of long life, health, and happiness for a man than a woman well socialized to devote her life to taking care of him and providing the security of a well-ordered home.

This is from my textbook, I would like to understand it in grammatical sense.

What is the subject of the text in red? I mean i know it is woman, so is there omission before well?
maybe "who is" ? if this is right, when can I omit like that?

This form, "well something", seems to harken back to an earlier age. Some other examples are: You are advised to hire only those well trained - Teachers well schooled can teach anyone - A dog well taught will not bark at night.

Aside from "well schooled", I don't believe that I have heard much of this form, though I have encountered it in reading books from the 19th Century.

 

[Tdol]

I have encountered it in reading books from the 19th Century.

Good point- when was this textbook written?

 

[BobK]

Good point- when was this textbook written?

Probably (my guess :-?) in the '60s-'70's, in the heyday of bra-burning feminism. ;-) The point of 'well-socialized' is that people behave in a way that reinforces their society; girls are given dolls to care for (the more dependent the better - if they can wet themselves that's a real plus). This sort of socialization was said at the time to have been compromised by a self-serving male-chauvinist-pig conspiracy. The text is saying that she had been brought up in such a way as to be the ideal handservant to an old man in his dotage. (Speaking as an old man in his dotage I regard this sort of socialization as a Jolly Good Thing. ;-))

b

PS It's by no means unheard of for text books in ELT schools to be this dated. In one of my first posts I had to work from a textbook that held that such words as 'stenographer' were essential examples of 'current' business vocabulary.

 

[Tdol]

One ESL book I was asked to use had a piece about UFOs which said that they had not only been seen by housewives and dogs, but also by professionals who should be taken seriously like lawyers and doctors. I couldn't bring myself to teach it.

 

[Barb_D]

I'm curious now. How did the dogs convey that they had seen the UFOs? I can just about understand "Come quickly! Timmy fell down the well" but I've never yet been able to discern "Wow - I saw this amazing thing flying through the sky yesterday afternoon and I think it was from another planet!"

 

[SoothingDave]

I think the housewife told the tale and said "isn't that right, Sparky?" to which the dog replied enthusiastically "woof!"

 

[Tdol]

I'm curious now. How did the dogs convey that they had seen the UFOs? I can just about understand "Come quickly! Timmy fell down the well" but I've never yet been able to discern "Wow - I saw this amazing thing flying through the sky yesterday afternoon and I think it was from another planet!"

I have no idea how the writer worked this one out. But he did say it. :up: