Comprehension Task - 1 Hour: Read The Extract From A Little Princess Below, and Answer The Questions

Comprehension Task – 1 Hour
Once on a dark winter's day, when the yellow fog hung so thick
and heavy in the streets of London that the lamps were lighted
and the shop windows blazed with gas as they do at night, an odd-
looking little girl sat in a cab with her father and was driven rather
slowly through the big thoroughfares.
She sat with her feet tucked under her, and leaned against
her father, who held her in his arm, as she stared out of the
window at the passing people with a peculiar old-fashioned
thoughtfulness in her big eyes.
She was such a little girl that one did not expect to see such a
look on her small face. It would have been an old look for a child
of twelve, and Sara Crewe was only seven. The fact was, however,
that she was always dreaming and thinking odd things and could
not herself remember any time when she had not been thinking
things about grown-up people and the world they belonged to.
She felt as if she had lived a long, long time.
At this moment she was remembering the voyage she had
just made from Bombay with her father, Captain Crewe. She was
thinking of the big ship, of the Lascars passing
Read the extract from A Little Princess below, and answer the
questions.
~5~
silently to and fro on it, of the children playing about on
the hot deck, and of some young officers' wives who used
to try to make her talk to them and laugh at the things she
said.
Principally, she was thinking of what a peculiar thing
it was that at one time one was in India in the blazing sun,
and then in the middle of the ocean, and then driving in a
strange vehicle through strange streets where the day was
as dark as the night. She found this so puzzling that she
moved closer to her father.
‗Papa,‘ she said in a low, mysterious little voice which
was almost a whisper, ‗papa.‘
‗What is it, darling?‘ Captain Crewe answered, holding
her closer and looking down into her face. ‗What is Sara
thinking of?‘
A Little Princess, Frances Hodgson Burnett
~6~
Read the passage above carefully and then answer the
questions. Remember to write your answers in full sentences,
taking care with spelling and punctuation.
Questions Marks
1. What is the weather like in London? 3
2. How old is Sara Crewe? 1
3. Who is travelling with her? 1
4. What does Sara Crewe look like? 3
5. What does the word 'puzzling' mean? Look at the word in 1
the text to help you.
6. Did Sara Crewe live in India? Use words from the text to 1
support your answer.
7. Why does Sara 'move closer to her father'? 3
8. What is Captain Crewe like as a person? Look at the way 4
he speaks to Sara.
9. 'What is Sara thinking of?' Write down what Sara must be 8
thinking and feeling. Use your imagination to help you.
Total 25 marks
Write your answers in the space below:
~7~
Use of English
Spelling – 1 hour
Look at the following sentences. In each sentence one word is
scrambled.
Unscramble the word and write it in its correct form in the

space provided. In each case the first letter is in the correct
place.
Ex. I don't want to go to bed now, it's too elray. early

1. I didn't eat the whole cake I only ate one.
qteruar.
2. The eahtr is the third planet from the sun.
3. Tomorrow is my birthday; I will be ehtig years
old.
4. I like to cycle; I ride my bciycle everywhere.
5. Everyone knows that actor; he's very fmousa.
6. The month after January is called Fberuray.
7. I like to stay healthy by eating lots of furit and
vegetables.
8. I want to biuld a sandcastle on the beach.
9. My teacher gave me an answer to my
qeustoin.
10. In science we do exepirmnets
~13~
Look at the following words taken from 'A Little Princess' and select
their correct meaning from the list of options.
Circle the correct option.

Key: (n) = noun
(v) = verb
(adj) = adjective
1. Voyage (n)
a) An old person
b) A long trip by the sea
c) A planet
2. Peculiar (adj)
a) Strange
b) Tall
c) Pretty
3. Fog (n)
a) A storm
b) A thick cloud
c) A fire
4. Vehicle (n)
a) A type of drink
b) An old shoe
c) A thing used for transport
~16~
Read the extract from The Happy Prince below, and answer the
questions.
High above the city, on a tall column, stood the statue of

the Happy Prince. He was gilded all over with thin leaves
of fine gold, for eyes he had two bright sapphires, and a
large red ruby glowed on his sword-hilt.
He was very much admired indeed. ‗He is as
beautiful as a weathercock,‘ remarked one of the Town
Councillors who wished to gain a reputation for having
artistic tastes; ‗only not quite so useful,‘ he added, fearing
lest people should think him unpractical, which he really
was not.
‗Why can‘t you be like the Happy Prince?‘ asked a
sensible mother of her little boy who was crying for the
moon. ‗The Happy Prince never dreams of crying for
anything.‘
‗I am glad there is someone in the world who is quite
happy,‘ muttered a disappointed man as he gazed at the
wonderful statue.
‗He looks just like an angel,‘ said the Charity Children
as they came out of the cathedral in their bright scarlet
cloaks and their clean white pinafores.
~25~
‗How do you know?‘ said the Mathematical Master,
‗you have never seen one.‘
‗Ah! but we have, in our dreams,‘ answered the
children; and the Mathematical Master frowned and looked
very severe, for he did not approve of children dreaming.
The Happy Prince, Oscar Wilde
~26~
Read the passage above carefully and then answer the
questions. Remember to write your answers in full sentences,
taking care with spelling and punctuation.
Questions Marks
1. What does the Happy Prince look like? 3
2. Where does the Happy Prince stand? 1
3. Why does the mother want her son to be like the Happy 1
Prince?
4. What do the people of the city think of the Happy 3
Prince?
5. What are the 'Charity children' wearing? 1
6. Why do you think the 'Mathematical Master' does not 3
'approve of children dreaming'?
7. What things can the Happy Prince see as he stands on his 3
tall column overlooking the city? Use your imagination to
help you.
8. Do you think the 'Happy Prince' is happy? Why? Why 4
not?
9. Imagine that you are a statue. Where would you like to 6
stand? Overlooking a park, a city or somewhere else?
Would you enjoy being a statue? Why? Why not?
Total 25 marks
Write your answers in the space below:
~27~
Use of English
Prefixes – 1 hour
Most prefixes are added to the start of words without any change to the
meaning. 'dis', 'mis' and 'un' are added to words to give a negative
meaning, though there are some exceptions.
E.g., disagree, misuse and unfair.
Add either ‗mis‘, ‗dis‘ or ‗un‘ to the following words

1. use 6. agree
2. appoint 7. selfish
3. wise 8. trust
4. calculate 9. appear
5. spell 10. taken
Use a dictionary to find three more words with each prefix
dis mis un
~33~
More prefixes
re – means 'again', e.g., reappear
anti - means 'against', e.g., antisocial
auto – means 'self', e.g., autobiography
Add 're', 'anti', and 'auto' to the following words.

1. adjust 6. climax
2. social 7. septic
3. matic 8. build
4. live 9. call
5. maton 10. ageing
If you are not sure of the meanings of any of these words look them up
in a dictionary.
~34~
Read the extract from The Railway Children below, and answer
the questions.
They were not railway children to begin with. They were

just ordinary suburban children, and they lived with their
Father and Mother in an ordinary red-brick-fronted villa,
with coloured glass in the front door, a tiled passage that
was called a hall, a bath-room with hot and cold water,
electric bells, French windows, and a good deal of white
paint, and 'every modern convenience', as the house-agents
say.
There were three of them. Roberta was the eldest. Of
course, Mothers never have favourites, but if their Mother
HAD had a favourite, it might have been Roberta. Next
came Peter, who wished to be an Engineer when he grew
up; and the youngest was Phyllis, who meant extremely
well.
Mother did not spend all her time in paying dull calls
to dull ladies, and sitting dully at home waiting for dull
ladies to pay calls to her. She was almost always there,
ready to play with the children, and read to them, and help
them to do their home-lessons. Besides this she used to
write stories for them while they were at school, and read
them aloud after tea, and she always made up funny pieces
of poetry for their
~45~
birthdays and for other great occasions, such as the
christening of the new kittens, or the refurnishing of the
doll's house, or the time when they were getting over the
mumps.
These three lucky children always had everything they
needed: pretty clothes, good fires, a lovely nursery with
heaps of toys, and a Mother Goose wall-paper. They had a
kind and merry nursemaid, and a dog who was called
James, and who was their very own. They also had a Father
who was just perfect—never cross, never unjust, and
always ready for a game—at least, if at any time he was
NOT ready, he always had an excellent reason for it, and
explained the reason to the children so interestingly and
funnily that they felt sure he couldn't help himself.
You will think that they ought to have been very
happy. And so they were, but they did not know HOW
happy till the pretty life in the Red Villa was over and done
with, and they had to live a very different life indeed.
The Railway Children, E. Nesbit
~46~

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Comprehension Task – 1 Hour

Write your answers in the space below:

Unscramble the word and write it in its correct form in the

Ex. I don't want to go to bed now, it's too elray. early

Circle the correct option.

High above the city, on a tall column, stood the statue of

Write your answers in the space below:

Add either ‗mis‘, ‗dis‘ or ‗un‘ to the following words

Use a dictionary to find three more words with each prefix

Add 're', 'anti', and 'auto' to the following words.

They were not railway children to begin with. They were

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