Guided Reading.pdf

The Black Amulet – J.R. Wallis
What two things would have
shocked most people, but do
not affect Ruby?
2
What does ‘exceptional’
mean?
3
What was the Vampire doing
when Ruby spotted it?
1
Why is the Badlands a dangerous place to
live?
5
4
6
7 What superlative is used to describe Ruby in the final
paragraph? 8 Why is Ruby even more peculiar than the other creatures that could be found in the Badlands?
9When did Ruby’s life start to
change?
10 During what time of day is this extract set and how do you know>?
11
12 What is your first impression
of Ruby and why?
It was easy enough to spot the Vampire at the far end of the alleyway. As she
peered round the corner of the last building in the street, Ruby spied the creature
standing inside a yellow cone of light thrown down by the single street lamp,
staring into a shop window.
She tiptoed round the corner, keeping close to the wall, and slid into a deep
dark doorway to hide. As she moved closer to the Vampire, the old-fashioned
revolver Ruby was holding tutted, then swore quietly for good measure. To be
fair, the gun had been grumbling for the last ten minutes, making sure Ruby knew
exactly how it felt about her hunting such a dangerous creature, urging her to
turn back. A speaking gun, let alone one that could curse so well, would have
scrambled the brains of most people – as would seeing a Vampire in a small
market town in the middle of the night – but to Ruby none of it seemed
exceptional now.
Up until a few months ago, she’d been living a regular life. But she lived in
the Badlands now, a place on the fringes of the everyday world that most
ordinary people knew nothing about. Not only was magic possible there, but the
Badlands was also inhabited by strange and vicious monsters, making it very
dangerous. But, in spite of all the extraordinary creatures that could be found
there, Ruby was by far the strangest living thing of all because she was the only
girl.
How is the gun personified in the
second paragraph?
Where is the Badlands located?
List all the verbs used in the
opening paragraph.

Fantastically Great Women Who Made History – Kate Pankhurst
Why did Harriet’s family
refuse to run away with her?
2
What is an abolitionist?
3
What did Harriet dream of?
1
What is a free state?
5
4
6
7 To which northern state did Harriet flee?
8 Why did Harriet become an Underground Rail Conductor?
9Why could the station masters
be described as valiant?
10 Who do you think the intended audience of this text is and why? Hint: look
at the type of language that is used.
11
12 What can we learn from
Harriet’s actions?
Like many other African Americans in the south of the USA in the 1800s, Harriet
Tubman and her family were slaves. This meant they were the property of a rich
white household. To make money for themselves, owners forced slaves to work long
hours, on land and in their homes, with no payment.
Harriet dreamed of a better life. After hearing stories of slaves escaping north,
to ‘free states’ where slavery was outlawed, Harriet tried to persuade her family to
run away with her. But they were too scared of being caught and punished. Even
though Harriet was scared too, in 1849 she decided that freedom was worth the
risk…
Runaway slaves, like Harriet, were helped to freedom by the ‘Underground
Railroad’. Although this sounds like a railway, it was actually a network of safe routes
north. ‘Underground’ meant that it was top secret. It was set up by people, white
and black, who wanted to put an end to slavery. They were called ‘abolitionists’.
Travelling at night meant less chance of being caught. Harriet had to be careful
to stay hidden from slave catchers. Directions were given by conductors, and hiding
places known as stops were offered in safe houses run by station masters.
When Harriet reached the free state of Pennsylvania, she was, for the first time
in her life, a free woman. But without her friends and family, Harriet felt very lonely.
She decided to use her freedom to help other slaves to freedom, and became and
Underground Rail Conductor.
Explain what the Underground
Railroad is in as much detail as
possible.
What word in the opening paragraph
is a synonym for ‘possession’?
What is your impression of
Harriet and why?

Apple and Rain – Sarah Crossan
What two things could be
heard by the narrator when
they woke up?
2
What verb in the third
paragraph shows that the
narrator was feeling
unsettled?
3
In which paragraph does the
writer begin the flashback?
1
Who does the narrator exchange dialogue
with?
5
4
6
7 What narrative perspective is used in this extract?
8 What detail given in the second paragraph shows that the narrator’s memory is of when they were very young?
9What is the effect of the writer's
use of pathetic fallacy? Hint:
thunder.
10 According to the narrator, what is childhood amnesia?
11
12 What is your earliest memory
from your childhood?
I don’t know if what I remember is what happened or just how I imagine it
happened now I’m old enough to tell stories. I’ve read about this thing called
childhood amnesia. It means we can’t remember anything from when we were
really small because before three years old we haven’t practised the skill of
remembering enough to be able to do it very well. That’s the theory, but I’m not
convinced. I have one memory from that time. It never changes, and if I wanted to
make up memories, wouldn’t they be good ones? Wouldn’t all my childhood stories
have happy endings?
I woke up crying. I could hear angry voices downstairs and thunder outside. I
got up and stumbled on to the landing. A white gate was attached to the newel post
to stop me tumbling down the stairs. I couldn’t figure out how to open it, no matter
how hard I tried. I wasn’t wearing socks. My feet were cold. I carried a white blanket
that dragged across the floor.
Two figures stood by the front door under a sprig of mistletoe, their faces in
shadow. I whimpered. Nana looked up. ‘Back to bed, pet,’ she said. ‘Go on now.’
‘Can’t sleep,’ I said.
Nana nodded. ‘I know. I could never sleep before Christmas Day either.’
I shook my head. It was nothing to do with Christmas. I just didn’t want to go back
to bed. The thunder sounded like it might blast through my bedroom window. And
why was everyone shouting?
How does the writer create the
impression that this is a bad
memory?
Write an example of a rhetorical
question used in the extract.
What impression do you get of
Nana and why?

A Miscellany of Magical Beasts – Simon Holland
What is the funeral nest made
of?
2
What is myrrh?
3
What type of creature is a
phoenix?
1
What do most stories of the phoenix
contain?
5
4
6
7 What two adjectives are used to describe the phoenix’s
song? 8 What do you think the noun ‘miscellany’ means?
9What happens to the eggs that
are carried to Heliopolis?
10 What does it ‘can also regenerate itself’ mean?
11
12 What does the phoenix
symbolise?
Fantastically beautiful birds often appear in mythological stories connected
to ideas of death, rebirth and immortality. The phoenix is one such bird, from the
Middle East. Every five or six centuries, the bird senses it is time to die, and it
builds a ‘funeral nest’ out of sweet-smelling sticks and herbs from Arabian spice
groves. The phoenix then lies down to rest and sings an enchanting song, as the
Sun rises and sets fire to the nest. Both the bird and the nest are turned to ashes
– but a seed of life remains...
A tiny worm crawls from the ashes and grows into a new young phoenix.
This chick collects the ashes into an egg made from myrrh, a gum-like material
that comes from trees. According to some versions of the legend, the phoenix
takes to the sky – surrounded by other birds – and carries the egg to Heliopolis,
the Egyptian City of the Sun. Here, the egg is delivered to priests at a temple,
where the ashes may be buried. The bird is now free to return to Arabia and
begin its new life.
In ancient Egyptian mythology, the phoenix is a female firebird, with
dazzling, red-and-gold feathers, that lives for either 500 or 1,461 years. This bird
is sometimes pictured as a heron, or a flamingo-like bird from East Africa, and can
also regenerate itself if wounded by an enemy. In ancient Greek and Roman
legends, the bird looks more like a peacock or an eagle. Most of the phoenix
stories feature a Sun god, riding across the sky in a horse-drawn chariot, who
stops to listen to the bird’s haunting song.
How is the phoenix depicted in
different cultures?
What emerges from the ashes to
grow into a new phoenix?
What arguably makes the
phoenix immortal?

Heir of Fire – Sarah J. Maas
What is teggya and how does
Celaena feel about it?
2
Why did Celaena go to
Varese?
3
When did Celaena arrive in
Wendlyn?
1
What simile is used to describe the heat?
5
4
6
7 Cobalt is a shade of which primary colour?
8 What did Celaena have to do when her money ran out?
9What phrase is used in the
opening paragraph to show that
Celaena is unimpressed by the
kingdom of Wendlyn?
10 What does the phrase ‘heavily fortified’ mean?
11
12 Why do you think the
narrator focuses on the wine
in detail?
Gods, it was boiling in this useless excuse for a kingdom.
Or maybe it felt that way because Celaena Sardothien had been lounging on the
lip of the terracotta roof since midmorning, an arm flung over her eyes, slowly baking
in the sun like the loaves of flatbread the city’s poorest citizens left on their
windowsills because they couldn’t afford brick ovens.
And gods, she was sick of flatbread—teggya, they called it. Sick of the crunchy,
oniony taste of it that even mouthfuls of water couldn’t wash away. If she never ate
another bite of teggya again, it would be too soon.
Mostly because it was all she’d been able to afford when she landed in Wendlyn
two weeks ago and made her way to the capital city, Varese, just as she’d been
ordered by his Grand Imperial Majesty and Master of the Earth, the King of Adarlan.
She’d resorted to swiping teggya and wine off vendors’ carts since her money ran
out, not long after she’d taken one look at the heavily fortified limestone castle, at
the elite guards, at the cobalt banners flapping so proudly in the dry, hot wind and
decided not to kill her assigned targets.
So it had been stolen teggya . . . and wine. The sour red wine from the vineyards
lining the rolling hills around the walled capital—a taste she’d initially spat out but
now very, very much enjoyed. Especially since the day when she decided that she
didn’t particularly care about anything at all.
She reached for the terracotta tiles sloping behind her, groping for the clay jug of
wine she’d hauled onto the roof that morning. Patting, feeling for it, and then—
She swore. Where in hell was the wine?
Celaena and why?
Who is the Grand Imperial Majesty
and Master of the Earth?
List all the verbs used in the
final paragraph.

A Life in Football – Ian Wright
According to the writer, what
is ‘every footballer’s dream’?
2
Why did the narrator have a
sleepless night?
3
What is the genre of this extract?
1
What does ‘surreal’ mean?
5
4
6
7 What team was the writer called up to play against?
8 What did the writer do after his first dinner at the England camp?
9Where was the training camp
located and how many years ago
did the writer attend it?
10 What did the writer fail to do, that he grew to regret?
11
12 What is the effect of the use
of italics in ’Everybody’?
Getting the call that told me ‘You’re in the England squad’ was surreal. Five
years previously I’d been playing Sunday morning football and going to work
every day. Now I was being considered as one of the best couple of dozen English
players. Yes, I was scoring goals at a regular rate for Palace, but getting asked to
represent your country is the pinnacle – it’s every footballer’s dream. After a
player gets that call, he’ll be sent a letter confirming it, which is when it really hits
home, because then you get to see all the other players in the squad written
down. Shilton . . . Lineker . . . Barnes . . . Waddle . . . Everybody was there on that
list, and although I knew those guys would be in the squad, I could hardly believe
my name was in there too. Why I didn’t keep that piece of paper is beyond me.
It was for a friendly against Hungary in September 1990 and the England camp
was at Burnham Beeches in Buckinghamshire. After dinner on the first day, we
had to go and get the training kit. I went straight back to my room with mine and
tried it on. I remember just walking about in the room wearing it and looking in
the mirror.
Of course, I didn’t sleep properly that night because I couldn’t wait for the
next morning and going out for training. Breakfast couldn’t come quick enough.
The warm up couldn’t come quick enough. Everything couldn’t come quick
enough.
Then there I was, running alongside Gary Lineker and John Barnes, watching
people like that in training – I was part of the England set up!
List five facts you learn from this
extract below.
What noun in the opening
paragraph is a synonym for ‘peak’?
What effect does the writer’s
use of repetition have in the
second paragraph?

The Explorer – Katherine Rundell
What was the little boy sitting
behind Fred doing?
2
What did Fred’s cousin
instruct him to do?
3
How many passengers does the
plane hold?
1
What time of day does the extract take
place in?
5
4
6
7 In what continent is the story set?
8 List as many synonyms for ‘ferocious’ that you can think of.
9List all the adverbs used in the
extract.
10 What can you infer about why the girl was ‘determinedly not looking out
of the window’?
11
12 How does the narrator
foreshadow that something
bad is going to happen?
The aeroplane vibrated as it flew faster into the setting sun, following the
swerve of the Amazon River below them. Fred could see the reflection of the six-
seater plane, a spot of black on the vast sweep of blue, as it sped towards
Manaus, the city on the water. He brushed his hair out of his eyes and pressed his
forehead against the window.
Behind Fred sat a girl and her little brother. They had the same slanted
eyebrows and the same brown skin, the same long eyelashes. The girl had been
shy, hugging her parents until the last possible moment at the airfield; now she
was staring down at the water, singing under her breath, her brother trying to eat
his seatbelt.
In the next row, on her own, sat a pale girl with blonde hair down to her
waist. Her blouse had a neck-ruffle that came up to her chin, and she kept tugging
it down and grimacing. She was determinedly not looking out of the window.
The airfield they had just left had been dusty and almost deserted, just a strip of
tarmac under the ferocious Brazilian sun. Fred’s cousin had insisted that he wear
his school uniform and cricket jumper, and now, inside the hot, airless cabin, he
felt like he was being gently cooked inside his own skin.
The engine gave a whine, and the pilot frowned and tapped the joystick. He
was old and soldierly, with brisk nostril hair and a grey waxed moustache which
seemed to reject the usual laws of gravity. He touched the throttle and the plane
soared upwards, higher into the clouds.
Why does the narrator focus on
the other passengers in so much
detail?
What simile is used to show how hot
Fred feels?
List the details you learn about
the pilot below.

The Diary of a Young Girl – Anne Frank
What are people supposedly
allowed to take with them
when they are removed from
their homes?
2
Why are Dutch Christians
living in fear?
3
What genre of text is this?
1
Why does the writer believe that she is
fortunate?
5
4
6
7 Which war is Anne Frank describing?
8 Write two examples of simple sentences used in the opening paragraph.
9How does the writer use a triplet
in the final paragraph to
describe the children?
10 Write the quotation that shows that the war is going to continue for quite
some time to come.
11
12 Why might the writer keep a
diary during such difficult
times?
Terrible things are happening outside. At any time of night and day, poor
helpless people are being dragged out of their homes. They're allowed to take only a
knapsack and a little cash with them, and even then, they're robbed of these
possessions on the way. Families are torn apart; men, women and children are
separated. Children come home from school to find that their parents have
disappeared. Women return from shopping to find their houses sealed, their families
gone. The Christians in Holland are also living in fear because their sons are being
sent to Germany. Everyone is scared. Every night hundreds of planes pass over
Holland on their way to German cities, to sow their bombs on German soil. Every
hour hundreds, or maybe even thousands, of people are being killed in Russia and
Africa. No one can keep out of the conflict, the entire world is at war, and even
though the Allies are doing better, the end is nowhere in sight.
As for us, we're quite fortunate. Luckier than millions of people. It's quiet and
safe here and we're using our money to buy food. We're so selfish that we talk about
‘after the war’ and look forward to new clothes and shoes, when actually we should
be saving every penny to help others when the war is over, to salvage whatever we
can.
The children in this neighbourhood run around in thin shirts and wooden shoes.
They have no coats, no caps, no stockings and no one to help them. Gnawing on a
carrot to still their hunger pangs, they walk from their cold houses through cold
streets to an even colder classroom. Things have gotten so bad in Holland that
hordes of children stop passers-by in the streets to beg for a piece of bread.
List four things that the writer
says is happening in the opening
paragraph.
What noun in the final paragraph
is a synonym for ‘crowds’?
the writer in the second
paragraph and why?

Private Peaceful – Michael Morpurgo
Why is the narrator’s heart
’heavy’?
2
What do we learn about Mr.
Munnings?
3
What does the narrator not want
to do?
1
What does the noun ‘reprieve’ mean?
5
4
6
7 What narrative perspective is used in this extract?
8 Write the quotation that shows the narrator is wearing a school shirt for the first time.
9Describe the narrator’s
relationship with Charlie.
10 What can you infer about why Big Joe has never been to school?
11
12 Why might the narrator feel
this way about going to
school?
Charlie is taking me by the hand, leading me because he knows I don’t want to
go. I’ve never worn a collar before and it’s choking me. My boots are strange and
heavy on my feet. My heart is heavy too, because I dread what I am going to. Charlie
has told me often how terrible this school-place is: about Mr Munnings and his raging
tempers and the long whipping cane he hangs on the wall above his desk.
Big Joe doesn’t have to go to school and I don’t think that’s fair at all. He’s much older
than me. He’s even older than Charlie and he’s never been to school. He stays at
home with Mother, and sits up in his tree singing Oranges and Lemons, and laughing.
Big Joe is always happy, always laughing. I wish I could be happy like him. I wish I
could be at home like him. I don’t want to go with Charlie. I don’t want to go to
school.
I look back, over my shoulder, hoping for a reprieve, hoping that Mother will
come running after me and take me home. But she doesn’t come and she doesn’t
come, and school and Mr Munnings and his cane are getting closer with every step.
“Piggyback?” says Charlie. He sees my eyes full of tears and knows how it is.
Charlie always knows how it is. He’s three years older than me, so he’s done
everything and knows everything. He’s strong, too, and very good at piggybacks. So I
hop up and cling on tight, crying behind my closed eyes, trying not to whimper out
loud. But I cannot hold back my sobbing for long because I know that this morning is
not the beginning of anything – not new and exciting as Mother says it is – but rather
the end of my beginning. Clinging on round Charlie’s neck I know that I am living the
last moments of my carefree time, that I will not be the same person when I come
home this afternoon.
Charlie and why?
What does Big Joe do instead of
going to school?
How can we infer that this is
not set in modern-day Britain?

Unbelievable – Jessica Ennis
What words does the writer
use to create an impression of
the bullies?
2
What names has the writer
been called in the past?
3
Where is the writer from?
1
What two adjectives are used to show
that the Olympic Stadium is vast?
5
4
6
7 What noun in the third paragraph is a synonym for
‘development’? 8 What does the phrase ‘crocodile tears’ mean?
9Find a quotation that shows the
writer has worked extremely
hard worldwide.
10 What three things does the writer do in the second paragraph to show she
is proud, despite feeling ‘smaller than ever’?
11
12 How does the writer use
contrast in this extract?
I am crying. I am a Sheffield schoolgirl writing in her diary about the bullies
awaiting me tomorrow. They stand menacingly by the gates and lurk unseen in
my head, mocking my size and status. They make a small girl shrink, and I feel
insecure and frightened. I pour the feelings out into words on the page, as if
exposing them in some way will help, but nobody sees my diary. It is kept in my
room as a hidden tale of hurt.
Fast forward two decades and I am crying again. I am standing in a cavernous
arena in London. Suddenly, the pain and suffering and frustration give way to a
flood of overwhelming emotion. In the middle of this enormous arena I feel
smaller than ever, but I puff out my chest, look to the flag and stand tall. It has
been a long and winding road from the streets of Sheffield to the tunnel that
feeds into the Olympic Stadium like an artery.
I am Jessica Ennis. I have been called many things, from tadpole to poster
girl, but I have had to fight to make that progression. I smile and am polite and so
people think it comes easily, but it doesn’t. I am not one of those athletes who
slap their thighs and snarl before a competition, but there is a competitive animal
inside, waiting to get out and fight for survival and recognition. Cover shoots and
billboards are nice, but they are nothing without the work and I have left blood,
sweat and tears on tracks all over the world. It is an age where young people are
fed ideas of quick-fix fame and instant celebrity, but the tears mean more if the
journey is hard.
So I don’t cry crocodile tears; I cry the real stuff.
How does the writer present
ideas about modern society in the
third paragraph?
What is a billboard?
What do you believe is the
writer’s intention in this
extract; what is she perhaps
trying to show?

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe – C.S. Lewis
What contrasting emotions does
Lucy experience as she enters
further into the wardrobe?
2
What does ‘inquisitive’ mean?
3
How long does it take Lucy to
reach the lamp-post?
1
What was the Faun holding above his
head?
5
4
6
7 What sound does the snow make as Lucy walks over
it? 8 What is the narrative focus of the second paragraph?
9Write the example of
parenthesis used in the second
paragraph below.
10 Why did the Faun look like he had just been Christmas shopping?
11
12 How would you feel at this
point if you were Lucy and
why?
Lucy felt a little frightened, but she felt very inquisitive and excited as well. She
looked back over her shoulder and there, between the dark tree trunks; she could
still see the open doorway of the wardrobe and even catch a glimpse of the empty
room from which she had set out. (She had, of course, left the door open, for she
knew that it is a very silly thing to shut oneself into a wardrobe.) It seemed to be still
daylight there. “I can always get back if anything goes wrong,” thought Lucy. She
began to walk forward, crunch-crunch over the snow and through the wood towards
the other light. In about ten minutes she reached it and found it was a lamp-post. As
she stood looking at it, wondering why there was a lamp-post in the middle of a
wood and wondering what to do next, she heard a pitter patter of feet coming
towards her. And soon after that a very strange person stepped out from among the
trees into the light of the lamp-post.
He was only a little taller than Lucy herself and he carried over his head an
umbrella, white with snow. From the waist upwards he was like a man, but his legs
were shaped like a goat’s (the hair on them was glossy black) and instead of feet he
had goat’s hoofs. He also had a tail, but Lucy did not notice this at first because it
was neatly caught up over the arm that held the umbrella so as to keep it from
trailing in the snow. He had a red woollen muffler round his neck and his skin was
rather reddish too. He had a strange, but pleasant little face, with a short pointed
beard and curly hair, and out of the hair there stuck two horns, one on each side of
his forehead. One of his hands, as I have said, held the umbrella: in the other arm he
carried several brown-paper parcels. What with the parcels and the snow it looked
just as if he had been doing his Christmas shopping. He was a Faun.
the Faun’s appearance below.
Why did Lucy fail to spot the Faun’s
tail at first?
What is the effect of the use of
direct speech in the first
paragraph?

Horsemeat scandal: Tesco reveals 60% content in dish – BBC News
What discovery was made by
Tesco through DNA testing?
2
Where is Comigel located?
3
What genre is this text?
1
What meat is the Tesco Bolognese
supposed to contain?
5
4
6
7 Write the statistic used in the article below.
8 What is the effect of the headline used in this extract?
9What does the Environment
Secretary say is the cause of the
issue?
10 What is an abattoir?
11
12 What impact could this
article have on Tesco and
why?
Some Tesco Everyday Value Spaghetti Bolognese contains 60% horsemeat,
DNA tests by the retailer have found.
The meal, withdrawn from sale on Tuesday, came from the French factory
producing Findus beef lasagne, also at the centre of a row over horsemeat.
Meanwhile, Environment Secretary Owen Paterson has told MPs of plans to
test all processed beef in the UK.
Romania has rejected claims that it was responsible for wrongly describing
horsemeat from its abattoirs as beef.
Tesco took the frozen Bolognese off the shelves when it found out Findus was
concerned about the source of its meat processed by Comigel, based at Metz,
north-eastern France.
Environment Secretary Owen Paterson: "This appears to be an issue of fraud
and mislabelling".
It is one of several products that have been withdrawn from UK shelves amid
the current scandal over horsemeat in food products in the UK and Europe.
Tesco Group technical director Tim Smith said: "The frozen Everyday Value
Spaghetti Bolognese should contain only Irish beef from our approved suppliers.
The source of the horsemeat is still under investigation by the relevant authorities.
"The level of contamination suggests that Comigel was not following the
appropriate production process for our Tesco product and we will not take food
from their facility again.
"We are very sorry that we have let customers down."
Summarise the extract as bullet
points below.
Where were the Tesco Bolognese
meals produced?
Horsemeat is a delicacy in
many countries. Is this really a
scandal? Explain your opinion

The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
Why did Mary stop attempting
to skip the length of the
garden?
2
What does Mary have in her
pocket?
3
Who is the protagonist of the
story?
1
What does Mary want the robin to show
her?
5
4
6
7 What noun is used to refer to the sound made by the
robin to ‘show off’? 8 How is the wind described in the final paragraph?
9How is the robin personified in
the extract?
10 Who is the likely intended audience for this text and how do you know?
11
12 What do you think will
happen next in the story?
Mary skipped round all the gardens and round the orchard, resting every few
minutes. At length she went to her own special walk and made up her mind to try if
she could skip the whole length of it. It was a good long skip and she began slowly, but
before she had gone half-way down the path she was so hot and breathless that she
was obliged to stop. She did not mind much, because she had already counted up to
thirty. She stopped with a little laugh of pleasure, and there, lo and behold, was the
robin swaying on a long branch of ivy. He had followed her and he greeted her with a
chirp. As Mary had skipped towards him she felt something heavy in her pocket strike
against her at each jump, and when she saw the robin, she laughed again.
“You showed me where the key was yesterday,” she said. “You ought to show me
the door today; but I don’t believe you know!”
The robin flew from his swinging spray of ivy on to the top of the wall and he
opened his beak and sang a loud, lovely trill, merely to show off. Nothing in the world
is quite as adorably lovely as a robin when he shows off — and they are nearly always
doing it.
Mary Lennox had heard a great deal about Magic in her Ayah’s stories, and she
always said that what happened almost at that moment was Magic.
One of the nice little gusts of wind rushed down the walk, and it was a stronger
one than the rest. It was strong enough to wave the branches of the trees, and it was
more than strong enough to sway the trailing sprays of untrimmed ivy hanging from
the wall. Mary had stepped close to the robin, and suddenly the gust of wind swung
aside some loose ivy trails, and more suddenly still she jumped toward it and caught it
in her hand.
What can you infer about Mary’s
character based on this extract?
According to the narrator, what
are robins always doing?
List all the different verbs that
appear in the extract below.

White Feathers - Gunner Frederick Broome
What illness did the writer
contract in Ypres?
2
Why was the writer dismissed
from the Army?
3
How old was the writer when he
went to fight in France?
1
Which verb in the second paragraph is a
synonym for ‘approached’?
5
4
6
7 Which war did the writer fight in?
8 Why did the writer re-enlist in the Army?
9What did the writer threaten to
do to the girls?
Did you know?
11
10 List all the adverbs used in
the extract.
When the war broke out I was fifteen years of age but I was already in the
Army. I went to France in August 1914 and was there through the retirement
from Mons, the battle of the Marne and then the advance to Ypres. It was there
that I caught enteric fever and was invalided back to England. I went and visited
my father and he sent in my birth certificate so I was discharged for having
misstated my age on enlistment.
I got a job in Civvy Street and a few months afterwards I was walking across
Putney Bridge when I was accosted by four girls who gave me three white
feathers. I explained to them I had been in the Army, and had been discharged,
and that I was still only sixteen years of age, but they didn’t believe me. By now
several people had collected around the girls who were giggling. I felt most
uncomfortable and awfully embarrassed and said something about how I had a
good mind to chuck them into the Thames and eventually broke off the
conversation feeling very humiliated. I finished the walk across the bridge and
there on the other side was the 37th London Territorial Association of the Royal
Field Artillery. I walked straight in and re-joined the Army.
Why did the writer feel
‘humiliated’ by the four girls?
What does ‘invalided’ mean?
At the start of World War I, Admiral Charles Fitzgerald founded the Order of the
White Feather. The organisation aimed to shame men into enlisting in the
British army by persuading women to present them with a white feather if
they were not wearing a uniform.
Glossary:
Mons/battle of the Marne – battles fought during the First World War
Ypres – a town in north-western Belgium
enteric fever – (typhoid) - a disease spread through contaminated food and water
Civvy Street – ordinary life that is not connected with the armed forces
What does this show us
about the expectations of
men at this time?

1984 – George Orwell
What is unusual about the
opening sentence?
2
Why has the electric current
been cut off?
3
How old is the protagonist?
1
What is the weather like in the extract?
5
4
6
7 What adjective is used to show that the image on the
poster seems to be unnatural? 8 What impression do you get of Victory Mansions?
9What does the phrase ‘seldom
working’ mean?
10 What tone does the final sentence create?
11
12 How does the writer create a
sense of authority in this
opening of the novel?
It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.
Winston Smith, his chin nuzzled into his chest in an effort to escape the vile wind,
slipped quickly through the glass doors of Victory Mansions, though not quickly
enough to prevent a swirl of gritty dust from entering along with him.
The hallway smelt of boiled cabbage and old rag mats. At one end of it a
coloured poster, too large for indoor display, had been tacked to the wall. It
depicted simply an enormous face, more than a metre wide: the face of a man
of about forty-five, with a heavy black moustache and ruggedly handsome
features. Winston made for the stairs. It was no use trying the lift. Even at
the best of times it was seldom working, and at present the electric current
was cut off during daylight hours. This was part of the economy drive in
preparation for Hate Week. The flat was seven flights up and Winston, who
was thirty-nine and had a varicose ulcer above his right ankle, went slowly,
resting several times on the way. On each landing, opposite the lift shaft, the
poster with the enormous face gazed from the wall. It was one of those pictures
which are so contrived that the eyes follow you about when you move. BIG
BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU, the caption beneath it ran.
the poster below.
Why is it a struggle for Winston to
climb the stairs?
Who do you think ‘Big Brother’
is and what role might he play
in the story?
Glossary:
Victory Mansions – an apartment complex
Hate Week – an event designed to increase the hatred for the current enemy
varicose ulcer – a chronic sore on the leg or foot

The Dark Side of Trendy Animal Photos
Identify two facts in the text.
2
What does the phrase ‘in
captivity’ mean?
3
What is the genre of this text?
1
What does 'vulnerable to extinction'
mean?
5
4
6
7 Which adjective in the opening paragraph shows the
dolphin was under threat? 8 What does the phrase ‘traded illegally’ mean?
9 How many species of wild
animals are affected by illegal
trade?
10 Why did two peacocks in a Chinese zoo perish?
11
12 What impact has social media
had on exotic animals?
Selfies, GIFs, and viral videos can be deadly for wildlife. Just last week, an
endangered baby dolphin died after beachgoers in Argentina hauled it out of
the water to pose with it for photos. Also, this month two peacocks in a Chinese zoo
died after being mishandled by visitors taking selfies.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature, which sets species’ conservation
status, lists the La Plata dolphin as vulnerable to extinction, protecting it from
hunting and capture in Argentina—but not from people passing one of them around
until it died from dehydration.
“I don’t think anyone intended to harm the animal, but the excitement and thrill
drew people in,” says Neil D’Cruze, head of Wildlife Policy and Research at World
Animal Protection, UK. “It shows that interaction with a wild animal in its habitat
can be just as terrible and deadly as having these animals in captivity.”
Thousands of species of wild animals suffer in the exotic pet trade. The exact scale
of the problem isn’t known, but it’s huge, with many animals traded illegally.
Social media has changed the landscape, making exotic animals seem adorable
and acceptable, but what you don’t see is the suffering that lies behind the images.
These three animals are trending on the Internet, but they belong in the wild.
What is the viewpoint expressed
in the text?
What is a habitat?
What is D’Cruze’s opinion?

Through the Tunnel – Doris Lessing
What was happening to his
head and his lungs?
2
What colour was the sea?
3
What was the boy trying to do?
1
What simile is used in the second
paragraph to show he was desperate for
breath?
5
4
6
7 What narrative perspective is used in the extract?
8 What is the climax of the extract?
9List the different adjectives used
in the extract.
10How does the writer use simple sentence for effect in the opening paragraph?
11
12 How do you think he feels at
the end of the extract and
why?
A hundred, a hundred and one…The water paled. Victory filled him. His lungs
were beginning to hurt. A few more strokes and he would be out. He was counting
wildly; he said a hundred and fifteen, and then a long time later, a hundred and
fifteen again. The water was a clear jewel-green all around him. Then he saw,
above his head, a crack running up through the rock. Sunlight was falling through it,
showing the clean, dark rock of the tunnel, a single mussel shell, and darkness
ahead.
He was at the end of what he could do. He looked up at the crack as if it were
filled with air and not water, as if he could put his mouth to it to draw in air. A
hundred and fifteen, he heard himself say inside his head---but he had said that
long ago. He must go on into the blackness ahead, or he would drown. His head
was swelling, his lungs cracking. A hundred and fifteen, a hundred and fifteen
pounded through his head, and he feebly clutched at rocks in the dark, pulling
himself forward, leaving the brief space of sunlit water behind. He felt he was
dying. He was no longer conscious. He struggled on in the darkness between lapses
into unconsciousness. An immense, swelling pain filled his head, and then darkness
cracked with an explosion of green light. His hands, groping forward, met nothing;
and his feet, kicking back, propelled him out into the open sea. He drifted to the
surface, his face turned up to the air. He was gasping like a fish. He felt he would
sink now and drown; he could not swim the few feet back to the rock. Then he was
clutching it and pulling himself up on to it. He lay face down, gasping.
How does the writer develop
tension in the extract?
What does the adverb ‘feebly’ mean?
What is the effect of the use of
the repetition of numbers?

A Letter About Ragged Schools (1853)
What were the children given
to eat at Dr Guthrie’s school?
2
Who is the writer referring to
in the use of ‘Him’?
3
What century was this letter
written in?
1
What is the genre of the text?
5
4
6
7 What does the noun ‘morsel’ mean?
8 How does the writer use exclamations in the opening paragraph?
9What phrase shows the writer
believes those running the
schools are good people?
10 Why do the children change back into their own clothes before going home?
11
12 How does the writer use
direct address?
There are hundreds of poor children who have either no home to go to, or
such an one as you would fear to enter; that many pass the night under arches, or
on the steps of doors, or wherever they can – poor unhappy little beings! Oh!
When you pray for yourselves, and ask God to bless your father and mother, your
brothers and sisters, then do not forget to ask Him also to help the poor outcasts.
Now, Ragged Schools have been set on foot by kind and Christian people on
purpose to do good to these unhappy children. They are brought to these
schools, and there they have their torn, dirty clothes taken off, and after being
washed, and made nice and clean, they have others put on to wear all day, but at
night they are obliged to have their dirty ones put on again, because their parents
are so wicked, that if they went home in good clothes, they would take them
from them and sell them, and spend the money on something to drink. Then they
would send the children out again in miserable and filthy rags, or nearly without
clothes at all; so the kind people at the schools take care of the clean clothing for
them at night. The children stay at school all day and have food provided for
them. Sometimes they have one thing, sometimes another. The day I was at Dr
Guthrie’s school, they had each a basin of nice hot soup and a good-sized piece of
bread. What a treat for these poor, neglected, hungry things! Perhaps you, my
young friends, never knew what it was to want a morsel of bread. It is a terrible
thing to be very hungry and to have nothing to eat; a terrible thing to see the
shop windows full of nice bread, and cakes, etc.; to be very, very hungry, and to
have no means of obtaining anything but by stealing.
What is a Ragged School?
Identify the triplet used in the
second paragraph.
What is the writer’s viewpoint?

The Woman in Black – Susan Hill
What does the phrase
‘gathering my wits’ mean?
2
How did the wind change
overnight?
3
What narrative perspective is
used in the extract?
1
How did the narrator feel when they first
awoke?
5
4
6
7 Which adverb in the second paragraph is a synonym
for clearly? 8 What is the simile used in the opening paragraph?
9What does the narrator reflect
on from his childhood?
10 What is the effect of the simple sentences at the end of the extract?
11
12 What is the effect of the use
of rhetorical questions?
During the night, the wind rose. As I had lain reading I had become aware of the
stronger gusts that blew every so often against the casements. But when I awoke
abruptly in the early hours it had increased greatly in force. The house felt like a ship
at sea, battered by the gale that came roaring across the open marsh. Windows were
rattling everywhere and there was the sound of moaning down all the chimneys of the
house and whistling through every nook and cranny.
At first I was alarmed. Then, as I lay still, gathering my wits, I reflected on how
long Eel Marsh House had stood here, steady as a lighthouse, quite alone and
exposed, bearing the brunt of winter after winter of gales and driving rain and sleet
and spray. It was unlikely to blow away tonight. And then, those memories of
childhood began to be stirred again and I dwelt nostalgically upon all those nights
when I had lain in the warm and snug safety of my bed in the nursery at the top of our
family house in Sussex, hearing the wind rage round like a lion, howling at the doors
and beating upon the windows but powerless to reach me. I lay back and slipped into
that pleasant, trancelike state somewhere between sleeping and waking, recalling the
past and all its emotions and impressions vividly, until I felt I was a small boy again.
Then from somewhere, out of that howling darkness, a cry came to my ears,
catapulting me back into the present and banishing all tranquillity. I listened hard.
Nothing. The tumult of the wind, like a banshee, and the banging and rattling of the
window in its old, ill-fitting frame. Then yes, again, a cry, that familiar cry of
desperation and anguish, a cry for help from a child somewhere out on the marsh.
There was no child. I knew that. How could there be? Yet how could I lie here and
ignore even the crying of some long-dead ghost?
What sounds can be heard by
the narrator?
What does the noun ‘tranquillity’
mean?
This is a ghost story. How can
you tell?

Coming to England – Floella Benjamin
How did the writer feel once
Ellington was born?
2
When was the writer allowed
to use the sitting room?
3
How old was the writer when
Ellington was born?
1
Who is Mrs. Jackson?
5
4
6
7 How many siblings does the writer mention?
8 What adverb in the first paragraph creates a loving impression of the writer’s mother?
9How does the writer create an
impression of playfulness in the
final paragraph?
10 How can you tell that this extract is not set in England?
11
12 What is your most vivid
childhood memory?
The day my brother Ellington was born my elder sister Sandra, who was four,
my brother Lester, who was two, and I, aged three, were all out on the gallery –
that’s what we called the veranda. My mother, whom we affectionately named
Marmie, had told us that if we looked hard enough we would see a stork flying high
in the sky with our new baby. I was hungry and really wanted Marmie to make one
of her delicious soups for us, but I dared not take my eyes off the sky just in case I
missed the big arrival.
Anyway, Mrs Jackson, the local midwife who lived in the lane opposite our
house, said we couldn’t come into the house to see my mother until she called us.
I was beginning to feel more and more hungry, tired and anxious but I still kept my
eyes glued to the heavens. Suddenly I heard the loud cry of a new-born baby. I felt
happy but disappointed at the same time because I hadn’t seen the stork arrive.
My mother told us it had come through the back door. I looked for it years later
when my brother Roy and sister Cynthia arrived. Mrs Jackson was always there but
I never spotted that elusive stork coming through the front or the back door!
The house we lived in was a small wooden building on stilts with dazzling
whitewashed walls. There were windows and doors at the front and the back. We
had two bedrooms which were the scene of many pillow fights and trampolining
sessions, a small washroom, with a sink and cold tap, an airy kitchen with a large
glassless louvred window where we also ate all our meals, and finally a sitting room
where no one was allowed except on special occasions or when we had visitors.
List the adjectives used in the
second paragraph.
What does ‘elusive’ mean?
Why does the writer describe
their house in detail?

Fahrenheit 451 – Ray Bradbury
What does the character do
after hanging up his jacket?
2
What is a British English term
for ‘sidewalk’?
3
used?
1
5
4
6
7 What adverb shows the train made no noise?
8 What does the adverb ‘luxuriously’ suggest about how the character showered?
9What does the phrase ‘disaster
seemed positive’ mean?
10 What is the effect of the use of pronouns as opposed to the character’s
name?
11
12How does the writer create an
impression of the character’s
confidence in the opening
paragraph?
He hung up his black-beetle-coloured helmet and shined it, he hung his
flameproof jacket neatly; he showered luxuriously, and then, whistling, hands in
pockets, walked across the upper floor of the fire station and fell down the hole.
At the last moment, when disaster seemed positive, he pulled his hands from his
pockets and broke his fall by grasping the golden pole. He slid to a squeaking
halt, the heels one inch from the concrete floor downstairs.
He walked out of the fire station and along the midnight street toward the
subway where the silent, air-propelled train slid soundlessly down its lubricated
flue in the earth and let him out with a great puff of warm air and to the cream-
tiled escalator rising to the suburb.
Whistling, he let the escalator waft him into the still night air. He walked
toward the corner, thinking little at all about nothing in particular. Before he
reached the corner, however, he slowed as if a wind had sprung up from
nowhere, as if someone had called his name. The last few nights he had had the
most uncertain feelings about the sidewalk just around the corner here, moving
in the starlight toward his house. He had felt that a moment before his making
the turn, someone had been there. The air seemed charged with a special calm
as if someone had waited there, quietly, and only a moment before he came,
simply turned to a shadow and let him through. Perhaps his nose detected a faint
perfume, perhaps the skin on the backs of his hands, on his face, felt the
temperature rise at this one spot where a person's standing might raise the
immediate atmosphere ten degrees for an instant. There was no understanding it.
List four details that show the
character’s job.
What noun in the opening
paragraph is a synonym for ‘stop’?
How is tension created in the
final paragraph?
What time of day is the extract set in?

The History of the World Cup
What role did Jules Rimet have
to play in football’s history?
2
What took place in 1930?
3
Who is the likely intended
audience for this text?
1
What simile is used in the opening
paragraph?
5
4
6
7 When was the FA founded?
8 Which adjective in the third paragraph is a synonym for ‘civilised’?
9What opinion do lots of people
have about Brazil, according to
the writer?
10 Who won the first World Cup and how did they commemorate the victory?
11
12 How does the writer create
interest using sentence
structures in the opening
paragraph?
A shrill blast. The 'thunk' of leather against leather. The air is filled with the
sounds of shouting and stamping feet. Thousands of people with painted faces are
snarling like hyenas at their opponents. No, this is not a scene from the film
Braveheart. It's even more serious - it's the World Cup.
The World Cup was thought up by Jules Rimet in Paris, and the first Final was in
1930. The host, Uruguay, offered to pay for the travel expenses for the other teams.
They were rewarded by winning, and declared a national day of holiday. Mind you,
there were only 13 teams playing!
Where did football come from?
The history of football goes back ever so slightly further than 1930. The first
records of the game were about 5000 years ago in China. Versions of football were
also played by the ancient Greeks, Egyptians, and Romans. ln the 15th century in Italy,
a similar game called calcio was played, with a decapitated head used for the ball. ln
Britain, we weren't much more humane either. Imagine the scene in medieval
England: it's a national holiday and virtually every town in the country is turned into
a bloody, sweaty battlefield that only faintly resembles a football pitch.
Later on, the British claimed the game as their own, before introducing it to
countries around the world. ln 1894, Charles Miller changed the face of Brazil for
good when he left his boat carrying a football in each hand. Now many people
recognise Brazil as the home of the most beautifully played football in the world.
The modern rules of football were only made concrete in 1853 when the Football
Association was founded - and the game has slowly evolved into the one we know
and love today.
How was football played in
medieval Italy?
Identify the sub-heading that is used.
List four facts about football
from this extract.

A Curse so Dark and Lonely - Brigid Kemmerer
What temperature is the water
used to wash their hands?
2
Who is Ironheart?
3
What narrative perspective is used
in the extract?
1
What phrase shows the narrator has
killed in the past?
5
4
6
7 What phrase is written in italics?
8 What sounds can be heard by the narrator before they turn around?
9What continues to astonish the
narrator about Grey?
10 In the final paragraph, how does the narrator imply that Grey has changed?
11
12 How are sentence structures
used to create tension?
There is blood under my fingernails. I wonder how many of my people I’ve
killed this time.
I thrust my hands into the barrel beside the stables. The ice-cold water bites
at my skin, but the blood clings. I shouldn’t bother, because it will all be gone in
an hour anyway, but I hate this. The blood. The not knowing.
Hooves ring against the cobblestones somewhere behind me, followed by
the jingle of a horse’s bridle.
I don’t need to look. My guard commander always follows at a safe distance
until the transition is complete.
Guard commander. As if Grey has men left to command.
As if he didn’t earn the title by default.
I swipe the water from my hands and turn. Grey stands a few yards back, holding
the reins of Ironheart, the fastest horse in the stables. The animal is blowing hard,
its chest and flanks damp with sweat despite the early-morning chill.
For as long as we’ve been trapped here, Grey’s appearance is somehow a
continual surprise. He looks as young as the day he earned a position in the elite
Royal Guard, his dark hair slightly unkempt, his face unlined. His uniform still fits
him well, every buckle and strap perfectly arranged, every weapon shining in the
near darkness.
He once carried a gleam of eagerness in his eye, a spark for adventure. For
challenge.
List four things you learn about
Grey’s appearance.
What are ‘flanks’?
What does the phrase ‘by
default’ mean?

The social and academic benefits of team sports
Who is the likely intended
audience for this text?
2
What is the purpose of this
text?
3
1
What does the phrase ‘direct correlation’
mean?
5
4
6
7 True or false: students who were not athletes were
more likely to graduate from high school? 8 What does the noun ‘mentorship’ mean?
9What is an endorphin?
10 How are statistics used in the text?
11
12 What is your opinion of team
sports and why?
Team sports are about so much more than their physical benefits. This is
especially so when group sports activities are incorporated into a young person’s
life. Studies have shown a direct correlation between physical activity and
academic performance. A University of Kansas study looking at the performance
of students in grades 9 to 12 showed that more than 97% of student athletes
graduated high school, 10% higher than those students who had never
participated in sports. Athletes were also shown to have better G.P.A. outcomes
than non-athletes.
This might have to do with the increased cognitive ability that comes from
playing sports. Physical activity naturally increases blood flow to the brain and
activates endorphins, chemicals that are released when you exercise. Endorphins
can impact your mood and work performance, meaning athletes may be more
willing and capable of tackling that next big problem.
Team sports can also help with emotional development. Research published
the Canadian Fitness and Lifestyle Research Institute states that exercise can lead
to a unique state of short-term relaxation. That relaxation can promote increased
concentration, better memory, enhanced creativity, more effective problem
solving, and an improved mood – all benefits that will extend into the classroom.
Team athletes are constantly working with a slate of other people, many of
whom can become positive role models along the way. Team sports foster
mentorship between older players and younger players, coaches and athletes,
and more.
List the effects physical activity has
on the body outlined in the second
paragraph.
What is the acronym for Grade
Point Average?
What are the psychological
effects of exercise outlined in
the third paragraph?

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll
Why couldn’t Alice see initially?
2
What was in the jar taken down
from the shelf?
3
What does Alice fall down?
1
What was Alice going after?
5
4
6
7 What does Alice eventually land on?
8 Write an example of onomatopoeia used in the extract.
9Find the quotation that shows
that Alice was unharmed by the
fall.
10 What is the effect of the repeated use of the adverb ‘suddenly’?
11
12 How does the writer create a
sense of magic/mystery in
the extract?
In another moment down went Alice after it, never once considering how in
the world she was to get out again. The rabbit-hole went straight on like a tunnel
for some way, and then dipped suddenly down, so suddenly that Alice had not a
moment to think about stopping herself before she found herself falling down a
very deep well.
Either the well was very deep, or she fell very slowly, for she had plenty of
time as she went down to look about her and to wonder what was going to
happen next. First, she tried to look down and make out what she was coming to,
but it was too dark to see anything; then she looked at the sides of the well, and
noticed that they were filled with cupboards and book-shelves; here and there
she saw maps and pictures hung upon pegs. She took down a jar from one of the
shelves as she passed; it was labelled ‘ORANGE MARMALADE’, but to her great
disappointment it was empty: she did not like to drop the jar for fear of killing
somebody, so managed to put it into one of the cupboards as she fell past it.
‘Well!’ thought Alice to herself, ‘after such a fall as this, I shall think nothing
of tumbling downstairs! How brave they'll all think me at home! Why, I wouldn't
say anything about it, even if I fell off the top of the house!’
Down, down, down...When suddenly, thump! thump! down she came upon
a heap of sticks and dry leaves, and the fall was over.
Alice was not a bit hurt, and she jumped up on to her feet in a moment: she
looked up, but it was all dark overhead; before her was another long passage,
and the White Rabbit was still in sight, hurrying down it.
What does the use of direct speech
show about how Alice feels?
What did Alice fail to think about
before entering the rabbit-hole?
Alice’s character in this
extract?

Is This a Bad Word, or Isn’t It?
Why did the principal order
the photo to be edited?
2
How did Sophie feel when she
saw the class photograph?
3
1
What language technique does the writer
use in the headline of the text?
5
4
6
7 What does the verb ‘apprised’ mean?
8 What rhetorical question is used in the main body of the text?
9What stereotype does Sophie
present in the second
paragraph?
10 What does the noun ‘feminism’ mean?
11
12 Do you think Sophie was
justified in her actions? Why?
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the word feminism means
‘the belief that mean and women should have equal rights and opportunities.’
That’s precisely what Sophie Thomas believes, and that’s why she owns a t-shirt
that has the word Feminist written across the front.
‘People around here misconstrue the word,’ said Sophie, an eighth grader at
Clermont Northeastern Middle School in Batavia, Ohio, in an interview with NBC’s
Today show. ‘‘Like, ‘Oh, you’re a feminist, so you hate men.’ I just want to spread
equality, and a lot of people here don’t agree with me.’
But what happened after Sophie wore her t-shirt to school utterly surprised
her – and made her angry. It just so happened that Sophie wore her ‘Feminist’
shirt to school on the day that her class picture was taken.
On the day that the class picture came back, Sophie noticed that something
was missing from her picture. The word ‘Feminist’ had been photoshopped from
her t-shirt.
Sophie went to the principal’s office and asked for an explanation. ‘It was
mine and the photographer’s decision to Photoshop your shirt,’ the principal
informed her, according to Sophie, ‘because some people might find it offensive.’
What could be offensive about believing men and women – and boys and
girls - should have equal rights?
Clermont Northeastern School District superintendent Ralph Shell told Today
that Sophie and her mom had been apprised in advance about the removal of the
word ‘feminist’. Sophie and her mom claim that’s not true.
List four facts you learn in this
text.
What word in the second paragraph
is a synonym for ‘misunderstand’?
How can you tell that this is an
American text?

The Giver – Lois Lowry
How did Jonas feel last year
and why?
2
What imperative was given
through the speakers?
3
used in the text?
1
Write an example of parenthesis used in
the third paragraph.
5
4
6
7 What noun in the final paragraph is a synonym for
‘home’? 8 What does the adjective ‘intrigued’ mean?
9What are pilots usually
forbidden from doing?
10 What was different about the aircraft that scared Jonas?
11
12 What do you think the genre
of this text could be and
why?
It was almost December, and Jonas was beginning to be frightened. No. Wrong
word, Jonas thought. Frightened meant that deep, sickening feeling of something
terrible about to happen. Frightened was the way he had felt a year ago when an
unidentified aircraft had overflown the community twice. He had seen it both times.
Squinting toward the sky, he had seen the sleek jet, almost a blur at its high speed,
go past, and a second later heard the blast of sound that followed. Then one more
time, a moment later, from the opposite direction, the same plane.
At first, he had been only fascinated. He had never seen aircraft so close, for it
was against the rules for Pilots to fly over the community. Occasionally, when
supplies were delivered by cargo planes to the landing field across the river, the
children rode their bicycles to the river bank and watched, intrigued, the unloading
and then the take-off directed to the west, always away from the community.
But the aircraft a year ago had been different. It was not a squat, fat-bellied
cargo plane but a needle-nosed single-pilot jet. Jonas, looking around anxiously, had
seen others — adults as well as children — stop what they were doing and wait,
confused, for an explanation of the frightening event.
Then all of the citizens had been ordered to go into the nearest building and
stay there. IMMEDIATELY, the rasping voice through the speakers had said. LEAVE
YOUR BICYCLES WHERE THEY ARE.
Instantly, obediently, Jonas had dropped his bike on its side on the path behind
his family’s dwelling. He had run indoors and stayed there, alone.
Jonas in this extract and why?
What adverbs in the final paragraph
show that Jonas was submissive?
How does the writer create
tension in this extract?

Africa’s Women Entrepreneurs Take the Lead
What is the intention of the
Women Entrepreneurs
Opportunity Facility?
2
What is ‘Ruff ‘n’ Tumble’?
3
How much money did the World
Bank donate to the cause?
1
What is the ‘developing world’?
5
4
6
7 True or false: most food in Uganda is imported from
other countries. 8 How do many Ugandan businesswomen source funding when banks refuse to give them credit?
9List three different places that
food stalls can be found in
Uganda.
10 What is the main reason that African women have taken on more business
opportunities?
11
12 Why might the women be
surprised by their success?
A branch of the World Bank says there is a huge gap between the amount of
money banks loan female-owned businesses compared to businesses owned by men.
They began a $600 million fund to help women-owned businesses in the developing
world. Called the Women Entrepreneurs Opportunity Facility, they aim to work with
local banks and share risks and extend credit to 100,000 women who want to start
their own businesses.
People are very poor in sub-Saharan Africa. Stories are gathering about
successful women who run their own businesses there. One woman from Kenya
started a school inside a three-bedroom house. The school has since become a well-
respected group of private schools. In Rwanda, another woman has recognised all
over the world for running a handicrafts company. The company employs more than
3,000 women. Their baskets can be purchased at Macy’s. A Nigerian woman is
famous for her ‘Ruff ‘n’ Tumble’ clothing line for children, a business that she first
operated out of a car trunk.
In Uganda, where most of the food is grown locally, many women have been
interested in catering. Their food stalls are located everywhere. Food stalls are at bus
and train terminals and open markets. When they are not able to get credit from
banks, they often start cooperative groups in which they pool savings. Then they take
turns getting loans.
‘Some women have surprised themselves by succeeding,’ said Ugandan
economist Fred Muhumza. He has been advising Uganda’s government on
development policy. Extreme poverty, he said, is driving women to find ways of
taking over ‘core responsibilities’ from men.
List three examples of female-
owned businesses referred to in
this extract.
What is an entrepreneur?
What do you think men’s ‘core
responsibilities’ might be in
the developing world?

Almond – Sohn Won-Pyung
Roughly how old is the
narrator at this point and how
do you know?
2
What does the narrator hear
as they walk down the main
road?
3
1
What does the adjective ‘vacant’ mean?
5
4
6
7 Write an example of a simple sentence used in the
extract. 8 What does the phrase ‘shouts of exertion’ mean?
9Write an example of repetition
used in the extract.
10What phrase used in the second paragraph shows that the narrator was
not frightened to turn the corner?
11
12 What impression do you get
of the narrator and why?
By the time I realized I was going the wrong way, I'd already gone too far. At
kindergarten, I'd been learning a song called "Go Marching." Earth is round, go go
march ahead, and just like the lyrics, I thought that, somehow, I would eventually get
to my house if I'd just go go march ahead. I stubbornly continued my small steps
forward.
The main road led to a narrow alley lined by old houses, those crumbling walls
all marked with crimson, random numbers and the word "vacant." There was no one
in sight. Suddenly, I heard someone cry out, Ah, in a low voice. Not sure if it
was Ah or Uh. Maybe it was Argh. It was a low, short cry. I walked toward the sound,
and it grew as I approached closer and closer, then it changed to Urgh and Eeeh. It
was coming from around the corner. I turned the corner without hesitation.
A boy was lying on the ground. A small boy whose age I couldn't tell, but then
black shadows were being cast on and off him again and again. He was being beaten.
The short cries weren't coming from him but from the shadows surrounding him,
more like shouts of exertion. They kicked and spat at him. I later learned that they
were only middle school students, but back then, those shadows seemed tall and
huge like grown-ups.
The boy didn't resist or even make a sound, as if he'd grown used to the beating.
He was getting tossed back and forth like a rag doll. One of the shadows kicked the
boy in the side as a final blow. Then they left. The boy was covered in blood, like a
coat of red paint. I approached him. He looked older than me, maybe eleven or
twelve years old, around twice my age. But I still felt like he was younger than me. His
chest was heaving quickly, his breath short and shallow like a new-born puppy's. It
was obvious he was in danger.
the boy seen by the narrator.
Write an example of a simile used
in the final paragraph.
How does the writer use
sentence structures to create
tension?

The Narrative Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave
Who is Captain Anthony and
how is he presented?
2
Who superintended the
labour on Captain Anthony’s
farms?
3
What is the genre of the extract?
1
What does the adjective ‘profane’ mean?
5
4
6
7 What triplet is used in the final paragraph?
8 How does the writer evoke sympathy from the reader in the final paragraph?
9What is the effect of the
metaphor ‘iron heart’?
10 How is Mr. Plummer described?
11
12 Why are historical texts such
as this one so important?
Mr. Plummer in the extract.
What adjective in the final
paragraph is a synonym for ‘kind’?
Why does the narrator have
no knowledge of their real
age?
I was born in Tuckahoe, near Hillsborough, and about twelve miles from Easton,
in Talbot county, Maryland. I have no accurate knowledge of my age, never having
seen any authentic record containing it…
The nearest estimate I can give makes me now between twenty-seven and
twenty-eight years of age. I come to this, from hearing my master say, some time
during 1835, I was about seventeen years old…
I have had two masters. My first master’s name was Anthony. I do not remember
his first name. He was generally called Captain Anthony – a title which, I presume, he
acquired by sailing a craft on the Chesapeake Bay. He was not considered a rich
slaveholder. He owned two or three farms, and about thirty slaves. His farms and
slaves were under the care of an overseer. The overseer’s name was Plummer. Mr.
Plummer was a miserable drunkard, a profane swearer, and a savage monster. He
always went armed with a cowskin and a heavy cudgel. I have known him to cut and
slash the women’s heads so horribly, that even master would be enraged at his
cruelty, and would threaten to whip him if he did not mind himself.
Master, however, was not a humane slaveholder…He was a cruel man, hardened
by a long life of slaveholding. He would at times seem to take pleasure in whipping a
slave. I have often been awakened at the dawn of day by the most heart-rending
shrieks of an own aunt of mine, whom he used to tie up to a joist, and whip upon her
naked back till she was literally covered with blood. No words, no tears, no prayers,
from his gory victim, seemed to move his iron heart from its bloody purpose.
Glossary:
overseer – a person who supervises others cudgel – short stick used as a weapon

The Gilded Ones – Namina Forna
How is the narrator feeling
about the Ritual of Purity? Use
a quotation from the extract.
2
Where does the narrator live?
3
Who is Norla?
1
What was the narrator meant to be
doing?
5
4
6
7 What thought upsets the narrator?
8 Why was the narrator unable to ‘sleep any longer’?
9What season is the extract likely
set in and how do you know?
10 How is pathetic fallacy used by the writer?
11
12 What do you think the Ritual
of Purity might be?
Today is the Ritual of Purity.
The thought nervously circles in my head as I hurry toward the barn, gathering my
cloak to ward off the cold. It's early morning, and the sun hasn't yet begun its climb
above the snow-dusted trees encircling our small farmhouse. Shadows gather in the
darkness, crowding the weak pool of light cast by my lamp. An ominous tingling builds
under my skin. It's almost as if there's something there, at the edge of my vision...
It's just nerves, I tell myself. I've felt the tingling many times before and never
once seen anything strange.
The barn door is open when I arrive, a lantern hung at the post. Father is already
inside, spreading hay. He's a frail figure in the darkness, his tall body sunken into itself.
Just three months ago, he was hearty and robust, his blond hair untouched by grey.
Then the red pox came, sickening him and Mother. Now he's stooped and faded, with
the rheumy eyes and wispy hair of someone decades older.
"You're already awake," he says softly, grey eyes flitting over me.
"I couldn't sleep any longer," I reply, grabbing a milk pail and heading toward
Norla, our largest cow.
I'm supposed to be resting in isolation, like all the other girls preparing for the
Ritual, but there's too much work to do around the farm and not enough hands. There
hasn't been since Mother died three months ago. The thought brings tears to my eyes,
and I blink them away.
Father forks more hay into the stalls. " 'Blessings to he who waketh to witness the
glory of the Infinite Father,' " he grunts, quoting from the Infinite Wisdoms. "So, are
you prepared for today?"
the narrator’s father.
What does the adjective ‘ominous’
mean?
How does the writer create
tension in the extract?

Alter Egos
What is an alter ego?
2
Who was Franz Anton
Mesmer?
3
What does ‘alter ego’ translate to?
1
Who is Mark Calaway?
5
4
6
7 What does the adverb ‘simultaneously’ mean?
8 How did Dr, Mesmer separate his alter ego and what was the outcome?
9How could the title of the text be
more engaging for the reader?
10 Why do performing artists use stage personas?
11
12 What other alter egos can
you think of?
‘Alter ego’ is Latin for ‘the other I’. It refers to a person’s second self or identity
that is different from a person’s normal personality. A person who has an alter ego is
said to lead a double life. ‘Alter ego’ is also used to refer to the different behaviours
any person may display in certain situations.
The idea that people could have ‘another self’ was first recognised in the 1790s.
Franz Anton Mesmer, a German doctor, used hypnosis to separate his alter ego.
Under hypnosis, Mesmer showed a behaviour pattern that diverged from the
personality he had in his waking state. It was as if a completely distinct character had
developed in the altered state of consciousness, but in the same body.
Alter egos are used by numerous performing artists who use stage personas,
which are different from stage names, both to entertain audiences and to explore
new identities for themselves. Professional wrestlers, more often than not, perform
under ring names depicting their alter egos, such as Terry Bollea (Hulk Hogan), Mark
Calaway (The Undertaker), and Paul Levesque (Triple H).
In literary analysis, the term alter ego refers to characters in different works
who are psychologically similar, or a fictional character whose behaviour, speech, or
thoughts intentionally represent those of the author.
In one famous work of literature by Robert Louis Stevenson called The Strange
Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the author used the idea of an alter ego to
demonstrate the concept that good and evil can exist simultaneously within one
person, constantly at war with one another. In the novel, Edward Hyde represents
the doctor’s other self, a psychopath who does not conform to civilised society, and
who shares a body with the doctor.
How does Robert Louis Stevenson
use the concept of an alter ego?
When was the concept of the
alter ego first identified?
How do authors sometimes
use alter egos in their
literature?

Stranger – Sherwood Smith and Rachel Manija Brown
Write the quotation that
shows that Ross was being
careful.
2
What three things does Ross
see before the attack?
3
Who is the protagonist of the
extract?
1
What verb is used to show the noise
made by the tarantula?
5
4
6
7 Write an example of onomatopoeia used in the
extract. 8 Why does Ross choose to use granite as a form of weapon?
9How does the mood change in
the penultimate sentence?
10 How does Ross manage to free himself from danger?
11
12 How are sentence structures
used to create tension?
Ross Juarez ran down the gully. Walls of earth and stone sheered high on
either side, close enough to touch.
Something flickered at the edge of sight. He jammed his heel into the dirt to
stop himself, scanning warily. Stone. Dust. A hardy sprig of tarweed fluttering in
the breeze. Maybe that had been it.
A black claw slashed at his eyes, its serrated edges glinting with oily poison.
He threw himself backward. A segmented leg emerged from a shadowy fissure;
then a large, black-furred tarantula squeezed out and landed with a thump,
sending up a puff of dust. Its mandibles, as long as the blades of Ross's knives,
clicked together at knee height as the spider lunged at him.
Ross snatched up a loose piece of granite. No point wasting one of his
precious daggers. The throw hit the tarantula in its furry abdomen. It curled up,
chittering angrily.
He edged past, then picked up speed until the gully curved ahead, out of
sight. When he reached the rocky outcropping, gravel and dry weeds crunched
under his feet.
Crystal chimes rang sweetly.
Now, that was scary.
Describe the creature that
attempts to attack Ross.
What was roughly at the same
level as Ross’ knees?
Ross and why?
Glossary:
tarweed – aromatic herbs with yellow flowers fissure – a split or crack in something
mandibles – a pair of mouthparts used either for biting or cutting
gully – a passage formed from the action of water passing through

Football Hooliganism
Copy the statistic used in the
extract.
2
What is a ‘bystander’?
3
When did the earliest known
instances of hooliganism occur?
1
What does the adjective ‘overzealous’
mean?
5
4
6
7 When did the term ‘football hooliganism’ begin to
appear in the English media? 8 Why do people perhaps become involved in football hooliganism, according to the extract?
9How do football hooligans often
attempt to avoid being caught?
10 What methods have police used to try to tackle hooliganism?
11
12 Why might football
hooliganism have factors in
common with juvenile
delinquency?
Football hooliganism refers to unruly, violent, and destructive behaviour by
overzealous supporters of football clubs. Behaviours include brawling, vandalism,
and intimidation. Football hooliganism normally involves conflict between gangs
formed for the specific purpose of intimidating and physically attacking supporters of
other teams.
Conflict may take place before, during or after matches. Participants often select
locations away from the stadium to avoid arrest by the police, but conflict can also
occur spontaneously inside the stadium or in the surrounding streets. In such cases,
shop windows may be smashed, and police cars may be overturned. In some cases,
hooligans, police, and bystanders have been killed, and riot police have intervened
with tear gas, police dogs, armoured vehicles and water cannons.
While hooliganism can be traced back to the 14th century, the first modern
instance occurred during the 1880s in England. Gangs of supporters would intimidate
neighbourhoods and attack referees, opposing supporters, and players. By the 1960s,
an average of 25 hooligan incidents were being reported each year in England. The
label ‘football hooliganism’ first began to appear in the English media around that
time.
Football hooliganism has factors in common with juvenile delinquency, and
involvement is often the result of a person’s need for group identity, interaction with
like-minded people, feelings of legitimacy, and a desire for power. In many countries,
football hooliganism is also associated with racism, and abuse of non-white players is
common.
What is football hooliganism?
Explain in your own words.
What adverb in the second paragraph
is a synonym for ‘unexpectedly’?
What did football hooliganism
look like in England during the
late 19th century?

I’m King of the Castle – Susan Hill
What did the beating of the
crow’s wings sound like?
2
How does Kingshaw attempt
to deter the crow?
3
What primary colour was the
inside of the crow’s mouth?
1
What collective noun is used in the final
paragraph?
5
4
6
7 What superlative is used in the opening paragraph to
demonstrate the crow’s size? 8 What phrase in the second paragraph shows that Kingshaw is feeling alone?
9What three things could
Kingshaw hear in the third
paragraph?
10 Why did Kingshaw think the crow might be attacking him?
11
12 How does the writer offer an
insight into Kingshaw’s
thoughts?
When he first saw the crow, he took no notice. There had been several crows.
This is one glided down into the corn on its enormous, ragged black wings. He began
to be aware of it when it rose up suddenly, circled overhead, and then dived, to land
not very far away from him. Kingshaw could see the feathers on his head, shining
blank in between the butter-coloured cornstalks. Then it rose, and circled, and came
down again, this time not quite landing, but flapping about his head, beating its wings
and making a sound like flat leather pieces being slapped together. It was the largest
crow he had ever seen. As it came down for the third time, he looked up and noticed
its beak, opening in a screech. The inside of its mouth was scarlet, it had small glinting
eyes.
Kingshaw got up and flapped his arms. For a moment, the bird retreated a little
way off, and higher up in the sky. He began to walk rather quickly back, through the
path in the corn, looking ahead of him. Stupid to be scared of a rotten bird. What
could a bird do? But he felt his own extreme isolation, high up in the cornfield.
For a moment, he could only hear the soft thudding of his own footsteps, and the
silky sound of the corn, brushing against him. Then, there was a rush of air, as the
great crow came beating down, and wheeled about his head. The beak opened and
the hoarse caaw came out again and again, from inside the scarlet mouth.
Kingshaw began to run, not caring, now, if he trampled the corn, wanting to get
away, down into the next field. He thought that the corn might be some kind of crow’s
food store, in which he was seen as an invader. Perhaps this was only the first of a
whole battalion of crows, that would rise up and swoop at him. Get on to the grass
then, he thought, get on to the grass, that’ll be safe, it’ll go away.
the crow in the opening
paragraph.
What is the rhetorical question
What is the effect of the
writer’s use of 3rd person
narrative perspective?

The Dancing Plague of 1518
Where did the dancing plague
occur and who was first
affected by it?
2
Why were medics called to
assist with the dancing plague?
3
In what century did the dancing
plague occur?
1
What proper nouns are used in the text?
5
4
6
7 What does the noun ‘phenomenon’ mean?
8 How was the Tanganyika Laughter Epidemic different from the dancing plague of 1518?
9What remedy was suggested for
the dancing plague?
10 Why did the city elders not attribute Troffea’s behaviour to madness?
11
12 What was life like in
Strasbourg when the
dancing plague occurred?
In July of 1518, in full view of her neighbours, Frau Troffea began to violently
dance in the streets of the city of Strasbourg, France. There was no music and her face
betrayed no expression of joy. She appeared unable to stop herself from her frenzy.
Had this remained an isolated incident, the city elders may have put it down to
madness or demonic possession, but soon after Troffea began her dancing, a
neighbour joined in. And then another. By the end of the week, more than 30 people
were dancing night and day on the streets of the city. And it didn’t stop there. By the
time a month had passed, at least 400 citizens of Strasbourg were swept up in the
phenomenon.
Medical and civic authorities were called in once some of the dancers began dying
from heart attacks, exhaustion, or strokes. For some inexplicable reason, these men
believed that the cure for the dancing was more dancing, so they erected a wooden
stage for the dancers and musicians were called in.
This all sounds like some archaic bit of folklore, but the dancing plague of 1518 is
clearly chronicled in medical, civic and religious notes of the time. Modern researchers
pour over these notes to develop theories as to what cause this bizarre incident.
One of those theories postulates that the dancers were victims of mass hysteria:
instances when more than one person believes they are afflicted by an identical
malady – often during times of extreme stress within the affected community. The
Strasbourg incident occurred during a time of rampant famine and malnutrition and
subsequent deaths. But 400 people? A well-known recent incident generally seen as
an example of mass hysteria is 1962’s ‘The Tanganyika Laughter Epidemic’ which
affected only 95 people.
Summarise the events of the
dancing plague in your own words.
Approximately how many people
were afflicted by the dancing
plague?
What explanation have
modern researchers given for
the dancing plague?

Marionette Girl – Aisha Bushby
Why is maths the narrator’s
favourite subject?
2
Where does the narrator
usually sit in the classroom?
3
What is the name of the narrator?
1
Why doesn’t the narrator complain about
losing her regular seat?
5
4
6
7 Who is sitting in the narrator’s regular seat?
8 What is the effect of the use of parenthesis in the third paragraph?
9How is Mr. Delacourt
characterised by the writer? List
four things.
10 What is a ‘marionette’ and what does the title suggest about what the
story could be about?
11
12 What is your first impression
of the narrator and why?
Maths is my favourite subject. I like the certainty of it. We spend the first half
of the lesson learning a new formula and the second half applying it to a
worksheet. Also, unlike in English, we aren’t asked to contribute our opinions. That
terrifies me.
But today is different. I go to sit at my usual spot: third row in, by the wall. I
don’t sit right at the back where Callum and his minions cluster, nor do I sit at the
front.
But today someone else has taken my seat and I freeze, actually freeze, by the
door when I see her. A few people who had been following behind bump into my
heavy rucksack and swear at me, but I don’t care. Eventually they squeeze past
while I stay glued to the spot.
‘A problem, Amani?’ Mr Delacourt asks. He has a stern-looking face with a
thick greying moustache and he always sounds sarcastic, even when he’s being
sincere.
‘Um...’ I pause. I want to say someone is in my place but it’s a girl who’s just
visiting for the day before deciding whether to join our school next year. Milly
Wilkinson. Our form tutor, Ms Yates, introduced her to us this morning and she
looks terrified.
Plus it’s petty, isn’t it? Even so, I hope this doesn’t mean I’ll have to move
around during my other lessons. Mr Delacourt’s drawl interrupts my worries.
‘Well, then, take your seat,’ he says, shuffling through his papers. Everyone is
starting to stare. I take the only seat left, which is right in front of Mr Delacourt’s
desk, and already I feel exposed.
Summarise the events of the
extract in your own words.
What adjective in the fourth
paragraph is a synonym for ‘genuine’?
What does the phrase ‘Callum
and his minions’ suggest about
Callum?

HeForShe Speech: Gender Equality is your Issue, Too – Emma Watson
In the second paragraph, what
does the speaker say has to end ?
2
What does the speaker mean
when she says she wants the
efforts to be ‘tangible’?
3
What is the genre of the text?
1
What verb in the opening paragraph is a
synonym for ‘stimulate’?
5
4
6
7 What adjective in the second paragraph is a synonym
for ‘identical’? 8 What does the term ‘feminism’ denote?
9What stereotype has been faced
by men that the speaker knows,
as mentioned in the fourth
paragraph?
10 What is the speaker’s experience of gender stereotypes?
11
12Identify a rhetorical technique
used by the speaker to engage
her audience.
Today we are launching a campaign called ‘HeForShe’. I am reaching out to you
because I need your help. We want to end gender inequality – and to do that we need
everyone to be involved. This is the first campaign of its kind at the UN: we want to try
and galvanize as many men and boys as possible to be advocates for gender equality.
And we don’t just want to talk about it, but make sure it is tangible.
I was appointed six months ago and the more I have spoken about feminism the
more I have realised that fighting for women’s rights has too often become
synonymous with man-hating. If there is one thing I know for certain, it is that this has
to stop.
For the record, feminism by definition is: ‘The belief that men and women should
have equal rights and opportunities. It is the theory of the political, economic and
social equality of the sexes.’
I started questioning gender-based assumptions when at 8 I was confused at
being called ‘bossy’, because I wanted to direct the plays we would put on for our
parents – but the boys were not. When at 14 I started being sexualised by certain
elements of the press. When at 15 my girlfriends started dropping out of their sports
teams because they didn’t want to appear too ‘muscly’. When at 18 my male friends
were unable to express their feelings.
I decided I was a feminist and this seemed uncomplicated to me. But my recent
research has shown me that feminism has become an unpopular word. Apparently I
am among the ranks of women whose expressions are seen as too strong, too
aggressive, isolating, anti-men and unattractive. Why is the word such an
uncomfortable one?
What is the HeforShe campaign
and its intention?
How long has the speaker been
associated with this campaign for?
According to the speaker in
the final paragraph, how are
feminists such as herself often
perceived by others?

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