Read the extract and answer the following questions.
Extract:
‘Every time she leaves here she takes something home with her,’ said my mother. ‘She took all the table silver in one go. And then the antique plates that hung there. She had trouble lugging those large vases, and I’m worried she got a crick in her back from the crockery.’ My mother shook her head pityingly. ‘I would never have dared ask her. She suggested it to me herself. She even insisted. She wanted to save all my nice things. If we have to leave here we shall lose everything, she says.’
(The Address)
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Question (i)
List any two sensory details present in this extract.
Answer:
Answer as written by the student:
Two sensory details present in this extract are "She had trouble lugging those large vases" and "she got a crick in her back from the crockery".
Step-by-step explanation: 📝
- Sensory details are words or phrases that appeal to one or more of the five senses: sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch.
- To find sensory details in a text, we can look for words that describe how something looks, sounds, smells, tastes, or feels.
- In this extract, one sensory detail is "She had trouble lugging those large vases", which describes how the woman struggled to carry the heavy and bulky objects. This appeals to the sense of sight and touch.
- Another sensory detail is "she got a crick in her back from the crockery", which describes how the woman felt pain or stiffness in her back from lifting the dishes. This appeals to the sense of touch and pain.
Question (ii)
Complete the sentence appropriately.
The phrase "She suggested it to me herself" suggests that ____________.
Answer:
Answer as written by the student:
The phrase "She suggested it to me herself" suggests that the woman was eager and persistent to take the narrator's mother's belongings.
Step-by-step explanation: 📝
- To complete a sentence with an appropriate word or phrase, we need to understand the meaning and context of the sentence.
- In this case, the sentence is about the woman's offer to save the narrator's mother's nice things by taking them home with her.
- The phrase "She suggested it to me herself" means that she was the one who initiated or proposed the idea, and not the narrator's mother.
- Therefore, we need to fill in the blank with something that explains what her motivation or intention was behind this suggestion.
- Based on the extract, we can infer that she was eager and persistent to take the narrator's mother's belongings, because she took many valuable and heavy items in one go, and she even insisted on doing so.
- So, we can complete the sentence with "the woman was eager and persistent to take the narrator's mother's belongings".
Question (iii)
Explain any one possible inference that can be drawn from the line "If we have to leave here we shall lose everything".
Answer:
Answer as written by the student:
One possible inference that can be drawn from this line is that the narrator's mother and the woman were living in a time or place of war or conflict, and that they faced the risk of being displaced or losing their property.
Step-by-step explanation: 📝
- An inference is a logical conclusion based on evidence and reasoning from a text.
- To explain an inference, we need to provide both the evidence from the text and our reasoning behind it.
- In this case, the line "If we have to leave here we shall lose everything" is a statement made by the woman to justify her actions of taking the narrator's mother's nice things home with her.
- The evidence from this line is that the woman says that there is a possibility that they might have to leave their current residence, and that they would lose everything they owned if they did so.
- Our reasoning behind this inference is that this statement implies that they were living in a time or place of war or conflict, and that they faced the risk of being displaced or losing their property, because these are common reasons why people have to leave their homes and belongings behind.
- Therefore, we can explain our inference by saying that this line shows that they were living in a time or place of war or conflict, and that they faced the risk of being displaced or losing their property.
Question (iv)
Identify the line from the text that bears evidence to the fact that the woman was dishonest and greedy.
Answer:
Answer as written by the student:
The line from the text that bears evidence to the fact that the woman was dishonest and greedy is "She took all the table silver in one go".
Step-by-step explanation: 📝
- To identify a line from the text that supports a fact, we need to look for words or phrases that show or imply the fact.
- In this case, the fact is that the woman was dishonest and greedy, which means that she lied or cheated and wanted more than she needed or deserved.
- The line that shows this fact is "She took all the table silver in one go".
- This line implies that the woman took a large amount of valuable and expensive items from the narrator's mother without her consent or knowledge, and that she did not leave any for her or share with anyone else.
- Therefore, we can identify this line as the evidence for the fact.
Question (v)
What does the term 'pityingly' indicate about the narrator's mother's attitude towards the woman?
Answer:
Answer as written by the student:
The term 'pityingly' indicates that the narrator's mother's attitude towards the woman was sympathetic and compassionate.
Step-by-step explanation: 📝
- To explain what a term indicates about something, we need to define the term and relate it to the context of the text.
- In this case, the term is 'pityingly', which means feeling or showing sorrow or sympathy for someone's misfortune or suffering.
- The term is used to describe how the narrator's mother shook her head while talking about the woman's actions of taking her nice things home with her.
- This indicates that the narrator's mother's attitude towards the woman was sympathetic and compassionate, because she did not blame or judge her for what she did, but rather felt sorry for her or understood her situation.
- Therefore, we can explain what the term indicates by saying that it shows that the narrator's mother's attitude towards the woman was sympathetic and compassionate.
Question (vi)
Which of the following headlines best suggests the central idea of the extract?
- A Woman's Cunning Plan to Save Her Friend's Belongings
- A Woman's Generous Offer to Help Her Friend in Need
- A Woman's Selfish Motive to Steal Her Friend's Valuables
- A Woman's Strange Habit of Taking Her Friend's Things
Answer:
Answer as written by the student:
The best headline that suggests the central idea of the extract is C. A Woman's Selfish Motive to Steal Her Friend's Valuables.
Step-by-step explanation: 📝
- To choose the best headline for an extract, we need to consider which one captures the main theme or message of the text.
- In this case, the extract is about a woman who pretends to save her friend's nice things by taking them home with her, but actually steals them for herself.
- The central idea of this extract is how the woman deceives and betrays her friend by taking advantage of her trust and generosity.
- The headline that best reflects this idea is C. A Woman's Selfish Motive to Steal Her Friend's Valuables, because it summarizes the main conflict and motive in the extract.
- The other headlines are either too specific (A), too general (B), or too irrelevant (D) to convey the central idea of the extract.
