(1) Mrs.
Knight’s school, to which Katy Carr went, was a low, one-storey building, and had a
yard behind it, in which the girls played at recess. Next door to it was Miss Miller’s school,
equally large and popular, and with a yard behind it also. Only a high board fence separated
the two playgrounds; and a feud raged constantly between the two schools as to the several
merits of the respective teachers and their methods of teaching. 5 (2) Mrs. Knight’s had one
great advantage over the other; it possessed a wood-shed with a climbable roof, which
commanded Miss Miller’s premises, and upon this roof the girls used to sit in rows, turning
up their noses at the foe in the next yard. (3) One morning, Katy was late for school. She
could not find her things. Her algebra, as she expressed it, had “gone and lost itself” and the
string was off her sun-hat. She ran about searching for these articles and banging doors, till
Aunt Izzie was out of patience. 10 (4) “As for your algebra,” she said, “if it is that very dirty
book with only one cover, you will find it under the kitchen table; and here is the hat-string.
Now, stand still and don’t fidget! You shan’t stir till I have sewed it on properly.” 15 (5) It was
not easy to do so, but Katy bore it as well as she could, only shifting perpetually from one
foot to the other. The minute she was released, she flew into the kitchen, seized the algebra,
and rushed like a whirlwind to the school. (6) She ran as fast as she could, but time ran
faster, and before she was half-way there, the town clock struck nine, and all hope was lost.
She marched into school in a very cross mood. 20 (7) A day begun in this manner is pretty
sure to end badly, as most of us know. All morning through, things seemed to go wrong.
Firstly, Katy made errors in her grammar lessons. Then her hand shook so much when she
wrote her composition, that the writing could hardly be read and Mrs. Knight said that she
had to do it all over again. This made Katy crosser than ever; the tears came into her eyes
from vexation, and she made a bolt for the yard as soon as the bell rang, climbing up all
alone to the wood-house roof, where she sat with her back to the school, trying to get her
face in order before the rest should come. 25 30 (8) Miss Miller’s clock was about four
minutes slower than Mrs. Knight’s, so the next playground was empty. It was a warm, breezy
day, and as Katy sat there, suddenly a gust of wind blew, and seizing her sun-hat, which was
only half tied on, whirled it across the roof. She clutched after it as it flew, but too late. Once,
twice, thrice it flapped and Katy saw it lying in a crumpled little heap in the enemy’s yard. 35
(9) This was horrible! Not merely losing the hat, but to lose it so! In another minute, the Miller
girls would be out. Was it to be endured? Never! Katy set her teeth, and sliding rapidly down
the roof, seized the fence, and with one bold leap, vaulted into Miss Miller’s yard. Adapted
from: What Katy Did By Susan Coolidge
(i) (a) Given below are three words and phrases. Find the words which have a similar
meaning in the passage: [3]
(1) Break time
(2) Prolonged quarrel or dispute
(3) A feeling of being annoyed
(b) For each of the words given below, write a sentence of at least ten words using the same
word unchanged in form, but with a different meaning from that which it carries in the
passage: [3]
(1) cross (line 22)
(2) bolt (line 28)
(3) school (line 29)
(ii) Answer the following questions in your own words as briefly as possible:
(a) Explain the phrase, ‘turning up their noses’. State how this feeling is brought out in the
passage. [2]
(b) Describe the uniqueness of Katy Carr’s school. [2]
(c) What made Katy late to school one day? [2]
(d) How did Aunt Izzie help her out? Explain whether this served the purpose. [2]
