Spend 30 minutes on this section.

Read this extract from ‛The Secret Garden’ by Frances Hodgson Burnett and answer the
questions.

Mary is a girl who has been sent to live with her uncle.

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Consecutively She had been lying awake, turning from side to side for about an hour,
when suddenly something made her sit up in bed and turn her head towards the door
listening. She listened and she listened.

‘It isn’t the wind,’ she said in a loud whisper. ‘This isn’t the wind. It is the crying I heard
before.’

The door of her room was ajar and the sound came down the corridor, a far-off faint
sound, of crying. She listened for a few minutes and each minute she became more and
more sure. She felt as if she must find out what it was. She put her foot out of bed and
stood on the floor.

Q1) Number the events below from 2 to 6, in the order that they happen.

Mary gets up. _______

Mary thinks she hears a sound. _______

Mary is finding it hard to get to sleep. _______

Mary decides she has to know what the noise is. _______

Mary wonders what the noise is. _______

Mary is in bed. _______

Q2)

a) What letter does the apostrophe ( ’ ) replace?

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b) Give one quotation that tells you that this is not the first time Mary has noticed the
sound.

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Q3) Give one word that means ‘a little bit open’

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Now read the next part of the story, and answer the questions.

There was a candle by her bedside and she took it and went slowly out of the room. The
corridor looked very long and dark, but she was too excited to mind that. The sound had
come up the passage. So she went on with her dim light, almost feeling her way, her heart
beating so loud that she fancied she could hear it. The far-off, faint crying went on and led
her.

She stood in a corridor and could hear the crying quite plainly, though it was not loud. It
was on the other side of the wall at her left and a few metres farther on there was a door.
She could see a glimmer of light coming from beneath it. Someone was crying in that
room, and it was quite a young Someone. So she walked to the door and pushed it open,
and there she was standing in the room!

It was a big room with ancient furniture in it. There was a low fire glowing faintly on the
hearth* and next to it, a huge double bed, and on the bed lay a boy, crying pitifully.

Glossary
the hearth: the fireplace

Q4)
a) Give one word that means ‘not bright’
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b) The text tells you that Mary was excited. Give another phrase from the text that
tells you this.
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c) What leads Mary to the boy’s room?
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Q5) Look at this sentence:

‘She stood in a corridor and could hear the crying quite plainly, though it was not loud.’
 a) Give two examples of pronouns from the sentence above.
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b) What type of word is crying in the sentence above? Tick one box.
an adjective
a noun
a preposition
an adverb
Q6) Give one word which means ‘clearly’.
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Q7) What does the use of an exclamation mark in the second paragraph tell us about how
Mary is feeling?
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Q8) How does the third paragraph link to the last line of the second paragraph?
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Now read the next part of the story, and answer the questions.

Mary wondered if she was in a real place or if she was dreaming without knowing it.
The boy had a delicate face. He looked like a boy who had been ill, but he was crying more
as if he were tired and cross than as if he were in pain.
The light attracted the boy’s attention and he turned his head on his pillow and stared at
her, his grey eyes opening so wide that they seemed immense.
‘Who are you?’ he said at last in a half-frightened whisper.
‘Are you a ghost?’
‘No, I’m not,’ Mary answered, her own whisper sounding as timid as a mouse.
‘Are you one?’ He stared and stared and stared.
‘No,’ he replied, after waiting a moment or so. ‘I am Colin.’
Q9) The boy is crying.
What does Mary think is wrong with him? Tick two boxes.
Mary thinks the boy is crying because
he is unwell.
he is sleepy.
he is unhappy.
he is scared.
he is worried.
Q10) Give one word that means ‘very big’.
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Q11) Both children whisper when they meet. What does this tell us about how they feel?
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Q12) Give one example of direct speech from the text.
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Q13) What happens in this story? Tick one box.
In this story,
Mary and Colin meet a ghost.
Mary sees Colin for the first time.
Mary goes to help her friend Colin.
Mary has a dream about a boy called Colin.
Q14) Do you think this story is set in the past, the present or the future? Explain your
answer. Give two reasons from the text.
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Q15) What genre do you think this story is? Tick one box.
myth
fantasy
adventure
real life story
 Section B: Writing
Spend 30 minutes on this section.
Q16) Write the next part of the story.
• Who is Colin?
• What is he like?
• Why is he crying?
• Does Mary help him?
• What happens next?

Space for your plan:

Write your story on the next page.

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