11+ Year 5, 6, 7 Comprehension Exercise 1: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe

COMPREHENSION EXERCISE 1:

`The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe` written by C.S. Lewis.

Looking into the inside, she saw several coats hanging up - mostly long fur coats. There was

nothing Lucy liked so much as the smell and feel of fur. She immediately stepped into the

wardrobe and got in among the coats and rubbed her face against them, leaving the door open, of

course, because she knew that it is very foolish to shut oneself into any wardrobe. Soon she went

further in and found that there was a second row of coats hanging up behind the first one. It was

almost quite dark in there and she kept her arms stretched out in front of her so as not to bump

her face into the back of the wardrobe. She took a step further in - then two or three steps

always expecting to feel woodwork against the tips of her fingers. But she could not feel it.

"This must be a simply enormous wardrobe!" thought Lucy, going still further in and pushing the

soft folds of the coats aside to make room for her. Then she noticed that there was something

crunching under her feet. "I wonder is that more mothballs?" she thought, stooping down to feel it

with her hand. But instead of feeling the hard, smooth wood of the floor of the wardrobe, she felt

something soft and powdery and extremely cold. "This is very queer," she said, and went on a step

or two further.

Next moment she found that what was rubbing against her face and hands was no longer soft fur but

something hard and rough and even prickly. "Why, it is just like branches of trees!" exclaimed

Lucy. And then she saw that there was a light ahead of her not a few inches away where the back

of the wardrobe ought to have been, but a long way off. Something cold and soft was falling on

her. A moment later she found that she was standing in the middle of a wood at night-time with snow

under her feet and snowflakes falling through the air.

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 tail, but Lucy did notice this at first because it was neatly caught up over the arm that helc the umbrella so as to keep it from trailing in the snow. He had a red woollen muffler round hi neck and his skin was rather reddish too. He had a strange, but pleasant little face, with a shor pointed beard and curly hair, and out of the hair there stuck two horns, one on each side of hi forehead. One of his hands, as I have said, held the umbrella: in the other arm he carried seve1 brown-paper parcels. What with the parcels and the snow it looked just as if he had been doin his Christmas shopping. He was a Faun. And when he saw Lucy he gave such a start of surprii that he dropped all his parcels."Goodness gracious me!" exclaimed the Faun.


QUESTIONS
1. Why do you think that Lucy left the door open?a) So that she could see the empty roomb) So that her friends could come after herc) Because it was foolish to be trapped inside a wardrobed) She needed light
2. What did Lucy step on that made a crunching sound?a) Wooden wardrobeb) Tree branchesc) Mothballsd) Snow
3. What does the word `queer` mean?a) Sillyb) Obviousc) Stranged) Frightening


4. What does the word `inquisitive` mean?a) Curiousb) Scaredc) Confusedd) Doubtful

5. How did Lucy end up in the woods?a) The wardrobe was enormousb) She left the door openc) The wardrobe had no backd) The wardrobe was magical


6. Where was the light coming from which Lucy followeda) Daylightb) The roomc) Lamp-postd) Between the dark tree trunks
7. Who made the `pitter-patter` sound?a) Faunb) A postmanc) Lucyd) A Goat
8. Why was Faun a `strange person`?a) He had no tailb) He had only one hornc) He had hoofs instead of feetd) He was shorter than Lucy
9. Why didn`t Lucy notice Faun`s tail at first?a) It was covered with snowb) He hung it on his armc) He didn`t have a taild) She was distracted by his hoofs
10. What colour was Faun`s face?a) White with snowb) Redc) Glossy blackd) Brown