Reading comprehension: an afternoon outing

In this passage from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott the March sisters’ friend and neighbour, Laurie, sees the girls going off to sit in the sun and follows them.

“What in the world are those girls about now?” thought Laurie, opening his sleepy eyes to take a good look, for there was something rather peculiar in the appearance of his neighbours. Each wore a large, flapping hat, a brown linen pouch slung over one shoulder, and carried a long staff. Meg had a cushion, Jo a book, Beth a basket, and Amy a portfolio. All walked quietly through the garden, out at the little back gate, and began to climb the hill that lay between the house and river. “Well, that’s cool,” said Laurie to himself, “to have a picnic and never ask me! They can’t be going in the boat, for they haven’t got the key. Perhaps they forgot it. I’ll take it to them, and see what’s going on.” Taking the shortest way to the boathouse, he waited for them to appear, but no one came, and he went up the hill to take an observation. A grove of pines covered one part of it, and from the heart of this green spot came a clearer sound than the soft sigh of the pines or the drowsy chirp of the crickets. “Here’s a landscape!” thought Laurie, peeping through the bushes, and looking wide-awake and good-natured already. It was a rather pretty little picture, for the sisters sat together in the shady nook, with sun and shadow flickering over them, the aromatic wind lifting their hair and cooling their hot

Year 4 English cheeks, and all the little wood people going on with their affairs as if these were no strangers but old friends. Meg sat upon her cushion, sewing daintily with her white hands, and looking as fresh and sweet as a rose in her pink dress among the green. Beth was sorting the cones that lay thick under the hemlock nearby, for she made pretty things with them. Amy was sketching a group of ferns, and Jo was knitting as she read aloud. A shadow passed over the boy’s face as he watched them, feeling that he ought to go away because uninvited; yet lingering because home seemed very lonely and this quiet party in the woods most attractive to his restless spirit. He stood so still that a squirrel, busy with its harvesting, ran down a pine close beside him, saw him suddenly and skipped back, scolding so shrilly that Beth looked up, espied the wistful face behind the birches, and beckoned with a reassuring smile. “May I come in, please? Or shall I be a bother?” he asked, advancing slowly.

1) What was peculiar about the way the girls looked?

2) Laurie says to himself: “Well that’s cool: to have a picnic and never ask me!” How do you think he feels?

3) What does he decide to do?

Year 4 English 4) He sees a ‘pretty little picture’. Describe as fully as you can in your own words why the picture he sees seems pretty. (2 marks)

5) A shadow passed over the boy’s face as he watched them, feeling that he ought to go away because uninvited; yet lingering because home seemed very lonely and this quiet party in the woods most attractive to his restless spirit. This sentence describes Laurie’s feelings when looking at the sisters. Explain what it means in your own words as fully as you can. (2 marks)

6) What makes Beth look up?

7) How does Beth make Laurie feel welcome?

8) Laurie says: “May I come in, please? Or shall I be a bother?” What does this tell you about his personality?

Year 4 English Reading comprehension: an afternoon outing answers

1) What was peculiar about the way the girls looked? They all wore a large hat, had a brown pouch over their shoulder and held a long staff.

2) Laurie says to himself: “Well that’s cool: to have a picnic and never ask me!” How do you think he feels? He is a bit annoyed that he has not been included / He feels hurt and left out. (Has your child realised that “cool” refers to cold, unfriendly behaviour, with an opposite meaning to the modern expression “cool”?

3) What does he decide to do? He takes the key to the boathouse, in case the girls have forgotten it, and decides to meet them there because that’s where he thinks they’re going.

4) He sees a ‘pretty little picture’. Describe as fully as you can in your own words why the picture he sees seems pretty. (2 marks) Two things need to be mentioned (and expressed in your child’s own words). For example:

The weather is lovely: it is a sunny day and the girls are sitting in the shade / there is a lovely-smelling wind.

The girls are engaged in relaxing activities: drawing, knitting, reading.

Meg looks beautiful in her dress and she is compared to a rose.

5) A shadow passed over the boy’s face as he watched them, feeling that he ought to go away because uninvited; yet lingering because home seemed very lonely and this quiet party in the woods most attractive to his restless spirit. This sentence describes Laurie’s feelings when looking at the sisters. Explain what it means in your own words as fully as you can. (2 marks) Two points mentioned for two marks. For example:

The shadow over his face suggests sadness.

He feels quite sad because he has not been invited.

He wants to stay because going home would be lonely for him.

There is something peaceful about the scene that makes him feel calm.

6) What makes Beth look up? The noise the squirrel makes.

7) How does Beth make Laurie feel welcome? She smiles at him / She beckons him with a reassuring smile.

8) Laurie says: “May I come in, please? Or shall I be a bother?” What does this tell you about his personality? He is a bit hesitant and not very confident. / He is apologetic about intruding. / He is very polite.

Year 4 English