Orchard Stood
Read the passages given below and answer the questions that follow them:
The orchard stood quietly in the sunlight. The apples were red and enticing. Our gaze was fixed on them. Without losing a moment, the small thieves rushed at the fruits, but the bigger and riper ones were higher up and out of reach. I promptly told the children to fetch a broken table and a piece of wire from the rubbish dump. Then, I showed them how to fashion the wire into a hook. Two of the taller kids stood on the table, one pulling and the second picking the fruits. The others passed them down busily enjoying themselves.
The small thieves admired my ingenuity, ‘Auntie, you are really great’. They ran around everywhere in excitement. They screamed and yelled. In the midst of the commotion, the children’s father suddenly appeared out of nowhere and caught us unawares. The small thieves fled, leaving me, the gang chief neatly cornered.
“So, you have turned into a petty thief,” my brother joked. “What if you are arrested?” “Arrested? Me? Do I look like a thief to you?” I sat up in my wheelchair and, feigning innocence, said, “Am I capable of such an act, considering my physical condition?” Laughing, my brother pushed me home. I was not really after the apples. What I was trying to steal was that quality called childhood.
Questions
I. Answer briefly:
1. Where did the orchard stand?
2. How did the apples look?
3. Who were small thieves?
4. Where did the small thieves rush at?
II. Vocabulary:
1.’A fruit garden’ is called:
(a) orchard (b) garden (c) herbarium (d) arcade
2. The synonym for the word ‘tempting’ in the passage is:
(a) attracting (b) pleasant (c) enticing (d) fascinating
3. The noun form of ‘admired‘ is:
(a) admiring (b) admire (c) admiration (d) none of these
4. The word from the passage ‘pretending‘ means:
(a) feigning (b) acting (c) initiating (d) copying
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