Hundred Dresses : Lesson 5 & Lesson
6
1. Read the passage and answer the
questions:
Today,
Monday, Wanda Petronski was not in her seat. But nobody, not even Peggy and
Madeline, the girls who started all the fun, noticed her absence. Usually Wanda
sat in the seat next to the last seat in the last row in Room Thirteen. She sat
in the corner of the room where the rough boys who did not make good marks sat,
the corner of the room where there was most scuffling of feet, most roars of
laughter when anything funny was said, and most mud and dirt on the floor.
Wanda did not sit there because she was rough and noisy. On the contrary, she
was very quiet and rarely said anything at all. And nobody had ever heard her
laugh out loud. Sometimes she twisted her mouth into a crooked sort of smile,
but that was all.
(i) Name the chapter and its author.
(ii) Where did Wanda
Petronski usually sit ?
(iii) How did most of
the boys create fun in the classroom ?
(iv) What kind of a
girl was Wanda ?
(v) Find words from the
passage which mean the same as :
(a)
creating noise by thumping shoes (b)
on the other hand
2. Read the passage and answer the
questions:
While the class was circling the room, the monitor
from the principal's office brought Miss Mason a note. Miss Mason read it several
times and studied it thoughtfully for a while. Then, she clapped her hands. "Attention,
class. Everyone back to their seat." When the shuffling of feet had
stopped and the room was still and quiet, Miss Mason said, "I have a
letter from Wanda's father that I want to read to you." Miss Mason stood
there a moment and the silence in the room grew tense and expectant. The
teacher adjusted her glasses slowly and deliberately. Her manner indicated that
what was coming –– this letter from Wanda's father –– was a matter of great
importance. Everybody listened closely as Miss Mason read the brief note. The
first period was a study period. Maddie tried to prepare her lessons, but she
could not put her mind on her work. She had a very sick feeling in the bottom
of her stomach. True, she had not enjoyed listening to Peggy ask Wanda how many
dresses she had in her closet, but she had said nothing. She had stood by
silently, and that was just as bad as what Peggy had done. Worse, she was a
coward. At least Peggy hadn't considered they were being mean but she, Maddie,
had thought they were doing wrong. She could put herself in Wanda's shoes.
(i) Name the chapter and its author.
(ii) What happened when the class was circling the
room ?
(iii) Why did Miss Mason read the letter of Wanda's
father several times ?
(iv) What happened when she said that she wanted to
read the letter to the class ?
(v) Find words from the passage which mean the same
as :
(a) serious (b) short
3. Read the passage and answer the
questions:
The first period was a study period. Maddie tried to
prepare her lessons, but she could not put her mind on her work. She had a very
sick feeling in the bottom of her stomach. True, she had not enjoyed listening
to Peggy ask Wanda how many dresses she had in her closet, but she had said
nothing. She had stood by silently, and that was just as bad as what Peggy had
done. Worse, she was a coward. At least Peggy hadn't considered they were being
mean but she, Maddie, had thought they were doing wrong. She could put herself
in Wanda's shoes.
(i) What work did
Maddie do in her first period ?
(ii) Why did Maddie
have a sick feeling at the bottom of her stomach ?
(iii) What had Maddie
not enjoyed ?
(iv) What did Maddie
think about Peggy's making fun of Wanda ?
(v) Find from the
passage words which mean the same as :
(a)
almirah (b) lacking
courage
4. Read the passage and answer the
questions:
Peggy was the most popular girl in school. She was
pretty, she had many pretty clothes and her hair was curly. Maddie was her
closest friend. The reason Peggy and Maddie noticed Wanda's absence was because
Wanda had made them late to school. They had waited and waited for Wanda, to
have some fun with her, and she just hadn't come.
They often waited for Wanda Petronski –– to have fun
with her. Wanda Petronski. Most of the children in Room Thirteen didn't have
names like that. They had names easy to say, like Thomas, Smith or Allen. There
was one boy named Bounce, Willie Bounce, and people thought that was funny, but
not funny in the same way that Petronski was.
(i) Name the chapter.
(ii) Who was Maddie's
closest friend ?
(iii) Why did most of
the children not like Wanda's name ?
(iv) Why had Peggy and
Maddie waited for Wanda ?
(v) Find out a word
from the passage similar in meaning to 'famous'.
5. Read the passage and answer the
questions:
They were writing a letter to Wanda Petronski. It
was just a friendly letter telling about the contest and telling Wanda she had
won. They told her how pretty her drawings were. And they asked her if she liked
where she was living and if she liked her new teacher. They had meant to say they
were sorry, but it ended up with their just writing a friendly letter, the kind
they would have written to any good friend, and they signed it with lots of X's
for love. They mailed the letter to Boggins Heights, writing 'Please Forward'
on the envelope. Days passed and there was no answer. But the letter did not
come back, so may be Wanda had received it. Perhaps she was so hurt and angry
she was not going to answer. You could not blame her.
(i) What did they write
about in the letter?
(ii) What did they mean
to say by their letter?
(iii) What did they
write to Wanda about her drawings?
(iv) Why did they write
'Please Forward' on the letter ?
(v) Find out a word
from the passage similar in meaning to 'Censure'.
6. Read the passage and answer the questions:
Finally Wanda would move up the street, her eyes
dull and her mouth closed, hitching her left shoulder every now and then in the
funny way she had, finishing the walk to school alone. Peggy was not really
cruel. She protected small children from bullies. And she cried for hours if
she saw an animal mistreated. If anybody had said to her, "Don't you think
that is a cruel way to treat Wanda ?" She would have been very surprised.
Cruel ? Why did the girl say she had a hundred dresses ? Anybody could tell that
was a lie. Why did she want to lie ? And she wasn't just an ordinary person, else
why did she have a name like that ? Anyway, they never made her cry. As for
Maddie, this business for asking Wanda every day how many dresses and how many
hats, and how many this and that she had was bothering her.
(i) Name the chapter.
(ii) Who protected
small children from bullies ?
(iii) What was
bothering Maddie ?
(iv) What did Peggy
think was clearly a lie ?
(v) Find out a word
from the passage which means 'those who use their strength to frighten weaker people'.
