A Question of Grammar
by Richmal Crompton (Cambridge Connection English)
Comprehension
A. Give reasons for the following from the text.
1. William did not have anyone to play with on the rainy day.
= William did not have anyone to play with on the rainy day because nobody of him family wanted him around. He used to bother them in one way or the other. He used to ask endless questions, do mishaps, doing annoying things.
2. He wanted to have a party.
= He wanted to have a party because nobody from him family is friendly with him.
3. He chose the Saturday of the week for the party.
= He chose the Saturday of the week for the party because all his family members would be away from home. The house would be empty. He would not be the reason for their disturbance.
4. William managed to invite all his classmates without his own parents getting to know of it.
= He wrote a strategic letter on Friday to his friends. He wrote that his parents had given permission to do a tea party with his friends in their absence. He also wrote that his parents also asked his friends' mothers to come without bothering them by sending reply letters. This convinced his friends' parents and they didn't think of the true state of affairs.
5. Cook refused to let William and his friends come in.
= The Cook refused to let William and his friends come in because they were thirty in number. The had acquired sticks and stones and old tins from the ditches as they come along. William headed them with a trumpet. The Cook was worried about what William's father would say.
B. Answer the questions.
1. Why did William suddenly take an interest in the grammar lesson in the English class?
= William spent most of the English Grammar class in school. His schoolmistress Miss Jones taught they that two negative words in a sentence make an affirmative meaning. He calculated his father's forbidding sentences with that grammar rule and considered them as the agreement of his father. This made him happy and he suddenly took an interest in the grammar lesson in the English class.
2. What kind of reception did the guests of William receive? Did they become sad because of it?
= The guests of William swarmed round to the back of the house. The Cook had bolted the back door and was fastening all the windows. She shook her fist at William through the drawing-room window. William brandished his piece of stick and blew his trumpet in defiant reply.
No, they did not become sad because of it. Rather they got aroused and excited with the encouragement of William.
3. How did William turn this (the Cook's behaviour of not allowing the children in) into an exciting game?
= The companions of William were aroused in excitement. They were not able to do anything as all the doors and windows were bolted. William broke the drawing-room window with the stone and it fell upon a small occasional table, scattering Mrs Brown's cherished silver far and wide.
They left the garden with its wreck of rose trees and its trampled lawn and crowded through the broken window with imminent danger to life and limb.
C. Read the lines and answer the questions.
1. "The guests' spirits rose. This promised to be infinitely superior to the usual party."
a. Who are referred to as guests?
= The thirty school mates of William are referred to as guests.
b. Who invited them?
= William invited them.
c. What was the usual party like in the experience of the guests?
= At other usual parties they played "Hide and Seek"- with smiling but firm mothers and aunts and sisters stationed at intervals with damping effects upon one's spirits, with "not in the bedrooms, dear," and "mind the umbrella stand," and "certainly not in the drawing-room," and "don't shout so loud, darling."
d. In what ways was this party different?
= This party was Hide and Seek from the realms of perfection. It fulfilled the expectations of the guests that it was to be a party unlike any other party. Up the stairs and down the stairs, in all the bedrooms, sliding down the balusters, in and out of the drawing-room, leaving trails of muddy boots as they went. They went into the larder and ate food of their like. They attacked Jane with onions, the meat bones, and a few potatoes.
e. Would you have enjoyed the party if you had been there?
= I would have not enjoyed the party if I had been there. A party is an event of making people happy. It does not mean to hurt of offend any one. It does not mean to break the rules and manners. They are actually disobeying and hurting the Cook and the maid. This is what I would never support.
2. "They left the larder a place of gaping emptiness."
a. Who are referred to as they?
= William and his thirty friends are referred to as they.
b. Was the larder a place of gaping emptiness always? How did it become so?
= The larder was not a place of gaping emptiness always. It was full of food.
Ginger seized the remnants of cold meat and picked the bone. George with great gusto drank a whole jar of cream. William and Douglas between them ate a gooseberry pie, Henry ate a whole current cake. Each forged for himself. They ate two bowls of cold vegetables, two pots of honey, three dozen oranges, three loaves and two pots of dripping. They experimented upon lard and onions. They left the larder a place of gaping emptiness.
c. Where was the Cook? How would she react if she saw the gaping emptiness?
= The Cook was locked at the coal-cellar.
Her voice grew hoarser and hoarser as the result of the inhalation of coal dust and exhalation of imprecations, still arose from the depths and still the door of the coal-cellar shook and rattled.
3. "I'm goin' to bed," he said, " 'cause my father don't understand 'bout English Grammar, that's why!"
a. Who said this and to whom?
= William said this to a small feminine friend of him.
b. How does the speaker feel when he said this? Do you think he is justified in feeling like that?
= The speaker felt embarrassed when he said this.
I think, he is not justified in feeling like that. He was only trying to hide him own guilt.
c. Do you think his father really didn't understand English Grammar? Give reasons.
= The fact was that his father had full knowledge of grammar. William misinterpreted his father's sentences only to do mischief according to his own will.
D. Think and answer.
1. Do you think William's friends enjoyed the party? Give reasons for your answer.
= Yes, I think William's friends enjoyed the party. They were aroused by the Cook's obstruction. They were encouraging William to do more mischief with the Cook. They were happy to lock the Cook in the coal-cellar. They played all around the house making it a mess. They ate the food of the larder and made it a place of gaping emptiness. Eventually Jane, the maid returned. They, along with William, showered onions, the meat bones, and a few potatoes to stop her entering into the house.
2. Did you enjoy the story? Why?
= Yes, I thoroughly enjoyed the story. First of all the hilarious grammar twist. How he misinterpreted the grammar rule to make his father's prohibition into allowance.
Though it was a total mischief done by William along with his friends, the story was the playfulness of the young children which led us to enjoy it thoroughly.
About the Author :
Richmal Crompton Lamburn was born in Lancashire. She trained to be a school teacher and taught successfully in two schools before losing the use of her right leg due to a disease. She then took up writing and created the wonderfully alive character of William, a mischievous 11-year-old schoolboy, and his group of friends who fell in and out of trouble, and his adventures. There are about 38 books in the series and by the end of it, William becomes the friend of every reader.