Excerpt from The Secret Garden: “The Robin Who Showed the Way’ by Frances
Hodgson Burnett
- She looked at the key quits a long time. She turned it over and over, and thought about it As 1 have said befone, she was not a child who had been trained to ask permission or consulther elders about things. All she thought about the key was that if it was the key to the clased garden, and she could find out where the door was, she could perhaps open it and see what was inside the walls, and what had happened to the old rose trees. It was because it had been shut up so long that she wanted to see it. It seemed as if it must be different from other places and that something strange must have happened to it during ten years. Besides that, If she liked it she could go into it every day and shut the door behind her, and she could make up some play of her own and play it quite alone, because nobody would ever know where she was, but would think the door was still locked and the key buried in the earth. The thought of that pleased her very much.
- Living as it were, all by herself in a house with a hundred mysteriously closed rooms and having nothing whatever to do to amuse herself, had set her inactive brain to working and was actualy awakening her imagination. There is no doubt that the fresh, strong. pure air from the moor had a great deal to do with it Just as it had given her an appetite, and fighting with the wind had stirred her biood, so the same things had stirred her mind. In India she had always been too hot and lazy and weak to care much about anything. but in this place she was beginning to care and to want to do new things. Already she fall less “contrary,” thaugh she did not know why.
(31 She putthe key in her pocket and walked up and down her walkway. No one but herself ever seemed to come there, so she could walk slowly and look at the wall. or, rather, at the ivy growing on it. The wy was the baffling thing. Regardiess of how carefully she looked she could see nothing but thickly growing. glossy. dark green leaves. She was very much disappoimed.
Something of her stubbomness came back to her as she paced the walkway and looked over it at the treetops inside. It seemed so silly, she said to herself, to be near it and not be able to get in. She took the key in her pocket when she want back to the house, and she made up her mind that she would always carry it with her when she went out, so that if she ever should find the hidden door she would be ready
moor: a broad arga of open land that is not good for farming
contrary: oppositional
baffling: confusing
1. Which quote from the selection allows the reader to infer that the girl is happy to live in the moor?
her.”
A.” It was because it had been shut up so long that she wanted to see It.*
B. “Besides that, I she liked it she could go into it every day and shut the door behind
C” but in this place she was beginning to care and to want to do new things.*
D. Living as it were, all by herself in a house had set her inactive brain to working.”
2. PART A: Based on the text, how would you describe the giri in the story?
a. She wants help with everything and relies on others. b.B.The giri is afraid of being alone.
C. She is a very strong and independent girl.
D. She is a shy obedient girl.
PART B: Which quote from the selection supports your response?
a. “She was not a child who had been trained to ask permission or consult her elders about things.”
B “The thought of that pleased her very much.”
C. Fighting with the wind had stirred her blood, so the same things had stirred her mind.*
D. “No one but herself ever seamed to come there, so she could walk slowly and look at the wall.”
3. What can be inferred about the ivy in paragraph 32
A. The girl finds the ivy to be contrary because it is so thick
B. The vy is a beautiful color which completely covers the walls.
C. The ivy frustrates the girl because it keeps her from seeing the door.
D. The girl segs the my as a small probiem as she searches for the door.
4. Which sentence from the selection explains the girl’s motivation for wanting to find the door?
- “She turned it over ard over, and thougnt about it.”
- “Besides that, / she liked it she could go into it every day and shut the door befund her, and she could make up some play of her own and play it quite alone, because nobody would ever know where she was, but would thimk the door was stillocked and the key buried in the earth.
- C”She took the key in her pocket when she went back to the house, and she made up her mind that she would always carry it with her when she went out, so that if she ever should find the hidden door she would be ready.
- in Incia she had always been too hot and lazy and weak to care much about anything, out in this place she was beginning to care and to want to do new things
5. PART A: What can the reader infer about how the girl feels after she finds the key?
- She does is afraid that it will cause her to get into trouble.
- She doesn’t want to find out whers the key goes.
- The key made her even more curious about the locked door and what was behind it
- They key means nothing to her, she already knows about the secret garden.
PART B: Which sentence from the selection shows the girl is curious?
- “Something of her stubbornness came back to her as she paced the walkway and looked over it at the treetops inside.*
- ‘All she thought about the key was that if it was the key to the closed garden, and she could find out where the door was, she could perhaps open it and see what was inside the walis,
- and what had happened to the old rose trogs.”
- “There is no doubt that the frash, strong, pure air from the moor had a great deal to do with it*
- She was very much disappointed.
