Read the following passage carefully and answer the following questions:
Then the Spring came, and all over the country there were little blossoms and little birds. Only in the garden of the Selfish Giant it was still Winter. The birds did not care to sing in it as there were no children, and the trees forgot to blossom. Once a beautiful flower put its head out from the grass, but when it saw the notice-board it was so sorry for the children that it slipped back into the ground again, and went off to sleep. The only people who were pleased were the Snow and the Frost. 'Spring has forgotten this garden,' they cried, 'so we will live here all the year round.' The Snow covered up the grass with her great white cloak, and the Frost painted all the trees silver. Then they invited the North Wind to stay with them, and he came. He was wrapped in furs, and he roars all day about the garden, and blew the chimney-pots down. 'This is a delightful spot,' he said, 'we must ask the Hail on a visit.' So the Hail came. Every day for three hours he rattled on the roof of the castle till he broke most of the slates, and then he ran round and round the garden as fast as he could go. He was dressed in grey, and his breath was like ice.
'I cannot understand why the Spring is so late in coming,' said the Selfish Giant, as he sat at the window and looked out at his cold white garden; 'I hope there will be a change in the weather.'
But the Spring never came, nor the Summer. The Autumn gave golden fruit to every garden, but to the Giant's garden she gave none. 'He is too selfish,' she said. So it was always Winter there, and the North Wind, and the Hail, and the Frost, and the Snow danced about through the trees.
One morning the Giant was lying awake in bed when he heard some lovely music. It sounded so sweet to his ears that he thought it must be the King's musicians passing by. It was really only a little linnet singing outside his window, but it was so long since he had heard a bird sing in his garden that it seemed to him to be the most beautiful music in the world. Then the Hail stopped dancing over his head, and the North Wind ceased roaring, and a delicious perfume came to him through the open window. 'I believe the Spring has come at last,' said the Giant; and he jumped out of bed and looked out.
He saw a most wonderful sight. Through a little hole in the wall the children had crept in, and they were sitting in the branches of the trees. In every tree that he could see there was a little child. And the trees were so glad to have the children back again that they had covered themselves with blossoms, and were waving their arms gently above the children's heads. The birds were flying about and twittering with delight, and the flowers were looking up through the green grass and laughing. It was a lovely scene, only in one corner it was still Winter. It was the farthest corner of the garden, and in it was standing a little boy. He was so small that he could not reach up to the branches of the tree, and he was wandering all round it, crying bitterly. The poor tree was still quite covered with frost and snow, and the North Wind was blowing and roaring above it. 'Climb up! little boy,' said the Tree, and it bent its branches down as low as it could; but the little boy was too tiny.
And the Giant's heart melted as he looked out. 'How selfish I have been!' he said; 'now I know why the Spring would not come here. I will put that poor little boy on the top of the tree, and then I will knock down the wall, and my garden shall be the children's playground for ever and ever.' He was really very sorry for what he had done.
A. R
Questions:-
1. Why was he called the selfish giant?
2. What did the Giant see in one corner of his garden that melted his heart?
3. In your own words, describe the Giant's garden in not more than 3-4 sentences.
4. What was the wonderful sight that the Giant saw one morning when he thought that Spring had come back to his garden?
5. Do you think that the Giant was right in not allowing the children to play in his garden? Give reasons to support your view.
B. Directed Writing.
Imagine you are one of the kids and you have heard a lot about the Giant's garden. Now you have made up your mind to visit there with your best friend Ravi, the next day before the Giant's arrival. Write a diary entry covering the following points:
Your excitement to see the garden
Your plans as to how you would spend your time there.
Your fear stating what if the giant suddenly arrives and what he would do.
C. Do as directed:-
1. Identify the parts of speech of the underlined words:-
a. This is a delightful spot.
b. Then the Hail stopped dancing over his head.
2. He was really very sorry for what he had done. (Separate the subject and predicate.)
Subject:
Predicate:
3. Give the adjective of 'gently' and frame a sentence of the new word.
adjective -
4. Pick out a synonym of 'view' from the passage
5. Pick out an antonym of 'asleep' from the passage
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