Charlie and the Chocolate Factory comprehension and vocabulary.

Chapters 1-3
1. Here Comes Charlie
Our narrator jumps right into things, introducing us to the main characters. He even has
pictures to help us out. First, there are four old – ahem, elderly – people: Grandpa Joe and
Grandma Josephine (the parents of Mr. Bucket) and Grandpa George and Grandma Georgina (the
parents of Mrs. Bucket). Moving down the family tree, we've got Mr. and Mrs. Bucket and their
son, Charlie. Charlie introduces himself to us readers. Roald Dahl really makes us feel like we're
there right from the beginning. The family lives together in a small house: the four
grandparents sleep in one bed together (sleep and live, we should say: they never get out of
bed). The other three sleep on mattresses on the floor. Clearly, this family is poor; Mr. Bucket
has a job in a factory, screwing the caps onto toothpaste tubes, but he doesn't make enough to
buy everything they need. They eat the same meals every day, but on Sunday, they can have
seconds. Even though his parents give him some extra food sometimes, Charlie is always hungry.
And, being a young boy all he can think about is chocolate. He sees chocolate every day, but
only gets to eat it once a year: on his birthday. It's so precious, that he'll eat it tiny piece by
tiny piece, to make it last a month. Now that is some will power. To make things worse, in
Charlie's town there is an "ENORMOUS CHOCOLATE FACTORY!" The factory belongs to Willy
Wonka, famed chocolate-maker, and it lets off a smell of chocolate so wonderful that when
Charlie passes it every day on his way to school, he wants nothing more than to go inside the
factory.
2. Mr. Willy Wonka's Factory
Every night, Charlie goes to hang out with his grandparents in their room. They are all over
ninety years old, but when he comes into the room, they light up with joy. One night, Charlie
decides to ask about Wonka's Chocolate Factory. That opens a can of worms and Grandpa Joe
starts going on and on about the factory and the man behind it. We learn that Willy Wonka is a
great inventor of chocolates and chocolate-related things; he lists of a bunch of these, like
chocolate ice cream that doesn't melt and caramels that change colors as you suck them and
other things that make our mouth water. Charlie's mom and dad come in to listen to this story,
and the grandparents urge Grandpa Joe to tell Charlie about Prince Pondicherry. Who's that?
We're about to find out.
3. Mr. Wonka and the Indian Prince
Now we get the story of Prince Pondicherry, told to Charlie by Grandpa Joe. So, Prince P lived in
India and asked Willy Wonka to build him a palace out of chocolate. Naturally, Willy Wonka
accepted the challenge, and the final product was quite a sight: And before you ask, yes, even
the furniture was chocolate! Willy Wonka advised the Prince to eat his palace lest it melt first,
but he didn't heed the warning. And sure enough, the castle melted right on top of the guy. Still
delicious, but it was a lake now, instead of a castle. Charlie is super excited about this story,
but isn't sure if he should believe it. A little healthy skepticism never hurt anyone. Suddenly,
Grandpa Joe gets all serious and mentions how no one ever goes in or out of Wonka's Chocolate
Factory, not even the workers. He seems to imply that he knows something about the not-so-
ordinary people who work there, but Charlie's mom tells him it's time for bed. Grandpa Joe
promises to finish the story the next night.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory comprehension and vocabulary. Chapters 4-6
4. The Secret Workers
The next night, Grandpa Joe continues his story: it used to be that there were thousands of
people working in the Chocolate Factory, but Willy Wonka had to send them away; somehow,
spies had made it into the factory, and other chocolate-makers had begun to copy Wonka's
inventions. Sadly, Mr. Wonka had to close the factory. Suddenly, one day, people noticed that
there was smoke coming out of the factory's chimneys. All you engineers out there know that
this means the furnaces were on. The Factory was back up and running, that was for sure, but
still it was locked and no one was coming in or out. All you could see were tiny little shadows in
the windows. Since then, Wonka's factory has made some incredible new inventions that no one
has copied, and they all come out of the factory through a trap door. The mystery remains: who
are these tiny people working in the factory? Before Grandpa Joe can speculate, Charlie's dad
walks in with a newspaper. Today's headline: "WONKA FACTORY TO BE OPENED AT LAST TO
LUCKY FEW"
5. The Golden Tickets
Needless to say, this is pretty exciting news, and Grandpa Joes asks Mr. Bucket to read what it
says in the newspaper. We get the article word for word, written as a note from Willy Wonka.
It says that he has decided to allow five children into his factory this year. They will see the
whole factory and go home with a lifetime supply of chocolate. This is the real deal. He says
that in order to be one of the lucky five, you have to find a Golden Ticket inside a Wonka candy
bar. They could be anywhere in the entire world. The whole family has different reactions to
this: Grandpa Joe thinks it's a brilliant marketing strategy (he was apparently paying attention
in his Economics class); Grandma Josephine feels queasy thinking about all that chocolate. The
others are pretty much in shock. Grandpa Joe mentions to Charlie how wonderful it would be to
find a golden ticket, but Charlie reminds him that he only gets one bar a year so there's no way
he'll win. Although Grandma Georgina thinks he has just as good a chance as anyone else,
Grandpa George is a little more rational: he says that the kids who have more money will get
more chocolate and they'll be the ones to find the tickets
6. The First Two Finders
The next day, the first ticket is found by a boy named Augustus Gloop. Augustus is fat –
there's no sugar coating it – and his mom was sure he'd find a ticket based on the sheer number
of chocolate bars he ate every day. Although Augustus' whole town is celebrating, Charlie's
family doesn't like the looks of this boy. After the first ticket is found, the whole world goes
kind of crazy trying to find the remaining four tickets. Women, men, children, thieves,
gangsters – everyone's looking. One scientist, Professor Foulbody, actually invents a machine
that can detect the gold under a wrapper, but it malfunctions and grabs someone's gold tooth
(oops), so that plan doesn't last long. Then the next ticket is found by a rich girl named Veruca
Salt. Well, actually by her father. Well, wait, by her father's factory workers. Veruca was being
a little bratty – a lot bratty, in fact – so her dad bought all the chocolate bars he can find and
had his factory workers unwrap them. Finally, one of them found a golden ticket in one of the
hundreds of thousands of bars he bought. Again, Charlie's family is not a fan of this girl. They
decide that it's time for bed; but the next day is Charlie's birthday, and they're all excited to
open the chocolate bar.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory comprehension and vocabulary. Chapters 7 - 10
7. Charlie's Birthday
Charlie goes into his grandparents' room the next morning to open his birthday chocolate bar.
Everyone is really nervous and excited for him, but they try to hide it – they don't want Charlie
to be disappointed if he doesn't find it. Worst-case scenario, he still has his bar of chocolate.
After some hesitation, Charlie opens the chocolate bar and... nothing. He's clearly a little
disappointed (so is his family, but they're better at hiding it). Our little Charlie is such a sweet
boy that he offers to share the chocolate with his family, but none of them will take any of it:
they want him to have it all. And then it's time for school. Boo.
8. Two More Golden Tickets Found
The day of Charlie's birthday, two more Golden Tickets are found. Mr. Bucket reads from the
newspaper the information about the children who found them. First is a certain Violet
Beauregarde. She is a fast-talking, gum-chewing girl who rags on her mom and can't stop
bragging about her record-breaking gum-chewing (the piece she has now, she's been chewing
for over three months). We'll give you one guess if Charlie's family likes this girl. You got it –
they don't. The fourth ticket was found by a boy named Mike Teavee, who wears toy pistols all
over him and can't stop watching television, except to talk about how much he loves television.
Surprise, surprise, Charlie's family is appalled by this boy, too, and they shudder to think that
the last ticket will be found by someone just as despicable as the others.
9. Grandpa Joe Takes a Gamble
After school the next day, Grandpa Joe is the only grandparent awake. Good thing, too, because
he has a secret he wants to share with Charlie. From under his pillow, he takes a sixpence piece
(a coin) he's been saving. He tells Charlie that he wants him to buy one more chocolate bar with
it – maybe this will be their lucky day. Charlie is hesitant, but he does what his grandpa says: he
runs to the store to buy the chocolate and returns with it. After some hemming and hawing over
who would open it, Grandpa Joe finally does and... nothing, once again. They both realize how
silly they've been to think they'd find the ticket and they start cracking up, waking up Grandma
Josephine and ending their little adventure. At least they have a sense of humor about it.
10. The Family Begins to Starve
Over the next couple of weeks, it gets really cold and snowy; Charlie's family can't think of
anything but keeping warm and eating, and they aren't having much luck with either. Really, the
family has very little food, let alone the warm, comfort food that most of us are lucky to have
in the cold of winter. Charlie's dad has lost his job, and their only income comes from Mr.
Bucket's snow-shoveling in the neighborhood. The whole family is worried about Charlie, who
keeps standing outside Wonka's Factory, inhaling the chocolate smell, "as though he were trying
to eat the smell itself". Charlie begins to get thinner and weaker and he does everything he can
to prevent exhaustion. One day on his way home from school, he spots something shiny in the
snow, only to realize that he's found a fifty-pence piece. (!) He looks around to be sure no one
dropped it and then he realizes what this means: he will get a scrumptious, much needed
chocolate bar at the store nearby. And then, of course, he'll give whatever money is left over to
his mother.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory comprehension and vocabulary. Chapters 11 – 13

11. The Miracle

Charlie goes into the store and orders a Wonka's Whipple-Scrumptious Fudgemallow Delight.
Mmmm. The man behind the counter is pretty fat (this is starting to be a trend), and he gives
Charlie the chocolate, which Charlie proceeds to scarf down as if he's never eaten before in his
life. When he takes the change, Charlie realizes that he still has plenty – one more couldn't
hurt, right? So he buys the second chocolate bar and... BOOM... there's a Golden Ticket. A
Golden Ticket! The shopkeeper starts freaking out, which leads everyone around to start
freaking out, too. People are excited, confused, jealous, you name it. Two people even offer to
buy it off of him – for two hundred pounds! (That's several hundred dollars, and back in 1964
when the book was written, that was worth even more than it is now.) Charlie is in shock. Lucky
for him, the shopkeeper is a kind soul and helps him get his ticket, get his change, and get the
heck out of there. He can tell that Charlie really needs this. On his way home – running as fast
as he can – he passes Wonka's Factory and waves to it, knowing that he'll be back soon.
12. What It Said on the Golden Ticket
Charlie gets home, screaming to his mom that he'd found the Golden Ticket. For a minute,
there is silence because no one can believe it. To prove he isn't joking, he shows the ticket to
Grandpa Joe, who suddenly lights up and – wait for it – jumps out of bed and starts dancing
around. Mr. Bucket walks in and is told what's going on – why his ninety-six year old father is
dancing around the room like a lunatic. Charlie gives him the ticket, and Mr. Bucket reads it
aloud to everyone else. Basically, it says that the day the children will visit the factory will be
the best day ever: they'll see his inventions and go home with a lifetime supply of goodies.
Then, the instructions: come to the factory, ticket in hand, with one or two adults from your
family, on February 1. But wait – February first? That's the next day. Grandpa Joe starts to
panic a little, but Mrs. Bucket calms him down and asks who will go with Charlie to the factory.
Grandpa Joe doesn't hesitate: he wants to go. Although Mrs. Bucket suggests that Mr. Bucket
go, in the end, it's decided that Grandpa Joe will be the one to accompany little Charlie. If he's
dancing around, he's probably in good enough shape to take a factory tour. Just then, there's a
knock at the door and for the next several hours, the house is swarmed with newspapermen and
photographers who want to see what lucky child found the last Golden Ticket.
13. The Big Day Arrives
On a cold but sunny day, there is chaos outside Wonka's Factory. All of the winning children are
there with their parents, except Charlie who is there with Grandpa Joe. The crowd starts
shouting to see which of the children they can recognize. One by one, they see them all: Violet
Beauregarde, Augustus Gloop, Mike Teavee, Veruca Salt, and Charlie (who, they notice, isn't
wearing a jacket on this cold day). At ten o'clock on the dot, the iron gates begin to open, and
out walks Mr. Willy Wonka.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory comprehension and vocabulary. Chapters 14 – 16

14. Mr. Willy Wonka

Mr. Willy Wonka is quite a sight. Beautiful clothes (including a purple tail coat and a top hat)
and bright, twinkling eyes. After jerking around a bit, he finally breaks into a dance and
welcomes everyone there, asking the children to introduce themselves to him. One by one,
they do just that. And even the chatty Violet can't get a word in edgewise – Willy Wonka is
shaking everyone's hands as hard and fast as he can and talking their ears off – even asking
questions without giving time for an answer. Quite an exhausting man. All the children and
their parents walk into the factory, which is kept warm for the mysterious workers. They
find themselves in a long, beautiful corridor, and smell the most amazing smell on earth.
Willy Wonka rushes all fourteen of them along, turning left and right and left and right, and
finally downward, toward the underground rooms. There's not enough space above ground
for all his rooms. They stop in front of a room that says "The Chocolate Room". What will
happen next?
15. The Chocolate Room
The Chocolate Room is beloved by Willy Wonka: it's the heart of his factory and it's
beautiful, he says. And boy, is he right. In the room, there's a beautiful valley with a river
running through it. Along the river, there is a marvelous waterfall, with dozens of glass
pipes going into the river. And there are bushes and trees and flowers and – wait for it –
it's all edible. Yep, you can eat every last drop of The Chocolate Room, from the river (made
entirely of chocolate) to the grass (made of sugar). We're getting a sugar high just thinking
about it. Not surprisingly, all of the children (and adults!) start eating everything in sight.
And it's as delicious as it is beautiful. Suddenly, Veruca starts screaming and pointing
toward a little man in the distance. Everyone looks and realizes that they are tiny men with
long hair, and they are all laughing at the children. What on earth are these creatures?
"They're Oompa-Loompas," explains Mr. Wonka. Of course they are.
16. The Oompa-Loompas
After a small scuffle with Mrs. Salt over the existence of Loompaland (the Oompa-
Loompas' home country), Willy Wonka begins to tell the story of how he found them.
Loompaland is a terrible place because of the snozzwangers and whangdoodles (Roald Dahl
loves to make up words). In any case, they were terrorized by terrible beasts and they had
nothing to eat. All the Oompa-Loompas wanted to eat was the cacao bean, which, Wonka
explains, is what chocolate is made of (this part is true in non-Dahl world, too). So Wonka
made a deal with them: if they would come back and work for him, they could have all the
chocolate they wanted. And voila! Here they are, he says. They love to dance and sing and
are a little mischievous and... Veruca wants one. Surprise, surprise. Her dad says he'll get
her one, but before they can finish the discussion, Mrs. Gloop starts shouting to her son,
who has sneaked off to the river and is gulping down chocolate like nobody's business.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Comprehension and Vocabulary Chp 14-16
Questions

1. Why do you think Mr Willy Wonka is ‘quite a sight’?

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2. What is the most amazing smell the characters discover?
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3. Why is the Chocolate Room called the heart of the factory?
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4. Why are there glass pipes going into the river?
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5. Why do you think Veruca wants an Oompa Loompa?
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Roald Dahl loves to create nonsense words. Find two of them in the passage then look for two
more in the book.
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Look at these phrases from the summary. Write what you think they mean.

Can’t get a word in edgewise

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Talking their ears off
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Getting a sugar high
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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory comprehension and vocabulary. Chapters 17 – 19
17. Augustus Gloop Goes up the Pipe
Willy Wonka sees what Augustus is up to and begs him to stop: it's not good for the chocolate
to be dirtied by human hands. But Augustus has bigger problems. Before he knows it, he falls
right into the chocolate river. Oops. Mr. and Mrs. Gloop are not too happy, but in all the
confusion, Augustus is sucked right into one of the glass pipes. More not-being-happy and more
confusion ensue. And after briefly getting stuck (he's a bit chunky, remember) he disappears up
the pipe. This is when we start to realize that Willy Wonka is in his own little world. While Mr.
and Mrs. Gloop panic about their son, all Mr. Wonka can do is talk about how his factory and
sweets will (or hopefully will not) be affected by the whole ordeal. It's a pretty hilarious
interaction and we'd suggest you go ahead and take a look. Finally, Mr. Wonka calls over an
Oompa-Loompa and asks him to bring Mrs. Gloop to the fudge room, where she should find her
son. The Oompa-Loompa thinks this is pretty comical. As they walk off, the rest of the Oompa-
Loompas start to sing. They are creative little blighters and once again, we think you should
check out their song. Well worth it – and it rhymes!
18. Down the Chocolate River
Next thing they know, a bright pink boat being rowed by laughing Oompa-Loompas comes down
the river and they all hop on. Right away, everyone starts causing trouble: Mike Teavee is licking
the boat, Veruca is demanding a pink boat of her own. Charlie, on the other hand, just marvels
at everything. Willy Wonka can tell Charlie is enjoying himself and so he dips a mug into the
river and gives it to Charlie and Grandpa Joe to drink. Yum. Think really thick hot chocolate.
Suddenly, the boat enters a pitch-black tunnel and everyone screams. Willy, apparently taking
after his Oompa-Loompa, starts singing a rather creepy song himself. All of the parents except
Grandpa Joe think that Mr. Wonka is nuts. Flat out crazy. And they're pretty vocal about it.
When the lights are switched back on, they can see the signs on the doors inside the tunnel.
They're all pretty punny (that's funny, but with a pun), including things like "STOREROOM
NUMBER 77, ALL THE BEANS – CACAO BEANS, COFFEE BEANS, JELLY BEANS, AND HAS
BEANS". Mr. Wonka doesn't pass up the opportunity to take a low blow at Violet after she talks
back to him.
19. The Inventing Room – Everlasting Gobstoppers and Hair Toffee
Willy Wonka stops the boat in front of a door labeled "INVENTING ROOM-PRIVATE-KEEP
OUT". He tells them all that this is the most important room of the factory, and that not even
the Oompa-Loompas are allowed inside. The other chocolate makers – Fickelgruber, Prodnose,
and Slugworth – would kill to be in there. So they must be super careful. The room is filled with
machines, boiling and bubbling and hissing and sizzling. Even Mr. Wonka is excited about it all,
rushing from one machine to the next, thrilled about everything he sees and touches. Finally, he
stops at a machine that makes Everlasting Gobstoppers: a candy that you can suck forever and
it will never get smaller. Whoa. He's still testing them out on the Oompa-Loompas but he's
pretty sure they're flawless. He also tells them about his new Hair Toffee, which is supposed to
make you grow hair when you eat it. The only problem is that it works a little too well and one
Oompa-Loompa had to have his beard trimmed by a lawn mower. Mike Teavee tries to question
Mr. Wonka about why children would need more hair, but Willy pretty much just ignores him.
Time to move on to the next invention.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory comprehension and vocabulary. Chapters 20 – 23
20. The Great Gum Machine
Mr. Wonka leads them over to a fantastic machine, with hundreds of glass tubes, and all sorts
of colored liquids running through it, mixing all together. After some major whizzing, out comes
a tiny flat strip. Unimpressive. But wait – it's gum (Violet knows it, too). "It's a stick of the
most amazing and fabulous and sensational gum in the world!".
21. Good-bye Violet
And so Willy Wonka explains what's so special about this little piece of gum. It's an entire meal
in itself: when you chew it, you taste a full meal, you feel it going down your stomach, and it fills
you up. No more grocery shopping ever. Violet, of course, wants to try this gum, and even though
Mr. Wonka asks her not to – he says it's not perfected – she grabs it and starts chewing.
And... she loves it. She describes the taste: tomato soup, followed by roast beef and a baked
potato and finally, blueberry pie. Her parents are cheering her on, Mr. Wonka is yelling, and
Charlie is just watching her in shock. Suddenly, Violet's parents notice that she's turning blue
and purple. Yep, she's actually changing colors. And sure enough, she starts swelling up and
turns into a giant blueberry. Just like with Augustus Gloop, Willy Wonka doesn't seem to be too
concerned about Violet. And just like with Augustus, he calls over a few Oompa-Loompas to take
her to the Juicing Room. As they roll her out, the Oompa-Loompas start to sing about the
revolting habit of chewing gum. This one's pretty funny – check it out.
22. Along the Corridor
Willy Wonka answers some questions from Charlie about Violet's fate and then proceeds to
dodge even tougher questions from Mike Teavee. He brings the rest of the children and adults
into another corridor, winding around the factory. Charlie and Grandpa Joe hold on tight to each
other so they don't get lost. Mr. Wonka's in a rush and Charlie and his grandpa have to run to
keep up. As they run, they see doors labeled with all sorts of things from lickable wallpaper to
hot ice cream to cows that give off chocolate milk. The group gets a few short explanations for
these things, but mostly Mr. Wonka avoids answering questions. Who needs to know what a
snozzberry tastes like, anyway? The room that gets the most explanation is the one labeled
"FIZZY LIFTING DRINKS". Mr. Wonka says that these drinks make you float like a balloon and
the only way to get down is by burping. One Oompa-Loompa got carried off forever when he
drank it outside. Next up, a room of "SQUARE SWEETS THAT LOOK ROUND".
23. Square Sweets That Look Round
This chapter is so very Roald Dahl and so very Willy Wonka that we don't want to spoil even one
ounce of it. It's very short and it involves a crazy Willy Wonka, a pretty good pun, and some
drunk Oompa-Loompas. It doesn't affect the plot of the story, but it's well worth reading. As
Mr. Wonka says at the end of the chapter, "You just wait and see"
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory comprehension and vocabulary. Chapters 24 – 25
24. Veruca in the Nut Room
The next stop is The Nut Room; but they can't go in because, if they do, Willy Wonka says,
they'll bother the squirrels. Naturally. The Nut Room is filled with squirrels taking the shells
off walnuts, something that Oompa-Loompas can't do without breaking them in half (and that
just won't do at Wonka's Factory). First, they tap it to make sure it's not empty – if it is, it will
sound hollow and they'll toss it into the garbage chute. Guess who wants a squirrel? That's
right: Veruca Salt. After Mr. Wonka tells her father that they're not for sale, Veruca takes
matters into her own hands and rushes into The Nut Room. This can't end well. Sure enough, as
soon as she runs in, the squirrels jump on top of her and, get this, start knocking on her head to
see if she's a bad nut! As you might have guessed, she is (she's got a hollow head – get it?) and
just like that, they send her down the garbage chute. Veruca's parents are quite upset,
especially after they find out that the garbage chute goes straight to the burning furnace,
which may or may not be on (Mr. Wonka's never very specific). In fact, they are so frenzied,
that they both – her mother and father – run into the Nut Room and one by one, stupid move by
stupid move, get knocked by the squirrels into the chute themselves. Charlie is worried for
them and Mr. Wonka half-heartedly comforts him (it seems he doesn't care too much about
naughty children). And sure enough, we get another song from the Oompa-Loompas, this time
about a nasty garbage chute and the girls whose parents spoiled her so much that she ended up
among the trash. Once again, it rhymes, and once again, you should read it.
25. The Great Glass Elevator
The children are thinning out, and Mr. Wonka is well aware of it.
They're all getting tired, so Willy leads them to the elevator. But it's no ordinary elevator: it
has thousands of buttons all over the walls and ceilings.
And, Mr. Wonka tells them, the elevator doesn't just go up and down, it goes in every direction.
And because it's made of glass, you can see everywhere you're going.
Mr. Wonka tells the children that they can pick any room they want: from "THE ROCK-CANDY
MINE-10,000 FEET DEEP" to "RAINBOW DROPS-SUCK THEM AND YOU CAN SPIT IN SIX
DIFFERENT COLORS". Mike Teavee picks, surprise, surprise, "TELEVISION CHOCOLATE".
He presses the button and suddenly, they're off – sideways! Everyone falls over and is pretty
scared because it's going in all directions (oh, and because Willy Wonka tells them there's
another elevator that goes in the opposite direction on the same track.) From the elevator,
though, they can see some fantastic things: a mountain made of fudge, a lake of caramel, a
village of Oompa-Loompas... the list goes on. Finally, the elevator comes to a stop, and they get
off; but not before a warning not to touch anything in the television room. It's quite dangerous,
in fact.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory comprehension and vocabulary. Chapters 26 – 28
26. The Television-Chocolate Room
As they walk into the room, they're greeted with a bright, white light and they have to put on
dark glasses so they don't hurt their eyes. The room is empty except at the ends: on one end,
there's a big camera and a bunch of Oompa-Loompas. On the other end, there's one single
Oompa-Loompa staring at a television set. All the Oompa-Loompas were dressed in weird space
suits and seemed very serious. This was no funny business. Mr. Wonka begins to explain what
this room is for: television chocolate. With a few ignored comments by Mike Teavee, he explains
that television takes a picture and breaks it up into a million pieces just to put it back together
on the other end for people to see. He can do the same thing with chocolate, he says. To prove
it to the protesting Mike Teavee, he calls in the Oompa-Loompas, carrying a giant candy bar. It
has to be giant because, like everything on TV, it always ends up looking smaller than it actually
is. Makes sense. After a few more warnings, they get started and suddenly, the chocolate has
disappeared and within seconds, ended up on the other end of the room in the TV set. It
couldn't be, thinks Charlie, but Mr. Wonka tells him to pick it up, and sure enough, there it is.
Same thing, just smaller. Wow, if this works, it could mean real, live chocolate in Wonka
commercials. Wonka really is a brilliant businessman. Charlie and Grandpa Joe can't believe how
miraculous it is.
27. Mike Teavee is Sent by Television
As you can imagine, Mike Teavee is on Cloud 9 after seeing this. He wants to know more, he
wants to know everything: can you send a person from one place to another through television?
Willy Wonka thinks that's crazy, but he also knows that nothing is impossible, so he says yes, he
supposes that might be possible. Mike Teavee doesn't need to hear any more. Before they know
it, he has run to the other side of the room and flipped the switch. A flash – and he's gone.
Once more, we have some very panicked parents. They all crowd around the TV set, hoping for
the best (although Wonka doesn't inspire much confidence with his comments). And after a
very long, tense moment, Mike Teavee appears in the set, giddy as a schoolboy (which he is), but
pocket-sized! Mike cannot care less that he is now the size of a hand – he is so excited to be
the first person sent by television that nothing else matters. Except watching television, that
is, which he insists he can still do. Willy really can't care less either, but to calm the parents
down, he says he'll send Mike to the chewing-gum stretching machine to see if he can't be
stretched right out. He'll get a little thinned out, but with Mr. Wonka's Supervitamin, he'll be
just fine. Another hilarious discussion between panicked parents and not-so-panicked Wonka
then takes place, and it ends with the Oompa-Loompas singing yet another song. This time, the
song is about how terrible television is and how instead of watching TV, children should read.
Yep, read. Like, say, Roald Dahl books?
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory comprehension and vocabulary. Chapters 28 – 30
28. Only Charlie Left
After Mike Teavee's incident, Charlie is the only child left, and when Mr. Wonka realizes this –
well, he probably knows already, but when he admits to realizing this – he tells Charlie he's won.
Won what? Mr. Wonka starts off on another of his chatty rants, talking about all the things
that need to get done and the arrangements that need to be made and... what is he talking
about? Charlie can tell that something crazy is about to happen, but he's just thrilled, as is
Grandpa Joe. Suddenly, they are back on the elevator and Mr. Wonka is pressing the button
labeled "UP AND OUT". It shoots straight up in the air. Willy Wonka admits that he's never
had the chance to press this button until now, because he hadn't wanted to break a big hole in
the roof of the factory. Uh oh. You can guess what that means. Sure enough, the elevator
crashes through the ceiling – yikes. But then it just stops, floating in mid-air, towering over the
entire town. It is powered by sugar power. (We wonder what the ratio is of sugar power to
horsepower, but it must be high for that thing to hover.) And from the sky, they can see all the
other children returning home.
29. The Other Children Go Home
Looking down, they see all the other children leaving the factory. They aren't going home empty
handed, though: waiting for each of them was the promised lifetime supply of sweets, by the
truckload. All the children look a little different: Augustus is thin, Violet is purple, Veruca is
covered in garbage, and Mike Teavee is tall and skinnier than ever. As always, Willy Wonka is
pretty optimistic about everyone's state, but he quickly presses another button on the elevator
– he has something important to discuss with Charlie.
30. Charlie's Chocolate Factory
Still high in the sky in the great glass elevator, Willy Wonka asks Charlie if he loves the factory
he just saw. Of course he does! Who wouldn't? Well, it's a good thing he likes it, because it's
going to be his. That's right, Willy Wonka plans to give Charlie the factory. Neither Charlie nor
Grandpa Joe can believe what they're hearing. But Mr. Wonka explains. When he gets older, he
wants someone he trusts to take over the factory – and more particularly, he wants a child to do
it. And out of all the children who toured the factory, he liked Charlie best (not to mention,
he's the only one who didn't get into mischief). They still can't believe it, but before they know
it, Willy Wonka is insisting that they take the elevator to Charlie's house to fetch the rest of
his family. And off they go. On the way, Charlie worries about the logistics of it all, but Mr.
Wonka assures him that "Nothing is impossible! You watch!". Before they know it, they're
crashing through yet another room – this time the roof of Charlie's house. The whole family
inside is scared out of their minds, but then Charlie and Grandpa Joe quickly explain the
situation, and introduce them to Mr. Wonka. Even though they resist, Willy Wonka gets them all
into the elevator and off it goes again. Charlie tries to calm them down by telling them how
wonderful the factory is and, of course, how they'll never go hungry again.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Comprehension and Vocabulary Chp 1- 3
Questions

1. Who is the narrator of the story?

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2. How do you know the Bucket family is poor?
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3. How do you think Charlie feels every time he walks past the ENORMOUS
CHOCOLATE FACTORY?
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4. How old are all the grandparents?
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5. Why do you think Prince Pondicherry’s chocolate palace melted?
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Look at these phrases from the summary. Write what you think they mean.

They can have seconds

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It’s so precious
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Can of worms
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Make our mouth water
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He didn’t heed the warning
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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Comprehension and Vocabulary Chp 4 - 6
Questions

1. Why did Mr. Wonka have to close the factory?

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2. Why does Grandma Josephine feel queasy?
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3. Why did Grandma Georgina think Charlie had as good a chance as anyone else?
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4. Why do you think the whole world went crazy looking for a ticket?
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5. If you heard about a Golden Ticket, what would you do?
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Look at these phrases from the summary. Write what you think they mean.

The furnaces were on

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A lifetime supply of chocolate
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A brilliant marketing strategy
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There’s no sugar coating it
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A little bit bratty
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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory comprehension and Vocabulary Chp 7-10
Questions

1. Why are the Bucket family disappointed when Charlie opens the chocolate bar?
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2. How do you think Charlie felt when two more Golden Tickets were found on his
birthday?
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3. Why are the Bucket family appalled by Violet and Mike?
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4. Why does the heading of chapter 9 say Grandpa Joe takes a gamble?
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5. Why were the Bucket family beginning to starve in chapter 10?
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Look at the phrases from the summary. Write down what you think they mean.

Worst-case scenario
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Who rags on her mom
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They start cracking up
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As though he were trying to eat the smell itself
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He does everything he can to prevent exhaustion
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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Comprehension and Vocabulary Chp 11-13
Questions

6. Do you think Charlie was thinking about the Golden Ticket when he bought the
chocolate bar?
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7. Why were people freaking out when Charlie found the Golden Ticket?
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8. Why did Grandpa Joe suddenly jump out of bed and dance like a lunatic?
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9. Do you think the grandparents could get of bed at any time? Why didn’t they?
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10. How did Charlie look in comparison to the other children about to go into the
chocolate factory?
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Look at the phrases from the summary. Write what you think they mean.

Proceeds to scarf down

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Starts freaking out
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Dancing round the room like a lunatic
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The house was swarmed with newspapermen
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There is chaos outside the Wonka factory
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