Munro College

Department of English and Communication

English A
Worksheet

Reading Comprehension
Instructions: Read the following passage then answer the questions that follow.

The Leader
The streets overflowed; the traffic
Came to a halt minutes before
The limousine came into view.
The town held its breath; children
5 Whispered. A policeman dropped
His baton. A crowd strained at the leash.

Above, a grow flew in absolute

Freedom. From the airport
To the city a people waited.
10 Paper flags were waved, slogans
Chanted. He had changed the face
Of the country (you laugh), yes,
With speeches and brave promises
And eternal vigilance and all that.

15 When he appeared waving

A hand he deemed tired and yawned.
R. Parthasarathy
Questions

1. The sentence construction in the first stanza creates a mood of;

A. Gaiety
B. Hysteria
C. Expectancy
D. Fear

2. The people’s behaviour suggests that they are all of the following except;

A. Easily influenced by political propaganda

B. Unhappy about the way the country is being run.
C. Kept in check by the authorities
D. In awe of the leader

3. The poet seems to be;

A. A supporter of a rival political party.

B. A member of the leader’s party.
C. Sympathetic towards hard-working public servants.
D. A critic of the country’s leadership

4. Which one of the following statements is most suggestive of the relationship between the
leader and people, as seen by the poet?

A. ‘The streets overflowed’ ( line 1)

B. ‘The town town held its breath’ ( line 4)
C. ‘A crowd strained at the leash’ (line 6)
D. ‘Paper flags were waved’ ( line 10)
5. The description of the crow (lines 7-8) is an example of;
A. Irony
B. Sarcasm
C. Hyperbole
D. Pun

6. The reference to the policeman’s ‘baton’ in lines 5-6 suggests that the;
A. Policeman was careless
B. Policeman was surprised.
C. People are repressed.
D. People were rising up against the leader.

7. The leader’s speeches are best described as being full of;

A. Praise and generalisations.
B. Cliché and rhetoric
C. Facts and figures
D. Courage and humour

8. The phrase ‘and all that’ in line 14 suggests all of the following except;
A. Some people are tired of hearing empty boats
B. The leader has not kept his promises to the people
C. The leader does not enjoy the whole nation’s support.
D. On the whole, most people are satisfied with the leader.

9. Disillusionment with the leader seems to be;

A. Widespread
B. Unknown
C. Growing.
D. Banned
10. In the last two lines of the poem it is suggested that the leader;
A. Is really contemptuous of the people
B. Has worn himself out serving the nation
C. Is bored with the political office he holds.
D. Is only human like the rest of us.

POETRY COMPREHENSION
Instructions: Read the following poem carefully and then answer the questions which
follow by circling the letter that matches each answer.

Woman with Fan

In the hot auditorium

I am lucky to be sitting
beside a woman with a fan.
Surely these lovers of flowers come
5 from the nicer side of God:
fruit-bearing trees,
child-bearing women.
I am a lover of the feminine.
I remember mother-soothed bruises,
10 mother-cooked gungo peas soup
with ham-bone,
mother-given moral teachings
by the riverside.
Today my mother looks at me
15 through the eyes of all old women.
I have been enlightened
by the wise voices of teachers
and healed by the soft hands
 of nurses.
20 The ecstasies of their love
are the jewels in my crown.
Fan me, woman.
Fan me.
Earl Mckenzie

11. This poem is mainly a:

a. description of an experience
b. narrative of a person’s life
c. contemplation on the influence of women
d. report on the qualities of women.

12. The main effect of the reference to ‘lovers of flowers’ (line 4) in this poem is to;

a. highlight how much women enjoy reading bouquets

b. present the gentle, feminine side of women
c. depict women as attractive
d. express the thought that women also have needs.

13. According to the poet, which of these come from the ‘nicer side of God’?

a. fruits and flowers

b. children and fruit trees
c. lovers and feminine persons
d. fruit tress and women.

14. It appears from the total poem that the persona:

a. grew up entirely without the care of the father

b. was cared for mainly by his mother
c. has been influenced by several women
d. valued his female teachers above the males.

15. The main purpose of the fanning in the last stanza is to:

a. summarize and recall the image represented in the first stanza

b. recognize the fanning of the first stanza as symbolizing the kindness of women
c. return to reality by emphasizing the extent of the heat in that auditorium
d. emphasize the greater value of a fan compared even to the jewels in one’s crown.