Duck's Nest

15. The Wild

From The Text

A. Complete the following sentences.

1. weaving web after web on its calm surface

2 along the surface, its legs breaking the water into a series ofsilvery
arcs

3 arose with a squawk and whirred away over the cliffs

4. chant saying that the wild duck would forsake the egg as Colm haa
touched the bird's egg
5. hadn't forsaken the egg and he saw two eggs in the nest.
B. Answer the questions.
1. The sun was setting, spilling
gold light on the low western hills of
Rathlin Island. A small boy walked
jauntily along a hoof-printed
path that wriggled between the folds of the hills and opened out
into a crater-like
valley on the cliff top. The boy stopped as if
remembering something and began running up one of the hills
When he reached the
top, the wind rumbling in his ears made him
give exultant whoop, which splashed upon the hills in a shower
an

of echoed sound. A flock of

gulls, lying on the short green grass
near the lake, rose
up languidly, drifting like blown snowflakes
over the rim of the cliff.
2. Abird flew low overhis head with its neck a-strain and its
coloured legs. It was a wild duck. It circled the orange
lake twice, thrice
coming lower each time, and then with a nervous
flapping
wings, it skidded along the surface, its legs breaking the water
of

series of silvery arcs. With its into

wings closed, it lit silently,
slight shiver and began pecking indifferently at the water. gave
a

3. Colm was
facing this situation because he felt that Paddy was
in saying that the bird right
might forsake the egg. But he had replied
back to Paddy that the bird would not
forsake it.
Through the windows, Colm could see
moving sheets of rain tha
dribbled down the panes,
filling his mind with thoughts of the lak
creased and chilled by the wind, the
nest sodden and black wit
Key To English -7 b2
 wetness; and the eg8 cold as a cave
stone. He shivered from
the
thoughts and fidgeted
with the inkwell
and forwards mechanically
cover, sliding it backwards
Opposite the islet, he entered the water. After
reaching the islet, he
was
wondering whether the bird had forsaken the egg. So, he rose
on his toes, looking over the
ledge to see if he could see the bird.
Colm noticed that the bird had not
forsaken the egg.
C. Discuss and answer.
1. Paddy said this in somewhat
mocking tone, to make Colm realise
his mistake of
touching the egg.
2. (a) because he was
wondering if the wild duck would
have
forsaken the egg
(b) because he was deeply thinking about the egg
3. Colm's heart was
thumping with excitement he was wondering
as
whether the bird had forsaken the
egg. His heart hammered wildly
in his ears as he saw the bird
with her shoulders hunched
her bill lying on her breast as if she was up, and
hadn't forsaken the
asleep. He realised the bird
4.
egg
Colm concluded that the wild
duck had not forsaken the
was touched egg which
by him.
D. Answer the
questions with reference to context.
1. (a) Colm is referred to in the given line.
(b) He rolled up his short trousers and
began to wade to cross a
narrowchannel of water. His feet sank in
the cold mud and
bubbles winked up at him. After
that, he unbalanced and
made a splashing sound. At
last, he came on the nest,
seawards. facing
(c) There was a solitary egg inside the nest.
(a) Paddy asked this to Colm.
b) Theegg is being talked about in the given line.
(c) Colm replied that
gull's egg has spots and
a
this one was
greenish yellow.
Use Grammar
Adverb Clauses
A. 1.
They worked on this project after conducting a long discussion.
2 He finished his
work early as he had to attend
the meeting.

Key To English-7