For a moment there was silence in the small stuffy kitchen. Then the kettle boiled over
and Mrs Adis mechanically put it at the side of the fire.
She as small, thin woman with a brown, hard face, on which the skin had dried in
innumerable small, hair like wrinkles. She was probably not more than forty-two, but life
treats some women hard in the agricultural districts or Sussex, and Mrs Adis life had
been harder than most.
‘What do you want me to do for you Peter Crouch She said a little sourly.
‘Let me stay here a bit. Is there nowhere you can put me till they’ve gone?
Who are they?
‘The keepers.’
‘Oh you’ve had a quarrel with the keepers, have you?
‘Yes. I was down by Cinder wood seeing if I Could pick up anything, and the keepers
found me.
There were four to one, so I used my gun.
‘‘Then I ran for it. 1hey re after me, they can’t be far off now.
Mrs Adis did not speak for a moment. Crouch looked at her beseechingly.
You might do it for Tom's sake, he said.
You haven t been an over-good friend to Tom, snapped Mrs Adis.
But Tom's been a very good friend to me, he would want you to stand by me tonight.
Well, I won't say he wouldn’t, 10r Tom always thought better of you than you deserved.
Maybe you can stay till he comes home tonight, then we can here what he says about it.
He’ll be up at work for an hour yet, and the coast will De clear by then- I can get away
out the county.
Where will you go?
'I don't know. There is time to think of that.
Well! You can think of it in here, she said dryly, opening a door which led from the
kitchen into the small shade at the back of the cottage. They 1l never guess you re there,
specially if I tell them I haven't seen you tonight.
You're a good woman, Mrs Adis. I know I'm not worth your standing by me, but may be
I'd have been different if I’d a mother like Tom’s
b) What will you do if your friend has done something wrong and wants you
him/her?
Answers
The writer describes Mrs. Adis as -
a small woman
Thin woman
Brown hard face
Hair like wrinkles
Mrs. Adis asks Peter crouch whether he has had a quarrel with the keepers. This shows that
Peter Crouch is hot temper
He gets into quarrel easily.
Mr. Adis knew his nature.
List some characteristics of Mrs. Adis based on this incident.
Faithful , trustworthy, good , helpful , forgetful
Give reason :
Vilder guessed that Crouch has taken refuge at Mrs. Adis’ house because he was a friend of Mrs. Adis’s son Tom. Crouch didn’t know that he had shot Tom dead.
The row took place because the keepers scared Peter Crouch who fired the gun in darkness.
Mrs. Adis unlocked the door because she had forgiven Peter and wanted him to run away safely.
Guess the meaning: ‘wrung’ here means
Find the difference between: shivering and trembling
BRAINSTORMING
(A1) (i) Discuss with your partner and describe the atmosphere in the woods when Peter Crouch was heading towards Mrs. Adis’s House. It was-
(a) a dark moonless night.
(b) a few stars in the sky
(c) windless , silent and clear night
(ii) Peter Crouch didn’t knock before entering Mrs. Adis’s house.
The reason was-
(a) Peter Crouch didn’t want to make noise.
(b) He wanted nobody to hear the noise of knocking
(c) He was in haste.
(iii) Go through the text again and find the reasons that forced Peter to shoot down a person.
(a) The keepers spotted him.
(b) He had fears of being caught.
(c) They were more in numbers.
(iv) Mrs. Adis didn’t hand over Peter Crouch to the keepers because-
(a) He was her son Tom’s friend.
(b) Tom would want her to stay by him.
(A2) The writer has used a phrase ‘Thudding Heart’ which means pounding, or beating of heart. Do you know ‘Thud’ is an onomatopoeic word which means a heavy sound made by an object falling to the ground. Discuss with your partner and make a list of Onomatopoeic words that you find in the text.
(a) crackling
(b) rustling
(c) bark
Activities other than the text
A1 Choose the correct alternative and rewrite the following statements.
1) Peter/ Mrs. Adis was stooping over the fire.
2) Peter knocked the door/walked straight in the cottage.
3) Peter thought he killed/ shot a man.
4) Mrs. Adis was a woman with a hard/soft face.
A2. Complete the statement: Peter was in trouble because …………
A3. The kettle boiled over and Mrs Adis mechanically put it at the side of the fire. Find the deeper meaning of this statement.
A4. Imagine a young man comes to you pleading to protect him from police. Write how you will react.
A5. Language Study.
1. He did not knock, but walked straight in. (Rewrite into simple sentence.)
Ans. Without knocking he walked straight in.
2. I shot a man. (Rewrite into passive voice.)
Ans. A man was shot by me.
A6. Vocabulary.
Across.
2. a line in the skin of face
3, overcrowded
4. too many to be counted
Down
1. reluctant to do something
Vocabulary Test
Choose appropriate words from the given WORD BANK and complete the test.
( intensified, innumerable, ceased, stooping over, stuffy, shrug, wrinkles, knell, snap, deserved, huddled down, on the threshold, escape, hesitated, anxiety, straining, refuge, fetch, beseechingly, close at hand)
1. What word MOST NEARLY means: stroke?
2. What word MOST NEARLY means: very near?
3. What word MOST NEARLY means: appealingly?
4.What word MOST NEARLY means: bend over?
5.What word MOST NEARLY means: shrink oneself?
6.What word MOST NEARLY means: streching?
7.What word MOST NEARLY means: make a sharp sound?
8.What word MOST NEARLY means: sharpened?
9.What word MOST NEARLY means: get free of?
10.What word MOST NEARLY means: bring in?
11.What word MOST NEARLY means: nervousness?
12 What word MOST NEARLY means: small ridges in the skin?
13. What word MOST NEARLY means: competent ?
14. What word MOST NEARLY means: boundary?
15. What word MOST NEARLY means: to delay momentarily?
16. What word MOST NEARLY means: lacking in vitality?
17. What word MOST NEARLY means: too many?
18. What word MOST NEARLY means: shelter?
19. What word MOST NEARLY means: stopped
20. What word MOST NEARLY means: lift the shoulders?
Online Test on Vocabulary
Answer:
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