What is your opinion of the ant’s principles?
The principles of Ant are entirely correct. Those who don't believe in the future can never succeed in life. And if they are helped over and over again, they will never learn a lesson.
Ant has the capacity to predict, and that is why they are saving for the future. They don't borrow from anyone and don't even lend to anyone.
Who did Connie Macpherson think her visitor was?
Which sentence in the text shows that the visitor did not try to hide his identity?
For how long do you think Connie had kept Jim’s letter? Give reasons for your answer.
Why do you think the desk had been sold, and when?
Why do Jim and Hans think that games or sports are good ways of resolving conflicts? Do you agree?
Do you think the soldiers of the two armies are like each other, or different from each other? Find evidence from the story to support your answer.
Mention the various ways in which the British and the German soldiers become friends and find things in common at Christmas.
What is Connie's Christmas present? Why is it 'the best Christmas present in the world'?
Do you think the title of this story is suitable for it? Can you think of any other tiles?
1. Look at these sentences from the story.
I spotted it in a junk shop in Bridport... The man said it was made in the early nineteenth century… This one was in bad condition…
The italicised verbs are in the past tense. They tell us what happened in the past, before now.
(i) Read the passage below and underline the verbs in the past tense.
A man got on the train and sat down. The compartment was empty except for one lady. She took her gloves off. A few hours later the police arrested the man. They held him for 24 hours and then freed him.
(ii) Now look at these sentences.
The veneer had lifted almost everywhere. Both fire and water had taken their toll on this desk.
Notice the verb forms had lifted, had taken (their toll).
The author found and bought the desk in the past.
The desk was damaged before the author found it and bought it.
Fire and water had damaged the desk before the author found it and bought it.
We use verb forms like had damaged for an event in the ‘earlier past’. If there are two events in the past, we use the ‘had…’ form for the event that occurred first in the past.
We also use the past perfect tense to show that something was wished for, or expected before a particular time in the past. For example, I had always wanted one…
Discuss with your partner the difference in meaning in the sentences below. When I reached the station, the train left. When I reached the station, the train had left.
When I reached the station, the train left.
When I reached the station, the train had left
Mock Test Series
