Page 141 - English Grammar - 7

As soon as I was old enough to eat grass, my mother used to go out to work in the daytime,
and come back in the evening.

There were six young colts in the meadow besides me. They were older than I was; some were
nearly as large as grown-up horses. I used to run with them and have great fun. We used to
gallop all together round and round the field, as hard as we could go. Sometimes, we would
rather play rough, for they would frequently bite and kick as well as gallop.

One day, when there was a good deal of kicking, my mother whinnied to me to come to her;
and then she said, “I wish you to pay attention to what I am going to say to you. The colts who
live here are very good colts, but they are carthorse colts, and, of course, they have not learnt
good manners.”
“You have been well bred and well born. I hope you will grow up gentle and good, and never
learn bad ways. Do your work with a good will; lift up your feet well when you trot, and never
bite or kick even in play.” I have never forgotten my mother’s advice; I knew she was a wise
old horse, and our master thought a great deal of her. Her name was Duchess, but he often
called her Pet. He would pat her and say, “Well, old Pet, how is your little Darkie?”

Answer the following questions based on your reading of the passage.

1. What is the call of a horse?
2. What did mother advise her young one?

3. Why do you think the master called Duchess ‘Pet’?
4. Write the meaning of each of these words/phrases as occurring in the passage.
a. plantation b. brook c. trot d. carthorse colts

e. frequently f. overshadowed the pond g. meadow

D. Read the following passage carefully.

For thousands of years, play-acting has been very popular amongst the people throughout the
world. Some native Americans and Africans used to act out the hunting of wild animals before
or after the hunt. Two thousand years ago, the people in ancient Greece would perform plays
outdoors before large crowds. There, people used to sit on the great rounded steps of stones
placed on the hillsides to see the plays. These places were known as amphitheatres.

This is the place where European drama began and we still study and perform many of the
Greek plays today. The Greek actors used to put on masks and costumes to help them to
pretend to be the characters they were portraying. Just as we wear a mask and costume on
Halloween in order to pretend to be a monster. At present, people usually put costumes and
use make-up when they perform. Comprehension

Answer the following questions based on your reading of the passage.
1. How did the play-acting tradition start?

2. Where did the people of ancient Greece perform their plays?
3. Where would the people sit to see the plays?

4. Do you think play-acting should be an integral part of school curriculum?
5. Explain the meaning of the following terms as used in the passage.

a. Halloween b. costumes c. pretend
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