ICSE Class VI English Solutions

Dear Mum,
While you were out
a cup went and broke itself,
a crack appeared in the blue vase
your great-great granddad
brought back from china.
Somehow, without me even turning on the tap
The sink mysteriously overflowed.       
A strange jam stain
about the size of a boy's hand,
appeared on the kitchen wall.
I don't think we'll ever discover 
exactly how the cat
managed to turn on the washing machine
(especially from the inside)
or how the self-raising flour managed to self raise.
I can tell you I was scared when, as if by magic,
a series of muddy footprints appeared on the
new white carpet.
I was being good (honest) but I think
the house is haunted so,
knowing you're going to have a fit
I've gone over to Gran's for a bit.  

Brian Patten is a famous English poet. He was born in Liverpool, England, in 1946. He wrote for a newspaper called, 'The Bootle Times'. His popular collections include 'Little Johnny's confession', 'Vanishing Trick', 'Armada' and 'Gargling with Jelly', among many others. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, Liverpool University & John Moores University.

  1. great-great granddad: father of great grand father
  2. mysteriously: in a way that is difficult to comprehend
  3. self-raising flour: flour to which raising agent has already been added
  4. haunted: a place visited by spirits or ghosts
  5. gran: short from of grandmother
Displaying 5 out of 14 questions & answers.
Q1.

Tick [ √ ] the correct answer(s) to complete the statements given below:

a. The cracked blue vase was brought back from China. This shows that

  1. Chinese vases are easily available across the world.
  2. the child's mother's great-great granddad had traveled to China.
  3. the author's parents liked displaying antiques.
  4. the vase has been in the family for a long time.

b. The child says the house is haunted because

  1. he has seen a ghost wandering about the house.
  2. he wants to pin the blame of his mischief on a ghost.
  3. a ghost lives in the author's house.
  4. the child is scared of ghosts and wants to tell his mother about it.

c. The kitchen sink has mysteriously overflowed because

  1. the child left the tap running.
  2. the kitchen sink is choked.
  3. the tap cannot be turned off.
  4. the child tried to store water in the sink.
S A M P L E
S A M P L E
www.bigslate.com
Answer:
S A M P L E
  1. (ii) the child's mother's great-great granddad had traveled to China
  2. (ii) he wants to pin the blame of his mischief on a ghost.
  3. (i) the child left the tap running.
Q2.

A series of muddy footprints appeared on the new white carpet.

  1. How do you think the muddy footprints appeared on the carpet?
  2. What do you think the child is trying to achieve by writing this letter to his mother?
  3. What do you think is the author scared of?
S A M P L E
S A M P L E
www.bigslate.com
Answer:
S A M P L E
answer not shown
Q3.

A strange jam stain about the size of a boy's hand appeared on the kitchen wall.

  1. Why do you think is the jam stain about the size of a boy's hand?
  2. What does the poet imply by using the word 'appeared'?
  3. What can you conclude about the child from this extract?
S A M P L E
S A M P L E
www.bigslate.com
Answer:
S A M P L E
answer not shown
Q4.

While you were out, a cup went and broke itself.

  1. Who does 'you' refer to in this extract?
  2. How old do you think is the child? five reasons for your answer.
  3. Do you think the child's mother will believe him? Give reasons for your answer.
S A M P L E
S A M P L E
www.bigslate.com
Answer:
S A M P L E
answer not shown
Q5.

Why did the child feel compelled to write a letter to his mother?

S A M P L E
S A M P L E
www.bigslate.com
Answer:
S A M P L E
answer not shown
Other Books
The Trail
Jayanti Sengupta, Oxford University Press
Engaging English
Preeti Roychoudhury, Sadeqa R, HarperCollins
Longman History and Civics - 6
Jasmine Dhillon, Vipul Singh, Pearson
Dashboard - A Computer Science Series
Anupama Swara, New Saraswati House
Longman Geography 6
Anuradha Mukherjee, Rupasree Mukherjee, PEARSON
Cambridge Connection English 6
Sunirmal C, Nandita Muk, Cambridge
The World of Science - Chemistry
S K Jain, Shailesh Jain, PRACHI
New Mulberry English Coursebook 6
Ashima Bath, Saswati Dasgupta, Oxford Uni Press
English Brook Reader 6
Sohini Ghose, Macmillan
Skywalk Coursebook 6
Sraboni Das, Wordworth
Amber Coursebook 6
Kavita Soni, Indiannica Learning
New Gul Mohar Reader 6
M P Bhaskaran, Lalita, Orient BlackSwan
The Blue Marble
Baruna Roy, Madhubun
My Book of Geography 6
Manjusha Gupta, V-Connect
English Reader Main Course Book 6
Limajungla Rongsen, N Verma, MGS Pub
English Treasure - Reader 6
Geetha Parthasarathy, Macmillan
New English Junction Coursebook 6
Samson Thomas, Orient BlackSwan
Effective Geography
Dolly E Sequeira, P S Lathika, Beeta Publications
Grammar Land 6
Sudha Ravi, Orient BlackSwan
Moonbeam Coursebook 6
Ritu Taneja, Maryann Vaisoha, Britannica Learning
Double Click 6
Rajni Kansal, Kriti Prakashan Ltd.
Frank Middle School Biology 6
A Chatterjee, Frank EMU Books
Frank Middle School History & Civics 6
Moushumi Roy, Preeti Moitra, Frank EMU Books
Cambridge Connection Geography 6
Sangeeta Sharda, Cambridge Uni Press
New Skylark English Coursebook 6
Sonia Dhir, Sumita Bhattacharjee, Madhubun
Basic Science 6
A Mishra, G Mehta, Bharati Bhawan
Essential ICSE Geography 6
Bharati Bhawan, K K Maltiar
New Aster Advanced 6
Pearson, Lalitha Eapen
Longman History & Civics Enriched 6
Pearson, Vipul Singh, Jasmine Dhillon
Harbour Coursebook 6
Farida Niazi, Indiannica Learning
My Book of History & Civics
Manju Bhashini, V-Connect Education
Voyage
Dorothy M. Noronha, Nelson Petrie, OXFORD