Explicit and Inferred
RL.4.1
Read the text, then answer the questions.
The Lost Ledger
Mr Kaur ran the shop on the corner for forty-one years and never used a till roll. He kept a ledger. Every debt in the village was in it, in pencil, and every settlement crossed out. Nobody ever asked to see it. Nobody ever queried it. When he retired he handed the ledger to his daughter, who was taking over. She found eleven debts outstanding, some six years old, totalling more than she took in a fortnight. She thought about it for a week. Then she went through the book, tore out those pages, and started a new one with a card machine on the counter. She never told him. He never asked.
- 1. How many debts were outstanding?
- 2. How long did Mr Kaur run the shop?
- 3. Why did she tear the pages out rather than chase the debts?
Low Water
Stanza one: Twice a day the sea walks out and leaves the harbour standing, the boats set down on their own keels like birds that have stopped landing. Stanza two: The mud shines. Old anchors show, a bicycle, a broken chain, the whole forgotten underneath made briefly plain. Stanza three: Then, without a sound at all, it turns and starts to come. The bicycle goes under first. The harbour lifts. The boats go dumb.
- 1. Why does the bicycle go under first?
- 2. What goes under first when the tide turns?
- 3. What three things are showing in the mud?
LessonPrint · RL.4.1 · Set 9 · free to copy for classroom use