Name: ______________________________ Set: _____ Date: ___________________________
S1 English Literature
Short Story: Ice Maiden by Paul Jennings
Part A: Vocabulary exercises
Match the vocabulary word with the correct definition.
1. thrashing (9) ______
n a. to flow in a thin gentle stream
2. trickle (12) ______
A b. received
3. gawking (42) ______ c. to make someone unable to feel anything
9
d. quiet and unclear
4. hypnotized (46) h
______
e. to be absent from
5. scurried (53) I
______
f. only partially alert or awake
6. copped (58) b
______
g. to gape or stare stupidly
7. dreaded (62) ______
j h. dazzled or fascinated
8. wagged (71) ______
e
i. intense pain
9. numbed (86) ______
C j. to feel extremely worried or frightened about
something that might happen
10. muffled (92) d
______
k. to move or fall suddenly (a long way) down or
11. nasal (93) ______
m
into something
12. agony (96) i
______ l. to move quickly with short steps
13. acting the fool (105) ______
& m. characterized by resonance produced through
the nose
14. plunged (117) K
______
n. to beat as if with a stick
f
15. half-conscious (134) ______
o. to behave in a silly way
Then choose the best word to complete each of the sentences below. You will need to
conjugate (give different forms of) the verbs depending on the sentences given.
1. The man wrapped his handkerchief around the telephone before he spoke. He did not
want his voice to be recognized. ‘Meet me at 10 o’clock with the cash.’ His voice was
muffled
quiet and difficult to hear. His voice was _________________________.
2. I was so fascinated by the puppies in the window that I could not think of anything else,
hypnotized
or even hear what was going on around me. I was _______________________.
3. As the class clown, I always like to tell jokes and to be funny. Teachers are always telling
acting the fool
me to stop _________________________.
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4. The noise of the explosion sent everyone _________________________ back into their
scurrying
homes.
5. I went home very late after the movies on Friday night. Just as I walked through the
door, Mum was waiting and scolded me for not being home at the right time. I really
copped
_________________________ it that night!
6. She was staring at me in such a rude way. I don’t think she noticed that I could see her
gawking
__________________________ at me.
7. A: ‘Why have Linda and Ella been called into the Principal’s office?’
B: ‘I heard it’s because they have a lot of unexplained absences.’
A: ‘Really?!’
B: ‘Yeah. I heard that instead of going to class, they go shopping and to the movies and
that they were caught last week by the Deputy Principal!’
A: ‘Oh, I hope they don’t get punished too harshly! Although, the school is very strict on
attendance, particularly when students have been caught _______________________.’
wagging
dread
8. One thing that I _________________________ about living in Hong Kong is the hot,
humid weather in the summer! I have to take a shower 3 to 4 times a day, especially
after I’ve been out the whole day.
betrayed
9. The pain of being _________________________ by someone you trust and care for is
more difficult to bear than a failing an exam or losing a job.
agony/half consciousness on the
10. The paramedics attended to a man who was lying in _______________________
road after his car crashed into a roadside shop
Part B: Answer the following questions based on the text.
1. Is the protagonist a ‘hairist’ (line 2)? Support your answer with a textual example.
Ahairist is someone who discriminates others on their basis of hair colors The protagonist is a hairist
________________________________________________________________________________ .
appears prejudiced against people with red hair just wouldn't go anywhere near a red head'
.' I
________________________________________________________________________________
as he
________________________________________________________________________________
2. Why is the first day of every month both a happy and sad day for the narrator?
Happy day
The protagonist is fascinated by Mr Mantolini's frozen statues and looks forward to the new statue on the 1st
________________________________________________________________________________ day of
Sad day
each month. But it also means the old statue is replaced & discarded in the back alley where it'll melt
________________________________________________________________________________ ,
away
________________________________________________________________________________
3. a) Why does Mr. Mantolini want the narrator to take his cousin Tony to school?
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Because Tony is from Italy Mr Martolini wants the narrator to help his cousin to adjust in the new English-
________________________________________________________________________________
,
________________________________________________________________________________
speaking school environment
b) What does this tell you about Mr. Mantolini’s relationship with the narrator?
protagonist:.. appreciation/admiration of Mr Mantolini's ice statues Over time
Mr
"They
________________________________________________________________________________
have ... . ,
Mantolini has to view the protagonist as friend, and trust him to take care of his
________________________________________________________________________________
come a
________________________________________________________________________________
cousin .
1. ‘I felt guilty and miserable all day.’ (line 31) What do you think is the reason for this?
guilty' The protagonist feels that it is wrong of him to reject Mr Mantolini's request (They
________________________________________________________________________________
-
friends and
are
not
wanting redhead
a valid reason) "miserable'
a He feels miserable for
________________________________________________________________________________
a friend isn't
hurting Mr
-
as
Mantolini and
disappointing him after his repeated requests
________________________________________________________________________________
4. How does the storyteller feel about the ice girl? Support your answer with textual
evidence.
The narrator has a crush the ice girl He thinks she is fantastic and beautiful. Her
________________________________________________________________________________
on .
beauty
(long tangled hair smiling lips, eyes that sparked like frozen diamond) mesmerizes him as he stands there
________________________________________________________________________________
, ,
gawking at her for ages) . The narrator views the ice statue of girl
________________________________________________________________________________
'real girl because he shifts to
a as a
- smile
referring to the statue However as though he has been hypnotized he
outstretched
'she' instead of "it' when
________________________________________________________________________________
using . , ,
hand ...
can't help but go see the ice maiden has (He was even late for school
________________________________________________________________________________
every chance he
.
________________________________________________________________________________
5. Why does the narrator ‘dread the first of October.’ (line 62) Why?
It is because the ice maiden will be replaced
by a new statue and thrown out in the
________________________________________________________________________________
alley
________________________________________________________________________________
6. The narrator pleads with Mr. Mantolini not to throw out the ice maiden on the last day
of September. How does Mr. Mantolini’s reflect his differing view of the ice maiden from
the narrator’s?
To the narrator the ice maiden is real He loves her and wants to keep her forever. To
________________________________________________________________________________
,
.
Mr Mantolini life is a cycle/circle lasts forever
________________________________________________________________________________
, .
Nothing
________________________________________________________________________________
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7. How does the storyteller plan to prevent the ice maiden from melting?
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
8. ‘It was a long kiss.’ (line 87) What suffering does this cause the storyteller?
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
9. “Mr. Mantolini’s ice statue had been good. But not as good as the real thing.” (line 141)
Why does the narrator say this?
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
10. Explain the significance of hair colour in this story with textual evidence.
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
