Reading Practice Test-009
Task: Read the given poem and complete the tasks that follow.
The Country Mouse and the City Mouse
In a snug little cot lived a fat little mouse,
Who enjoyed, unmolested, the range of the house;
With plain food content, she would breakfast on cheese,
She dined upon bacon, and supped on grey peas.
A friend from the town to the cottage did stray,
And he said he was come a short visit to pay;
So the mouse spread her table as gay as you please,
And brought the nice bacon and charming grey peas.
The visitor frowned, and he thought to be witty:
Cried he, " You must know, I am come from the city,
Where we all should be shocked at provisions like these,
For we never eat bacon and horrid grey peas.
" To town come with me, I will give you a treat:
Some excellent food, most delightful to eat.
With me shall you feast just as long as you please;
Come, leave this fat bacon and shocking grey peas."
This kind invitation she could not refuse,
And the city mouse wished not a moment to lose;
Reluctant she quitted the fields and the trees,
The delicious fat bacon and charming grey peas.
They slily crept under a gay parlour door,
Where a feast had been given the evening before;
And it must be confessed they on dainties did seize,
Far better than bacon, or even grey peas.
Here were custard and trifle, and cheesecakes good store,
Nice sweetmeats and jellies, and twenty things more;
All that art had invented the palate to please,
Except some fat bacon and smoking grey peas.
They were nicely regaling, when into the room
Came the dog and the cat, and the maid with a broom:
They jumped in a custard both up to their knees;
The country mouse sighed for her bacon and peas.
Cried she to her friend, " Get me safely away,
I can venture no longer in London to stay;
For if oft you receive interruptions like these,
Give me my nice bacon and charming grey peas.
" Your living is splendid and gay, to be sure,
But the dread of disturbance you ever endure;
I taste true delight in contentment and ease,
And I feast on fat bacon and charming grey peas."
by Richard Scrafton Sharp
(Credit source: poetrynook.com)
A. Write if the statements are true or false.
a) The poem presents two mice.
b) The city mouse paid a visit to a country
mouse.
c) The country mouse lives easily and is satisfied.
d) The country mouse wants to go to the city.
e) The country mouse liked his food.
f) They ate and enjoyed their food peacefully in
the city.
g) The dog and cat disturbed them during the
meal.
h) The city mouse called the country mouse to
show the dishes he ate.
i) The country mouse wanted to leave the place.
j) The city mouse chased the country mouse away.
B. Find the words for the following meanings from the poem.
a) comfortable and warm
b) in a good condition
c) took food in gulps
d) showed disapproval by facial expression
e) unpleasant or unkind
f) powder dessert or sweet sauce made with milk
and eggs
g) one's sense of taste
h) very impressive
C. Match the following columns.
Column A
i. Country mouse lived
ii. City Mouse invited
iii. Country Mouse
accepted
iv. City mouse didn't
enjoy
v. Custard was served in
the city to
vi. Dog and cat
vii. The country mouse
left the place because
Column B
a. she didn't like the
disturbance
b. the invitation.
c. the country mouse.
d. in a cottage.
e. disturbed them while eating.
f. the bacon and peas.
g. the country mouse in
the city.
D. Choose the correct alternative to fill in the gaps.
a The country mouse had _________ to offer to the city mouse.
i) a wide variety of food
ii) bacon and peas
iii) country varieties
iv) bacon and custard
b. The country mouse and city mouse decided to___
i) go to the city
ii) custard and trifle
iii) sweetmeats and jellies
iv) avoid the disturbance
c. They started their feast in the___
i) evening in town
ii) evening in the cottage
iii) custard and trifle
iv) sweetmeats and jellies
d. The poem teaches us that____
i) be happy with what you have
ii) your friend is everything
iii) always think big
iv) don’t trust your friend
E. Put the following sentences (events in the poem) in the correct order.
i) The country mouse urged his friend to take her to the safe village.
ii) The mice started their feast in the evening.
iii) The dog and cat disturbed them.
iv) The country mouse offered the city mouse the
bacon and peas.
v) The country mouse lived in a cottage.
vi) Once the city mouse paid a visit to the country mouse.
F. Answer the following questions in not more than one sentence.
a) What is the story about?
b) Who visited the country mouse?
c) What did the country mouse offer the city
mouse to eat?
d) Why didn't the city mouse enjoy the food?
e) What was the invitation for?
f) Who disturbed the mice in their feast?
g) Why did the country mouse leave the city?
h) What is the moral of the poem?
The End
