The dear departed-1-Comprehension passages

Passage 1

“I’m amazed at you, Victoria. I really am. Be off now, and change your dress before your Aunt Elizabeth and uncle Ben come.“

1. Who is the speaker of these lines?

Mrs. Henry Slater/Amelia is the speaker.

2. Who is Victoria?

Victoria is the speaker’s daughter.

3. Why should the listener change the dress?

The listener (She) should put on mourning dress because her grandfather was (thought to be) dead.

Passage 2

“What are they coming here for? They haven’t been here for ages.”

1. Who said these words?

Victoria said these words.

2. Who are ‘they’ here?

‘They’ are Victoria’s uncle Ben and aunt Elizabeth.

3. Why are they coming here now?

They are coming here because they received the news of Abel’s death.

4.What does the idiom ‘ages’ mean?

The idiom ‘ages’ means ‘a long time’.

Passage 3

They’re coming to talk over poor grandpa’s affairs. Your father sent them a telegram as soon as we found he was dead.

1. What was the matter contained in the telegram

The matter contained in the telegram was ‘Abel Merryweather’s death’.

2. Who is the speaker?

The speaker is Mrs. Henry Slater/Amelia.

3. Who is referred to as ‘your father’ in the above lines?

‘Your father’ refers to ‘Amelia’s husband, Henry Slater’.

Passage 4

“They will be very small for me, my dear.”

1. Who said these words?

Henry Slater said these words.

2. What/Who are ‘they’?

‘They’ are ‘Abel’s new pair of slippers’.

3. Why did Amelia ask Henry to wear Abel’s slippers?

She asked him so because Henry’s slippers were breaking down and she did not want Abel’s new slippers go waste.

Passage 5

1. “They will stretch, won’t they?

Who is the speaker?

The speaker is ‘Amelia’.

2. Who is she talking to?

She is talking to her husband, Henry Slater.

3. What does ‘they’ refer to here?

‘They’ refers to ‘Abel’s new slippers’.

Passage 6

“It doesn’t seem delicate, somehow.”

1. Who is the speaker?

Henry is the speaker.

2. What does delicate mean in this context?

In this context, ‘delicate’ means ‘sensible’.

3. Why did the speaker say that it doesn’t seem delicate?

The speaker’s wife (Amelia) wants to shift her father-in’law’s bureau down but Henry thinks it is not a sensible thing to do.

Passage 7

“Well, we’ll think about it after tea, and then we’ll look through his bits of things and make a list of them. There’s all the furniture in his room.”

1. Who is the speaker?

Mrs. Jordan is the speaker.

2. What will they think about after tea?

After tea, they will think about announcement of Abel’s death in the newspapers.

Passage 8

Mrs. Jordan: He promised that to our Jimmy.

Mrs. Slater   : Promised your Jimmy! I never heard of that.

1. What does ‘that’ refer to here?

‘That’ refers to Abel’s gold watch.

2. Who do you think is Jimmy?

I think Jimmy is Mrs. Jordan’s son.

3. Who is ‘he’ in the above line?

‘He’ is Abel Merryweather.

Passage 9

“He’s done it on purpose.”

1. Who is the speaker?

The speaker is Mrs. Jordan.

2. Who is ‘he’?

‘He’ is Abel Merryweather.

3. What does ‘it’ refer to here?

‘It’ refers to Abel Merrryweather not paying his insurance premium.

Passage 10

After all I’ve done for him, having to put up with him in the house these three years. It’s nothing short of swindling.

1. Who is ‘I’ here?

‘I’ refers to Mrs. Slater.

2. What is nothing short of swindling?

‘bel Merryweather not paying the premium’ is nothing short of swindling.

3. What does ‘swindling’ mean here?

‘Swindling’ means ‘deceiving’ or ‘cheating’.

Passage 11

Victoria        : I – I don’t like to.

Mrs. Slater  : Don’t talk so silly.

1.What did Mrs. Slater ask Victoria to do?

Mrs.Slater asked Victoria to fetch the keys from Abel’s room.

2. What is it that Victoria doesn’t like to do?

She doesn’t like to go to her grandpa’s room to fetch the keys.

Passage 12

Mrs. Jordan   : Where did you pick that up, Amelia? It’s new since last I was here.

                               (They examined it closely)

Mrs. Slater      : Henry picked it up one day.

1. What did they examine closely?

They examined Abel Merryweather’s bureau.

2. What do you understand about Mrs. Jordan from this?

She is very observant.

Passage 13

“The drunken old beggar.”

1. Who said these words?

Ben Jordan said these words.

2. Who did the speaker refer to as ‘drunken old beggar’?

The speaker referred to ‘Abel’ as ‘drunken old beggar’.