The Dark is Rising

The sounds that Will hears add to the development of the story mainly by

• Introducing Will as someone who plays the piano.

• The music and sounds draws Will further into the strange new world.

• Telling the readers that Will is dreaming even though he thinks he is awake.

What can read the reader infer from the following passage (Paragraphs 9-11)?

“‘Robin!’ he said loudly. ‘Wake up!’ But Robin breathed slowly and rhythmically as before, and did not stir. He ran into the bedroom next-door, the familiar small room that he had once shared with James, and shook James roughly by the shoulder. But when the shaking was done, James lay motionless, deeply asleep. Will went out on to the landing again and took a long breath, and he shouted with all his might: ‘Wake up! Wake up, everyone!’ He did not now expect any response, and none came. There was a total silence, as deep and timeless as the blanketing snow; the house and everyone in it lay in a sleep that would not be broken.”

• Robin and James cannot be woken, only Will.

• Robin and James died in the journey to the strange white world.

• Will cannot do anything without his siblings.

What is most closely the meaning of sullen as it is used in the following passage (Paragraph 16)?

“He stood still. The sound came again, through the muffling trees: a rhythmical, off-key tapping, like a hammer striking metal. It came in short irregular bursts, as though someone were hammering nails. As he stood listening, the world around him seemed to brighten a little; the woods seemed less dense, the snow glittered, and when he looked upward, the strip of sky over Huntercombe Lane was a clear blue. He realised that the sun had risen at last out of the sullen bank of grey cloud.”

• adjective | bad-tempered

• adjective | (of the sky) full of dark clouds

• adjective | gloomy

Which of these inferences about Will are best supported by the text?

• He is easily frightened, especially when he is alone

• He is impatient to get back home

• He is thoughtful and observant of the strange white world.

Which of the following inferences about the strange world in which Will wakes is best supported by the text?

• The strange world is a much wilder version of the world Will knows.

• The strange world does not have any humans.

• The strange world is nothing like our world.

Order these events chronologically as they take place in the story:

• Will fails to wake up Robin and James.

• Will starts exploring outside and notices the differences between this world and his world.

• Will hears a strange rhythmic tapping sound in the woods.

• Will finds several buildings and smells smoke and fresh bread.

Match the bolded words from the story to the corresponding synonym:

• walked

• It beckoned him, lilting and insistent; delicate music.

• called

• A forest of massive trees, sturdy as towers

• covered

• The were bare of leaves, clad only in the deep snow.

• huge

• the same road he had trodden

What does Will hear when he wakes up?

• birds chirping

• wind blowing

• music playing

What type of figurative language is utilized in paragraph 14?

"Will came out of the white-arched path into the road, paved smooth with snow and edged everywhere by the great trees, and he looked up between the branches and saw a single black rook flap slowly past, high in the early sky."

• simile

• symbolism

• onomatopoeia

What type of figurative language is utilized in the following passage:

"He swung round vainly searching for it in the air, as if he might see it somewhere like a flickering light."

• simile

• symbolism

• onomatopoeia