Passage 1: The Robin Who Showed the Way
This story is about Mary, a young girl who moved from India to live with her uncle in England. In this extract, Mary has become curious about a secret garden.
•Mary looked at the key quite a long time. All she could think was that if It was the key to the closed garden, and she could find out where the door was, she could perhaps open It and see what was inside the walls.
•It was because it had been shut up so long that she wanted to see it. It seemed as if it must be different from other places and that something strange must have happened to It. Besides that, if she liked it, she could go into it every day and shut the door behind her, and she could make up some play of her own and play it quite alone, because nobody would ever know where she was but would think the door was still locked and the key buried in the earth. The thought of that pleased her very much.
•She put the key in her pocket and walked up and down her walk. No one but herself ever seemed to come there, so she could walk slowly and look at the wall, or, rather, at the ivy growing on it. The ivy was the baffling thing. No matter how carefully she looked, she could see nothing but thickly growing, glossy, dark green leaves. She was very disappointed. It seemed so puzzling to be near it and not be able to get in. She took the key in her pocket when she went back to the house, and she made up her mind that she would always carry it with her whenever she went out, so that if she ever should find the hidden door, she would be ready.
•The following day, Mary skipped round all the gardens and round the orchard. She then stopped with a little laugh of pleasure, and there, swaying on a long branch of ivy, was the robin. He had followed her and he greeted her with a chirp. As Mary skipped toward him, she felt something heavy in her pocket strike against her at each jump, and when she saw the robin, she laughed again. "You showed me where the key was yesterday," she said. "You ought to show me the door today; but I don't believe you know!" The robin flew from his swinging spray of ivy on to the top of the wall and he opened his beak and sang a loud, lovely song, merely to show off.
•A gust of wind rushed down the walk, but it seemed a stronger one than the rest. Mary had stepped close to the robin, and suddenly the gust of wind blew aside some loose ivy trails. Mary jumped toward it and caught it in her hand. She had seen something under it—a round knob which had been covered by the leaves hanging over it. It was the knob of a door. She put her hands under the leaves and began to pull and push them aside. Thick as the ivy hung, it nearly all was a loose and swinging curtain, though some had crept over wood and iron. Mary's heart began to thump and her hands to shake a little in her delight and excitement.
•The robin kept singing and twittering away and tilting his head on one side, as if he were as excited as she was. What was this under her hands which was square and made of iron and which her fingers found a hole in? It was the lock of the door which had been closed ten years and she put her hand in her pocket, drew out the key and found it fitted the keyhole. She put the key in and turned it. It took two hands to do it, but it did turn. And then she took a long breath and looked behind her up the long walk to see if anyone was coming. No one was coming. No one ever did come, it seemed, and she took another long breath, because she could not help it, and she held back the swinging curtain of ivy and pushed back the door which opened slowly. Then she slipped through it, and shut it behind her, and stood with her back against it, looking around, breathing quite fast with excitement and wonder
8. Look at the text in the box below.
Choose two words that mean the same as strange.
•No one but herself ever seemed to come there; so she could walk slowly and look at the wall, or, rather, at the ivy growing on it. The ivy was the baffling thing. No matter how carefully she looked, she could see nothing but thickly growing, glossy, dark green leaves. She was very disappointed. It seemed so puzzling to be near it and not be able to get in.