Qwertyuiop: Practice

Answer the following questions based on the excerpt.

Lucy Beck was young and small and mouse-coloured, easily overlooked. She had a lonely ‘O’ level and a typing speed that would make a tortoise laugh.

“Whoever will want to employ me?” she had asked Mrs. Price once, and Mrs. Price had been at a loss to answer.

Lucy wanted a job. More than anyone, more than anything, she wanted a job. She was tired of being poor. She was fed up with macaroni cheese and baked beans. She was sick of second-hand clothes.

1. What do you think the author means when describing Lucy as “easily overlooked”?
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________

2. What is the author implying when saying that Lucy’s typing speed would “make a
tortoise laugh?
______________________________________________________

3. Which words or phrases have similar meanings to the following?
a) To hire : ______________________________________________
b) Used items : ___________________________________________

4. Why couldn’t Mrs. Price answer Lucy when she asked whether she would ever find a job?
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________

5. If you were in Lucy’s situation, how would you feel? Elaborate.
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________

Answer the following questions based on the excerpt.

She was early. She smoothed down her windy hair, and waited.

At five past nine, an elderly man, with small dark eyes like currants and a thick icing of white hair, came hobbling up the stairs. He was jingling a bunch of keys.

“Ah,” he said, noticing Mary. “Punctuality is the courtesy of kings – but a hard necessity for new brooms, eh? You are the new broom, I suppose? Not an impatient customer waiting to see our new range of Sunburst cushions, by any chance?”

1. In your opinion, why did Lucy arrive early that Monday morning?
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________

2. Which words or phrases from the story have similar meanings to the following?
a) Being on time : _______________________________________
b) Selection : __________________________________________

3. Explain what the author means when describing Lucy as a ‘new broom’.
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________

4. Describe the man who opened the door for Lucy.
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________

5. Paraphrase the excerpt: “Punctuality is the courtesy of kings-but a hard necessity for
new brooms”.
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________

Answer the following questions based on the excerpt.

For an hour, she battled with the machine. As fast as QWERTYUIOPs and unwanted capitals appeared, she attacked with a loaded brush. The white fluid ran down the typing paper like melting ice-cream, and dripped thickly into the depths of the typewriter.

YOU’RE DROWNING ME, it complained pathetically, and she swiped at the words with her brush.

HELP!

Another swipe.

PLEASE!

But Lucy showed no mercy. The large bottle was half-empty when she reached the end of the letter in triumph.

Yours faithfully,
George Ross,

She typed, and set back with a sigh of relief.

The machine began to rattle. Too late, Lucy snatched the completed letter out of the typewriter. Across the bottom of the otherwise faultless page, it now said in large, red capitals:

I HATE YOU!

Furiously she painted the words out.

1. Describe the ‘battle’ between Lucy and the typewriter.
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________

2. Which words or phrases from the story have similar meanings to the following?
a) In a sorrowful state : _________________________________
b) Without error : _____________________________________

3. Why was the typewriter complaining that Lucy was drowning it?
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________

4. Which sentence showed that Lucy was ruthless in the ‘battle’.
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________

5. Describe the outcome of the ‘battle’.
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________