Question 1 of 10
The father thinks the headmaster's wife is impressive all the same. What does 'all the same' mean here?
A) She looks the same as everyone else
B) Despite her plain appearance, she is still impressive
C) She and the headmaster look identical
D) She hasn't changed since they last met
Question 2 of 10
The headmaster's friendliness is untainted by the least condescension. What does this tell us?
A) He is unfriendly and cold towards the parents
B) He is trying to hide how much he dislikes the family
C) His friendliness is completely genuine — there is no trace of him looking down on the parents
D) He doesn't know what condescension means
Question 3 of 10
The headmaster and wife are compared to paired cards in Happy Families. What does this simile suggest?
A) They are a perfectly matched double act — polished, rehearsed, and performing together
B) They are both very good at playing card games
C) They argue frequently like children playing games
D) They are both very young and playful
Question 4 of 10
The wife bears him away like some relentless tide, towing him like a frail craft. What do these two similes together create?
A) A picture of a fun boat trip
B) A sense that the school is near the sea
C) A feeling that Charles is strong and brave
D) An extended sea metaphor showing Charles as tiny and helpless against an unstoppable natural force
Question 5 of 10
The wife is confident in the strength of magnetism, or obedience. What does 'or' reveal here?
A) She can't decide which word to use
B) She doesn't care whether children follow from attraction or from duty — either way, they obey
C) She thinks magnetism and obedience are the same thing
D) She is asking Charles which he prefers
Question 6 of 10
The boys are described with bright eyes in open, eager faces. What does this detail add to the scene?
A) It proves the boys are genuinely kind throughout the whole story
B) It shows the boys are tired and ready for bed
C) It contrasts sharply with the threatening behaviour after the wife leaves — the boys perform for adults
D) It describes how the boys look when they are scared
Question 7 of 10
Charles sees grubby plimsolls and kicked brown sandals. Why does Lively describe feet, not faces?
A) Charles is staring at the ground because he is too frightened to look up
B) The boys have very interesting shoes
C) Charles is a shoe designer and notices footwear
D) The boys are standing on their tiptoes
Question 8 of 10
Do you? they say, and Have you? and What's your? Why does Lively write incomplete questions?
A) She forgot to finish writing the sentences
B) The boys are speaking in a foreign language Charles doesn't understand
C) The questions don't matter — the boys are just making noise
D) Charles can only hear fragments — his fear is so great that words blur and break apart
Question 9 of 10
The final threat comes out of the noises... one voice that is complete, that he can hear. Why can Charles hear THIS sentence clearly?
A) The other boys have stopped talking
B) The threat cuts through his panic because it is the one thing his fear has been waiting for — the worst thing
C) The boy who says it has a very loud voice
D) Charles has recovered from his panic and can hear normally again
Question 10 of 10
The passage begins with the adults calling Charles by his name but later he is only called 'the child'. What does this shift suggest?
A) The writer has forgotten his name
B) Charles has changed his name
C) Charles is losing his identity — he is no longer a person with a name but a generic, vulnerable child
D) The headmaster's wife doesn't know his name
Question 1 of 8
Lively writes: 'his large hand rested... quite extinguishing the thin, dark hair. It was as though he had but to clench his fingers to crush the skull.' What technique builds the menace here?
A) A contrast between a friendly gesture and a violent image — the pat hides the potential to crush
B) Onomatopoeia — 'crush' sounds like something breaking
C) Rhyme — 'hair' and 'there' create a musical pattern
D) Repetition — the word 'hand' is repeated for emphasis
Question 2 of 8
The passage shifts from past tense ('The parents laughed') to present tense ('The child stands in the centre'). What effect does this create?
A) It is a grammatical mistake that should have been corrected
B) It shows that the story is told by two different narrators
C) It makes Charles's ordeal feel immediate and happening right now — we experience his fear in real time
D) It shows that time is passing very quickly
Question 3 of 8
Lively describes the boys' room as having 'inky tables and rungless chairs' and a 'mangy carpet'. What is the effect of these details?
A) They show that the school is brand new and well-maintained
B) They contrast with the headmaster's polished appearance — the real school behind the sales pitch is shabby
C) They show Charles is impressed by the school's facilities
D) They describe the headmaster's private office
Question 4 of 8
'She is gone.' Why is this two-word sentence so effective?
A) It uses alliteration to create a musical sound
B) It is a rhetorical question that makes us think
C) It uses a simile to create a vivid picture
D) Its shocking brevity after long flowing sentences mirrors how suddenly Charles's protection vanishes
Question 5 of 8
Lively writes that Charles's voice 'floated like a feather in the dusty schoolroom air' and then 'dies altogether'. What technique is used and what does it show?
A) A simile followed by personification — his voice is compared to something light and fragile, then described as dying like a living thing
B) Alliteration — the repeated 'f' sounds create a floating feeling
C) Onomatopoeia — 'floated' sounds like something drifting
D) A metaphor — Charles is literally turning into a feather
Question 6 of 8
The passage uses water imagery repeatedly: 'relentless tide', 'rushing water', 'torrential din'. What overall effect does this pattern create?
A) It shows the school has a swimming pool
B) It suggests Charles is thirsty
C) A sustained sense of drowning — Charles is being pulled under by forces too powerful to resist
D) It shows the school is built near a river
Question 7 of 8
Throughout the passage, the adults see a charming school while Charles experiences terror. What technique is this?
A) Flashback — the story goes back to show earlier events
B) Dramatic irony — the reader can see what the parents cannot, making the gap between adult and child experience painfully clear
C) Hyperbole — Charles is exaggerating how bad it is
D) Foreshadowing — hints about what will happen in the future
Question 8 of 8
The very last line is: 'We always mash new boys.' Why is the word 'always' the most frightening part?
A) It means the bullying only happens once
B) It suggests the boys might change their behaviour
C) It is a very long word that takes time to read
D) It turns the threat into a certainty and a tradition — this is not a possibility but an inevitable, repeated ritual