Macmillan Readers

Worksheet

Agnes Grey
Anne Brontë

A Before Reading
1 Look at this picture from the book. What does it show, and what does it tell us about when the story
happens?

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2 Agnes Grey came from a poor family living in England at the time of the picture in question 1.
Decide which of these statements might be true about her.
a Her father dies when she is a young woman.
b She gets a job in a bank.
c She works as a servant to rich families.
d She travels to France and Italy.
e She helps her mother to run a school.
f She marries a rich man and lives in a castle.
g She marries a poor vicar.
h She dies before she can get married.

Check your answers as you read.

Agnes Grey 1

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Macmillan Readers Worksheet

B While Reading
3 Rosalie is interested in (and flirts with) a number of men before she gets married. Match the men with
the descriptions.
1 Sir Thomas Ashby a Intelligent and interesting but not very rich
2 Mr Hatfield b Handsome and funny
3 Harry Meltham c Kind but poor
4 Sir Meltham d Old, rich and wicked
5 Mr Weston e Good-looking but too young

4 The following places are mentioned in the story. What happened in each one.

Place What happened there

1 Wellwood House Agnes was governess to Tom and Mary Ann.
2 Horton Lodge
3 Horton church
4 Nancy Brown’s cottage
5 On the road from Horton church
6 Paris, Rome, Naples, Switzerland, London
7 Ashby Park
8 Scarborough town
9 Scarborough beach

C After Reading
5 Agnes thinks a number of different things to herself through the book. Read each of them and say
whether she was right or not, and why.
a How wonderful it would be to be a governess!
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b I could not control them. At least not without hitting them, or saying that I was going to hit them.
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c Mr Weston seemed such a sensitive, caring, thoughtful man. I felt very sorry for him because he had
no mother, no father and no real home.
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d I hoped with all my heart that Rosalie would be happy with her new life.
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e The days when Mr Weston did not visit seemed long and very dull but I always had his next visit to
look forward to.
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Agnes Grey 2

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Macmillan Readers Worksheet

6 This book says a lot about the life of a governess in 19th century England. Imagine that you live at
that time and a friend has been offered a job as a governess. What advice would you give her?
Write between 150 and 200 words.

Agnes Grey 3

Gateway 2nd Edition This page has been downloaded from www.macmillangateway2.com
B2+ Level Photocopiable © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2016