COMPREHENSION- 2

CLASSES XI & XII

I was sitting in bed reading one night when, with a great whirring of wings,
Cicely flew across the room and landed heavily on the wall, some ten feet away
from where Geronimo was busily cleaning up the last bits of an exceptionally
furry moth. He paused with bits of fluff adhering to his lips, and gazed in
astonishment at Cicely. He had, I am sure, never seen such a large mantis
before, for Cicely was a good half- inch longer than he was.

Amazed by her size and taken aback by her effrontery at settling in his room,
Geronimo could do nothing but stare at her for a few seconds. Meanwhile
Cicely turned her head from side to side and looked about with an air of grim
interest, like an angular spinster in an art gallery. Recovering from his surprise,
Geronimo decided that this impertinent insect would have to be taught a
lesson. He wiped his mouth on the ceiling, and then nodded his head rapidly
and lashed his tail from side to side, obviously working himself up into a death-
defying fury. Cicely took no notice at all, but continued to stare about her,
swaying slightly on her long slender legs. Geronimo slid slowly from the wall,
gulping with fury, until about three feet from the mantis he paused and shifted
his feet in turn to make sure that his grip was good. Cicely, with well-
simulated astonishment, appeared to notice him for the first time. Without
changing her position she turned her head around and peered over her
shoulder. Geronimo glared at her and gulped harder. Cicely, having surveyed
him coolly with her bulging eyes, continued her inspection of the ceiling as if
the gecko did not exist. Geronimo edged forward a few inches and scuffled his
toes once more, and the tip of his tail twitched. Then he launched himself
forward, and a strange thing happened. Cicely, who uptill then was apparently
absorbed in the inspection of a crack in the plaster, leapt suddenly into the air,
turned round, and landed in the same spot, but with her wings spread out like
a cloak, reared up on her hind legs, and curved both serviceable forefeet at the
ready. Geronimo seemed a little puzzled by the whole thing; according to his
experience, the mantis should have taken flight and zoomed away across the
room at his approach, and yet here she was standing on end, arms ready to
stab, her green cloak of wings rustling gently as she swayed from side to side.
However, he could not back out now, having got so far, so he braced himself
and leapt in for the kill.

1. The meanings of certain words from the passage are given below.
Identify the words after reading the meanings:
i. impertinence
ii. anger
iii. jerked
2. Use the following words unchanged in form, in sentences of your own ,
but with a different meaning from what it carries in the passage:
i. air
ii. turn
iii. spot
3. Answer the following questions as briefly as possible, in your own words:
i. Where was Geronimo? What was he doing?
ii. Why was Geronimo astonished at Cicely’s appearance?
iii. How did Cicely react to the presence of Geronimo?
4. In not more than 100 words, describe the encounter between Geronimo
and Cicely.