ENGLISH

Name:

Class: Date:

Year 4, Term 3
n
Half-term Test – Fictio

The Uncle

“Is that him?” Tara asked. She pointed at a large

man in a yellow coat. “I don’t know!” replied Ed.
“I know as much as you do about our uncle… which is
not a lot.” The brother and sister were supposed to
be meeting their uncle James when they got off the
train. The only problem was that they were on their
own, and they had never met him before. Their mum
was quite forgetful, so she had not told them what he
looked like.

1
Tara and Ed got off the train ten minutes ago, but
there was no sign of Uncle James. “Let’s think,” said
Ed. “What do we know about him?” The children
thought for a moment. “He likes animals, so maybe he
has a pet,” said Tara. They watched people walking
past. They didn’t see any animals. “Mum used to say
our uncle was as big as a house,” said Ed, “so maybe
he’s tall.” They couldn’t see anyone tall.

Tara thought again. “I think he has a beard,” she said.

“Mum told us about how he was proud of his beard,”
Ed nodded. They looked around again. There were
lots of men, and any of them could be uncles. “Which
one is ours?” Ed asked. Tara sighed and put her head
in her hands. She felt like she might cry. “We will never
find him,” she moaned. “We’ll be stuck here forever!”

“Don’t worry!” said a voice cheerfully from behind

them. Tara and Ed turned around to see a man
smiling at them. He was the tallest man the children
had ever seen. He also had a long, bushy beard, and
a colourful parrot sitting on his shoulder. “Hooray!”
said Tara and Ed together.

1 Look at the first sentence of this text. What

two things does it have? Tick one box.

A a list and speech

B speech and a question

C a comma and a question

D a list and a comma

1

2
2 Look at the sentence:

Their mum was quite forgetful, so she had

not told them what he looked like.

What does this mean? Tick one box.

A Their mum had told them about

their uncle.
B The children had forgotten what he
looked like.
C Their mum did not know what he
looked like.
D Their mum did not remember to
tell the children what he looked like.
1

3 Look at the sentence:

They watched people walking past.

What does this mean? Tick one box.

A 
They looked at the people around
them. 
B They stopped looking at people.

C They thought about animals.

D They thought about their uncle.

1

3
4 Read the second paragraph again. Why did
Ed say their uncle might be tall?

5 Why did Tara think that Uncle James had a

beard? Tick one box.

A Their mum said he did not like beards.

B Their mum said he was proud of

his beard.
C They saw a picture of his beard.

D They had seen his beard before.

1

6 Look at the sentence:

“Which one is ours?” Ed asked.

What is he asking?

4
7 a) Read the third paragraph again. How
does Tara feel?

b) How do you know how Tara feels? Give

two ways.

8 Who is the man at the end of the story?

Explain how you know.

9 Underline the adverb in the sentence.

“Don’t worry!” said a voice cheerfully from

behind them.
1

5
10 Change the verbs so that they are in the past
tense.

Tara and Ed are at the train

station.

Uncle James is standing

behind them.
2

11 Circle the best adverb in bold to finish each

sentence.

Tara asked sadly / cheerfully if they would

ever find their uncle.

The children waited patiently / angrily for

their uncle to arrive.

The children looked happily / loudly at the

man with the parrot.
2

6
12 Choose the best word from the box to finish
each sentence.

because    so    but

The children were at the train station

they could not see Uncle James.

The children had not met Uncle James before

they did not know what he

looked like.

Ed and Tara were happy at the end of the

story they had found Uncle

James.
2

7
13 Write a story about a child who meets an
interesting person. Your story should use:
• the past tense
• adverbs to show how the characters feel
and do things
• speech.

8
 4

9
 Total for test = 22 marks

I got out of 22 marks

What went well

How to improve

Text © Pearson Education Limited 2021

Original illustrations © The Boy Fitz Hammond
© Pearson Education Ltd 2021. Copying permitted for purchasing
institution only. This material is not copyright free.
10