Comprehension practice – Yr 9

Our house was built 300 years ago, and was as beautiful as they come. It was built of stone, had
wooden window frames that were made by hand; golden surfaces, soft green tiles, and walls so thick
even the sun couldn’t warm them up, even in the summer! Its attics and corridors were full of doors
that had been covered in bricks, which we wished we could open – doors that led to mysterious
rooms now closed from us forever. The place had once been a small country mansion, and later a
public hall; but it had decayed even further by the time we got into it, and it was now made into
three small cottages in one. The houses were shaped like a T, and we lived in the down-stroke. The
top-stroke was divided into two separate cottages, in each one lived an old lady.

Questions:

1) Was the house old or new?

The house was old because it aged 300 years
2) What was unpleasant about living in the cottage?
The cottage was decayed by the time the owners got to it. It was also full of bricked up
doors that served an unknown purpose. The walls were so thick, not even the summer
heat could warm them up
3) What three different ways had the house been used?
It was a mansion and later a public hall. It is now a residence for the writer.
4) How is the cottage currently separated?
The cottage is separated in the letter ‘T’ shape with one cottage at the top and one at the
bottom
5) Who lives in the other two cottages?
Each cottage has one old lady

Answers

1) The house is 300 years old

2) The house had boarded up doorways / it always had cold walls even in the summer
3) It was a mansion, a public hall and now three cottages
4) It is separated in a ‘T’ shape. One cottage on the long side (I) and two across the top (--)
5) Each cottage has one old lady living in it