Comprehension Skills (Narrative Text) Flowchart Questions

In this chapter, we will be doing flowchart questions, to identify a point of view, etc.

Let’s go through the topics to be covered in this chapter:

Text 2 skills

• Flowchart Questions
• Identifying Point-of-View
• General Mood/Tone 
• Narrative Text (An Escaped Elephant)

Flow chart

The flow chart will be more difficult to manage as the answers could overlap.

Flow charts make up 4 marks and this is a great way to grab some marks as all you have to do is to select the correct answer in the box.

Unfortunately, the answers are almost similar with only a slight margin of difference. Only the most scrupulous understanding of the words in the helping box/list will help the student understand the correct answer.

Careful attention must be paid to the shifts in the meanings. Students will be able to understand what went wrong and they will arrive at the correct answers before long. 

Being able to apply oneself to these questions is a great asset as it will be really easy to score in this portion of the paper.

The Secondary 2 Comprehension practice is crucial as it is a stepping stone away from the ‘O’ level paper.

Flow chart skills

Some flow chart questions require you to put yourself in the writer’s/character’s shoes and know the nuances of the definitions of the options given. Occasionally, flow chart questions may also require you to identify the general tone or mood of the individual paragraphs.

You will be given a group of ideas and/or a group of paragraphs to analyse and look out for the type of common idea. e.g. feelings, atmosphere, reactions, characteristics, etc.

Always remember to focus on specific words/ phrases in the paragraph that could help you to deduce the answer.

If you are uncertain of the meaning of the word(s), first eliminate the options that you are sure are wrong.

Let’s understand the above topics with the help of some examples:

Question 1:

The text below depicts a scene in an interrogation room.

It had been exactly twelve hours since he was last questioned. Beads of perspiration formed on his forehead as a slew of interrogations descended upon him. Across the darkened room, the investigator maintained an aggressive stance, towering over him as she searched for the slightest form of indication that would confirm his culpability in the crime. His insides gnawed at him as he tried to hide his injured palm that was bandaged heavily from the sharp, prying eyes of the investigation.

From the following options, identify the word that you think best represents the whole excerpt.

Answer:

“Repulsion” means disgust which is a negative but strong word.
“Euphoria” means intense excitement and happiness which is a positive but strong word.
“Nervousness” is a negative weaker word than “horror” which is a negative strong word.
“Nervousness” means the quality or state of being apprehensive/anxious- in this context, the suspect is worried about being found guilty.

Hence, the correct answer is “Nervousness”.

Question 2:

The text below describes the writer’s feelings about life in the countryside.

After breakfast, I am in the valley pasturing sheep as usual, under a sky the dull grey of cow intestines. I look at my house on the hill. The mountains loom behind it, peaks lost in heavy clouds. There must be more – I have dreams that are bigger than the mountaintops. In the pasture, I always climb the tallest tree and shout to the sheep, “I’m travelling far from here!” and my tree turns into a plane and I ride off to a place where I can sit in a classroom, play with friends, and go to the mall every day.

From the following options, identify the word that you think best represents the whole excerpt.

Answer:

“Weary” is a negative but weaker word.
“Despair” is a negative but strong word.
“Brooding” is a negative but weaker word.
“Desirous” is a positive strong word which means strong desire. It means to long for or wish for something.

Hence, the correct answer is “Desirous”.

Flow chart

The structure of the text reflects the main feelings of the British police officer as he reacts to the events of the day.

Complete the flow chart, by choosing one phrase from the box to summarise the main feeling described in each part of the text. There are some extra phrases in the box that you do not need to use. 

Main focus

Text Para 1

The text below describes an encounter of the writer, a British police officer, with an escaped elephant in Burma. Read the passage and answer the following questions.

Early one morning, the sub-inspector at a police station rang me up on the phone and said that an elephant was ravaging the bazaar. I did not know what I could do, but I wanted to see what was happening, so I got onto a pony and started out. I took my rifle, an old .44 Winchester and much too small to kill an elephant, but I thought the noise might be useful. It was not, of course, a wild elephant, but a tame one which had gone ‘mad’. It had been chained up but on the previous night it had broken its chain and fled, without anyone capable of thwarting its escape. Its mahout* had set out in pursuit, but had taken the wrong direction and was twelve hours’ journey away, and in the morning the elephant had suddenly reappeared in the town. The Burmese population had no weapons and were quite helpless against it. It had destroyed somebody’s bamboo hut, killed a cow and raided some fruit stalls and devoured the stock; also it had met the rubbish van and had turned the van over and inflicted violence upon it.

Question 3:

The structure of the text reflects the main feelings of the British police officer as he reacts to the events of the day.

Complete the flow chart, by choosing one phrase from the box to summarize the main feeling described in each part of the text. There are some extra phrases in the box that you do not need to use.

Paragraph 1: 

1. Courageous
2. Confident
3. Helplessness 
4. Anxiety

Answer:

The correct answer is Option No A. He is feeling courageous because at this point in time he is very brave, he is about to face the elephants. He knows that this elephant is a bit dangerous but he shows no fear.

Hence, the correct answer is “Courageous”.

Text Para 2

The text below describes an encounter of the writer, a British police officer, with an escaped elephant in Burma. Read the passage and answer the following questions.

The Burmese sub-inspector was waiting for me in the quarter where the elephant had been seen. It was a very poor quarter, a labyrinth of squalid bamboo huts, thatched with palm leaf, winding over a steep hillside. We began questioning the people as to where the elephant had gone and, as usual, failed to get any definite information. This is invariably the case in the East; a story always sounds clear enough at a distance, but the nearer you get to the scene of events the vaguer it becomes. Some said that the elephant had gone in one direction, others declared that he had gone another direction, some professed not even to have heard of any elephant.

Question 4:

The structure of the text reflects the main feelings of the British police officer as he reacts to the events of the day.

Complete the flow chart, by choosing one phrase from the box to summarise the main feeling described in each part of the text. There are some extra phrases in the box that you do not need to use.

Paragraph 2: __________

1. Helplessness
2. Uncomfortable
3. Frustration 
4. Anxiety

Answer:

“Helplessness” is quite negative but a strong word.
“Uncomfortable” is negative but is very weak.
“Frustration” is negative and it is quite strong.
“Anxiety” is negative and it is strong.

The word “as usual”, if something happens to a person again and again no matter how much that person tries to avoid it or no matter what that person does it happens to you all the time again and again. One would feel frustrated because it seems that the situation is never improving.

Hence, the correct answer is Option No C i.e. Frustration.

Text Para 3

The text below describes an encounter of the writer, a British police officer, with an escaped elephant in Burma. Read the passage and answer the following questions.

I had almost made up my mind that the whole story was a pack of lies, when we heard yells a little distance away. I rounded the hut and saw a man’s dead body sprawling in the mud. The people said that the elephant had come suddenly upon him round the corner of the hut, seized him with its trunk, put its foot on his back and ground him into the earth. As soon as I saw the dead man, I sent a soldier to a friend’s house to borrow an elephant rifle.

Question 5:

The structure of the text reflects the main feelings of the British police officer as he reacts to the events of the day.

Complete the flowchart, by choosing one phrase from the box to summarize the main feeling described in each part of the text. There are some extra phrases in the box that you do not need to use.

Paragraph 3: __________

1. Helplessness
2. Uncomfortable
3. Terrified 
4. Anxiety

 Answer:

“Helplessness” is quite negative but a strong word.
“Uncomfortable” is negative but is very weak.
“Anxiety” is negative and it is strong.
“Terrified” is negative and it is very strong.

Hence, the correct answer is Option No C i.e. terrified because he saw the dead man.

Text Para 4

The text below describes an encounter of the writer, a British police officer, with an escaped elephant in Burma. Read the passage and answer the following questions.

Meanwhile, some Burmese had arrived and told us that the elephant was in the paddy fields below. As I started forward, practically the whole population of the quarter flocked out of the houses and followed me. They had seen the rifle and were all shouting excitedly that I was going to shoot the elephant. I had no intention of shooting the elephant – I had merely sent for the rifle to defend myself if necessary – and it is always unnerving to have a crowd following you. I marched down the hill with the rifle over my shoulder and an ever-growing army of people jostling at my heels. The elephant was standing two metres from the road. He took not the slightest notice of the crowd’s approach. He was tearing up branches of grass, beating them against his knees and stuffing them into his mouth.

Question 6:

The structure of the text reflects the main feelings of the British police officer as he reacts to the events of the day.

Complete the flow chart, by choosing one phrase from the box to summarise the main feeling described in each part of the text. There are some extra phrases in the box that you do not need to use.

Paragraph 4: __________

1. Helplessness
2. Uncomfortable
3. Dutiful 
4. Anxiety

Answer: 

“Helplessness” is quite negative but a strong word.
“Uncomfortable” is negative but is very weak.
“Anxiety” is negative and it is strong.
“Dutiful” means to do one’s duty, not related at all.

It is just people making a nuisance of themselves, so the correct answer is Option No B i.e. uncomfortable. 

Test your concepts

Answer the following questions based on the concepts we’ve covered in this article. If you get stuck, revisit the relevant section to revise the concepts.

Text Para 5

The text below describes an encounter of the writer, a British police officer, with an escaped elephant in Burma. Read the passage and answer the following questions.

As soon as I saw the elephant, I knew with perfect certainty that I ought not to shoot him. It is a serious matter to shoot a working elephant – it is comparable to destroying a huge and costly piece of machinery – and obviously one ought not to do it if it can possibly be avoided. And at that distance, peacefully eating, the elephant looked no more dangerous than a cow. He would merely wander harmlessly about until the mahout came back and caught him. I did not in the least want to shoot him.

Question 1:

The structure of the text reflects the main feelings of the British police officer as he reacts to the events of the day.

Complete the flowchart, by choosing one phrase from the box to summarize the main feeling described in each part of the text. There are some extra phrases in the box that you do not need to use.

Paragraph 5: __________

1. Helplessness
2. Anxiety
3. Dutiful 
4. Confident

Question 2:

Excerpt (Para 1)

I took my rifle, an old 44 Winchester and much too small to kill an elephant, but I thought the noise might be useful.

Why did the writer take his rifle along with him? 

1. The noise of its shot might frighten the elephant. 
2. The noise of its shot might scare the elephant. 
3. He wanted to frighten the elephant. 
4. He wanted to use the rifle to shoot the elephant.

Which option(s) is/are acceptable?

1. 1 & 3
2. 2 & 4
3. 2
4. 1 & 2

Question 3:

Excerpt (Para 1)

It had been chained up but on the previous night it had broken its chain and fled, without anyone capable of thwarting its escape. Its mahout* had set out in pursuit, but had taken the wrong direction and was twelve hours’ journey away, and in the morning the elephant had suddenly reappeared in the town. The Burmese population had no weapons and were quite helpless against it.

Explain how the language used in the paragraph shows how helpless the people were against it. Support your answer with details from the paragraph.

1. ‘Without anyone capable of thwarting its escape’ suggests that people were unable to catch it, showing how the people were helpless against it. 
2. ‘Its mahout had set out in pursuit, but had taken the wrong direction’ suggests that the very / sole person who was able to tame the elephant was not present, showing how the people were helpless against it.
3. ‘The Burmese population had no weapons’ suggests that the people were unable to protect themselves from the elephant, showing how they were helpless against it.

Which option(s) is/are acceptable?

1. 1 & 3
2. 2 & 3
3. 1, 2 & 3
4. 1 & 2

Question 4:

Excerpt (Para 1)

It was a very poor quarter, a labyrinth of squalid bamboo huts, thatched with palm leaf, winding over a steep hillside.

What does the phrase ‘a labyrinth of squalid bamboo huts’ suggest about the condition of the place where the Burmese live? 

1. It suggests that the place was extremely filthy and messy.
2. It suggests that the place was extremely dirty and unpleasant.
3. It suggests that the place was extremely unpleasant and disorganised.
4. It suggests that the place was extremely challenging and small.

Which option(s) is/are acceptable?

1. 1, 2 & 3
2. 1 & 4
3. 2 & 3
4. 2, 3 & 4

Question 5:

Excerpt (Para 2 & 3)

Some said that the elephant had gone in one direction, others declared that he had gone another direction, some professed not even to have heard of any elephant.

Why does the author feel that the ‘whole story was a pack of lies’? 

1. The Burmese gave very varied and uncertain answers to his questions.
2. The Burmese gave very conflicting answers to his questions.
3. The Burmese gave doubting answers to his questions.
4. The Burmese gave highly dubious answers to his questions.

Which option(s) is/are acceptable?

1. 1, 2 & 3
2. 1, 2 & 4
3. 1, 3 & 3
4. 2, 3 & 4