S1 YELLOW
THE BOY IN THE CUPBOARD
Harry Potter’s parents died in mysterious circumstances when he was just a baby. Soon after their death, Harry was left on the Dursley’s doorstep. The Dursely’s were Harry’s aunt and uncle. They had a son about the same age called Dudley.
1. “Up! Get up! Now”
Harry woke with a start. His aunt Petunia rapped on the cupboard door again.
“Up!” she screeched. Harry heard her walking towards the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the cooker. He rolled on to his back and tried to remember the dream he had been having. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorbike in it. He had a funny feeling he’d had the same dream before.
2. His aunt was back outside his door.
“Are you up yet?” she demanded.
“Nearly” said Harry.
“Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don’t you let it burn. I want everything perfect on Dudley’s birthday.”
Harry groaned.
“What did you say?” his aunt snapped through the door.
“Nothing. Nothing…”
Dudley’s birthday – how could he have forgotten? Harry got slowly out of bed and started looking for socks. He found a pair under his bed and, after pulling a spider off one of them, put them on. Harry was used to spiders, because the cupboard under the stairs was full of them, and that was where he slept.
3. When he dressed he went down the hall into the kitchen. The table was almost hidden beneath all Dudley’s birthday presents. It looked as though Dudley had got the new computer he wanted, not to mention the second television and the racing bike. Exactly why Dudley wanted a racing bike was a mystery to Harry, as Dudley hated exercise – unless of course it involved punching somebody. Dudley’s favourite punch-bag was Harry, but he couldn’t often catch him. Harry didn’t look it, but he was very fast.
4. Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark cupboard, but Harry had always been small and skinny for his age. He looked even smaller and skinnier than he really was because all he had were Dudley’s old clothes and Dudley was about four times bigger than he was. Harry had a thin face, knobbly knees, untidy black hair and bright-green eyes. He wore round glasses held together with a lot of Sellotape because of all the time Dudley had punched him on the nose. The only thing Harry liked about his own appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead which was shaped like a bolt of lightning. He had had it as long as he could remember and the first question he could ever remember asking his Aunt Petunia was how he had got it.
“In the car crash when your parents died” she had said. “And don’t ask questions”. Don’t ask questions – that was the first rule of a quiet life with the Dursley’s.
From Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by Joanne Rowling (Bloomsbury Publishing)
SECTION A
This section tests your ability to identify important information from the story.
Complete each sentence by underlining the correct ending.
The first one has been done for you.
· Harry's aunt woke him up With a cup of tea
Because she needed help
By shaking him
1. Harrys dream was frightening
unfamiliar
enjoyable
2. Harry's cupboard was bright and airy
dirty and gloomy
full of Dudley’s presents
3. Harrys aunt Petunia was very fond of Harry
was a kind and understanding person
treated Harry and Dudley very differently.
4. Harrys cousin Dudley was a bully
a friendly boy
a very fast runner
5. Harrys appearance was neat and tidy
smart and stylish
shabby and scruffy
6. Harrys treatment by the Dursleys was warm and caring
cruel and unkind
kind and gentle
SECTION B
This section tests your understanding of the main characters.
1. Read these descriptions below and put an ‘X’ in the correct box for each character.
One has been done for you.
Description / Harry / Dudley / Aunt Petunia· Very spoiled / x
a. Small and skinny
b. Poor eyesight
c. Shouted a lot
d. Hates exercise
e. A fast runner
2. How was Harry treated by his Aunt Petunia?
Put an ‘X’ in the box to show whether each statement is TRUE or FALSE or whether you CAN’T TELL from the information given in the passage.
STATEMENT / TRUE / FALSE / CAN’T TELLa. Usually refused to answer Harrys questions
b. Treated Harry like her own son
c. Ordered Harry around
d. Never bought Harry new clothes
e. Had not liked Harrys parents
f. Expected Harry to help in the house
g. Gave Harry a comfortable bedroom
SECTION C
This section tests your ability to draw conclusion from evidence.
Look at the statements below. Underline the word or phrase which best describes what conclusions you can draw about the people and events in the story. One has been done for you.
“Up! Get up! Now”
Harry woke with a start. His aunt Petunia rapped on the cupboard door again.
“Up!” she screeched.
This tells me that Aunt Petunia was Scared Annoyed Hurt
1 “And don’t you let it burn. I want everything perfect on Dudley’s birthday.”
Harry groaned.
“What did you say?” his aunt snapped through the door.
“Nothing. Nothing…”
Dudley’s birthday – how could he have forgotten?
This tells me that Harry was
feeling sick too tired to get up not looking forward to Dudley’s birthday
2 Dudley’s favourite punch-bag was Harry, but he couldn’t often catch him. Harry didn’t look it, but he was very fast.
This tells me that Harry was
good at avoiding trouble a coward taking boxing lessons
3 The only thing Harry liked about his own appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead which was shaped like a bolt of lightning. He had had it as long as he could remember and the first question he could ever remember asking his Aunt Petunia was how he had got it.
This tells me that Harry
thought he was handsome had a very poor memory wanted to know about his past
SECTION D
This section tests your understanding of words used in the story.
Find the words from the story which are nearest in the meaning to each of the descriptions given in the questions below.
One has been done for you.
· Find the words in section 1 that show that Harry is woken up suddenly.
With a start
1. Find a word in section 1 which tells you that Aunt Petunia knocked sharply on Harry’s cupboard.
2. Find a word in section 2 which shows the way in which Aunt Petunia speaks to Harry.
3. Find the two words in section 3 which tell you that Dudley enjoys using Harry as a target.
[END OF QUESTIONS]