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Glitter Communicative English Main Coursebook 7

Glitter Communicative English Main Coursebook 7

Vinita Kumar, Cordova Pub

ICSEClass 7
English

The Alien

Richard Macwilliam

About Richard Macwilliam

Richard Macwilliam is a poet and author of many short stories. He has written funny and humorous poetry for children which bear a testimony of his deep understanding of the child psyche. 

What would you do if an Alien landed in the playground?
Would you stand there shouting, "Teacher,Teacher!
Please Sir, please Miss,
There's this great big thing with wobbly eyes and six pink legs, Sir!"
Or would you stand still and stare,
And maybe poke at it a bit with sticks
And throw a ball in its mouth,
Or perhaps push Shorty or Fatso or Snotty forwards
To see if they got eaten?
Imagine if the teacher came out instead land shouted,
"Oy! You there! You with the six legs! Yes, YOU!
Get back where you came from NOW!
THIS INSTANT!"
What do you think it would do?
Would it sit there, humming, 
Before gently lifting off and floating away back into space?
Or would it stick a long tendril out,
Wrap it around Teacher,
And suck Teacher back into its mouth?
"Yum, yum!" it might go,
And you'd all cheer, and laugh,
And may be one or two of the girls would cry
Because Teacher was really quite nice, after all.
Or perhaps the Alien would open wide a wobbly eye,
Shoot a long, lazy glare,
And then raise two tendrils in a V-shape
Before blowing a big raspberry?
Well, what would YOU do if you were an Alien
Landing in the playground?
I know what I would do.
I wouldn't stay THERE!

Available Answers

  1. 1.

    Tick (√) the correct option.

    1. What do you gather about the poet from this poem?
      1. Richard Macwilliam is childlike.
      2. Richard Macwilliam recalls his childhood days.
      3. Richard Macwilliam understands child behaviour.
      4. All of these
    2. Why do you think the poet has described the alien as someone having six pink legs and wobbly eyes?
      1. It is not human so a different structure has been imagined.
      2. Its an alien whom we've never seen and therefore, is imagined differently.
      3. Both (a) and (b)
      4. None of these
    3. What kind of a picture has the poet sketched of the teacher?
      1. trouble shooter
      2. authoritative
      3. fearless
      4. all of these
    4. Who would cheer and laugh?
      1. boys of the class
      2. girls of the class
      3. teachers
      4. none of these
    5. Why would one or two of the girls cry?
      1. They loved the teacher.
      2. Teacher was quite nice.
      3. Poet hints that girls are generally weepy or sensitive.
      4. All of these
  2. 2.

    'Or would it stick a long tendril out, Wrap it around Teacher, And suck Teacher back into its mouth.'

    Does the description remind you of anything? What? Why?

1 more answer(s) available.

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