Passing through
The pine forest ends and you're driving through a small town. You don't
like this. You don't like the small town houses with their curtains pulled
closed. They look like they're blind. You imagine people living behind those
curtains as only being shadows moving. The flat footpaths scare you. The flat
(5) skies scare you. it's all so big and so small at the same time. You drive up to
some shops. Your sister's saying, Icecream icecream icecream. Your dad stop
the car and gets out. Stopped in this small town .He gets out and walks up to
the dairy. He pauses in the doorway to pull up his socks and then disappears
into the blackness of the shop. Two boys are leaning, squinting, against the
(10) wall outside. One of them has a bike. He holds onto it lightly with just one
hand resting on the handle. It's a chopper with a flag on the back. Him and
his friends have got jeans on. You're not allowed to wear jeans. The boys see
you looking at them and they try to stare you down. You win the staring
competition. You always do, even if it makes your eyes water. The boy
(15) without the bike has got freckles. They're big and blotchy on his face, like
tea-leaves. You can almost count them. Your dad comes out of the dairy
holding Tip-Tops. He gets in the car and hands them out. Your mum says, Eat
it before it melts. You peel off the wrapper with your teeth and suck the cold
hard chocolate coating. The boys are watching. You've got an icecream
(20) and they haven't.
Questions:
1. Identify two things that are compared in lines 15-16?
2. Identify two ways the writer's language seems unusual or special.
3. In your own words, explain what the girl telling the story feels about small towns.
ANSWERS
(NCEA Level 1 English revision guide. 2006 edition, Really Useful Resources, pg. 37)
like this. You don't like the small town houses with their curtains pulled
closed. They look like they're blind. You imagine people living behind those
curtains as only being shadows moving. The flat footpaths scare you. The flat
(5) skies scare you. it's all so big and so small at the same time. You drive up to
some shops. Your sister's saying, Icecream icecream icecream. Your dad stop
the car and gets out. Stopped in this small town .He gets out and walks up to
the dairy. He pauses in the doorway to pull up his socks and then disappears
into the blackness of the shop. Two boys are leaning, squinting, against the
(10) wall outside. One of them has a bike. He holds onto it lightly with just one
hand resting on the handle. It's a chopper with a flag on the back. Him and
his friends have got jeans on. You're not allowed to wear jeans. The boys see
you looking at them and they try to stare you down. You win the staring
competition. You always do, even if it makes your eyes water. The boy
(15) without the bike has got freckles. They're big and blotchy on his face, like
tea-leaves. You can almost count them. Your dad comes out of the dairy
holding Tip-Tops. He gets in the car and hands them out. Your mum says, Eat
it before it melts. You peel off the wrapper with your teeth and suck the cold
hard chocolate coating. The boys are watching. You've got an icecream
(20) and they haven't.
Questions:
1. Identify two things that are compared in lines 15-16?
2. Identify two ways the writer's language seems unusual or special.
3. In your own words, explain what the girl telling the story feels about small towns.
ANSWERS
(NCEA Level 1 English revision guide. 2006 edition, Really Useful Resources, pg. 37)