Sci-Fi Story Stage 3 Comprehension Chapter 3 PDF

STAGE 3 Unit focus: Science Fiction Text focus: Narrative Chapter 3 - A Problem It didn’t take long for the knights to deliver Burroughs and Edgar to Westminster Abbey. Burroughs...

STAGE 3 Unit focus: Science Fiction Text focus: Narrative Chapter 3 - A Problem It didn’t take long for the knights to deliver Burroughs and Edgar to Westminster Abbey. Burroughs had found that a sharp sword pressing against your back gives you a new sense of urgency. They arrived at a back door and were quickly ushered into a small, well-decorated room. Several knights took up their posts around the walls. After a few minutes, a large, red-faced man blustered into the room. He was dressed in copious amounts of silk and soft fabrics. It was all covered by a long red cloak edged with gold trim. His wrists were bedecked with fis uls of bracelets and several heavy gold chains hung around his neck. “Zut Alors!” he boomed when he saw the two prisoners. “Why won’t the English accept that I am in charge?” “You speak English?” Burroughs asked before he could stop himself. “Of course,” sneered William. “If I invade another country, I make sure I learn their language, unlike you English. It’s a bit rude to slaughter them all and not be able to say sorry in a way they understand. Don’t you think?” Burroughs didn’t really know what to think, so he said nothing. Edgar, on the other hand, was not so considered. “Listen, King,” he paused for a second. “Am I alright to call you ‘King’?” He didn’t wait for a response. “We don’t mean you any harm. We are just travelers who are lost. Really quite lost, in fact.” He shot a glance at Burroughs that the boy knew meant ‘and it’s all his fault’. “Silence!” the king roared. “You are the last ditch attempt by Harold’s wretched supporters to assassinate me! I won’t have it. Send them to the tower, and I’ll deal with them later.” The knights stood silently for a second before one coughed politely. “Your Highness, we haven’t built the tower yet.” William marched over to the knight and whispered quietly, “What do you mean? We’ve been here three months now. How long does it take to build an enormous, impenetrable stone fortress?” The knight coughed again. “The builders have said it’ll take roughly four years, but that depends on the availability of bricks, mortar and whether they can have weekends off to all resources ©2022 Literacy Shed http://www.literacyshedplus.com see their mums.” “Builders,” William sneered. “Fine, take them and their machine to whichever dungeon you can find in this awful city. We can execute them tomorrow to get it over with. I don’t want to ruin my big day.” “Of course,” the knight said carefully. He signaled to the others, and they grabbed Edgar and Burroughs and dragged them back out into the street. Thousands of people had gathered in the streets to see the coronation. They all jeered at the prisoners as they were dragged away. Burroughs didn’t know if they thought it was all part of the event, but he definitely felt that the boos and rotten cabbages were unfair. The “dungeon” turned out to be a small room at the back of a large townhouse owned by a wealthy merchant. He wasn’t too happy at the idea of his house being used as a prison, but the mention of the King soon calmed him down. Burroughs wandered over to the window and stared down into the cobblestoned yard below. It was surrounded by a high wall. In the middle, their brass creation gleamed in the pale sunlight. If he wanted to keep his head attached to his neck, he knew that he needed to come up with a plan quickly. VOCABULARY FOCUS 1. Which word in the first paragraph means “take to” or “give to”? 2. If you do something with “urgency”, what does it mean? 3. Which word tells the reader that the King shouted when he first met Burroughs and Edgar? 4. Find and copy a word that tells you how the King felt about Harold’s supporters. VIPERS QUESTIONS S What did the knights do when they entered the small room? R What was the King wearing. I How can you tell that the King isn’t quite aware of everything that is going on around him? I Why might the tower take longer to build than anticipated? I How does William feel about builders? How can you tell? all resources ©2022 Literacy Shed http://www.literacyshedplus.com