The Selfish Giant - Reading Comprehension

AP / NCERT Board-Based Reading Comprehension Passages
Grade 8 Supplementary Reader 
Chapter 3  The Selfish Giant

Reading Comprehension 1

 EVERY afternoon, as they were coming from school, the children used to go and play in the Giant’s garden.

 

     It was a large lovely garden, with soft green grass. Here and there over the grass stood beautiful flowers like stars, and there were twelve peach-trees that in the springtime broke out into delicate blossoms of pink and pearl, and in the autumn bore rich fruit. The birds sat on the trees and sang so sweetly that the children used to stop their games in order to listen to them. “How happy we are here!” they cried to each other.

     One day the Giant came back. He had been to visit his friend, the Cornish ogre, and had stayed with him for seven years. When he arrived he saw the children playing in the garden.

     “What are you doing here?” he cried in a very gruff voice, and the children ran away.

 

     “My own garden is my own garden,” said the Giant; “anyone can understand that, and I will allow nobody to play in it but myself.” So he built a high wall all round it, and put up a notice-board: TRESPASSERS WILL BE PROSECUTED

 

     He was a very selfish Giant.

 

     The poor children had now nowhere to play. They tried to play on the road, but the road was very dusty and full of hard stones, and they did not like it. They used to wander round the high walls when their lessons were over, and talk about the beautiful garden inside. “How happy we were there!” they said to each other.

1. Where did the children used to play in the afternoons?

   a) In their own homes

   b) In the road

   c) In the Giant's garden

   d) In the Cornish ogre's garden

2. What did the Giant's garden look like?

   a) It had a dusty road with hard stones.

   b) It was a small garden with a single peach tree.

   c) It had soft green grass, beautiful flowers, and peach trees.

   d) It was full of thorny bushes and weeds.

3. Why did the children stop their games in the Giant's garden?

   a) Because they were tired of playing

   b) Because they were scared of the Giant

   c) To listen to the birds singing in the trees

   d) To pick the rich fruit from the peach trees

4. What did the Giant do when he returned and saw the children playing in his garden?

   a) He allowed them to play in the garden.

   b) He joined their games and played with them.

   c) He built a high wall and put up a notice-board.

   d) He invited them to stay in the garden.

5. How would you describe the Giant's attitude towards his garden and the children?

   a) Selfless and generous

   b) Loving and caring

   c) Strict and unwelcoming

   d) Supportive and encouraging

Reading Comprehension 2

Then the Spring came, and all over the country there were little blossoms and little birds. Only in the garden of the Selfish Giant it was still winter. The birds did not care to sing in it as there were no children, and the trees forgot to blossom. Once a beautiful flower put its head out from the grass, but when it saw the notice-board it was so sorry for the children that it slipped back into the ground again, and went off to sleep. The only people who were pleased were the Snow and the Frost. “Spring has forgotten this garden,” they cried, “so we will live here all the year round.” The Snow covered up the grass with her great white cloak, and the Frost painted all the trees silver. Then they invited the North Wind to stay with them, and he came. He was wrapped in furs, and he roared all day about the garden, and blew the chimney pots down. ‘‘This is a delightful spot,” he said, “we must ask Hail on a visit.” So the Hail came. Every day for three hours he rattled on the roof of the castle till he broke most of the slates, and then he ran round and round the garden as fast as he could go. He was dressed in grey, and his breath was like ice.

 

     “I cannot understand why the Spring is so late in coming,” said the Selfish Giant, as he sat at the window and looked out at his cold, white garden; “I hope there will be a change in the weather.”

 

     But the Spring never came, nor the Summer. The Autumn gave golden fruit to every garden, but to the Giant’s garden she gave none. “He is too selfish,” she said. So it was always Winter there, and the North Wind and the Hail, and the Frost, and the Snow danced about through the trees.

1. Why didn't the birds sing in the Selfish Giant's garden during the Spring?

   a) The birds were scared of the giant.

   b) There were no children in the garden.

   c) The giant scared away the birds.

   d) The garden had no flowers.

2. What happened to a beautiful flower that tried to bloom in the garden?

   a) It was eaten by the Frost.

   b) It was picked by the children.

   c) It saw the notice-board and went back into the ground.

   d) It withered due to lack of sunlight.

3. What did the Snow and the Frost do in the garden when Spring didn't come?

   a) They left the garden.

   b) They celebrated a year-round winter.

   c) They tried to bring Spring back.

   d) They planted new flowers.

4. Why did the Autumn give golden fruit to every garden except the Giant's?

   a) The Giant didn't like fruit.

   b) The Giant had too much fruit already.

   c) The Giant was too selfish.

   d) The Giant's garden had no trees.

5. The Spring and Summer eventually arrived in the Selfish Giant's garden, bringing warmth and blossoms. (True/False)

Reading Comprehension 3

  One morning the Giant was lying awake in bed when he heard some lovely music. It sounded so sweet to his ears that he thought it must be the King’s musicians passing by. It was really only a little linnet singing outside his window, but it was so long since he had heard a bird singing in his garden that it seemed to him to be the most beautiful music in the world. Then the Hail stopped dancing over his head, and the North Wind ceased roaring, and a delicious perfume came to him through the open casement. “I believe the Spring has come at last,” said the Giant; and he jumped out of bed and looked out.

 

     He saw a most wonderful sight. Through a little hole in the wall the children had crept in, and they were sitting in the branches of the trees. In every tree that he could see there was a little child. And the trees were so glad to have the children back again that they had covered themselves with blossoms, and were waving their arms gently above the children’s heads. The birds were flying about and twittering with delight, and the flowers were looking up through the green grass and laughing. It was a lovely scene. Only in one corner it was still winter. It was the farthest corner of the garden, and in it was standing a little boy. He was so small that he could not reach up to the branches of the tree, and he was wandering all round it, crying bitterly. The poor tree was still covered with frost and snow, and the North Wind was blowing and roaring above it. “Climb up, little boy!” said the Tree, and it bent its branches down as low as it could; but the boy was too tiny.

 

     And the Giant’s heart melted as he looked out. “How selfish I have been!” he said; “now I know why the Spring would not come here. I will put that poor little boy on the top of the tree, and then I will knock down the wall, and my garden shall be the children’s playground for ever and ever.” He was really very sorry for what he had done.

1. What did the Giant think when he heard the lovely music one morning?

   a) He thought it was the King's musicians passing by.

   b) He believed the birds were singing in his garden.

   c) He assumed it was the sound of a storm.

   d) He couldn't hear anything.

2. What did the Giant see when he looked out of the window?

   a) The garden was covered in snow and frost.

   b) The children were sitting in the branches of the trees.

   c) The North Wind was blowing fiercely.

   d) The Hail was dancing above his head.

3. Why was one corner of the garden still in winter while the rest of the garden had blossomed?

   a) The children didn't visit that corner.

   b) The trees in that corner were lazy.

   c) A little boy was crying in that corner.

   d) The Giant's wall blocked the warmth and joy.

4. What did the Giant decide to do when he saw the little boy crying in the winter corner?

   a) He decided to leave the boy there.

   b) He decided to build a wall around the boy.

   c) He decided to put the boy on top of the tree.

   d) He decided to keep the boy as a servant.

5. The Giant remained selfish and did not change his ways when he saw the children in his garden. (True/False)

Reading Comprehension 4

 So he crept downstairs and opened the front door quite softly, and went out into the garden. But when the children saw him they were so frightened that they all ran away, and the garden became winter again. Only the little boy did not run, for his eyes were so full of tears that he did not see the Giant coming. And the Giant stole up behind him and took him gently in his hands, and put him up into the tree. And the tree broke at once into blossom, and the birds came and sang on it, and the little boy stretched out his two arms and flung them round the Giant’s neck, and kissed him. And the other children, when they saw that the Giant was not wicked any longer, came running back, and with them came the Spring. “It is your garden now, little children,” said the Giant, and he took a great axe and knocked down the wall. And when the people were going to market at twelve o’clock they found the Giant playing with the children in the most beautiful garden they had ever seen.

 

     All day long they played, and in the evening they came to the Giant to bid him good-bye.

 

     “But where is your little companion?” he said; “the boy I put into the tree?” The Giant loved him the best because he had kissed him.

 

     “We don’t know,” answered the children. “He has gone away.”

 

     “You must tell him to be sure and come tomorrow,” said the Giant. But the children said that they did not know where he lived, and had never seen him before; and the Giant felt very sad.

 

     Every afternoon, when school was over, the children came and played with the Giant. But the little boy whom the Giant loved was never seen again. The Giant was very kind to all the children, yet he longed for his little friend, and often spoke of him. “How I would like to see him!” he used to say.

1. How did the other children react when they saw the Giant in the garden with the little boy?

   a) They ran away in fear.

   b) They welcomed the Giant with open arms.

   c) They scolded the Giant.

   d) They called for help.

2. What happened to the garden when the children ran away from the Giant?

   a) It remained in spring.

   b) It turned into winter again.

   c) It was covered in snow.

   d) It became a desert.

3. Why did the Giant put the little boy up into the tree?

   a) To punish him

   b) To keep him safe from harm

   c) To hide him from the other children

   d) To teach him a lesson

4. Why did the other children return to the garden after running away?

   a) They wanted to apologize to the Giant.

   b) They missed their playtime in the garden.

   c) They heard the birds singing.

   d) They saw the little boy in the tree.

5. What happened to the little boy whom the Giant loved the most?

   a) He left to find his home.

   b) He was never seen again.

   c) He stayed with the Giant forever.

   d) He became a friend of the other children.

Reading Comprehension 5

Years went by, and the Giant grew very old and feeble. He could not play about anymore, so he sat in a huge armchair, and watched the children at their games and admired his garden. “I have many beautiful flowers,” he said; “but the children are the most beautiful flowers of all.”

 

     One winter morning he looked out of his window as he was dressing. He did not hate the winter now, for he knew that it was merely the Spring asleep, and that the flowers were resting.

 

     Suddenly he rubbed his eyes in wonder and looked and looked. It certainly was a marvellous sight. In the farthest corner of the garden was a tree quite covered with lovely white blossoms. Its branches were golden, and silver fruit hung down from them, and underneath it stood the little boy he had loved.

 

     Downstairs ran the Giant in great joy, and out into the garden. He hastened across the grass, and came near to the child. And when he came quite close his face grew red with anger, and he said, “Who hath dared to wound thee?” For on the palms of the child’s hands were the prints of two nails, and the prints of two nails were on the little feet.

 

     “Who hath dared to wound thee?” cried the Giant; “tell me, that I may take my big sword and slay him.”

 

     “Nay!” answered the child: “but these are the wounds of Love.”

 

     “Who art thou?” said the Giant, and a strange awe fell on him, and he knelt before the little child.

 

     And the child smiled on the Giant, and said to him, “You let me play once in your garden; today you shall come with me to my garden, which is paradise.”

 

     And when the children ran in that afternoon, they found the Giant lying dead under the tree, all covered with white blossoms.

 

1. How did the Giant spend his time in his old age when he couldn't play anymore?

   a) He traveled the world.

   b) He watched the children at their games.

   c) He sold his garden.

   d) He ignored the children.

2. What did the Giant come to understand about winter?

   a) Winter was his favorite season.

   b) Winter was just a different kind of spring.

   c) Winter was the harshest season.

   d) Winter was a time to be sad.

3. What miraculous sight did the Giant see one winter morning in his garden?

   a) A tree with golden and silver fruit.

   b) A child he had never seen before.

   c) A beautiful rainbow.

   d) Snow falling.

4. What did the Giant notice on the palms of the child's hands and on his little feet?

   a) Flowers

   b) Nails

   c) Snowflakes

   d) Leaves

5. What was the child's response when the Giant wanted to know who had wounded him?

   a) The child didn't respond.

   b) The child said it was the Giant who had wounded him.

   c) The child said these were the wounds of Love.

   d) The child said it was an accident.