You can practise the vocabulary from The Cook, Chapter 4 here in this QUIZLET
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Short stories for EFL learners by Scott Lauder and Walter McGregor
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Comprehension for The Cook (Chapter 4)
Look again at The Cook (Chapter 4). According to the text, is the information in the following statements True, False or Not Given?
a. Candy took more than two hours to make the meal
b. Candy made a salad as a starter
c. Mrs Duffy disagreed with the headmistress’s opinion about the food
d. Mr Tomkin thought the food was good too
e. The headmistress offered Candy a job
f. The headmistress did not mention the salary
g. Candy wants to start the job immediately
Grammar for The Cook (Chapter 4)
1. Look at this sentence from The Cook (Chapter 4):
‘This is the best school food I’ve ever tasted!’
2. This could be said another way: ‘The food is really good. In fact, it is the best (food that) I have ever tasted.’
Notice that the verb ‘taste’ is in past participle form (=tasted)
3. Look at these examples and choose the correct one
i. The hotel is really good. In fact, it’s the best I’ve ever (stay/stayed) in.
ii. The service on this flight is really good. In fact, it’s the best I’ve ever (have/had).
iii. The movie is really bad. In fact, it’s the worst I’ve ever (seen/saw).
4. Now complete these sentences
i. The bed is really good. In fact, it’s the most comfortable….
ii. The water in this swimming pool is really cold. In fact, it’s the coldest…
iii. The food is disgusting. In fact, it’s the worst…
Picture activity for The Cook (Chapter 4)
Find the words or phrases in The Cook (Chapter 4) that match these pictures
Comprehension for The Cook (Chapter 3)
Look again at Chapter 3 of The Cook and match the adjective with the noun to make the correct noun phrase
Comprehension for The Cook (Chapter 3) – order and referents
1. Look again at The Cook (Chapter 3) and put the following sentences in order:
i. His teeth and eyes scared her
ii. They put the dishes into it
iii. Candy told them that she had none of them
iv. He agreed to allow her to make it
v. They emptied them
vi. She said her food was very bad
2. Now look again at all the subject pronouns (he, she, they), possessive adjectives (his, her) and object pronouns (it, her, them…) in the sentences above and say who or what they refer to. For example, in the first sentence (i. His teeth and eyes scared her), ‘his‘ = Mr Tomkin’s and ‘her‘ = Candy
Grammar for The Cook (Chapter 3)
1. There are a number of possessive adjectives in English (his, her, its, our, your, their, my). Using a possessive adjective is another way to show that something belongs to someone. For example, we can write the sentence ‘The man’s narrow eyes frightened her‘, a different way using a possessive adjective – ‘His narrow eyes frightened her.’ In this sentence, the possessive adjective ‘His‘ accompanies the noun phrase ‘narrow eyes‘
2. Look at this extract from The Cook (Chapter 3) and find examples of possessive adjectives. What are the noun phrases that accompany the possessive adjectives? [Watch out for ‘her’ – it can also be an object pronoun]
Inside the school’s dining hall, two ladies in pink uniforms collected dirty plates and took them to the kitchen. Lunch finished twenty minutes ago and now it was their job to clean everything. They emptied the plates, put them in the dishwashers and went to fetch more from the tables. They did not look at the four people at the back of the room.
‘Ms Pickles,’ began the man, ‘you don’t have any cooking qualifications. Is that correct?’
This was her big chance. She wanted to work, to start again; but the man’s narrow, grey eyes and his small, sharp teeth frightened her.
3. Look at these sentences. Decide if ‘her’ is being used as a possessive adjective or object pronoun
a. I gave her my book
b. Her family name is ‘Smith’
c. I spoke to her brother last night
d. Her favourite actor won an award
e. I don’t know her very well, but I know her older sister
f. The man’s narrow eyes frightened her
QUIZLET for The Cook (Chapter 3)
Here is the QUIZLET for The Cook (Chapter 3). You can practice your vocabulary using it.
Comprehension for The Cook (Chapter 3)
Look again at The Cook (Chapter 3) and decide if the information in these statements is true, false or not given.
1. There were at least six people in the dining hall
2. The two ladies in pink uniforms worked part-time at the school
3. Mrs Duffy was the headmistress
4. Candy had no cooking qualifications
5. Everyone liked the meals that the last cook made
6. The last cook had no qualifications
7. Candy offered to prepare a meal immediately
8. The meal that Candy will make is difficult to cook
Picture activity for The Cook (Chapter 3)
Look again at Chapter 3 of The Cook and find the words (or phrases) to match these pictures.
Comprehension for The Cook (Chapter 2) Past tense negatives
1. To make some simple past tense statements negative, the auxilliary verb ‘did’ must be added. The main verb must also change from simple past to bare infinitive For example, ‘She ate breakfast‘ becomes ‘She did not eat breakfast’/She didn’t eat breakfast‘ . However, with some verbs (such as ‘To Be’) the auxilliary ‘did’ is not used. For example, ‘She was late‘ becomes ‘She was not late/She wasn’t late.
2. Look at these sentences from The Cook (Chapter 2). Decide if they are true or false.
a. Candy didn’t find it easy to get to the school.
b. Candy asked some people for directions.
c. Most of the people that she asked gave her help.
d. The old woman didn’t know where the school was.
e. The school wasn’t far from the fish and chip shop.
f. Candy didn’t feel hungry.
g. Candy didn’t have a scarf around her neck.
Grammar for The Cook (Chapter 2)
1. When a parallel structure is used, words make a pattern because the same structure is repeated. For example, sometimes a noun is repeated: ‘My favourite cities are London, New York and Edinburgh.’ In this example, the parallel structure comes from having three nouns (London, New York and Edinburgh) repeated. Sometimes a verb (in the same tense) is repeated. For example, ‘Don’t eat and talk at the same time!’ In this case, the parallel structure comes from repeating two bare infinitives (‘eat’ and ‘talk’).
2. Look at this example from The Cook (Chapter 2) can you find examples of parallel structures?
Comprehension for The Cook (Chapter 2) Joining ideas
Look again at Chapter 2 of The Cook and answer the following questions.
A. First, look at this example of ‘however’ in i. below. As you can see, its meaning is not very different from ‘but’.
i. The book was expensive; however, I decided to buy it.
There are three other ways of writing these ideas:
ii. The book was expensive. I decided to buy it.
iii. The book was expensive, but I decided to buy it.
(iv. The book was expensive. But I decided to buy it.)
The last sentence is used informally. You can see many examples of it in fiction. Look at i. and iii. above. How is the punctuation different?
B. Now look at this example of ‘therefore’ in v. below. As you can see, its meaning is not very different from ‘so’.
v. I had no money; therefore, I couldn’t buy the book.
There are three other ways to write these ideas:
vi. I had no money. I couldn’t buy the book.
vii. I had no money, so I couldn’t buy the book.
(viii. I had no money. So I couldn’t buy the book.)
The last sentence is used informally. You can see many examples of it in fiction. Again, look at the punctuation for v. and viii. How are they different?
C. Now choose either ‘however’ or ‘therefore’ to complete these sentences about The Cook (Chapter 2)
1. Candy found some money; (therefore/however), she was able to call the school.
2. Candy was tired; (therefore/however), she didn’t stop walking.
3. Few people wanted to help Candy; (therefore/however), it took her a long time to get to the school.
4. Along the way, she passed a Fish and Chip shop; (therefore/however), it wasn’t busy because lunchtime was over.
5. The man who spoke to Candy already knew her name; (therefore/however), she didn’t need to tell him.
Comprehension for The Cook (Chapter 2)
Read The Cook (Chapter 2) again. Is the information in the following statements True, False or Not Given?
1. Candy was in a large city
2. She felt tired
3. She found twenty pence
4. When she called the school, the headmistress spoke to her
5. The job interview was for tomorrow morning
6. Candy took a bus to the school
7. Six people didn’t not give her directions to the school
8. There were many customers in the fish and chip shop
9. The door at the entrance to the school was open
10. Candy was refused entrance to the school
Picture activity for The Cook (Chapter 2)
Look again at Chapter 2 of The Cook and find the words
Grammar for The Cook (Chapter 1)
1. A phrase is a group of words. It is longer than one word but shorter than a complete sentence (or paragraph). A noun phrase (NP) is a group of words around a head noun. A head noun is the most important noun in the phrase. Here are some examples.
a. The blue car didn’t stop at the red light.
=Two NPs: ‘The blue car‘ and ‘the red light‘.
The head nouns are ‘car’ and ‘light’
b. Her English teacher is from northern England.
=Two NPs: ‘Her English teacher‘ and ‘northern England‘.
The head nouns are ‘teacher’ and ‘England’
c. Sally’s cat chased her friend’s dog!
=Two NPs: ‘Sally’s cat‘ and ‘her friend’s dog‘
The head nouns are ‘cat’ and ‘dog’
2. How many NPs does this sentence have? What are they? What are the head nouns?
The book that I borrowed yesterday was from the school library.
3. Now look at this extract from The Cook (Chapter 1). Can you find some NPs?
Picture activity for The Cook (Chapter 1)
Look again at The Cook (Chapter 1) and find the words
QUIZLET for The Cook (Chapter 1)
Here is a QUIZLET for The Cook (Chapter 1)
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