The Railway Children

Peter, Phyllis and Roberta live with their mother and father in London. They leave London to go and live in a house in the countryside. Here they see their new house for the first time.

1 Read the text. Do they like their new house?

‘There’s the house,’ says Mother.
There is a low wall, and trees inside.
‘That’s the garden,’ says Mother.
‘That’s a garden?’ asks Peter.
There is no light in any of the windows. They all bang on the door, but no one comes.
‘You’re late,’ says the driver. ‘Mrs Viney is not here.’
‘But she has the key,’ says Mother. ‘What are we to do?’
‘Oh, the key’s under the doorstep,’ says the driver.
They look and find the key.
They unlock the door and go into the house. There is a candle on the table, the man lights it. The children see a large kitchen with a stone floor. There are no curtains. The kitchen table from home stands in the middle of the room. There are chairs, and pots and pans in a corner. There is no fire in the cold room.
Then they hear a sound.
‘Oh, what’s that?’ cries Phyllis.
‘It’s only the rats,’ says the driver. He closes the door and the candle goes out.
‘ONLY the rats!’ says Peter, in the dark.

2 Read the text again and answer the questions.

1 What colour do you imagine in the house?
2 Why do you think there are rats in the house?

3 In this extract, the writer creates a picture of the house by describing it in detail. Answer the questions about the description.

Which of these words describe the house?

Can you think of any other words to describe it?

4 SPEAKING Is moving house an exciting experience? Why/Why not?

Writing a summary

5 Write a summary of the scene in the house. Use the questions and your answers to Exercise 3 to help you.

Where are they?
Who is there?
What do they see?
How do they feel?