IAR: Theme (Redwall)
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Last updated 9 months ago
3 Nsɛmmisa
Read the passage from the book Redwall. Then answer the questions.
Read the passage from the book Redwall. Then answer the questions.
from Redwall
by Brian Jacques
1 Bump!
2 The young mouse squeaked in dismay. He rubbed tenderly at his damp snub nose while slowly taking stock of where he had landed: directly at the feet of Abbot Mortimer!
3 Immediately Matthias scrambled about on all fours, hastily trying to stuff nuts back into the basket as he muttered clumsy apologies, avoiding the stern gaze of his elder.
4 “Er, sorry, Father Abbot. I tripped, y’see. Trod on my Abbot, Father Habit. Oh dear, I mean. . . .”
5 The Father Abbot blinked solemnly over the top of his glasses. Matthias again. What a young buffoon of a mouse. Only the other day he had singed old Brother Methuselah’s whiskers while lighting candles.
6 The elder’s stern expression softened. He watched the little novice rolling about on the grass, grappling with large armfuls of the smooth hazelnuts which constantly seemed to escape his grasp. Shaking his old grey head, yet trying to hide a smile, Abbot Mortimer bent and helped to gather up the fallen nuts.
7 “Oh Matthias, Matthias, my son,” he said wearily. “When will you learn to take life a little slower, to walk with dignity and humility? How can you ever hope to be accepted as a mouse of Redwall, when you are always dashing about grinning from whisker to tail like a mad rabbit?”
8 Matthias tossed the last of the hazelnuts into the basket and stood awkwardly shuffling his large sandals in the grass. How could he say aloud what was in his heart?
9 The Abbot put his paw around the young mouse’s shoulder, sensing his secret yearnings, for he had ruled Redwall wisely over a great number of years and gained much experience of mouselife. He smiled down at his young charge and spoke kindly to him. “Come with me, Matthias. It is time we talked together.”
Which statement explains how Abbot Mortimer responds to Matthias?
Which theme supports the answer to Part A?
Select one sentence in paragraphs 8 through 9 that best show the way Abbot Mortimer responds to Matthias.