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Reference to the context

Read these lines from the story and answer the questions that follow.

1. ‘All-gone,’ cried the mouse ‘that is the most suspicious name of all! I have never seen it in print.
All-gone; what can that mean?’ and she shook her head, curled herself up, and lay down
to sleep.

a. What was ‘suspicious’?

i. the name that the cat gave to her cousin’s child

ii. the name that the cat gave to her cousin

iii. the name of the church where the fat was stored

iv. the name of the cat

b. Why did this seem ‘the most suspicious’ to the mouse?

c. Did the mouse suspect what the cat was up to?
d. How did the mouse spend her day when the cat was away?

2. ‘All-gone’ was already on the poor mouse’s lips; scarcely had she spoken it before the cat sprang

on her, seized her, and swallowed her down. Verily, that is the way of the world.
a. What is the setting of the incident?

i. the cat and the mouse’s house

ii. at the christening of the cat’s cousin’s son
iii. at the altar in the church

iv. somewhere between the home of the cat and the church

b. Why is the mouse called ‘poor’ in the above lines?

i. because he has no fat to eat in winter

ii. because he was not cunning enough to eat the fat before the cat
iii. because he trusted the cat too much

iv. because he did not foresee the dangers of being in partnership with a cat

c. Why did the cat spring on the mouse?

d. According to the lines, what is the way of the world?

Time to think and answer
1. Do you think the mouse was too innocent to recognise the cat’s cunningness? Or was she

too foolish to trust the cat? Give reasons for your answer. life skill critical thinking

2. How will you relate the quote ‘too much trust might kill you’ with this story?

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