Comprehension Open-Ended 6: LILY OVERCOMING HER FEAR
My younger sister, Lily, has been my best companion and favourite playmate since she was born. She was dearest to me and I knew I could never live without her in my life.
During the weekends or school holidays, my family would often go to the beach where we would have picnics, play beach games, and chit chat. My cousins would sometimes join us on our trips to the beach. Since none of us were strong swimmers, we would usually swim a little, but we never dared venture far in case the tides swept us out to sea. One of the scariest memories I had of our childhood was the time Lily nearly drowned in the sea. As her elder sister, I shudder whenever I think of the incident.
I remember that day, my cousins and I were playing beach volleyball while Lily, my four-year-old sister, was playing in the shallow waters. Engrossed in the game, we did not pay any attention to Lily and so no one noticed when she walked along the shore and fell into the water. The tide quickly swept her out to sea. Panicking, she waved in vain to attract our attention.
Luckily, at that point, the ball was thrown in Lily’s direction. I turned to catch it and caught a glimpse of her floundering in the water. “Help! Lily’s drowning!” I shouted at my cousins as I pointed at Lily. My cousins stood rooted to the ground, not knowing what to do.
At that moment, my father jumped into the sea and swam towards Lily while we watched with anxiety. Lily was almost going under the water by the time Father reached her. After rescuing her back to shore, Mother comforted her. Lily whimpered in fear, holding onto my mother and refusing to let go. Eventually, she tired herself out from crying.
On the next few trips we made to the beach, Lily refused to go anywhere near the water. No matter how I coaxed her or tried to bribe her with sweets to play with me in the sea, she would just sit by my parents and build sandcastles. Fortunately, Lily’s fear did not get the better of her – she could not resist having fun. After I promised to keep an eye on her, she decided to join me in the fun, frolicking in the water and playing beach ball. Gradually, she was comfortable enough to play on her own in the sea again.
The incident turned out to be a blessing in disguise. It prompted Lily to take her swimming lessons later on in primary school very seriously. My sister is now an excellent swimmer and she represents her school at national competitions. When reminded of the incident, she would deny with a cheeky grin that it had ever happened. We were glad that she managed to overcome her fear.
1) List two things the writer and her family would do at the beach.
Answer:
have picnics, play beach games, chit chat, swim (any two)
2) Why did the writer and her cousins not go far when they were swimming in the sea?
Answer:
They were not strong swimmers and were afraid that the tides might sweep them out to sea. OR
They were not strong swimmers and were afraid of drowning.
3) What was the writer’s scariest memory in her childhood?
Answer:
It was the time Lily/ her youngest sister nearly/almost drowned in the sea.
Her scariest memory was of the time her youngest sister nearly/almost drowned in the sea.
The memory/It was the near drowning of his youngest sister.
4) Write 1, 2 and 3 in the blanks below to indicate the order in which the events occurred in the passage.
Answer:
__1__ Lily was swept out to sea by the tide.
__3__ Lily swallowed a lot of seawater
__2__ Lily tried to wave to get her family’s attention.
5) Choose words from lines 10 to 20 which have similar meanings to the words below.
Answer:
struggling - floundering
tremble - shudder
absorbed - engrossed
6) Who rescued Lily from the sea?
Answer:
Lily’s father / The writer’s father / Her father rescued her from the sea.
7) Why did Lily finally stop crying?
Answer:
She got/became/was tired from all the crying.
She was tired from crying.
She tired herself out from crying.
8) Based on the story, state whether each statement in the table below is true or false, then give one reason why you think so.
Answer:
a) The writer and her cousins were worried when Lily was being rescued.
True
They watched with anxiety as Lily was being rescued (by her father). /
They were anxious when Lily was being rescued.
b) Lily never played in the sea again after the incident.
False
Lily joined the writer/ her sister in the water again. / Lily was comfortable to play on her own in the sea again.
c) The writer did not care that her sister was afraid of playing in the water.
False
The writer coaxed or tried to bribe Lily with sweets to play with her in the sea./ The writer promised to keep an eye on Lily if she joins her.
She tried to help Lily overcome her fear.
9) State what each of the following words refer to in the passage.
Answer:
it (line 18) - the beach ball/ the beach volleyball/ the ball/ the volleyball
the fun (line 31) - frolicking/ playing in the water/playing beach ball
her fear (line 38) - Lily’s fear of water. / Her fear of water.
10) Explain clearly why the writer said that the incident was ‘a blessing in disguise’ (line 33).
Answer:
The incident was ‘a blessing in disguise’ because Lily took her swimming lessons seriously and became an excellent swimmer./ represented her school at national competitions.