Was the king happy or unhappy?
The king was unhappy. He had lost many battles and felt sad and hopeless.
What attracted his attention as he was thinking?
A spider caught his attention. He was watching it try to spin its web.
What lesson did he learn from what he saw?
He learned a lesson about not giving up. The spider failed six times to get its web thread to stick, but it tried one more time and succeeded. This inspired the king to try one more time and he eventually won the battle.
Match Correct Meanings
- flung – c) threw
- monarch – m) king
- deed – h) an action
- despair – k) hopelessness
- pondered – n) thought
- divine – There is no matching meaning in Column B for “divine.”
- endeavour – l) attempt
- sprawl – a) fall with arms and legs spread out
- tread – f) walk carefully
- mounted – d) climbed
- toil – g) work hard continuously
- tumble – e) fall suddenly
- defied – b) challenged
- braced – j) prepared to do something difficult
King Bruce was defeated by his enemies.
True. The poem begins with the king having been defeated in several battles.
He took shelter in a house.
False. King Bruce took shelter in a cave.
He saw a spider climbing up a wall.
True. He watched a spider try to climb up to the ceiling to make its web.
The spider succeeded in its first attempt.
False. The spider failed several times, often six, before finally succeeding on the seventh or eighth attempt.
The king learned a lesson from the spider’s failure.
False. He learned a lesson from the spider’s success after repeated failures. He was inspired by its perseverance.
The king won the battle the seventh time.
True. Inspired by the spider, he gathered his men and tried one last time, winning the final battle.
- The spider nearly reached its goal on this attempt. (Verse 10)
- Despite being tired, the spider found renewed strength to climb. (Verse 6)
- The king was losing his morale after repeated defeats. (Verse 3)
- The spider slowly but surely reached its web. (Verse 11)
- The king expected the spider to quit after failing. (Verse 9)
- The king was inspired by the spider and won the next battle. (Verse 13)
- The king felt he had failed his people despite his efforts. (Verse 2)
- The spider started to climb but fell back down. (Verse 5)
- The king learned a lesson of perseverance from the spider. (Verse 12)
- The spider’s goal seemed impossible from where it was. (Verse 4)
- Feeling hopeless, the king decided to stop trying. (Verse 3)
- The spider repeatedly failed to reach its destination. (Verse 8)
- A spider appeared and caught the king’s attention. (Verse 4)
- The spider climbed again without giving up but fell even farther. (Verse 7)
Why was King Bruce so sad? King Bruce was sad because he had been defeated in battle by the English, and he had failed to make his people happy despite his best efforts.
Before he saw the spider, what did he decide to do? Before he saw the spider, King Bruce was in a state of hopelessness and decided to give up.
Why did King Bruce think that the spider would not be able to reach its home? King Bruce thought the spider would not be able to reach its home because it was very far away and kept falling down after trying to climb.
Did the spider climb at the same speed all the time or at a different speed? The spider climbed at a different speed. The poem mentions it slipped down, felt better, and climbed again, showing its speed and progress varied with each attempt.
How did the spider finally reach its home? The spider reached its home by trying again and again, even after repeatedly slipping and falling. It kept moving up inch by inch until it finally succeeded on its final try.
Why did the king decide to try again? The king decided to try again because he was inspired by the spider’s perseverance. He realized that if the tiny spider could succeed through repeated effort, he could also succeed.
The poem “King Bruce and the Spider” is written by Eliza Cook. It tells us how King Bruce, after being defeated in battle, learns a crucial lesson about perseverance from a spider.
After losing many battles, King Bruce was in a state of sadness and despair. He felt he had failed his people and decided to give up on trying to regain his kingdom. He was in a state of utter hopelessness and found refuge in a secluded cave, where he lay contemplating his failures.
While in the cave, he noticed a spider trying to spin a web. The king watched as the tiny creature tried to climb a thread to the ceiling. However, the spider fell down repeatedly. The king was convinced that the spider would eventually give up, just as he had decided to do.
But the spider did not quit. It tried again and again, slipping and falling each time, but always resuming its task. The king was amazed and counted each of the spider’s attempts. The spider made a total of nine failed attempts, each time slipping back down.
Finally, on its tenth attempt, the spider successfully reached the ceiling and completed its web. The king realized that if such a small creature could try so many times and finally succeed, he could do the same. Inspired by the spider’s sheer determination, King Bruce decided to try again. He gathered his forces, fought another battle, and this time, he was victorious.
The moral of the story is that we should never give up. Just as the spider’s hard work and persistence led to success, so too can we achieve our goals through determination and by trying again after failure.
1. Work Part-time / Help at Home
- Need: I need to work part-time to support my family.
- Need: I should help at home because my mother is unwell.
2. Visit a Doctor / Get a Vaccine
- Need: I have to visit a doctor because I have a stomachache.
- Need: I must get a vaccine because typhoid is widespread.
3. Help with Presentation / Write an Essay
- Need: I want to help with the presentation because it’s my first time.
- Need: I need to write an essay because I failed the last time.
4. Go to Badin / Visit Grandparents
- Need: I want to go to Badin to visit my sick uncle.
- Need: I should visit my grandparents because I have not visited for a year.
5. Talk to Parents / Talk to the Principal
- Need: I want to talk to my parents because I want a bicycle.
- Need: I need to talk to the principal because I want leave for a week.
- Query successful
Exercise 1: Past Simple
Here are the completed sentences using the correct past simple form of the words provided:
- We ate delicious food at their house.
- The mouse ran under the cupboard.
- The guard locked and closed the gate before going to bed.
- The house in which we lived till last year belonged to my uncle.
- The parrots made a lot of noise so we sold them.
Exercise 2: Past Continuous
Here are the completed sentences using the correct past continuous form of the words provided:
a) The papers were flying in all directions due to strong winds. b) The boys were fighting over who would play first. c) We were shaking the tree and the ripe fruits were falling on the ground. d) My sister was doing her homework while I was washing dishes. e) The driver was driving the car and my brother was telling him the directions.
When Kakenya Ntaiya, from Kenya, was fourteen, she requested (request) her father to let her finish high school. She dreamt (dream) high as she made (make) good progress and achieved (achieve) good grades. Her teachers knew (know) that she was (be) very intelligent and they encouraged (encourage) her to go for higher education. She promised (promise) her father that he would be proud of her one day if he was allowed (allow) her to continue her education. Very few Maasai girls, the tribe to which she belonged (belong) ever finished (finish) high school, but her father accepted (accept) her request.
Ntaiya kept (keep) her promise to her father. She began to work even harder, and soon she won (win) a scholarship to go to the USA. The village where she lived (live) was very small. However, the villagers were (be) so proud of her that they all came (come) to see her off when she left (leave). Ntaiya cried (cry) as she was leaving (leave). It was (be) a touching scene. Everyone waved (wave) their hands and Ntaiya shouted (shout) that she would come back to serve the people in the village.
When she graduated, she worked (work) for a while at the UN and then got a doctorate degree. Then she returned (return) home and wanted (want) to set up a primary school in her old village. At first, some villagers refused (refuse) to give Ntaiya the land for the school, but many parents now realised (realise) how important a good education could be for their daughters. Till last year, the school provided (provide) education to more than 150 girls. The girls at the school praised (praise) Ntaiya. They worked (work) hard to become teachers, doctors, or lawyers.
Exercise 4: Past Perfect
Here are the completed sentences using the correct past perfect form of the words given.
a) We had spent a lot of money on buying gifts, so we decided to stop. b) As soon as Samina had swept the yard there was a storm. c) The group had travelled several miles and had reached a big part of their journey. d) The students had finished their work and had left for home when the rain started. e) She had left before they had reached the hospital.
Exercise 5: Past Perfect Continuous
Here are the completed sentences using the correct past perfect continuous form of the words given.
- He had been ringing for help for five hours when the rescue team finally arrived.
- I had been reading for two hours before I fell asleep.
- We had been working for 16 hours and everyone was very tired.
- I had been worrying about my results the whole week.
- The labourers had been painting and the painters had been digging for several days before they were allowed to go home.
- The bell had been ringing and the dog had been barking for nearly 20 minutes before someone opened the door.
- The MET department had been warning about a storm but the people had been refusing to listen.
Her toothache had been bothering (bother) her all night. She had taken (take) painkillers, but the pain had continued (continue). She had seen (see) a dentist for two weeks, who had said (say) that nothing could be done until the pain subsided. She had consulted (consult) her grandmother for natural remedies and had been trying (try) everything to combat the pain, but no results. Also, she had been searching (search) for remedies on the internet for five days, but even that medium had failed (fail) to provide any solution. Not knowing what else to do, she had come (come) to the conclusion that she had done (do) all that she could, when her mother had thought (think) of a simple solution. She had agreed (agree) to try it. It had worked (work) wonders and she had been sleeping (sleep) peacefully for the past five hours when we went to her house.
- Query successful
Exercise 7: Articles (a/an/the)
Here are the completed sentences from the image, using the correct articles.
- A giraffe has a long neck.
- An Australian sheep gives us X good wool.
- He is an honest man, but his friend is a crook.
- To help students, an example has been given in the exercise.
- Would you like to have a cup of tea or X something to eat?
- A factory is being built next to our house.
- Boil X eggs and make X sandwiches for breakfast.
- It was an honour to be nominated.
- I want to buy a uniform when X schools reopen in August.
- An old friend is staying at a hotel on the River Indus.
Exercise 8: Article ‘the’
Here are the completed sentences from the image, using the article “the” or a cross (X) where it is not required.
- X English language is the most spoken language in the world.
- There are X beautiful flowers in the park.
- My sister lives in the USA.
- There is X dirt on this plate and there is a dirty mark on the tablecloth.
- X lions are dangerous animals, but X dogs are X good friends of people.
- When you drive a car in the UAE, you must keep to the right.
- The inventor of the telephone was X Graham Bell.
- The directions to the central library are clear.
- A butcher opposite the library sells X good meat.
- One of the persons I love X most is my mother.
Exercise 9: Articles ‘a / an / the’
Here are the completed sentences from the image, using the correct articles or a cross (X) where not required.
Who has not heard of the famous Khyber Pass in X Pakistan? It is a narrow mountain valley in X Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. We can go to the Khyber Pass from X Peshawar. Many people who want to go to X Afghanistan cross the border from the Khyber Pass.
The Khyber Pass has been famous in X history for thousands of years. The Aryans crossed it to reach the sub-continent about four thousand years ago. After them came the Mongols and the Tartars. Moreover, the Khyber Pass is an ancient trade route. It is a route that has been used extensively by X caravans carrying X bales of cotton and silk. Occasionally a caravan would also carry a ton or two of spices. Although it is an old route, X trade is still carried out through this route but now X buses, trucks, and X trains carry X goods from one country to another.
The poem, “Little Things,” by Julia Carney, is a simple song for children. It explains that even little things are important. The central idea is that small actions and elements combine to create significant and beautiful results.
In the first stanza, the poet talks about how “little drops of water” and “little grains of sand” come together to form vast and powerful entities like the “mighty ocean” and the “pleasant land.” This illustrates how small, individual components are essential for creating something big.
In the second stanza, the focus shifts from nature to human actions. “Little deeds of kindness” and “little words of love” work together to improve the world, creating what the poet calls “an Eden” on Earth. Just as little things in nature have a huge impact, so do our small acts of goodness.
The poem concludes by restating the main message: even the smallest things we do, such as being kind or speaking loving words, contribute to making our world a better place. The moral is that every small action has a purpose and can have a large and positive impact, so we should never underestimate their power.