Question

Supplementary Reading Task 19 Read the text. Answer the questions that follow. The Magic Box Once upon a time, a poor farmer dug up a big box in his field. He took it home with him and showed it to his wife. His wife cleaned it and kept it in their house. One day, she dropped an apple into it. Immediately the box began to fill up with apples. No matter how many were taken out, others took their place. So the farmer and his wife sold the apples and were able to live quite comfortably. Then the farmer dropped a coin into the box. At once, the apples disappeared and the box began to fill itself with coins. Every day, the farmer and his wife collected hundreds and hundreds of dollars from the box. Soon they became very rich. Now the farmer's grandfather lived with the couple. He was not very strong and he could not go out to work. So the farmer asked the old man to help him take the money out of the box. When his grandfather became tired and wanted to rest, the farmer shouted at him, "Why are you so lazy? Why can't you work harder?" The old man didn't say anything but he continued working until he fell inside the box and died. At one, the money disappeared and the box to fill up with the dead grandfathers. The farmer had to pull them out and burry them. To do this, he had to spend all the money he had collected. When he had used up all the money the box broke and the farmer was just as poor as he was before. Questions:
1. What is the main idea of paragraph one?
2. What does "it" in paragraph one refer to?
3. What would you call that box? Why?
4. Why could the couple become so rich?
5. What made them unfortunate at last?
6. Why did the farmer shout to his grandfather?
7. What happened to the grandfather then?
8. What lesson can you learn from this story? Values: tolerant​

Answer 1

1. The main idea of paragraph one is that a poor farmer finds a magical box in his field.
2. The "it" in paragraph one refers to the big box that the farmer dug up in his field.
3. That box can be called a magical or enchanted box because it has the power to fill itself with apples and later with coins.
4. The couple became rich because they were able to sell the apples from the box and collect hundreds of dollars every day from the coins that filled up the box.
5. They became unfortunate because the grandfather fell inside the box and died, causing the money to disappear and the box to fill up with dead grandfathers. The farmer had to spend all the money he had collected to bury the grandfathers, leaving him as poor as he was before.
6. The farmer shouted at his grandfather because he was tired and wanted to rest, but the farmer expected him to continue working.
7. The grandfather fell inside the box and died.
8. The lesson that can be learned from this story is to be grateful for what we have and not to become greedy or mistreat others in our pursuit of wealth.