Grade – III (English) JAYSHREE PERIWAL INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL How we organize ourselves
Name: _____________________ Date: __________
Learning objective: To enhance reading and comprehension skills.
THE TIME MACHINE
How will you react when someone tells you that she/he invented the time machine? When and
where would you like to go? Well, when I was given a chance I.....?
Read and find out when and where I went and what I did!
Uncle Rustom claimed that he had invented the time machine. This secret (confidential) was
shared only with me. Hence, when he invited me to my grandfather's house for the summer
vacation, I was elated.
So, next Sunday, I was in Phoolpur, a small town in Uttar Pradesh. Uncle Rustom was delighted to
see me! Soon I was with him in his laboratory. I looked in awe at all the gadgets kept there,
especially the red and yellow toy car in the centre.
"That's the Time Machine
achine I invented! Would you like a ride on it?" Uncle Rustom's voice sounded
from behind me. I couldn't believe my ears!
"When and where should we go?" he asked me.
Something clicked – I longed to see my strict father as a child!
"Could we ....could we.........?” I stammered, "Go in the
year ....maybe.......between
be.......between 1980 to 1985? Address
grandfather's
er's house." "Of course," said Uncle
U Rustom
and pressed the buttons 1,9,8,0! Whoosh!
Whoos Bam!
Whrrom! Off we went. Everything was in a whirl!
In a minute
everything was still. We were in the courtyard of the house.
The house looked just the same, except (excluding) that it
was freshly painted. I watched in amazement, as two small-
small
sized versions – one of my father and the other of my uncle,
emerged (come out) from the house.
Uncle Rustom
ustom looked at me and winked. He
H said, "That's
your father and me. Just watch the fun!"
We relaxed and watched. No one seemed to hear or see us.
"Russi, do you know something?" asked the boy, who was my father, in an excited tone. "The
storeroom in the old yard is open and there is a big drum inside!" Uncle and father walked into
the storeroom and unknown to both, we also walked in.
Uncle leaned over the drum and then looked up. His eyes gleamed. "The drum is half-full of
whitewash the workers left behind." Father and uncle picked up the brushes lying near the drum
and started whitewashing the walls.
"Aren't you two messing up the walls?" I asked uncle Rustom. Uncle Rustom laughed, "Just watch
your father up to mischief as a child!" "I'll paint a ship on the floor, "said my father in excitement.
"I shall paint the waves, "added the uncle.
"You can paint a beach on one side too," suggested my father.
"With coconut trees," added Uncle Rustom.
The boys were so excited that they did not notice a tall stern (strict) man enter the storeroom. He
was my grandfather. He did not seem pleased with the artwork.
"Who did that?" he asked loudly. Even I was scared. The boys froze. They could not get out a
single word of explanation. The brushes fell from their hands with a thud! Suddenly, my
grandfather picked up the brushes and handed them to the two boys saying, "Since you are so
fond of painting I suggest you whitewash the entire storeroom and once you finish, I will show
you some more walls." Saying that grandfather walked away.
My uncle started crying. My father, however, stood silent. He tried to look as if nothing had
happened. Suddenly somewhere in the background we, both uncle and me, heard a siren and the
car started rotating! "Oooh, "said uncle as he tumbled out of the car.
"Why did you return so soon? We were really fun," I said.
'Time over!" said uncle and looked at the car. We walked out of the laboratory. As we entered the
hall we heard the sound of a car noisily turning into the gate.
"That's my father," I shouted. "He must have come to meet me."
Uncle ran to greet father. Soon we were having tea and talking and laughing. Suddenly, without
thinking I said, "Father I liked the ship you painted on the floor," "Ship! Painted! What are you
talking about?" asked my father in surprise. "Oh! It's nothing," said my uncle winking at me.
I began to get a feeling that this vacation was going to be a lot of fun.
1. Tick (√) the correct answer.
(a) What does the author of the story mean by saying, "This secret was shared only with me."?
(i) No one knew about the time machine except the author and uncle Rustom. [ ]
(ii) No one knew about the time machine, not even the author. [ ]
(iii) Very few people knew about the time machine. [ ]
(b) What was inside the storeroom?
(i) a big drum [ ]
(ii) a drum full of whitewash [ ]
(iii) a drum half-full of whitewash [ ]
(c) What did uncle Rustom want to paint on the beach?
(i) mango tree [ ]
(ii) coconut tree [ ]
(iii) shells [ ]
(iv) rocks [ ]
(d) What punishment did Grandfather give to the small boys?
(i) Whitewash the entire room and once it is over some more painting to be done. [ ]
(ii) Whitewash the entire storeroom and then some more walls. [ ]
(iii) Whitewash the entire house. [ ]
(iv) White wash the storeroom. [ ]
2. Give the meanings of the following.
(a) Elated ___________________ (b) Gadgets ___________________
(c) Awe ___________________ (d) Whirl ___________________
(e) Gleamed ___________________ (f) Stammer ___________________
3. Answer the following:
(a) What tells you that the boys were scared when they saw their father?
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(b) If you were one of the boys in the storeroom, what would you have done with the whitewash?
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(c) Why do you think the car started rotating with a siren?
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(d) Why did the author ask Uncle Rustom to go in the year between 1980 to 1985?
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