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Activity worksheetslevel 2 Teacher Support Programme

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While reading Chapters 1–21 Discuss these questions with another student.

What do you think? Why does the children’s father go away? Where

do you think he goes? Do you think he will return? How long do you think he will go away for?

2 Write roberta, Peter or Phyllis in the sentences a−h.

a ………… wants to be the boss. b ………… is the youngest. c ………… loves trains. d ………… wants to help repair the engine. e ………… is the oldest. f ………… often breaks things. g ………… is ten years old. h ………… is the most clever.

3 Discuss these questions with another student. What do you think?

Is the children’s father right to say, ‘Girls are as clever as boys …’? Do you think most people felt this way about girls a hundred years ago?

4 Answer these questions. a Why can’t Roberta sleep? …………… b Who wants to move into a new house every

month? …………… c Why does Roberta kick Phyllis? …………… d What three things can the children see below

the house? …………… …………… …………… e What can’t the children see below the house?

…………… f Why can’t the children make fires in June?

…………… g What does Peter take from the station?

…………… h Who calls Peter a thief ? ……………

Chapters 3–45 Match the letters with the numbers to

complete the sentences. a Roberta … c b Peter … c c Phyllis … c

d The children’s mother … c e The old man … c f Perks … c g The Station Master … c h Jim and Bill … c 1 suggests that they wave to the train. 2 is very ill. 3 tells the children stories about the trains. 4 gives the letter to the man on the train. 5 is the children’s first friend at the railway. 6 says, ‘Red is for danger.’ 7 gives the children some food. 8 work on the engines.

6 Write because or so in the sentences a−f. a The children wave at the train ……… they

want it to take their love to their father. b The children’s mother is ill ……… she must

stay in bed. c The old man’s writing is bad ……… the

children can’t read his name. d The children think there is going to be an

accident ……… there are trees on the line. e The children must wave something red

……… red is for danger. f Jim sees the red skirts ……… he knows

there is danger on the line.

Chapters 5–67 What happens first? What happens next?

Write the numbers, 1−8. a The children take the baby from the boat. c b The children show Mrs Perks the gifts. c c The children go to every house and shop

in the village. c d The children go fishing. c e Perks asks the children into his house for

tea. c f The man stops the fire on his boat with

water. c g A man says to the children: ‘You can’t fish

here!’ c h The children see that the boat is on fire. c

8 Discuss these questions with another student. What do you think?

Why is Perks angry when the children give him the gifts? Why does he stop being angry and accept the gifts?

The Railway Children Photocopiable

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Activity worksheetslevel 2 Teacher Support Programme

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9 Match the questions with the answers. a Why do the people in the village want to

give something to Perks? c b Why does Mrs Perks begin to cry? c c Why can’t Perks take the gifts from the

children? c d Why does Perks ask the children into his

house for tea? c 1 Because she is very happy. 2 Because he is always nice to them. 3 Because he wants to thank them for giving

him the gifts. 4 Because he knows that the children have

no money.

Chapters 7–810 Are these sentences right (✓) or wrong (✗)? a Roberts believes that her father is ill. c b The children don’t fight very often. c c The knife goes into Peter’s hand. c d The doctor thinks that Peter is going to

be all right. c e Peter wants to stay in bed. c f Roberta reads about her father in an old

newspaper. c g Six boys go into the tunnel and six boys

come out. c h The boy’s leg is hurt badly. c i The boy can walk out of the tunnel. c j Peter stays with the boy and his sisters go

for help. c

11 Draw a picture to illustrate what happens in Chapter 8.

12 Who says the sentences a−j? a ‘Is Father coming home one day?’ ……… b ‘I want that!’ ……… c ‘Yes, girl, I have a lot of old newspapers.’

……… d ‘We can only wait for Father to come home

again.’ ………

e ‘One boy is down there, in the tunnel.’ ………

f ‘I don’t like this.’ ……… g ‘Is he dead?’ ……… h ‘Where did you come from?’ ……… i ‘You go to the nearest house and get

somebody to help us.’ ……… j ‘Are you afraid?’ ………

Chapters 9–1013 Join these beginnings and ends of sentences

with so. a Peter and Phyllis are going to help Jim … c b The signalman sits with his son at

night … c c The signalman can’t help the children … c d The family don’t have much money … c e The children are with Jim all the time … c f Jim’s grandfather helps the children … c 1 they can’t buy Jim what he must have. 2 he sleeps when he is at work. 3 Phyllis has to go into the tunnel again. 4 they run to the house up the road. 5 their father can come home. 6 they have no time to go to the railway.

14 Make a list of the people the children help in the story.

After reading15 Work in pairs. Tell each other which character

in the book you like best. Explain why you feel this way.

16 The children’s father returns from prison at the end of the story. What do you think prison is like? Write a short paragraph to answer this question.

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Progress testlevel 2 Teacher Support Programme

level 2

level 3

level 4

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level 6

easystarts

Chapters 1–21 Write the right words in the sentences.

anything everybody everything nobodynothing somebody something somewherea At first, the children don’t know ……… about

trains.b Roberta knows that ……… is wrong when her

father goes away.c When their father goes away, ……… in the family

is sad.d Roberta asks, ‘Is ……… dead?’e Peter says, ‘Because it’s later and there’s ……… to

be good about now.’f The family put ……… in boxes before they leave

the city.g Inside the new house, there is ……… to meet

them.h Peter goes ……… to get some coal for the coal-

box.

Chapters 3–42 Write for or to in the sentences a−h.

a Phyllis asks, ‘And when is Father going to write … us?’

b The children want the train to take their love … their father.

c The children often go … the train station.d Roberta calls the doctor … her mother. e The children think … a long time before they have

an idea.f Inside the box, there is a lot of food … the family.g The tree moves slowly nearer … the railway line.h The children run up … the engine to talk to Jim

and Bill.

Chapters 5–63 Who are the people in italics?

a ‘He’s always good to us. Perhaps we can do something for him.’ …………

b ‘You can’t fish here!’ …………c ‘He usually likes children.’ …………d She found them in a shop. …………e ‘We took him off the boat.’ …………f He could not understand why she cried. …………g He was very angry. …………h ‘That’s why they gave us these things for you.’

…………

Chapters 7–84 Underline the right words.

a Roberta thinks her mother is happy / sad when the children say their father’s name.

b The children are usually bad / good.c There is a lot of blood / dirt on Peter’s foot.d Roberta thinks the newspaper is right / wrong about

her father.e The children ask the old man to help them to find

their father / the spy.f Peter’s foot is better / worse the next day.g It is very dry / wet inside the tunnel.h The boy’s eyes are closed / open when the children

find him.

Chapters 9–105 Choose 1, 2 or 3 to complete these sentences.

a Phyllis says, ‘I’m … going into a tunnel again.’ 1 always 2 never 3 usuallyb The signalman knows it is wrong to … 1 sleep at work. 2 be angry with the children. 3 help the children.c Jim stays with the children because … 1 he doesn’t like his grandfather. 2 his foot is hurt. 3 his family is very poor.d The children’s father comes home … 1 on a bus. 2 five years later. 3 after they catch the spy.