"Cheshire Cat"

Passage from "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"

The Cat only grinned when it saw Alice. It looked good-natured, she thought: still it had very long claws and a great many teeth, so she felt that it ought to be treated with respect.

"Cheshire Puss," she began, rather timidly, as she did not at all know whether it would like the name: however, it only grinned a little wider. "Come, it's pleased so far," thought Alice, and she went on. "Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"

"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat.

"I don't much care where -- -" said Alice.

"Then it doesn't matter which way you go," said the Cat.

" -- so long as I get somewhere," Alice added as an explanation.

"Oh, you're sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough."

Alice felt that this could not be denied, so she tried another question. "What sort of people live about here?"

"In that direction," the Cat said, waving its right paw round, "lives a Hatter: and in that direction," waving the other paw, "lives a March Hare. Visit either you like: they're both mad."

"But I don't want to go among mad people," Alice remarked.

"Oh, you can't help that," said the Cat: "we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad."

"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.

"You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn't have come here."

Alice didn't think that proved it at all; however, she went on. "And how do you know that you're mad?"

"To begin with," said the Cat, "a dog's not mad. You grant that?"

"I suppose so," said Alice.

"Well, then," the Cat went on, "you see, a dog growls when it's angry, and wags its tail when it's pleased. Now I growl when I'm pleased, and wag my tail when I'm angry. Therefore I'm mad."

"I call it purring, not growling," said Alice.

"Call it what you like," said the Cat.

Reading Comprehension Questions

1) In the above passage, Alice would most likely describe her conversation with the Cat as which of the following?

a. helpful

b. frustrating

c. rewarding

d. enjoyable

2) In the above passage, the Cat can best be described as which of the following?

a. logical

b. dangerous

c. upset

d. frightened

3) In the above passage, the Cat says that Alice must be “mad”. In the context, the meaning of “mad” is which of the following?

a. angry

b. annoyed

c. crazy

d. obsessed

4) At the start of the above passage, which of the following is true about Alice?

a. she is cheerful

b. she is lost

c. she is bored

d. she is feeling sick

5) Which of the following is the most likely setting for the above passage?

a. a zoo

b. a castle

c. a forest

d. a lake

6) In the above passage, Alice seems to have found herself in which of the following?

a. a fantasy world

b. the distant future

c. the long ago past

d. a different country

Answer Key

1) In the above passage, Alice would most likely describe her conversation with the Cat as which of the following?

a. helpful

b. frustrating

c. rewarding

d. enjoyable

2) In the above passage, the Cat can best be described as which of the following?

a. logical

b. dangerous

c. upset

d. frightened

3) In the above passage, the Cat says that Alice must be “mad”. In the context, the meaning of “mad” is which of the following?

a. angry

b. annoyed

c. crazy

d. obsessed

4) At the start of the above passage, which of the following is true about Alice?

a. she is cheerful

b. she is lost

c. she is bored

d. she is feeling sick

5) Which of the following is the most likely setting for the above passage?

a. a zoo

b. a castle

c. a forest

d. a lake

6) In the above passage, Alice seems to have found herself in which of the following?

a. a fantasy world

b. the distant future

c. the long ago past

d. a different country