"Freddie"
Passage from "My Man Jeeves"
I must
tell you about dear old Freddie Meadowes...
Dear old Freddie, don't you know, has been a dear old
pal of mine for years and years; so when I went into the club one morning and found
him sitting alone in a dark corner, staring glassily at nothing, and generally
looking like the last rose of summer, you can understand I was quite disturbed
about it. As a rule, the old rotter is the life and
soul of our set. Quite the little lump of fun, and all that
sort of thing.
Jimmy Pinkerton was with me at the time... We set to
work to question the poor pop-eyed chappie, until
finally we got at what the matter was.
As we might have guessed, it was a girl. He had had a
quarrel with Angela West, the girl he was engaged to, and she had broken off
the engagement. What the row had been about he didn't say, but apparently she
was pretty well fed up. She wouldn't let him come near her, refused to talk on
the phone, and sent back his letters unopened.
I was sorry for poor old Freddie. I knew what it felt
like. I was once in love myself...
"Change of scene is what you want, old
scout," I said. "Come with me to
"He's absolutely right," said Jimmy.
"Change of scene's the thing. I knew a man. Girl refused him. Man went
abroad. Two months later girl wired him, 'Come back. Muriel.' Man started to
write out a reply; suddenly found that he couldn't remember girl's surname; so
never answered at all."
But Freddie wouldn't be comforted. He just went on
looking as if he had swallowed his last sixpence. However, I got him to promise
to come to
Reading Comprehension Questions
1) In the above passage, why is Freddie Meadowes
so upset?
a.
he's been lying to his girlfriend
b.
his girlfriend broke up with him
c.
he doesn't want to go to
d.
he had a fight with Jimmy Pinkerton
2) Near the end of the above passage, Jimmy tries to convince
Freddie to go to
a.
apologize to his girlfriend
b.
hide from his girlfriend
c.
forget about his girlfriend
d.
upset his girlfriend
3) Which of the following describes the language used by the
narrator in the above passage?
a.
technical
b.
arrogant
c.
vulgar
d.
conversational
4) In the above passage, the narrator says that Freddie is "looking like the last rose of
summer." What is meant by this simile?
a.
he looked rundown
b.
he looked cheerful
c.
he looked angry
d.
he looked optimistic
5) At the end of the above passage, which of the following is
Jimmie's main reason for agreeing to go to
a.
he hoped to make his girlfriend jealous
b.
he didn't have
anything better to do
c.
he always
enjoyed going to the beach
d.
he wanted to
look like he wasn't upset
6) In the above passage, the characters can best be described
as which of the following?
a.
business partners
b.
sworn enemies
c.
old friends
d.
family members
Answer Key
1)
In the above
passage, why is Freddie Meadowes so upset?
a.
he's been lying to his girlfriend
b.
his girlfriend
broke up with him
c.
he doesn't want to go to
d.
he had a fight with Jimmy Pinkerton
2)
Near the end of
the above passage, Jimmy tries to convince Freddie to go to
a.
apologize to his girlfriend
b.
hide from his girlfriend
c.
forget about his
girlfriend
d.
upset his girlfriend
3)
Which of the
following describes the language used by the narrator in the above passage?
a.
technical
b.
arrogant
c.
vulgar
d.
conversational
4)
In the above
passage, the narrator says that Freddie is "looking
like the last rose of summer."
What is meant by this simile?
a.
he looked rundown
b.
he looked cheerful
c.
he looked angry
d.
he looked optimistic
5)
At the end of
the above passage, which of the following is Jimmie's main reason for agreeing
to go to
a.
he hoped to make his girlfriend jealous
b.
he didn't have anything better to do
c.
he
always enjoyed going to the beach
d.
he
wanted to look like he wasn't upset
6)
In the above
passage, the characters can best be described as which of the following?
a.
business partners
b.
sworn
enemies
c.
old friends
d.
family
members