Page 8 - English Reader - 7

They edge out the saw, tug the rope; but the tree only quivers,
And kneeling and sawing again, they step back to try pulling once more.

Then, lastly, the living mast sways, further sways: with a shout
Job and Ike rush aside. Readied the end of its long staying powers

The tree crashes downward: it shakes all its neighbours throughout,

And two hundred years’ steady growth has been ended in less than two hours.

— Thomas Hardy

Word Meanings

1. executioners : killers 2. stalk : to hunt or pursue
3. knolls : hillocks 4. boles : trunk of trees
5. doffed : removed or took off 6. gash : wound or cut

7. hewn : cutting off a part or strike forcibly
8. quivers : shivers

E E
E Exxeerrcciisseexercisexercise

A. Tick (3) the correct option.
1. The two men carrying axes to cut the trees have been referred to as __________.

(a) woodcutters (b) carpenters (c) assassins (d) designers

2. The word stalk is referred to pursue or hunt someone. The two men are stalking __________.

(a) an animal (b) a murderer (c) a tree (d) a flower
3. The men are carrying two instruments to cut the trees. One is the axe and the other is a
__________.

(a) axe (b) saw (c) sledge hammer (d) screw
4. The tall tree is compared to a __________.

(a) giant (b) skyscraper (c) monument (d) mountain

B. Fill in the blanks.

1. The poem is about cutting down a __________.
2. The tree is described as __________ and __________ giant.
3. With each cut, the shivers of the tree grow __________ than before.

4. When the tree crashes downwards, it shakes all its __________.

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