Questions the Railway Children

CHAPTER 1: THE BEGINNING OF THINGS 1. What did Peter get as his birthday present? __________________________________________________________________________________ 2. How did Father treat the children? __________________________________________________________________________________ 3. What was Father doing when the two gentlemen arrived? __________________________________________________________________________________ 4. Who left the family after their father went away? __________________________________________________________________________________ 5. What did Mother make the children promise to her? __________________________________________________________________________________ 6. Where did the three children and their mother move to after leaving London? __________________________________________________________________________________ 7. What did the children bring along with them to the countryside cottage? __________________________________________________________________________________ 8. What happened to them at the cottage upon their arrival? __________________________________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 2: PETER AND THE COAL 1. What did the children and their mother do when they could not find their supper? __________________________________________________________________________________ 2. What did the children do when they woke up the following morning? __________________________________________________________________________________ 3. Where did the children go after breakfast? __________________________________________________________________________________ 4. What was the function of the white line on the wall? __________________________________________________________________________________ 5. How did their mother provide for the family expenses? __________________________________________________________________________________ 6. Why didn’t the family light fires to keep their house warm during the wet rainy days? __________________________________________________________________________________ 7. What happened to Peter at the station yard? __________________________________________________________________________________ 8. What lesson did the children learn from the coal incident? __________________________________________________________________________________

CHAPTER 3: THE OLD GENTLEMAN 1

1. What did the children do when the trains going to London passed by? __________________________________________________________________________________ 2. Who waved back at the three children? __________________________________________________________________________________ 3. What did the children do at the train station? __________________________________________________________________________________ 4. What happened to the children’s mother? __________________________________________________________________________________ 5. Who came to check on Mother’s condition? __________________________________________________________________________________ 6. What was needed by their mother in order to get well? __________________________________________________________________________________ 7. How did Peter attract the Old Gentleman’s attention? __________________________________________________________________________________ 8. What did Perks, the porter, bring for the children? __________________________________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 4: BOBBIE’S RIDE 1. What was Mother’s reaction when the children told her that they had asked the Old Gentleman to help them buy food and medicine for her? __________________________________________________________________________________ 2. Why did Mother write a letter to the Old Gentleman? __________________________________________________________________________________ 3. What did Bobbie receive for her birthday? __________________________________________________________________________________ 4. Why did Bobbie’s birthday celebration end on a sad note? __________________________________________________________________________________ 5. What happened to Bobbie on the steam train? __________________________________________________________________________________ 6. Who were the two railway workers who saw Bobbie on the train? __________________________________________________________________________________ 7. Where did Bobbie change trains to go back home? __________________________________________________________________________________ 8. How did Peter feel when he saw that his train engine was repaired? __________________________________________________________________________________

CHAPTER 5: SAVING THE TRAIN 1. Where were the children when the landslide hit the railway line? __________________________________________________________________________________ 2

2. Who suggested to use the red petticoats as flags? __________________________________________________________________________________ 3. Did the children manage to stop the train? How did they do it? __________________________________________________________________________________ 4. What is the consequence of the children’s actions? __________________________________________________________________________________ 5. Who invited the children to the train station for a special ceremony? __________________________________________________________________________________ 6. Why was the held? __________________________________________________________________________________ 7. What did the children get from the Northern and Southern Railway Company? __________________________________________________________________________________ 8. Who did the Old Gentleman meet at the children’s house? __________________________________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 6: A BIRTHDAY FOR PERKS 1. Why was Mother feeling happy? __________________________________________________________________________________ 2. Who suggested to have cakes on Thursday? __________________________________________________________________________________ 3. What were the children planning to do on Thursday? __________________________________________________________________________________ 4. What was Peter’s suggestion? __________________________________________________________________________________ 5. What was Bobbie and Phyllis’ response when they found out that nobody had remembered Mrs Ransome’s birthday? __________________________________________________________________________________ 6. What made Mrs Ransome give Perks and his wife some apples and a pram? __________________________________________________________________________________ 7. What were some of the presents received by Perks and his family? __________________________________________________________________________________ 8. Why was Perks not happy to see the presents he received from the villagers? __________________________________________________________________________________

CHAPTER 7: THE TERRIBLE SECRET 1. What did Bobbie suspect of Mother? __________________________________________________________________________________ 2. Why did the children stop asking questions about Father? __________________________________________________________________________________ 3

3. How did Bobbie learn about Father’s situation? __________________________________________________________________________________ 4. What did the newspaper headline say? __________________________________________________________________________________ 5. What was Father accused of? __________________________________________________________________________________ 6. What was the evidence that implicated Father of spying? __________________________________________________________________________________ 7. What was Mother’s advice to Bobbie? __________________________________________________________________________________ 8. What action did Bobbie take in the end? __________________________________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 8: THE BOY IN THE RED SHIRT 1. What event were the children watching? __________________________________________________________________________________ 2. Who is the “hare” in the paper-chase race? __________________________________________________________________________________ 3. Where did the children go to watch the paper-chase event? __________________________________________________________________________________ 4. Why did the children go into the railway tunnel? __________________________________________________________________________________ 5. What happened to the boy wearing the red shirt? __________________________________________________________________________________ 6. What was the children’s plan when they found the boy? __________________________________________________________________________________ 7. Why were the children surprised to see Jim’s grandfather? __________________________________________________________________________________ 8. What did the Old Gentleman tell Bobbie? __________________________________________________________________________________

CHAPTER 9: THE MAN AT THE STATION 1. What did the children stop doing when Jim was around the house? __________________________________________________________________________________ 2. What did the children do when the 9.15 train passed by? __________________________________________________________________________________ 3. Who responded to the children’s waving? __________________________________________________________________________________ 4

4. Why did Bobbie decide to go to the train station? __________________________________________________________________________________ 5. What did Bobbie notice about the people at the train station that morning? __________________________________________________________________________________ 6. What made Perks so happy that morning? __________________________________________________________________________________ 7. Who was the last passenger to get off the train? __________________________________________________________________________________ 8. Who helped Father to prove his innocence until he is released from prison? __________________________________________________________________________________

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