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The Flood

9th grade reading

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The Flood

The river had been rising for three days, but in the village nobody spoke of it. People hung out washing, argued about football and queued at the bakery as if the brown water swelling beneath the bridge were simply another neighbour, loud but harmless. Nadia noticed. From her bedroom window she watched the river swallow the lowest step of the old jetty, then the second, then the third. At night she lay awake listening to it muttering against the stones, a low, endless grumble that seemed to grow hungrier by the hour. On the fourth morning, the sky was the colour of a bruise. Rain did not fall so much as hang in the air, soaking everything it touched. Nadia's grandmother, who had lived in the village for seventy years, stood at the door, sniffing the wind like an old dog. "Pack a bag," she said quietly. "Now." They were halfway up the hill when they heard it. A roar. A crack. Then silence, which was worse. Below them, the bridge had gone. Where it had stood, the river surged on, carrying fence posts, garden chairs and a single red umbrella, spinning slowly, like a flower.

1
Question 1
Read "The Flood". In paragraph 1, what does comparing the river to 'another neighbour, loud but harmless' suggest about the villagers?
- A. They are complacent and underestimate the danger.
- B. They dislike their real neighbours.
- C. They are planning to leave.
- D. They are frightened of the river.
2
Question 2
Read "The Flood". What is the effect of the personification 'muttering' and 'grow hungrier' in paragraph 2?
- A. it makes the river seem like a threatening creature that is growing more dangerous
- B. it makes the river seem calm and friendly
- C. it shows the river is drying up
- D. it suggests the river is lost
3
Question 3
Read "The Flood". Which technique is used in 'the sky was the colour of a bruise'?
- A. onomatopoeia
- B. hyperbole
- C. a rhetorical question
- D. pathetic fallacy, using the sky to reflect danger and pain
4
Question 4
Read "The Flood". Why does the writer place 'They were halfway up the hill when they heard it.' in its own paragraph?
- A. to introduce a new character
- B. to isolate the moment and build suspense before the disaster
- C. to slow down and describe the hill
- D. to change to a different setting entirely
5
Question 5
Read "The Flood". What is the effect of the sentence forms in paragraph 5 ('A roar. A crack. Then silence, which was worse.')?
- A. the fragments make the disaster sudden and shocking
- B. they explain the science of floods
- C. they slow the pace to relax the reader
- D. they give a long description of the bridge
6
Question 6
Read "The Flood". How does the final image of the 'single red umbrella, spinning slowly, like a flower' affect the ending?
- A. It introduces a happy ending.
- B. It focuses on one small, oddly beautiful detail, contrasting calm with the destruction.
- C. It shows the flood was not serious.
- D. It explains who owned the umbrella.

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Answer key: The Flood

1. A. They are complacent and underestimate the danger.
2. A. it makes the river seem like a threatening creature that is growing more dangerous
3. D. pathetic fallacy, using the sky to reflect danger and pain
4. B. to isolate the moment and build suspense before the disaster
5. A. the fragments make the disaster sudden and shocking
6. B. It focuses on one small, oddly beautiful detail, contrasting calm with the destruction.