English Literature - ...

The Emperor’s Seed

About the passage

A.  Read to understand

1.   Rewrite this paragraph by writing these eight sentences in the correct order.

A year later, all except one youth turned up with plants of all varieties, shapes, and sizes. The emperor wanted to choose his successor. He gave them a seed each to plant and grow. He called all the young people of his kingdom together. He knew Ling had not substituted his boiled seed with another one. The emperor asked them to return with their plants exactly after one year. He announced Ling would be the new emperor. He noticed Ling standing at the back with an empty pot.

 

 

2.   Answer these questions.

      a.   What advice did Ling’s mother give him on the day of inspection?

 

      b.   Why was Ling terrified when the emperor called him to the front?      

 

      c.   Why did the plants not grow from the seeds that the emperor had given?

  

B.  Read to infer

1.   Why did Ling think he was a failure?

 

2.   Why was the emperor surprised to see the plants brought by the other youths?

 

3.   Why did Ling choose to stay behind everyone with his pot?

 

4. What was the reason behind Ling’s disbelief at the emperor’s announcement?

 

5. Tick  the quality that the emperor was looking for in his successor.

 

C.  Discuss

1.   Why do you think the emperor did not want to choose one of his children or assistants as his successor?

 

2.  


Tick  the words that best describe the other young people who had received seeds from the emperor. Then, give reasons for your choice.

    

 

3. Share with the class an incident when you found it difficult and challenging to be honest, but you were brave and supported the truth. Also, share how you felt after that.