The Invention of Vita-Wonk
Chapter 7
Working with the Text
1. (i) What trees does Mr Wonka mention? Which tree does he say lives the longest?
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(ii) How long does this tree live? Where can you find it?
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2. How many of the oldest living things can you remember from Mr Wonka’s list? (Don’t look back at the story!) Do you think all these things really exist, or are some of them purely imaginary?
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3. Why does Mr Wonka collect items trom the oldest things? Do you think this is the right way to begin his invention?
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4. What happens to the volunteer who swallows four drops of the new invention? What is the name of the invention?
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Writing
1. (i) Make a list of the trees Mr Wonka mentions. Where do these trees grow? Try to find out from an encyclopaedia. Write a short paragraph about two or three of these trees.
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(ii) Name some large trees commonly found in your area. Find out something about them (How old are they? Who planted them? Do birds eat their fruit?), and write two or three sentences about each one of them.
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2. Find out something interesting about age, or growing old, and write a paragraph about it. Following are a few topics, suggested as examples.
• The age profile of a country’s population — does it have more young people than old people, or vice versa? What are the consequences of this?
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• How can we tell how old a tree, a horse, or a rock is?
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• What is the ‘life expectancy’ of various living things, and various populations (how long can they reasonably expect to live)?
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Dad and the Cat and the Tree
1. Why was Dad sure he wouldn’t fall?
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2. Which phrase in the poem expresses Dad’s self-confidence best?
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3. Describe Plan A and its consequences.
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4. Plan C was a success. What went wrong then?
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5. The cat was very happy to be on the ground. Pick out the phrase used to express this idea.
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6. Describe the Cat and Dad situation in the beginning and at the end of the poem.
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7. Why and when did Dad say each of the following?
(i) Fall?
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(ii) Never mind
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(iii) Funny joke
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(iv) Rubbish
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8. Do you find the poem humorous? Read aloud lines which make you laugh.
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