Engine Trouble Chapter 7

Category: Engine Trouble

“Well, awayaway we go!” said Mr Gale, and on they rowed,ed, up the windinging river, until after a very long time they arrivedarrived at the townshiptownship of Matakana.Matakana.  

The service stationstation was built right on the bank of the river and had its own small wharf. Mr Gale calledcalled up to the man who came out to meet them, “Can you fix outboardoutboard motors?”

“Do notDon’t    know a thing about them,” said the man cheerfully,fully, “but I willI’ll    try. Can you leave it with me for a few days?”

“We willWe’ll    have to, I suppose,”suppose,” said Mr Gale, “but that will mean rowing right down the river againagain and all the way back.”

“We can do it, Dad,” chimedd in Mia and Ricki.

johnny automatic slice of pie 300px“We areWe’re    a good crew,” addedadded Tim. So they handedhanded the outboard motor up to the garagegarage man and then found a pleasantant spot on the riverbankriverbank for lunch.

They had home-smokedsmoked snappersnapper and Mrs Gale had made an apricotapricot pie. After a rest they swam in the river and then set out to row home.

Comprehension

Summarise what has happened so far in this narrative.

Clarify these words: winding, arrived, township, service station, wharf, cheerfully, suppose, chimed in, pleasant, riverbank, home-smoked snapper, apricot pie.

Retell what has happened in this chapter.

Make inferences and give opinions about:

  • What the river is like.
  • Why a business like a service station might have its own wharf. 
  • Why Mr Gale would call up to the man at the service station.
  • Why they would need to row down and back up the river.
  • How the children feel about this.

What prediction can you make about what might happen next?

What question could you ask about this chapter?

Visualise these uses of descriptive language: rowed up the winding river; said the man cheerfully; chimed in Mia and Ricki; pleasant spot on the riverbank for lunch; home-smoked snapper and apricot pie. 

Make a connection with this chapter.

Word Study

Verb endings: What happens when we add s, ed or ing to: wind, arrive, build, fix, know, say, leave, suppose, chime, find, smoke, make, swim.

Other affixes: What happens when we add other prefixes and suffixes like ful, ly to these words: cheer, cheerful.

What two words make up these compound words: township, outboard, riverbank.

What two words are contracted here: don't, I'll, we'll we're.

What can you say about the words wind and wind?