Reading Comprehension

Extract A: The Kid Nobody Could Handle by Kurt Vonnegut

George Helmholtz, head of the music department of Lincoln High School, and director of the band sat down in the booth in a restaurant. Life had treated him well. Quinn, a bachelor, sat down in the booth with him. Helmholtz saw a fifteen-year-old boy coming toward him, mopping the aisle between booths. The boy was small but with tough muscles standing out on his neck and forearms. He mopped like a robot, jerkily, brainlessly, but took pains not to splash suds over the toes of his boots. Helmholtz smiled at the boy but the boy looked through him without a twitch of recognition.

“That boy,” said Helmholtz, “I’ve seen him around school, but I never knew his name.” Quinn called the boy, “Hey, Jim! Come here for a minute”. Helmholtz was appalled to see that the boy’s eyes were expressionless. “This is my brother-in-law’s kid from another marriage,” said Quinn. “His name’s Jim Donnini and he’s very tough.” Jim Donnini’s hands tightened on the mop handle.

“How do you do?” said Helmholtz. “Hi,” said Jim emptily. “He’s living with me now,” said Quinn. Robotlike, Jim marched away. “Where are his parents?” asked Helmholtz. “His mother’s dead, his old man married my sister, walked out on her, and stuck her with him. Then the court didn’t like the way she was raising him and put him in foster homes for a while. Then they decided to get him clear out of Chicago, so they stuck me with him,” said Quinn.

“He’s nothing like the kids we got around here. Those boots, the black jacket—and he won’t talk. He won’t run around with the other kids, and won’t study. I don’t think he can even read and write very well,” he added. “Does he like music at all? Or drawing?” said Helmholtz. “You know what he likes? He likes to polish those boots and he’s really in heaven when he can get off by himself, spread comic books all around him on the floor and watch television” said Quinn. He smiled ruefully. “He had a collection too, and I took it away from him and threw it in the river,” he added. “Why?” asked Helmholtz. “Yeah, eight knives. Some with blades as long as your hand” said Quinn. Helmholtz paled and a prickling sensation spread over the back of his neck.

After the conversation, Helmholtz offered to give Jim a ride to school. In the car, Helmholtz tried to ask Jim about his interests, but Jim said nothing and instead, got a cigarette from inside his tight leather jacket. Helmholtz was too upset to comment at once. As they reached the end of the ride, Jim yawned, opened the car door, slammed it and went away. Helmholtz proceeded to his band classes. When he stepped into the hall for a drink from the fountain, he heard the jingling of chains as he drank and saw Jim Donnini all alone. “Hello, Jim. I was just thinking about you. We’ve got a lot of clubs and teams that meet after school and that’s a good way to get to know a lot of people,” said Helmholtz. Jim measured Helmholtz carefully with his eyes. “Maybe I don’t want to know a lot of people,” he said. “Ever think of that?” He set his feet down hard to make his chains jingle as he walked away.

When Helmholtz returned to the podium for a rehearsal of his band, there was a note waiting for him, calling him to a special faculty meeting. The meeting was about vandalism. Someone had broken into the school and wrecked the office of Mister Crane, head of the English Department. Later that day, while Helmholtz was in the band rehearsal room, he heard a furtive noise in the chemistry laboratory next door. He sneaked into the hall, jerked open the laboratory door, and flashed on the lights. Jim Donnini had a bottle of acid in either hand. He was splashing acid over the periodic table of the elements, and over the blackboards covered with formulas. The scene was the most repulsive thing Helmholtz could have looked upon. Jim smiled with thin bravado.

“Get out,” said Helmholtz. “What are you gonna do?” said Jim. “Clean up and save what I can,” said Helmholtz dazedly. He picked up a wad of cotton waste and began wiping up the acid. “You gonna call the cops?” said Jim. “I don’t know,” said Helmholtz. ”It’s about time this place got set on its ear,” said Jim. “Is it? If you smashed up all the schools, we wouldn’t have any hope left,” said Helmholtz “What hope?” said Jim. “The hope that everybody will be glad he’s alive,” said Helmholtz. “Even you.” “That’s a laugh,” said Jim. “All I ever got out of this dump was a hard time. So what’re you gonna do?” “I have to do something, don’t I?” said Helmholtz. “I don’t care what you do,” said Jim. “I know,” said Helmholtz. “I know.”

Helmholtz opened a locker and took a trumpet from it and thrust the trumpet into Jim’s arms. “There!’ he said, puffing with emotion, “There’s my treasure. It’s the dearest thing I own. I give it to you to smash, I won’t move a muscle to stop you. You can have the added pleasure of watching my heart break while you do it.” Jim looked at him oddly. He laid down the trumpet. “Go on!” said Helmholtz. “If the world has treated you so badly, it deserves to have the trumpet smashed!” Jim stopped quaking. “You know what you’ve got there—the trumpet?” said Helmholtz. “I’ll trade it to you, Jim—for your boots. It’s yours, Jim! It’s worth hundreds of dollars, Jim—thousands!” Jim laid his head on Helmholtz’s breast.

“It’s better than boots, Jim,” said Helmholtz. “You can learn to play it. Helmholtz released Jim slowly.The trumpet was still in Jim’s arms. “I’ll take you home, Jim. Be a good boy and I won’t say a word about tonight. Polish your trumpet, and learn to be a good boy.” said Helmholtz. “Can I have my boots?” said Jim dully. “No,” said Helmholtz. “I don’t think they’re good for you. Think of it this way, our aim is to make the world more beautiful than it was when we came into it. It can be done. You can do it,” said Helmholtz. “How?” said Jim. “Love yourself,” said Helmholtz, “and make your instrument sing about it.”

Extract B: The Fall of a City by Alden Nowlan

In the attic, Teddy watched raindrops roll down the glass of the window, and listened to the rain on the roof. He shifted his position and transferred his attention to the things that lay around him on the floor. In the centre of the room stood a fort and a palace, constructed from corrugated cardboard cartons. These were surrounded by homes made from matchboxes. The streets and alleys were full of nobles, peasants and soldiers, their bodies scissored from paper, their faces and clothing drawn in crayon and pencil.

Teddy decided that what he heard was not the rattle of rain on the roof and window, but the muffled roar of distant cannon. The armies of the Emperor Kang of Danova were attacking the fortifications on the Upalian frontier! Teddy inhaled deeply and held his breath, his chest pressing against his sweatshirt. This would be the third war between Danova and Upalia.

“Teddy!” His aunt shouted from the foot of the stairs. “Yeah?” he called sulkily. “ How many times do I have to call you? Come down here this minute and get ready for supper!” She stood in the hall with tired, suspicious eyes. “Seems to me that you’re spending a lot of time in that attic. Have you been into some mischief up there?” Teddy shrugged impatiently. “I ain’t been doin’ nothin’ — just playin’,” he told her sullenly. “Well, young man, you better wipe that scowl off your face and get ready for supper.”

During supper, he was scarcely aware of what he ate. Mechanically, he obeyed his aunt when she told him to take smaller bites and to take his elbows off the table. He was pondering on the tactics that would have to be used by King Theodore in relieving the siege of the fort by the river. “Look what you’re doing, for heaven’s sake!” exclaimed his aunt. “Huh?” replied Teddy. His aunt glared at him. “Don’t say “huh” when you answer me. You’ve spilt cream all over yourself.” Blushing, Teddy rubbed his sweatshirt with a paper napkin.

“He’s got his head in the clouds again.” His uncle laughed mirthlessly. Out of the corner of his eye, Teddy looked at his uncle’s face. “Well, he’d better smarten up if he knows what’s good for him,” his aunt grated. Suddenly, a cold shiver ran down Teddy’s spine. What if the Danovans attacked Theodoresburg while the king and his army were in the mountains?

“He spent most of the afternoon in the attic.I think it’s about time that one of us went up there and found out what he’s been doing.” said his aunt. “No!” Teddy cried sharply. His uncle laid down his knife and fork. “Look here mister, I don’t like your tone of voice. Have you been up to some of your monkeyshines up there? Teddy looked up. “No,” he repeated. “You better not be.” replied his uncle. “After supper, I’ll take a look and see just what you have been doing,” he said. Teddy frowned. Anyhow, the cannon were only playthings: scraps of cardboard held together with cellophane tape. What did it matter if his uncle saw them, or even destroyed them? But it did matter. Theodoresburg had been growing for a year and, often, it seemed more real than the town, the street and the home in which he lived with his uncle and aunt.

Later that night, his uncle stood in the doorway, his shoulders shaking with laughter. “You’d never guess what that kid has been doing up there!” He shook his head in wonder and amusement. Teddy flushed and stiffened. His aunt turned, “What’s he been up to, now?” she asked. “You’d never believe it, but he has been playing with paper dolls!” replied his uncle. “Paper dolls!” his aunt laughed dubiously. “They ain’t paper dolls,” Teddy mumbled. “They looked pretty much like paper dolls, doll houses, and an eleven-year-old boy! The next thing we know, you’ll be wanting us to put skirts on you!” The man choked, trying to restrain his laughter.

Paper dolls! Teddy could never explain… they would never let him explain. Theodore, King of Upalia, and all his armies — paper dolls! Yes, they were paper dolls. There was no king Theodore, no Emperor Kang, no Theodoresburg, no Upalia, no Danova. There was only an attic full of preposterous cardboard buildings and ridiculous paper people.

The city was as he had left it. Yet everything had changed. Always before when he had come here, his flesh had tingled, and his eyes had shone with excitement. Now there was only a taste like that of spoiled nutmeat. He bent and seized the cardboard palace. Gritting his teeth and grunting, he tore at its walls. The corrugated board was sturdy: he was crying by the time he finished tearing it to shreds.

Comparing the beginning and the end of the two extracts, what change occurred?

A. The society in which the protagonists lived evolved to accommodate their circumstances.
B. The protagonists consistently made poor choices throughout the story.
C. There were no changes in the extracts right from the beginning until the end.
D. The protagonists’ behaviours changed from how they were introduced.