Reading an older text for 11 plus English

Older writing packs extra parts into one long sentence. Find the main sentence first, then the extra bits. And some words have changed. Resolved means decided. Fair weather is fine weather. Find the main sentence, then put the old words into today's words.

The main sentence: we resolved to set out at once. In today's words: we decided to leave straight away. The weather was fine. The extra part: my brother, who did not like getting up early, complained all the way. So who was unhappy about the journey? The brother.

The trap is reading an old word with its modern meaning. Fair, as in fair and unfair, makes the sentence mean nothing. In an older text, if a word seems odd, try its other meanings.

• 1.1Finding the answer in the textFind it, then check it
• 1.2Reading between the linesNo clue, no answer
• 1.3Characters and why they actWhat they do, and why they do it
• 1.4What a word means in the passageSwap it in, read it back
• 1.5Why the writer did itSay what it does to the reader
• 1.6Similes, metaphors and moreSay it in plain words
• 1.7Order and structureFind the event, then look either side

Every 11 plus English topic