Read the passages and answer the questions that follow.
Passage 1
I was so homesick during my first two weeks at St. Peter’s that I devised a way of
getting myself sent back home. My idea was that I should all of a sudden develop an attack of acute appendicitis.
When I reported my sickness to the teacher, I was sent to the Matron. I entered the room clutching my stomach on the righthand side and staggering pathetically.
'What's the matter with you boy?' the Matron shouted.
'It hurts, Matron,' I moaned. 'Oh, it hurts so much! Just here!'
'You've been overeating!' she barked.
'I haven't eaten a thing for days,' I lied.
She began prodding my tummy violently with her fingers. I was watching her carefully, and when she hit what I guessed was the appendix place, I let out a yelp that rattled the windowpanes.
'Ow! Ow! Ow!' I cried out. 'Don't, Matron, don't!'
Then I slipped in the clincher. 'I've been sick all morning,' I moaned.
This was the right move. Within an hour, the doctor arrived and as he examined me, I did my yelping at what I thought were the proper times.
The Matron returned half an hour later and said, ‘Your mother's coming to fetch you this afternoon. '
I didn't answer her. I just lay there trying to look very ill, but my heart was singing all sorts of wonderful songs. As I was taken home on a ferry, I felt so wonderful to leave that dreaded school building that I very nearly forgot I was meant to be ill.
1.
The boy had been at St. Peter’s for
