The Drawer She Left Closed
C2 reading: The estate agent called the house remarkably clear. Includes vocabulary, six comprehension questions, discussion prompts and full-sentence answers.
What’s in the worksheet?
- 4 vocabulary explanations
- Six comprehension questions and two discussion prompts
- Separate full-sentence answer key and teaching notes
Interpret the small objects and silences in a story about clearing a mother's house. Clara's closed drawer complicates the idea that orderly possessions, dated photographs or completed tasks provide emotional closure.
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Page 3 of 3 · Answer key · A4 printable PDF
A simple way to teach it
Before the lesson
Prepare the reading and key. Review accumulation, impassable, unassigned and disposal. Offer fictional discussion options because the story involves bereavement.
- Read for how Clara and her brother respond differently to the objects. Find details showing his care as well as his efficiency.
- Answer the six questions, explaining the keys, screw and photograph without supplying facts the story withholds. Treat the brother's silence as an inference, not an explicitly stated motive.
- Compare plausible readings against the evidence. Discuss the ending's distinction between preserving every object and requiring every retained object to justify itself.
Support and extension
Support with observation / inference pairs. Extend by analysing the drawer as a symbol; do not require learners to share grief or private family possessions.
Suggested approach. Adjust the pace and number of questions to suit your class.
