Seaside Holidays
Comprehension Answers
This text is difficult in some ways because the children have to jump back and
forth in the text to find their answers. It is also a larger text than some others
which means that it requires better skills of memory and searching for
answers. Here is our guidance on how you should mark your child’s answers.
Answers:
1. ‘Summer holidays are a prominent feature…….’ What does the word
prominent mean? (1 mark)
a.
b.
c.
d.
Small
Stands out
Inconspicuous
Easy
If something is prominent, it stands out. Prominent items are not normally small.
Prominent has the opposite meaning to inconspicuous and easy is a ‘red herring’.
2 What is an effect of the rise in popularity of foreign holidays? (1 mark)
a.
b.
c.
d.
Motorways are becoming jammed
British seaside resorts are becoming quieter
The numbers attending airports are increasing
Ferries are used frequently.
This question requires you to look carefully at the text. In line 4 it states that
‘airports are becoming busier’. Answer a relates to British holidays so is not
appropriate, there is nothing to suggest that British sea sides are becoming quieter
and ferries are not mentioned in the text.
3. Who were the first to start visiting the seaside for their holidays? (1 mark)
.
The Victorians
This is a basic text retrieval question. In lines 9 and 10 it states that ‘It was the
Victorians who first popularised the notion of taking a summer vacation.’
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Seaside Holidays
Comprehension Answers
4. What invention made holiday travel easier for the Victorians? (1 mark)
a.
b.
c.
d.
The tram
The train
The car
The donkey
The train made travel more accessible for Victorians. Line 11 tells us that ‘the
advent of railway travel started to revolutionise our attitudes towards leisure.’ The
word ‘advent’ here means ‘invention’. The motor car was not invented until later;
although trams were popular in Victorian times, trams only cover short distances,
usually taking travellers from one part of a town to another. The donkey is an
animal and therefore not an invention.
5. Why did seaside holidays become popular? Give 2 reasons (2 marks)
The sea air was thought to have ‘health giving’ properties.
Paddling in the sea was therapeutic
Lines 14 and 15 talk about the Victorian view that the sea had ‘health benefits’ and
the therapeutic nature of the sea.
6. Holidaymakers in the 1800s enjoyed developing a sun-tan. (1 mark)
a. Yes
b. No
See explanation in question 7.
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Seaside Holidays
Comprehension Answers
7. Find a sentence from the text which gives you this information. (1 mark)
However, they preferred to cover their skin to protect it from the harsh light.
This question asks you to find and copy information. Lines 14 and 15 contains this
sentence, from which we can infer that the Victorians did not like to sunbathe.
8. Which of the following statements is true? (1 mark)
a.
b.
c.
d.
Victorians considered the sea to be dirty and insanitary
Victorians generally travelled on foot to the coast
Men had their own section of the beach for bathing
Picnicking was banned on Victorian beaches
Line 18 and 19 talk of the Victorian modesty and how the beaches were ‘divided
up’. Option a is incorrect as the Victorians considered bathing in the sea to be
healthy; there is no mention of whether the sea was dirty. Option a is incorrect as
they travelled by train to the coast and option c is incorrect as there was a separate
area on Victorian beaches where men and women could picnic together.
9. What would be an antonym for the word ‘modest’? (1 mark)
a.
b.
c.
d.
Reserved
Sheepish
Reticent
Brave
An antonym (opposite) for the word modest would be brave. All of the other options
are synonyms (word with a similar meaning) for modest
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Seaside Holidays
Comprehension Answers
10. What was the purpose of a bathing machine? (1 mark)
a. To protect a person from being drowned in dangerous waters
b. To move a person from the shore to the sea without being
exposed
c. To wash a person
d. To allow a person to swim without being in deep water
Lines 21-23 detail the purpose of a bathing machine. That is, to enable a person to
be transported to the sea modestly. The bathing machine is actually a mobile
changing room so does not protect someone from being drowned. It had nothing to
do with washing or swimming. This question is tricky as the name suggests a
different use to the actual purpose. Reading the text is always vital to ensure that
the correct meaning is gained.
11. Which of the following is not a holiday pursuit from the 1800s? (1 mark)
a. Row boating
b. Donkey rides
c. Crazy golf
d. Promenading in the pleasure gardens
e. Paddling
Lines 27 onwards talks about some of the activities that Victorians enjoyed. It does
not mention crazy golf, although all other activities are mentioned. If you look at
lines 30 and 31, it states that the ‘gardens (are) still appreciated today’. From this
we can infer that promenading (or walking around) the pleasure gardens was a
holiday pursuit in the 1800s.
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Seaside Holidays
Comprehension Answers
12. What would be a suitable alternative phrase for ‘faded out of fashion.’? (1
mark)
a. Became more popular
b. Decreased in popularity
c. Now found in inland areas
d. Became fundamental to coastal life
To ‘fade out of fashion’ means to decrease in popularity. Option a is inappropriate
as this answer suggests the opposite. Options c and d are both inappropriate as
the phrase is not specifically related to the geography of a place (option c) or to the
coastal nature of a town (option d).
13. What is the meaning of the word ‘ubiquitous’? (1 mark)
a.
b.
c.
d.
Rare
Smelly
Seen everywhere
No longer seen
The word ‘ubiquitous’ means ‘can be seen everywhere’ (in this case donkeys are
seen at nearly all seaside resorts). Rare would be an antonym (opposite) for the
term. Smelly may be an adjective used to describe the donkey so is inappropriate.
Option d is also a possible antonym for the term.
.
14. From where does ice-cream originate? (1 mark)
Italy
Lines 36 and 37 tell us that hokey pokey; the Victorian name for ice-cream derives
(or comes from) from the Italian word ‘ecco un pocco’. The reader must infer that icecream comes from Italy.
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Seaside Holidays
Comprehension Answers
15. Why did holidaymakers from long ago find ice-cream difficult to eat? (1 mark)
It was very rare and/or they had to eat it from brown paper or a small glass.
Line 37 onwards states that the hokey pokey was eaten from brown paper or a
small glass called a penny lick. Line 39 states that it was very unusual.
16. What is the purpose of this article? (1 mark)
This article has been written to inform us about seaside holidays in the past or
the history of seaside holidays.
The reader must understand what the purpose of the article is, after reading it
through. It is an information text with the purpose of informing us about seaside
holidays in the past (or the history of seaside holidays).
17. This is an example of a ‘non-fiction’ text. Which of the features below are
not found in this type of writing? (1 mark)
a.
b.
c.
d.
Index
Contents page
Glossary
Chorus
Options a, b and c are all found in this type of writing (non-fiction). The index is an
alphabetical list of key terms, words or phrases found in the text, the contents
page is found at the front of an information text and gives main titles with page
numbers. The glossary is normally found near the back and gives a list of
vocabulary with definitions. Option d is the repeated refrain within a song or poem.
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