It is asking you to explain the meaning of the word raucously, and why this is a good word to describe the sound of the ducks.
Let's practise
Evening was coming on by the time we got to Cooper's Station, but we could still see enough. We could see it was a place on its own, way out in the bush, and we could tell it was a farm. I mean you could smell it straightaway, the moment we clambered down off the bus. There were huge sheds all around, and you could hear cattle moving and shifting around inside. And from further away in the gloom there was the sound of a running creek, and ducks quacking raucously.
Michael Morpurgo: from Alone on a Wide Wide Sea (HarperCollins Children's Books, 2007)
Explain why raucously is an appropriate word to describe the sound of the ducks.
1 mark
- Read the question and read it again. What is it asking?
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- What do we know about the ducks?
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They are quite a way from the people getting off the bus. We also know that the ducks are quacking.
- How could they be heard if they were further away?
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They must have been quacking loudly and wildly.
- Do you think many ducks would quack loudly all at the same time? What might have set them off quacking?
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If they are all making a sound, it might be a bit like a riot. They might be frightened or they want to let the people know they are there.
- Put the words into the sentence to see if they make sense.
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There was the sound of a running creek, and ducks quacking wildly all at different times.
- Use clues around what you know about the setting to support your answer.
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Raucously is an appropriate word to describe the wild and riotous sound of the ducks as the bus arrived.
- Check your answer.