Explaining inferences

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'School!' his mother called from downstairs. 'Get a move on, David!'

Reluctantly, he put down the triangular patch of white cotton he had intended for a sail at the prow of his ship. He wished he could stay all day with his model in its glass cocoon but he knew from experience that his mother would make him face school – and Rick – whatever excuse he invented. He'd previously tried claiming to be ill with most infectious diseases known to mankind, ranging from flu to (on one particularly desperate occasion) plague, but somehow, after clucking sympathetically, his mother always prescribed breakfast and a bracing walk to school as the cure. Heaven help him if he ever was really sick.

Julia Golding: from The Ship Between the Worlds (Frost Wolf, 2014)

Why do you think David makes excuses not to go to school? Refer to the text in your answer.
1 mark

  • Read the question. Read it again. What is it asking?
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It is asking you to think of reasons why David did not want to go to school.

  • The main idea in the text is that David did not want to go to school. Find evidence to support this.
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He wanted to stay at home to make his ship; he had made excuses up before like having flu.

  • Find the clue that tells you the real reason he did not want to go to school.
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His mother would make him face school – and Rick. Rick must be someone he is afraid of.

  • What can you infer about David and Rick?
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I think David is being bullied by Rick.

  • Write your answer referring to the text.
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I think David makes excuses because he is being bullied by Rick because it says his mother would make him face school and Rick which means they are both things that he doesn't want to deal with or confront.

  • Check your answer.