The following passage is from the story “Uncle Richard’s New Year’s Dinner” by Lucy Maud Montgomery. Read the passage. Then, answer the questions that follow. (1) Prissy Baker was in Oscar Miller’s store New Year’s morning, buying matches—for New Year’s was not kept as a business holiday in Quincy—when her uncle, Richard Baker, came in. He did not look at Prissy, nor did she wish him a happy New Year’s—she would not have dared. Uncle Richard had not been on speaking terms with her or her father, his only brother, for eight years. (2) While in the store, Prissy overhears her uncle Richard explain that he is on his way to a neighboring town, Navarre, and that he has no one to make his New Year’s dinner. Prissy decides to go to his house, make a surprise dinner for him, and leave before he returns. She acts on her plan, cooking a dinner at his house. As she prepares to dish it out, she suddenly hears a voice behind her. (3) “Well, well, what does this mean?” (4) Prissy whirled around as if she had been shot, and there stood Uncle Richard in the woodshed door! (5) Poor Prissy! She could not have looked or felt more guilty if Uncle Richard had caught her robbing his desk. She did not drop the turnips for a wonder; but she was too confused to set them down, so she stood there holding them, her face crimson, her heart thumping, and a horrible choking in her throat. (6) “I— I— came up to cook your dinner for you, Uncle Richard,” she stammered. “I heard you say—in the store—that Mrs. Janeway had gone home and that you had nobody to cook your New Year’s dinner for you. So I thought I’d come and do it, but I meant to slip away before you came home.” (7) Poor Prissy felt that she would never get to the end of her explanation. Would Uncle Richard be angry? Would he order her from the house?

Answer 1

Based on the passage from "Uncle Richard's New Year’s Dinner" by Lucy Maud Montgomery, here are some questions and answers:

1. Why had Prissy not wished Uncle Richard a happy New Year?

• Prissy had not wished Uncle Richard a happy New Year because he had not been on speaking terms with her or her father for eight years, and she felt she would not have dared to do so.

2. What was Prissy’s plan once she overheard Uncle Richard in the store?

• Prissy's plan was to go to Uncle Richard’s house, cook a surprise New Year’s dinner for him, and leave before he returned.

3. How did Prissy react when Uncle Richard unexpectedly appeared in the woodshed?

• Prissy reacted with shock and a sense of guilt. She felt as if she had been caught in a wrongdoing, holding the turnips helplessly while feeling confused and anxious.

4. What did Prissy reveal to Uncle Richard about her intentions?

• Prissy revealed that she had come to cook his dinner because she had overheard him mention in the store that he had no one to cook for him. She explained that she intended to slip away before he returned.

5. What emotions did Prissy experience during her encounter with Uncle Richard?

• Prissy experienced confusion, guilt, anxiety, and fear. She was worried about how Uncle Richard would react, questioning whether he would be angry or order her to leave. Her physical reactions (such as her crimson face and thumping heart) illustrated her emotional turmoil.