Summary: The Elves and the Shoemaker
In this popular fairytale, Boris the shoemaker and his wife Emma lead a life filled with
poverty in spite of being honest and hardworking. One day Boris is down to his last piece of
leather, just enough to make a pair of shoes. He cuts out the leather and leaves it on his
workshop table, deciding to work on it the next day. The next day, he is surprised to find a
pair of exquisitely-made shoes on the table. The shoes get sold in no time fetching him the
money to buy some more leather. The next day, he again finds a finished pair of shoes
instead of the leather. This goes on for a few days, following which he and Emma decide to
investigate. They hide themselves behind the workshop door and wait.
Around midnight, a pair of elves enters the workshop and gets working on the leather. Boris
and Emma watch in surprise as the elves make the shoes in no time. They decide to gift the
elves new clothes and shoes. The next night, the elves are delighted to find the gifts. They
take the gifts and jump out the window never to be seen again. Boris and Emma are rich by
now and do not require the elves’ help anymore. Nevertheless, they are sad to see them go
but they know they will not forget them soon.
This story is a perfect example of the saying: One good turn deserves another.
UNIT 7 THE ELVES AND THE SHOEMAKER
EMBEDDED QUESTIONS
a. makes clothes
b. checks and treats our teeth
c. bakes bread and cakes
d. collects money and sells tickets for the journey
Comprehension
A. 1. shoemaker 2. table 3. shoes 4. comfortable 5. leather
B. 1. Every night Boris cut some leather and left the pieces on the table of his workshop. The next day,
there were new shoes on the table. This continued for many days.
2. Boris and Emma hid behind the door of the workshop because they wanted to find out who made
the shoes every night.
3. Boris and Emma saw that at midnight, two little elves jumped in through the window. They wore
torn clothes and they had no shoes but they were smiling. They skipped to the table and began to
work on the leather. Soon, they made new shoes and jumped out of the window.
4. a) Emma is the speaker.
b) We refers to Boris and Emma.
c) They made new clothes and shoes for the helpful elves.
C. No, they did not think they would get any gifts. They were so surprised to see the new clothes and
shoes that they clapped their hands in joy and put on the shoes and clothes. Very happily, they
skipped out of the window.
Grammar
A. 2. d 3. a 4. e 5. b
B. 2. cold 3. round 4. tall 5. sharp
Vocabulary
basketball; sunflower; cupboard; rainbow
Listening
Listen and tick () the correct answers.
Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Goldilocks. She went for a walk in the forest. Soon, she
came upon a house. She knocked and, when no one answered, she walked in.
At the table in the kitchen, there were three bowls of porridge. Goldilocks was hungry. She tasted the
porridge from the first bowl.”This porridge is too hot!” she said.
So, she tasted the porridge from the second bowl.”This porridge is too cold,” she said.
So, she tasted the last bowl of porridge.”Ah, this porridge is just right,” she said happily and she ate it all up.
After breakfast, Goldilocks felt tired. So, she walked into the hall where she saw three chairs.
Goldilocks sat in the first chair. “This chair is too big!” she said.
So she sat in the second chair.”This chair is also too big!” she whined.
So she tried the smallest chair. “Ah, this chair is just right,” she said and sat down. But, the chair broke into
pieces!
1. forest 2. porridge 3. tired 4. three 5. smallest
Punctuation
2. ? 3. ! 4. ? 5. ? 6. !
Writing
(Suggested Answer)
It is a bright day. The sun is shining. The sky is clear and blue. There are soft, white clouds in the sky. It is not raining. It is very warm.
THE ELVES AND THE SHOEMAKER
A. Answer in brief.
1. Who were Boris and Emma?
Ans: Boris was a shoemaker and Emma was his wife.
2. What surprise did Boris get one morning?
Ans: One morning, Boris went into his workshop to finish the shoes from the leather that he had.
He was surprised to see a new pair of shoes.
3. What did Boris and Emma decide to do for the helpful elves?
Ans: Boris and Emma decided to make new shoes and clothes for the elves because their clothes
were torn and they had no shoes.
B. Answer in detail.
1. What did Boris do after he got the first pair of new shoes?
Ans: The first pair of shoes was very comfortable, so Boris sold them quickly. With the money, he
bought leather for two more pairs of shoes. He then cut out the leather and left it on the table in
the workshop.
2. Did Boris and Emma know who was making the shoes? What did they do to find out?
Ans: Boris and Emma did not know who was making the shoes. So that night, they hid behind the
door of the workshop from where they could watch the table but saw to it that no one could see
them from the table.
3. What did the elves do when they saw their new clothes and the shoes?
Ans: When the elves saw the clothes and the shoes, they were amazed. They clapped their hands
in joy and put on their new clothes and shoes. Very happily, they skipped out of the window and
did not come back to the house ever again.
C. Read the lines and answer the questions.
1. “I will sew them tomorrow.” (The Elves and the Shoemaker)
a. Who said this?
b. What did he want to sew the next day?
c. What did he see the next morning?
Ans: a. Boris, a shoemaker, said this.
b. He wanted to sew a pair of shoes the next day.
c. The next morning, he saw a new pair of shoes.
2. “We must find out who makes these shoes.”
a. Who wanted to find out who made the shoes?
b. What did they do to find that out?
c. What did they find out?
Ans: a. Boris and Emma wanted to find out who made the shoes.
b. They hid behind the door of the workshop from where they could see the table.
c. They found that two little elves were making the shoes every night.
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