Name____________________________
Date___________________
The Landlady by, Roald Dahl
Prereading - Vocabulary
Directions- Use the context clues or a dictionary to define the
underlined & bolded vocabulary words. This first one has been done
for you as an example.
1. He walked briskly down the street in order to get to work on time.
__briskly____means______rapidly, quickly, swiftly______________
Sentence: I must walk briskly to class so as not to arrive late!
2. The houses had porches and pillars and four or five steps going up to
their front doors. It was obvious that once upon a time they had been
very swanky; however, now the paint was beginning to peel off of the
woodwork and windows and the handsome facade was cracked from
neglect.
_________________ means ________________________________________
Sentence:
_________________ means ________________________________________
Sentence:
Landlady - vocab
Borsini-2003
3. Staying at a pub would be more congenial than a boarding-house.
There would be drinks and darts at the pub and lots of people to talk to,
and it would be cheaper, too.
_________________ means _______________________________________
Sentence:
4. He had never stayed at a boarding-house. He was actually frightened
of them. The name itself conjured up images of watery cabbage,
rapacious landladies, and a powerful smell of kippers in the living-room.
_________________ means ________________________________________
Sentence:
_________________ means ________________________________________
Sentence:
_________________ means ________________________________________
Sentence:
Landlady - vocab
Borsini-2003
5. It said BED AND BREAKFAST. Each word was like a large black eye
staring at him through the glass, holding him, compelling him, forcing
him to stay where he was.
_________________ means _______________________________________
Sentence:
6. She opened the door almost immediately, this dame was like a jackin-the-box!
_________________ means ________________________________________
Sentence:
7. “How much do you charge?”
“Five and sixpence a night, including breakfast.”
_________________ means ________________________________________
Sentence:
8. The gentleman couldn’t resist her offer! He took off his hat, and
stepped over the threshold.
Landlady - vocab
Borsini-2003
_________________ means ________________________________________
Sentence:
9. “This woman is strange,” he thought. “The old girl is slightly dotty,”
he told himself, “but at five and sixpence at night, who cares!”
_________________ means ________________________________________
Sentence:
10. Although I am swamped with applicants, I am inclined to be just a
teeny weeny bit choosy and particular because I want the perfect ones!
_________________ means ________________________________________
Sentence:
11. “I’m so glad you appeared,” she said, looking earnestly into his face,
“I was beginning to get worried.”
_________________ means ________________________________________
Sentence:
Landlady - vocab
Borsini-2003
12. When he caught a whiff of the tantalizing aroma of the chocolate
chip cookies which emanated throughout the house, Jimmy ran to the
kitchen.
_________________ means ________________________________________
Sentence:
_________________ means ________________________________________
Sentence:
_________________ means ________________________________________
Sentence:
13. I have to put make-up on my face to cover up this gross blemish!
_________________ means ________________________________________
Sentence:
14. He waited for her to say something, but she seemed to have once
again lapsed into another one of her silences.
_________________ means ________________________________________
Sentence:
Landlady - vocab
Borsini-2003