The first day

On his fi rst day at a new school, Michael has been sent to the Principal’s offi ce.
‘I’m Michael. I’m new here.’ I gave her my best shallow smile and hoped
she’d take the offer. She had to have better things to be doing with her time.
‘I know who you are, Michael, and I know why you’re here.’ In other words
shut up and let me do the talking. Fair enough too. I took the advice. She
didn’t look all that angry though. If anything she almost seemed amused by
me and her tone was friendly. I tried to remind myself who she was, in case
it was some sort of trap. She took a deep breath, like I was a small part in a
big battle she’d long since stopped trying to win, and smiled at me.
‘You’re hardly the fi rst person to change schools, Michael, and you’re
certainly not the fi rst to try to make an impression. And just between you
and me, you’re not the fi rst to be sent here by Mr Jensen.’ She stopped, so I
gave a little nod and mumbled my agreement, which seemed to please her.
‘Quite. So what do you think we should do about this?’
‘Maybe we could just chalk it up to experience,’ I tried, heartened by her
apparent good humour. She acted as if she hadn’t heard me.
‘Were you pleased your family decided to move here, Michael?’
‘Um, not pleased exactly,’ I admitted.
‘And how have you found us?’ It was bizarre. She was beginning to sound
like some old auntie stuck for conversation during a Christmas visit.
‘All right, I suppose.’
‘Yes, we are.’ She smiled at something I couldn’t even guess at.
‘And you think we should just leave this here do you?’ It had to be a trap.
I nodded, not trusting myself to say anything useful.
‘Let me just tell you this then. You don’t want to cross me, Michael. You’ll
fi nd me a very loyal person to my staff. Do you understand that?’ Again I
nodded. ‘Of course I’ll have to ring home, to let them know things haven’t
started too well for you, but apart from that I think you should just get back
to class and concentrate on keeping a low profi le, don’t you?’
It didn’t feel right. She was being reasonable, no doubt about that, but I
couldn’t quite trust her. There was something about the way she looked at
me when she spoke, like she had some private joke going I would never
understand. And she was an adult. There had to be something in it for her.

• Why is Michael in the Principal’s office?
  He is meeting the Principal because it is his first day.
  He has something to deliver to the Principal.
  A teacher is not happy with his behaviour.
  His parents have left a message for him.\

• ‘Maybe we could just chalk it up to experience,’ (paragraph 4)
  In this sentence, chalk it up to experience means to
  learn from a negative experience.
  keep a record of recent experiences.
  encourage more positive experiences.
  refuse to acknowledge a recent experience.

• ‘Maybe we could just chalk it up to experience,’ (paragraph 4)
  In this sentence, chalk it up to experience means to
  learn from a negative experience.
  keep a record of recent experiences.
  encourage more positive experiences.
  refuse to acknowledge a recent experience.
• The conversation ends with Michael feeling
  defeated.
  uncertain.
  miserable.
  disappointed.
• Michael’s approach to the Principal suggests that he is trying to
  annoy her.
  charm her.
  challenge her.
  get to know her.
• Readers mainly learn about Michael’s character through
  his facial expressions.
  what he thinks to himself.
  what he says to the Principal.
  what the Principal says about him.