| CHAPTER EIGHT – The Parents. |
| 56. |
30 |
Miss Honey decides that it is useless for Matilda to participate in class activities as she is too advanced for what they will be learning. What does she decide to do about Matilda? |
Miss Honey borrows a number of advanced textbooks from other teachers and tells Matilda to work though them during class. Then, at the end of each lesson, Matilda can ask Miss Honey any questions that she has about what she has been working on. |
| 57. |
30 |
Whilst watching Matilda diligently work on geometry, whilst the rest of the class learnt their two-times-table, Miss Honey decides that she is going to visit the young girl’s parents to discuss their child’s education. Why does Mr Wormwood tell Miss Honey that her visit was ‘most inconvenient’? |
Mr Wormwood is not at all happy to see Miss Honey, and at first assumes that Matilda must have gotten into trouble at school. When assured that this wasn’t the case, Mr Wormwood tells Miss Honey that her visit was most inconvenient as they were trying to watch one of their favourite television programmes. |
| 58. |
31 |
Miss Honey is eventually invited into the house and meets Mrs Wormwood who is also angry to have her television programme interrupted. When asked if they were ‘great readers’, Mr Wormwood announces that he was. What does he claim to read cover to cover every week? |
Mr Wormwood claims to read Autocar and motor, two magazines about cars, cover to cover every week. |
| 59. |
33 |
‘Looks is more important than books’, Matilda’s mother tells Miss Honey. What, according to her, should a girl spend time thinking about and why? |
According to Mrs Wormwood, ’a girl should think about making herself look attractive so she can get a good husband later on.’ |
| 60. |
33 |
Miss Honey tells the Wormwoods that, in addition to her reading prowess, Matilda can do mathematics in her head. Is Matilda’s father impressed by this? |
Mr Wormwood is not at all impressed by this news scoffing; ‘What’s the point of that when you can buy a calculator?’ |
| 61. |
33 |
Despite Matilda’s parent’s lack of regard for their daughters abilities, Miss Honey continues to impress Matilda’s academic potential upon them claiming that, with the right teacher, she could be brought up to university standard in just a few short years. Mr Wormwood is appalled at this idea. What is the only thing that people learn at university, according to him? |
According to Mr Wormwood, the only thing that people learn at university is ‘bad habits’. |
