Tulips: Multiple Choice Grammar Test

Once upon a time there was a good old woman who lived in a little house. She had in her garden a bed of beautiful striped tulips. One night she (1) _________ by the sounds of sweet singing and of babies laughing. She looked out at the window. The sounds seemed (2) _________ from the tulip bed, but she could see nothing. The next morning she walked among her flowers, but there were no signs of any one (3) _________ there the night before. (4) _________ the following night she was again wakened by sweet singing and babies laughing. She rose and stole softly (5) _________ her garden. The moon was shining brightly on the tulip bed, and the flowers were swaying to and fro. The old woman looked (6) _________ and she saw, standing by each tulip, a little Fairy mother who was crooning and rocking the flower like a cradle, while in each tulip-cup (7) _________ a little Fairy baby laughing and playing. The good old woman stole quietly back to her house, and from that time on she never picked a tulip, (8) _________ allow her neighbours to touch the flowers. The tulips grew daily brighter in colour and larger in size, and they (9) _________ a delicious perfume like that of roses. They began, too, to bloom all the year round. And every night the little Fairy moth­ers (10) _________ their babies and rocked them to sleep in the flower-cups. The day came when the good old woman died, and the tulip-bed was (11) _________ by folks who did not know about the Fairies, and parsley was planted there instead of the flowers. But the parsley withered, and so did all (12) _________ plants in the garden, and from that time nothing would grow there. But the good old woman’s grave grew (13) _________, for the Fairies sang above it, and kept it green; while on the grave and all around it there sprang up tulips, daffodils, and violets, and other lovely flowers of spring.