Read the following poem and answer the next five questions by choosing the correct options:
Winter is cold, with gusts of tumbling snow,
When rain falls down and nothing ever grows.
For children, it's the snow that they desire
And cups of cocoa in front of the fire.
When winter's gone, the grass grows green again.
Roses and tulips sprout with bright green stems.
The bees are buzzing, the birds are singing.
Sheep are grazing and cow bells are ringing.
And then the sun starts to shine too brightly.
It's so hot that fans are put on nightly,
And so then it's off to the beach or pools
Where people swim about just to keep cool.
All the leaves on the trees turn golden-brown,
And when on the ground make a crackly sound.
In autumn a lot of money you make
From clearing backyards of leaves with a rake.
Each season has its own goods and its bads,
But since they are all different I am glad!
What is the rhyme scheme of the second stanza of the poem?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → abcc
Rhyme scheme:
- A rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhymes at the ends of the lines of a stanza, shown with letters.
- The first line ending gets a; a line that rhymes with an earlier one takes the same letter; every new sound takes the next letter.
- The second stanza:
- again — a
- stems — b (does not rhyme with "again")
- singing — c
- ringing — c (rhymes with "singing")
- So the pattern is abcc.
Example: In "Twinkle, twinkle, little star, / How I wonder what you are", both lines end in the same sound, so the rhyme scheme is aa.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 2: aabc — Incorrect.
- It makes "again" and "stems" rhyme, which they do not.
- It gives "singing" and "ringing" different letters, though they rhyme.
Option 3: acbd — Incorrect. It shows no rhyme at all, but the last two lines, "singing" and "ringing", rhyme; it also uses the letters out of order.
Option 4: acab — Incorrect.
- It makes the third line rhyme with the first ("singing" with "again"), which is wrong.
- It misses the real rhyme of "singing" and "ringing".