The Twits · Garden Heights Academy

Part 1

for The Twits · Part 1 · Chapters 1–4

a story by Roald Dahl

30 min5 Parts

This workbook is built on a solid pedagogical foundation, effectively integrating content and language learning based on the CLIL framework (Content and Language Integrated Learning), elevated by our unique 5th C — Connection — and an integrated Standardized Test section that weaves every SAT & TOEFL question type right into the novel, so learners build real test skills easily, naturally, and with fun.

What Happens in Part 1

We meet Mr. Twit, a beastly man whose filthy beard is stuck full of old bits of food — cornflakes, sardines, and cheese that have been there for years. Then we meet Mrs. Twit, who was not born ugly but grew hideous on the outside because she had so many ugly thoughts on the inside. She has a glass eye and walks with a stick. These are two of the nastiest, dirtiest people in all of Roald Dahl’s books.

What We Will Learn

Literary Element	What It Means
Characterization	How a writer shows what characters are like through their looks, actions, and words
Imagery	Words that paint a picture for the senses, so we can see, hear, and smell the story
Hyperbole (Exaggeration)	Stretching the truth on purpose to make something funnier or more shocking

Chapter Summary

Chapter	Title & Key Events
Ch.1	Mr. Twit — we meet Mr. Twit, a hairy, dirty man whose disgusting beard is full of bits of old food
Ch.4	Mrs. Twit — Mrs. Twit grew hideous from years of ugly thoughts; she has a glass eye and a walking stick

💭 Before You Read · Warm-Up (not scored)

There are no wrong answers here — just think, guess, and talk:

Roald Dahl loves truly horrible characters. Why do you think readers enjoy villains so much?
Predict: a husband and wife who both love playing mean tricks — what could go wrong for them?
Dahl says the thoughts you think can slowly change your face. Could there be any truth in that? What makes a face ‘lovely’ to you?

Copyright Notice

Independent study guide by Garden Heights Academy. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Roald Dahl or the Roald Dahl Story Company. No text from the novel is reproduced. Students should read the original book. Reference text: This workbook follows Roald Dahl’s classic text (the standard Puffin edition sold worldwide). Revised 2023 UK editions change some wording and may not match the vocabulary studied here.

Part 1

Vocabulary

Study 10 key words from Chapters 1–2, then answer each question.

🧠Knowledge Bank · Food, Hair and Germs

Science · HygieneMr. Twit never washes, so scraps of food stay trapped in his hairy beard for years. Warm, damp places like that are perfect homes for bacteria, living things far too small to see. They feed on old food, multiply quickly, and can make a person ill. That is why we wash our hands, brush our teeth, and keep hair and skin clean. Before scientists discovered germs, even doctors rarely washed between patients, and plain soap has since saved millions of lives. Your queasy feeling around rotting food has a job too: scientists call it disgust, an ancient alarm that steers people away from anything spoiled.

A black-and-white electron microscope image of dozens of small rod-shaped and curved bacteria scattered across a rough gray surface, with a scale bar reading five micrometers — Electron microscope image made in 2004 by Janice Carr for the Centers for Disease Control, showing a group of curved, rod-shaped bacteria called Campylobacter magnified about five thousand times. The *Knowledge Bank* explains that bacteria are living things far too small to see, that they feed on old food and multiply quickly in warm, damp places, and that some can make a person ill. This is what a crowd of them looks like once a microscope makes them visible: the scale bar in the corner stands for five micrometers, about one two-hundredth of a millimeter. These particular bacteria were photographed in a laboratory, not combed out of a beard. Notice how many fit in one tiny patch — a scrap of old food can hold millions.
Campylobacter fetus bacteria, scanning electron micrograph by Janice Carr, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2004. Source: Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

ⓘ Vocabulary words are selected to help you understand and complete this workbook. Some may not appear verbatim in the novel.

fouladj.Ch.1

Very dirty, smelly, and unpleasant

“A foul smell drifted out of Mr. Twit’s beard.”

bristlyadj.Ch.1

Covered in short, stiff, scratchy hairs

“His bristly beard prickled like a scrubbing brush.”

revoltingadj.Ch.1

So horrible that it almost makes you feel sick

“Bits of revolting old food were tangled in his whiskers.”

beardn.Ch.1

The hair that grows on a man’s chin and cheeks

“Mr. Twit had never once washed his enormous beard.”

filthyadj.Ch.1

Extremely dirty

“His hands and clothes were utterly filthy.”

whiskersn.Ch.1

The hairs that grow on the face

“Old crumbs were hidden deep in his whiskers.”

hideousadj.Ch.4

Extremely ugly and unpleasant to look at

“Ugly thoughts had made Mrs. Twit’s face truly hideous.”

wrinkledadj.Ch.4

Covered in small lines and folds

“Her wrinkled face was screwed up in a scowl.”

scowln.Ch.4

An angry, bad-tempered frown

“A permanent scowl sat on Mrs. Twit’s lips.”

ghastlyadj.Ch.4

Shocking and horrible

“Year by year her face grew more ghastly.”

1Fill in each blank with the correct word.Ch.1–2

Word choices:neglectfilthyreflecthideous- some words will not be used

Because Mr. Twit s washing his beard,

it grows dark and with old food.

🧠Knowledge Bank question

2According to the Knowledge Bank, the queasy feeling around rotting food is called disgust, and its job is to ___.Ch.1–2

3Someone “hideous” is —Ch.1–2

4To “neglect” something means to take very good care of it.Ch.1–2

5A “bristly” beard is one that is —Ch.1–2

6When a mirror can “reflect” something, it —Ch.1–2

7Fill in each blank with the correct word.Ch.1–2

Word choices:permanentappearancegleefulbristly- some words will not be used

Mrs. Twit’s ugly thoughts made her ugliness ,

changing her whole forever.

8Something “permanent” lasts only a single moment.Ch.1–2

9To “beware” of something is to —Ch.1–2

10Someone “gleeful” is full of delight.Ch.1–2

Part 2

Comprehension

How well do you understand Chapters 1–2?

🧠Knowledge Bank · Reading for Who and What

Reading Skill · Key DetailsWhen you start a new book, two questions help most: who is in the story, and what are they like? Good readers hunt for these details on every page. Dahl tells us right away that Mr. and Mrs. Twit are dirty, hairy, and mean. Each fact is a clue about the kind of people they are. As you read, picture them in your mind and collect the small details the author gives. Naming the main characters and noticing what they do helps everything else make sense. Careful readers always keep track of who is doing the action.

Visual AidWho is in the story, and what are they like?

Diagram for the Knowledge Bank on key details. The first card is the who question the Knowledge Bank says to ask, the three clue cards are the facts Dahl gives right away, dirty, hairy, and mean, and the red card is the picture a reader builds from them. It lists kinds of details, not sentences from the book. Notice that the clues come before the picture — the Knowledge Bank says to collect the small details first and let the people take shape from them.

Who, what they are like, and the picture they make, as described in the Knowledge Bank. Drawn for Garden Heights Academy.

🧠Knowledge Bank question

1The Knowledge Bank says the two questions that help most at the start of a book are ___.Ch.1–2

2Mr. Twit is proud of his revolting, food-filled beard.Ch.1–2

3What made Mrs. Twit ugly over the years?Ch.1–2

4Mrs. Twit was born hideously ugly.Ch.1–2

5Put these events in the correct order. Write 1–5 (1 = first).Ch.1–2

The narrator reminds us that kind, good thoughts make any face look lovely.
Old bits of food — cornflakes, sardines, cheese — get trapped in the hairs.
The story turns to Mrs. Twit, who was not born ugly at all.
Years of ugly thoughts slowly twist her face into something hideous.
We meet Mr. Twit, a hairy-faced man who never washes his beard.

6According to the narrator, what makes a face look lovely?Ch.1–2

7What does Mr. Twit secretly do with the food in his beard?Ch.1–2

8The narrator wants us to admire the Twits as fine, tidy people.Ch.1–2

9What does Mrs. Twit have that shows she is old and odd?Ch.1–2

10How do Chapters 1–2 mainly introduce the Twits?Ch.1–2

Part 3

Literary Elements

Understanding HOW and WHY Dahl writes Chapters 1–2 the way he does.

🧠Knowledge Bank · Laugh and Squirm

Literary Craft · ExaggerationRoald Dahl (1916–1990) built a career out of gloriously horrible grown-ups, and he wants you to laugh and say ‘yuck!’ at the same time. One of his best tools is exaggeration — making something bigger, uglier, or grosser than in real life. Mr. Twit’s beard is not just messy; bits of old food hide in it for years. That is far too much to be true, and that is exactly why it is funny. When a writer stretches a fact until it is silly, we call it hyperbole. Watch for it on every page. Dahl piles disgusting details higher and higher to make you giggle and cringe.

📚 Literary Devices in This Part · definitions & examples

Characterization is how a writer shows what a character is like — through their looks, actions, and words. Dahl shows the Twits are nasty by describing their filthy looks.

Imagery is descriptive language that paints a picture for our senses. When Dahl lists the cornflakes, sardines, and cheese rotting in the beard, we can almost smell it.

Hyperbole means stretching the truth on purpose to make something funnier or more dramatic. Saying you could find food from years ago in the beard is exaggeration that makes us laugh.

The questions below are mixed — not grouped by device. Decide which device each one is about.

🧠Knowledge Bank question

1According to the Knowledge Bank, stretching a fact until it is silly is called ___.Ch.1–2

2Imagery is language that appeals to the five senses.Ch.1–2

3Fill in each blank with the correct word.Ch.1–2

Word choices:characterizationimageryhyperboleplot- some words will not be used

Describing how the Twits look and act is ,

and the vivid food-in-beard picture is .

4Saying the beard hid the remains of hundreds of old meals is an example of —Ch.1–2

5Hyperbole is careful, exact, literal description with no exaggeration.Ch.1–2

6Fill in each blank with the correct word.Ch.1–2

Word choices:hyperboletonesettingrhyme- some words will not be used

Claiming the beard held whole meals is ,

and the mocking makes the disgust funny rather than frightening.

7We learn Mrs. Twit is nasty mostly through —Ch.1–2

8“Good thoughts shine out of your face like sunbeams” compares kind thoughts to sunbeams using “like,” making it a —Ch.1–2

9Fill in each blank with the correct word.Ch.1–2

Word choices:similethemeconflictclimax- some words will not be used

“Shine like sunbeams” is a ,

supporting the that kindness shows on the face.

10The deeper point of Mrs. Twit’s ugliness is that —Ch.1–2

Part 4

Think Deeper

Four deeper challenges — no single-word recall. Read, weigh the evidence, and reason it through.

🧠Knowledge Bank · Ugly Thoughts, Ugly Faces

Ethics · Inside and OutDahl shares a gentle warning in this book: what is inside a person shows on the outside. He tells us that a person who thinks kind thoughts will always look lovely, but a person full of mean thoughts grows uglier and uglier. Mr. and Mrs. Twit are cruel, so Dahl draws them as horrible to look at. Of course, in real life a kind heart matters far more than a pretty face. But the idea teaches a simple truth: kindness makes a person shine, while cruel thoughts slowly spoil even the nicest smile.

1Claim: “The book suggests that ugly thoughts make a person ugly.” — choose the two details that best prove it.Claim & Evidence

2About Mr. Twit, or about Mrs. Twit? Tap each item to sort it — tap again to switch sides. You can keep tapping to change your answer.Sort into two

◄ About Mr. TwitAbout Mrs. Twit ►

3Match each cause to its result. For each cause, pick its result.Cause & Effect

Mr. Twit never washes his beard→

Mrs. Twit thinks ugly thoughts→

The Twits are cruel people→

Ugly thoughts show on the face→

🧠Knowledge Bank question

4Fill both blanks to complete the reasoning.Build the Argument

The Knowledge Bank says Dahl's gentle warning is that , so in real life .

Part 5

Standardized Test

Vocabulary in Context & Main Idea — SAT & TOEFL-style practice

Four Thousand Years of Soap

People have been making soap for more than four thousand years. The most ancient soap recipes we know of were pressed into clay tablets in Babylon, and they mixed animal fat with ashes from a fire. Soap works because it grabs onto grease and dirt, which plain water cannot remove on its own. For most of history, though, washing was not a daily habit, and many people stayed filthy for weeks, believing that bathing too often was actually bad for the body. That changed in the 1800s, when scientists proved that invisible germs cause disease, and that washing foul, dirty hands can stop those germs from spreading. Cities began teaching children to wash every day, and soap turned from a luxury into something every home needed. Today doctors still call hand-washing one of the cheapest and most powerful ways to protect your health. A simple bar of soap, it turns out, has saved more lives than many famous medicines.

Original passage written for Garden Heights — not a quotation from the novel.

1In the passage, filthy means ___.SAT · Words in Context

2According to the passage, the oldest soap recipes were recorded —TOEFL · Factual Information

3Soap grabs onto “grease,” which is —SAT · Words in Context

4Why can plain water alone not clean greasy dirt?TOEFL · Factual Information

5Foul hands are hands that are ___.SAT · Words in Context

6What changed people’s washing habits in the 1800s?TOEFL · Factual Information

7We can infer that before the 1800s, many people —SAT · Inference

8Which sentence best states the main idea?SAT · Central Ideas

9Doctors today describe hand-washing as —TOEFL · Factual Information

10The last line — soap has “saved more lives than many famous medicines” — is meant to —TOEFL · Rhetorical Purpose

Part 6 · Optional

Creative Writing

A bonus challenge to practice your English.

About This Section

This writing task is optional and not part of your auto-graded score. Feedback checks length, spelling, and grammar only.

Writing Task — Part 1 “The Disgusting Beard”

Use imagery to describe Mr. Twit’s beard. What can you see, smell, and feel in it? Try to make your reader want to hold their nose! Write at least 40 words.

You can start with: “If you looked closely at Mr. Twit’s bristly beard, the first thing you would notice was…”

0 / 40 words minimum

🗣 Teach It · Just for Fun (optional)

No right or wrong — close the screen and tell someone nearby what happened in this part. Can’t find anyone? Tell yourself out loud. The moment you teach it, you truly understand it.

Part 1 Complete!

You finished Chapters 1–4 of The Twits.

Here are your auto-graded results:

-

points out of 100

Teach it to someone

The best last step is to teach it. In your own words, explain what happened — retell a favorite scene, teach a character’s big choice, or sum up the main idea for a parent, friend, or classmate. When you can teach it clearly, you truly own it.

Move on to Part 2 →⌂ Back to Twits Home 🏠 Library