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प्रश्न
Irony is when we say one thing but mean another, usually the opposite of what we say. When someone makes a mistake and you say, Oh! That was clever!” that is irony. You’re saying ‘clever’ to mean ‘not clever’.
Expressions we often use in an ironic fashion are:
• Oh, wasn’t that clever!/Oh that was clever!
• You have been a great help, I must say!
• You’ve got yourself into a lovely mess, haven’t you?
• Oh, very funny!/How funny!
We use a slightly different tone of voice when we use these words ironically.
Read the play carefully and find the words and expressions Gerrard uses in an ironic way.
Then say what these expressions really mean. Two examples have been given below.
Write down three such expressions along with what they really mean.
| What the author says | What he means |
| Why, this is a surprise, Mr – er – |
He pretends that the intruder is a social visitor whom he is welcoming. In this way he hides his fear. |
| At last a sympathetic audience! | He pretends that the intruder wants to listen to him, whereas actually the intruder wants to find out information for his own use. |
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उत्तर
| What the author says | What he means |
| You won’t kill me for a very good reason. | Gerrard is just pretending to have a ‘very good reason’ even though there is no such reason. |
| Sorry I can’t let you have the props in time for rehearsal, I’ve had a spot of bother – quite amusing. | The ‘spot of bother’ that Gerrard calls ‘quite amusing’ is actually a life-threatening situation, where a criminal actually threatens to kill him. |
| You have been so modest. | Here, Gerrard means that it is immodest on the part of the intruder to know so much about him without disclosing his own identity. |
संबंधित प्रश्न
Answer these question in 30–40 words.
Why did Bismillah Khan refuse to start a shehnai school in the U.S.A.?
Thinking about the poem
Where does the traveller find himself? What problem does he face?
The poem you have just read is originally in the Tamil. Do you know any such poems in your language?
Do you like rain? What do you do when it rains steadily or heavily as described in the poem?
Some are meet for a maiden's wrist,
Silver and blue as the mountain mist,
Some are flushed like the buds that dream
On the tranquil brow of a woodland stream,
Some are aglow with the bloom that cleaves
To the limpid glory of new born leaves
Read the lines given above and answer the question that follow.
To what are the bangles compared?
The blocks were all lined up for those who would use them
The hundred-yard dash and the race to be run
These were nine resolved athletes in back of the starting line
Poised for the sound of the gun.
The signal was given, the pistol exploded
And so did the runners all charging ahead
But the smallest among them,he stumbled and staggered
And fell to the asphalt instead.
He gave out a cry in frustration and anguish
His dreams ands his efforts all dashed in the dirt
But as sure I'm standing here telling this story
The same goes for what next occurred.
Read the lines given above and answer the following question:
Who do you think are the competitors? How do you know which is the event mentioned?
I was in for a surprise. When the time came for the broad-jump trials, I was startled to see a tall boy hitting the pit at almost 26 feet on his practice leaps! He turned out to be a German named Luz Long. 1 was told that Hitler hoped to win the jump with him. I guessed that if Long won, it would add some new support to the Nazis’ “master race” (Aryan superiority) theory. After all, I am a Negro. Angr about Hitler’s ways, 1 determined to go out there and really show Der Fuhrer and his master race who was superior and who wasn’t. An angry athlete is an athlete who will make mistakes, as any coach will tell you. I was no exception. On the first of my three qualifying jumps, I leaped from several inches beyond the takeoff board for a foul. On the second jump, I fouled even worse. “Did I come 3,000 miles for this?” I thought bitterly. “To foul out of the trials and make a fool of myself ?” Walking a few yards from the pit, 1 kicked disgustedly at the dirt.
Read the extract given below and answer the question that follow.
I supposed that if Long won, it would add some new support to the Nazis’ Aryan- superiority theory. What did Jesse Owens want to show to Hitler?
From the third paragraph pick out
(i) words associated with cries of birds,
(ii) words associated with noise,
(iii) words suggestive of confusion and fear.
How did Ravi link his cat with the Pallava kings?
What material Mr Gessler used to make the boots?
Why a newspaper or stick lying in the open does not catch fire on its own?
How the author and his friend spent the entire day?
What does the last sentence of the story suggest? What would the crocodile tell his wife?
Why has sleep been called a wonder?
Multiple Choice Question:
What does the kite flier do in the last?
Which incident made the visitor to the school ten times more thoughtful than ever?
Multiple Choice Question:
What type of people do entertain such fears?
Replace the italicised portion of the sentence below with a suitable phrase from the box. Make necessary changes, wherever required.
They criticised him in the meeting but he accepted without protest all the criticism.
Why does the society disapprove of the rebels?
Read the following extract from Robert Browning's poem, “The Patriot” and answer the question that follows.
|
Alack, it was I who leaped at he sun To give it my loving friends to keep! Nought man could do, have I left undone: And you see my harvest, what I reap This very day, now a year is run. |
- What can you conclude of the Patriot's mood from the given lines?
Quote the line from the given extract which tells us that the Patriot did his utmost to satisfy his people? [3] - The last line of the extract suggests that a year has gone by.
How had the speaker been treated a year ago? [3] - How did the situation change a year later? Give details of his present state. [3]
- Why were only a ‘palsied few” onlookers seated at the windows?
‘Where had the other townspeople gone?‘Why had they gone there? [3] - How is the speaker's faith in God revealed at the end of the poem?
Do you think the poem ends on a note of hope or despair? Justify your answer. [4]
