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प्रश्न
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:
Explain with reference to context.
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उत्तर
These lines are from the poem ‘Nine Gold Medals by David Roth. The poem sends the message that sports are not only about medals but also about learning the values of cooperation, sharing, competing and complementing. In this poem ‘Nine Gold Medals’, the poet, David Roth has presented the idea of empathy and how human values are as important as the spirit of competition. The poem presents the situation of a race, where the contestants leave aside their desire to win the medal to help a smaller and weaker contestant. They all go hand-in-hand to the finishing line.
Of all the events in Olympics, the hundred-meter race is the most prestigious. The athlete, who wins it, is remembered as the fastest man in the world. So, for the Special
Olympics mentioned in the poem this is the final event, hence the most prestigious. The hundred-yard race is about to begin. The athletes take position at the starting blocks. They begin to run immediately after the starting pistol is fired. However, one of them is unable to run and falls on the track. The action has begun and already one episode has taken place. The eight contestants are strong and run forward, while the ninth, who is the smallest, falls down. He cries out with the pain of disappointment. He has trained hard but does not get the opportunity to show his talent. All his dreams of winning the medal are broken and destroyed.
APPEARS IN
संबंधित प्रश्न
Discuss these question in class with your teacher and then write down your answer
in two or three paragraphs .
Kezia decides that there are “different kinds of fathers”. What kind of father was Mr
Macdonald, and how was he different from Kezia’s father?
Match the meanings with the words/expressions in italic, and write the appropriate
meaning next to the sentence.
You really gave me a fright when you crept up behind me like that.
Read the following sentences carefully to understand the meaning of the italicised
phrases. Then match the phrasal verbs in Column A with their meanings in Column B.
1. A communal war broke out when the princess was abducted by the neighbouring prince.
2. The cockpit broke off from the plane during the plane crash.
3. The car broke down on the way and we were left stranded in the jungle.
4. The dacoit broke away from the police as they took him to court.
5. The brothers broke up after the death of the father.
6. The thief broke into our house when we were away.
| A | B |
| (i) break out | (a) to come apart due to force |
| (ii) break off | (b) end a relationship |
| (iii) break down | (c) break and enter illegally; unlawful trespassing |
| (iv) break away (from someone) | (d) of start suddenly, (usually a fight, a war or a disease) |
| (v) break up | (e) to escape from someone’s grip |
| (vi) break into | (f) stop working |
So please, oh please, we beg, we pray,
Go throw your TV set away,
And in its place you can install
A lovely bookshelf on the wall.
Then fill the shelves with lots of books,
Ignoring all the dirty looks,
The Screams and yells,the bites and kicks,
And children hitting you with sticks-
Fear not, because we promise you
That, in about a week ot two
Of having nothing else to do,
They'll now begin to feel the need
Of having something to read.
And once they start - oh boy, oh boy!
You watch the slowly growing joy
That fills their hearts. They'll grow so keen
They'll wonder what they'd ever seen
In that ridiculous machine,
That nauseating, foul, unclean,
Repulsive television screen!
And later, each and every kid
Will love you more for what you did.
Read the lines given above and answer the question given below.
Will the children thank the parents? Why?
When there was a strong wind, the pine trees made sad, eerie sounds that kept most people to the main road. But Mr. Oliver was not a nervous or imaginative man. He carried a torch – and on the night I write of, its pale gleam, the batteries were running down – moved fitfully over the narrow forest path. When its flickering light fell on the figure of a boy, who was sitting alone on a rock, Mr. Oliver stopped.
Boys were not supposed to be out of school after seven P.M. and it was now well past nine. What are you doing out here, boy, asked Mr. Oliver sharply, moving closer so that he could recognize the miscreant.
Read the extract given below and answer the question that follow.
Whom did Mr Oliver meet in the forest?
Most terribly cold it was; it snowed, and was nearly quite dark, and evening— the last evening of the year. In this cold and darkness there went along the street a poor little girl, bareheaded, and with naked feet. When she left home she had slippers on, it is true; but what was the good of that? They were very large slippers, which her mother had hitherto worn; so large were they; and the poor little thing lost them as she scuffled away across the street, because of two carriages that rolled by dreadfully fast.
One slipper was nowhere to be found; the other had been laid hold of by an urchin, and off he ran with it; he thought it would do capitally for a cradle when he some day or other should have children himself. So the little maiden walked on with her tiny naked feet, that were quite red and blue from cold. She carried a quantity of matches in an old apron, and she held a bundle of them in her hand. Nobody had bought anything of her the whole livelong day; no one had given her a single farthing. She crept along trembling with cold and hunger—a very picture of sorrow, the poor little thing!
Read the extract given below and answer the question that follow.
Which day of the year was it in the story?
She lighted another match, and then she found herself sitting under a beautiful Christmas-tree. It was larger and more beautifully decorated than the one which she had seen through the glass door at the rich merchant’s. Thousands of tapers were burning upon the green branches, and colored pictures, like those she had seen in the show- windows, looked down upon it all. The little one stretched out her hand towards them, and the match went out.
The Christmas lights rose higher and higher, till they looked to her like the stars in the sky. Then she saw a star fall, leaving behind it a bright streak of fire. “Someone is dying,” thought the little girl, for her old grandmother, the only one who had ever loved her, and who was now dead, had told her that when a star falls, a soul was going up to God.
Read the extract given below and answer the question that follow.
How did the Christmas lights appear when the match went out?
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.
What shattered the confidence of Jesse Owens?
Answer the following question.
“But the cop’s mind would not consider Soapy”. What did the cop not consider, and why?
In Ama Ata Aidoo’s short story, ‘The Girl Who Can’, Nana expressed her disapproval of Adjoa’s legs because ______.
