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प्रश्न
Study the Note to Aspects of the Novel given at the end. Discuss the features that mark the piece as a talk as distinguished from a critical essay.
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उत्तर
The piece can be distinguished as talk through the repetitive usage of words like ‘I’, ‘You, ‘so to speak’, ‘only to imagine’ etc. which displease a reader. But these words, although informal talkative, provide effective pauses and improves expression in the sentences.
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संबंधित प्रश्न
Answer any three of the following questions in 30-40 words each:
(a) What did M. Hamel tell them about the French language? What did he ask them to do and why?
(b) Why does Asokamitran call Subbu, ‘a charitable and improvident man’?
(c) How did the instructor turn Douglas into a swimmer?
(d) Why did Sophie like her brother, Geoff more than any other person?
How did a story book, 'Little Lord Fauntleroy' open a window of knowledge to Helen and help to shape her career?
Read the following passage and do the activities:
A1 True or False:
Rewrite the following statements and state whether they are ‘true’ or ‘false’.
(i) Mashelkar’s mother did menial work to bring him up.
(ii) Mashelkar’s father died when he was twelve.
(iii) Mashelkar was born in a very rich family.
(iv) Tatas added much value to Mashelkar’s life.
I start with my greatest guru-my mother. I was born in a very poor family and my father died when I was six. We moved to Mumbai and my mother did menial work to bring me up. Two meals a day was a tough challenge. I studied under street lights and I walked barefoot until, I think, I was twelve. I remember when I passed the seventh standard and I wanted to go into the eighth standard, our poverty was such that even to secure 21 rupees for secondary school admission became a big challenge. We had to borrow from a lady, who was a housemaid in Chaupati in Mumbai. That was the tough life I had.
In fact, I remember, my passing the SSC Examination-i.e. 11th standard. Those days it used to be not 10th standard or 12th standard but 11th standard. I stood 11th among 1,35,000 but I was about to leave higher education and find a job. What helped me was the scholarship by Sir Dorab Tata Trust. It was just 60 rupees per month and would you believe that 60 rupees per month from Tatas added so much value to my life that I have been able to stand here today before you to speak to you.
I am on the Board of Tatas now and it is very interesting that the same Bombay House where I used to go to collect that 60 rupees per month now one goes and sits there like a Director on the Board of Tata Motors. The turn that these 40 years have taken is very interesting. It has all been possible because of the chance I got to do higher studies at the insistence of my mother. She gave me the values of my life. She was one of the noblest parents I have met in my life.
So, my greatest guru was my mother. My second guru was Principal Bhave, about whom I made a mention earlier. He taught us Physics. Because it was a poor school, I remember, it had to innovate to convey to the young students the message of Science.
A2 Complete:
Complete the following sentences and write:
(i) Mashelkar was inspired by his greatest guru _______
(ii) Mashelkar studied under _______
(iii) Principal Bhave taught _______
(iv) The scholarship by _______ Trust helped him in higher education.
A3 Find the meaning:
Choose the appropriate meaning of the underlined words from the given alternatives:
(i) We moved to Mumbai and my mother did menial work.
(a) skilled
(b) hard
(c) unskilled
(d) of low status
(ii) Because it was a poor school, it had to innovate to convey to the young students the message of science.
(a) do a cheap experiment
(b) introduce new things
(c) avoid
(d) try hard
(iii) I got to do higher studies at the insistence of my mother.
(a) firm saying
(b) being inspired
(c) being inspected
(d) being instigated
(iv) That was the tough life I had.
(a) difficult
(b) soft
(c) cheap
(d) simple
A4 Match:
Match the following sentences with their tags:
| 'A' | 'B' | ||
| (i) | I stood 11th among 1,35,000 |
(a) | aren’t I? |
| (ii) | I am on the Board of Tatas | (b) | didn’t we? |
| (iii) | It was a poor school | (c) | didn’t I? |
| (iv) | We moved to Mumbai | (d) | wasn’t it? |
A5 Personal Response:
“Mother is the greatest Guru.” Discuss.
Read the following extract and do the given activities:
B.1) Fill in the Balloons with suitable ideas from the poem:
“Oh, the value of the elderly! How could anyone not know?
They hold so many keys, so many things they can show.
We all will read the other side this I firmly believe
And the elderly are closest oh what clues we could retrieve.
For their characters are closest to how we’ll be on high.
They are the ones most developed, you can see it if you try.
They’ve let go of the frivolous and kept things that are dear
The memories of so sweet, of loved ones that were near.
As a nation, we are missing our greatest true resource,
To get to know our elders and let them guide our course.”
B.2) Find Evidence:
Pick out the line from the extract which supports the given ideas:
(i) The elders have many things to share.
(ii) Everybody knows the value of elderly people.
(iii) The elderly people have vast experience.
(iv) The elderly people are a boon to the nation.
B.3) Write a pair from the extract that rhymes with the given word:
| Fear | ........................... | .......................... |
Notice these expression in the text. Infer their meaning from the context.
careered down
How do you distinguish between information gathering and insight formation?
Discuss in pairs or groups of four.
Replacing old machines with new is better than getting them repaired.
How does 'A Kondh Song' substantiate the tribal urge to gain domination over time by conversing with their dead ancestors?
What, according to Ruskin, are the limitations of the good book of the hour?
What, according to the poet, are human beings out of tune with?
Using a dictionary/internet note down the main difference between our strengths and our achievements.
Find proof from the poem for the following.
The struggle of the cherry tree for survival.
Read the poem and complete the web about the activities the planners do.

Read the first and second stanza of the poem. We understand that the poet wants to suggest the powerful dominance of the planners who shape the town according to their selfish desires. Make a list of such expressions. You may begin with -
- All the spaces are gridded, filled with permutations of possibilities.
- ________________________________
- ________________________________
- ________________________________
The drone is given a death sentence because he ______.
The word 'Review' is different from summarizing and appeal writing. Choose the correct statements of the following.
Comment on the given statement after reading the given dialogue -
I wouldn’t be in your shoes if he rewards me ten times as much. People generally fall victim to incentives. Some people stick to values. They _________________.
“A Midsummer-Night’s Dream” is one of the best examples of Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors. Comment.
Discuss the following questions after you have seen a presentation of the ‘ad’.
Can you become fair in five days? How long will the effect of the cream last?
Discuss and write 1-2 lines about the following,
Yonamine’s ideas about marriage.
Form pairs. Complete the following table through discussions.
| Occupation | Necessary Qualities | Reasons |
| Student | ||
| Teacher | ||
| Housewife | ||
| Sportsman | ||
| Artist | ||
| Singer | ||
| Author | ||
| Umpire | ||
| Actor | ||
| Scientist |
Put the following events in chronological order.
- The sword in the stone appeared in the churchyard.
- Lord Uther died.
- Lord Uther drove the barbarians away.
- The Lords and knights began to fight for the kingdom.
- Sir Kay left his sword behind at home.
- Merlin announced that Arthur was the son of Lord Uther.
- Arthur brought the sword from the churchyard.
- Ancient Britain was invaded by wild barbarians.
- Many knights tried to pull the sword out of the stone.
- Arthur grew up in Sir Ector’s house.
- Merlin entrusted a baby to Sir Ector.
Prepare similar word chains using the following ideas.
sunshine - warm ________________.
Pick out Archaic words from the poem and give their modern equivalents.
| Archaic Words | Modern Equivalents | |
| (a) | ||
| (b) | ||
| (c) | ||
| (d) | ||
| (e) |
List 5 of the sounds that you like.
Guess the meaning of the following word.
fruitless
When do the parents feel sorry and become unhappy?
List all the pairs of antonyms you find in the passage.
Find out the difference between the fingerspelling method, sign language and Braille.
Why had Prospero raised a violent storm in the sea?
Why did Herman and the author slam the doors?
What happened when Somu left Zigzag with the Krishnans?
The parents noticed some changes in the child. What were they?
Teachers help me to learn ______ things.
- new
- bad
- difficult
Pick out the rhyming words from the first stanza of the poem.
Why can’t Alice get through the little door into the garden?
Look at the number pattern. Fill the blank in the middle of the series or end of the series.
ELFA, GLHA, ILJA, ______, MLNA
What are the characteristics of a courageous man?
Why did Muthu and his friends step out of the train?
Name the tools the farmer brought out. What did he do with them?
Work in groups. Discuss and have a debate on life in bustling cities and life in calm towns.
Try your own.

What happened to Dr. Karmugilan in the story?
Read scene I of the play carefully and answer the question below.
Whom does Mother Wolf talk about? How does she describe him?
What does a DIY kid refer to?
Why do we discover a mystery?
_______ is our culture.
What was the age of Robinson Crusoe when he left for sea?
Choose the champion of the year.
______always stays to the last in our needs.
Teddy took his pillow as a sign of ______ them.
Moles trap worms and store them.
Where did the tanker man take the water from the village?
Ani valued honesty.
Choose the word with same meaning.
Foot hills- ______
What was different about the rabbit that Alice saw?
Who said – “Oh, my ears and whiskers? How late it’s getting!”
What did he make out of it?
Now, read the following biographical extract on Sujatha Rangarajan, a Sciencefiction writer, and answer the questions that follow.
- Sujatha is the allonym of the Tamil author S. Rangarajan and it is this name that is recognised at once by the Tamil SciFi reading community. You might have seen the Tamil movie ‘Endiran’ where the robot Chitti exhibits extraordinary talents in an incredible manner. The robot could excel a human being in any act, beyond one’s imagination. Jeeno, a robotic dog which appeared in Sujatha’s science fiction novel “En Iniya Iyandhira” (My Dear Robot) formed the basis of Chitti’s character. Like Chitti, Jeeno was an allrounder who could cook, clean and fight. High-tech computer technology terms are used in the story. Jeeno, a pet robot, plays an important role throughout the story. As the story proceeds, it behaves and starts to think on its own like a human and instructs Nila, a human being, on how to proceed further in her crises.
- In the preface of ‘En Iniya Iyandhira’, the writer states the reason for his attraction to the genre: “Science gives us the wonderful freedom to analyse thousands and thousands of alternative possibilities. While using it, and while playing with its new games, a writer needs to be cautious only about one thing. The story should draw some parallels or association from the emotions and desires of the present humankind. Only then it becomes interesting. Jeeno, the robot dog, was intelligent. But the character became popular only because of the robot’s frequently displayed human tendencies.” It is no wonder that all his works echo these words and will remain etched in the minds of the readers who enjoy reading his novels to have a wonderful lifetime experience.
- It was Sujatha, who set the trend for sci-fi stories. He had tracked the origin from Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein to his short stories. He has written 50 sci-fi short stories and these were published in various Tamil magazines. His stories have inspired many readers to extend their reading to English sci-fi writers like Isaac Asimov. The themes were bold, even if there was a dependence on a very well-established characterization of English fiction. Sujatha opened up a new world to us with his writings on holograms, computers and works like ‘En Iniya Iyanthira’ inspire many to study computer science.
- He has been one of the greatest writers for more than four decades. He combined reasoning and science in his writings. Being a multifaceted hi-fi and sci-fi humanistic author, he expressed his views distinctively. He was the one who took Tamil novels to the next level. As an MIT alumnus and an engineer at BHEL, he was very good at technology. He could narrate sci-fi stories impressively. His readers always enjoyed reading all his detective and sci-fi novels which featured the most famous duo ‘Ganesh’ and ‘Vasanth’.
- Sujatha has played a crucial role as a playwright for various Tamil movies which have fascinated movie lovers. Hence, it is fathomable that the writer’s perspective of future India enthuses every reader and paves a new way to reading sci-fi stories in English.
A. Answer the following questions in a sentence or two.
- How was Jeeno different from other robots?
- What precaution should one take while writing Science fiction stories?
- What inspired Sujatha’s themes?
- Why were Sujatha’s sci-fi stories impressive?
B. Find words from the passage which mean the same as the following.
- difficult to believe (para 1)
- a style or category of art, music or literature (para 2)
- having many sides (para 4)
- capable of being understood (para 5)
On the basis of your understanding of the given passage, make notes in any appropriate format.
The Sherpas were nomadic people who first migrated from Tibet approximately 600 years ago, through the Nangpa La pass and settled in the Solukhumbu District, Nepal. These nomadic people then gradually moved westward along salt trade routes. During 14th century, Sherpa ancestors migrated from Kham. The group of people from the Kham region, east of Tibet, was called “Shyar Khamba”. The inhabitants of Shyar Khamba, were called Sherpa. Sherpa migrants travelled through Ü and Tsang, before crossing the Himalayas. According to Sherpa oral history, four groups migrated out of Solukhumbu at different times, giving rise to the four fundamental Sherpa clans: Minyagpa, Thimmi, Sertawa and Chawa. These four groups have since split into the more than 20 different clans that exist today
Sherpas had little contact with the world beyond the mountains and they spoke their own language. AngDawa, a 76-year-old former mountaineer recalled “My first expedition was to Makalu [the world’s fifth highest mountain] with Sir Edmund Hillary’’. We were not allowed to go to the top. We wore leather boots that got really heavy when wet, and we only got a little salary, but we danced the Sherpa dance, and we were able to buy firewood and make campfires, and we spent a lot of the time dancing and singing and drinking. Today Sherpas get good pay and good equipment, but they don’t have good entertainment. My one regret is that I never got to the top of Everest. I got to the South Summit, but I never got a chance to go for the top.
The transformation began when the Sherpa Tenzing Norgay and the New Zealander Edmund Hillary scaled Everest in 1953. Edmund Hillary took efforts to build schools and health clinics to raise the living standards of the Sherpas. Thus life in Khumbu improved due to the efforts taken by Edmund Hillary and hence he was known as ‘Sherpa King’.
Sherpas working on the Everest generally tend to perish one by one, casualties of crevasse falls, avalanches, and altitude sickness. Some have simply disappeared on the mountain, never to be seen again. Apart from the bad seasons in 1922, 1970 and 2014 they do not die en masse. Sherpas carry the heaviest loads and pay the highest prices on the world’s tallest mountain. In some ways, Sherpas have benefited from the commercialization of the Everest more than any group, earning income from thousands of climbers and trekkers drawn to the mountain. While interest in climbing Everest grew gradually over the decades after the first ascent, it wasn’t until the 1990s that the economic motives of commercial guiding on Everest began. This leads to eclipse the amateur impetus of traditional mountaineering. Climbers looked after each other for the love of adventure and “the brotherhood of the rope” now are tending to mountain businesses. Sherpas have taken up jobs as guides to look after clients for a salary. Commercial guiding agencies promised any reasonably fit person a shot at Everest.
