CBSE solutions for इंग्लिश मैन कोर्स कक्षा ९ chapter C - Can You Know People You Haven't Met [Latest edition]

Is it possible to make accurate guesses about the people you have never met? Read the poem, to see how conclusions can be drawn about people. 

Abandoned Farmhouse 
He was a big man, says the size of his shoes On a pile of broken dishes by the house; A tall man too, says the length of the bed In an upstairs room; and a good, God-fearing man, Says the Bible with a broken back On the floor below a window, bright with sun; But not a man for farming, say the fields Cluttered with boulders and a leaky barn. 
A woman lived with him, says the bedroom wall Papered with lilacs and the kitchen shelves Covered with oilcloth, and they had a child Says the sandbox made from a tractor tyre. Money was scarce, say the jars of plum preserves And canned tomatoes sealed in the cellar-hole, And the winters cold, say the rags in the window frames. It was lonely here, says the narrow country road. 
Something went wrong, says the empty house In the weed-choked yard. Stones in the fields Say he was not a farmer; the still-sealed jars In the cellar say she left in a nervous haste. And the child? Its toys are strewn in the yard Like branches after a storm - a rubber cow, a rusty tractor and a broken plow, a doll in overalls. Something went wrong, they say. Ted Kooser 

Based on your reading of the given extract, answer the questions that follow by selecting the correct option.

1. Select the most suitable option that fills the blank.

The lines of the extract_________.

1. introduce us to the farm family.
2. introduce us to the farmer.
3. explain what happened to the family.
4. explain the reality of failure.

2. The expression “the Bible with a broken back” implies that the man ______.

1. was careless with his possessions.
2. looked for comfort and answers to his troubles in the Bible.
3. enjoyed reading articles.
4. disliked his Bible and thereby, his faith.

3. Choose the option in which the blank CANNOT include the word ‘cluttered’.

1. The house where Dolly lives is ______ with years of accumulated junk.
2. Inspection sites are dirty and ______ with tools, materials, or debris.
3. My desk gets very ______ if I don’t clear it at the end of each day.
4. Local residents have ______ up protest against the planned dumpsite.

4. Choose the option that correctly completes the given literary devices.

Bible with a broken back: ______ : : ______ : personification

1. Alliteration; says the length of the bed
2. Alliteration; good, God-fearing man
3. Personification; God-fearing man
4. Personification; bright with sun

The poet has chosen specific details such as ‘still-sealed jars’, ‘left in a nervous haste’, ‘toys strewn’ in the last stanza. The impact of these words is that they ______.

The first two stanzas have a certain similarity because both focus on the ______.

The usage of the words “weed-choked farm” suggest that ______.

How does the poet’s use of personification of objects bring the people of the house to life?

Comment on the overall tone of the poem.

With proper reference, speculate the problems the woman must have faced in the house.

Why do you think the farmer left the Bible behind if he was a God-fearing man?

Imagine that a Social Worker comes to the abandoned farmhouse to find out what may have happened to the family. She makes the following observations in her note-pad:

On the basis of these notes, the Social Worker wants to present the facts to her Head of Department. Write the report in 120-150 words.

You may begin like this:

When I reached the farmhouse, I saw that the house was empty. I.......

The poet draws conclusions about the family without having met them. He does this in lines such as : 

Something went wrong, says the empty house 
in the weed-choked yard ... 
This is a style of English that is very suitable for a poem. But in ordinary speech or writing we use expressions such as : 

For example, we could say : 
• There are large shoes in the farmhouse. So it is likely that the farmer was a big man. 
• It seems that they had a child, because there is a sandbox made from a tractor tyre. 
• The kitchen shelves were covered with oil cloth. This suggests that a woman lived in the farmhouse. 
Make other sentences like this, using ideas from the poem. 

When we write informal letters (to a friend, or to a member of our family), we use this layout.

Amit from Hyderabad has got admission in a college at Bengaluru. He has to share his room with another boy. When he arrives at the hostel he learns that his room mate has gone home for a few days. Based on his observations of the room, Amit writes a letter to his friend, Sumit, about his new room mate. (You may use some of the expressions suggested in C.3.) As Amit, write the letter. 
In your writing, remember to follow CODER