Question

Answer any four of the following questions in 30-40 words each:

(a) What did Franz wonder about when he entered the class that day?
(b) What shocking experience did Douglas have at YMCA pool?
(c) Why does Kamala Das compare her mother to 'a pale winter's moon'?
(d) What rich bountry has the heaven given us? (A Thing of Beauty)
(e) Why did the Maharaja have to pay a bill of three lakh rupees to the British jewellers?
(f) What problem did Roger Skunk face when he went to play with his friends. How did he solve it?

Answer 1

(a) That day when Franz entered class, he wondered something was not correct about the day. He feared some bad news was waiting for him. He had all these thoughts because there was no usual hustle-bustle of the classroom which could be heard out in the street (the opening and closing of the desks, repetition of lessons in unison very loud ,the teachers great ruler rapping on the table). The teacher was wearing his beautiful green coat, his frilled shirt and his little black silk cap all embroidered, and on the back benches of the classroom, the villagers were sitting like students.

b) Douglas refers to the incident at the Y.M.C.A. swimming pool where he almost drowned as a “misadventure.” The author was about ten or eleven years old at the time and had barely begun to learn swimming, primarily by aping others. As he was thrown suddenly into the water by someone and he couldn’t swim, he started drowning. The struggle to come to surface and to avoid getting drowned left him with a deep fear of water which deprived him from enjoying water-related activities for many years.

c) With the growing age, the poet’s mother has started losing all her vitality and radiance. The poet uses the simile of ‘late winter’s moon’ for her mother to indicate her approaching death. Winter, being the last season of the year, is synonymous with lifelessness and dormancy. Also, a winter’s moon is pale-white in colour bearing close resemblance with her mother who, having lost all her strength and beauty, looks ’wan’ and ‘pale’ to the poet. Her mother, too, is in the last phase of her life.

d) The above line is taken from the poem "A Thing Of Beauty" written by John Keats. Through the poem Keats reveals to the readers the immortality of the nature. Beauty of nature is boundless and know no limits. Heaven which is known to be the most beautiful paradise, is the bounty of the earth. The bounty of the earth is like an endless fountain that pours the beauty of nature over the mankind. This beauty is called the heaven's immortal drink that constantly pours into our hearts and moves away the "pall" from our "dark spirits". The peace we derive from this immortal drink is also eternal as it washes away the malice from the soul and refreshens it with love and kindness.

e) The Maharaja had not allowed the British officer to hunt tigers in kingdom and so there was fear of losing his own kingdom to the British. So, the King thought of a plan to lure the officer and his wife by extending some really expensive gift. So he oredered few rings worth three lakh of rupees from a jeweller and sent them to duraisani. The bill raised was the price of those rings.

f) Roger Skunk had a problem, he smelled foul. It was because of his stink, nobody mingled with him. Even his friend avoided him. They did not play with him. For this reason Roger used to remain disturbed. He cried for this.
To find a solution to his problem he went to the wise owl, who suggested him to meet the wizard. He went to meet the wizard. The wizard helped him to get rid of the foul smell by some spell. After the magic charm he was smelling like roses. The wizard asked for seven pennies for his work. However, Roger had only four pennies.