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Question
Answer the following question in not more than 100 − 150 words.
“To hear any flute is to be drawn into the commonality of all mankind.” Why does the
author say this?
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Solution
The author considers flute music to be “the most universal and most particular” of all music. This is a musical instrument that is common to all cultures. We have the reed neh, the recorder, the Japanese shakuhachi, the deep bansuri of Hindustani classical music, the clear or breathy flutes of South America, the high-pitched Chinese flutes, etc. Even though each of these has its specific fingering and compass yet, for the author, to hear any flute is “to be drawn into the commonality of all mankind”. This is because in spite of their differences, every flute produces music with the help of the human breath. Similarly, despite the differences in caste, culture, religion, region, all human beings are the same, with the same living breath running through all of them.
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RELATED QUESTIONS
Answer of these question in two or three paragraphs (100 –150 words).
Do you agree with Margie that schools today are more fun than the school in the story?
Give reasons for your answer.
Thinking about the Poem
How many common features can you find in stanza 2? Pick out the words.
We notice lots of details about people and their appearance, but in order to
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Working in pairs, look carefully at the people around you and complete the
table with appropriate words from the box given on the next page. You may
add words of your own to describe people.
| angular | close-cropped | well-tailored | well-tailored casual | stocky |
| elegant | unshaven | ill-fitting | formal | lanky |
| bearded | sloppy | medium | petite | hefty |
| balding | slim | plaited | thick | round |
| open | friendly | wavy | long | receding |
| over weight | sharp-featured |
| A | B | C | D | |
| Face | ||||
| Hair | ||||
| Dress | ||||
| Build |
Form pairs - one student will read the text for 'Hockey', and the second student will read the text for 'Football'.
Hockey
The game starts when the umpire blows his whistle for the opening pass-back. The passback is made at the centre of the field to start the game (also after half- time and after each goal is scored). The ball, which may be pushed or hit, must not be directed over the centre line. All players of the opposing team must stand at least 5 yard from the ball and all players of both teams, other than the player making the pass-back must be in their own half of the field.
There are two umpires to control the game and to administer the rules. These umpires are the sole judges of the game. The umpires are responsible for keeping time for the duration of the game.
In front of each goal is an area known as the penalty area. This is a rectangular area, 40.2m wide and extending 16. Sm into the field where the goalkeeper operates.
A standard adult football match consists of two periods of 45 minutes each, known as halves. Each half runs continuously, meaning that the clock is not stopped when the ball is out of play. There is usually a 15-minute half-time break between halves. The end of the match is known as full-time. Anytime during the match, a team can substitute upto three players maximum.
The game is controlled by a referee who is the official timekeeper for the match, and may make an allowance for time lost through substitutions, injured players requiring attention, or other stoppages. There are also two linesmen who keep guard of the touchlines or sidelines, signalling when the ball crosses the boundary lines. The referee alone signals the end of the match.
Handling the ball deliberately, pushing or tripping an opponent, or hitting a player from behind are examples of fouls, punishable by a direct free kick or penalty kick depending on where the offence occurred. Other fouls are punishable by an indirect free kick.
The referee may punish a player's or substitute's misconduct by a caution (yellow card) or sending-off (red card). A player is given a yellow card is said to have been 'booked'.
• Red - Serious misconduct resulting in ejection from the game. If a player has been sent off, no substitute can be brought in his place.
It was a summer evening,
Old Kaspar's work was done,
And he before his cottage door
Was sitting in the sun,
And by him sported on the green
His little grandchild Wilhelmine.
She saw her brother Peterkin
Roll something large and round,
Which he beside the rivulet
In playing there had found;
He came to ask what he had found,
That was so large, and smooth, and round.
Read the lines given above and answer the question that follow.
Who was playing on the grass near Kasper?
There was a time when our people covered the land as the waves of a wind-ruffled sea cover its shell-paved floor, but that time long since passed away with the greatness of tribes that are now but a mournful memory. 1 will not dwell on, nor mourn over, our untimely decay, nor reproach my paleface brothers with hastening it, as we too may have been somewhat to blame.
Youth is impulsive. When our young men grow angry at some real or imaginary wrong, and disfigure their faces with black paint, it denotes that their hearts are black, and that they are often cruel and relentless, and our old men and old women are unable to restrain them. Thus it has ever been. Thus it was when the white man began to push our forefathers ever westward. But let us hope that the hostilities between us may never return. We would have everything to lose and nothing to gain. Revenge by young men is considered gain, even at the cost of their own lives, but old men who stay at home in times of war, and mothers who have sons to lose, know better.
Read the extract given below and answer the question that follow.
What happened when the tribal young man became angry?
It was my business to cross the bridge, explore the bridge head 3 beyond and find out to what point the enemy had advanced. I did this and returned over the bridge. There were not so many carts now and very few people on foot, but the old man was still there.’’Where do you come from?” I asked him.
“From San Carlos,” he said, and smiled.
That was his native town and so it gave him pleasure to mention it and he smiled.
“I was taking care of animals,” he explained.
“Oh,” I said, not quite understanding.
“Yes,” he said, “I stayed, you see, taking care of animals. I was the last one to leave the town of San Carlos.”
He did not look like a shepherd nor a herdsman and I looked at his black dusty clothes and his gray dusty face and his steel rimmed spectacles and said, “What animals were they?”
“Various animals,” he said, and shook his head. “I had to leave them.”
Read the extract given below and answer the question that follow.
What did the narrator see on the bridge when he returned?
Sibia sprang.
From boulder to boulder she came leaping like a rock goat. Sometimes it had seemed difficult to cross these stones, especially the big gap in the middle where the river coursed through like a bulge of glass. But now she came on wings, choosing her footing in midair without even thinking about it, and in one moment she was beside the shrieking woman. In the boiling bloody water, the face of the crocodile, fastened round her leg, was tugging to and fro, and smiling. His eyes rolled on to Sibia. One slap of the tail could kill her. He struck. Up shot the water, twenty feet, and fell like a silver chain. Again! The rock jumped under the blow. But in the daily heroism of the jungle, as common as a thorn tree, Sibia did not hesitate. She aimed at the reptile’s eyes. With all the force of her little body, she drove the hayfork at the eyes, and one prong went in—right in— while its pair scratched past on the horny cheek. The crocodile reared up in convulsion, till half his lizard body was out of the river, the tail and nose nearly meeting over his stony back. Then he crashed back, exploding the water, and in an uproar of bloody foam he disappeared. He would die. Not yet, but presently, though his death would not be known for days; not till his stomach, blown with gas, floated him. Then perhaps he would be found upside down among the logs at the timber boom, with pus in his eye. Sibia got arms round the fainting woman, and somehow dragged her from the water.
Read the extract given below and answer the question that follow.
Describe how Sibia flew to save the woman.
Give an account of the trip to The Victoria am Albert Museum that was planned by Braithwaif, for his class.
Write ‘True’ or ‘False’ against each of the following statements.
(i) Timothy and Grandfather went to Lucknow in a special compartment.
(ii) The compartment in which Grandfather and Timothy travelled had no other passenger.
(iii) Timothy and Grandfather travelled in a first-class compartment.
(vi) All passengers in the compartment thought that Timothy was a well-fed and civilized tiger.
Discuss the following topic in groups.
If you had to live in a home like Tilloo’s, what parts of life would you find most difficult? What compensations might there be?
Why did Akbar ask Tansen to join his court?
Discuss these questions in small groups before you answer them.
When do you think an adult would say this?
No one thinks you are funny.
What made Patrick believe that he was lucky?
Read these lines from the poem:
(i) One thing led to another
(ii) The start of it was slight
(iii) The end of it was strong
(iv) The afternoon turned black
(v) Thumped me on the back
Discuss with your partner what these lines mean.
Put these sentences from the story in the right order and write them out in a paragraph. Don’t
refer to the text.
-
I shall be so glad when today is over.
-
Having a leg tied up and hopping about on a crutch is almost fun, I guess.
-
I don’t think I’ll mind being deaf for a day — at least not much.
-
But being blind is so frightening.
-
Only you must tell me about things.
-
Let’s go for a little walk.
-
The other bad days can’t be half as bad as this.
Why do you think she/he has these worries? Can you think of ways to get rid of such worries?
Multiple Choice Question:
Which of the fears is not applied to the speaker?
Why does the rebel choose to Wear fantastic Clothes?
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
| Portia: Away then! I am lock'd in one of them: If you do love me, you will find me out. Nerissa and the rest, stand all aloof. Let music sound while he doth make his choice; Then, if he lose, he makes a swan-like end, Fading in music: |
- Where does the scene take place?
What does Portia mean when she says, If you do love me, you will find me out? [3] - What TWO words would you use to describe Portia's feelings at this point? Give a reason for your answer. [3]
- Explain Portia’s reference to ‘swan-like end'. [3]
- Later in the scene, Portia gives Bassanio gift.
What does she give him? What does this gift symbolise? [3] - What is the theme of the song sung in the background when Bassanio makes his choice?
How is the theme reflected in the choice he makes?
What does Bassanio find in the casket that he chooses? [4]
