Advertisements
Advertisements
Question
Bill Bryson “ached to be suave”. Is he successful in his mission? List his ‘unsuave’ ways.
Advertisements
Solution
No, Bill could never manage to be suave in his ways. He would rise from a dinner table without looking as if he had just experienced “an extremely localized seismic event”. He would get in a car and close the door leaving fourteen inches of coat outside. He would wear light-coloured trousers discovering at the end of the day that he had at various times sat on chewing gum, ice cream, cough syrup and motor oil. He tried to be suave, but it was not to be.
APPEARS IN
RELATED QUESTIONS
Use suitable words or phrases from Column A above to complete the paragraph given below.
A Traffic Jam
During power cuts, when traffic lights go off, there is utter ____ at crossroads. Drivers add
to the confusion by ____ over their right of way, and nearly come to blows. Sometimes
passers-by, seeing a few policemen ____ at regulating traffic, step in to help. This gives
them a feeling of having ____ something.
Thinking about the Poem
What does the poet say the wind god winnows?
When we meet people, we notice their faces more than anything else. The box below contains words which describe the features of a face. Work in pairs and list them under the appropriate headings, then add more words of your own.
| twinkling | shifty | discoloured | short | oval |
| pear-shaped | large | close-cropped | broken | long |
| protruding | gapped | thick | pointed | wide |
| fair | thin | pale | swarthy | staring |
| square | round | untidy | close-set | neat |
| wavy | upturned |
| Shape of face | Complexion | Eyes | Hair | Nose | Lips | Teeth |
"Now tell us what 'twas all about,"
Young Peterkin, he cries;
And little wilhelmine looks up
with wonder-waiting eyes;
"Now tell us all about the war,
And what they fought each other for."
"It was the English," Kaspar cried,
"Who put the French to rout;
But what they fought each other for,
I could not well make out;
But everybody said,"quoth he,
"That 'twas a famous victory.
Read the lines given above and answer the question that follow.
Why does Kasper repeat the line ‘twas a great victory?
He looked at me very blankly and tiredly, and then said, having to share his worry with someone, “The cat will be all right, I am sure. There is no need to be unquiet about the cat. But the others. Now what do you think about the others?”
“Why they’ll probably come through it all right.”
“You think so?”
“Why not,” I said, watching the far bank where now there were no carts.
“But what will they do under the artillery when I was told to leave because of the artillery?”
“Did you leave the dove cage unlocked?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“Then they’ll fly.”
“Yes, certainly they’ll fly. But the others. It’s better not to think about the others,” he said.
Read the extract given below and answer the question that follow.
What does the old man worry about? Why?
Then, trying to hide my nervousness, I added, “How are you?”
“I’m fine. The question is: How are you?“
“What do you mean?” 1 asked “Something must be eating you,” he said—proud the way foreigners are when they’ve mastered a bit of American slang. “You should be able to qualify with your eyes closed.”
“Believe me, I know it,” I told him—and it felt good to say that to someone.
For the next few minutes we talked together. I didn’t tell Long what was “eating” me, but he seemed to understand my anger, and he took pains to reassure me. Although he’d been schooled in the Nazi youth movement, he didn’t believe in the Aryan-supremacy business any more than I did. We laughed over the fact that he really looked the part, though. An inch taller than I, he had a lean, muscular frame, clear blue eyes, blond hair and a strikingly handsome, chiseled face. Finally, seeing that I had calmed down somewhat, he pointed to the take-off board.
“Look,” he said. “Why don’t you draw a line a few inches in back of the board and aim at making your take-off from there? You’ll be sure not to foul, and you certainly ought to jump far enough to qualify. What does it matter if you’re not first in the trials? Tomorrow is what counts.”
Read the extract given below and answer the question that follow.
Why did Jesse Owens foul the first two jumps in the trial?
So after that, dimly, dimly, she sensed it, she was different and they knew her difference and kept away. There was talk that her father and mother were taking her back to Earth next year; it seemed vital to her that they do so, though it would mean the loss of thousands of dollars to her family. And so, the children hated her for all these reasons of big and little consequence. They hated her pale snow face, her waiting silence, her thinness, and her possible future. “Get away 1” The boy gave her another push. “What’re you waiting for?”Then, for the first time, she turned and looked at him. And what she was waiting for was in her eyes. “Well, don’t wait around here !” cried the boy savagely. “You won’t see nothing!” Her lips moved. “Nothing 1” he cried. “It was all a joke, wasn’t it?” He turned to the other children. “Nothing’s happening today. Is it ?”
Read the extract given below and answer the question that follow.
What was Margot waiting for? Why did William say it was a joke?
Find in the poem an antonym (a word opposite in meaning)of the following word.
sober
Describe Ravi’s character in the story.
Give some examples of fuel.
State two changes that were seen in the game of cricket around 1780.
Where and by which community cricket was initially played in India?
How did Ray tackle the evil-minded shoppers?
Why was the crocodile’s wife annoyed with her husband one day?
Multiple Choice Question:
The kite rides over _____________
Complete the following sentences from memory choosing a phrase from those given in brackets.
The owner of the Lucky Shop wanted everybody present ____________
Discuss the posture of the squirrel as discussed in line 3 of the poem.
Comment on the speaker’s resolve to go inside the shed.
Read the lines given below and answer the following question:
| Sophocles long ago Heard it on the Agean… |
What did he hear on the Agean?
"The quality of mercy is not stained." Who say this to whom?
