English
Tamil Nadu Board of Secondary EducationHSC Science Class 12

Discuss how the essay reveals the factual points and the author’s personal opinions on the preparation of tea.

Advertisements
Advertisements

Question

What are the aspects that contribute to humor in the essay?

Answer in Brief
Advertisements

Solution

The author claims the best manner of making tea is the subject matter of violent disputes. He compliments china tea for being economical but also says one does not feel rejuvenated after drinking it. One doesn’t feel braver, wiser, more optimistic, or stimulated after drinking Chinese tea. He says army tea tastes grease and whitewash. In Britain, there are two schools of thought (i.e.) milk first school and tea first school (i.e.) one school claiming that milk must be poured first and tea added later and another school claiming that tea must be poured first and milk to be added next.

He says those who take tea with sugar for its sweetness alone as misguided people. He says that they could very well add salt and pepper to tea and drink it. He claims that there is some mysterious social etiquette surrounding teapot. It is vulgar to drink tea out of one’s saucer. There are some subsidiary uses of tea leaves such as telling fortunes, predicting the arrival of visitors, feeding rabbits, healing bums, and sweeping the carpet.

shaalaa.com
Prose (Class 12th)
  Is there an error in this question or solution?
Chapter 2.1: A Nice Cup of Tea - Exercise [Page 38]

APPEARS IN

Samacheer Kalvi English Class 12 TN Board
Chapter 2.1 A Nice Cup of Tea
Exercise | Q 3. c) | Page 38

RELATED QUESTIONS

The boys did not spend much on clothes and food. Why?


Were the boys saving money to go to the States? How do you know?


What was Lucia suffering from?


How did the narrator help the boys on Sunday?


Describe the girl with whom the boys were talking to in the cubicle.


Justify the title of the story ‘Two Gentlemen of Verona’


What seems ‘curious’ to the author?


Why does the author say that it is important to include a tea recipe in cookery books?


According to the author, what does the phrase ‘a nice cup of tea’ refer to?


What is the second golden rule in the preparation of tea?


What should be poured into the cup first–tea or milk?


Whom does the author call ‘misguided people’? What is his advice to them?


Elucidate the author’s ideas about teapots.


What was the profound lesson that Dr. Barnard learnt from the boys?


Why does Dr. Barnard describe the blind boy as a ‘walking horror’?


How did a casual incident in a hospital help Dr. Barnard perceive a new dimension of life?


Life is unjust and cruel to certain people. Do they all resign themselves to their fate? Can you think of some who have fought their disabilities heroically and remained a stellar example for others? (for e.g. the astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, a paraplegic). Give an account of one such person and his/her struggle to live a fruitful life.


Tick the qualities that are required to achieve such a feat.

passion reward determination physical
fame faith courage money
drive vengeance inspiration self-satisfaction
vision undying spirit inner-urge perseverance

What did Hillary do with his wet boots?


Why was the original zest fading away?


What did the photograph portray?


Describe the stool that the narrator’s family had.


What was grandmother’s suggestion of wood? Why?


Why did Maamanaar hand over the chair to the villagers to retain it?


Why did the lady think she was entitled to walk down the middle of the road?


Define ‘liberty’ as perceived by the author.


Para 4

Tenzing kicked steps in a long
traverse back towards the ridge, and we
reached its crest where it forms a great
snow bump at about 28000 feet. From
here the ridge narrowed to a knife-edge
and, as my feet were now warm, I took
over the lead.

Para 5

The soft snow made a route on top
of the ridge both difficult and dangerous,
which sometimes held my weight but often
gave way suddenly. After several hundred
feet, we came to a tiny hollow and found
there the two oxygen bottles left on the
an earlier attempt by Evans and Bourdillon.
I scraped the ice off the gauges and was
relieved to find that they still contained
several hundred liters of oxygen-enough
to get us down to the South Col if used sparingly

Para 6

I continued making the trail on up
the ridge, leading up for the last 400 feet
to the southern summit. The snow on this
the face was dangerous, but we persisted in
our efforts to beat a trail up it.
We made frequent changes of
lead. As I was stamping a trail in the deep
snow, a section around me gave way and

Para 7

I slipped back through three or four of
my steps. I discussed with Tenzing the
the advisability of going on, and he, although
admitting that he felt unhappy about the
snow conditions, and finished with his
the familiar phrase “Just as you wish”.

Para 8

I decided to go on, and we finally
reached firmer snow higher up, and then
chipped steps up the last steep slopes and
crampon onto the South Peak. It was now 9 a.m.

Give an account of the journey to the South Col from 28,000 feet. (Para 4 to 8)


Para 19

neighbour Makalu, unexplored and
unclimbed. Far away across the clouds,
the great bulk of Kanchenjunga loomed
on the horizon. To the west, we could
see the great unexplored ranges of Nepal
stretching off into the distance.

Para 20

The most important photograph,
I felt, was a shot down the North Ridge,
showing the North Col and the old route
which had been made famous by the
struggles of those great climbers of the
1920’s and 1930’s. After ten minutes,
I realized that I was becoming rather
clumsy-fingered and slow-moving. So I
quickly replaced my oxygen set

Describe the view from the top. What was the most important photograph? (Para 19 and 20)


Solve the clues given below and complete the cross word

Across Down
1.You can watch programmes, matches and news on it 1. You can sit around it
4. You can lie on this and sleep 2. You can put flowers in this
6.You can sit on this and relax by yourself 3. You can sit on this with two other people comfortably
11.You can store all your books here 5. You can do your writing work on this
12.This can give you light when it is dark 7. This can cover a small space and decorate the floor
 

8. You can put all your clothes in here

 

 

9. You can look into this to see yourself

 

10. You can sit on this, it has 3 legs.


Share
Notifications

Englishहिंदीमराठी


      Forgot password?
Use app×