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Question
Discuss the following topic in groups.
Retell an episode in the story which is a good example of irony in a situation.
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Solution
Soapy was keen to be sent to prison for the three cold months. He made several attempts to get arrested. But none of his plans worked. Finally, when he decided to live a decent life honestly, he was arrested. Such an episode is ironical.
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RELATED QUESTIONS
Thinking about the poem
Is there any difference between the two roads as the poet describes them
(i) in stanzas two and three?
(ii) in the last two lines of the poem?
An old man with steel rimmed spectacles and very dusty clothes sat by the side of the road. There was a pontoon bridge across the river and carts, trucks, and men, women and children were crossing it. The mule-drawn carts staggered up the steep bank from the bridge with soldiers helping push against the spokes of the wheels. The trucks ground up and away heading out of it all and the peasants plodded along in the ankle deep dust. But the old man sat there without moving. He was too tired to go any farther.
Read the extract given below and answer the question that follow.
What does the reference to the old man in the beginning and the end of the passage indicate?
Easton, with a little laugh, as if amused, was about to speak again when the other forestalled him. The glum-faced man had been watching the girl’s countenance with veiled glances from his keen, shrewd eyes.
“You’ll excuse me for speaking, miss, but, I see you’re acquainted with the marshall here. If you’ll ask him to speak a word for me when we get to the pen he’ll do it, and it’ll make things easier for me there. He’s taking me to Leavenworth prison. It’s seven years for counterfeiting.”
“Oh!” said the girl, with a deep breath and returning color. “So that is what you are doing out here? A marshal!”
“My dear Miss Fairchild,” said Easton, calmly, “I had to do something. Money has a way of taking wings unto itself, and you know it takes money to keep step with our crowd in Washington. I saw this opening in the West, and—well, a marshalship isn’t quite as high a position as that of ambassador, but—”
Read the extract given below and answer the question that follow.
How did the young woman react when she saw the handcuffs on her friend’s wrist?
As it turned out, Luz broke his own past record. In doing so, he pushed me on to a peak performance. I remember that at the instant I landed from my final jump—the one which set the Olympic record of 26 feet 5-5/16 inches—he was at my side, congratulating me. Despite the fact that Hitler glared at us from the stands not a hundred yards away, Luz shook my hand hard—and it wasn’t a fake “smile with a broken heart” sort of grip, either.
You can melt down all the gold medals and cups I have, and they couldn’t be a plating on the 24-carat friendship I felt for Luz Long at that moment. I realized then, too, that Luz was the epitome of what Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympic Games, must have had in mind when he said, “The important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part. The essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well.”
Read the extract given below and answer the question that follow.
What, according to Coubertin, is the true spirit of the Olympics? Explain the reference to Coubertin.
Who enters soon after? What does he say about the young Venetian who has just arrived? What gifts has the Venetian brought with him?
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
All that year the animals worked like slaves. But they were happy in their work, they grudged no effort or sacrifice, well aware that everything that they did was for the benefit of themselves and those of their kind who would come after ·them and not for a pack of idle thieving human beings. Throughout the spring and summer, they worked a sixty-hour week, and in August ...............
(i) What did Napoleon announce in August?
(ii) How much time had elapsed since the constitution of the Animal Farm? As summer wore on, what unforeseen shortages began to be felt?
(iii) What new policy did Napoleon make? The new • policy brought a vague uneasiness among the animals. What did they recall?
(iv) Who had agreed to act as an intermediary between the Animal Farm and the outside world ' Describe him?
(v) What roused the pride of the animals and made them reconcile to the new arrangement? In the meanwhile, what sudden decision was taken by the pigs? What do we learn about Napoleon at this juncture?
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
Duke: You hear the team’d Bellario, what he writes:
And here, I take it, is the doctor come.
[Enter Portia, dressed like a Doctor of Laws]
Give me your hand. Come you from old Bellario”?
Portia: I did, my lord.
Duke: You are welcome : take your place.
Are you acquainted with the difference
That holds this present question in the court?
(i) Where is this scene set? Why was Portia there?
(ii) What reason had Bellario given for his absence? Whom had he sent in this stead?
(iii) Bellario's letter stated that he had taken some measures to prepare the 'young and learned doctor' to deal with the case. What were they?
(iv) What was the 'difference' between Shylock the Jew and Antonio the merchant that the Duke was unable to resolve?
(v) How does Portia succeed in saving Antonio? What does this reveal of her character?
Read the following sentences.
(a) If she knows we have a cat, Paati will leave the house.
(b) She won’t be so upset if she knows about the poor beggar with sores on his feet
(c) If the chappals do fit, will you really not mind?
Notice that each sentence consists of two parts. The first part begins with ‘if’. It is known as if-clause.
Rewrite each of the following pairs of sentences as a single sentence. Use ‘if’ at the beginning of the sentence
Study regularly. You’ll do well in the examination
"Here comes someone running". Who has been referred to in this sentence?
What do you know about worker ants?
What happens when the adults give too many instructions to their children?
Do you agree with what the poet says? Talk to your partner and complete these sentences.
(i) A house is made of ____________.
(ii) It has ____________.
(iii) A home is made by ____________.
(iv) It has ____________.
Answer the following question:
What abilities must an astronaut have, according to the journalist?
Multiple Choice Question:
What are hymn books”?
Talk to your partner and say whether the following statement is true or false.
No animal can survive without water.
Answer the following question.
“Then the situation changed.” What is being referred to?
Give a synonym for ‘like’ in the context of the poem.
What does this passage say about the speaker?
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
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Ashamanja Babu lived in a small flat in Bhowanipore. A clerk in the registry department of Lajpat Rai Post Office, Ashamanja Babu was fortunate as he could walk to his office in seven minutes flat without having to fight his way into the buses and trains of Calcutta. He lived a rather carefree life as he was not the kind of person to sit and brood about what might have been had fate been kinder to him. On the whole, he was quite content with his lot. Two Hindi films and fish twice a week-these were enough to keep him happy. The only thing that 10 perturbed him at times was his lack of companionship. A bachelor with few friends and relatives, he often wished he had a dog to keep him company. It need not be a huge Alsatian like the one owned by the Talukdars, who lived two houses down the lane; it could be any ordinary little dog which would follow him around·morning and evening, wag its tail when he came home from work and obey his orders faithfully. Ashamanja Babu's secret desires were that he would speak to his dog in English. 'Stand up', 'Sit down', 'Shake hands' - how nice it 20 would be if his dog obeyed such commands! That would make him really happy. On a cloudy day marked by a steady drizzle, Ashamanja Babu went to the market in Hashimara to buy some oranges. At one end of the market, beside a stunted kul tree, sat a man. As their eyes met, the man smiled. Was he a beggar? His clothes made him look like one. Ashamanja Babu noticed at least five sewn-on patches on his trousers and jacket. But the man didn't have a begging bowl. Instead, by his side was a shoe-box with a 30 little pup sticking its head out of it. 'Good morning!' said the man in English. Ashamanja Babu was obliged to return the greeting. 'Buy dog? Dog buy? Very good dog.' The man had taken the pup out of the box and had put it down on the ground. 'Very cheap. Very good. Happy dog.' 'How much? What price?' 'Ten rupees.' A little haggling and the price came down to seven rupees. Ashamanja Babu paid the money, put the pup back in the shoe-box, closed the lid to save it from the drizzle, and turned homewards, forgetting all about the oranges. |
- For each word given below choose the correct meaning (as used in the passage) from the options provided: (2)
- perturbed (line 11)
- frightened
- unsettled
- confused
- mocked
- stunted (line 25)
- prevented from growing
- prepared for tricks
- prevented from taking action
- allowed to do stunts
- perturbed (line 11)
- Which word in the passage means the opposite of the word 'expensive'? (1)
- carefree
- ordinary
- cheap
- haggling
- Answer the following questions briefly in your own words:
- What kept Ashamanja Babu happy? (2)
- What does this tell you about him? (2)
- What is that one other thing he needed to complete his happiness? (1)
- Why did Ashamanja Babu think the man was a beggar? (2)
- Why did Ashamanja Babu forget about his oranges? (2)
- In not more than 50 words, narrate the series of events from the time the puppy was taken out of the box till it was paid for. (8)
In the poem Telephone Conversation, the potent metaphor “stench of rancid breath” is used to ______.
