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Question
Explain the line:
She makes too much steam–you want to hang the monkey wrench on the safety valve!
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Solution
The seventh time the author took the watch to a watch maker, he reckoned the apprentice to be an old acquaintance, a steam-boat engineer of other days and not a good engineer. Like all watch makers, he diagnosed and gave his verdict. The author observed keenly and judged him at his very verdict when he said, “She makes too much steam–you want to hang the monkey wrench on the safety valve! The author immediately remembered what his uncle William used to say and perceived that a tinker is a tinker after all, this being an unsuccessful engineer and wondered like his uncle what became of all the unsuccessful tinkers.
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RELATED QUESTIONS
A1. True or False
State whether the following statements are true or false:
(1) The author's new house was situated at Bangalore.
(2) The writer was delighted because their new house, was the biggest they ever lived.
One of the advantages of growing up in an Army household was the frequency with which we moved. 'Postings' came with predictable regularity every three years. What was unpredictable and therefore exciting was the suspense. Where would we go this time? Ambala, Pune, Dehradun, Allahabad, Tejpur, Bangalore, Yo! ............ In my short span of thirteen years we had moved lock. stock and barrel eleven times!
Every move meant change. New journeys, new places, new schools, my new books, new uniforms, new friends and new houses. We lived in tents, bashas, Nissen huts, flats and bungalows. No matter what the shape and size of the dwelling, mother soon put her own special stamp on it and transformed it into a familiar place - our home - complete with bright yellow-curtains, coffee-brown carpet, assorted pictures, hanging ferns and potted palms - providing a comforting sense of continuity in our essentially nomadic life.
I was thirteen, the year we moved to the Cantonment at Allahabad. In stark contrast to the razzle-dazzle of the city's commercial areas like Katra and Chowk, the Cantonment was a quiet, orderly place with broad tree-lined roads that still carried the names of long-dead Britishers. Our bungalow was on a sleepy by-lane called MacPherson Road. When we first saw it, my brothers and I were delighted. It was by far the biggest house we had ever lived in. The task of furnishing those huge, echoing rooms daunted Mother.
A2. Complete
a. The broad tree-lined roads were named after.............................
b. Katra and Chowk are .............................
c. Mother was daunted with the task of................................. .
d. The suspense was exciting because the posting was.........................
A3. Personal response
What do you think are the problems faced by those who change households frequently.
A1. (i) Two activities that mother was free to do:
(a)...........................................
(b)............................................
(ii)Two activities that children avoided doing because of television:
(a) .....................................
(b) ...................................
Oh yes, we know it keeps them still,
They don't climb out the window sill,
They never fight or kick or punch,
They leave you free to cook the lunch
And wash thedishes in the sink
But did you ever stop to think,
To wonder just exactly what
This does to your beloved tot?
It rots the sense in the head!
It kills imagination dead!
It clogs and clutters up the mind!
It makes a child so dull and blind
He can no longer understand
A fantasy, a fairyland!
His brain becomes as soft as cheese!
His power of thinking rust and freeze!
He cannot think - He only sees!
'All right!' you'll cry. 'All right!' you'll say,
'But if we take the set away,
What shall-we do to entertain
Our darling children? Please explain!'
We'll answer this by asking you,
'What used the darling ones to do?'
'How used they keep themselves contented
Before this monster was invented?'
Have you forgotten? Don't you know?
A2. According to the poem, why is excessive watching of TV harmful?
A3. His brain became as soft as cheese. The figure of speech is ..........because............
Notice these expression in the text. Infer their meaning from the context.
swathe
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Because India's tribal communities are basically bilingual there is a danger of dismissing their languages as dialects of India's major tongues.
The quill is the central element of the poem – what does it symbolise?
How is the essence of the poem captured in the lines 'two tickets to Happiness'?
Read the story and complete the following.
Revathi’s grief knew no bounds because, ____________.
Think and answer in your own words.
Does the poet really wish to become a hawker/gardener/watchman? Justify your response.
Make a list of archaic words from the poem and give their modern equivalents.
A bridge connects people on either side of a river or valleys in cities or villages. Discuss with your partner the importance of a bridge to both the cities and the villages and complete the table.
| Cities | Villages |
Correct the following statement.
The real ivy leaf did not fall off at all.
The tongue justifies the possession of the spectacles on behalf of the nose. Pick up the expressions from the poem that argues in favour of the Nose and complete the following web diagram.
Who gives medicine/treatment to sick animals and birds?
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How can we take help of robots in our daily life?
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Fine feathers don’t make fine birds.
Find one more example which shows that a beautiful appearance is not enough.
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What is implied in the following phrases or lines?
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- It takes two weeks to build it up
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Explain the following statement with reference to the context.
From now on The Herald shall be my artillery.
Read the story and write about the following in short.
Yonamine Chiru of Okinawa
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Complete the following using your own idea:
His head was too big to ______.
Shylock was not at all generous.
Write a short note on the following:
Prince Siddharth’s protected life.
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‘Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.’ Now find at least 5 other proverbs/ axioms/quotations which convey the same message. Search the internet/dictionary of proverbs.
Prepare similar word chains using the following ideas.
| rain | drizzle | ______ | ______ | ______ |
| wind | breeze | ______ | ______ | ______ |
| sunshine | warm | ______ | ______ | ______ |
| waterbody | pool | ______ | ______ | ______ |
| size | big | ______ | ______ | ______ |
| size | small | ______ | ______ | ______ |
Read ‘The Story of the Amulet’ by E. Nesbit.
Write in your own words.
What message does the poem convey?
What did Gopal Bhand say he was doing?
Find a word that has a similar meaning.
happily
Describe the struggles underwent by the young seagull to overcome its fear of flying.
Why had Prospero raised a violent storm in the sea?
Answer the question in a paragraph of about 100 – 150 word.
Write a detailed character sketch of Prospero.
Why did Herman and the author slam the doors?
Read the following line from the poem and answer the question given below.
The worst thing is that if anyone stays
Among them too long, he will learn their ways;
- What is the worst thing that can happen if anyone stays with them?
- What are the ways of the Grumble family?
How did Hamid’s friends show that they enjoyed eating the sweets?
“Was it just the wind?”– What do you think Usha thought it was? Why?
Activity
It’s fun to help out in the kitchen. You can even practice reading aloud when reading the recipe. And you can learn a little math by figuring out how to measure. Here are a few fun items to make that are “Alice” themed.
Read Section – III (para 1 and 4) and answer the following questions.
Paragraph 1
1. Who listened to the chipping sound of the chisel? ______
2. Who was working with the hammer and chisel? ______
Paragraph 4
1. Who was staring? ______
2. Who was the young stone carver? ______
3. What was he working on? ______
Read the questions related to the three sports stars you have read about and tick the appropriate boxes.
 |
 |
 |
|
| 1. Who won the Olympic 2016 silver medal in badminton? | |||
| 2. Who is the role model for her siblings? | |||
| 3. Whose mother tongue is Tamil? | |||
| 4. Whose attitude is 'never-say-die spirit'? | |||
| 5. Which player works in the Police Department? | |||
| 6. Which player holds the record for the highest individual score in cricket? |
We do not really see the landscape from a normal train because the______.
In this story, what happened to the Earth?
Nilavan unknowingly started the space shuttle.
What was the epidemic that broke out in the story?
Why did the bird catcher need fire?
Write the rhyming word.
one
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The official visited the rehabilitation centre daily.
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If we didn’t have boundaries, we don’t need _______.
Fill in the blank with rhyming word.
anthill- ______
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Do you tell the truth always? Why?
The grandmother had kept the plate in memory of her ______.
Let us learn a few more word by joining the dots. Join the dots and fill the table below.
| subway | |
| holiday | |
| closet | |
| pants | |
| chips |
How did Alice reach Wonderland?
