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Question
How is humour employed to comment on the pains that the author took to get his watch set right.
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Solution
It is funny how the author and his dear watch had to go through all the pain that was delivered by seven watch makers. In the end, it was all futile and no good was done to the watch. The seven episodes with the watch makers are humorous as while all the watch makers tried their hand on the watch, toying it all up and operating and exploring and dissembling and then assembling every inch of it, it all gave sheer pain to the author to whom the watch was so dear. Every time with all the hope and strength he took it to a new watch maker; however, not a single of all the tinkers could put it all back to place to make it function all properly. How strange it is that none of the seven watch makers could mend the watch while they all experimented and did all sorts of research and development on it.
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RELATED QUESTIONS
B1. What does the poet want us to do in the following situation?
(a) While struggling ………..
(b) While making money ………
(c) While dreaming ………………
(d) While losing …………..
It's doing your job the best you can,
And being just to your fellow man;
It's making money-but holding friends,
And being true to your aims and ends.
It's figuring how and learning why,
And looking forward and thinking high;
And dreaming a little and doing much,
It's keeping always in closest touch.
With what is finest in word and deed,
It's being through, yet making speed;
It's daring blithely the field of chance,
While making labour a brave romance.
It’s going onward despite defeat
And fighting staunchly, but keeping sweet;
It's struggling on with the will to win,
But taking loss with a cheerful grin.
B2. Achieving Success
Hints given by the poet to become successful are
(a) Doing your job the best
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
B3. Poetic Device
Select the appropriate rhyme scheme for the 3rd stanza.
(1) abab
(2) aabb
(3) aaba
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
Far far from gusty waves these children's faces.
Like rootless weeds, the hair torn round their pallor;
The tall girl with her weighed-down head.
(a) Who are these children?
(b) Which figure of speech has been used in the first two lines?
(c) Why is the tall girl's head weighed down?
(d) What does the word, 'pallor' mean?
Answer any four of the following questions in 30-40 words each :
(a) Why was Franz not scolded for reaching the school late that day?
(b) Sophie was dreaming of so many things in her life. What were they?
(c) Why are the youngsters described as springing? (My Mother at Sixty-six)
(d) In the hot season, how do man and beast get comfort? (A Thing of Beauty)
(e) How did the Maharaja deal with a high ranking British officer who wanted to shoot a tiger?
(f) Having got rid of his stink, what problem did Roger Skunk face?
Chimps making their own fishing rods is an indication that
Read the following extract and complete the activities given below :
A1 Compare the old and new house and complete the table :
| Points | Old House | New House |
| Surrounding | razzle-dazzle | – |
| Size of the house | – | big |
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.
“Is a slightly smaller house not available?” she asked father, “We do not have enough curtains for this place. And the furniture seems a little inadequate. Why did they have to plan the kitchen at such a distance from the dining-room? It is like doing a route march. And who is going to help me keep this place clean and dusted?”
Her misgivings and objections were undoubtedly valid. But, seeing our crestfallen faces, she sighed and gave in. We made extravagant promises to help in the household chores. Keep our rooms tidy. Put away our toys and books. She smiled with amused disbelief, her mind already working out how many meters of curtain-cloth would be needed and so on.
A2 Complete :
Complete the following list of objections that the mother had with the new house :
(i) Inadequate _______
(ii) Do not have _______
(iii) Kitchen at a distance from _______
(iv) A very big _______
A3 Personal response:
Do you agree with the objections raised by the mother? Explain.
Read the following extract and do the given activities:
B.1) Fill in the Balloons with suitable ideas from the poem:
“Oh, the value of the elderly! How could anyone not know?
They hold so many keys, so many things they can show.
We all will read the other side this I firmly believe
And the elderly are closest oh what clues we could retrieve.
For their characters are closest to how we’ll be on high.
They are the ones most developed, you can see it if you try.
They’ve let go of the frivolous and kept things that are dear
The memories of so sweet, of loved ones that were near.
As a nation, we are missing our greatest true resource,
To get to know our elders and let them guide our course.”
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Pick out the line from the extract which supports the given ideas:
(i) The elders have many things to share.
(ii) Everybody knows the value of elderly people.
(iii) The elderly people have vast experience.
(iv) The elderly people are a boon to the nation.
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| Fear | ........................... | .......................... |
Comment on the way in which the theme of the story has been introduced.
Discuss in pairs or groups of four.
It is difficult to part with personal items like a watch which have a sentimental value attached to them.
How does the poem capture the elusive nature of the peacock?
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How does Forster trace the human interest in the story to primitive times?
Discuss the importance of time in the narration of a story.
Read the following statement and mark those that apply to you.
Someone has extended a hand of friendship towards me and I have not accepted it.
Say where . . . . . . .
______ does Beauty’s smile begin?
The tone of the poet is sarcastic. When he writes ‘All spaces are gridded filled with permutations of possibilities’ he intends to indicate the efforts made by the planner to exploit every available piece of land without any consideration of harming nature or violating attachments of people to places. Make pairs/groups and find out some more sarcastic lines having the same effect.
Fill in the gap, choosing a word from the bracket to make an appropriate comparison.
(tall / quiet / humble / merry / busy / slippery / fast / sly / slow / big)
as ______ as an eel
List all the words specially used in the game of Kabaddi.
Answer the following question in one sentence.
Who misses all the fun?
Complete the following using your own idea:
His head was too big to ______.
Recite the poem with proper rhythm and intonation.
Write about how you take care of your books.
A parody is a playful, comic imitation of a writer’s style. A parody is like a verbal cartoon. Compare the original poem and its parody given on page 35 using the following points:
|
How doth the little busy bee |
How doth the little crocodile (parody) |
| Choice of a subject (an animal) | __________________ |
| __________________ | __________________ |
| Number of lines and stanzas | __________________ |
| __________________ | __________________ |
| Same or similar constructions | __________________ |
| __________________ | __________________ |
| Tone of the poem | __________________ |
| __________________ | __________________ |
There are many popular lines like:-
- ‘Life is a game - play it well’.
- ‘Life is a journey - keep going ahead’.
Discuss and write down a few such metaphorical lines about ‘life’. You can make them up yourselves.
- ____________________________
- ____________________________
- ____________________________
- ____________________________
- ____________________________
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Read the poem aloud using proper intonation.
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Do you long to be something else? Write about your longing.
Find out what 'Braille' is.
What does 'Rangaawali' mean?
Read the following line from the poem and answer the question that follow.
Let me but live my life from year to year, With forward face and unreluctant soul; Not hurrying to, nor turning from the goal; Not mourning for the things that disappear.
Identify the rhyme scheme of the given lines.
How is Karagattam performed?
What game did Anne choose to play?
How can we make our life worth living?
Vasantha made a lot of noise because ______
Fill in the table given below.
| S. No | Problems faced by the hatchlings | Effect | Solution |
| 1. | Pollution | Survival of sea turtles becomes difficult. | Reduce the usage of plastics. |
| 2. | Predators | ||
| 3. | Human Activities |
What did Grandmother feel about trees growing in the house?
Grandfather helped grandma out with the gardening because he______.
Find out the idiom that relates to ‘whatever the circumstances’, from the first paragraph.
Work in pair, find answer for the question and share in the class.
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The ________ are trying to terraform Mars.
Try your own.
What are the three parts of a robot
Where is the key?
Recite the poem 'My Robot' with correct intonation.
Choose the odd one out.
Choose the odd one out.
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The pigeon flew away for dry twigs.
Write the correct form for the present perfect tense.
They ______ (start) playing.
Choose the correct answer.
Pick and write the adverbs to complete the sentence.
A jackal cheated the crow ______.
Speak and win.
Join in any group. Support or oppose using 4 to 5 sentences to win.
| I support Divya. | I oppose Divya. |
In real, the test is for______.
The fir tree was not happy with the gold leaves ______.
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Being a bachelor, the stranger had no patience with children.
