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Question
Imagine what must have happened after Mathilde’s friend discovered that the diamonds were real. Do you think she would return the necklace to Mathilde? Would that make Mathilde happy?
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Solution
I think Mme. Forestier was a good friend, and she would definitely give the necklace back, especially after realising the sufferings faced by the Loisels for ten years to pay for it. But in these ten years' time, Mathilde has learned the value of things and realised the importance of small things and that she doesn't materials to be happy. But after receiving the necklace back the standard of living of the Loisel's will certainly improve as they no longer needed to live a life of extreme poverty. This would certainly make Mathilde happy.
RELATED QUESTIONS
Fill in each of the numbered blanks with the correct form of the word given in brackets. Do not copy the passage, but write in the correct serial order the word or phrase appropriate to the blank space.
Example :
(0) roamed
Once upon a time, in the days when genies and giants (0) ______ (roam) the land, there (1) ______ (live) a farmer (2) ______ (name) Baba Ayub. He lived with his family in a little village by the name of Maidan Sabz. Because he had a large family to feed, Saba Ayub (3) ______ (see) his days (4) ______ (consume) by hard work. Every day, he (5) ______ (labour) from dawn to sundown, (6) ______ (plow) his field and (7) ______ (turn) the soil and (8) ______ (tend) to his meagre pistachio trees.
It is easy to advise others not to worry, but difficult for oneself to follow the same. Narrate an experience which made you realise the truth of this statement.
Read the passage given below and answer the questions (a), (b) and (c) that follow :
(1) At the Literary Society’s meeting, Isola read out the letters written to her Granny Pheen, when she was but a little girl. They were from a very kind man – a complete stranger. Isola told us how these letters came to be written.
(2) When Granny Pheen was nine years old, her cat died. Heartbroken, sitting in the middle of the road, she was sobbing her heart out.
(3) A carriage, driving far too fast, came within a whisker of running her down. A very big man in a dark coat with a fur collar, jumped out, leaned over Pheen, and asked if he could help her. Granny Pheen said she was beyond help. Muffin, her cat, was dead.
(4) The man said, ‘Of course, Muffin’s not dead. You do know cats have nine lives, don’t you?’ When Pheen said yes, the man said, ‘Well, I happen to know your Muffin was only on her third life, so she has six lives left.’ Pheen asked how he knew. He said he always knew - cats would often appear in his mind and chat with him. Well, not in words, of course, but in pictures.
(5) He sat down on the road beside her and told her to keep still – very still. He would see if Muffin wanted to visit him. They sat in silence for several minutes, when suddenly the man grabbed Pheen’s hand.
(6) ‘Ah – yes! There she is! She’s being born this minute! In a mansion – in France. There’s a little boy petting her, he’s going to call her Solange. This Solange has great spirit, great verve – I can tell already! She is going to have a long, venturesome life.’
(7) Granny Pheen was so rapt by Muffin’s new fate that she stopped crying. The man said he would visit Solange every so often and find out how she was faring.
(8) He asked for Granny Pheen’s name and the name of the farm where she lived, got back into the carriage, and left.
(9) Absurd as all this sounds, Granny Pheen did receive eight long letters. Isola then read them out. They were all about Muffin’s life as the French cat − Solange. She was, apparently, something of a feline musketeer. She was no idle cat, lolling about on cushions, lapping up cream – she lived through one wild adventure after another – the only cat ever to be awarded the red rosette of the Legion of Honour.
(10) What a story this man had made up for Pheen – lively, witty, full of drama and suspense. We were enchanted, speechless at the reading. When it was over (and much applauded), I asked Isola if I could see the letters, and she handed them to me.
(11) The writer had signed his letters with a grand flourish :
VERY TRULY YOURS,
O.F. O’F. W.W.
It was highly possible that Isola had inherited eight letters written by Oscar Wilde, for who else could have had such a preposterous name as Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Willis Wilde.
Adapted from : The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society – By Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows
(a) (i) Given below are four words and phrases. Find the words which have a similar meaning in the passage :[4]
(1) adventurous
(2) cat-like
(3) appreciated
(4) received something on someone’s death
(ii) For each of the words given below, write a sentence of at least ten words using the same word unchanged in form, but with a different meaning from that which it carries in the passage :[4]
(1) kind (line 2)
(2) mind (line 13)
(3) still (line 15)
(4) sounds (line 26)
(b) Answer the following questions in your own words as briefly as possible:
(i) Where did Isola get the letters from to read at the Literary Society’s meeting?[2]
(ii) Who consoled Granny Pheen when she was heart-broken? What did he say about Muffin’s lives?[2]
(iii) What did the man say when Granny Pheen asked him how he knew about cats’ lives?[2]
(iv) According to the man, what was Muffin’s new fate?[3]
(c) In not more than 100 words, summarise why the eight letters were a treasure to Granny Pheen. (Paragraphs 2 to 10). Failure to keep within the word limit will be penalised. You will be required to write the summary in the form of a connected passage in about 100 words.[8]
Dahl is annoyed that people – including children – watch too much television. Do you agree, or disagree? Why, or why not?
How does the poem make use of contrast? Consider the contrast between the poet and the daffodils, and between his feeling before, while and after seeing the daffodils.
Is there repetition used in the poem? Why?
What does the word “clipped” mean in this poem?
What is the implied meaning of “his bars of rage” in the poem “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”?
Thus I entered, and thus I go!
In triumphs, people have dropped down dead,
"Paid by the world, what dost thou owe
Me?"....God might question; now instead,
'Tis God shall repay: I am safer so.
Read the above lines and answer the question that follow.
Explain with reference to the context.
Fill in the blank with an appropriate word:
He was …….. pressure to complete the work.
In the poem Breaking Out. the poet shows the gradual transformation of a young girl into a confident and independent individual who breaks the conventional stereotypes of society. Discuss with close reference to the text.
Your uncle has promised to give you a gift of Rs. 1000/-. Write a letter thanking him for the offer, tell him how you plan to spend the money; and why you wish to spend it in this way.
Re-write the following sentence according to the instruction given. Make other changes that may be necessary, but do not change the meaning of the sentence.
As soon as Sania sat down to study, the lights went off.
(Begin: No sooner……….)
Re-write the following sentence according to the instructions are given. Make other changes that may be necessary, but do not change the meaning of the sentence.
The monsoon is the best season in our country.
(Rewrite using ‘good’)
Give an account of how Napoleon and his companions were unjust and cruel in their behavior towards the other animals.
Fill in each of the numbered blanks with the correct form of the word given in brackets. Do not copy the passage, but write in correct serial order the word or phrase appropriate to the blank space.
Example:
(0) started
My mother (0)__________ (start) school when she
(1)__________ (be) six and (2)____________ (stop) the
same term. She was unusual in the village as she had a father and brother who (3)_________ (encourage) her to go to school. She was the only girl in a class of boys and claims she was brighter than the boys. But every day she (4)______ (will) leave behind her girl cousins (5) (play) at home and she (6)_________ (envy) them. There (7)_________ (seem) to be no point in. (8)_______ (go) to school just!o end up doing housework.
Given below is an interesting combination of words. Explain why they have been used together.
eternal brilliance
List the pair of opposites found in the poem.
Identify the stanzas that talks of each of the following.
| Individuality | rationalism | hypocrisy |
Report writing
Study the web diagram and write the characteristics of report writing.
Imagine someone has invited your family to a programme and you were the only person at home when the invitation was given orally.
Write a note (4-5 lines) to pass on the message to the other people in your family. Or, Write an imaginary conversation in which you pass on the message to your parents.
Study the following format of an informal letter carefully. Using the format,
Write an informal letter to your friend who has gone to another town for a month.
Write an imaginary dialogue contesting opposite views on a topic of your choice, e.g., ‘Girls should learn to do all the housework and not boys.’
There are many legends about the ‘nine gems’ in Akbar’s Court. These are popular tales and they may not have a historical basis. Can you name some of the nine gems and the stories associated with them?
Write a report of the following event in about 100-120 words.
You are the School Pupil Leader. You have been asked to write a report on the Inaugural Ceremony of English Literary Association of your school which was held recently. Write a report on the same in not more than 120 words.
Work in pairs and discuss the factors that contribute towards making a choice and make a presentation to the class.
Local Historians
- Ask students to collect stories about their town from older people.
- Ask them to find out how the streets were named.
- Are there any interesting people or legends to which the street names refer?
- Are there any local places in town about which people tell stories?
- Any haunted houses?
- Let students find out when the town was founded and by whom.
- Visit a local historical society to see old photographs or artifacts.
Let students create an original historical fiction:
Describe the town from the point of view of a fictitious citizen who might have lived in the town long ago. Include local issues of the time in the story. Write the story of the town from the fictionalized point of view of a resident who actually lived.
Correct the use of the describing word in the following sentence.
I like this the best of the two.
Find out the following from ten families living in your neighbourhood.
| Count the number of F1* F2 F3 F4 F5 F6 F7 F8 F9 F10 Total |
| children below 5 years of age |
| children from 5-14 years |
| grown-up children from 15-20 |
| elders from 21-50 years |
| old people who are above 50 years |
| total number of people in the family |
*F = Family
- How many members are educated in each family?
- From amongst the ten families, how many are educated?
Now talk to your partner and then write a report about your neighbourhood.
Use the option to fill in the blank.
The flowers ______kept in a vase.
In the sentence below the capital letter, comma, full stop and question mark are missing. Put these in the correct place.
on monday i will go to school
In the sentence below the capital letter, comma, full stop and question mark are missing. Put these in the correct place.
every sunday i go for a walk have breakfast read story books listen to music and watch television
Why didn’t the grandmother feel sentimental when the author went abroad for higher education?
Describe the appearance of the policeman on the beat.
Describe the youth’s strange behaviour when he was in the train.
What had really happened in the dentist’s room?
How would Miss Meadows usually treat Mary? How did her behavior towards the girl change that day?
Write a composition (300 - 350 words) on the following:
It is very important for young people to spend time quietly or alone for a short while every day. If you were given an hour to spend on your own, how will you spend it? What will you learn from the process?
Using the given informal letter as a model, write a letter on topic given below.
Write letter to your father asking permission to go on an educational tour.
Write a composition (in approximately 400 – 450 words) on the following subject.
You had to go on a train journey with your family. On reaching the railway station, you discovered that your train was delayed by two hours. Describe how you spent those two hours, detailing what you saw, the sounds you heard, and the interactions you had with the people around you. Express your feelings when you saw the train finally approaching the station.
