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Question
Notice these expressions in the text. Infer their meaning from the context.
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honing our seafaring skills
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ominous silence
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Mayday calls
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pinpricks in the vast ocean
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a tousled head
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Solution
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honing our seafaring skills: this refers to the efforts made by the author and his wife, to perfect or sharpen their seafaring skills.
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ominous silence: the silence here refers to impending danger.
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Mayday calls: Mayday calls are radio-telephonic words which signal aircraft or ships stuck in a disastrous situation.
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pinpricks in the vast ocean: this phrase expresses the search for two small islands in the vast ocean.
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a tousled head: this refers to hair in disarray or the disarranged hair of the author’s son, Jonathan
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RELATED QUESTIONS
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............
Answer any two of the following questions in about 30‒40 words:
(a) How does Kamala Das try to put away the thoughts of her ageing mother?
(b) Which is the exotic moment that the poet refers to in 'Keeping Quiet'?
(c) What are the difficulties that aunt Jennifer faced in her life?
Complete the call-outs:
A.1)
Our world is an institution
Of environmental pollution
We choose not to care
For our future generations
And I for one am guilty
For buying the hundreds of electronic gadgets
That attracts the industries to produce like maggots
environmental pollution is at the heart of our planet
The forests are dying
Wildlife is crying
Millions of fish are dying
Mother earth is sighing
Tell me is it right
That we sleep well at night
Replenishing ourselves
For tomorrow’s greedy fight
Overcrowded trains
Overloaded brains
Where is the light? What is our plight?
While the river break their banks
And greedy industries play their polluted pranks.
A.2) Find the examples that show that we do not care for our future generation
A.3) Match:
Match the lines in Column ‘A’ with the figures of speech in Column ‘B’:
| Column ‘A’ | Column ‘B’ | ||
| (i) | Our world is an institution | (a) | Personification |
| (ii) | Mother earth is sighing | (b) | Simile |
| (c) | Metaphor |
Answer the following in 200-250 words :
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I have a large group of friends but no best buddy.
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Correct the following statement.
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You should never lose a match.
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Read the poem aloud with the proper rhythm. What does the rhythm remind you of?
Using the information given in the passage, write a short note on the following in your mother tongue.
Gond art
Read the poem and answer the following.
Which strawberries are plump and juicy?
Find the meaning of the following word.
rated
Look at the speaker in each picture. Say whether each one is a good speaker. Give reasons for your answer.
 |
 |
 |
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Discuss how you will measure the worth of a book.
List the characters in the play.
Birds and animals
Make a list of the rhyming words in the poem.
Add one more rhyming word of your own to each pair.
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Helen Keller’s life is the story of ______.
Read the following line from the poem and answer the question that follow.
Not hurrying to, nor turning from the goal; Not mourning for the things that disappear
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- What should one not mourn for?
Identify the character or speaker.
He was the chief of all spirits.
Rearrange the following sentences in a coherent order.
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- Miranda was attracted by Ferdinand and had more concern towards him.
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- Prospero forgave them and restored his dukedom, Milan.
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- Ariel was instructed to bring Ferdinand, the prince of Naples to his cave.
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Why should we speak gently?
Look at the number pattern. Fill the blank in the middle of the series or end of the series.
CMM, EOO, GQQ, ______, KUU
Everyone in the ship started to pray because ______.
Ridleys come to lay their eggs in the month of January.
The boy was so inspired by Mithali that he was happy for his sister to play cricket.
Geetha madam couldn’t stop the children running out of the train because they ______.
What happened to Dr. Karmugilan in the story?
What is our core?
The hen-pigeon got dry _______ for the bird catcher.
Arrange the actions of Robinson by numbering from 1 to 10.
Match the following.
| pale |  |
| tremble |  |
| fainted |  |
Answer the following yes or no question.
Did Appu share guava?
Why was the teacher annoyed?
We shouldn't ______ ever.
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Now, read the following biographical extract on Sujatha Rangarajan, a Sciencefiction writer, and answer the questions that follow.
- Sujatha is the allonym of the Tamil author S. Rangarajan and it is this name that is recognised at once by the Tamil SciFi reading community. You might have seen the Tamil movie ‘Endiran’ where the robot Chitti exhibits extraordinary talents in an incredible manner. The robot could excel a human being in any act, beyond one’s imagination. Jeeno, a robotic dog which appeared in Sujatha’s science fiction novel “En Iniya Iyandhira” (My Dear Robot) formed the basis of Chitti’s character. Like Chitti, Jeeno was an allrounder who could cook, clean and fight. High-tech computer technology terms are used in the story. Jeeno, a pet robot, plays an important role throughout the story. As the story proceeds, it behaves and starts to think on its own like a human and instructs Nila, a human being, on how to proceed further in her crises.
- In the preface of ‘En Iniya Iyandhira’, the writer states the reason for his attraction to the genre: “Science gives us the wonderful freedom to analyse thousands and thousands of alternative possibilities. While using it, and while playing with its new games, a writer needs to be cautious only about one thing. The story should draw some parallels or association from the emotions and desires of the present humankind. Only then it becomes interesting. Jeeno, the robot dog, was intelligent. But the character became popular only because of the robot’s frequently displayed human tendencies.” It is no wonder that all his works echo these words and will remain etched in the minds of the readers who enjoy reading his novels to have a wonderful lifetime experience.
- It was Sujatha, who set the trend for sci-fi stories. He had tracked the origin from Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein to his short stories. He has written 50 sci-fi short stories and these were published in various Tamil magazines. His stories have inspired many readers to extend their reading to English sci-fi writers like Isaac Asimov. The themes were bold, even if there was a dependence on a very well-established characterization of English fiction. Sujatha opened up a new world to us with his writings on holograms, computers and works like ‘En Iniya Iyanthira’ inspire many to study computer science.
- He has been one of the greatest writers for more than four decades. He combined reasoning and science in his writings. Being a multifaceted hi-fi and sci-fi humanistic author, he expressed his views distinctively. He was the one who took Tamil novels to the next level. As an MIT alumnus and an engineer at BHEL, he was very good at technology. He could narrate sci-fi stories impressively. His readers always enjoyed reading all his detective and sci-fi novels which featured the most famous duo ‘Ganesh’ and ‘Vasanth’.
- Sujatha has played a crucial role as a playwright for various Tamil movies which have fascinated movie lovers. Hence, it is fathomable that the writer’s perspective of future India enthuses every reader and paves a new way to reading sci-fi stories in English.
A. Answer the following questions in a sentence or two.
- How was Jeeno different from other robots?
- What precaution should one take while writing Science fiction stories?
- What inspired Sujatha’s themes?
- Why were Sujatha’s sci-fi stories impressive?
B. Find words from the passage which mean the same as the following.
- difficult to believe (para 1)
- a style or category of art, music or literature (para 2)
- having many sides (para 4)
- capable of being understood (para 5)
Read the following sentence.
‘A very wise man once remarked that of the unspoken word, you are a master; of the spoken word, you are a slave.’
The sentence has two pairs of opposites - spoken and unspoken, and master and slave. The contrasting ideas make the sentence more effective. Putting together opposite or contrasting ideas in one sentence is a literary device. It is called antithesis.
Read the following examples of antithesis.
- Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice.
- Man proposes and God disposes.
- Speech is silver, but silence is gold.
- Patience is bitter, but it has a sweet fruit.
William Shakespeare was one of the greatest playwrights of all time. He lived in the 16th century. Many Shakespearean plays have been written in the short-story form. Find out the names of at least 5 of Shakespearean plays.
Example: Romeo and Juliet
