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Question
'Now I hold Creation in my foot' – explain the centrality of this assertion in the poem. What makes the hawk's assertion of its invincibility so categorical?
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Solution
As posed in the poem, the Hawk appears to be absolute and indomitable. It ascribes itself to the summit of the jungle. The highest of all the social ladder, it sits on the highest point from where it can see it all beneath and small. The Hawk exaggerates that it took the whole of the Creation to design it. It sits on a bark that is rough and it at the highest point of the tree. The perspective of the Hawk is bounded by its vision. The little of the wood that it sees from its seat it takes it to be the whole of the world and presumes itself as its God. The little bird's petty egocentricity is amusing as when it flies it believes itself to be the one rotating the planet and moving the whole of the life. So now that the roles are reversed, the Hawk exclaims, “Now I hold Creation in my foot.” The Hawk declaring its assertion as invincibly categorical. It is the Hawk who is in control of the whole creation, even the Sun abides by it. Nothing that its eyes do not permit can flourish or even exist.
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In recent years, it has been considered essential to have some amount of fibres in the diet. Their beneficial effects lie in preventing coronary heart disease, and decreasing cholesterol level. The fibres like gums and pectin are reported to decrease postprandial (after meals) glucose level in blood. These types of dietary fibres are recommended for the management of certain types of diabetes. Recent studies have shown that the fenugreek (Methi) seeds, which contain 40 per cent gum, are effective in decreasing blood glucose and cholesterol levels as compared to other gum containing vegetables.
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(Extracted from ‘The Tribune’)
(a) On the basis of your reading of the above passage make notes on it in points only, using recognizable abbreviations wherever necessary. Also suggest a suitable title.
(b) Write a summary of the above in about 80 words.
Complete the following table :
Read the following passage carefully and do the given activities:
A.1) True or False:
Write the statements and state whether they are true or false:
(i) Those who choose to live well must help others.
(ii) If neighbors grow inferior corn, cross-pollination will steadily improve the quality.
(iii) The farmer grew award-winning corn.
(iv) The reporter discovered that the farmer didn’t share his seed corn with his neighbors.
There once was a farmer who grew award-winning corn. Each year he entered his corn in the state fair where it won a blue ribbon. One year a newspaper reporter interviewed him and learned something interesting about how he grew it. The reporter discovered that the farmer shared his sweet corn with his neighbors. “How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbors when they are entering corn in competition with yours each year?” the reporter asked.
“Why sir”, said the farmer, “didn’t you know? The wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbors grow inferior corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbors grow good corn.” He is very much aware of the connectedness of life. His corn cannot improve unless his neighbor's corn also improves. So it is with our lives. Those who choose to live in peace must help their neighbors to live in peace. Those who choose to live well must help others to live well, for the value of a life is measured by the lives it touches.
The lesson for each of us is this: if we are to grow good corn, we must help our neighbors grow good corn.
A.2) Consequences:
Write the consequences:
(i) The farmer shares the corn.
(ii) The farmer doesn’t share the corn.
A.3) Antonyms:
Find out the words opposite in meaning from the passage:
(i) superior x _______
(ii) lost x _______
(iii) improve x _______
(iv) inconstantly x _______
A.4) Language study:
(i) We must help our neighbors. (Replace the modal auxiliary showing advice).
(ii) The wind picks up pollen from ripening corn and swirls it field to field. (Use “not only…….. but also” and rewrite)
A.5) Personal Response:
What do you learn from the story? Suggest a suitable title.
Read the following passage and do the given activities:
B.1) Comparison
Write the comparison between the parts of the modular phone and the human body:
| Modular Phone | Parts of Human Body |
Every phone you buy, no matter how costly and latest it is, will go out of date in a year or so. That’s how quickly the smartphone world is moving right now. To keep yourself up to date with the current specification you will have to keep switching phones every once a while. What’s the solution to this problem?
MODULAR PHONES!
A modular device is a phone, tablet or another device where individual components such as the screen, camera, CPU, battery, memory can be removed by the user and replaced by others with a different specification. Imagine your body to be your phone and your clothes as the components, you can wear anything according to your needs and moods. Similarly, modular phones let you choose between components of different properties and specifications.
This would mean we’ll have the liberty to customize our phones, just like Lego building blocks! The main components of the phone will be Brain (processor), Spine (frame, screen) and Heart (battery). The other components may include a camera, storage memory, GPS, audio jack, speakers, USB module, etc. and the phone will have a motherboard, i.e. a base that will hold all components together
B.2) Give examples:
Write two examples that give the liberty to customize our phone.
• ____________________
• ____________________
B.3) Framing sentence:
Use the given phrases in sentences of your own:
(i) up to date
(ii) once a while
B.4) Write as instructed:
Rewrite the sentence as interrogative:
(i) We’ll have the liberty to customize our phones.
(ii) We will have the liberty to customize our phones. (Rewrite using the present participle form of the underlined word)
B.5) Personal Response
If given a chance to design a modular phone, what new features would you add?
Answer the following question in 150-200 words:
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How is the father’s helplessness brought out in the poem?
The three stanzas depict three different phases. What are they?
Tick the item that is closest in meaning to the following phrase.
to take issue with
Examine the communication channels in the story between Paul and his uncle.
Make a list of the expressions that imbue the watch with human attributes.
What are the criteria that Ruskin feels that readers should fulfil to make themselves fit for the company of the Dead?
Notice these expressions in the poem and guess their meaning from the context:
| rancid breath | squelching tar |
| spectroscopic flight of fancy | |
| rearing on the thunderclap | brunette |
| peroxide blonde | clinical assent |
| raven black |
Bring out the parallel suggested between the predatory instincts of the bird and human behaviour.
Discuss the following in pairs or in small groups.
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Think and answer in your own words.
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Now turn the pages of your textbook and see if you can find other poems in Free Verse.
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'Sushruta Samhita'
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A Midsummer-Night’s Dream is a ___________________.
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- comedy of errors
- a comedy based on fantasy
- a character play
- a revenge tragedy
- belongs to realm of dreams
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Motiram
(Answer in one or two lines.)
Make a chart to show the important points to remember while making a graphic presentation.
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| Invictus | Please Listen | |
| Rhyming lines | ______ | ______ |
| Steady rhythm | ______ | ______ |
| Uniformity in the length of lines | ______ | ______ |
| Uniformity of the number of lines in each stanza. | ______ | ______ |
| Figurative language | ______ | ______ |
Write in your own words.
In which professions is a person forced to stay away from his home/ homeland for a long time? Try to guess why the poet is forced to stay away from his home?
Read the poem and answer the following.
Which strawberries are sweeter?
Find out when and where we get strawberries in Maharashtra.
Present any one of these announcements yourself, orally.
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An Exclamation
Find a word that has a similar meaning.
remove
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Identify the character or speaker.
It seems to me like the recollection of a dream.
Who is wise according to you?
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Write the name of the toys against each picture.
What did Granny say about Hamid’s parents?
Read the story and fill in the grid by ticking each character’s qualities.
Discuss in pairs to rate the characteristic and give marks from 1 to 10 depending on the grade of each quality.
Justify your views in one or two sentences.
| Characteristics | Jane Eyre | Mrs. Reed | Bessie | Helen Burns | Miss. Temple |
| arrogant | |||||
| bitter | |||||
| caring | |||||
| courageous | |||||
| cruel | |||||
| emotional | |||||
| friendly | |||||
| kind | |||||
| sensitive | |||||
| rich | |||||
| poor | |||||
| patient | |||||
| self-disciplined | |||||
| unjust |
Complete the sentence given below with word/phrase.
The hole became ______ and ______.
Find the rhyming word from the poem.
Crowd - ______.
What happened to the two girls at the end of the war?
Choose the odd one out.
The rich man ______ at the beggar.
Why did Robinson name the tribe Friday?
Three waves hit the village.
Circle and write the adverbs.
We will leave today. ______
Where is Keeraikuppam located?
Why was the teacher annoyed?
Fill in the blank with rhyming word.
anthill- ______
Divya loved solving _______.
Kamali gave her savings to______.
What did the boy make with the branches of the tree?
