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Question
“There were three animals altogether,” he explained. “There were two goats and a cat and then there were four pairs of pigeons.”
“And you had to leave them?” I asked.
“Yes. Because of the artillery. The captain told me to go because of the artillery.” “And you have no family?” I asked, watching the far end of the bridge where a few last carts were hurrying down the slope of the bank.
“No,” he said, “only the animals I stated. The cat, of course, will be all right. A cat can look out for itself, but I cannot think what will become of the others.”
“What politics have you?” I asked.
“I am without politics,” he said. “I am seventy-six years old. I have come twelve kilometers now and I think now I can go no further.”
“This is not a good place to stop,” I said. “If you can make it, there are trucks up the road where it forks for Tortosa.”
“I will wait a while,” he said, “ and then I will go. Where do the trucks go?” “Towards Barcelona,” I told him.
“I know no one in that direction,” he said, “but thank you very much.
Read the extract given below and answer the question that follow.
Why did the soldier tell the old man that it was not a good place to stop?
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Solution
The soldier told the old man that it was not a good place to stop because the enemy was advancing and soon their planes would launch bombs on the bridge.
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RELATED QUESTIONS
Irony is when we say one thing but mean another, usually the opposite of what we say. When someone makes a mistake and you say, Oh! That was clever!” that is irony. You’re saying ‘clever’ to mean ‘not clever’.
Expressions we often use in an ironic fashion are:
• Oh, wasn’t that clever!/Oh that was clever!
• You have been a great help, I must say!
• You’ve got yourself into a lovely mess, haven’t you?
• Oh, very funny!/How funny!
We use a slightly different tone of voice when we use these words ironically.
Read the play carefully and find the words and expressions Gerrard uses in an ironic way.
Then say what these expressions really mean. Two examples have been given below.
Write down three such expressions along with what they really mean.
| What the author says | What he means |
| Why, this is a surprise, Mr – er – |
He pretends that the intruder is a social visitor whom he is welcoming. In this way he hides his fear. |
| At last a sympathetic audience! | He pretends that the intruder wants to listen to him, whereas actually the intruder wants to find out information for his own use. |
Answer of these question in a short paragraph (about 30 words).
How does the author describe: (i) his father, (ii) his mother, (iii) himself?
What are the two strange things the guru and his disciple find in the Kingdom of Fools?
Answer these question in one or two sentences . (The paragraph numbers within brackets provide clues to the answer.)
Give an example to show that even as a young girl Santosh was not ready to accept anything unreasonable.
What information does Gilman give to Twisden? Why did Twisden decide to withdraw from the case ?
The following sentence has two blanks. Fill in the blanks with appropriate forms of the word given in brackets.
Asking for_________ is as noble as willingness to________ . (forgive)
What did Gopal’s wife think about him?
Where did each of them find a home?
Answer the following question.
What was the ‘game’ that every child in the school had to play?
Replace the italicised portion of the sentence below with a suitable phrase from the box. Make necessary changes, wherever required.
Unfortunately, the train I was trying to catch was cancelled.
