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Question
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
"But I can get a hair-dye
And set such colour there,
Brown, or black, or carrot,
That young man in despair
May love me for myself alone
And not my yellow hair."
(a) Who is speaking these line?
(b) Why are young men in despair?
(c) What is the antonym of the word, 'despair'?
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Solution
(a) The speaker is Anne Gregory.
(b) Young men will be in despair because they would not be able to love the yellow coloured hair of Anne.
(c) The antonym for 'despair' could be 'cheerful'.
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Match:
Match the line with the figure of speech:
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Read the following extract and answer the questions given below :
We, heroes and poor devils;
the feeble, the braggarts; the unfinished,
and capable of everything impossible
as long as it's not seen or heard
Don Juans, women and men, who come and go
with the fleeting passage of a runner
or of a shy hotel for travellers.
And we with our small vanities,
our controlled hunger for climbing
and getting as far as everybody else has gotten
because it seems that is the way of the world.
(1) Who are heroes and what are they capable of? (1)
(2) According to you, what difficulties do the middle-class people face? (1)
(3) Name and explain the figure of speech in the following line :
... Women and men, who come and go. (1)
(4) Pick out the line from the extract, which shows the overambitious nature of the middle-class people. (1)
Read the following extract and answer the questions given below
All the rest of her children, she said, are on the nuclear
blacklist of the dead,
all the rest, unless
the whole world understands - that peace is a woman:
A thousand candles then lit
in her starry eyes, and I saw angels bearing a moonlit message :
Peace is indeed a pregnant woman Peace is a mother.
(1) What is the situation of the children in absence of peace? (1)
(2) Why should we avoid wars? (1)
(3) Name and explain the figure of speech in the following line:
that peace is a woman. (1)
(4) What message does the poet give through this poem? (1)
Read the following extract and answer the questions given below:
The banyan tree was three times as tall as our house
Its trunk had a circumference of fifty feet
Its scraggly aerial roots fell to the ground
From thirty feet or more so first they cut the branches
Sawing them off for seven days and the heap was huge
Insects and birds began to leave the tree
And then they came to its massive trunk
Fifty men with axes chopped and chopped
The great tree revealed its rings of two hundred years
We watched in terror and fascination this slaughter
(1) How does the poet describe the banyan tree?
(2) According to you, how are trees important to maintain ecological balance?
(3) Pick out an example of repetition from the extract.
(4) Pick out the words in the extract which are related to the killing.
Read the following extract and answer the questions given below:
Old women once
were continents.
They had deep woods in them,
lakes, mountains, volcanoes even,
even raging gulfs.
When the earth was in heat
they melted, shrank,
leaving only their maps.
You can fold them
and keep them handy:
who knows, they might help you find
your way home.
Question
(1) What does the geographical imagery used in this extract suggest?
(2) Who do you think should take care of your grandparents? Why?
(3) Name and explain the figure of speech in the following lines: Old women once were continents.
(4) Find out the expressions that show how old women are still capable of caring for others, despite their old age?
Read the extract and do the activities that follow: (4)
| Tom | : | (nervously). But, I say, we can’t go prowling about someone else’s house. |
| George | : | We can if we hear any suspicious noises. You never know ? this place might belong to a gang of criminals. |
| Tom | : | (sarcastically). You certainly are trying to cheer us up, George. We don’t want to meet a gang of criminals. |
| George | : | Why not? We’re all strong, healthy chaps, aren’t we? Are you in a funk already? |
| Tom | : | No, of course not; but ? well ? Alfie’s got his best suit on, and |
| Ginger | : | Never mind about Alfie's suit. (With a great show of courage). I’m not afraid of any criminals. Here, George, lend me that torch. (Taking the torch and going up R.C.). I’ll show you if I’m afraid. (Suddenly seeing the White models and letting out a yell of terror.) Ow! W - what's that? |
| Tom | : | (down C., not daring to look round). What’s what? |
| Ginger | : | C- come here. I thought I saw something grinning at me. |
| Tom | : | (crossing hastily to door L.). I’m going to get out of here. |
| Ginger | : | (Coming down C.) So am I. I’m not afraid of criminals, but I believe this place is haunted. |
| George | : | Talk sense, Ginger. Here, give me that torch. (Takes torch and goes up R. C.) |
| Alfie | : | (down L.C.) I want to go home. |
| Ginger | : | Can you see anything, George? |
| George | : | (cautiously approaching white models). I can’t make out what it is, but I believe it's an animal. I say ? there’s something alive in here ? I can see its teeth. (Under the light of George’s torch a row of teeth can be dimly seen). |
| Alfie | : | (rushing to the door) Let me out! Let me out! I want to go home! |
B1. Pick up the false sentences from those given below and write down the correct ones for them :(2)
(i) Alfie wanted to stay at the place to fight with the animal.
(ii) Ginger yelled of terror when he noticed white models grinning at him.
(iii) According to George's opinion, the boys could not go prowling about someone else’s house.
(iv) Tom had no desire to meet a gang of criminals.
B2. Convert dialogue into a story : (2)
Convert the above dialogue into a story form in about 50 words.
Read the extract and do all the activities that follow:
We used to think seven generations ahead
Now we have become selfish
Only thinking about me, myself and I
Only thinking in the present, not learning from the past.
We used to stroll barefoot through the overgrown grass,
Its morning dew tickling our feet
Now we step outside onto the rugged concrete
No more natural than the over-processed food we eat
We used to walk down the snow sprinkled trail,
Maybe catch a glimpse of a bobcat, playing eye tricks with its tail
Now there is only one type of bobcat we see
The one that is fur-free, clearing the pavement of all debris
We used to walk through a footpath in a forest of pine
The smell intoxicating our lungs and mind
Now the only smell to be found comes from plastic trees.
Swaying on my rearview mirror, labelled pine breeze
we used to watch the valley play hide and seek
A1. Web :
Complete the web with the things man used to do in the past:
A2. Poetic Devices :
'We used to walk down the snow sprinkled trail'
Name the figure of speech in the above line and find out another example of the same from the extract.
A3. Personal Response :
Write in brief your views about past and present lifestyle.
A4. Poetic Creativity :
'Now we step outside onto the rugged concrete No more natural than the over-processed food.'
Read the above lines and compose at least two lines of your own. based on the same theme.
Read the following extract and answer the questions given below:
Old women once
were continents.
They had deep woods in them,
lakes, mountains, volcanoes even,
even raging gulfs.
When the earth was in heat
they melted, shrank,
leaving only their maps.
You can fold them
and keep them handy:
who knows, they might help you find
your way home.
Question
(1) For what purpose did the old women leave their 'maps' behind them?
(2) How can old people be helpful to us?
(3) Name and explain the figure of speech in the following lines:
Old women once
were continents.
(4) Make a list of geographical expressions from the extract.
Read the following extract and answer the questions given below:
Not gold but only men can make
A people great and strong;
Men who for truth and honor's sake
Stand fast and suffer long.
Brave men who work while others sleep,
Who dare while others fly ...
They build a nation's pillars deep
And lift them to the sky.
(1) What qualities of people according to poet, are essential to build a nation?
(2) “Not gold but only men make A people great and strong” Do you agree? Explain.
(3) Name and explain the figure of speech in the line “ Stand fast and suffer long”.
(4) What is the underlying message of the extract
Read the poem ‘Digging’ by Seamus Heaney, given below.
|
Between my finger and my thumb The coarse boot nestled on the lug, the shaft Digging by Seamus Heaney |
Based on your understanding of the poem, answer the given questions.
- What is the significance of the comparison of the pen to a gun in the second line of the poem? 1
- It highlights the violence and aggression associated with writing.
- It emphasizes the power of the written word to bring about change.
- It suggests that the act of writing can be just as dangerous as using a weapon.
- It demonstrates the speaker's admiration for their father's skill with both a pen and a spade.
- Which of the following statements best describes the speaker's attitude towards his father's work in the poem? 1
- The speaker admires his father's hard work and dedication to his task.
- The speaker is critical of his father's choice of profession and feels it is beneath him.
- The speaker is indifferent to his father's work and does not place much value on it.
- The speaker is resentful of his father for making them participate in the work.
- Complete the sentence appropriately. 1
The poet’s use of a metaphor in the line "The coarse boot nestled on the lug, ...” compares ______. - What can be inferred about the setting of the poem based on the description of the sound of the spade sinking into the ground? 1
- The setting is rural and quiet.
- The setting is urban and noisy.
- The setting is industrial, yet serene.
- The setting is suburban and bustling.
- What is the effect of the repetition of the word "digging" throughout the poem? 1
