Question

Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:

“This is your teacher today. He’s going to show you all sorts of things.” With that the headmaster introduced a new teacher. Totto-chan took a good look at him but he wasn’t dressed like a teacher at all. He wore a striped cotton jacket and he had a towel hanging around his neck. His trousers were of dyed cotton and were full of patches. Instead of shoes, he wore thick socks, while on his head was a rather dilapidated straw hat. The children were all assembled by the pond at the temple. As she stared at the teacher, Totto-chan thought that she had seen him before. “Where?” she wondered. His kindly face was sunburnt and full of wrinkles. She suddenly remembered! “Aren’t you the farmer who works in the field by the stream?” she asked him, delighted. “That’s right,” said the ‘teacher’, with a smile wrinkling up his face. “You pass my place every time you go to the village! “Wow! So you’re going to be our teacher today,” cried the children excitedly. “No!” said the man, waving his hand in front of his face. “I’m not a teacher! I'm just a farmer. Your headmaster just asked me to do it, that’s all.” “Oh yes, he is, he’s your farming teacher.” said the headmaster, standing beside him. “He very kindly agreed to teach you how to plant a field.” At an elementary school, anyone who taught the children anything would probably have to have teaching qualifications, but the headmaster didn’t worry about things like that. He thought it important for children to learn by actually seeing things done. “Let’s begin then,” said the farming teacher. The farming teacher told the children to get spades and other tools from the car and started them on weeding. He told them all about weeds: how hardy they were; how some grew faster than crops and hid the sun from them; how weeds were good hiding places for bad insects; and how weeds could be a nuisance by taking all the nourishment from the soil. He taught them one thing after another. And while he talked, his hands never stopped pulling out weeds. The children did the same. Then the teacher showed them how to dig, how to make furrows; how to spread fertilizer; and everything else you had to do to grow things in a field, explaining as he demonstrated. A little snake put its head out and very nearly bit the hand of Ta-chan, one of the older boys, but the farming teacher reassured him, “The snakes here are not poisonous, and they won’t hurt you if you don’t hurt them.” Besides teaching the children how to plant a field, the farming teacher told them interesting things about insects, birds, and butterflies, about the weather, and about all sorts of other things. [Adapted from ‘Totto-chan - The Little Girl at the Window’ by Tetsuko Kuroyanagi]

(i) For each word given below choose the correct meaning (as used in the passage) from the options provided:     [2]

1. dilapidated
   1. faded and yellow
   2. new and shining
   3. tightly wrapped
   4. old and ragged
2. elementary
   1. primary
   2. special
   3. secondary
   4. village

(ii) Which word in the passage is the opposite of ‘boring’?     [1]

1. important
2. nuisance
3. nourishment
4. interesting

(iii) Answer the following questions briefly in your own words:

1. How was the new teacher dressed?     [2]
2. Which sentence in the passage tells us that Totto-chan had seen the new teacher before?     [2]
3. Why do you think the headmaster had to correct the farmer about his role?     [2]
4. Why was the headmaster right in inviting the new teacher to take a class?     [2]
5. What did the farmer say that proved that he knew a lot about snakes?     [1]

(iv) In not more than 50 words, give an account of what the farmer taught the children that day.     [8]

Answer 1

(i) 

1. old and ragged
2. primary

(ii) intersting

(iii) 

1. The new teacher wore a striped cotton jacket, a towel around his neck, patched cotton trousers, thick socks instead of shoes, and an old, ragged straw hat on his head.
2. The sentence is: “As she stared at the teacher, Totto-chan thought that she had seen him before.” (Alternatively, her question: “Aren’t you the farmer who works in the field by the stream?” also confirms this).
3. The farmer was modest and insisted he was not a teacher because he lacked formal qualifications. The headmaster corrected him to validate his expertise, identifying him specifically as a “farming teacher” to show the children that practical knowledge is as valuable as academic learning.
4. The headmaster believed in the importance of experiential learning. He was right because the farmer provided the children with hands-on, practical knowledge about nature and agriculture that a regular classroom teacher could not offer.
5. The farmer proved his knowledge by identifying the snakes in the area as non-poisonous and explaining that they would not harm the children unless provoked.

(iv) Lessons from the Farming Teacher

The farmer taught the children how to weed, explaining that weeds steal nourishment and sunlight from crops. He demonstrated digging, making furrows, and spreading fertilizer. Additionally, he shared practical knowledge about the behavior of snakes, birds, and butterflies, as well as the weather, emphasizing learning through direct observation and hands-on work.