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Question
'The Road Not Taken' is a biographical poem. Therefore, some personal
biographical information is relevant for the deeper understanding of the poem
we have read. Go to www.encarta.com and complete the following worksheet
about Robert Frost.
a) What "momentous decision" was made by Frost in 1912?
b) How old was he when took that decision?
c) Why was it so difficult to take that decision? Think and give more than one reason.
d) Was the "road" taken by Frost an easy one "to travel"?
e) Do you think he wrote "The Road Not Taken" before sailing from the USA to
England or after? Can you quote a line or two from the poem that can support your
answer?
f) Do you think Frost finally became popular in America as a poet?
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Solution
(a) Frost made the momentous decision of going to England from America.
(b) He was 38 when he made that momentous decision.
(c) It was quite difficult to take that decision because:
- He was leaving the country of his birth and going to a foreign country.
- He was risking to adopt a profession that was not very rewarding.
- He had to sell his property to go there.
(d) No, the road was not easy to travel.
(e) I think Frost wrote “The Road Not Taken’ after sailing from the USA to England. The lines that prove this point are: ‘I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence.’
(f) Robert Frost became very popular in the USA. He was widely read and appreciated as a poet in his lifetime.
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RELATED QUESTIONS
A story can have more than one ending. Rewrite the end of the story you have just read. You can begin like this…….. “As he drove home, he felt guilty for having let his children down. He reached home, entered the house and saw his wife and children watching the television…”
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After the night meal with his head on his granny’s lap, nestling close to her, Swaminathan felt very snug and safe in the faint atmosphere of cardamom and cloves. ‘Oh, Granny !’ he cried ecstatically. ‘You don’t know what a great fellow Rajam is.’ He told her the story of the first enmity between Rajam and Mani and the subsequent friendship.
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Swarni: You don’t know what a great fellow Raj am is! In the beginning I could not get along with him but now he is my good friend. And you know, he has a real police dress.
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Grandmother: I think, it must be a tremendous office. Do you know, your grandfather was a powerful submagistrate and the Police Force trembled before him? Even the fiercest dacoits of the place fled.
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(1) Major Percy and Bill come to the house.
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(8) Mrs. Bramble resumes work of darning the sock.
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Answer the following question briefly.
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Answer the following questions: ‘
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Answer the following questions:
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The brook appears to be a symbol for life. Pick out examples of parallelism
between life and the brook from the poem.
On the basis of your understanding of the poem, answer the following question
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Answer the following question.
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And pokin' and fussin'
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Answer the following question briefly.
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Why is the convict eager to reach Paris?
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Deduce the meanings of the following words from the passage you have just read, using other words in the context to help you. Copy and complete the following :
| Word | Words/clues that helped me | what I think the word means | what the dictionary says | were you (✓) (tick mark) or (x) |
| confined | ||||
| ranged | ||||
| overlapping | ||||
| bobbing | ||||
| olfactory | ||||
| aggregation | ||||
| plummeting | ||||
| mortality | ||||
| vulnerable | ||||
| poached |
Look at the numbers on the map, and match them with the names given in the box below.
Compounds—someone, nothing etc.
| someone | anyone | none | everyone |
| somebody | anybody | nobody | everybody |
| something | anything | nothing | everything |
| somewhere | anywhere | nowhere | everywhere |
(Words ending with one and body mean the same.)
Fill in the gaps with some of the words from the table above:
- He can’t hear _____ . He’s completely deaf.
- _______ is going blurred. I can’t see!
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- Shh! There is _____________ moving downstairs.
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| (a) (i) leaving stamped (ii) leaves unstamped (iii) leave unstamped (iv) left unstamped |
(b) (i) mail them (ii) mails them (iii) mailed this (iv) mailing these |
(c) (i) show up (ii) shown up (iii) are show up (iv) have show up |
| (d) (i) is setting up (ii) was set up (iii) is set up (iv) has been set up |
(e) (i) is established (ii) is being established (iii) was established (iv) has been established |
(f) (i) replacing (ii) has been replaced (iii) is replaced (iv) was replaced |
The Environment in Danger
What do you think will happen to the following?
Choose four, and write one sentence about each using the modals below and/ or expressions from 10.
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(b) The Taj Mahal
(c) The Maldives
(d) The rainforests
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(f) Fossil fuels
(g) The Ganges delta
e.g. In my opinion, the hole in the ozone layer will grow bigger and more people will get skin cancer.
Match the sentences in A with their meanings in B.
| A | B |
|
You should have taken your keys. You could/might have lost your keys at the cinema. You must have left your keys at home. |
It is possible that you left your keys. You are to blame for leaving your keys. I think that you probably left your keys. |
Fill in the empty bubbles in Column C with reports of what was said in Column A, as in the box given above.
Look at the map below.
You have invited three friends to a party at your house. Write three separate notes, giving them directions from 1, 2 and 3 to your house. You may use the words in the box.
The directions from (1) are given here as an example
Go down Diwan Marg and turn right down Antonio Avenue. Walk as far as the traffic lights then turn right into Mount Road. Turn first left into The Crescent and my house is on the left.
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