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Question
Why did Plan B fail?
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Solution
The father swung himself on a branch and the branch broke. Thus, the Plan B failed.
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Discuss in pair and answer question below in a short paragraph (30 − 40 words.
What did Harris say after the bag was shut and strapped? Why do you think he waited
till then to ask?
How has Prashant, a teenager, been able to help the people of his village?
The athletes had come from all over the country
To run for the gold, for the silver and bronze
Many weeks and months of training
All coming down to these games.
The spectators gathered around the old field
To cheer on all the young women and men
The final event of the day was approaching
Excitement grew high to begin.
Read the lines given above and answer the following question:
Were the contestants well prepared for the event? Pick the line that illustrates this.
“If you are rested I would go,” I urged. “Get up and try to walk now.”
“Thank you,” he said and got to his feet, swayed from side to side and then sat down backwards in the dust.
“I was taking care of animals,” he said dully, but no longer to me. “I was only taking care of animals.”
There was nothing to do about him. It was Easter Sunday and the Fascists were advancing toward the Ebro. It was a grey overcast day with a low ceiling so their planes were not up. That and the fact that cats know how to look after themselves was all the good luck that the old man would ever have.
Read the extract given below and answer the question that follow.
Why might the old man need good luck at the end of the story?
Mrs. Thompson did not reply, but presently turned towards the little chamber where her husband had deposited Maggie; and, pushing open the door, went quietly in. Joe did not follow; he saw that, her state had changed, and felt that it would be best to leave her alone with the child. So he went to his shop, which stood near the house, and worked until dusky evening released him from labor. A light shining through the little chamber windows was the first object that attracted Joe’s attention on turning towards the house: it was a good omen. The path led him by this windows and, when opposite, he could not help pausing to look in. It was now dark enough outside to screen him from observation. Maggie lay, a little raised on the pillow with the lamp shining full upon her face. Mrs. Thompson was sitting by the bed, talking to the child; but her back was towards the window, so that her countenance was not seen. From Maggie’s face, therefore, Joe must read the character of their intercourse. He saw that her eyes were intently fixed upon his wife; that now and then a few words came, as if in answers from her lips; that her expression was sad and tender; but he saw nothing of bitterness or pain. A deep-drawn breath was followed by one of relief, as a weight lifted itself from his heart.
Read the extract given below and answer the question that follow.
What did Joe see from the window?
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
Richard Parker was so named because of a clerical error.
A panther was terrorizing the Khulna district of Bangladesh, just outside the Sundarbans. It had recently carried off a little girl. She was the seventh person killed in two months by the animal. And it was growing bolder. The previous victim was a man who had been attacked in broad daylight in his field. The beast dragged him off into the forest, and his corpse was later found hanging from a tree. The villagers kept a watch nearby that night, hoping to surprise the panther and kill it, but it never appeared.
The Forest Department hired a professional hunter. He set up a small, hidden platform in a free near a river where two of the attacks had taken place. A goat was tied to a stake on the river’s bank. The hunter waited several nights. He assumed the panther would be an old, wasted male with worn teeth, incapable of catching anything more difficult than a human. But it was a sleek tiger that stepped into the open one night: a female with a single cub. The goat bleated. Oddly, the cub, who looked to be about three months old, paid little attention to the goat. It raced to the water’s edge, where it drank eagerly. Its mother followed it. Of hunger and thirst, thirst is the greater urge. Only once the tiger had quenched her thirst did she turn to the goat to satisfy her hunger.
The hunter had two rifles with him: one with real bullets, the other with immobilizing darts. This animal was not the man-eater, but so close to human habitation she might pose a threat to the villagers, especially as she was with cub. He picked up the gun with the darts. He fired as the tiger was about to attack the goat. The tiger reared up and snarled and raced away. But immobilizing darts don’t bring on sleep gently—they knock the creature out without warning. A burst of activity on the animal’s part makes it act all the faster. The hunter called his assistants on the radio. They found the tiger about two hundred yards from the river. She was still conscious. Her back legs had given way and her balance on her front legs was shaky. When the men got close, she tried to get away but could not manage it. She turned on them, lifting a paw that was meant to kill. It only made her lose her balance. She collapsed and the Pondicherry Zoo had two new tigers. The cub was found in a bush close by, meowing with fear.
The hunter, whose name was Richard Parker, picked it up with his bare hands and, remembering how it had rushed to drink in the river, named it Thirsty. But the shipping clerk at the Howrah train station was evidently a man both confused and diligent. All the papers received with the cub clearly stated that its name was Richard Parker, that the hunter’s first name was Thirsty add that his family name was None Given. Richard Parker’s name stuck. I don’t know if the hunter was ever called Thirsty None Given!
(a) Give the meaning of each of the following words as used in the passage.
One word answers ob short phrases will be accepted.
- corpse (line 6)
- quenched (line 16)
- reared (line 20)
(b) Answer the following questions briefly in your own words.
- Why does the author say that the panther ‘was getting bolder’?
- Why did the Forest Department hire a professional hunter?
- What did the hunter expect to encounter? What did he actually encounter?
- What did the tiger do before turning to attack the goat? Why did it do that?
- Why did the hunter decide to shoot the tiger though he knew it was not the man-eater?
- What name did the hunter give to the cub? Why?
(c)
(i) In not more than 60 words narrrate how the hunter and his assistants captured the tiger and her cub.
(ii) Give a suitable title to your summary in 3(c). Give a reason to justify your choice.
Which casket does Arragon finally choose? Whose portrait does he find inside? Which casket actually contains Portia's portrait?
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
There’s nobody on the house-tops now …..
Just a palsied few at the windows set;
For the best of the sight is, all allow,
At the Shambles’ Gate …… or, better yet,
By the very scaffold’s foot, I trow.
– The Patriot, Robert Browning
(i) Who is the speaker? Where is he being taken? Why?
(ii) Describe the scene when he had walked down the same street a year ago.
(iii) Where does the speaker think all the people had gathered that day? Why does he think so?
(iv) Describe the speaker's physical condition.
(v) What is the central message of the poem? Does the poem and on a note of hope or despair? Give one reason for your answer.
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
Every Monday, on his way back from work, Bipin Chowdhury would drop in at New Market to buy books. He had to buy at least five at a time to last him through the week. He lived alone, was not a good mixer, had few friends, and didn't like spending time in idle chat. Those who called in· the evening got through their business quickly and left. Those who didn't show signs of leaving would be told around eight o'clock by Bipin Babu that he was under doctor's orders to have dinner at eight-thirty. After dinner, he would rest for half an hour and then tum in with a book. This was a routine that had persisted unbroken for years
Today, Bipin Babu had the feeling that someone was observing him from close quarters. He turned around and found himself looking at a round-faced, meek-looking man who now broke into a smile.
"I don't suppose you recognize me." Bipin Babu felt ill at ease. It didn't seem that he had ever encountered this man before. The face seemed quite unfamiliar.
"Have we met before ?" asked Bipin Babu.
The man looked greatly surprised. "We met every day for a whole week. I arranged for a car to take you to the Hudroo falls. My name is Parimal Chose."
"Ranchi?"
Now Bipin Babu realized this man was making a mistake. Bipin Babu had never been to Ranchi. He smiled and said, "Do you know who I am?"
The man raised his eyebrows, and said, "Who doesn't know Bipin Chowdhury ?"
Bipin Babu turned towards the bookshelves and said, "You've to make a mistake. I've never been to Ranchi."
The man now laughed aloud.
"What are you saying, Mr. Chowdhury? You had a fall in Hudroo and cut your right knee. I brought you iodine. I had fixed up a car for you to go to Netarhat the next day, but you couldn't because of the pain in the knee. Can't you recall anything? Someone else you know was also in Ranchi at that time. Mr. Dinesh Mukherjee. You stayed in a bungalow. You said you didn't like hotel food. I'll tell you more; you always carried a bag with your books in it on your sightseeing trips. Am I right or not ?"
Bipin Babu spoke quietly, his eyes still on the books. "Which month in Nineteen fifty-eight are you talking about?"
The man said, "October."
"No, sir," said Bipin Babu. "I spent October Nineteen fifty-eight with a friend in Kanpur. You're making a mistake. Good day."
But the man didn't go, nor did he stop talking.
"Very strange. One evening I had tea with you on the verandah of your bungalow.
You spoke about your family. You said you had no children, and that you had lost your wife a decade ago."
When Bipin Babu had paid for the books and was leaving the shop, the man was still looking at him in utter disbelief.
Bipin Babu's car was safely parked in Bertram Street. He told the driver as he got into the car, "Just drive by the Ganga, will you, Sitaram." Driving up the Strand Road, Bipin Babu regretted having paid so much attention to the intn1der. He had never been to Ranchi. He had an excellent memory.
Unless he was losing his mind!
(a) Give the meaning of the following words as used in the passage.
One word answers or short phrases will be accepted.
(i) persisted (line 7)
(ii) decade (line 38)
(iii) intruder (line 43)
(b) Answer the following questions briefly in your our words:
(i) How did Bipin Chowdhury find time to read five books a week?
(ii) How did he get rid of visitors who stayed late?
(iii) Which sentence tells you that Bipin Babu will uncomfortable?
(iv) What strong argument did Bipin Babu give to prove that he was not in Ranchi at that time?
(v)What does Bipin Babu regret?
(vi) What is Bipin Babu's feelings at the end of the passage?
(c) (i) What memories of the trip does Parimal Ghose evoke to prove that Bipin Babu was indeed in Ranchi? Answer in not more than 60 words.
(ii) Give a title to your summary in 3(c) (i), Give a reason to justify your choice.
On getting a gift of chappals, the beggar vanished in a minute. Why was he in such a hurry to leave?
Whose knucklebones were collected by Willy Wonka?
What major decision did that Dog take?
Answer the following question.
Why do you think the writer visited Miss Beam’s school?
Answer the question.
What does he imagine about
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How do you define or describe a desert? Name some common desert animals. How do they survive?
Look at the following phrases and their meanings. Use the phrase to fill in the blank in the sentence given below.
We should _____________ a little money every month.
Who was the bearded man?
Study the following phrases and their meanings. Use them appropriately to complete the sentences that follow.
After a very long spell of heat, the weather is ………….. at last.
In the short story, The Story of an Hour, it is Josephine who breaks the tragic news of Brently Mallard’s death to Mrs Mallard because ______.
In the poem, The Darkling Thrush, the poet uses the words “evensong" and “carolling” to describe the thrush's song because ______.
