Advertisements
Advertisements
Question
Why do you think Paul's mother was not satisfied with the yearly birthday gift of 1,000 pounds for five years.
Advertisements
Solution
The incident defines a great deal of the character of Hester, Paul's mother. A beautiful woman though she was, who started with all advantages, had no luck. Thus, dissatisfied as she was for her husband not being able to fulfill her desires for a lavish lifestyle. She felt that her household and her children had been thrust upon her and should not love them. Thus, Paul did for her what his father could not do. He earned her money through his luck. He was desperate to prove it to her that he was worthy of it. So, he decided to give her mother his hard-earned 5,000 pounds discretely. Uncle Oscar and Paul brought up a scheme that they would give Hester 1000 pounds for five years on her birthday. However, as the mother was under debt, rather than trying to discover who was being generous towards her, she asked for the 5,000 pounds all in once to end her debt. It seems that Hester was not the one to learn from her lessons and so she returned to her lavish lifestyle not treading carefully and did not save anything for a rainy day. She was not a lady to be satisfied. She knew from the beginning that she and her husband had a little income and thus should have altered their lifestyle. However, she blamed it all on her husband for being unlucky and never loved or supported her family.
APPEARS IN
RELATED QUESTIONS
Dolly Winthrop has a very noble nature. Comment.
Read the following passage carefully and do the given activities:
A.1) True or False:
Write the statements and state whether they are true or false:
(i) Those who choose to live well must help others.
(ii) If neighbors grow inferior corn, cross-pollination will steadily improve the quality.
(iii) The farmer grew award-winning corn.
(iv) The reporter discovered that the farmer didn’t share his seed corn with his neighbors.
There once was a farmer who grew award-winning corn. Each year he entered his corn in the state fair where it won a blue ribbon. One year a newspaper reporter interviewed him and learned something interesting about how he grew it. The reporter discovered that the farmer shared his sweet corn with his neighbors. “How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbors when they are entering corn in competition with yours each year?” the reporter asked.
“Why sir”, said the farmer, “didn’t you know? The wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbors grow inferior corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbors grow good corn.” He is very much aware of the connectedness of life. His corn cannot improve unless his neighbor's corn also improves. So it is with our lives. Those who choose to live in peace must help their neighbors to live in peace. Those who choose to live well must help others to live well, for the value of a life is measured by the lives it touches.
The lesson for each of us is this: if we are to grow good corn, we must help our neighbors grow good corn.
A.2) Consequences:
Write the consequences:
(i) The farmer shares the corn.
(ii) The farmer doesn’t share the corn.
A.3) Antonyms:
Find out the words opposite in meaning from the passage:
(i) superior x _______
(ii) lost x _______
(iii) improve x _______
(iv) inconstantly x _______
A.4) Language study:
(i) We must help our neighbors. (Replace the modal auxiliary showing advice).
(ii) The wind picks up pollen from ripening corn and swirls it field to field. (Use “not only…….. but also” and rewrite)
A.5) Personal Response:
What do you learn from the story? Suggest a suitable title.
What has not changed over the years? Does this suggest something to you?
What do you understand of the natures of Ramanand and Azam Khan from the episode described?
Locate expressions in the text reflect the Indian idiom, for example, the pride of the generations of his ancestors.
Suggest a few instances in the poem which highlight humour and irony.
Examine the communication channels in the story between Paul and Bassett.
Why does Russell call the three passions 'simple'?
Discuss the following in pairs or in groups of four:
“Tribal arts are not specifically meant for sale.” Does this help or hamper their growth and preservation?
Comment on the use of the phrase ‘fresh-peeled voice’.
Read the extract and state whether the following statement is true or false. Correct the false statement.
The aroma of the ‘desi’ rice would spread around the village.
Read the extract and state whether the following statement is true or false. Correct the false statement.
The author is an example of ‘reverse migration’.
Find from the story one word for the following.
a low constant sound made by cats ______
Answer in your own words.
How did Revathi prove to the organisers of the competition, that the plants truly belonged to her?
Make a list of the preparations made for an assault on Tiger Hill.
Bofors guns _____________.
Find from the library or internet other poems composed on tiny living creatures. Try to understand the message in each of them.
Read the lesson and name the following.
A sack around the heart ______
Form suitable groups and discuss the following.
You have heard/read stories of Akbar and Birbal, Tenali Raman, Mulla Nasruddin. Recollect and write down the names of those stories.
Pick out those aspects of a story that you find a common in all their stories.
- Humour
- Supernatural event
- Wisdom
- Suspense
- Magic
- Beauty of Nature
- Wit
- Play upon words
- Sadend
- Violence
Do as directed. (Make sure you do not change the meaning and tense of the sentence).
I am proud of you. (Rewrite using the noun form of the underlined word).
Complete the following statements with the help of the text.
To learn about meditation, you have to see ____________________________________________________________ Watch your thinking. Do not ________________________ Do not ____________________________________ Begin to learn ______________________________ Just watch thought. Do not ____________________________________________________.
Read the description of the Kabaddi match and do the following:
Write, in your own words, what happened in the second half.
Read the poem aloud. Recite any stanza of your choice from memory.
Correct the given sentence with justification.
The play is restricted to only a part of the woods.
What changes in the stage setting would you suggest.
Find the meaning of ‘Charity begins at home’. Find other sayings which have a similar meaning.
How early did the preparations for the Science Fair begin?
Write one line about the following with the help of the poem.
wind in the autumn evening
Prepare similar word chains using the following ideas.
sunshine - warm ________________.
Gather more information about cold winters in Russia.
Read the word. Write the words that combine to make it.
snowwhite
What are the common Rangoli designs or motifs?
____________ had provided Prospero formerly with books and provisions.
The taxi driver took away the narrator’s suitcase.
Answer the following question based on the reading of the story. Do not forget to go back to the passage whenever necessary to find and confirm the answer.
| Action | Effect |
| While you warm yourself | I will prepare the best tea. |
| I saved enough money | |
| Six hundred and two villages were destroyed. | |
| It was a terrible earthquake and it was felt | |
| I ran back to the village | |
| They lifted the door | |
| I went to thank the Army Officer |
Pick out the rhyming words from the first stanza of the poem.
Learning About Nature
Learn about caterpillars and butterflies. Read a book about a caterpillar turning into a butterfly. You can get one from the library or go online and find information with pictures.
Read these lines and answer the questions given below.
Where the voice of the wind calls our wandering feet
Whose ‘Wandering feet’ is referred to here?
Read the lines and answer the question given below.
Faster than fairies, faster than witches,
Bridges and houses, hedges and ditches;
- What is faster than fairies and witches?
- Why does the poet mention ‘bridges and houses, hedges and ditches’? Where are the
Fruits, vegetables, and water in the Mars are not ______.
Is the brother boastful? What makes you think so?
Why did the girl reply haughtily?
It ploughs soil before _________.
What does it give to the farmer?
The villagers, built a _______ on his memory.
Vicky decided to______ the robot at the end.
The rich man ______ at the beggar.
______hem the border.
Look at the picture and tick Choose the correct word.
Answer using Yes or No and pick sentence from the story to support your answer.
Was Robinson alone in the island?
The old man is _____.
Circle the animals which are in the voyage.
Name the character or speaker.
"Did someone scold you?"
Why was the teacher annoyed?
In early days, Amir left the tap opened.
Why should we close the tap after using it?
We ______ yarn to make sarees.
Chris enjoyed doing all sorts of things except, writing and ______.art
Why did the animals think that the jackal was a king?
Bertha was very good but very proud too.
