English Medium Class 9 - CBSE Question Bank Solutions for English - Communicative

Answer the following question briefly.
What made Triveni a popular writer?

Answer the following question briefly.
Why did the grandmother depend on her granddaughter to know the story?

Answer the following question briefly.
Pick out two sentences showing that the grandmother was desperate to know what happened next in the story.

Answer the following question briefly
Could the grandmother succeed in accomplishing her desire to read? How?

Answer the following question briefly
Which of the following traits are relevant to the character of the narrator's grandmother?
(i) determined
(ii) selfish
(iii) emotional
(iv)mean
Give reasons for your choice.

Here are some direct quotations from the story. Identify the speaker and write what each quotation suggests about the speaker. You can use the adjectives given in the box and may also add your own.

You are the grandmother. How did you feel when your granddaughter gave you the novel ‘Kashi Yatre’ ? Write your feelings in your diary.
To make your diary entry interesting, read the following information about what is a diary entry.
A diary entry is a purely personal piece of writing. The writer expresses his/her thoughts and feelings. Reactions to incidents are generally poured out in a diary. Hence expressions that are emotionally charged are used.

                       For example – When you are happy about something, you could start like this
                       8th July 20xx, Wednesday             8 pm
                       Today I am very happy as ………………………..

Here is a story about Swami and his grandmother. After reading the excerpt, change it into a conversation between Swami and his Grandmother.
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.

‘You know, he has a real police dress,’ said Swaminathan. ‘Is it? What does he want a police dress for?’ asked Granny.

‘His father is the Police Superintendent. He is the master of every policeman here.’ Granny was impressed. She said that it must be a tremendous office indeed. She then recounted the days when her husband, Swaminathan’s grandfather, was a powerful sub-magistrate, in which office he made the police force tremble before him and the fiercest dacoits of the place flee. Swaminathan waited impatiently for her to finish the story. But she went on, rambled, confused, mixed up various incidents that took place at different times. ‘That will do, Granny,’ he said ungraciously. ‘Let me tell you something about Rajam. Do you know how many marks he gets in arithmetic?’

‘He gets all the marks, does he, child?’ asked Granny.
‘No silly. He gets ninety marks out of one hundred.’
‘Good. But you must also try and get marks like him…. You know, Swami, your grandfather used to frighten the examiners with his answers sometimes. When he answered a question, he did it in a tenth of the time that others took to do it. And then, his answers would be so powerful that his teachers would give him two hundred marks sometimes.

‘Oh, enough, Granny ! You go on bothering about old unnecessary stories. Won’t you listen to Rajam?’
‘Yes, dear, yes.’
‘Granny, when Rajam was a small boy, he killed a tiger.’
Swaminathan started the story enthusiastically : Rajam’s father was camping in a forest. He had his son with him. Two tigers came upon them suddenly, one knocking down the father from behind. The other began chasing Rajam, who took shelter behind a bush and shot it dead with his gun.

‘Granny, are you asleep?’ Swaminathan asked at the end of the story.
Now read the dialogue and complete the conversation:
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.
Grandmother: Is it? What does he want a police dress for?
Swarni: His father is the Police Super­intendent. He is the master of every policeman here.
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.
Swarni: That will do, Granny. It’s so boring. Let me tell you something about Raj am. Do you know how many marks he gets in arithmetic?
Grandmother: He gets all the marks, doesn’t he, child?

Duke is a Doberman. What are the other known breeds of dogs?

a) This is the other word for trembling
(b) This is used for smile
(c) You call a person this if he/she has pale gold coloured hair.
(d) This is a quality which relates to high energy and noise

(e) This is related to dancing or moving in a way that involves shaking your hips and shoulders
(f) This is to express a tendency to show violent and wild behaviour often causing damage
(g) We use it for a condition which is serious, uncertain and dangerous
(h) This is a state in which one is forced to stay in a closed space
(i) This is a medical condition involving bleeding in the brain
(j) It is a loud, deep shout to show anger.
(k) This is a condition when the rope or leash is stretched tightly

Answer the following questions briefly:
(a) In 1953, Hooper was a favoured young man. Explain.
(b) They said that they would create a desk job for Hooper at headquarters.

• Who are ‘they’?
• Why did they decide to do this?

(c) Duke was an extraordinary dog. What special qualities did he exhibit to justify this? Discuss.
(d) What problems did Chuck present when he returned to the company headquarters?
(e) Why do you think Charles Hooper’s appointment as Assistant National Sales Manager is considered to be a tribute to Duke?

Following dates were important in Charles Hooper’s life in some way. Complete the table by relating the description with the correct dates:

Given below are five qualities that Charles Hooper displayed during his struggle for survival.

Get into groups of four. Each team will choose one quality to talk about to the whole class for about one minute. But before you talk you have two minutes to think about it. You can make notes if you wish.

Listen to an excerpt from a news telecast on a national channel carefully and complete the table given below.

With your partner, discuss and narrate an incident about a person who likes to show off.
Check whether your classmates agree with you.

The ‘Professor’ knew too much. How did he prove himself ? Fill up the space with suitable examples from the story, using the given clues :
(a) about muzzle velocity : _____
(b) after a thirty mile walk : _____
(c) his salute on payday : ______
(d) the loud sound of a high flying invisible aeroplane : _______
(e) about hand grenades : _______
(f) during cook house duties :. _______

Answer the following question briefly:
(a) What is a ‘nickname’ ? Can you suggest another one for Private Quelch?

Answer the following question briefly:

 Private Quelch looked like a ‘Professor’ when the author first met him at the training depot. Why?

Answer the following question briefly: 

What does the dark, sun-dried appearance of the Sergeant suggest about him?

Answer the following question briefly:

 How was Private Quelch’s knowledge exposed even further as the Sergeant’s classes went on?