11th std A Photograph

11th std A Photograph 

Extract based Questions(MCQs)

I. Read the extract given below and answer any two of the questions that follow.
“The cardboard shows me how it was When the two girl cousins went paddling, Each one holding one of my mother’s hands,
And she the big girl – some twelve years or so.”
Question 1.
What does the cardboard here refer to?
(a) A thick paper on which the poet’s photograph was pasted
(b) A thick envelope
(c) A thick paper on which the poet’s mother’s photograph was pasted
(d) A paper boat
Answer:
(c) A thick paper on which the poet’s mother’s photograph was pasted

Question 2.
What does the cardboard depict?
(a) It depicts a scenery
(b) It depicts the picture of a house
(c) It depicts the picture of a school
(d) It depicts the picture of three girls
Answer:
(d) It depicts the picture of three girls

Question 3.
Who is the ‘big girl’ mentioned here?
(a) The big girl is the poet herself
(b) The big girl is the poet’s mother
(c) The big girl is the poet’s relative
(d) The big girl is the poet’s friend
Answer:
(b) The big girl is the poet’s mother

II. Read the extract given below and answer any two of the questions that follow.
“All three stood still to smile through their hair At the uncle with the camera. A sweet face,
My mother’s, that was before I was born.
And the sea, which appears to have changed less,
Washed their terribly transient feet.”
Question 1.
What does the poet mean by ‘smile through their hair’?
(a) It means that a smile was painted on the hair of the photographed girls
(b) It means that the photographed girls were wearing a mask
(c) It means that the hair of the photographed girls were covering their face when they were smiling
(d) It means that the hair of the girls in the photograph was smiling too
Answer:
(c) It means that the hair of the photographed girls were covering their face when they were smiling

Question 2.
What has not changed over a period of time?
(a) The photo
(b) The cardboard
(c) The girls
(d) The sea
Answer:
(d) The sea

Question 3.
Find a word from the extract which means “lasting only for a short time”?
(a) Still
(b) Transient
(c) Changed
(d) Less
Answer:
(b) Transient

III. Read the extract given below and answer any two of the questions that follow.
“Some twenty-thirty – years later She’d laugh at the snapshot. “See Betty And Dolly,” she’d say, “and look how they Dressed us for the beach.” The sea holiday Was her past, mine is her laughter. Both wry With the laboured ease of loss.”
Question 1.
Why did ‘she’ laugh?
(a) Because of the funny dresses that they were wearing at the sea holiday
(b) Because one of them cracked a joke
(c) Because of the funny dresses they were wearing at the party
(d) Because of the funny man they saw at the sea holiday
Answer:
(a) Because of the funny dresses that they were wearing at the sea holiday

Question 2.
Who are Betty and Dolly?
(a) They are poet’s cousins
(b) They are poet’s friends
(c) They are poet’s mother’s friends
(d) They are poet’s mother’s cousins
Answer:
(d) They are poet’s mother’s cousins

Question 3.
_________ in the extract is the synonym of ‘photograph’.
(a) Snapshot
(b) Picture
(c) Mine
(d) Laboured
Answer:
(a) Snapshot

IV. Read the extract given below and answer any two of the questions that follow.
“Now she’s been dead nearly as many years As that girl lived. And of this circumstance There is nothing to say at all.
Its silence silences.”
Question 1.
Who does ‘she’ refer to?
(a) The poet’s dead aunt
(b) The poet’s dead mother
(c) The poet’s dead cousin
(d) The poet’s sister
Answer:
(b) The poet’s dead mother

Question 2.
Why is there nothing to say about the death of the poet’s mother?
(a) Because the poet is confused
(b) Because the poet was not in her senses when her mother expired
(c) Because the death of the poet’s mother has left a deep void in the poet’s heart
(d) Because the poet did not have a good relationship with her mother
Answer:
(c) Because the death of the poet’s mother has left

Question 3.
Which word in the extract means the same as “events that change your life, over which you have no control”?
(a) Silences
(b) Circumstances
(c) Situation
(d) Circumstance
Answer:
(d) Circumstance

Short answer type Questions

1. The three stanzas depict three different phases. What are they?

Shirley Toulson’s ‘A Photograph’ describes three different phases in time.

In the first phase, the poet’s mother is described as a twelve year old girl with a sweet and innocent smile. She is standing on the beach enjoying a holiday with her two cousins — Betty and Dolly . This was the phase before the poet’s birth.In the second phase, the poet’s mother’s middle age is described, where she is laughing at her own snapshot. Perhaps the girls were looking quite funny in the beach costumes. The third phase describes the poet’s feelings for her mother, who has died many years ago. This is the current phase. The photograph revives nostalgic feelings in her and it leads to a deeper silence.

2. What does the word ‘cardboard’ denote in the poem? Why has this word been used?

The word cardboard denotes the photograph pasted on a hard thick paper. This word has been used to refer to a practice in the past when photographs were pasted on cardboard and framed with glass front to preserve them.

3. What has not changed over the years? Does this suggest something to you?

Time has moved on, but what has not changed over the years is the sea. It is immortal. It appears to be the same today as it looked in the old photograph. It suggests the eternity of the sea. It also brings out the transient nature of man when compared to nature and its objects. The pretty faces and the feet of the three girls are ‘terribly transient’ or mortal when compared to the unchangeable and immortal sea.

4. The poet’s mother laughed at the snapshot. What did this laugh indicate?

Answer:
The poet’s mother was a girl of twelve when the photograph was taken. The photograph had captured the smiling face of the poet’s mother. She laughed in nostalgia at the snapshot that was taken years ago and also at the way all of them were dressed for the beach. She pointed it out to others. Perhaps they looked funny. This laugh indicated that the poet’s mother enjoyed remembering her childhood days, when she was young and free from the tensions and worries of adult life.

5.What is the meaning of the line ‘Both wry with the laboured ease of loss.’
The context of the above lines is the mother’s recollection of her childhood days and the poet’s recollection of her mother’s laughing face. The mother had fond memories of her past but there was a sense of loss of the carefree childhood days. The poet’s loss referred to here is the loss of her mother through death and her smile. The memories in each case were beautiful, but painful to recall as time slipped away so easily from their hands..

6. What does ‘this circumstance of the photograph’ refer to?
‘This circumstance’ refers to the death of the poet’s mother. Whenever she saw the photograph of her mother, she reminisced the past and becomes sad as the photograph brings sad nostalgic feelings. She gets lost in the old sweet memories of the past. But she can’t do anything about it, now. She has nothing to say at all about it. She maintains silence and this silence leads to a deeper pool of silence.

7. How does the poet react to her past? Why has she not mentioned anything about her mother’s death?
The poet remembers with sadness her mother’s laughter which she cannot hear any more. The poet is full of a sense of loss and does not mention about her mother’s death, as it may bring more gloom or agony to her and make her speechless.

8. Does the poet appear to be grieving?
The poet is certainly filled with a sense of loss. Her mother is long dead and though the poet has adjusted to her absence, she is not able to completely overcome her loss. She remembers how it used to be when her mother was still with her. The last line is an apt depiction of her state of mind. The loss has filled her life with emptiness and silence.

9. Comment on the tone of the poem.
The tone of the poem is that of sadness. Shirley Toulson looks at an old photograph of her mother and is sadly reminded of her mother who is no more. She mentions about death of her mother indirectly only but this photograph has made her speechless and silent.

Q10. Explain the contrast given in the last two lines of the first stanza.

The contrast is between the sea and the humans. The sea had remained the constant for all these years, but the humans have undergone changes. Her mother grew up and now she had been dead for the past twelve years but the sea remained as it is welcoming other visitors at the shore to cherish memories for life.

11. What has the camera captured?
The camera has captured some happy childhood moments of the poet’s mother when she has gone for a sea holiday with her two cousins Dolly and Betty. The girls were paddling in the water and enjoying the moment. The photograph clicked by the mother’s uncle shows the girls’ excitement, innocent smiling faces while their hair was flying over their faces.

Long answer type Questions

1. The poet has paid a tribute to her mother. Similar instances can be seen in ‘The Portrait of a Lady’. This made you think that writing about a loved one is much better than building their statues or drawing their portraits. Comment.

Many writers have paid tributes to their loved ones through beautiful writing. Khushwant Singh gave an adorable description about his grandmother through his story. Shirley Toulson remembered her mother through her heart-touching poem.

In my opinion, writing about a loved one is much better than building their statues or drawing their portraits. One can never tell the true personality of a person just by looking at their sculptures or portraits. One can never know about the amazing time someone has spent with them. That magic can only be created by words and their expressions.

Words stand the passage of time, whereas sculptures or portraits may get damaged by it. Hence, words are the best way to emote out ones feelings by which anyone can pay a tribute to one’s loved ones.

2. “Its silence silences,” writes Shirley Toulson. The loss of her mother has silenced her. Do you think that this attitude of the poet is the right attitude to live life? Why/ why not?

There is no doubt that Shirley Toulson has given a very touching tribute to her mother by remembering her through her verses. It is apparent that she is very much nostalgic and is grieving at the loss of her mother. Though she says that over the years she has adjusted to her mother’s absence, but circumstances have surely filled her with silence and a deep void.

We cannot deny the fact that it hurts very much to lose someone, but the attitude shown by the poet at the end is not the absolute way to live ones life. Life will keep going on even if we stop to lament our loss.

Loss is universal and inevitable. learning the epistemology of loss and accepting it is the most crucial but needed thing. It is the law of nature. We cannot let ourselves get depressed just because of this. It is also understandable that we will grieve. However, grieving to the point of hampering the normal functioning of our lives is not acceptable.

10th std The Hundred Dresses Part 1

10^th std The Hundred Dresses Part 1

Extract based questions

Read the following extracts carefully and answer the questions that follow.

1.Today, Monday, Wanda Petronski was not in her seat. But nobody, not even Peggy and Maddie……………….quiet and rarely said anything at all. And nobody had ever heard her laugh out loud. Sometimes she twisted her mouth into a crooked sort of smile, but that was all.
(a) Who didn’t notice Wanda’s absence?
(b) Why did Wanda Petronski sit in the last row of the class?
(c) Find out the word which means the same as ‘dragging’.
(d) What kind of a girl Wanda was?

(a) Wanda’s absence was not noticed by anyone, not even by Peggy and Maddie who used to tease her everyday after school.
(b) Wanda Petronski sat in the last row of the class because she was very quiet and wanted to avoid the taunts and trouble by girls in the class.
(c) The word is ‘scuffling’
(d) Wanda was very quiet and serious girl who didn’t involve in the activities with other girls. No body hadn’t seen her laughing or playing.

2. But on Wednesday, Peggy and Maddie, who sat down in front with other children who got good …………...Peggy and Maddie noticed Wanda’s absence was because Wanda had made them late to school.
(a) What kind of a girl Peggy was?
(b) How did Peggy and Maddie turn up late for school?
(c) Find a word that means the opposite of ‘absence’.
(d) Who noticed Wanda’s absence in the class?

(a) Peggy was a pretty and the most popular girl in her school. She was very helpful and very close to Maddie.
(b) Peggy and Maddie turned up late to school because they waited for Wanda to make fun of her.
(c) The word is ‘presence’.
(d) Peggy and Maddie who sat down in front of other children noticed Wanda’s absence in the class.

3. Wanda didn’t have any friends. She came to school alone and went home alone. She always …………………….. ‘A hundred !” exclaimed all the little girls incredulously, and the little ones would stop playing hopscotch and listen.
(a) Did Wanda have any friend? Why did girls surround her?
(b) How did the girls make fun of Wanda?
(c) Find the word which means ‘unwilling to accept’.
(d) What did Wanda Wear always?

(a) No, Wanda didn’t have any friends. Girls surrounded her as she watched little girls play hopscotch on the ground.
(b) The girls made fun of Wanda by asking her questions about the hundred dresses she once claimed of having.
(c) The word is ‘incredulously’.
(d) Wanda always wore a faded blue dress, though it was clean but it had never been ironed properly.

4. Peggy was not really cruel. She protected small children from bullies. ………………. And she wasn’t just an ordinary person, else why did she have a name like that ? Anyway, they never made her cry.
(a) Peggy was not cruel. Give reason.
(b) Why did Peggy tease Wanda?
(c) Find out the word which means the same as ‘ Ill-treated’.
(d) Did Wanda lie about her hundred dresses?

(a) Peggy was not cruel as she protected small children from bullies and cried after seeing an animal ill-treated.
(b) Peggy teased Wanda because Wanda lied about having a hundred dresses and an unusual name.
(c) The word is ‘mistreated’.
(d) Wanda did not lie about her hundred dresses as she had hundred drawings of different dresses and she always talked about them.

5. Sometimes, when Peggy was asking Wanda those questions in that mocking polite voice, Maddie felt embarrassed ……………………... than to say she had a hundred dresses. Still she would not like for them to begin on her. She wished peggy would stop teasing Wanda Petronski.
(a) Why did Maddie feel embarrassed when Peggy teased Wanda?
(b) What did Maddie want Peggy to do?
(c) Find the word which means the same as ‘ashamed or humiliated’.
(d) What is the difference between Maddie and Wanda?

(a) Maddie felt embarrassed when Peggy teased Wanda because she herself was poor and did not want herself at Wanda’s place.
(b) Maddie wanted Peggy to stop teasing Wanda as it was not good to make fun of her name or about dresses.
(c) The word is ‘embarrassed’.
(d) The difference between Maddie and Wanda is that though Maddie was also poor but not as poor as Wanda. But Wanda would have more sense than to say she had a hundred dresses.

6. She wished she had the nerve to write Peggy a note, because she knew she never would have the courage ………………….. Maddie’s mother had tried to disguise with new trimmings so no one in Room Thirteen would recognise it.
(a) Why was Maddie afraid of speaking to Peggy to stop teasing Wanda?
(b) Where did Maddie get her dresses from?
(c) Find the word that means ‘decorations’.
(d) What had Maddie’s mother done with the old dresses of Peggy? Why?

(a) Maddie was afraid of losing Peggy’s friendship and did not want to be her next target of fun.
(b) Maddie got her dresses from rich families and few of them were of Peggy.
(c) The word is ‘trimming’.
(d) Maddie’s mother had tried to disguise the old dresses of Peggy with new trimmings so no one in Maddie’s class would recognise them.

7. As for Wanda, she was just some girl who lived up on Beggings Heights and stood ………………….. remembered her telling about one of her dresses, pale blue with coloured trimmings.
And she remembered another that was brilliant jungle green with a red sash. “You’d look like a Christmas tree in that,” the girls had said in pretended admiration.
(a) Where did Wanda live and what did she talk . about?
(b) How-did Wanda reply to Peggy’s mocking her?
(c) Find out the synonym of ‘hardly’ as used in the passage.
(d) What did Maddie remember about Wanda’s dresses?

(a) Wanda lived up on Boggins Heights and she talked about a hundred dresses of different colours.
(b) Wanda replied to Peggys’s mocking her by drawing sketches of a hundred dresses in the drawing competition.
(c) The word is ‘scarcely’.
(d) Maddie remembered a few of Wanda’s dresses like a pale blue with coloured trimmings and another brilliant jungle green with a red sash.

8. ‘As for the girls” she said, although just one or two sketches were submitted by most. One girl and Room Thirteen ……………….. worthy of winning the prize. I am very happy to say that Wanda Petronski is the winner of the girls’ medal.”
(a) Who does ‘one girl1 refer to in the passage?
(b) What was the result of the drawing competition?
(c) Find out the antonym of the word ‘unreliable’ used in the given passage.
(d) What was the opinion of the judges of the drawing competition about Wanda’s drawing?

(a) ‘One girl’ refers to Wanda Petronski in the passage.
(b) Wanda Petronski won the drawing competition by drawing the sketches of hundred beautiful dresses and each of them was worthy enough to win the competition individually.
(c) The word is ‘worthy’.
(d) In the opinion of the judges, any one of Wanda’s drawings is worthy of winning the prize.

Short Answer Type Questions

Q1. Where in the classroom does Wanda sit and why?

A. Wanda used to sit in that corner of the classroom where the rough boys sat, the boys who got the lowest marks and had the loudest laughter. No one ever knew why she really sat there but there were guesses that it was because of the dirt her shoes carried from all the mud.

Q2. Where does Wanda live? What kind of a place do you think it is?

A. Wanda lived in Boggins Heights. According to the description given in the chapter, it was that part of the city or town where poor people lived. The place was filled with mud which is where Wanda got the dirt on her shoes from.

Q3. When and why do Peggy and Maddie notice Wanda’s absence?

A. On Wednesday, Peggy and Maddie noticed that Wanda was missing. They had been waiting for her outside school, before school began. As she did not come, they even got late for school. It was then that they realized her absence from school.

Q4. Did Wanda have a hundred dresses? Why do you think she said she did?

A. No, Wanda did not actually have a hundred dresses; she only had drawings of them. She was a poor girl who would have desired to have a closet full of hundred dresses, all lined up. That is why, she said that she did have them.

Q5. Why is Maddie embarrassed by the questions Peggy asks Wanda? Is she also like Wanda, or is she different?

A. Maddie is embarrassed by how Peggy deals with Wanda not because she cares about Wanda, but because she was poor herself and feared that one day, they would treat her the same way. Maddie is a poor girl but not as poor as Wanda and unlike Wanda, she had a lot of friends.

Q6. Why didn’t Maddie ask Peggie to stop teasing Wanda? What was she afraid of?

A. Maddie did not ask Peggy to stop teasing Wanda because as she too was poor, she feared that she could be the next target for the girls. As Maddie wore hands down clothes given by Peggy, she was afraid that if they did not tease Wanda, then probably, they would start teasing her.

Q7. How is Wanda seen as different by the other girls? How do they treat her?

A. Other girls saw Wanda as poor and vulnerable. She had a strange name, did not make friends and remained quiet. She sat in the corner with the rough and noisy boys. Wanda always wore the same dress and came from a place full of mud on the roads. The other girls treated her badly and belittled her. They made fun of Wanda.

Q8. How does Wanda feel about the dresses game? Why does she say that she has a hundred dresses?

A. Wanda felt embarrassed and insulted when other girls played the dresses game on her. She claimed to have a hundred dresses in order to put those insults and jokes away. Actually, she was preparing drawings of a hundred dresses for the drawing competition and she referred to them when the girls asked her that how many dresses did she have.

Q9. Why does Maddie stand by and not do anything? How is she different from Peggy? (Was Peggy’s friendship important to Maddie? Why? Which lines in the text tell you this?)

A. Maddie stands quietly and watches as Peggy humiliates Wanda because she felt that Peggy was high and mighty. Thus, Peggy could never be wrong. As Maddie was poor herself, she feared that she could be the next target for the girls to mock at. Also, Maddie did not tease Wanda while Peggy did. Yes, Peggy’s friendship was important to Maddie. The lines which indicate this are “Peggy was the most popular girl in school. She was pretty, she had many pretty clothes and her hair was curly. Maddie was her closest friend.”

Q10. What does Miss Mason think of Wanda’s drawings? What do the children think of them? How do you know?

A. Miss Mason thought of Wanda’s drawings to be wonderful. She even said that judges liked it so much and thought any one of them to be worthy of winning. The children too, were awestruck at the sight of such beautiful paintings. It is evident from the fact that the boys, who had no interest in dresses, were whistling and Peggy who thought of herself to be the best artist, accepted that Wanda’s drawings were amazing.

Std 11th The portrait of a lady

Std 11^th The portrait of a lady

1. Describe the changing relationship between the author and his grandmother. Did their feelings for each other change?

Ans: In the initial days, they both shared a very friendly bond. She would get him ready for school, accompany him and would come back with him later in the day. She would help him with his studies and would teach him prayers by singing in a monotonous tone every morning. When they moved to the city, their relationship was strained. He started going to an English medium school. She would no longer accompany him to the school or could not help him with the lessons. She didn’t like his new school as they never taught him about God or scriptures. Later, when he started taking music lessons, she disapproved of it as she thought that music was only for beggars or harlots. She stopped talking to him afterwards and would spend her day alone while chanting prayers. When the author went to university and then abroad, their bond weakened. She would spin the wheel the whole day and chant her prayers at that time. She accepted the seclusion. No, their feelings for each other didn’t change but during the time, a distance developed between them.

2. Mention the odd ways in which the author’s grandmother behaved just before she died.

Ans: She didn’t pray the evening before dying. She collected the women from the neighbourhood and started singing homecoming of the warriors with the help of the drum. The next morning when she fell ill, she said her end was near. She started praying peacefully while laying on her bed. She refused to talk to anyone during her last hours.

3. Mention the three phases of the author’s relationship with his grandmother before he left the country to study abroad.

The three phases of the author’s relationship with his grandmother before he left the country to study abroad are as follows:

The first Phase was the period of his early childhood where he used to live with her in the village. His grandmother used to wake him up and get him ready for school. They both would walk to school together and come back home together. They had a good friendship with each other.

In the second phase, the author and his grandmother shifted to the city as the author’s parents settled well in the city. Although they shared the same room, this was the turning point of their friendship. Now, they saw less of each other.

In the third phase the author went to the university, he was given a room of his own. This made their friendship bond weaker as the common link between them ‘the same room’ snapped. She became quieter and private and kept the spinning wheel all day long. She would feed the sparrows once a day and this was the only thing that made her happy now.

4. The author’s grandmother was a religious person. What are the different ways in which we come to know this?

Ans:When she lived in the village with the author, she used to sing prayers in a monotonous sound while getting him ready each morning. She used to walk the author to his school and then visit the temple attached to the school everyday. She would sit and read scriptures. Later when they moved to the city, she would carry the beads of the rosary with her all the time. She would continuously chant her prayers and her hand remained busy in telling the beads. When the author went to study at the university, she went into seclusion and spent her whole day in chanting prayers.

5. Elaborate the odd ways in which the author’s grandmother behaved just before she died.
Before her death, the author’s grandmother refused to talk to them. Since she
had omitted to pray the previous night while she was singing songs of homecoming and beating the drum, she was not going to waste any more time. She ignored their protests. She lay peacefully in bed praying and telling beads.

6. How the sparrows expressed their sorrow when the author’s grandmother died?
Thousands of sparrows sat silently surrounding the corpse of the author’s grandmother. There was no chirruping. The author’s mother threw some crumbs of bread to them. They took no notice of them. As soon as the grandmother’s corpse was carried off, they flew away quietly. Thus the sparrows expressed their sorrow.

7. Have you known someone like the author’s grandmother? Do you feel the same sense of loss with regard to someone whom you have loved and lost?(Personalized answers are welcome here)
Yes, I have known my grandmother/grandfather, who loved me deeply and looked after me…She served as the Principal of KV ,from where I passed out last year.She has been loving and caring but in the mean time tremendously strict when it came to discipline…...(you may continue…..)

My beloved grandfather was always loving. He had served in the army before he retired as a colonel 20 years ago. When I was a school going kid, he was still active and smart. He was fond of walking, jogging and playing outdoor games. He inspired us to get up early in the morning. He believed that a healthy mind lives in a healthy body. He used to give us good physical exercises followed by milk and nourishing food and then asked us to study for a while before going to school. In the afternoon, he would enquire what we had been taught at the school. He would help us in our home task and supervise our reading, writing and doing sums. He was gentle but firm. He laid stress on good habits and character building. He passed away when I had gone abroad for higher studies. I miss him a lot. A sense of loss fills me whenever I see his portrait on the wall. But his cheerful looks remind me to take heart and fight the struggle of life.

8. How did the narrator’s grandfather appear in the portrait?
His grandfather looked very old. He had a long white beard. His clothes were loose fitting. He wore a big turban. He looked too old to have a wife or children. He looked at least a hundred years old. He looked as if he could have only lots and lots of grandchildren.

9. Which thought about the grandmother was often revolting and for whom?
The narrator’s grandmother was very old and wrinkled. She had stayed at this stage for the last twenty years. People said that once she was young and pretty. The narrator couldn’t even imagine her being young. So the thought was revolting to him.

10. Explain “As for my grandmother being young and pretty, the thought was almost revolting”.
The narrator’s grandmother was terribly old. She could never appear young and beautiful. Her face was a criss-cross of wrinkles. She was short, fat and slightly bent. The very idea of her being young and pretty did not fit or appeal to his mind.

11. The narrator’s grandmother ‘could never have been pretty, but she was always beautiful’. Explain the significance of the statement.
She was terribly old to appear pretty. Her face was a criss-cross of wrinkles. She was short, fat and slightly bent. She didn’t create any physical appeal or attraction. However, in her spotless white dress and grey hair she was a picture of beauty,serenity, sobriety and peace.

12. Describe the changing relationship between the author and his grandmother. Did their feelings for each other change?
The author was completely dependent on his grandmother during his childhood. She was a part of his life. The turning point in their friendship came when they went to city. She could no longer accompany him to school as he went there by bus. They shared the same room but she could not help him in his studies. She would ask him what the teachers had taught. She did not believe in the things that were taught at school. She was distressed that there was no teaching about God and the scriptures. She felt offended that music was also being taught. She expressed her disapproval silently. After this she rarely talked to him. When he went to university, he was given a room of his own. The common link of friendship was snapped.
However their feelings for each other did not change. They still loved each other deeply. She went to see the author off at the railway station when he was going abroad for higher studies. She showed no emotion but kissed his forehead silently. The author valued this as perhaps the last sign of physical contact between them. When the author returned after five years, she received him at the station. She clasped him in her arms. In the evening she celebrated his homecoming by singing songs and beating an old drum.

13. Mention the way in which the sparrows expressed their sorrow when the author’s grandmother died.

Ans: The grandmother used to feed the sparrows in her verandah each day. She developed a special relationship with them. When she died, thousands of sparrows expressed their sorrow by sitting in a scattered way around her in the verandah. They didn’t chirrup and there was complete silence. The author’s mother tried to feed them by breaking the bread and throwing it in front of them. But they didn’t eat anything. When the family carried grandmother’s corpse, they all flew away quietly. 

14. How long had the narrator known his grandmother old and wrinkled? What did people say? How did the narrator react?
The narrator had known his grandmother old and wrinkled for the past twenty years. She was terribly old. Perhaps she could not have looked older. People said that she had once been young and pretty. They said that she even had a husband. The narrator found it hard to believe.

15. Would you agree that the author’s grandmother was a person strong in character? If yes, give instances that show this.
Yes, I agree that the author’s grandmother was a person strong in character. She was a strong woman with strong beliefs. Although she was not formally educated, she was serious about the author’s education. She could not adjust herself to the western way of life, Science and English education. She hated music and disapproved of its teaching in school.
She was a deeply religious lady. Her lips were always moving in a silent prayer. She was always telling the beads of her rosary. She went to temple daily and read the scriptures. She was distressed to know that there was no teaching about God and holy books at Khushwant’s new English school. She was a kind and a generous lady. She used to feed dogs in the village. In the city she took to feeding sparrows. Although old in years and weak in body she had strength of mind. Just before her death, she refused to talk to the members of the family as she did not want to waste her time. She wanted to make up for the time last evening when she had not prayed to God. She lay peacefully in bed saying prayers and telling the beads of her rosary till she breathed her last.

16. How did the narrator’s grandfather appear in the portrait?
His grandfather looked very old. He had a long white beard. His clothes were loose fitting. He wore a big turban. He looked too old to have a wife or children. He looked at least a hundred years old. He could have only lots and lots of grandchildren.

10th Std From the diary of Anne Frank

10th Std From the diary of Anne Frank

Extract based questions

1.Writing in a diary is a really strange experience for someone like me. Not only because I ...................my chin in my hands, bored and listless, wondering whether to stay in or go out.

(a) To whom does I refer in the given passage?
(b) ‘Paper has more patience than people’ – Why did Anne Frank say that?
(c) Find a word in the passage that means ‘deep thought’.
(d) Which word in the passage is a synonym of lethargic?

Answer:
(a) ‘I’ refers to Anne Frank in the given passage.
(b) Anne Frank said that ‘Paper has more patience than people’ because one can rely on the paper to confide his/her secrets and it listens carefully and silendy without being judgmental.
(c) The word is ‘musing’.
(d) The word is ‘listless’.

2.Let me put it more clearly, since no one will believe that a thirteen-year-old girl is completely alone ................ and unfortunately they’re not liable to change. This is why I’ve started the diary.

(a) Why was Anne Frank disturbed even when she had loving parents, relatives and friends?
(b) Why did Anne decide to write a diary?
(c) Find the word that means the same as ‘unluckily’.
(d) what do you mean by 'confide in somebody'.
Answer:
(a) Anne Frank was disturbed even after being surrounded by so many people because she didn’t have any true friend.
(b) Anne decided to write a diary because she could not confide in anyone and felt lonely.
(c) The word is unfortunately.
(d) It means tell somebody your secrets or personal information.

3.To enhance the image of this long awaited friend in my imagination................. I’d better provide a brief sketch of my life, much as I dislike doing so.

(a) Who was the long awaited friend of Anne? Why?
(b) What did she provide in her diary?
(c) Find a word from the extract which means the same as ‘submerge’.
(d) To write down the idea as and when it occurs in mind is ceiled
Answer:
(a) The diary named ‘Kitty’ was the long awaited friend of Anne, because she had no true friend in her life with whom she could share her feelings and thoughts.
(b) She provided a brief-sketch of her life and her family in her diary.
(c) It is called jotling down.

4.That evening, after I’d finished the rest of my homework, the note about the essay caught my eye. I began thinking .................... and that there’s not much you can do about inherited traits.

(a) What is the main feature of an essay according to Anne?
(b) What did Anne argue in the essay? Why?
(c) What does the idiom ‘caught my eye’ means?
(d) What do you understand by inherited traits?

Answer:
(a) The main feature of an essay is ‘to give convincing arguments’ in support of the necessity to talk.
(b) Anne argued that talking was a student’s trait and she got it from her mother so nothing could done about this inherited trait.
(c) ‘Caught my eye’ means ‘to attract attention’.
(d) It means a particular quality of one’s personality which one inherits from parents.

5.However, during the third lesson he’d finally had enough. ‘Anne Frank, as punishment ...........................with this ridiculous subject, but I’d make sure the joke was on him.

(a) Why did Mr Keesing her teacher ask her to write another essay?
(b) Why did Anne want to write the essay with the help of her friend Sanne?
(c) Find out the word which means ‘deserving or inviting mockery’.
(d) The word ……. means the ability to invent things and solve problems in a clever and new way.
Answer:
(a) Mr Keesing asked her to write another essay as punishment because she had not stopped talking in the class.
(b) Anne wanted to write the essay with something original so she sought help from Sanne her friend, who suggested her to write the essay in verse.
(c) The word ‘ridiculous’ means ‘deserving and inviting mockery’.
(d) The word is ‘ingenuity’.

6.I finished ray poem, and it was beautiful! It was about a mother duck ............................. haven’t been assigned any extra homework. On the contrary, Mr Keesing’s always making jokes these days.

(a) Why did the father duck kill the baby ducklings?
(b) What happened when Mr Keesing read the essay?
(c) Find out the word from the passage which means ‘given’.
(d) Find the meaning of the word ‘On the contrary’.

Answer:
(a) The father duck killed the baby ducklings because they quacked too much.
(b) When Mr Keesing read the essay, he understood the feelings of Anne and allowed her to talk. He also started to make jokes thereafter.
(c) The word is ‘assigned’.
(d) The word is ‘inversely opposite’.