Text Book Solutions All Class

Multiple Choice Questions

Q1: While looking at the mirror, the doctor smiled, and he found his smile
(a) Ugly
(b) Wide
(c) Attractive
(d) Unattractive

Q2: The doctor described the snake as the one
(a) That had bitten the thief
(b) Thick and ugly
(c) Taken with its own beauty
(d) Very poisonous

Q3: According to the doctor, the thief had a sense of
(a) Good clothes
(b) Logic
(c) Cleanliness
(d) None of the above

Q4: Why did the doctor have very few things to carry?
(a) A thief had stolen most of the things
(b) The room was too small to keep a lot of things
(c) He was too poor to have many things
(d) Because the storm destroyed most of the things

Q5: What did the doctor do immediately after reaching his friend’s house?
(a) Narrated the incident of the snake
(b) Took medicines
(c) Drank a glass of water
(d) Smeared oil all over his body and took a bath

Q6: How did the doctor’s wife actually look?
(a) Thin
(b) Short
(c) Fat
(d) None of the above

Q7: After the snake moved towards the mirror, the doctor was
(a) A paralysed man
(b) A crying man
(c) A man of flesh and blood
(d) A stone in the flesh

Q8: From the doctor’s arm, the snake slithered into his
(a) Back
(b) Head
(c) Lap
(d) Leg

Q9: The snake looked at the mirror. Seeing that, the doctor wondered
(a) If it’s going to smile
(b) If it’s going to make a noise
(c) If it’s going to bite him
(d) If the snake was admiring its own beauty

Q10: While sitting wrapped around by a snake, the doctor felt
(a) The presence of devils
(b) The presence of rats
(c) The presence of the ghost
(d) The presence of God

Very Short Answer Questions

Q1: What kind of snake did the doctor say it was?
Q2: What kind of house does the doctor live in?
Q3: Where did the snake fall from the gable?
Q4: Somebody asked, “Doctor, is your wife very fat?”
Q5: “Are there any other funny stories related to cobras?” The young wife enquired.

Short Answer Questions 

Q1: Where did the snake slither on the doctor?
Q2: Describe the house in which the doctor lived when the snake came?
Q3: What was the doctor thinking about the creator of the universe when the snake had coiled around his arm?
Q4: Where was the snake when the doctor ran out of his house?
Q5: Why did the doctor have to stay in an unelectrified house?

Reference to Context

Q1: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
I had my meal at the restaurant and returned to my room. I heard a noise from above as I opened the door. The sound was a familiar one.
(a) Who does ‘I’ refer to in this extract?
(b) At what time did ‘I’ return to his room? Where did he return from?
(c) When did ‘I’ hear a noise?
(d) What type of noise was it?

Q2: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
The sound was a familiar one. One could say that the rats and I shared the room. I took out my box of matches and lit the kerosene lamp on the table.
(a) What sound did the narrator hear as he entered the room?
(b) Why does the narrator say that it was a familiar sound?
(c) How many times did he hear it?
(d) When and why did the noise stop?

Q3: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
It had a tiled roof with long supporting gables that rested on the beam over the wall. There was no ceiling. There was a regular traffic of rats to and off.
(a) What did the narrator do after entering the room?
(b) Why could the narrator not sleep?
(c) Where did he go and why?
(d) Why did he return to his room?

Q4: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
I went back into the room and sat down on the chair. I opened the box beneath the table and took out a book, the Materia Medica. I opened it at the table on which stood the lamp and a large mirror; a small comb lay beside the mirror.
(a) Where was he before going back into the room? Why had he gone out of the room?
(b) Why did he take a book from the box?
(c) What objects stood on the table?
(d) What did the speaker do after this?

Q5: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
One feels tempted to look into a mirror when it is near one. I took a look. In those days I was a great admirer of beauty and I believed in making myself look handsome. I was unmarried and I was a doctor. I felt I had to make my presence felt. I picked up the comb and ran it through my hair and adjusted the parting so that it looked straight and neat.
(a) Why did the narrator look into the mirror?
(b) Why did he want to make himself look handsome?
(c) What did the narrator do to make his presence felt?
(d) What two important decisions did the narrator take to improve his appearance?

Q6: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
I was unmarried and I was a doctor. I felt I had to make my presence felt. I picked up the comb and ran it through my hair and adjusted the parting so that it looked straight and neat. 
(a) Explain “I had to make my presence felt.”
(b) Why did the narrator feel he had to make his presence felt?
(c) What did the narrator do to make his presence felt?
(d) What do you learn about the narrator from this extract?

Q7: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
I made an important decision—I would shave daily and grow a thin moustache to look more handsome. I was after all a bachelor, and a doctor! I looked into the mirror and smiled. It was an attractive smile. I made another earth-shaking decision.
(a) Where is the narrator? What is he doing?
(b) What discovery did he make about himself?
(c) What two important decisions did he take? Why?
(d) What is the narrator’s tone in these lines?

Q8: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
I got up, paced up and down the room. Then another lovely thought struck me. I would marry.
(a) Where did the narrator get up from? Why?
(b) Which lovely thought struck him?
(c) What sort of lady did he wish to marry?
(d) What prompted him to make this choice?

Q9: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
There was no time to do any such thing. The snake slithered along my shoulder and coiled around my left arm above the elbow.
(a) What alerted the narrator to the snake’s presence?
(b) What does “any such thing” refer to?
(c) What did the snake do after crawling over the narrator’s shoulder?
(d) How did the narrator react to the snake’s presence?

Q10: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
I didn ’t jump. I didn ‘t tremble. I didn ’t cry out. There was no time to do any such thing. The snake slithered along my shoulder and coiled around my left arm above the elbow. The hood was spread out and its head was hardly three or four inches from my face!
It would not be correct to say merely that I sat there holding my breath I was turned to stone.
(a) Why did the author not jump, tremble and cry?
(b) What did the narrator do as the snake coiled itself around his arm?
(c) Did the snake bite the speaker? What distracted it?
(d) What were the narrator’s thoughts as he looked at the snake?

Q11: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
At my slightest movement the snake would strike me! Death lurked four inches away. Suppose it struck, what was the medicine I had to take? There were no medicines in the room. I was but a poor, foolish and stupid doctor. I forgot my danger and smiled feebly at myself
(a) What does Death lurked four inches away imply?
(b) Why did the doctor call himself a poor and stupid doctor?
(c) What danger does he refer to?
(d) Why did he smile feebly at himself?

Q12: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
The snake unwound itself from my arm and slowly slithered into my lap. From there it crept onto the table and moved towards the mirror. Perhaps it wanted to enjoy its reflection at closer quarters.
(a) Where was the narrator at the time?
(b) What did the snake do as it landed on the narrator’s chair?
(c) Where did the snake go after uncoiling from the writer’s arm?
(d) Why did the snake move towards the mirror?

Q13: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
I felt then the great presence of the creator of this world and this universe. God was there. Suppose I said something and he did not like it.
(a) When did the narrator feel the presence of the creator?
(b) Why does the narrator feel he may have displeased God?
(c) What did the narrator do then?
(d) What was the result of his realisation?

Q14: There was some pain in my left arm. It was as if a thick leaden rod—no, a rod made of molten fire—was slowly but powerfully crushing my arm. The arm was beginning to be drained of all strength. What could Ido?
(a) Why did the narrator feel a pain in his arm?
(b) Where had the snake come from?
(c) What had alerted the narrator to the snake’s presence at first? What had been his first reaction?
(d) Why did the narrator sit still in the chair?

Q15: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
It seemed as if God appreciated that. The snake turned its head. It looked into the mirror and saw its reflection. I do not claim that it was the first snake that had ever looked into a mirror. But it was certain that the snake was looking into the mirror. Was it admiring its own beauty? Was it trying to make an important decision about growing a moustache or using eye shadow and mascara or wearing a vermilion spot on its forehead?
(a) What was it that God appreciated?
(b) What did the snake do as it landed on the narrator’s chair?
(c) Where did the snake move its head?
(d) Why did the narrator call it the “first snake”?

Q16: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
I was no mere image cut in granite. I was suddenly a man of flesh and blood. Still holding my breath I got up from the chair. I quietly went through the veranda. From there 1 leapt into the yard and ran for all I was worth.

(a) What does the narrator mean when he says, “I was no mere image cut in granite”?
(b) Why had he been sitting turned to stone?
(c) Where had the snake gone?
(d) What did the narrator do?

Q17: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
I was no mere image cut in granite. I was suddenly a man of flesh and blood. Still holding my breath I got up from the chair. I quietly went through the veranda. From there 1 leapt into the yard and ran for all I was worth.
(a) When had the narrator felt like an “image cut in granite”?
(b) What is the meaning of ‘a man of flesh and blood’?
(c) What made the narrator suddenly turn into ‘a man of flesh and blood’?
(d) What did the narrator do as soon as he turned into ‘a man of flesh and blood’?

Q18: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
The doctor replied, “I ran and ran till I reached a friend’s house. Immediately I smeared oil all over myself and took a bath. I changed into fresh clothes.
(a) Why did the doctor run?
(b) Where did the narrator spend the night?
(c) Why did the doctor smear oil all over his body?
(d) What did he do the next morning?

Q19: The next morning at about eight-thirty I took my friend and one or two others to my room to move my things from there. But we found we had little to carry.
(a) What does the narrator mean by the phrase “the next morning”?
(b) Which friend is being referred to?
(c) Why did the narrator want to remove his things?
(d) Why was there little to carry?

Q20: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
“No, ” the doctor said. “God willed otherwise. My life companion is a thin reedy person with the gift of a sprinter. ”
(a) Explain “God willed it otherwise”.
(b) What qualities did the narrator want in his wife?
(c) Why did he want those qualities?
(d) What kind of person did he marry?
Answer: The woman he married was a thin and slender person who could run like a sprinter.

The solutions of the worksheet “Worksheet Solutions: The Snake and the Mirror“

Multiple Choice Questions

Q1: What does the poet hear night and day in the core of his heart?
(a) The sound of the lake water lapping against the shore of Innisfree.
(b) The cries of his children telling him to come back home.
(c) The cries of his countrymen to fight for his country
(d) The cries of birds and animals to come and live with them in the forest.
Q2: What beautiful sight will he get to see there?
(a) The glimmer of midnight stars.
(b) The linnets flying about in the evening.
(c) The purple glow of the noon.
(d) All the above.
Q3: What does the poet hope to get there?
(a) Peace.
(b) Wealth.
(c) Friends.
(d) Name and fame.
Q4: Where does the poet want to go?
(a) To London.
(b) To Paris.
(c) To Innisfree.
(d) To Switzerland.
Q5: Name the poet of The Lake Isle of Innisfree’.
(a) James Kirkup.
(b) Robert Frost.
(c) W.B. Yeats.
(d) Phoebe Cary.
Q6: Select the name of the poet of the poem ‘The Lake Isle of Innisfree’.
(a) Robert Frost
(b) Subramania Bharati
(c) Coates Kinney
(d) W.B. Yeats
Q7: What does the poet hear at Innisfree Island?
(a) the sound of raindrops
(b) the noise of the wind
(c) the lapping low sounds of the
(d) none of these three options lake water
Q8: What does the poet see in Innisfree land?
(a) glimmering midnight
(b) purple noon
(c) the evening full of linnet’s wings
(d) all the options are correct
Q9: Where will the poet have peace?
(a) in his home
(b) in heaven
(c) in Innisfree land
(d) in a lake
Q10: What thing will the poet not do on the Innisfree land?
(a) build a restaurant
(b) build a small cabin
(c) plant nine bean rows
(d) build a hive for the honeybee
Very Short Answer Questions

Q1: Read the following passages and answer the questions:
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee;
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.
(i) What kind of garden does he want to have?
(ii) Why does he want to build a hive?
(iii) What is a glade?
(iv) What does he want to do there?

Q2: What is the poet going to build in Innisfree and why?
Q3: What kind of house does the poet want to build?
Q4: How the poet wants to spend his time in Innisfree?
Q5: Where was the poet at the time of penning the poem?
Q6: Read the following passages and answer the questions:
I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made:
(i) Who is I in the first line?

(ii) What’s his resolve?
(iii) What is he going to build there?
(iv) What are wattles?

Q7: What is the intension of the poet?
Q8: Why does the poet want to live alone?
Q9: The poet in the last two lines presents a different picture. What is it?
Q10: Why does the poet want to go to Innisfree and what he intends to do there?

Short Answer Questions

Q1: Describe the Lake Isle of Innisfree as seen through the eyes of the poet.
Q2: What kind of life does the poet William Butler Yeats imagine in his poem “The Lake Isle of Innisfree”?
Q3: How does the poet describe the lake’s waves?
Q4: Why does the speaker in the poem “The Lake Isle of Innisfree” desire to spend his time alone in his cabin?
Q5: What words does the poet use to describe how calmness and tranquillity will come to him at Innsifree?

Long Answer Questions

Q1: How does Yeats create the atmosphere of the island and its sights and sounds in “The Lake Isle of Innisfree”? Refer closely to the use of language in the first two stanzas.
Q2: Explain the contrast between the last four lines of “The Lake Isle of Innisfree” and the rest of the poem.
Q3: Briefly describe the major theme of the poem ‘The Lake Isle of Innisfree”, Nature vs City life.
Q4: Why does the poet want to go Innisfree?
Q5: In W.B. Yeats’s poem, “The Lake Isle of Innisfree,” what indications does the speaker give of his present environment?

Reference to Context

Q1: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made; 
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.
(a) Who does T refer to in the stanza?
(b) Where is he at the present moment?
(c) Where does he want to go?
(d) What does he wish to do there?

Q2: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.
(a) Name the poetic device used in the first line.
(b) What does the word ‘there’ in the above lines refer to?
(c) Why does the poet wish to do go to Innisfree?
(d) What does the stanza suggest about the poet?

Q3: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow.
And evenings full of the linnet’s wings.
(a) What is the poet going there to find?
(b) Explain: What do you think “for peace comes dropping slow/ Dropping from the veils of the morning”?
(c) How has noon been described in the stanza?
(d) What is a ‘Linnet’?

Q4: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow.
And evenings full of the linnet’s wings.
(a) Where is the poet at the moment?
(b) What did the poet see in the morning?
(c) What did the poet hear?
(d) How does peace come in the morning?

Q5: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear the lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart’s core.
(a) What is the poet’s tone as he repeats “I will arise and go now”?
(b) What does the poet hear?
(c) What do you learn about the poet in this stanza?
(d) How does the poet contrast London and Innisfree?

Q6: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear the lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart’s core.
(a) Explain the line “lake water lapping with low sounds”.
(b) Bring out the internal rhyme used in the above lines.
(c) Why does the poet want to go to Lake Isle of Innisfree?
(d) Why is the poet looking for peace in Innisfree?

The solutions of the worksheet “Worksheet Solutions: Poem – The Lake Isle of Innisfree“

Multiple Choice Questions

Q.1. What did the school headmaster say about Einstein?
(a) None of these
(b) He is great
(c) He can’t be a success at anything
(d) He would be a genius

Q.2. What did the newspapers proclaim Einstein’s work?
(a) A scientific revolution
(b) An unscientific revolution
(c) A cinematic revolution
(d) An economic revolution

Q.3. What kind of prose do you think, A Truly Beautiful Mind can be categorised as?
(a) Novel
(b) Biographical text
(c) Autobiographical text
(d) Short story

Q.4. By what age did Einstein not learn to speak?
(a) Five and half years
(b) Three and half years
(c) Two and half years
(d) Four and half years

Q.5. A Truly Beautiful Mind, what did Albert’s playmates call him?
(a) Boring Brat
(b) Brother Brown
(c) Brother Boring
(d) Big Brother
Q.6. Why did Einstein write a public missive to the UN?
(a) He wanted to propose his theory in the UN.
(b) He wanted the membership of the UN.
(c) He was in favour of the world government.
(d) He was moved by world destruction.

Q.7. Why did Einstein leave the school?
(a) For good
(b) He had clashed with the teachers
(c) All of these
(d) He didn’t like discipline and order in the school

Q.8. Who was Einstein’s second wife?
(a) Mileva Maric
(b) Maja
(c) Einstein’s cousin Elsa
(d) He did not marry a second time

Q.9. When was Albert Einstein born as per the date given in the text, A Truly Beautiful Mind
(a) 14th March 1859
(b) 14th March 1879
(c) 14th March 1889
(d) 14th March 1869

Q.10. To which the American President did Einstein write a letter about the destructive powers of such atomic bombs?
(a) Abraham Lincoln
(b) Theodore Roosevelt
(c) Franklin Pierce
(d) Franklin D. Roosevelt

Reference to ContextQ1: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
At the age of two-and-a-half, Einstein still wasn ’t talking. When he finally did learn to speak, he uttered everything twice. Einstein did not know what to do with other children, and his playmates called him “Brother Boring
(a) What did Einstein’s mother think of him when he was a baby? Why?
(b) Why does the writer point out that Einstein wasn’t talking till the age of two-and-a-half?
(c) How did Einstein speak when he finally started talking?
(d) Why was Einstein called “Brother Boring” by his playmates?

Q2: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
A headmaster once told his father that what Einstein chose as a profession would not matter, because “he will never make a success at anything ” Einstein began learning to play the violin at the age of six, because his mother wanted him to. He later became a gifted amateur violinist, maintaining this skill throughout his life.
(a) What was the headmaster’s opinion about Einstein?
(b) Why did Einstein leave the school in Munich?
(c) Why did Einstein learn to play violin?
(d) What kind of a violin player was Einstein?

Q3: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
But Albert Einstein was not a bad pupil. He went to high school in Munich, where Einstein’s family had moved when he was 15 months old, and scored good marks in almost every subject.
(a) What had Einstein’s Headmaster said about him?
(b) What were Einstein’s achievements at school?
(c) Where did Einstein attend high school?
(d) What kind of a school did Einstein wish to join?

Q4: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
Einstein hated the school’s regimentation and often clashed with his teachers. At the age of 15, Einstein felt so stifled there that he left the school for good.
(a) Why did Einstein clash with his teachers?
(b) When did Einstein leave his school in Munich and why?
(c) Where did Einstein go after leaving his school in Munich?
(d) What does this tell you about Einstein?

Q5: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
Einstein was highly gifted in mathematics and interested in physics, and after finishing school, he decided to study at a university in Zurich. But science wasn ’t the only thing that appealed to the dashing young man with the walrus moustache.
(a) Where did Einstein want to continue his education? Why?
(b) What were his favourite subjects?
(c) Explain: But science wasn’t the only thing that appealed to the dashing young man.
(d) Why did he see Mileva as an ally?

Q6: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
He worked as a teaching assistant, gave private lessons and finally secured a job in 1902 as a technical expert in the patent office in Bern. While he was supposed to be assessing other people’s inventions, Einstein was actually developing his own ideas in secret.
(a) How did Einstein earn a living before securing a job?
(b) When did Einstein secure a job? What was the nature of this job?
(c) Why did Einstein develop his ideas in secret?
(d) Where did he store his inventions? What did he call it?

Q7: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
One of the famous papers of 1905 was Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity, according to which time and distance are not absolute.
(a) Explain the term “absolute”
(b) What according to Einstein are not absolute?
(c) What is described by the formula E=mc²?
(d) How did this formula establish Einstein as a scientific genius?

Q8: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
While Einstein was solving the most difficult problems in physics, his private life was unravelling. Albert had wanted to marry Mileva right after finishing his studies, but his mother was against it. She thought Mileva, who was three years older than her son, was too old for him. She was also bothered by Mileva’s intelligence. “She is a book like you, ” his mother said. Einstein put the wedding off.
(a) Where was Mileva from? Why did she join Zurich University?
(b) Why did Einstein’s mother oppose his marriage with Mileva?
(c) Why did Einstein put the wedding off?
(d) When did Einstein get married to Mileva?

Q9: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
The pair finally got married in January 1903, and had two sons. But a few years later, the marriage faltered.
(a) Name the couple being talked about?
(b) What happened to their marriage?
(c) Why did their marriage falter?
(d) Whom did Einstein marry later?

Q10: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
Many of them had fled from Fascism, just as Einstein had, and now they were afraid the Nazis could build and use an atomic bomb.
(a) What does the word ‘fascism’ mean?
(b) Who does ‘they’ refer to in the above lines?
(c) When and where had many of them fled from? Why?
(d) What were they afraid of and why?

Q11: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
Einstein was deeply shaken by the extent of the destruction. This time he wrote a public missive to the United Nations In it he proposed the formation of a world government. Unlike the letter to Roosevelt, this one made no impact.
(a) What ‘destruction’ shook Einstein?
(b) What did Einstein write and to whom?
(c) Who was Roosevelt? Why had Einstein written to him?
(d) How had Roosevelt responded?

Q12: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
Unlike the letter to Roosevelt, this one made no impact. But over the next decade, Einstein got ever more involved in politics – agitating for an end to the arms buildup and using his popularity to campaign for peace and democracy.
(a) What does ‘this one’ refer to?
(b) Who had written a letter to Roosevelt and why?
(c) What had Einstein written in ‘this one’?
(d) Why did Einstein get more involved in politics?

The solutions of the worksheet “Worksheet Solutions: A Truly Beautiful Mind“

Multiple Choice Questions

Q.1. Find the word from the poem Rain on the Roof which means a repeated part of a song or a poem.
(a) Refrain
(b) Fancies
(c) Shingles
(d) Patter

Q.2. What is the favourite activity of the poet during the rainy season?
(a) Eating snacks
(b) Lie on the bed and listen to the pitter-patter sound of the rain
(c) Roaming on the roof
(d) Listening to the music

Q.3. What does the poet attach the darkness with?
(a) Pleasant
(b) Sadness
(c) Soothing
(d) Joyful mood

Q.4. Which figure of speech has been used in the phrase darling dreamers?
(a) Anaphora
(b) Antithesis
(c) Anticlimax
(d) Alliteration

Q.5. Where is the rain making a noise?
(a) In the lanes
(b) On the roof
(c) In the garden
(d) In the room

Q.6. Which figure of speech has been used in the phrase starry spheres?
(a) Antithesis
(b) Apostrophe
(c) Alliteration
(d) Anaphora

Q.7. Whose memory comes to the poet when he listens to the rain?
(a) The memory of his dear friend
(b) The memory of his mother
(c) The memory of his beloved
(d) The memory of his father

Q.8. What does cottage-chamber mean?
(a) A separate building next to the cottage
(b) All of these
(c) Type of bed
(d) A room in the cottage

Q.9. What tinkles on the shingles?
(a) Raindrops
(b) Silver bangles
(c) Brass-bells
(d) Hailstones

Q.10. Select the correct meaning of refrain.
(a) The noise of the rain
(b) Stop making noise
(c) Sound of piano music
(d) Making refined efforts

Very Short Answer Questions

Q1: What do the humid shadows refer to?
Q2: What does the poet like to do when it rains?
Q3: What makes an echo in the poet’s heart?
Q4: Where do the raindrop patter?
Q5: Is the poet, Coates Kinney, a child now?

Short Answer Questions

Q1: How old do you think the poet is? Justify your answer.
Q2: ‘And the melancholy darkness gently weeps in rainy tears.’ Explain the phrase ‘melancholy darkness’. What does it do?
Q3: What does the poet like to do when it rains?
Q4: What are the poet’s feelings as the rain falls on the shingles?
Q5: “And a thousand dreamy fancies into busy heart.” When do the ‘thousand dreamy fancies’ begin in the poet’s heart?

Long Answer Questions

Q1: How does the rain affect the poet? Describe.
Q2: In what way are the poems The Road Not Taken and Rain on the Roof evocative of the past?
Q3: How does the poet describe the falling rain in the poem ‘Rain on the Roof?
Q4: What happens when the poet listens to the patter of the rain? Do you think that rain is a narrative tool in the poet’s life?

Reference to Context Questions

Q1: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
When the humid shadows hover
Over all the starry spheres
And the melancholy darkness
Gently weeps in rainy tears,
What a bliss to press the pillow
Of a cottage-chamber bed
And lie listening to the patter
Of the soft rain overhead!
(a) What does the phrase “humid shadows” refer to?
(b) What are “starry spheres”?
(c) Why does the poet call the darkness melancholy?

Q2: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
The poet is in his bed in his cottage.
When the humid shadows hover
Over all the starry spheres
And the melancholy darkness
Gently weeps in rainy tears,
What a bliss to press the pillow
Of a cottage-chamber bed
And lie listening to the patter
Of the soft rain overhead!
(a) Who weeps in the form of rainy tears?
(b) Which line shows that the poet is happy when it rains?
(c) What memories does the rain bring to the poet’s mind?

Q3: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
Alliteration: Over all the starry spheres
What a bliss to press the pillow
And lie listening to the patter
Every tinkle on the shingles
Has an echo in the heart;
And a thousand dreamy fancies
Into busy being start,
And a thousand recollections
Weave their air-threads into woof,
As I listen to the patter
Of the rain upon the roof
(a) What echoes in the poet’s heart?
(b) Explain: a thousand dreamy fancies into busy being start.
(c) What starts ‘a thousand dreamy fancies’?
(d) What is a refrain? Find lines from the poem that form its refrain.

Q4: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
Every tinkle on the shingles
Has an echo in the heart;
And a thousand dreamy fancies
Into busy being start,
And a thousand recollections
Weave their air-threads into woof
As I listen to the patter
Of the rain upon the roof
(a) Explain ‘shingles’. What is tinkling on the shingles?
(b) What finds an echo in the poet’s heart?
(c) Who is a busy being? What happens to his mind?
(d) Explain: “A thousand recollections weave their air-threads into woof’.

Q5: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
Now in memory comes my mother,
As she used in years agone,
To regard the darling dreamers
Ere she left them till the dawn:
O! Ifeel her fond look on me
As I list to this refrain
Which is played upon the shingles
By the patter of the rain.
(a) Whom does the poet remember?
(b) Who are the darling dreamers?
(c) How did the poet’s mother gaze at the dreamers?
(d) What does he feel? Is his mother alive?

Q6: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
Now in memory comes my mother,
As she used in years agone,
To regard the darling dreamers
Ere she left them till the dawn:
O! Ifeel her fond look on me
As I list to this refrain
Which is played upon the
shingles By the patter of the rain.
(a) What is the poet doing at the moment?
(b) What is the memory that comes to the poet?
(c) What are the poet’s feelings for his family?
(d) Name a poetic device used in the last line.
You can find Worksheets Solutions here: Worksheet Solutions: Poem – Rain on the Roof

Multiple Choice Questions

Q1: Why do you think Katherine Mansfield titled her story like The Little Girl?
(a) Because the story talks about the little girl and her feelings
(b) Because the story has a little girl in it
(c) Because The Little Girl seems to be an attractive and interesting title for a story
(d) Because Katherine Mansfield liked the little girl in the story

Q2: Kezia was beaten up with a ruler by her father because
(a) she went to an ice cream parlour
(b) she failed in her exam
(c) she disagreed to sleep alone
(d) she has torn down the papers of her father’s speech

Q3: Kezia saw these children playing
(a) football
(b) badminton
(c) hide and seek
(d) tag

Q4: How many children did the Macdonalds have in the text titled The Little Girl?
(a) Five
(b) Six
(c) Four
(d) Three

Q5: Why did Kezia tear the papers?
(a) To clean her room
(b) To play
(c) All of these
(d) To fill the cushion

Q6: In the text The Little Girl,  whom did Kezia find standing at her bedside with a candle when she woke up in the dark due to her nightmare?
(a) The cook, Alice
(b) Her Grannie
(c) Her Father
(d) Her Mother

Q7: The father who lived next door to Kezia’s would
(a) make barbeque
(b) play and laugh
(c) water his plants
(d) speak angrily

Q8: Why was Kezia afraid of her father?
(a) Once he beat her for tearing his papers
(b) She thought that he was a hard-hearted man
(c) He used to speak rudely to her and always found faults in her
(d) All of these

Q9: Which family lived in the neighbourhood of Katherine?
(a) The Smiths
(b) The Wilson Family
(c) The Johnsons
(d) The Macdonald Family

Q10: What would Kezia find her mother doing on Sunday afternoons in the drawing-room?
(a) Nothing
(b) Reading
(c) Busy in her work
(d) Talking to her father

Short Answer Questions

Q1: Why was Kezia scared of her father?
Q2: What was Kezia’s father’s routine before going to office and after coming back in the evening?
Q3: Why did Kezia go slowly towards the drawing-room when mother asked her to come downstairs?
Q4: Why did Kezia stutter while speaking to Father?
Q5: Why was Father often irritated with Kezia?

Long Answer Questions

Q1: Do you think the Kezia deserved the beating she got for her mistake? What light does this incident throw on her father’s character?
Q2: Briefly comment on Kezia’s relationship with her grandmother?
Q3: What impression do you form of Kezia’s mother?
Q4: Kezia decides that there are “different kinds of fathers.” Comment on Kezia’s remark in the light of her relationship with her father and that of the Macdonald children with their father?
Q5: How does Kezia begin to see her father as a human being who needs her sympathy?

Reference Based Questions

Q1: To the little girl he was a figure to be feared and avoided. Every morning before going to work he came into her room and gave her a casual kiss, to which she responded with “Goodbye, Father And oh, there was a glad sense of relief when she heard the noise of the carriage growing fainter and fainter down the long road!
(a) Who does ‘he’ refer to in this extract?
(b) What kind of a person was Kezia’s father?
(c) What were the feelings of the little girl towards him?
(d) How did she feel when her father left for office?

Q2: To the little girl he was a figure to be feared and avoided. Every morning before going to work he came into her room and gave her a casual kiss, to which she responded with “Goodbye, Father”. And oh, there was a glad sense of relief when she heard the noise of the carriage growing fainter and fainter down the long road!
(a) Who is the little girl?
(b) Who were the people in Kezia’s family?
(c) What did ‘he’ do before going to work every morning?
(d) What does this gesture show about him?

Q3: She never stuttered with other people – had quite given it up – but only with Father, because then she was trying so hard to say the words properly.
(a) Who is ‘she’ in this extract?
(b) What had she “quite given up”?
(c) How did ‘she’ speak in the presence of her father?
(d) Why did ‘she’ stutter in her father’s presence?

Q4: ‘‘What’s the matter? What are you looking so wretched about? Mother, I wish you taught this child not to appear on the brink of suicide … Here, Kezia, carry my teacup back to the table carefully. ” He was so big – his hands and his neck, especially his mouth when he yawned. Thinking about him alone was like thinking about a giant.
(a) Who is the speaker in these lines?
(b) Where are they at the moment? What time is it?
(c) How does Kezia look in her father’s presence? Why?
(d) Why was she scared of her father?

Q5: Slowly the girl would slip down the stairs, more slowly still across the hall, and push open the drawing – room door.
(a) What time of the day is it?
(b) Where is the little girl going?
(c) Why is she going there?
(d) Why does she go slowly?

Q6: He was so big – his hands and his neck, especially his mouth when he yawned. Thinking about him alone was like thinking about a giant.
(a) Who is ‘he’ in the above extract?
(b) Why does the speaker find him so big?
(c) Why does the speaker think of him as a giant?
(d) When did his mouth especially appear big?

Q7: On Sunday afternoons Grandmother sent her down to the drawing-room to have a “nice talk with Father and Mother”. But the little girl always found Mother reading and Father stretched out on the sofa, his handkerchief on his face, his feet on one of the best cushions, sleeping soundly and snoring.
(a) Where did Grandmother send ‘her’? Why?
(b) What would ‘her’ parents be doing?
(c) What do you learn about Mother from this passage?
(d) What would Father say to the little girl when he got up?

Q8: One day, when she was kept indoors with a cold, her grandmother told her that father’s birthday was next week, and suggested she should make him a pin-cushion for a gift out of a beautiful piece of yellow silk.
(a) Who had a cold? What was the result of the cold?
(b) What was the occasion next week?
(c) What did her grandmother want her to do?
(d) What did Kezia use for stuffing the pin-cushion?

Q9: “Mother, go up to her room and fetch down the damned thing – see that the child’s put to bed this instant. ”
(a) Who speaks these lines and to whom?
(b) What is the mood of the speaker in these lines?
(c) What does the speaker refer to as the ‘damned thing’?
(d) Who is the ‘child’ here? Why does the speaker wish the child to be put to bed immediately?

Q10: “Sit up, ” he ordered, “and hold out your hands. You must be taught once and for all not to touch what does not belong to you. ”
(a) Who is the speaker? Who is he talking to?
(b) Where are they at the moment?
(c) Why does the speaker want the listener to hold out her hands?
(d) What do you learn about the speaker from these lines?

Q11: “But it was for your b-b-birthday. ”
Down came the ruler on her little, pink palms.
(a) Who speaks these words? To whom?
(b) Where are they at the moment?
(c) Why does she speak these words?
(d) Who brought down ‘the ruler on her little, pink palms’? Why?

Q12: “Here’s a clean hanky, darling. Blow your nose. Go to sleep, pet; you ’ll forget all about it in the morning. I tried to explain to Father but he was too upset to listen tonight. ”
(a) Why does the speaker offer the listener a clean hanky?
(b) What did the speaker want the listener to forget?
(c) Why did she want the listener to forget it?
(d) What do you think had the speaker tried to explain to Father?

Q13: But the child never forgot. Next time she saw him, she quickly put both hands behind her back and a red colour flew into her cheeks.
(a) What did the child never forget?
(b) Why did she put her hands behind her back?
(c) What had she done to get punished by her father?
(d) What did she wish her father to be?

Q14: Looking through a gap in the fence the little girl saw them playing ‘tag ’ in the evening. The father with the baby, Mao, on his shoulders, two little girls hanging on to his coat pockets ran round and round the flower¬beds, shaking with laughter. Once she saw the boys turn the hose on him-and he tried to catch them laughing all the time.
(a) Who is ‘them’?
(b) What is the little girl doing at the moment?
(c) How is the relationship of the children with their father different from the little girl’s with hers?
(d) What did she wish as she saw the family?

Q15: “What’ll 1 do if I have a nightmare? ” she asked. “I often have nightmares and then Grannie takes me into her bed—I can’t stay in the dark- gets ‘whispery ’…”.
(a) Who is the speaker in these lines? Who is being addressed?
(b) What happens when the speaker has nightmares?
(c) Where was Grannie right now?
(d) Who was beside her bed when she woke shivering that night?

Q16: Oh, a butcher – a knife – I want Grannie. ” He blew out the candle, bent down and caught up the child in his arms, carrying her along the passage to the big bedroom. A newspaper was on the bed – a half-smoked cigar was near his reading-lamp. He put away the paper, threw the cigar into the fireplace, then carefully tucked up the child. He lay down beside her.
(a) Who wanted Granny? Why?
(b) Who blew out the candle? Why?
(c) Where was the butcher?
(d) What does her father’s behaviour in the passage show?

Q17: Then the dark did not matter; she lay still.
(a) When did the dark not matter? Why?
(b) Why had she been afraid in the dark?
(c) What nightmare did she have?
(d) What did her father do? What does her father’s behaviour show?

Q18: He was harder than Grandmother, but it was a nice hardness. And every day he had to work and was too tired to be a Mr Macdonald… She had torn up all his beautiful writing … She stirred suddenly and sighed.
(a) Who was harder than Grandmother?
(b) Explain “harder than Grandmother”.
(c) Who was Mr Macdonald? Why could “he” not be like him?
(d) Why did she sigh?

Q19: “Oh, ” said the little girl, “my head’s on your heart. I can hear it going. What a big heart you’ve got, Father dear. ”
(a) Where is the little girl at this time? Why?
(b) Where has she put her head? Why?
(c) What can the little girl hear?
(d) How does the little girl feel at this time?

You can find Worksheets Solutions here: Worksheet Solutions: The Little Girl

Multiple Choice Questions

Q1: The poem Wind was originally written in which language?
(a) Kannada
(b) Malayalam
(c) Telugu
(d) Tamil

Q2: The wind has been compared to
(a) god
(b) flood
(c) earthquake
(d) fire

Q3: What does the poet want the wind to do?
(a) All of these
(b) Don’t scatter the papers
(c) Don’t throw down the books
(d) Don’t break the shutters of windows

Q4: Who breaks the shutters of the window? (Wind)
(a) Wind
(b) Children
(c) A naughty boy
(d) A boy

Q5: What is the message of the poem Wind?
(a) Make strong windows
(b) Stop the wind
(c) All of these
(d) Be firm and strong

Q6: Which figure of speech has been used in the following line from the poem Wind?
‘Wind comes softly’
(a) Irony
(b) Simile
(c) Oxymoron
(d) Personification

Q7: To whom does the poet make a request and address?
(a) Wind
(b) The people
(c) His children
(d) All of these

Q8: What does the word winnows in the poem mean?
(a) None of these
(b) Sorts grains
(c) Blows strongly
(d) Cleans grains

Q9: Name the poet of the poem “Wind”.
(a) J.K Krishna Murti
(b) Subramania Bharati
(c) Mahadevi Verma
(d) Ruskin Bond

Q10: Who is negatively affected by the wind?
(a) None of these
(b) Strong people
(c) Both weaklings and strong people
(d) Weaklings

Short Answer Questions

Q1: Why does the poet ask the wind to blow softly?
Q2: What is winnowing? What, according to the poet, does the wind god winnow?
Q3: What harm does wind do when it blows hard?
Q4: What does ‘crumbling’ suggest in the poem ‘Wind’?
Q5: What should we do to make friends with the winds?

Long Answer Questions

Q1: What advice does the poet offer the people? Write your answer in the context of the poem, ‘Wind’.
Q2: What challenges are posed by wind in the life of the poet and the common man?

Reference to Context

Q1: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
There, look what you did-you threw them all down
You tore the pages of the books.
You brought rain again.
You are very clever at poking fun at weaklings

(a) Who are these lines addressed to? What is the figure of speech?
(b) What kind of destruction does wind cause when it blows hard?
(c) What word is repeated and why?
(d) What does the wind symbolise?

Q2: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
Wind, come softly.
Don’t break the shutters of the windows.
Don’t scatter the papers.
Don’t throw down the books on the shelf.
(a) Who is the poet addressing in the above lines?
(b) How does the poet want the wind to blow?
(c) What has the wind done to the books?
(d) Name the poetic device used in the above lines.

Q3: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
There, look what you did – you threw them all down.
You tore the pages of the books.
You brought rain again.
(a) What is the poet’s tone in the above lines?
(b) What has the wind done?
(c) What has wind brought with it?
(d) Name a poetic device used in the lines above.

Q4: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
You ’re very clever at poking fun at weaklings.
Frail crumbling houses, crumbling doors, crumbling rafters,
Crumbling wood, crumbling bodies, crumbling lives,
Crumbling hearts—
the wind god winnows and crushes them all.
(a) Who is very clever? What is it clever at?
(b) How does wind make fun of weaklings?
(c) What does the wind god do to the weak?
(d) What should we do to make friends with the wind?

Q5: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
He won’t do what you tell him.
So, come, let’s build strong homes,
Let’s joint the doors firmly.
Practise to firm the body.
Make the heart steadfast.
(a) Who is referred to as ‘He’ in the above lines?
(b) What is he being told to do?
(c) What advice does the poet give the reader?
(d) What does wind do to the strong?

Q6: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
Do this, and the wind will be friends with us.
The wind blows out weak fires.
He makes strong fires roar and flourish.
His friendship is good.
We praise him every day.
(a) What does the poet mean when he says ‘do this’?
(b) How does wind affect fires?
(c) Who is referred to as ‘He’? Why does the poet say ‘his friendship is good’?
(d) What message do we get from the poem?

The solutions of the worksheet “Worksheet Solutions: Poem – Wind“

Multiple Choice Questions

Q1: Where was the Shehnai played traditionally?
(a) In wedding ceremonies
(b) In temples
(c) Auspicious ceremonies
(d) All of these

Q2: Who banned pungi from the royal residence?
(a) Jahangir
(b) Emperor Akbar
(c) Shah Jahan
(d) Emperor Aurangzeb

Q3: Name India’s highest civilian award that Ustad Bismillah Khan was awarded in the year 2001.
(a) The Padmashri
(b) The Padma Bhushan
(c) The Bharat Ratna
(d) The Padma Vibhushan

Q4: From whom did Bismillah Khan learn shehnai?
(a) Akbar Ali
(b) Ali Bux
(c) Ghulam Ali
(d) Ali Ahmed

Q5: What does the title of the text The Sound of Music denote?
(a) The sound of a particular instrument
(b) The sound of a song
(c) The life in music
(d) The sound of various musical instruments

Q6: When did Evelyn feel everything so dark in life?
(a) When she was advised to go to a deaf school
(b) When she performed poorly at the examination
(c) When she failed in her music audition
(d) When she was advised to use hearing aids and go to the deaf school

Q7: The instrument of shehnai was brought to the ________ stage in the history of Indian music by Ustad Bismillah Khan.
(a) classical
(b) western
(c) folk
(d) popular music

Q8: What was the source of inspiration for Bismillah?
(a) Royal Palaces
(b) Red Fort
(c) Ganga Ghats
(d) None of these

Q9: When did Bismillah get his first big break as a Shehnai performer?
(a) 1945
(b) In 1938, when All India Radio came into existence
(c) 1987
(d) 1989

Q10: Who was Ali Bux?
(a) Bismillah’s grandfather
(b) Bismillah’s maternal uncle
(c) Bismillah’s friend
(d) Bismillah’s father

Short Answer Questions

Q1: How old was Evelyn when she went to the Royal Academy of Music? Why was she nervous on her way to the academy?
Q2: Why was Evelyn Glennie going to face a bigger challenge at the prestigious Royal Academy of Music in London?
Q3: Who advised Evelyn’s parents to take her to a specialist? Why?
Q4: “Everything suddenly looked black”. Why did Evelyn feel this way?
Q5: How did Evelyn’s teachers respond when she expressed her desire to play a xylophone?

Long Answer Questions

Q1: “If you work hard and know where you are going, you’ll get there,” remarks Evelyn Glennie. What does it reveal about her character?
Q2: Evelyn is an inspiration to all. Justify.
Q3: Evelyn did not succumb to her disability. Comment.
Q4: Evelyn is very down-to-earth and does not succumb to hero worship. Comment.

Reference Based QuestionsRead the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.

Q1: It was her first day at the prestigious Royal Academy of Music in London and daunting enough for any teenager fresh from a Scottish farm. But this aspiring musician faced a bigger challenge than most.
(a) Who is referred to as the ‘aspiring musician’?
(b) How old was this ‘aspiring musician’ when she went to the Royal Academy of Music?
(c) What was likely to ‘daunt any teenager’?
(d) Why did she “a bigger challenge than most”?

Q2: Evelyn Glennie’s loss of hearing had been gradual. Her mother remembers noticing something was wrong when the eight-year-old Evelyn was waiting to play the piano.
“They called her name and she didn ’t move. I suddenly realised she hadn ’t heard, ” says Isabel Glennie.
(a) Who is Isabel Glennie?
(b) Why did Evelyn Glennie not move to play the piano?
(c) When was her deafness first noticed?
(d) How did Evelyn lose her hearing?

Q3: They were advised that she should be fitted with hearing aids and sent to a school for the deaf.
(a) Who are ‘they’? By whom were they advised?
(b) Who is ‘she’?
(c) What was the course of action recommended for her?
(d) How had her mother realised that Evelyn was having problems with her hearing?

Q4: But Evelyn was not going to give up. She was determined to lead a normal life and pursue her interest in music. One day, she noticed a girl playing a xylophone and decided that she wanted to play it too. Most of the teachers discouraged her, but percussionist Ron Forbes spotted her potential.
(a) Why was Evelyn not going to give up?
(b) What did she want to do?
(c) Why did her teachers not encourage her?
(d) Who encouraged her? What did he say?

Q5: She never looked back from that point onwards. She toured the United Kingdom with a youth orchestra and by the time she was sixteen, she had decided to make music her life.
(a) Who is ‘she’?
(b) What does ‘that point’ refer to?
(c) Where did she go with a youth orchestra?
(d) What was her age when she decided to make music her life?

Q6: She gradually moved from orchestral work to solo performances. At the end of her three-year course, she had captured most of the top awards.
(a) How did Evelyn advance in her career?
(b) Where did she pursue her three-year course?
(c) What were her achievements at the end of her course?
(d) What made her achievements so great?

Q7: And for all this, Evelyn won’t accept any hint of heroic achievement. “If you work hard and know where you are going, you’ll get there.”
(a) What does ‘all this’ refer to?
(b) Why is it a heroic achievement?
(c) To what does Evelyn give credit for her achievement?
(d) What quality of Evelyn’s character is reflected in this?

Q8: In our two-hour discussion she never missed a word. “Men with bushy beards give me trouble,” she laughed. “It is not just watching the lips, it’s the whole face, especially the eyes.”
(a) Who is ‘she’? Why is it strange that she never missed a word?
(b) How does she hear the words?
(c) Why do men with bushy beards give her trouble?
(d) Which are the languages that she speaks?

Q9: As for music, she explains, “It pours in through every part of my body. It tingles in the skin, my cheekbones and even in my hair.” When she plays the xylophone, she can sense the sound passing up the stick into her fingertips. By leaning against the drums, she can feel the resonances flowing into her body.
(a) Who is the speaker in the first line?
(b) What is it that pours in through every part of her body?
(c) How was she able to hear sounds and vibrations?
(d) How did Ron Forbes help her to continue with music?

Q10: “I’ve just got to work… Often harder than classical musicians. But the rewards are enormous.” Apart from the regular concerts, Evelyn also gives free concerts in prisons and hospitals. She also gives high priority to classes for young musicians. Ann Richlin of the Beethoven Fund for Deaf Children says, “She is a shining inspiration for deaf children. They see that there is nowhere that they cannot go.”
(a) Evelyn works harder than classical musicians. What does it imply?
(b) For whom does Evelyn perform for free?
(c) “…there is nowhere that they cannot go.” Who are they here?
(d) What quality of Evelyn’s character is shown by her actions?

The solutions of the worksheet “Worksheet Solutions: The Sound of Music“

Q.1. What is the tone of the poem The Road Not Taken?
(a) Sad
(b) Hesitation
(c) Reflective
(d) Happy

Q.2. How many roads diverged into the yellow woods?
(a) 4
(b) 3
(c) 2
(d) 1

Q.3. Why is the poet asking to be wise while choosing a pathway?
(a) Because it is a one-sided road
(b) None of these
(c) Because it is the only one road
(d) Because there is no Going Back option

Q.4. Which thing decides a person’s future according to this poem?
(a) Success
(b) Path one leaves behind
(c) Path one chooses to walk
(d) Regrets

Q.5. Read the text carefully and answer the question:

Then took the other, just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear.
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.

(i) What does grassy mean in the poem?
(a) the road which is not used by anyone
(b) the road with all the luxuries
(c) the comfortable road
(d) well-built road

(ii) Why was the poet looking at the path?
(a) to decide whether it was suitable for him
(b) to see how long it was
(c) to check the road
(d) none of these

Q.6. What is the message of this poem?
(a) Road is nothing but a pathway
(b) All of these
(c) Be wise while choosing and taking decisions
(d) Two roads are confusing

Q.7. Why did the poet title his poem as The Road Not Taken?
(a) because he regretted not having chosen the other road.
(b) because he thought it better to say about the road not taken.
(c) because he found the title interesting.
(d) because he couldn’t find a suitable title for his poem.

Q.8. What is the rhyme scheme of the poem The Road Not Taken?
(a) ababab cdcdcd efefef ghghgh
(b) abbaa cddcc effee ghhgg
(c) abaab cdccd efeef ghggh
(d) abbab cddcd effef ghhgh

Q.9. What has made all the difference in the poet’s life?
(a) Choosing a travelled road
(b) Choosing a less travelled road
(c) By not choosing any road
(d) By not being weak

Q.10. Where does the poet find himself?
(a) on the road
(b) on a bus
(c) on a muddy road
(d) on a fork

Reference Based Questions 
Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.

Q1:
‘‘Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth; ”

(a) What does the narrator mean by “a yellow wood”?

(b) What choice did the narrator have to make?

(c) Which road did the narrator take?

(d) What does the narrator regret?

Q2: 
“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry, I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
And looked down one as far I could;
To where it bent in the undergrowth, ”

(a) What did the narrator see in the wood?

(b) Why did the narrator stand there for “long”?

(c) How were the two roads different?

(d) The poet here is using “roads” as symbols of:

Q3: 
“Then took the other, as just as fair, ‘
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same, ”

(a) What does “other” refer to in the above lines?

(b) Which road did the narrator choose?

(c) Explain “grassy and wanted wear”?

(d) What did the narrator decide about the road he did not take?

Q4:
‘And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way;
I doubted if I should ever come back. ”

(a) What does “both” refer to?

(b) Explain the line “In leaves no step had trodden back”.

(c) Why did the narrator wish to come back?

(d) What made the narrator doubt whether he “should ever come back”?

Q5:
“I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference ”

(a) Where was the narrator walking one day?

(b) Which road did the narrator leave?

(c) When will the narrator look back on his life?

(d) Why do you think the narrator says this “with a sigh”?

Q6:
“I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference ”

(a) Where is the narrator standing?

(b) Why was the narrator sorry?

(c) Which road did the narrator finally decide to take and why?

(d) Whom will he tell this with a sigh?

Q7: 
“I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference. ”

(a) What will the narrator tell “with a sigh”?

(b) Why does the narrator say, “And that has made all the difference”?

(c) What did the narrator wish to do when he takes the road that he has not been able to do?

(d) What difference did the road he took make to his life?

Q8:
“I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference “

(a) What is the theme of the poem?

(b) Which poetic device defines the roads in the wood?

(c) What is the tone of the narrator in the last stanza?

(d) Where is the narrator when he makes the choice?

The solutions of the worksheet “Worksheet Solutions: Poem – The Road Not Taken“

Q.1. In the chapter, The Fun They Had, Where did Tommy find the book?
(a) In his study room
(b) In the playground
(c) In his school
(d) In the attic

Q.2. Which subject did Margie face problems in learning?
(a) Geography
(b) History
(c) Mathematics
(d) Science

Q.3. Whose father knew as much as a teacher?
(a) Blair
(b) Evelyn
(c) Margie
(d) Tommy

Q.4. How much time was taken to repair Tommy’s teacher?
(a) 15 days
(b) 20 days
(c) 25 days
(d) One month

Q.5. According to Tommy, the real book was
(a) Wrong
(b) Boring
(c) A waste
(d) Fiction

Q.6. To which world does the story take the readers?

(a) Future world where computers will play a major role
(b) Past world
(c) Present World
(d) A future world where humans will play a major role

Q.7 Who was the regular teacher who taught the lessons?
(a) Who teaches
(b) Human teacher
(c) Computer teacher
(d) Mechanical robot teacher who teaches Margie and Tommy

Q.8. In the chapter, The Fun They Had, why were the two children surprised to know that once children were taught different subjects by human teachers?
(a) Because humans were mechanical teachers.
(b) Human teaching the children was an offensive crime.
(c) Because humans were not mechanical teachers.
(d) Human beings were not allowed to teach.

Q.9. In the chapter, The Fun They Had, which date has been mentioned in her diary by Margie?
(a) 15th May 2156
(b) 17th May 2158
(c) 17th May 2157
(d) 15th May 2157

Q.10. What subjects did Margie and Tommy learn?
(a) Geography
(b) Science
(c) Mathematics
(d) All of these

Fill in the Blanks

Q1: Margie’s grandfather once said that there was a time when all stories were printed on ____.

Q2: Tommy found a ___ book in the attic.

Q3: Margie’s mechanical teacher gave her test after test in ____.

Q4: Margie had to write her homework and test papers in a punch code she learned when she was ____ years old.

Q5: The Inspector adjusted the geography sector to an average ____ level.

True or False

Q1: Margie loved school.

Q3: Margie’s mother never intervened in her education.

Q4: Margie hoped the Inspector would take away the mechanical teacher.

Q5: Margie was happy when the Inspector adjusted the geography sector.

Match the FollowingColumn AColumn B1. Margie’s feelings about schoola. A real book 2. Tommy’s ageb. Thirteen3. Margie’s agec. Adjusted the geography sector4. Tommy’s discoveryd. Hated school5. The Inspector’s actione. Eleven

Reference Based Questions 
Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.

Q1: “Today Tommy found a real book! ”
It was a very old book. Margie’s grandfather once said that when he was a little boy his grandfather told him that there was a time when all stories were printed on paper.

(a) Who are Margie and Tommy?

(b) Where had Tommy found the book?

(c) What is meant by “real book”?

(d) How had Margie heard of such a book?

Q2: It was a very old book. Margie’s grandfather once said that when he was a little boy his grandfather told him that there was a time when all stories were printed on paper. They turned the pages, which were yellow and crinkly, and it was awfully funny to read words that stood still instead of moving the way they were supposed to-on a screen, you know.

(a) Why were the pages of the book yellow?

(b) What kind of books did Margie and Tommy read?

(c) What do you think a telebook is?

(d) Why did Tommy find the book a “waste”?

Q3: They turned the pages, which were yellow and crinkly, and it was awfully funny to read words that stood still instead of moving the way they were supposed to-on a screen, you know.

(a) Who are ‘they’ in this extract?

(b) Which book had yellow and crinkly pages?

(c) What do the yellow and crinkly pages reveal about the book?

(d) What did ‘they’ find funny? Why?

Q4: “I wouldn’t throw it away. ”
(a) Who says these words?

(b) What does ‘it’ refer to?

(c) What is it being compared with, by the speaker?

(d) Why would the speaker not throw it away?

Q5: “What’s it about? ”
“School. ”
Margie was scornful. “School? What’s there to write about school? I hate school. ”

(a) What does ‘it’ refer to?

(b) Why was Margie scornful about the book?

(c) Why did Margie not like school?

(d) Why did Margie hate her mechanical teacher?

Q6: He was a round little man with a red face and a whole box of tools with dials and wires. He smiled at Margie and gave her an apple, then took the teacher apart.

(a) Who is ‘he’?

(b) Why had he been called?

(c) Why did he give Margie an apple?

(d) How did he fix the teacher?

Q7: He said to her mother, “It’s not the little girl’s fault, Mrs Jones. I think the geography sector was geared a little too quick. Those things happen sometimes. ”

(a) Who is ‘he’ and which ‘little girl’ is he talking about?

(b) What, according to him, is not the girl’s fault?

(c) What was wrong with the geography sector of the mechanical teacher?

(d) What does the County Inspector do to correct the fault?

Q8: “Actually, the overall pattern of her progress is quite satisfactory. ” And he patted Margie’s head again. Margie was disappointed. She had been hoping they would take the teacher away altogether.

(a) Who is the speaker? Whose progress is being talked about?

(b) Why was Margie disappointed?

(c) Whose teacher had been taken away? Why?

(d) What subjects did Margie and Tommy learn?

Q9: Tommy looked at her with very superior eyes. “Because it’s not our kind of school, stupid. This is the old kind of school that they had hundreds and hundreds of years ago. ” He added loftily.

(a) What does Tommy mean by “our kind of school”?

(b) Why did Tommy call Margie stupid?

(c) Whom does ‘they’ here refer to?

(d) How was ‘their’ school different?

Q10: “Sure they had a teacher, butit wasn ’t a regular teacher. It was a man. ”

(a) Who speaks these words and about what?

(b) Who does ‘they’ refer to in these lines?

(c) What does ‘regular’ mean here?

(d) What is ‘regular’ contrasted with?

Q11: “A man? How could a man be a teacher? ”
“Well, he just told the boys and girls things and gave them homework and asked them questions. ”

(a) Who feels a man cannot be a teacher? Why?

(b) What does ‘he’ refer to here?

(c) What job did ‘he’ do?

(d) Where had the speaker got this information?

Q12: Tommy screamed with laughter. “You don’t know much, Margie. The teachers didn ’t live in the house. They had a special building and all the kids went there. ”

(a) Why did Tommy scream with laughter?

(b) What did Margie not know? Why?

(c) What ‘special building’ does the speaker refer to?

(d) How is the special building a unique place for Margie and Tommy?

Q13: Margie went into the school room. It was right next to her bedroom and the mechanical teacher was on and waiting for her. It was always on at the same time every day except Saturday and Sunday because her mother said little girls learned better if they learned at regular hours.

(a) What was ‘it’? Where was ‘it’?

(b) Why was ‘it’ next to ‘her’ bedroom?

(c) Why was the mechanical teacher on and waiting for her?.

(d) Why did Margie not like the mechanical teacher?

Q14: Margie did so with a sigh. She was thinking about the old schools they had when her grandfather’s grandfather was a little boy. All the kids from the whole neighbourhoods came, laughing and shouting in the schoolyard, sitting together in the school room going home together at the end of the day. They learned the same things, so that they could help one another with the home work and talk about it.

(a) What did Margie do with a sigh?

(b) Which school is Margie thinking about in the above lines?

(c) Where was Margie’s school? Did she have any classmates?

(d) How is the school under reference different from the present ones?

The solutions of the worksheet “Worksheet Solutions: The Fun they had“

Key Points of the Story

• The play begins in a small cottage where the main character, Gerrard, is making a phone call.
• While Gerrard is packing a bag, an intruder enters the cottage with a revolver and threatens him.
• The intruder demands information from Gerrard and reveals that he wants to kill Gerrard and take on his identity.
• Gerrard remains calm and uses his wit to engage the intruder in conversation.
• Throughout their dialogue, Gerrard discovers that the intruder is a criminal on the run, wanted for murder.
• Gerrard cleverly convinces the intruder that he too is in trouble and needs to escape from the police.
• Gerrard offers the intruder a way out by suggesting they leave together in Gerrard’s car.
• As the intruder is distracted, Gerrard manages to push him into a cupboard and locks him inside.
• Gerrard then calls the police, indicating that he has outsmarted the intruder.
• The play ends with Gerrard calmly discussing the situation on the phone, showing his resourcefulness and intelligence.

Detailed Summary

The scene starts in a small, cosy cottage. There are two doors: one at the back and another on the left. The furniture is simple, with a small table, a couple of chairs, and a divan on the right side of the stage. On the table, there is a telephone. As the curtain rises, we see a man named Gerrard. He is talking on the phone. Gerrard is of medium height and wears glasses. He is dressed in a nice suit and a great coat, and he speaks in a cultured voice.

Gerrard is making a phone call, asking the person on the other end to call someone directly because he needs to know something important. After finishing his call, he goes to the divan, where he starts packing a travelling bag. Suddenly, another man enters the cottage. This man looks quite similar to Gerrard in build, but he is dressed in flashy clothes and carries a revolver. He makes a noise when he bumps into the table, and Gerrard quickly turns to look at him.

The intruder is not friendly. He tells Gerrard that he is glad to see him but that Gerrard will not be pleased for long. He orders Gerrard to raise his hands. Gerrard responds calmly, suggesting that this situation is quite dramatic but not very original. The intruder wants to know some information from Gerrard, who is trying to stay calm and uses clever words to engage the intruder. The intruder is aggressive and demands answers about Gerrard’s life.

Gerrard plays along with the intruder’s questions. He tells the intruder that he lives alone and pretends to be cooperative. The intruder accuses him of lying about having a car, but Gerrard cleverly turns the conversation back to the intruder’s own identity, asking questions about him instead. This makes the intruder frustrated because he wants to be in control.

The intruder reveals that he is a criminal who specializes in stealing jewels and plans to take Gerrard’s car. Gerrard sarcastically points out that there are not many jewels in his quiet area of Essex. The intruder then reveals his plan to kill Gerrard, which he thinks will allow him to take over Gerrard’s identity and escape from the police. However, Gerrard challenges this idea by asking why the intruder would want to commit murder, suggesting that it is a foolish decision.

As their conversation continues, Gerrard cleverly manipulates the situation. He tells the intruder that he is not just an ordinary man but also a criminal who has had trouble with the law. He pretends that he is also running away from the police and suggests that they could work together. Gerrard even shows the intruder a packed bag that he claims is a disguise, hoping to convince him that they could escape together.

At this moment, Gerrard takes advantage of the situation. He tricks the intruder by pretending to be scared and suddenly pushes him into a cupboard, locking him inside. Gerrard then picks up the intruder’s gun and goes to the phone to call for help. He humorously talks on the phone about the situation, saying it was quite amusing and that he will include it in his next play.

This scene shows Gerrard as a clever and quick-thinking character. He manages to outsmart the intruder and take control of the situation. The play ends with Gerrard waiting for the police to arrive, having successfully handled a dangerous situation.

Try yourself:

What is the main reason Gerrard convinces the intruder that he is also a criminal and wanted by the police?

• A.Gerrard wants to scare the intruder into leaving him unharmed.
• B.Gerrard wants to make the intruder feel sympathetic towards him.
• C.Gerrard wants to trick the intruder into revealing his true identity.
• D.Gerrard wants to confuse the intruder and distract him.

View Solution

Theme

The theme of the play emphasises the need to retain one’s presence of mind and a cool head in situations of crisis. Panic complicates matters but a cool temperament can help one escape from any tight comer with ease. Criminals, who mastermind most well-thought-out crimes, can also be outwitted because they are fearful of the law and of getting caught. Hence, tactful planning and handling of a situation can trap even ‘experienced’ criminals.

Difficult Words

1. Divan: A type of bed with a thick base and mattress
2. Count on: To depend on someone or something
3. Flashily: In a way that looks bright, cheap and showy
4. Bumps: To hit something
5. Intruder: Someone who enters a place illegally 
6. Melodramatic: Behaving or reacting in an exaggerated way
7. Nonchalant: Behaving in a calm and relaxed way
8. Sympathetic: Someone who is kind, caring, and concerned about others
9. Inflection: The way in which the sound of your voice changes during speech
10. Greengrocer: A person who sells vegetables
11. Tradespeople: People whose job involves selling goods
12. Modest: Not talking too much about one’s own abilities
13. Plenty: More than enough
14. The wilds: An area where few or no people live
15. Trifle: Slightly
16. Fancy: To suddenly start to like someone
17. Sarcasm: The use of remarks which mean the opposite of what someone says
18. Grave: Seriously bad
19. Hunted: To try to find somebody
20. Gratuitous: Unnecessary
21. Melodrama: A story or film in which the characters show strong emotions than real people do
22. Posh: Fashionable
23. Pantomime: An act of expressing thoughts through movements rather than speech
24. Elude: To not be caught by anyone
25. Dodge: To move quickly and suddenly to avoid somebody
26. Luckiest break: Fortunate and unexpected turn of events
27. Cloak: To cover or hide something
28. Clear off: To go away
29. Disguise: To change the appearance
30. Slam: To shut something with a lot of force, making a loud noise
31. Rattle: Sharp knocking sounds
32. Sergeant: Refers to a police officer
33. Cultured: Well-educated and able to understand and enjoy art, literature, etc.
34. Lounge suit: A man’s formal suit, consisting of  jacket and trousers, worn during business hours
35. Horn-rimmed: Horn-rimmed specs have a thick dark plastic frame

Try yourself:

What is the main theme of the play “If I Were You”?

• A.Love and romance
• B.Identity and deception
• C.Friendship and loyalty
• D.Adventure and exploration

View Solution