Class 12 TOPIC-PROSE LESSON- GOING PLACES

 SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS

Question 1 : What was Sophie’s ambition in life? How did she hope to achieve that?

Answer : Sophie’s ambition in life was either to come an actress, a fashion designer or a boutique owner. She had not made any plan about how she was going to achieve her ambition.

Question 2 : Why is Sophie attracted to Danny Casey?

Answer : Danny Casey is a young and successful football player from Ireland. He is also quite handsome, which adds to his popularity among his fans, especially young girls of Sophie’s age. Naturally, Sophie is attracted to him.

Question 3 : How are Jansie and Sophie different from each other?

Answer : Jansie and Sophie have contrasting characters and an altogether different approach towards life. Jansie is quite practical and her feet are grounded in reality, whereas Sophie is a daydreamer and lives in an imaginary world.

Question 4 : Why did Sophie long for her brother’s affection?

Answer : Sophie found in her brother, Geoff, a patient listener to all her fantasies. The other members of her family and even her friend Jansie did not believe her and made fun of her dreams and future plans. This made her quite fond of Geoff and long for his affection.

Question 5 : Did Geoff keep up his promise? How do you know?

Answer : Geoff didn’t keep his promise to Sophie. Sophie told Geoff about her meeting with Danny Casey at the Royce’s and requested him not to tell anyone about it. However, Geoff told this to Frank who in turn told his sister, Jansie.

Question 6 : Why was Sophie jealous of Geoff’s silence?

Answer : Geoff never spoke much and this made Sophie ponder over the areas of his life which he never talked about. His world remained a fascination for her. She felt that when he was not speaking, his mind was away at some unknown place, and so she felt jealous of his silence.

Question 7 : What is unrealistic about Sophie’s dreams of her future life?

Answer : Sophie was born in a poor family and was bound to work in a biscuit factory after passing out from school. However, she dreamt about having a lot of money, and owning a boutique. This was unrealistic about her dreams.

Question 8 : Why did Jansie discourage Sophie from having dreams?

Answer : Jansie discourgaed Sophie from living in a world of fantasy as her dreams were wild and impossible. She told her that they belonged to poor family and were earmarked to work in the biscuit factory after passing out from school.

Question 9 : How do we know that Sophie’s family lived in poor circumstances?

Answer : We know that Sohpie’s family lived in poor circumstances as her father worked as a labourer and they lived in a small, cramped and suffocated house.

Question 10 : Why did Sophie not want Jansie to know anything about her meeting with Danny Casey?

Answer : Sophie did not want Jansie to know anything about her meeting with Danny Casey because she knew that Jansie cannot keep a secret. Once she gets to know about something, she tells the whole neighbourhood about it.

Question 11 : How did Sophie’s father react when Geoff told him about her meeting with Danny Casey?

Answer : When Geoff told his father about Sophie’s chance encounter with Danny Casey, he expressed disdain and rubbished her story. He changed the topic and warned Sophie that such made up stories would land her into trouble some day.

Question 12 : What thoughts came to Sophie’s mind as she sat by the canal?

Answer : Sophie felt doubts stirring inside her, as she sat by the canal waiting for Danny Casey. When she say no sign of him, she remembered Geoff’s words that Casey would not come. She thought what she would tell her family.

Question 13  : Which was the only occasion when Sophie got to see Danny Casey in person?

Answer : The only occasion when Sophie got to see Danny Casey in person was when she went to watch the match with her family. Sitting amongst the spectators, Sophie saw Casey from a distance.

Question 14 : Why did Jansie discourage Sophie from entertaining thoughts about the sports star, Danny Casey?

Answer : Jansie was a realist, and not a daydreamer like Sophie. She discouraged Sophie from entertaining thoughts about the sports star, Danny Casey, because her dreams were wild and impossible.

Question 15 : Why did Sophie wriggle when Geoff told her father that she had met Danny Casey?

Answer : When Geoff told her father about Sophie’s meeting with Danny Casey, Sophie wriggled because she knew that her father wouldn’t believe it. Sophie was sure that he would be angry with her on hearing about the incident.

Question 16 : What did Sophie tell Geoff about her meeting with Danny Casey?

Answer : Sophie told Geoff that she met Danny Casey at Royce’s and said that she asked him for an autograph but neither she nor Danny had a pen or paper. She also said that Danny promised to meet her next week.

Question 17 : Does Geoff believe what Sophie says about her meeting with Danny Casey?

Answer : Geoff did not believe Sophie’s story about her meeting with Danny Casey . He dismissed the whole story as a most unlikely thing and told her that Casey would never keep his promise of meeting her again to give her his autograph.

Question 18 : What did Sophie imagine about her meeting with Danny Casey?

Answer : Sophie imagined that she had met Danny Casey at Royce’s and asked him for an autograph but could not get it as neither of them had paper or pen. Casey promised to meet her gain next week.

HOME WORK CLASS 7 TOPIC- GRAMMAR (MODAL VERBS)

  Choose the correct modal verbs and fill it up

Q1 - They ____ be on holiday, but I'm not sure.

(can/may)

Q2 - You ____ be right, but I'd still like to check.

(can/could)

Q3 - ____ you turn it down a bit please?

(Can/May)

Q4 - It's OK- you ____ go when you've finished.

(may/might)

Q5 - Ask any questions now as you ____ not talk during the test.

(may/could)

Q6 - You ____ smoke in the cinema.

(can't/might not)

Q7 - From the way he speaks, he ____ be from London.

(can/could)

Q8 - It's impossible- they _____ have finished it already!

(can't/mustn't)

Q9 - The weather ____ be better tomorrow.

(can/may)

Q10 - ____ you speak Japanese?

(Can/May)

CLASS 7 CHAPTER- A Tiger in the House

A Tiger in the House Question Answer- Solution

1. Where was the tiger cub hiding when Grandfather found him?

Ans: The tiger cub was hiding beneath the complex roots of the banyan tree.

2. (i) What did Toto do to entertain Timothy?

Answer: Toto pulled the tail of the cub Timothy.

(ii) What did he do when Timothy lost his temper?

Answer: If Timothy lost his temper, Toto would climb on the curtain.

3. “I became one of the tiger’s favorites.” Who is ‘I’ in the statement? Why did he think so?

Answer: Here, "I"is  refering to the author of the story: Ruskin Bond. Timothy used to stalk the author. Whenever the author came, he would creep closer, rolled on the back author and pretended to bite the ankles. This indicates that the tiger loved the author a lot.

4. Where was Timothy most comfortable during the day? Where was he during the night?

Answer: Timothy’s favorite place was the bedroom sofa. Every morning he would sit there and snarl if someone tries to get him out.

He spent his nights at the cook’s quarter.

5. What was Grandmother’s prophecy about the cook? Did it come true?

Answer: Grandmother was of the opinion that one day Timothy would be lying on the cook’s bed with cook missing and only the cloth of the cook.

No, the dictate of Grandmother did not come true as the grandfather decided to leave Timothy to the zoo.

6. What made Grandfather decide to transfer Timothy to the zoo?

Timothy was becoming less friendly with the advancement in age, .During the walk, his eyes were on street cats and the dogs. In the night, Timothy was killing hens. Often he was found staring at the cook with villainous intent.So,grandfather decided to transfer Timothy to the zoo.

7. Why did Grandfather want Timothy to be put in another enclosure?

Answer: There was a leopard in the adjacent cage. This leopard was frightening the tiger. The grandfather saw it, so he wanted to put Timothy in another cage.

8. What shocked Grandfather in the end?

The grandfather was of the opinion that the tiger is his pet, Timothy. But the old zookeeper explained that Timothy dies of pneumonia 2months ago. So, till now, the grandfather was stoking a tiger who was very dangerous. This shocked the grandfather.

CLASS 12 CHAPTER - MY MOTHER AT SIXTY-SIX

 

CLASS 12 CHAPTER - MY MOTHER  AT SIXTY-SIX

1. “Driving from my parent’s home to Cochin last Friday
Morning, I saw my mother, beside me, doze,
open mouthed, her face ashen like that
Of a corpse and realized with pain
That she thought away.”

a) Where was the poet coming from? Where was she going?
The poet had gone to her parents’ home to visit them. She was now going to Cochin airport.

b) How does the poet describe her mother?
The poet describes her mother as old, pale, cold and senile. As she dozed off beside her, the mother looked almost like a corpse, for her face was colorless and seemed to have lost the fervor of life.

d) Who does ‘she’ refer to in the last line? What thoughts had she driven away?
‘She’ here refers to the poet. The thought of her mother’s approaching death which she wanted to put it away.

2. “ and looked but soon
put that thought away, and looked out at young
trees sprinting, the merry children spilling
out of their homes.”

a) What was the poet ‘looking’ at? What did she notice?
The poet was looking at her mother. She noticed the mother’s ashen and almost lifeless face distraught with pain.

b) What thought did she try to drive away?
She tried to drive away the thought of her mother’s approaching death.

c) Why did the poet start ’looking out’? What does her gesture suggest?
The poet started looking out of the window because she wanted to drive away the pain and agony she experienced on seeing her aged mother. She wanted to drive away her helplessness in the wake of her mother’s ageing and approaching death.

d) What did the poet see from the window of the car?
The poet saw young trees running past her car and merry children sprinting out of their homes to play.

e) What did the images of ‘young trees’ and ‘merry children’ symbolize?
Trees and children symbolized the spring of life, its strength, vigour and happiness which contrasts with the lifelessness and helplessness that sets in with age.

3. “ but after the airport’s
security check, standing a few yards
away, I looked again at her, wan, pale
as a late winter’s moon”

a) Where was the poet standing?
The poet was at the Cochin airport waiting to board the plane after the security check.

b) Who does ‘her’ here to? How did she look like?
’Her’ here refers to the poet’s mother. She was an aged lady and hence looked pale, cold like a corpse and colourless.

c) Why does the narrator ‘look at her again’?

The narrator looked at her mother once again for the last time before she left to reassure herself about the well being of her mother. She had tried to drive away the pain she had felt on seeing her weak and aged mother. One last time she looked at her to wish her goodbye.

d) Explain: ’wan, pale as a late winter’s moon’.

In this simile, the poet compares the mother’s pale and withered face with the winter’s moon. The moon seems to lose its brightness in the winter season as it is veiled behind fog and mist. The mother’s face also seemed to have lost its radiance which was now misted by age. Winter symbolizes death and the waning moon
symbolizes decay.

4. “ and felt that old
familiar ache, my childhood’s fear,
but all I said was, see you soon, Amma,
all I did was smile and smile and smile.”

a) What ‘familiar ache’ did the poet feel?
The ‘familiar ache’ refers to the poet’s fear of losing her mother and the realization that she has not cared and cannot care for her ageing mother. It is an ache of helplessness. It is also a fear of separation from the mother or the mother’s death.

b) What could have been the poet’s childhood fears?
I think the poet’s childhood fear was that she would lose her mother or be separated from her and that death would consume her mother.

c) Did the poet share her thoughts with her mother?
The poet did not share her fears and agony with her mother. She only bid good bye to her with the hope of seeing her soon.

d) Why do you think, the poet did not share her thoughts with her mother?
I think the poet did not share her thoughts with her mother because they were caused by her fear of the unknown. Sharing them with the mother would have worried the frail old woman to death.

e) Why did the poet only ‘smile’?
The poet only smiled to hide her guilt, anxiety and fear of the unknown. Also, she wanted to bid a cheerful farewell to her mother before boarding the flight.

QUESTION AND ANSWERS

 

1. What is the kind of pain and ache that the poet feels?
When the poet looks at her mother’s face she found that it had become pale and withered. She realized that her mother was at the edge of her life and her end was near. The thought that her mother would be soon separated form her caused unbearable pain and ache in the poet’s heart.

2 What does the poet do to shrug off the painful thought of her mother’s approaching end?
To get rid of painful thought her mother‘s nearing the poet looked out to see the sprinting tree and the happy children, bursting out of their house.

3. Why does the poet draw the image of sprinting trees and merry children?
Sprinting trees and merry children bursting out from the doors suggest fresh life and warm energy. The poet draws this image to strikes a scene of contrast with the pale, dull and withered face of the mother. Here the curtain is falling and the life coming to
an end and there the curtain is rising and fresh life is beginning and bubbling with energy and vitality.

4. Why have the trees been described as sprinting?
The poet was driving in a car along with her mother. Her movement created the visionary, illusion of the trees outside appeared to be sprinting past.

5. Why has the mother been compared to the late winter’s moon?
The late winter moon lacks luster. The mothers face was pale and withered. Moreover, the late winter moon suggests the end of season and mother too is nearing the end of her life, therefore the poet compares her with the late winter’s moon.

6. What is the ‘familiar ache’?
The fear of losing her mother has tortured the poet from her very childhood because she had been intimately bound up with her. Therefore this ache is familiar to her; it is known to her.

7. What do the parting words of the poet and her smile signify?
The parting words of the poet reflect the poet’s pain. But she puts on a smile on her face to mask her pain and to give hope, happiness and reassurance to her mother.

 

ARTICLE WRITING

The problem of poverty is biggest challenge to India. Write an

article mentioning the causes and the ways and means to eradicate poverty from

India.                    
                    

Poverty: The Biggest Challenge to India
India is one of the poorest countries in the world. Poverty is just like a disease to
which many other problems such as crime, low-paced development, etc are
associated. Many Indian people do not get two meals a day. They do not have good
houses to live in. Tribal people, Dalits and labour class including farm workers in
villages and casual workers in cities are still very poor and make the poorest class in
India. Their children do not get proper schooling. The most important causes of
poverty in India are poor agriculture, growing population, the gap between rich and
poor, corruption and black money. Therefore to eradicate poverty from our country,
farmers must get all facilities for irrigation. They should be trained and educated.
Agriculture must be made profitable. The ever-rising population should be checked.
Family planning schemes should be introduced. More and more industries should be
set up to meet the needs of our country. Corruption must put to an end. Our offices
should work efficiently.
Poverty must be eradicated from India as every person has the right to live a healthy
life.