Lesson - 7 The Open Window!

The Open Window

Q.1.  Why is Vera described as a 'very confident young lady of fifteen'?

Ans:  Mr.Nuttel considers Vera a very confident young lady of fifteen, from the way she conducts herself and the pleasant manner in which she receives him - a total stranger - while her aunt is busy.

Q.2.  Why does Vera ask Mr.Nuttel so many questions?

Ans:  Vera asks Mr.Nuttel so many questions in order to make sure that Mr.Nuttel was not familiar with anyone in the neighbourhood, especially her aunt. The knowledge of his unfamiliarity was necessary for the stories she was going to make up soon after.

Q.3.  Why was the girl sure that Framton Nuttel would believe her story about the three men and their dog?

Ans:  Mr.Nuttel was unfamiliar about the stories in the neighbourhood and therefore easily for Vera's story and the fact that the window was open on a cold, windy morning, convinced him beyond doubt.

Q.4.  Why did Framton Nuttel think that the three men entering through the French window were ghosts?

Ans:  Vera had just told Mr.Nuttel the story of her aunt's husband and her two brothers having drowned on one of their shooting episode, three years earlier. When he saw the three men entering the house through the French window, he thought that they were ghosts.

Q.5.  What did Nuttel after he saw them?

Ans:  After Nuttel saw them, he grabbed his hat and stick and left the Sappleton's house in a hurry.

Q.6.  What reason does Vera give for Mr.Nuttel's odd behaviour?

Ans:  Vera tells the others that Mr.Nuttel must have been scared by the sight of the Spaniel, for he had once been attacked by a pack of stray dogs on the banks of the Ganges river, which had forced him to spend a night in a newly dug up grave with the creatures grinning around him.

C.1.  Mr.Sappleton says, 'One would think he had seen a ghost'. What is ironical about her statement?

Ans:  The irony here is that Mr.Sappleton uses the term only as a means of expression, without realising that in truth Mr.nuttel left the way he did because he truly believed he was seeing ghosts, having heard the story Vera made up earlier.

C.2.  Vera tells the story very carefully, how does her dramatic style make it more effective? Give examples to support your answer.

Ans:  Vera builds up a story very carefully using a real scene to make up a story that forces Mr.Nuttel to believe her. The dramatic impact is further highlighted by her choice of words like, 'Drowned in a dangerous piece of bog', 'Dreadful wet summer' and 'Bodies were never recovered'.

Potion for FA-3,

MCB - Unit-5,  W.B. - Unit-5, Lit. - 7.

Lakshmi.  :-)))

Young Impala Lesson - 6

Complete these sentences:

1.   We know that the young Impala was still very small because:
A.  It had not yet sprouted it's first horns.

2.   Young Impala started his day:
A.  By prancing and leaping towards the river and then stopping by the bank to drink water and stare at the hippos lolling in the shallows.

3.   Young Impala wanted to know why the Hippos:
A.  Were slow to move on land, looked different from him and had thick bodies and short legs.

4.   Mother Hippo's reply to Young Impala was:
A.  `Little Impala, you are indeed graceful. We hippos can dive, swim and live in the river or on the land and do many interesting things, though it may be different from your ways. every creature is special in its own way. Someone will understand this.

5.  One day, young Impala became very nervous as:
A. He couldn't see his herd anywhere.

6.  The hippos helped young Impala by:
A. Arranging themselves side by side, creating a living bridge.

7.  Young Impala learned the lesson that:
A. One must not judge any creature by their physical appearance and give credence to their own special identity.

 Read these sentences and answer the questions that follow:

1.   `Why are you not like me'?

a.   Who is you? Who is me?
A.  You is hippopotamus and me is the young Impala.

b.   What is the difference between you and me?
A.  You is the hippopotamus and me is the young Impala.

2.   `I now understand the truth of what you said to me'.

a.   Who says this? Who spoke to whom?
A.  Young Impala says this to the Hippopotamus.

b.   What did she say?
A.  She says that every animal is different.

Imagine that you are the young Impala and you are back with your herd on the other side of the river. Write in the form of a dialogue, what you would have told your mother and how she would have helped you.

 Everyone's Friend,
Lakshmi. :-))

Literature Unit - 5 Daffodils

Q.1    What does he compare him with the beginning?
A.1.   The poet compares himself to a lonely cloud at the beginning of the poem.

Q.2.   What impression does the word `wandering' create? What if he used the word walk?

A.2.  The word `wandered' means `walked aimlessly'. The word `wandered' creates a sense of casualness, word `walked' by will make it sound like a planned activity. the words have different effects.

Q.3.   Where does the poet see the daffodils? Why is it's stretch compared to the milky way?
A.3.  The poet sees the daffodils beside the lake and beneath the trees. The stretch of daffodils is compared to the milky way because they had flowered continuously like the stars in the milky way.

Q.4.  Which lines in the poem tell you that nothing could match the joy of daffodils, not even the shining of the lake water?
A.4.  The lines, "the waves beside...........glee", denotes that nothing matches the joy of the daffodils.

Q.5.  The poet enjoys the pretty sight of daffodils even much later. Where does he see it?
A.5.   The poet says that he often enjoys the pretty side of the daffodils even much later, as he sees them dancing in his min's eye / memory.

English Lesson-3

A SLIGHT MISUNDERSTANDING:

A. Answer these questions:

1.   What did the narrator do that Saturday? What did he think about the 'little black cars'?

A:   The narrator had a little bit of shopping to do on that Saturday. He went to the nearby shopping centre to get some fish, groceries and the dry cleaning done. He thought that the 'little black cars' were among the most common of things, with many people seeming to have the same idea as himself.

2.   What was the 'startling thing' that happened when he was driving back home?

A:  When the narrator was driving back home, he felt the back of his neck being licked by a dog, while he hadn't brought his dog along.

3.  How did he come to know about the details of the dog in his car?

A:  The dog's collar had a name and the address of a farm on it. Thus, the narrator got to know about the details of the dog, that was in his car.

4.  What did he think about how the dog came into his car?

A:  He thought that the dog's owner had left it in his car, mistaking it to be his (owner's) car.

5.  Why did he decide against reporting to the police about his supposedly stolen car?

A:  He thought, that it would seem a little bit 'fishy' if he drove up to the police station in a black car, just to report that another of the same colour was stolen. Hence, he decided against reporting the matter to the police.

7.   Who was Arthur?

A:  Arthur was the owner of the dog which was found in the author's car.

8.  Why did the farmer's wife put her things in the narrator's seat?

A:  The farmer's wife had put her things in the author's car, because she was scatter brained.

9.  'So, of course, we all had a good laugh and the whole thing ended on a happy note'. Could the story have ended here? What effect does the final paragraph have?

A:  Yes, the story could have ended here like all 'happy note' endings. The final paragraph lends a possibility to another episode, not very different from the earlier, around which the whole story revolves.

C. Work in pairs and discuss these:

1.   Is this story about a 'slight misunderstanding' or a 'major misunderstanding' ?

A:  This story is about a slight as well as a major misunderstanding, because certain situations are slight like, the driving around in the wrong car and major as in driving away in the wrong car again.

2.   Look at the sequences of this story. How many misunderstandings can you find in the story? Pick out the sentences that contribute to the misunderstanding.

A:  The sentences that give out hints of misunderstandings are:

(i)    The author that someone had left their pet in his vehicle, thinking it to be theirs.
(ii)   He thought his car was still at the market's parking lot.
(iii)  The author thinking that everyone had bought a car of the same model and colour.
(iv)  Driving back home in the wrong car, again!

D.   Imagine you are the narrator and you are writing a letter of apology to the farmer, for the mix-up.

Again, kids you ought to do this on your own. It'd benefit you lots to write in your own words. I've given some hints below, you can use those:

Dear Mr.    .......... ,

I am sorry ........                              Reasons causing the misunderstanding, why did you get confused, how it got solved and what steps you had taken to rectify that. Blah, Blah, Blah.

 

English

Lesson - 2

FOR EVERYTHING THERE IS A SEASON:

1.   Are all these activities the poet mentions permanent? Or do they come and go? How do you know?

A:  Nothing's permanent. All actions defend a situation and hence change with the situations. We understand this from the opening lines of the poem, "For everything there is a season".

2.  Sum up the message of the poem in one sentence.

A:  The poem conveys the message that no state or situation is permanent and we should learn to go with the flow of events.

B.  Work in pairs and discuss these questions:

1.  Pick out the lines which refer to conflict or hatred among people. E.g. Tear and Mend.

A:  (i)  Love, Hate.
     (ii)  Fight, Make friends.
    (iii)  Kill, Heal.
     (iv) Scatter, gather.

2.  Then, explain to your partner what the poem tells you about human conflict. Does conflict happen only between two individuals? Can conflict be ended?

A:  The poem is all about conflicts, about the two sides of the same coin. Its explains how the same individual can feel differently about the same thing as time passes by as their preferences change. No, conflicts need not happen only between two individuals. It can be between two nations, religious or ethnic groups or more so, within a person. Yes, I believe that conflicts could be ended if one does a bit of inner searching.

Kids, try doing 'C' bit on your own as my answers will be about my experiences, not yours.

D.   A:  A time to work and a time to play.
             A time to eat and a time to fast. (RAMZAN EFFECT!)
            A time to earn and a time to spend.
            A time to grab and a time to let go.

 

English

Dearies,

Today's topic would be gerunds. Now, I am not an expert, but let me share what I read and learnt. Gerund is a non-finite verb that ends with an "ing". It doesn't do the work of a verb but can be the subject of a sentence, subject of a verb or object of a preposition.

Like,

1. Playing tennis is my passion. In this sentence, playing functions as a gerund.

2. He doesn't like cooking. Here, cooking is the gerund.

3. She is fond of buying jewellery. Here again buying is the gerund.

Now the key is to identify the verb in these sentences. In 1, "is" is the verb, in 2, like and in 3, fond. (Please correct me, if I'm wrong.)

I do use these in conversation, but when asked about the grammar bit I don't know really. Now, that my son needs my help, I'm learning in order to teach him and you all as well. So, I'm a newbie too.

Present Participle is the "ing" form of verb. Now, the difference between this and gerund is that though both end in "ing", gerund doesn't do the job of a verb, whereas participle does.

If it comes at the beginning of a sentence, it is called a "participal phrase". (Phrases don't make any sense on their own.)

Past participle ends in "ed, en, d, t or n". They're usually paired with has / have / had.

Participles also function as "Adjectives".

Note to parents: If you want your kid to learn a new language, converse at least an hour in it daily (with them, OF COURSE!).. Give them books to read in that language, or while watching movies in that language, use it as "Edutainment".

LRS :-)