Comprehension check…
1. What did the author find in a junk shop?
Ans: The author
found a roll-top desk in a junk shop.
2. What did he find in a secret drawer? Who do
you think had put it in there?
Ans: He found a
small black tin box in the secret drawer. Perhaps, it was put there by Mrs Jim
Macpherson.
Comprehension
check…
1. Who had written the letter, to whom, and
when?
Ans: Jim
Macpherson had written the letter to his wife Connie Macpherson on December
26, 1914.
2. Why
was the letter written? What was the wonderful thing that had happened?
Ans: Jim wrote
the letter to tell his wife about a wonderful thing that had happened on
Christmas day. The wonderful thing was that right in the middle of a war, the
soldiers were making peace.
3. What jobs did Hans Wolf and Jim Macpherson
have when they were not soldiers?
Ans: Hans Wolf
played the cello in the orchestra and Jim Macpherson was a school teacher.
4. Had Hans Wolf even been to Dorset? Why did
he say he knew it?
Ans: No, Hans
Wolf had never been to Dorset. He said he knew it because he had learned a lot
about England from reading books in English.
5. Do you think Jim Macpherson came back from
the war? How do you know this?
Ans: No, it is
most likely that Jim Macpherson did not come back from the war. It was
mentioned on the letter to be the ‘last letter’ from Jim.
Comprehension
check…
1. Why did the author go to Bridport?
Ans: The author
went to Bridport because he wanted to give the letter back to Mrs
Macpherson
2. How old was Mrs Macpherson now? Where was
she?
Ans: Mrs.
Macpherson was a hundred and one years old. She was in a nursing home in
Burlington House.
Comprehension
check…
1. Who did Connie Macpherson think her visitor
was?
Ans: Mrs
Macpherson thought that her visitor was her husband, Jim Macpherson.
2. Which sentence in the text shows that the
visitor did not try to hide his identity?
Ans: The
sentence which shows that the visitor did not try to hide his identity is, ‘I
explained about the desk, about how I had found it, but I don’t think she was
listening.’
Working with
language…
1. Look at these
sentences from the story.
I spotted
it in a junk shop in Bridport…The man said it was made in the early
nineteenth century…This one was in bad condition…
The italicized
verbs are in the past tense. They tell us what happened in the past, before
now.
(i) Read the passage below and underline the verbs in the
past tense.
A man got on the train and sat down. The compartment was empty
except for one lady. She took her gloves off. A few hours later the police
arrested the man. They held him for 24 hours and then freed him.
Ans: A man got on
the train and sat down. The compartment was empty
except for one lady. She took her gloves off. A few hours
later the police arrested the man. They held him
for 24 hours and then freed him.
(ii) Fill in the blanks using the correct form of the verbs in
brackets.
My little sister is very naughty. When she -------- (come) back
from school yesterday, she had -------- (tear) her dress. We -------- (ask) her
how it had ------- (happen). She --------- (say) she --------- (have, quarrel)
with a boy. She ---------- ---------- (have, beat) him in a race and he ---------
---------- (have, try) to push her. She --------- ----------- (have, tell) the
teacher and so he ------------ ----------- (have, chase) her, and she -----------
--------- (have, fall) down and ----------- ----------- (have, tear) her dress.
Ans -
(ii) My little sister is very naughty. When she came back
from school yesterday, she had torn her dress. We asked her how
it had happened. She said she had quarreled with a boy.
She had beaten him in a race and he had tried to push her. She had
told the teacher and so he had chased her, and she had fallen
down and had torn her dress.
(iii) Underline the verbs and arrange them in two columns, Past
and Earlier past.
(a) My friends set out to see the caves in the next town, but
I stayed at home, because I had seen them already.
(b) When they arrived at the station, their train had left. They
came back home, but by that time I had gone out to see a movie!
(c) So they sat outside and ate the lunch I had packed for them.
(d) By the time I returned, they had fallen asleep!
Ans:
(a) My friends set out to see the caves in
the next town, but I stayed at home, because I had
seen them already.
(b) When they arrived at the station, their
train had left. They came back home, but by that
time I had gone out to see a movie!
(c) So they sat outside and ate the
lunch I had packed for them.
(d) By the time I returned, they had
fallen asleep!
|
Past |
Earlier past |
|
set out |
had seen |
|
stayed |
had left |
|
arrived |
had gone |
|
came |
had packed |
|
sat |
had fallen |
|
ate |
|
|
returned |
2. Find these phrasal verbs in the
story.
burn out
light up look on run out
keep out
Write down the sentences in which they occur,
consult a dictionary and write down the meaning that you think matches the
meaning of the phrasal verb in the sentence.
Ans (i) burn out
House number 12 turned out to be nothing but a burned-out shell,
the roof gaping, the windows boarded up.
(ii) light up
That was the moment her eyes lit up with
recognition and her face became suffused with a sudden glow of happiness.
(iii) look on
Hans Wolf and I looked on and cheered, clapping
our hands and stamping our feet, to keep out the cold as much as anything.
(iv) run out
The time came, and all too soon, when the game was finished, the
schnapps and the rum and the sausage had long since run out, and we
knew it was all over.
(v) keep out
Hans Wolf and I looked on and cheered, clapping our hands and
stamping our feet, to keep out the cold as much as anything.
4. The table below contains a list
of nouns and some adjectives. Use as many adjectives as you can to describe
each noun. You might come up with some funny descriptions!
|
Nouns |
Adjectives |
|
elephant |
circular, striped, enormous, multicoloured, round,
cheerful, wild, blue, red, chubby, large, medium, sized, cold |
|
face |
|
|
building |
|
|
water |
Ans:
|
Elephant |
enormous,
large, cheerful, wild, medium –sized |
|
Face |
round, cheerful, chubby |
|
Building |
multicoloured,
large, circular |
|
Water |
blue,
cold |
Poem 2
The
Ant And The Cricket
Working
with the poem…
1. The cricket says, “Oh! What will become of me?” When does he
say it, and why?
Ans: The cricket says it when winter has come, trees have no
leaves and his cupboard is empty. He says it because he has not saved anything
to eat.
2. (i) Find in the poem the lines that mean the same as “Neither a
borrower nor a lender be” (Shakespeare).
(ii) What is your opinion
of the ant’s principles?
Ans: (i) The line is ‘But we ants never borrow; we ants
never lend.’
(ii) The ant’s principle is reasonable because it teaches everyone
to plan for the rainy day.
3. The ant tells the cricket to “dance the winter away”. Do you
think the word ‘dance’ is appropriate here? If so, why?
Ans: The word ‘dance’ here means ‘merry making and wasting time.’
It is appropriate here. The irresponsible cricket does not deserve any
sympathy.
4. (i) Which lines in the poem express the poet’s comment? Read
them aloud.
(ii) Write the comment in your own words.
Ans: (i) The
lines are “Folks call this a fable. I’ll warrant it true.”
(ii) This poem is a fable. The cricket did not have anything
to eat during the winters because it did not store food during summers. The
ant, on the other hand, had stored food so that it would not starve during winters.
Thus, the moral of the poem is to be prepared for the adverse times and always
work hard.