ORAL
COMPREHENSION CHECK PAGE
3
1. Where in the classroom does Wanda sit
and why?
Answer:
Wanda
usually sits in the seat next to the last seat in the last row of Room
Thirteen. While nobody exactly knows the reason for her sitting there, she
often comes to school from Boggins Heights with feet caked with mud. It is
assumed that because of the muddy shoes, she chooses to sit at the corner.
2. Where does Wanda live? What kind of a
place do you think it is?
Answer:
Wanda
lived in Boggins Heights, which is very far away from the school she goes to. I
think it is a poor locality.
3. When and why do Peggy and Maddie notice
Wanda’s absence?
Answer:
It
is on a Wednesday when Peggy and Maddie notice Wanda’s absence. They notice her
absence because Wanda has made them late to school. They had waited for Wanda
to have fun with her.
4. What do you think “to have fun with
her” means?
Answer:
I
think “to have fun with her” means “to mock or enjoy by making fun of her”.
ORAL
COMPREHENSION CHECK PAGE
5
1. In what way was Wanda different from
the other children?
Answer:
Not
only did Wanda have a weird name, but she also behaved differently from the
rest of the children. She had no friends and always wore a blue dress that
didn’t hang right.
2. Did Wanda have a hundred dresses? Why
do you think she said she did?
Answer:
I
don’t think Wanda had a hundred dresses. She said she did because she wanted to
escape cruelty. She also wanted to hide the fact that she was too poor.
3. Why is Maddie embarrassed by the
questions Peggy asks Wanda? Is she also like Wanda, or is she different?
Answer: Maddie was embarrassed by the questions that Peggy asked Wanda because she did not want Peggy to start in on her. She was poor too and didn’t want to be made fun of.
ORAL
COMPREHENSION CHECK PAGE
8
1. Why didn’t Maddie ask Peggy to stop
teasing Wanda? What was she afraid of?
Answer:
Maddie didn’t ask Peggy to stop teasing Wanda because she was Peggy’s best
friend and did not want to strain her relations with her. Furthermore, she was
afraid that questioning Peggy would make her the target for Peggy and the new
girls. In simple words, Maddie did not want to go through what Wanda did at the
hands of Peggy and the girls.
2. Who did Maddie think would win the
drawing contest? Why?
Answer:
Maddie
thought Peggy would win the drawing contest because she drew better than anyone
else in the room.
3. Who won the drawing contest? What had
the winner drawn?
Answer:
The
drawing contest was won by Wanda Petronski. She had drawn a hundred designs -
each of which was different and beautiful.
THINKING
ABOUT THE TEXT PAGE
8
1. How is Wanda seen as different by the
other girls? How do they treat her?
Answer:
Wanda
is seen as different by the other girls because she hails from a very poor
background. Moreover, she spends time alone and hardly interacts with other
girls. The only time she speaks is in the schoolyard about the hundred dresses.
The other girls treat her cruelly and talk ill of her behind her back.
2. How does Wanda feel about the dresses
game? Why does she say that she has a hundred dresses?
Answer:
Wanda
did not feel bad or hurt about the dresses game. In fact, it was only during
the game that she spoke. She said she had a hundred dresses because she
actually fantasised about having those many. In reality, she wore just a blue
dress every day when she came to school.
3. Why does Maddie stand by and not do
anything? How is she different from Peggy? (Was Peggy’s friendship important to
Maddie? Why? Which lines in the text tell you this?)
Answer:
Maddie
is Peggy’s inseparable friend. Although she does not like the dresses game that
Peggy had thought up, she cannot muster the courage to tell her anything about
it. Not only does she not want to lose a friend, but she also feels that if she
expressed her thoughts, she might become the next target of the girls. Hence,
Maddie stands by and does nothing. It is also evident that she prizes Peggy’s
friendship. As Peggy happens to be the most-liked girl in the room, Maddie even
feels that she might not possibly do anything wrong.
4. What does Miss Mason think of Wanda’s
drawings? What do the children think of them? How do you know?
Answer:
Miss Mason thinks highly of Wanda’s drawings. She even tells the children that
Room Thirteen should be proud of her. The children too are pleasantly surprised
by Wanda’s drawings. The children being surprised is evident as they whistle
and murmur upon seeing a hundred designs that Wanda drew.
THINKING
ABOUT THE LANGUAGE PAGE
9
I. Look at these sentences
(a) She sat in the corner of the room where the rough
boys who did not make good marks sat,
the corner of the room where there was
most scuffling of feet, ...
(b) The time when they thought about Wanda was outside of school hours …
These italicized
clauses help us to identify a set of boys , a place, and a time. They are
answers to the questions ‘What kind of rough boys ?’ ‘Which corner did she sit
in?’ and ‘What particular time outside of school hours?’ They are ‘defining’ or
‘restrictive’ relative clauses. (Compare them with the ‘non-defining ‘ relative
clauses discussed in Unit 1.)
Combine the following to make sentences
like those above.
1. This is the bus (what kind of bus?). It goes to Agra. (use which or that)
2. I would like to buy (a) shirt (which shirt?). (The) shirt is in the shop window. (use
which or that)
3. You must break your fast at a particular time (when?). You see the moon in the sky. (use
when)
4. Find a word (what kind of word?). It begins with the letter Z. (use which or that)
5. Now find a person (what kind of person). His or her name begins with the letter Z.
(use whose)
6. Then go to a place (what place?). There are no people whose name begins with Z
in that place. (use where)
Answers:
1. This is the bus that goes to Agra.
2. I would like to buy a shirt which is in the shop
window.
3. You must break your fast at a particular time
when you see the moon in the sky.
4. Find a word that begins with the letter Z.
5. Now find a person whose name begins with the
letter Z.
6. Then go to a place where there are no people
whose name begins with Z.
II. The Narrative Voice
1. Here are two other sentences from the
story. Can you say whose point of view the italicized words express?
(i) But on
Wednesday, Peggy and Maddie, who sat down
front with other children who got good marks and who didn’t track in a whole
lot of mud, did notice that Wanda wasn’t there.
(ii) Wanda
Petronski. Most of the children in Room
Thirteen didn’t have names like that. They had names easy to say, like Thomas,
Smith or Allen.
Answer:
(i) Peggy and Maddie
(ii) The children of Room Thirteen excluding Wanda Petronski
2. (To be done by the student)
III. Look at this sentence. The
italicised adverb expresses an opinion or point of view.
Obviously, the only dress Wanda had was the blue
one she wore every day. (This was obvious to the speaker.) Other such adverbs
are apparently, evidently, surprisingly, possibly, hopefully, incredibly,
luckily. Use these words appropriately in the blanks in the sentences below.
(You may use a word more than once, and more than one word may be appropriate
for a given blank.)
1. ________, he finished his work on time.
2. ________, it will not rain on the day of the
match.
3. _________ ,he had been stealing money from his
employer.
4. Television is _______ to blame for the increase
in violence in society.
5. The children will ________ learn from their
mistakes.
6. I can’t ________ lend you that much money.
7. The thief had _________ been watching the house
for many days.
8. The thief _________ escaped by bribing the
jailor.
9. _________, no one had suggested this before.
10. The water was _______ hot.
Answers:
1. Surprisingly 2.
Hopefully 3. Apparently 4.
possibly
5. hopefully 6.
Possibly 7.
Apparently 8. evidently
9. surprisingly 10. apparently.
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