COMPREHENSION
CHECK PAGE
10-16
1. What did the author find in a junk
shop?
Answer: The author of the story found an oak roll-top
desk that was put for sale in a junk shop. The shopkeeper said that it was very
old, from the early nineteenth century. It was badly damaged both by fire and
water.
2. What did he find in a secret drawer?
Who do you think had put it in there?
Answer: The narrator found a small tin box with a
letter in the secret drawer. In my opinion, the owner of the roll-top desk,
Connie Macpherson, Jim’s wife had put the letter in there because there was a
note written on it which read: “Jim’s last letter, received January 25, 1915.
To be buried with me when the time comes.”
3. Who had written the letter, to whom,
and when?
Answer: Jim Macpherson, captain of the English army who
was fighting a war against the German forces had written the letter to his wife
Connie Macpherson on 26th December 1914.
4. Why was the letter written- what was
the wonderful thing that had happened?
Answer: Jim wrote the letter to his wife Connie because
he wanted to tell her about a wonderful thing that happened on the day of
Christmas. Jim was a captain in the British army and a war was going between
the British and the German forces. Despite being in a war, the British and the
German troops celebrated Christmas together and even played a football match.
They shared food and drinks with and spent their time dancing, talking, and
singing together.
5. What jobs did Hans Wolf and Jim
Macpherson have when they were not soldiers?
Answer: Hans Wolf used to play the cello in an
orchestra and Jim Macpherson was a school teacher from Dorset before both of
them had joined the army.
6. Had Hans Wolf ever been to Dorset? Why
did he say he knew it?
Answer: No, Hans Wolf who was from Dusseldorf in
Germany had never been to Dorset which is situated in England. He had heard
about Dorset from school and by reading several English books. His favorite
writer was Thomas Hardy and his favorite book was ‘Far from the Madding Crowd’.
7. Do you think Jim Macpherson came back
from the war? How do you know this?
Answer: No, in my opinion, Jim Macpherson never came
back home from the war. This is the reason why his wife Connie had preserved
Jim’s last letter carefully and in the note, in the small tin box, it was
mentioned that it was Jim’s last letter. All these indicate Jim’s demise and
that he never returned home from the war.
8. Why did the author go to Bridport?
Answer: After reading the entire letter the author was
quite moved and decided to return the letter to its owner, Connie Macpherson.
The letter had Connie’s address so the author drove to Bridport to return
Connie her husband’s last letter.
9. How old was Mrs. Macpherson now? Where
was she?
Answer: Mrs. Connie Macpherson, Jim Macpherson’s wife
was 101 years old. She was in the Burlington House Nursing Home that was
located on the Dorchester road, on the other side of the town. She was taken
thereafter her house in Bridport was damaged due to fire.
10. Who did Connie Macpherson think her
visitor was?
Answer: Connie due to her old age and partial loss of
memory mistook the narrator to be her husband Jim Macpherson.
11. Which sentence in the text shows that
the visitor did not try to hide his identity?
Answer: The sentence in the text 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”. This sentence proves
that the narrator was not trying to hide his identity.
WORKING
WITH THE TEXT PAGE
16
1. For how long do you think Connie had kept Jim’s
letter? Give reasons for your answers.
Answer: Connie, Jim’s wife, must have kept Jim’s last
letter dated 26th December 1914 for a long time as she told the
narrator at the end that she used to read the letter every day and felt Jim’s
presence around her.
2. Why do you think the desk had been sold, and when?
Answer: The desk might have been sold because there was
a fire at Connie’s house after which she was taken to a nursing home. The desk
was badly damaged by fire as well as water so it must have been sold with other
damaged things in the house.
3. Why do Jim and Hans think that games or sports are
good ways of resolving conflicts? Do you agree?
Answer: As both Jim and Hans were soldiers, they were
aware of the horrors of war and thus were against it. They thought that it was
better to resolve conflicts through games or sports as no one dies in matches,
no children are orphaned and no wives become widows.
I agree with them because through sports conflicts could be
resolved between two enemy countries in a peaceful way and soldiers would not
lose their lives.
4. Do you think the soldiers of the two armies are like
each other, or different from each other? Find evidence from the story to
support your answer.
Answer: Yes, the soldiers of the English and German
armies were like each other just as human beings are alike in many ways. Both
the armies happily celebrated Christmas with each other. Both the armies shared
their food and drinks and spent their time smoking, dancing, talking, drinking,
playing, eating together. They even played football and both Hans and Jim were
of the same view that conflicts should be resolved by playing sports instead.
They both agreed that war brings destructions and hoped that it gets over soon
so that they can return to their families. They exchanged carols and talked
about the books they like. Thus, it is certain that they had a lot of things in
common.
5. Mention the various ways in which the British and
the German soldiers become friends and find things in common at Christmas.
Answer: The British and German troops merrily
celebrated Christmas together. Though being enemies in war, they shared the
festive spirit of Christmas. They overcome their hatred against each other,
greeted each other, enjoyed each other’s food and sang, danced, and even played
games together. They celebrated just like good friends and sand carols at
night. Jim and Hans talked about the books they liked and Jim shared with Hans
the cake made by his wife Connie. They both also shared their views about war
and both men were against it and said that conflicts should be resolved by
playing matches instead of war. Both the troops had similar feelings and they
wanted to go back to their families.
6. What is Connie’s Christmas present? Why is it “the
best Christmas present in the world”?
Answer: Connie, Jim’s wife, mistook the narrator to be
Jim when he came to visit her in the nursing home to return Jim’s last letter.
To her, this was her Christmas present and it is the best Christmas present it
the world. As she was very old, she mistook the narrator to be Jim thinking
that Jim had returned to her at Christmas eve to keep the promise that he’d
made. She was extremely delighted that finally after such a long wait she’s
able to meet Jim.
7. Do you think that the title of the story is suitable
for it? Can you think of any other title(s)?
Answer: Yes, the title of the story is apt for it. The
festive spirit of Christmas has a very important role to play throughout the
story. Connie, who was 101 years old and who has been waiting for her husband’s
return for a long period was extremely delighted to see the narrator at the
Christmas eve who had brought Jim’s last letter with him. Connie mistook the
narrator to be Jim and thought that Jim had finally come home for Christmas as
he had promised in his last letter. To Connie, it was the best Christmas
present in the world.
Other titles of the story could have been “Christmas Gift” or “Peace in the middle of the war”.
WORKING
WITH LANGUAGE PAGE
17
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 a 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 verb 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.
Answer: 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.
Now, look at these sentences.
The veneer had lifted almost everywhere. Both
fire and water had taken their toll on this desk.
Notice the verb forms had lifted, had taken (their toll).
The author found and bought the desk in the past. The desk was
damaged before the author found it and bought it. Fire and water had damaged
the desk before the author found it and bought it.
·
We use verb forms like
had damaged for an event in the ‘earlier past’. If there are two events in the
past, we used the ‘had ….’ form for the event that occurred first in the past.
·
We also use the past
perfect tense to show that something was wished for or expected before a
particular time in the past. For example, I had always wanted one
·
Discuss with your
partner the difference in meaning in the sentences below.
·
When I reached the
station, the train left.
·
When I reached the
station, the train had left.
(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.
Answer: 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 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!
|
Past |
Earlier past |
Answer:
|
Past |
Earlier past |
|
a.
set out, stayed |
had seen |
|
b. arrived, came |
had left, had gone |
|
c. sat, ate |
had packed |
|
d. returned |
had fallen |
2. Dictionary Work
By the end of the journey, we had run out of drinking
water.
Look at the verb run out of in this sentence. It is a phrasal verb: it has two
parts, a verb and, a preposition or an adverb. Phrasal verbs often have
meanings that are different from the meanings of their parts.
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.
Answer:
·
“House number 12 turned
out to be nothing but a burned-out shell ………(destroyed by fire).
·
That was the moment her
eyes lit up with recognition, and her face……………… (brightened).
·
Hans Wolf and I looked
on and cheered, clapping our hand……… (considered somebody to be somebody)
·
The time came, and all
too soon when the game was finished, the schnapps and the run and the sausage
had long since run out, and we knew it was all over (become used up,
finished)
·
Hans Wolf and I looked
on and cheered clapping our hands and stamping our feet, to keep out the cold
as much as anything (to avoid)
3. Noun Phrase
Read the following
sentence.
I took out a small
black tin box.
·
The phrase in italics is
a noun phrase.
·
It has the noun—box—as
the headword, and three adjectives preceding it.
·
Notice the order in
which the adjectives occur—size (small), color (black) and, material (tin) of
which it is made.
·
We rarely use more than
four adjectives before a noun and there is no rigid order in which they are
used, though there is a preferred order of modifiers/adjectives in a noun
phrase, as given below:
|
Determiner |
Modifier 1 |
Modifier 2 |
Modifier 3 |
Modifier 4 |
Hard word |
|
a/an/the |
Nice/ lazy/ beautiful |
tall / round/ old / young |
red/ white/ light/dark |
Silk/cotton/ woolen |
Woman/man/table/ chair |
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 |
circsular,
striped, enormous multicolored,
round, cheerful, wild, blue,
red, chubby, large,
medium-sized, cold |
|
face |
|
|
building |
|
|
water |
Answer:
1. Elephant —enormous, striped, wild
2. Face —cheerful, round, chubby
3. Building —circular, large, multicolored
4. Water —blue, cold.
Poem: The Ant and the Cricket By Aesop’s Fables
WORKING WITH THE POEM PAGE 23
1. The cricket says, “Oh! What will become
of me?” When does he say it, and why?
Answer: The cricket said the above line when he
realized that winter had come but there was no food left for him in his
cupboard. He could not find any food on the snow-covered ground. The trees had
no leaves neither were there any flowers to be seen. As the weather was getting
harsh, the cricket knew if gets nothing to eat soon, he would die of
starvation.
2. (i) Find in the poem the lines that mean
the same as “Neither a borrower nor a lender be” (Shakespeare)
Answer: The line from the poem which means the same as Shakespeare’s
quote is “But we ants never borrow; we ants never lend”.
(ii) What is your opinion of the ant’s principles?
Answer: The ant’s principles teach not only cricket but
also us a moral lesson. ‘We should make hay while the sun shines’. We should
plan and save for our future so that we neither have to lend or borrow in times
of adversity. But on the other hand, we should also help our friends at times
of distress.
3. The ant
tells the cricket to “dance the winter away”. Do you think the word ‘dance’ is
appropriate here? If so, why?
Answer: When the ant inquired from the cricket why he
didn’t save any food at all during the warm days of spring and summer, the
cricket replied that he felt very happy in warm weather. He had spent his time
singing and dancing during the summer and spring. Because of his irresponsible
behavior, the ant told the cricket to ‘dance’ even during the harsh winter just
as he did in summer and not to expect any help from him. This surely taught the
cricket a moral that he should have planed for his future without being
careless.
4. (i) which
lines in the poem express the poet’s comment? Read them aloud
Answer:
The lines in the poem
which reveals the poet’s comment are: “Folks call this a fable. I’ll warrant it
true”.
(ii) Write the comment in your own words.
Answer: According to the poet’s comment, people call the ant’s and the cricket’s story a fable. A fable is an imaginary story with a moral. But the poet believes that the story is true and teaches us a very important lesson. ‘We should make hay while the sun shines’. We should be more careful and save for our future so that we can deal with unforeseen adversities in the future. We should be more industrious like the ant and work for a secure future.
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