Question

Read the following passage and do the activities.
Social/Historical Context: Hemingway’s novel is based on real events and it also draws heavily on his own life. He had experience of fishing in the Cuban waters and like the old man he was also a fan of baseball. He worked for the Red Cross during the First World War and was injured by shrapnel when he was in Italy. Hemingway always talks about the need to struggle against defeat or death and how determination and endurance can help one to win in
this struggle. The old man is at the end of the novel very near death, but we know that the story of his suffering and loss will live on in the memories of the people of his village. Ultimately his story becomes one of triumph because the tales of his life will live on even after his death. The novel was published in 1952, when people were trying to recover from the mass destruction wrought by the two world wars, and this tale of endurance and ultimate triumph immediately struck a chord with the readers.
       Writing Style: Hemingway’s language is simple and pithy. He mostly writes in short and straight-forward sentences and practises an extreme economy in his
use of words. This simplicity is deceptive and a reader can read his work again and again and find new layers of meaning every time.

(A1) Complete the following sentences.
(a) Hemingway had experience of ……………..
(b) He worked for …………………… during the First World War.
(c) ‘The Old Man And The Sea’ was published in ………………….
(d) After reading his work reader can find ……………………..

(A2) Complete the following web.


(A3) Find the synonyms for the following from the passage.
(i) The ability to do something difficult for a long time.
(ii) Formed or worked
(iii) Brief
(iv) Likely to make someone believe something that is not true.
(A4)
(1) The old man is at the end of the novel very near death, but we know that the story of his suffering and loss will live on in the memories of the people of his village. (Rewrite the sentence using ‘Though’.)
(2) During the First World War Hemingway was injured by shrapnel. (Begin the sentence with ‘Shrapnel ………….)
(A5) Write four to five sentences about your favourite writer.

Answer 1

(A1)     02
(a) Hemingway had experience of fishing in the Cuban waters.
(b) He worked for the Red Cross during the First World War.
(c) ‘The Old Man And The Sea’ was published in 1952.
(d) After reading his work reader can find new layers of meaning.
(A2) Complete the following web.   02

(A3)  02
(i) determination
(ii) wrought
(iii) pithy
(iv) deceptive

(A4)
(1) Though the old man is at the end of the novel very near death, we know that the story of his suffering and loss will live on in the memories of the people of his village. 01
(2) Shrapnel injured Hemingway during the First World War. 01

(A5) There have been many great writers of fame in India. Rabindranath Tagore is my favourite writer. He wrote many novels, poems, short stories and plays. He stands for Indian culture in all respects. He was also an educationalist, a
social reformer, a musician and a religious preacher. He was honoured with the Nobel Prize for his literature. He was a great son of India.   02