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Read the Following Extract and Answer the Questions that Follow: All Lovely Tales that We Have Heard Or Read; an Endless Fountain of Immortal Drink. Pouring Unto Us from the Heaven'S Brink. - English Core

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Question

Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow:

All lovely tales that we have heard or read;
An endless fountain of immortal drink.
Pouring unto us from the heaven's brink.

(a) Name the poem and the poet.
(b) What is the thing of beauty mentioned in these lines?
(c) What image does the poet use in these lines?

Solution

(a) The given lines are from the poem 'A Thing of Beauty' by John Keats.

(b) The things of beauty mentioned in the given lines are the lovely tales of mighty men.

(c) In these lines, the poet uses the image of ‘an endless fountain of immortal drink’ to describe the beautiful bounty of the Earth. The Earth, like a fountain, gives us numerous beautiful sights like the Sun, the Moon, flowers, rivers and greenery.

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Unseen Poem Comprehension
  Is there an error in this question or solution?
2013-2014 (March) All India Set 1

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With ships and sun and love tempting them to steal...
For lives that slyly turn in their cramped holes
From fog to endless night?

(i) Who are 'them' referred to in the first line?
(ii) What tempts them?
(iii) What does the poet say about 'their' lives?


Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :

'Never shall a young man,

Thrown into despair

By those great honey-coloured

Ramparts at your ear."

(a) Who is the speaker of these lines? Who is he speaking to ?

(b) What does the young man mean by 'honey-coloured ramparts' ?

(c) What does the word 'despair' mean ?


Read the following extract and answer the questions given below :
If you accept counsel without getting sore
And re-assess yourself in the light thereof
If you pledge not to be obstinate any more
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You may be the person I am looking for.
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Read the following extract and answer the questions given below
What makes a nation's pillars high
And its foundations strong?
What makes it mighty to defy
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By this time, I felt very small
And now my tears began to fall.
I quietly went and knelt by her bed;
"Wake up, little girl, wake up," I said.
"Are these the flowers you picked I'm me?"
She smiled, "I found' em, out by the tree.
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I said, Daughter, I'm sorry for the way I acted today;
I shouldn't have yelled at you that way"

(1) Why did the mother go to her daughter "s room? (1)

(2) How can the mother be a friend to her daughter' (1)

(3) Name and explain the figure of speech in the following line
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(4) What is the effect of dialogues in the poem? (1)


Read the following extract and answer the questions given below:

Not gold but only men can make
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Stand fast and suffer long.

Brave men who work while others sleep,
Who dare while others fly ...
They build a nation's pillars deep
And lift them to the sky.

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(2) Which qualities of great men would you like to imbibe in you?

(3) Give the rhyming pairs of words of the first stanza.

(4) Pick out the expressions from the extract which show the hard work of brave men.


Read the following extract and answer the questions given below:
How do you know
Peace is a woman?
I know, for
I met her yesterday
on my winding way
to the world's fare.
She had such a wonderful face.
just like a golden flower faded
before her prime.

(1) How does the poet describe the face of peace?

(2) Do you feel mother can be a symbol of peace? Explain it in your own words.

(3) Name and explain the figure of speech in the following
line: 'Peace is a woman.'

(4) How does the Poet come to know that peace is a woman?


Read the following extract and answer the questions given below: 
The banyan tree was three times as tall as our house
Its trunk had a circumference of fifty feet
Its scraggly aerial roots fell to the ground
From thirty feet or more so first they cut the branches
Sawing them off for seven days and the heap was huge
Insects and birds began to leave the tree
And then they came to its massive trunk 
Fifty men with axes chopped and chopped
The great tree revealed its rings of two hundred years
We watched in terror and fascination this slaughter

(1) How does the poet describe the banyan tree?

(2) According to you, how are trees important to maintain ecological balance?

(3) Pick out an example of repetition from the extract.

(4) Pick out the words in the extract which are related to the killing.


Read the following extract and answer the questions given below: 
What makes a nation's pillars high
And its foundations strong?
What makes it mighty to defy
The foes that round it throng?
It is not gold. Its kingdoms grand
Go down in the battle shock;
Its shafts are laid on sinking sand,
Not on abiding rock.
Is it the sword? Ask the red dust
Of empires passed away.
(1) Why, according to the poet, are wealthy kingdoms unstable?
(2) What aspects of life in India are you proud of?
(3) Note down the pairs of rhyming words from the extract.
(4) What purpose does the use of questions serve in the extract?

Read the following extract and answer the questions given below: (4) 

All dawns pass
leaving them in the dark.
They do not fear death,
they died long ago.
Old women once
were continents.
They had deep woods in them,
lakes, mountains, volcanoes even,
even raging gulfs.
When the earth was in heat
they melted, shrank,
leaving only their maps.
You can fold them
and keep them handy :
who knows, they might help you find
your way home. 
Questions: 
1. What do ‘maps’ symbolize? (1)  
2. Do you feel that you should look after your grandparents? Why? (1) 
3. Name and explain the figure of speech in the following line.
“All dawns pass leaving them in the dark” (1) 
4. What examples of geographical imagery are mentioned in the poem? (1) 
 

(B) Read the following extract and answer the questions given below: (4)
Is it the sword? Ask the red dust.

Of empires passed away;

The blood had turned their stones to rust,

Their glory to decay.

And is it pride? Ah, that bright crown

Has seemed to nations sweet;

But God has struck its luster down

In ashes at his feet.
Questions: 
1) What is the ultimate result of pride?          (1)
2)Do you think war victories really turn ‘glory to decay’ Why? (1) 
3) Pick out the rhyming pairs of words in the second stanza. (1) 
4) What message does the above extract convey? (1) 
 

Read the following extract and answer the questions given  below:

While I lay awake in bed,
God's still small voice came to me and said,
"While dealing with a stranger, common courtesy you use,
But the children you love, you seem to abuse.
Look on the kitchen floor,
You'll find some flowers there by the door.
Those are the flowers she brought for you.
She picked them herself, pink, yellow and blue.
She stood quietly not to spoil the surprise,
And you never saw the tears in her eyes."

(1) What did the mother think as she lay sleepless in the bed?
(2) According to you, why shouldn't we hurt the feelings
of others?
(3) Pick out any two pairs of rhyming words from this
extract.
(4) What kind of poem is this? What is its purpose?


Read the following extract and then do all the activities that follow :

How do you know
Peace is a woman?
I know for
I met her yesterday
on my winding way
to the world’s fare,
She has such a wonderful face
just like a golden flower faded
before the prime.
I asked her why
She was so sad?
She told me her baby
was killed in Auschwitz,
her daughter in Hiroshima
and her sone in Vietnam,
Ireland, Israel, Palestine, Lebanon,
Bosnia, Rwanda, Kosovo and Chechnya ......

A1. Web -

Completely the following web by listing character mentioned in the extract :

A2. Poetic device -

Figure of speech :
‘Peace is a woman ?’
Name and explain the figure of speed in the above line.

A3. Personal response :

Suggest two solutions to avoid wars.

A4. Creativity : 

Compose two poetic lines titled “Say ‘no’ to wars”. 


Read the following extract and then do all the activities that follow:
We used to watch the valley play hide and seek.
Shadowed by the mountain's immeasurable peak.
Considered the largest thing known to man.
Now skyscrappers are the most extravagant and titanic part of the plan.
We used to sit next to the stream. The wind caressing our crown Watching the magnificent untamed beasts
roam far, far from town. Now they are just characters of folktales, memories we pass down.
An adjective to describe someone, no more a noun
This could be our reality
If we continue to live in impracticality
No more vast, endless oceans _______
Only littered swamps, the colour of a witch's potions.
No more soaring birds overhrad _______
Only planes, so loud they rock your bed.
No more woods
No more natural goods.
We have little time
To change our self centered, one track minds
Before we are stuck with a great heap of jumble
Left only with an artifical concrete jungle.

A1. Complete ______
Complete the following sentences choosing correct alternatives:

(1) The poet used to watch the valley play hide and seek, because _______
(i) he had integration with the nature and landscape
(ii) he had no park to enjoy playthings
(iii) he had no friends

(2) According to the poet, only littered swamps could be reality, because _______
(i) vast, endless oceans are getting polluted due to our neglect of flora and fauna.
(ii) water from oceans will become magical potions.
(iii) Oceans are changing into swamps for fishing purposes.

A2. Poetic device
Figure of speech
Name and explain the figure of speech used in the following line: ‘We used to watch the valley play hide and seek’.

A3. Personal response:
Suggest some remedies on how we can enrich our nature.

A4. Poetic creativity
Compose the following four lines as a free verse using the words life, oxygen, trees, nature with the help of
clue given in each line so it would covey message :
No _________
No __________
No __________
No __________


Read the extract and do the activities that follow: (4)

Tom : (down L.). I believe the place is haunted
George : Nonsense. No one believes in haunted houses nowadays. There's someting gueer about the place, I'II admit, but can't be haunted. (Scream off R.)
Ginger : Listen! What was that ?
(Scream repeated. This time much louder.)
Alfie : I want to go home !
Tom : It sounds as though someone's being murdered. (Grappling with the door). I'm going to force this door.
Ginger : (Crossing L.) It's going to be a tough job, Tom
Alfie : (more lustily). I want to go home
George : (up C.) Shut up Alfie, you'II rose the house. Listen! There's someone coming _____ and
it's someone in white
Ginger : It's a ghost
Alfie : (rushing to the door L.) I'm going home!
George : (coming down L.) Let me give you a hand with this door.
Tom : Buck up!
Ginger : Put your shoulder against it. (Enter the Ghost R. In the dim light his figure has a distinctly uncanny appearance).
Ghost : What on earth's the meaning of this commotion? (IIe switches on the light and is seen to be a dentist, wearing a white surgical coat. The “grinning mouths'' are seen to be models made of plaster of Paris. The boys stare about them in amazement)
Dentist : (sternly). Who are you, and what are you doing in my house?
Tom : I say – I'm awfully sorry – but we thought you were a ghost.
Dentist : (bewildered). A ghost! Why on earth should you think I was a ghost?
George : (crossing C.) I'm awfully sorry, sir. You see, we were out carol-singing, and____
Dentist : Oh, so it was you who who were making that horrible din outside?
George : Yes – that was Ginger's idea ____


B1. Complete _____
Complete the following sentences:
(i) The boys considered the dentist as a ghost , because ________
(ii) Listening to the repeated scream, Tom thought that ________
(iii) The grinning mouths were models made of ________
(iv) The idea of carol-singing was given by _______

B2. Convert dialogue into a story:
Convert the above dialoguc into a story in about 50 words.


Read the following poem and write an appreciation of it with the help of the given points in a paragraph format:

The Pulley

When God at first made Man,
Having a glass of blessings standing by;
Let us (said He) "pour on him all we can":
Let the world's riches, which dispersed lie,
Contract into a span.

So strength first made a way;
Then beauty flow'd, then wisdom, honour, pleasure:
When almost all was out, God made a stay,
Perceiving that alone of all His treasures
Rest in the bottom lay.

For if I should (said He)
Bestow this jewel also on my creature,
He would adore my gifts instead of me,
And rest in Nature, not the God of Nature.
So both should losers be.

Yet let him keep the rest,
But keep them with repining restlessness:
Let him be rich and weary, that at last,
If goodness lead him not, yet weariness
May toss him to my breast.

  • The title of the poem       (1)
  • The poet                          (1)
  • Central idea/theme          (2)
  • Rhyme scheme                (1)
  • Figure of speech              (1)
  • Special features               (2)
  • Favourite line/lines         (1)
  • Why I like/don’t like the poem    (1)

Read the following extract and answer the questions given below:

Now there is only one type of bobcat we see
The one that is for free, clearing the pavements of all debris
We used to walk through a footpath in a forest of pine
The smell intoxicating our lungs and mind
Now the only smell to be found comes from plastic trees
Swaying on my rear-view mirror, labelled pine breeze
We used to watch the valley play hide and seek

Questions:

(1) What signs of urbanisation are mentioned in the first six lines of the extract?

(2) Do you think skyscrapers are necessary? Why do you think so?

(3) Pick out the example of personification from the extract.

(4) Pick out the lines from the extract expressing the fond memory of the poet about the pines.


Read the following extract and answer the questions given below :
If you accept counsel without getting sore
And re-assess yourself in the light thereof
If you pledge not to be obstinate any more
And meet others without any frown or scoff.
You may be the person I am looking for.

If you have the will to live and courage to die
You are a beacon-light for people far and wide
If you ignore the jeers and, thus, expose the lie
"That virtue and success do not go side by side."
You are the person I am looking for.

(1) What does the poet advise us about interacting with others?
(2) What good qualities do you expect in your friend?
(3) Name and explain the figure of speech in the following line:
"If you have the will to live and the courage to die."
(4) Pick out the words from the extract which denote negative traits.


Read the extract and do all the activities that follow: 

We used to think seven generations ahead
Now we have become selfish
Only thinking about me, myself and I
Only thinking in the present, not learning from the past.
We used to stroll barefoot through the overgrown grass,
Its morning dew tickling our feet
Now we step outside onto the rugged concrete
No more natural than the over-processed food we eat
We used to walk down the snow sprinkled trail,
Maybe catch a glimpse of a bobcat, playing eye tricks with its tail
Now there is only one type of bobcat we see
The one that is fur-free, clearing the pavement of all debris
We used to walk through a footpath in a forest of pine
The smell intoxicating our lungs and mind
Now the only smell to be found comes from plastic trees.
Swaying on my rearview mirror, labelled pine breeze
we used to watch the valley play hide and seek

A1. Web :
Complete the web with the things man used to do in the past:

A2. Poetic Devices :

'We used to walk down the snow sprinkled trail'
Name the figure of speech in the above line and find out another example of the same from the extract.

A3. Personal Response :
Write in brief your views about past and present lifestyle.

A4. Poetic Creativity :
'Now we step outside onto the rugged concrete No more natural than the over-processed food.'
Read the above lines and compose at least two lines of your own. based on the same theme.


Read the following extract and answer the questions given  below:

While I lay awake in bed,
God's still small voice came to me and said,
"While dealing with a stranger, common courtesy you use,
But the children you love, you seem to abuse.
Look on the kitchen floor,
You'll find some flowers there by the door.
Those are the flowers she brought for you.
She picked them herself, pink, yellow and blue.
She stood quietly not to spoil the surprise,
And you never saw the tears in her eyes."

(1) How did the mother deal with a stranger? 
(2) What do you learn from this extract? 
(3) Give the rhyming pairs of words from the extract. (Any two)
(4) Pick out the line from the extract suggesting the mother's
insensitive behavior towards her daughter.


Read the following extract and answer the questions given below: 
The banyan tree was three times as tall as our house
Its trunk had a circumference of fifty feet
Its scraggly aerial roots fell to the ground
From thirty feet or more so first they cut the branches
Sawing them off for seven days and the heap was huge
Insects and birds began to leave the tree
And then they came to its massive trunk 
Fifty men with axes chopped and chopped
The great tree revealed its rings of two hundred years
We watched in terror and fascination this slaughter
As a raw mythology revealed to us its age

(1) What were the feelings of the family members at the felling of the banyan tree?
(2) Why, according to you, did insects and birds begin to leave the banyan tree? 
(3) Find out an example of 'Repetition' from the extract.
(4) Pick out the line from the extract expressing the feelings of the people who watched the merciless cutting of the banyan
tree.


Read the following extract and answer the questions given below:

Not gold but only men can make
A people great and strong;
Men who for truth and honor's sake
Stand fast and suffer long.

Brave men who work while others sleep,
Who dare while others fly ...
They build a nation's pillars deep
And lift them to the sky.

(1) What qualities of people according to poet, are essential to build a nation?

(2) “Not gold but only men make A people great and strong” Do you agree? Explain.

(3) Name and explain the figure of speech in the line “ Stand fast and suffer long”.

(4) What is the underlying message of the extract


Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
I stand and look at them long and long.

They do not sweat and whine about their condition.

(a) The poet who has written these lines is ____________
i. Robert Frost
ii. Carolyn Wells
iii. Walt Whitman
iv. Ogden Nash

(b) Who are ‘they’ referred to here?
i. Animals
ii. Tigers
iii. Ananda’s friend's
iv. Wanda’s dresses

(c) The poet looks at them long and long because he __________

(d) Which word in the extract means ‘complain’?


Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow:

(There is a languid, emerald sea,
where the sole inhabitant is me-
a mermaid drifting blissfully.)

Questions :

(a) Who does 'me' stand for?

(b) How does 'me' feel?

(c) Who is 'me' compared to?

(d) Which word in the extract means the opposite of 'sorrowfully'?


Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

"But I can get a hair-dye
And set such colour there,
Brown, or black, or carrot,
That young man in despair
May love me for myself alone
And not my yellow hair."

(a) Who is speaking these line?

(b) Why are young men in despair?

(c) What is the antonym of the word, 'despair'?


Based on the careful reading of the passage given below, answer any four out of five questions that follow:

 

1. When you see me sitting quietly,
Like a sack left on the shelf,
Don’t think I need your chattering.
I’m listening to myself.
Hold! Stop! Don’t pity me!
Hold! Stop your sympathy!
Understanding if you got it,
Otherwise, I’ll do without it!

2. When my bones are stiff and aching,
And my feet won’t climb the stair,
I will only ask one favor:
Don’t bring me no rocking chair.
When you see me walking, stumbling,
Don’t study and get it wrong.
‘Cause tired don’t mean lazy
And every goodbye ain’t gone.

3. I’m the same person I was back then,
A little less hair, a little less chin,
A lot less lungs and much less wind.
But ain’t I lucky I can still breathe in.

- Maya Angelou

  1. What does the poet think she looks like, when sitting quietly?
  2. Does the poet invite pity? Quote a line to support your argument.
  3. What has changed in the poet over the course of years?
  4. Pick out a word from the second stanza which means ‘faltering’.
  5. Why does the poet consider herself lucky?

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