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Answer The Following Questions

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Answer The Following Questions

Uploaded by

dyoyo506
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Answer the following Questions.

Question 1:

1. Did the prospect of meeting Stephen Hawking make the writer


nervous? If so, why?
2. Did he at the same time feel very excited? If so, why?

Answer:

1. The writer felt nervous because he was doubtful whether he


would be granted the interview.
2. He felt excited at the same time because he had been there to
see Prof. Hawking for half an hour.

Question 2:
Guess the first question put to the scientist by the writer.
Answer:
The writer’s first question might be about Hawking’s disability and how he
had accepted it.

Question 3:
Stephen Hawking said, “I’ve had no choice.” Does the writer think there
was a choice? What was it?
Answer:
Living creatively with the reality of his weakening body was a choice.

Question 4:
“I could feel his anguish.” What could be the anguish?
Answer:
Prof. Hawking’s mind was full of great ideas but he couldn’t speak them
out clearly and forcefully.

Question 5:
What endeared the scientist to the writer so that he said he was looking at
one of the most beautiful men in the world?
Answer:
Prof. Hawking’s one-way smile.

Question 6:
Read aloud the description of ‘the beautiful’ man. Which is the most
beautiful sentence in the description?
Answer:
The line is “before you like a lantern whose walls are worn so thin, you
glimpse only the light inside, is the incandescence of a man”.
Question 7:

1. If ‘the lantern’ is the man, what would its ‘walls’ be?


2. What is housed within the thin walls?
3. What general conclusion does the writer draw from this
comparison?

Answer:

1. The walls of the lantern in Hawking’s case were his skeleton


like physical structure.
2. The glow of the eternal soul was housed within the thin walls of
his body,
3. The writer draws conclusion that the eternal soul is more
important than the body.

Question 8:
What is the scientist’s message for the disabled?
Answer:
Prof. Hawking’s message for the disabled is that they should concentrate
on what they are good at. It is foolish to try to copy the normal people.

Question 9:
Why does the writer refer to the guitar incident? Which idea does it
support?
Answer:
The writer spent many years trying to play a big Spanish guitar. One night
he loosened the strings joyfully. This incident supports the idea that the
disabled people should practise only what they are good at.

Question 10:
The writer expresses his great gratitude to Stephen Hawking. What is the
gratitude for?
Answer:
The author felt much inspired after meeting with Stephen Hawking.
Therefore he felt grateful to him.

Question 11:
Complete the following sentences taking their appropriate parts from both
the boxes below.

1. There was his assistant on the line…


2. You get fed up with people asking you to be brave….
3. There he was ………
4. You look at his eyes which can speak, ……..
5. It doesn’t do much good to know…
A

 tapping at a little switch in his hand


 and I told him
 that there are people
 as if you have a courage account
 and they are saying something huge and urgent

 trying to find the words on his computer.


 I had come in a wheelchair from India.
 on which you are too lazy to draw a cheque.
 smiling with admiration to see you breathing still.
 it is hard to tell what.

Answer:

1. There was his assistant on the line and I told him I had come in
a wheelchair from India.
2. You get fed up with people asking you to be brave, as if you
have a courage account on which you are too
lazy to draw a cheque.
3. There he was tapping at a little switch in his hand, trying to
find the words on his computer.
4. You look at his eyes which can speak and they are saying
something huge and urgent it is hard to tell what.
5. It doesn’t do much good to know that there are people smiling
with admiration to see you breathing still.

comprehension Check (Page 38)

Questions:

1. How many daughters did the royal couple have?


2. Why were they named after the months of the year?
3. The King had a peculiar habit. What was it? Why is it called
peculiar?
4. (i) What was Princess September’s reaction to the loss of her
parrot?
(ii) What was her Mother’s reaction to it?
(iii) What do the reactions indicate about the nature and
temperament of each?
5. What pulled the Princess out of her gloom?
6. How did the Maids of Honour come to know that the Princess
and the bird had become intimate friends?
7. The new bird was full of new songs but the old parrots always
repeated themselves. What did they say?
8. What is the king’s opinion about his Councillors? Why did he
form that opinion?
9. (i) The eight Princesses made an offer to Princess September.
What was it?
(ii) Why, in your view, did they do it?
10. What did the sisters advise the Princess to do about her bird?

Answers:

1. The Royal couple had nine daughters.


2. They were named after the months of the year because the
queen could not recall
their names easily.
3. The peculiar habit of the king was to give gifts on his birthday
rather than receive them. Usually people get gifts on their
birthdays.
4. (i) Princess September took the loss of her parrot to heart. She
wept continuously.
She was put to sleep without supper.
(ii) Her Mother said that Princess September’s weeping was
simply nonsense. She asked the maids to put the child to sleep
without supper.
(iii) The princess was very simple-hearted and sensitive. She
was stricken with grief when her parrot died. But the Queen
mother was not moved at all. She had nothing to console the
child.
5. The coming of a little song bird into her room comforted
Princess September. She was so enchanted that she forgot
about her loss.
6. The Maids of Honour brought in the princess’s breakfast. The
song bird ate rice out of the princess’s hand and then sang
sweetly. The Maids were surprised to find September so much
happy. They were convinced that the two had become good
friends.
7. The old parrots only repeated what they had been taught. They
could only say ‘God save the King’ and “Pretty Polly’.
8. The King had a low opinion about his Councillors because like
parrots, they too repeated the same thing differently.
9. (i) They offered their pocket money to Princess September to
buy another parrot,
(ii) They did that because they felt jealous of the song bird’s
friendship with Princess September.
10. The sisters advised the Princess to put the little bird into the
cage lest it should fly away for ever.

Comprehension Check (Page 43)


Questions:

1. In the following sentence elaborate the parts given in bold.


Under the circumstances it was a very unfortunate remark for
the bird to make.
2. (i) What did Princess September do to ensure the safety of her
pet?
(ii) How did the bird react to it?
3. Why did the bird refuse to be taken out in her cage?
4. (i) What persuaded Princess September to give the bird his
freedom again?
(ii) How did the bird react to it?
5. Princess September kept her window open day and night.
(i) How did it help the bird?
(ii) How did it help the Princess herself?
6. The eight sisters kept their windows shut. How did it affect
them?

Answers:

1. The circumstance was that the bird hadn’t come back because
of the party at his father-in-law’s house. The princess was
naturally worried. The remark of the sisters added to her worry.
2. (i) Princess September put the bird into a cage to ensure his
safety.
(ii) The bird disliked his imprisonment. He stopped singing.
3. The bird said that he won’t be really happy and normal if he
was taken out in her cage. The rice-fields arid the lake looked
quite different and dull when seen through the cage bars.
4. (i) The Princess freed the bird lest he should die in captivity.
(ii) The Princess kept the window open so that the bird might
fly in and out making fresh air charming. Freedom helped the
bird to sing and enjoy himself.
5. (i) The bird opened his wings and flew away.
(ii) It helped the Princess herself by providing her fresh wind
and natural light. It helped her make her beautiful.
6. The eight sisters who kept their window shut all night became
extremely ugly and disagreeable. They were married to the
councillors.

Exercise (Page 44)

Discuss the following questions in small groups. Write their


answers later.

Question 1:
Are the sisters unkind and cruel? Find evidence in the text to support your
idea.
Answer:
Yes, the eight sisters of the princess were unkind and cruel. They were
jealous too. They advised her to encage the bird. This suggestion might
have killed the bird.

Question 2:
Which, to you, is the most important idea in this story, and why?
(i) importance of music (ii) value of freedom (iii) beauty of nature
Answer:
(i) value of freedom.

6.

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