Abbreviations used Rs – rupees Org. – original Temp. – temple Fml. – family Mem. – member Pract. – Practised 2.2 SUMMARY BISMILLAH KHAN – A LEGEND Ustad Bismillah Khan was born and brought up at Dumaraon. He started learning music at a very early age. He used to play shehnai with his father at the temple at Varanasi. He even accompanied his father who was a court poet at Dumaraon. He got the honour of playing shehnai at Red Fort on the occasion of Independence. He believed in secularism and believed that all religions are one. Music was his soul. He breathed his last at Varanasi, but he played thumri before that on his death bed. READING SKILLS PASSAGES FOR PRACTICE (UNSOLVED) 1. Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given at the end:-- 12 1. Parsons and Markwardt are the two characters of the story. They are both blind, but that is where the resemblance ends. Parsons is introduced to us as a gentleman, a person who is successful in life as he has made it his business to take his handicap as something which is unavoidable and does not allow it to stand in his way. Parsons is grateful that he has been given the gift of life and is an insurance agent whereas earlier he had been nothing more than a skilled labourer. 2. On the other hand there is Markwardt, who uses his blindness to gain sympathy from all whom he meets and he turns into a common beggar. Fate brings the two men together. Markwardt attempts to sell Parsons a cigarette lighter and on being questioned about the cause of his blindness, he tells Parsons an all too familiar tale. 3. Markwardt relates the story of an incident which had taken place fourteen years earlier, a chemical explosion at C shop at the Westbury plant. In this explosion a hundred and eight people had been killed and two hundred injured. According to Markwardt he was one of those who had been crawling to safety when another man had climbed on top of him, hauled him back, trampled him and got out. At this point of the story. Parsons tells him that the story is true,
DEBATE FOR PRACTICE Against The Motion Worthy chairperson, secretary and dear students Today I, Harshita, stand before you to speak against the motion ‘the right to education in a realistic and achievable goal that will change the face of education in India’. There is no denying the fact that our country has taken some very bold strides in spreading education. But we have to go along to fully change the face of education in our country. I would like to draw your attention to the wide gap between what is shown to us through various media and data what is the ground reality. We still see dropouts from school searching for trinkets in heaps of garbage. There are villages where there are no school, no teachers and nothing worth the name called ‘a school’. I don’t think RTE will succeed in its mission unless we change our work culture and recognize the reality behind facts and figures. I, therefore oppose the motion. Thank you 1. You are Sameer/Saira. Write separate debates both for and against the motion. Each of not more than 200 words on the topic ‘Entrance tests are the right method for selecting student for undergraduate courses’. 2. In an inter school debate competition, you have to speak on the motion, “Safety of women working in night shifts is inadequate”. You have to speak for the motion. Draft a debate speech accordingly. 3. Draft a debate on the motion “The government is not protecting primary school children for contamination of midday meals given in schools.” You have to speak against the motion. 4 Your school is organizing an inter house debate competition on the topic “ National security cannot be considered as an excuse for damaging the environment.” Write your views in favour of
nail cutter/ nail file/ scissors) The cell was bugged and the Governor could hear all conversations. McLerry, the invigilator, was also frisked. Stephen was posted to keep a constant vigil on the activities inside the cell. QUESTIONS FOR PRACTICE: Value based question: “Men of genius excel in any profession because of the labour involved in it…” ‘ Evans the break’ was able to hoodwink the jail authorities including the Governor. It clearly shows that necessity is the mother of all inventions. What qualities are necessary to tackle difficult situations in life. SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS What different queries do the Secretary of the Examinations Board make from the Governor before conducting the examination for Evans and why? Who do you think made a call regarding a correction in the question paper? What did it really want to convey? Who is Carter? Where does the Governor want him to go and why? How did the Governor manage to reach Evans in the hotel? What did the Detective Superintendent inform the Governor about Evans? What were the contents of the brown suitcase that McLerry carried? How did the question paper and the correction slip help Evans? Why did Evans not take off his hat when Jackson ordered him to do so? What clues did the answer sheet of Evans provide to the Governor? What request did the Secretary of the Examination board receive from the Governor of Oxford prison? LONG ANSWER QUESTIONS What impression do you form of ‘Evans the Break’? Comment on the ending of the play ‘Evan Tries An O-Level How far do you agree with the observation: “He was just another good-for-a-giggle, gullible governor that was all”? Do you think the title ‘Evans Tries an O-Level’ is appropriate? Give reasons in support of your answer. “Appearances can be deceptive”. How does this prove to be true in Evan’s case? Consider the story as “a cat and mouse game”, who wins it and how? How was Evans able to device a foolproof plan for his escape from the prison as well as procure items for his disguise in spite of severe restrictions and strict observations? What blunders were committed by the prison authorities which helped Evans to escape from the prison? MEMORIES OF CHILDHOOD ZITKALA-SA & BAMA
1. What did the mother look like? What made the poet feel so? 2. What did she realize with pain? 3. How did she take her mind off the thought? 4. What does ‘sprinting of trees’ and ‘spilling of children’ refer to’? 5. Bring out the contrast portrayed by the scene outside with the state of the poet’s mother. 6. Why is the mother compared to ‘a late winter’s moon’? 7. What is the childhood fear of the poet 8. Though filled with negative thoughts in her mind, outwardly what did the poet reflect? Substantiate your point from the words/pharses from the poem. 2. An Elementary School Classroom in A Slum. 1. The poem begins on a very potent simile about the children’s faces. Explain. 2. Bring out the powerful imagery presented in the first stanza depicting despair and disease. 3. Why does the poet use ‘rat’s eye’ for the ‘paper seeming boy’? 4. Describe the powerfully telescopic image drawn by the picturisation of a sick boy. 5. Why is the class described referred to as ‘dim’? 6. Do you agree that the poet has dealt with a universal theme? How far has he succeeded in depicting the role of every individual towards development of the underprivileged? 7. Where does the sweet and young boys’ mind wander? What does it show? 8. What are the things that adorn the walls of the classroom? Why does it have no significance to the children? 9. Why is the ‘window’ depicted as the world of the children? 10. Why is their world far from river capes and star of words? 11. Why is Shakespeare wicked and maps a bad example?