Class 8Th English U-2

Prose 2: Life (U2)

WORKING WITH TEXT 

Q1. What answer did the stars give to the wind?

Ans: Since the stars have their own light so they answered in their own way. They told the wind that they have their own light and with this light they shine the others to find their way. They are independent. Life of dependence is no life. Having their own light is the life for them. 

Q2. What was the moon's reply? 

Ans: The moon replied that its life is nothing without stars because it borrows its light from them and this borrowed light is the cause of its black spots. Due to this, its life is like a widow. Its life is dependent on others and feels lifeless entity and child of the ocean.

Q3. What was the oceans response?

 Ans: The Ocean replied that the idea of life is to realize one's limits and maintain one's dignity to contain all bitter experiences and take them as pearls and rubies. The life is also a penance or renunciation, as if it (ocean) is the cause of someone's death it also regrets it by giving them pearls and rain because salty water of it creates pearls and create clouds full of rain.

Q4. What was the earth's reply to the question put forth to her by the wind?

Ans: For earth the meaning of life is 'love'. Earth considers herself the mother of all lives and says that the sympathy of mother is the gift of life. Earth says that it takes water from clouds, rivers, and streams and distributes everything that sprouts from it, so this taking and giving is life for her.

Q5. What was the little girl doing when the wind saw her?

Ans: The little girl was lighting new lamps with the lamp that was already alight in her hand.

Q6. Why was the Wind impressed by the little girl?

Ans: The wind was impressed by the girl because she found the real meaning of life from the words that the girl told her. The wind understood that helping those who have a strong desire to live is the real meaning of life.

Q7. Why did the wind join the girl?

Ans: The wind joined the girl because she was impressed by the answer given by her. Thus the Wind forgot everything and joined her.

LANGUAGE WORK 

I. Choose appropriate tiller for the following: (Kindly consult your text book),(Answers Only):

1. He tames because he

Ans: (c), He is fond of them.

2. He is so lazy that he

Ans: (c), He can seldom complete his work.

3. Whichever way you approach the problem

Ans: (d), It will not be solved.

4. The doctor warns him that unless he gives up smoking

Ans: (d), He will not recover.

II. Write two synonyms of each of the following Words: (Answers Only):

1. Abhor………..Hate, Detest, Dislike, Despise

2. Betray……….Expose, Reveal, Deceive, Grass

3. Counsel……..Advice, Discuss, Guidance, Direction

4. Delight………Please, Satisfy, Pleasure, Happiness, Joy

5. Educate……….Amend, Improve, Teach, Instruct

6. Fate……………Destiny, Fortune, Luck

7. Generous……..Benevolent, Big hearted, Lavish, Liberal

8. Hasty………..Quick, Speedy, Hurried, Swift, Rapid, Fast

9. Intellectual…….Knowledgeable, Intelligent, Logical, Scholarly

10. Justice……….Fairness, Impartiality, Rightfulness, Uprightness

11. Languid………Lazy, weak, Unhurried, Unenergetic, Relaxed

12. Mend……….Aid, Patch, Repair, Fix, Restore

13. Nonsense……..Senseless, Gibberish, Babble, Drivel

14. Obstacle……..Difficulty, Problem, Complication, Hindrance, Restraint

15. Palatable………Edible, Pleasant, Tasty, Satisfying

16. Queer………….Unusual, Unexpected, Odd, Expose, Endanger

17. Religious………Sacred, Spiritual, Holy, Pious, Puritan

18. Sober………….Temperate, Moderate, Intoxicated, Serious

19. Transient………Fleeting, Passing, Brief, Temporary, Short-lived

20. Urge…………..Need, Wish, Impulse, Itch, Craving

GRAMMER WORK

Write the following sentences inserting ‘to’ wherever necessary before the infinitive in brackets:

1. I have no money (lend) you.           Ans. I have no money to lend you.

2. We saw the thief (run).                   Ans. We saw the thief running.

3. We heard her (sing).                        Ans. We heard her singing.

4. They watched their team (play).     Ans. They watched their team to play.

5. He made us (wait) for a long time. Ans. He made us to wait for a long time.

6. Let him (work).                               Ans. Let him to work.

7. Need I (come) tomorrow?              Ans. Need I to come tomorrow?

8. Do you wish make (make) a complaint?     Ans. Do you wish to make a complaint?

9. A heard a cock (crow) and got up.             Ans. He heard a cock crowing and got up.

10. How dare you (read my letter?                 Ans. How dare you to read my letter?

11. It is up to you (increase) your knowledge.           Ans. It is up to you to increase your knowledge.

12. Bid him (go) there.                        Ans. Bid him to go there.

13. Good bye! I hope (see) you again.            Ans. Good bye! I hope to see you again.

14. I would like (be) a teacher.           Ans. I would like to be a teacher.

15. He learnt (swim) when he was ten years old.       Ans. He learnt to swim when he was ten years old.

16. I’m tired. I want (go) to bed.        Ans. I’m tired. I want to go to bed.

17. What have you decided (do)?      Ans. What have you decided to do?

18. We should learn (speak) the truth.            Ans. We should learn to speak the truth.

19. Where is Sumaya? I need (ask) her something.    Ans. Where is Sumaya? I need to ask her something.

20. I’m trying (concentrate). Please stop talking.       Ans. I’m trying to concentrate. Please stop talking.

Let’s Write:

1. Write a dialogue (100-150 words) on ‘Life is Gift’.  (By Bilal Ahmad Kulgam)

Daniel (walking towards the park) Hello George, how is life treating you?
George: I’m pretty good.
Daniel: OK George. Now tell me, how were your exams?
George: Oh yes, I’ve done very well. I hope this year I could make the top.
Daniel: Oh that’s great! I wish for your ascending success. How is your friend, Mark? I’ve not seen him for many days.
George: Daniel, our friend had been suffering from Asthma for the last seven years and.....yesterday he died of Asthma.
Daniel: Oh my God! That is so terrible.
George: Actually he was residing in pollution prone area. It is certainly said that life is a gift and we must take great care of it.

Poem 3: The Bangle Sellers (U2)

THINKING ABOUT THE POEM

Q1. Who is the speaker in the poem?

Ans. The Bangle Seller is the speaker in the poem. In the opening lines of the poem we see that it is Bangle Seller who says, “Bangle sellers are we who bear…….Our shining loads to the temple fair”. He describes himself and his bangles throughout the whole poem.

Q2. How are the bangles described in the first stanza of the poem and who are these bangles for?

Ans. In the first stanza the bangles are described as lustrous, shining loads, rainbow-coloured, delicate and bright for happy daughters and happy wives.

Q3. The poet uses different similes for the bangles. What are these?

Ans. The similes that are used in the poem are; Mountain mist, new born leaves, sunlit corn and flame of fire.

Q4. Name the different colours of bangles mentioned in the poem? What do these colours represent?

Ans. Silver and blue, rainbow coloured, sunlit corn colour, purple, gold flecked grey are some colours used for bangles in the poem. These colours represent the bangles suitable for different age group of woman.

Q5. The word ‘some’ has been repeated in the poem for a purpose. What is it?

Ans. The word ‘some’ represents the different types of bangles in the poem.

Q6. Explain the following lines:

            “Some are made for a maiden’s wrist,

            Silver and blue as the mountain mist”

Ans. These lines have been taken from the second stanza of the poem “The Bangle Seller” written by Sarojni Naidu. In these lines, the narrator says that some bangles are made for the wrists of unmarried women with the silver and blue colors just like the mist of the mountains.

LANGUAGE WORK

I. Read the poem once again and fill in the blanks as in the poem:

Bangle seller, sunlit corn, flecked grey, rainbow-tinted

Ans.1. Bangles are said to be as rainbow-tinted circles of light.

2. Some are like fields of sunlit corn.

3. Some bangles are purple and gold flecked grey.

4. People buy these bangles from the bangle seller.

II. The poet has used several expressions which form pictures in the readers mind i.e., “fields of sunlit corn” and “circles of light”. Pick out more such expressions from the poem.

Ans. Limpid glory and flame of her marriage fire are some expressions used in the poem.

III. Use the clues to complete the word pyramid:

Ans. MOB, MOTH, MONTH, MOTHER, MORNING, MOUNTAIN

Poem 4: Prayer for Strength (U2)

THINKING ABOUT THE POEM

Q1. Why does the poet want God to strike at his heart?

Ans. The poet prays to God to strike at his heart so that he could bear the joys and sorrows of poverty and he also prays to God to remove hard heartedness and fill up his heart with love and passion.

Q2. What does the poet want the strength for?

Ans. The poet wants strength to bear his joys and sorrows to make his love fruitful in service, never to disown poor and never to bend before rude people.

Q3. How can love be made meaningful in one’s life?

Ans. If you love someone and your love changes the life of your beloved in a fruitful way with sweet and nice results then you have made your love meaningful in one’s life.

Q4. What should be our attitude towards the poor?

Ans. We should never disown poor; we should always help and love them.

Q5. What does ‘bend my knees’ signify?

Ans. ‘Bend my knees’ in the poem signifies to resist or oppose disrespectful power and not to bend before them.

Q6. Why does the poet want to raise his mind high above ‘daily trifles’?

Ans. The poet wants to raise his mind high above “daily trifles” because he wants to overcome the thinking about the things of little value and think about the great things that may be beneficial for the people.

Q7. Why does the poet ask for strength to surrender his will to God’s will?

Ans. The poet wants strength to surrender his will before God’s will because he knew that there is no power that can resist Almighty. By surrendering his will to God’s will his heart will get purified and he will get love from God and will lead a good life.

LANGUAGE WORK

1. Give me the strength never to disown the poor;

Make the words beginning with prefix ‘Dis-’ which makes a negative word.

Ans. Some words with prefix ‘dis-’ are:

1. Disgrace, 2. Discontinue 3. Disconnect 4. Dislike 5. Dishonest,  6. Disable 7. Discharge, 8. Disagree 9. Disrespect 10. Disown

2. Find the repeated words in the poem and write them in your notebook;

Ans. Words repeated in the poem; 1. Strike 2. Give me 3. Strength

Short Story 2: Achilles (U2)

WORKING WITH TEXT

Q1. How was the Rose-Beetle Man dressed?

Ans. Rose-Beetle Man was dressed with a wide hat on head, shirt and a startling blue satin cravat around his neck. He had worn a coat with bulged pockets, patched trousers and a pair of leather shoes with upturned toes.

Q2. How do we know that the Rose-Beetle Man cared well for his pets?

Ans. He had kept his pets in a sack. When he undid his sack half a dozen tortoise came out tumbling. He had polished their shells with oil and decorated their front legs with little red bows. This shows that he cared well for his pets.

Q3. What made the narrator select one particular tortoise from among the other animals?

Ans. From among the other animals one was energetic than others. Its shell was of the size of a tea cup. Its eyes were bright and its walk was alert. This fascinated the narrator and he was convinced to select this particular tortoise as his pet.

Q4. How did Achilles enjoy eating strawberries?

Ans. Achilles liked the wild strawberries the most. He easily swallows the small sized strawberries but when he was given the big one, he would grab it to a quiet spot among the flower beds to eat it at the leisure time. He was very fond of wild strawberries.

Q5. How were Roger and Achilles rivals?

Ans. Both Roger and Achilles liked grapes. Before the arrival of Achilles, Roger enjoyed full part of grapes. Now the Achilles became his partner, therefore there was a great rivalry between them.

Q6. Why did Achilles find Roger irritating?

Ans. Achilles was very fond of grapes, when he ate grapes, the juice would run his chin, and Roger would lie watching him his mouth dropping saliva. Roger would creep upto Achilles and lick him vigorously to get the grape juice which irritated Achilles.

Q7. How did Roger feel at Achilles’ funeral?

Ans. Roger felt happy at Achilles’ death that is why he was waging his tail at his funeral.

Q8. The family wandered about the olive-groves, shouting, ‘Achilles… strawberries, Achilles. … .’ At length, we found him;

a. How had Achilles escaped?

Ans. Achilles was habitual to walk through the whole garden. One day, the garden gate was left opened and Achilles got an opportunity to escape from the garden.

b. Explain, why the family shouted ‘strawberries’ during their search?

Ans. Achilles was very fond of strawberries, so to find him any way they should make him greedy for his favourite fruit so that they could easily find him.

c. Where did the family finally find Achilles? What had happened to him?

Ans. Finally, the family found Achilles in the well, the wall of which had long since disintegrated. He had fallen into the well and was quite dead.

Q9. There are many instances of humour in the story. Pick out any two of them.

Ans. The story has many humourous instances. Eating of grapes by Achilles and running of juice from his mouth is humourous. Searching down the path of sunbathing person and sleeping on a belly is a humourous instance in the story.

LANGUAGE WORK

Make anagrams using the following words with the help of the clues given in the table below:

Word                          Anagram                    Meaning

Looped                       Poodle                         an intelligent breed of dog.

Schoolmaster             The Classroom            where lessons are taught.

Listen                          Silent                           making no sound.

Married                      Admirera                     fan.

Rabies                         Serbiaa                        country in the Southeast Europe.

Real fun                     Funeral                       performed after someone’s death.

Retain                         Retinaa                        part of the human eye.

Charm                        March                          movement of soldiers.

GRAMMER WORK

(i) Some of the following sentences are incorrect. Correct them.

1) We get a lot of English home works.         Ans. We got a lot of homework.

2) I’ve got some sands in my shoe.                 Ans. I’ve got some sand in my shoe.

3) Did you hear the news about Sara?            Ans. Did you hear news about Sara?

4) We need more chairs in this room.             Ans. We need more chairs in this room.

5) Can I have some more pasta?                     Ans. Can I have some more pastas?

6) He carried my luggages to the taxi.            Ans. He carried my luggage to the taxi.

(ii) Insert ‘a’ or ‘an’ wherever necessary.

1. Why are you taking an umbrella? It isn’t raining.

2. I had soup and a bread roll for lunch.

3. It was a good idea to have a party.

4. She’s looking for a job in Jammu.

5. I often go to her for an advice.

(iii) Fill in the gaps with a noun from the words given using a/an/the wherever necessary.

Chair, Suitcase, Fly, Rice, Furniture, day, whether, accidents, luggage.

1. There’s a fly in my soup.

2. I have to some furniture for my new house.

3. I haven’t got much luggage with me. Just this bag

4. It’s a sunny day today.

5. There weren’t any accidents on the roads yesterday.

(iv) Which of the underlined words in the parts of these sentences is correct?

1. Hurry up? We haven’t got many / a lot of time.                 Ans. a lot of

2. I don’t eat much / many chocolates.                                   Ans. many

3. I didn’t take much / many photographs.                             Ans. many

4. I don’t listen too much / many classical music.                  Ans. much