Thai Sikh International School
E-Learning Programme – Online
Assignment – 27/04/2015
Name
: _______________________ Subject : English
Year : 9 A
/ B Schedule No. : 9
SECTION - A
Read the following passage
carefully :
Within six
months of becoming a graduate Chandran began to receive suggestions from
relatives and elderly friends of the family as to what he should do with
himself. Till this time it had never occurred to him that he ought to be doing
any thing at all. But now, wherever he went, he was pestered with the
question,” Now what do you propose to do?”
“ I have not thought of anything yet.”
“Why don‟t you go to
Madras and study Law?”
There was his uncle in Nellore who wrote to
him that he ought to do something and try to settle in life. There was his
mother‟s cousin who advised him to study Law. There
was his Madras uncle who said that staying in Malgudi would not lead him
anywhere, but that he ought to go to a big city and see people. He had immense
faith in seeing people. He himself volunteered to give a letter of introduction
to some big man, an auditor in the railways, who in his turn give a further
introduction to someone else, and finally fix up Chandran in the railways. This
uncle seemed to live in an endless dream of introductory letters. Several
relatives, chiefly women, asked him why he did not sit for the Indian Civil
Service or the Indian Audit Service examination.
Chandran felt flattered by their faith in him.
There were others who said that there was nothing like a business occupation;
start on a small capital and open a shop; independence and profit. All sorts of
persons advised him to apply for a clerk‟s post in
some Government office. Nothing like Government service, they said; on the
first of the month you were sure of your money; security. Chandran had a
feeling of persecution. He opened his heart to his father when the latter was
trimming the roses early one morning.
“ I am sorry, Father, that I ever
passed the B.A”
“ Why?”
“Why should everybody talk about my career?
Why can‟t they mind their business?” “ It is the way
of the world. You must not let that upset you. It is just a form of courtesy,
you see.” Then they began to talk of Chandran‟s future.
His father gathered that Chandran had a vague desire to go to England and do
something there. He did not consider the plan absurd himself. “What do you
propose to do in England?” “I want to get a doctorate or something and come
back, and then some quiet lectureship in some college will suit me wonderfully.
Plenty of independence and leisure.” After that Chandran went about with a
freer mind. To his persecutors he would say: “ I am going to England next
year.” Some demanded why he was not starting immediately. Chanran told them:
“We can‟t go to England on an impulse, can we ?”
I) Fill each of the
blanks with one word only
Chandran was fed up (a) ___________ his kith
and kin who gave him (b) __________ advice as to what he should do after his
graduation. Chandran wondered why everybody talked about his (c) __________ .
He solved this problem by telling them that he was going to England for his (d)
__________ .
(II)Answer the following:
(a) Why was Chandran upset?
(b) Why was Chandran interested in
lectureship after completing his doctorate ?
(III) Give words from the passage which mean
the same as the following
(a ) harassed -
(b) great /enormous -
(c) ill-treatment -
(d) foolish /fantastic
-
Section B
Read the passage given below and answer the question that follow
by choosing the answers from the given options.
„Look, even a
ghost must have a definite form, don‟t
you think?‟ „Why
must it ?‟ „Well,
how else can it be seen by humans ?‟
He has a point, I thought. After all, men have access to the external world
only through one of their five senses. „Yes, of course,‟ I said aloud , „if the ghost has to be seen
by us.‟ „
Okay, so we agree that it has to have a form or has to put on
one for the occasion. But, how can we be sure it‟s
really a ghost?” That‟s
simple! Suppose the ghost appeared as a pretty girl, wouldn‟t that set us wondering?”
Why has a girl come to us at this time of the night and of all places, to a
cremation ground? We will at once know that there is a ghost at work.‟ „That‟s exactly what‟s bothering me. It‟s all our imagination!
This stuff about ghosts appearing as boys before girls and as girls before
boys! Is this a college campus or is this a cremation ground? What if the ghost
comes as a buffalo or as a donkey?
‟
But wouldn‟t we
still wonder why a stray buffalo has strolled onto this land of the dead? Shah
was adamant. „No my friend, it‟s
not that simple. Suppose the ghost appeared before you as me, and were to
masquerade as you before me.‟
Then what? „We‟ll
see. Let it appear first,‟
I said nonchalantly. Meanwhile, I had been raking the ground with a stick.
„What the…!‟ Shah
shouted. „Stop raking that dirty stuff!
‟
The sky was overcast with dense dark clouds, and in the distance, the town was
dimly visible by the light of the street lamps. Dasappa, our music teacher, had
challenged us, ‟If
you have guts enough, visit the cremation ground on a moonless night and you
are bound to see ghosts.
‟
Well, we waited pretty long and saw nothing. Shah thought that he could provoke
the ghosts to make an appearance if he let loose curses on them. I admired his
eloquence and the range of his vocabulary. But even Shah‟s quiver of deadly arrows eventually ran
out. Exhausted, his mouth slumped into silence. Soon, he announced his decision
to return home. „Not even a wisp of a ghost to be found! Let‟s get out of here. „I
agreed, absolutely.
(1) What prompted Shah to provoke the ghosts?
(a) the argument with
his friend
(b) the appearance of a
ghost
(c) his fear that a
ghost may come
(d) none of the above
(2) Dasappa had
challenged to visit the cremation ground on ___________ .
(a) a rainy night
(b) a moonless night
(c) a starry night
(d) a full moon light
(3) „Let it appear first,‟
I said nonchalantly. What does the word „nonchalantly‟ mean ?
(a) seriously
(b) humorously
(c) casually
(d) sarcastically
(4) The town was dimly
visible by the light of ___________ .
(a) the street bulb
(b) the street light
(c) the street lamp
(d) the lantern
(5) “Stop raking that
dirty stuff‟, Shah
shouted. What is he referring to ?
(a) raking the ground
with a spade
(b) raking the ground
with a scoop
(c) raking the ground with a stick
(d) raking the ground
with a broom
