Ch. 1 The Fun They Had
PASSAGE 1
Margie even wrote about it that night in her diary. On the page headed 17 May 2157, she wrote, ‘Today Tommy found a real book!’
It was a very old book. Margie’s grandfather once said that when he was a little boy his grandfather told him that there was a time when all stories were printed on paper.
They turned the pages, which were yellow and crinkly, and it was awfully funny to read words that stood still instead of moving the way they were supposed to – on a screen, you know. And then when they turned back to the page before, it had the same words on it that it had had when they read it the first time.
Questions :
(i) What did Margie write in her diary?
(ii) Name the writer of the lesson.
(iii) What book has been refferred to here?
(iv) Who turned the pages of the book?
(v) What seemed awfully funny?
Answer
(i) On page headed 17 May 2157, Margie wrote, ‘Today Tommy found a real book!’
(ii) The name of the writer is ‘Isaac Asimov’.
(iii) The old book that was printed on paper have been refferred to here.
(iv) Margie and Tommy turned the pages of the book.
(v) The words in the book stand still instead of moving.
PASSAGE 2
Margie was scornful. ‘School? What’s there to write about school? I hate school.’
Margie always hated school, but now she hated it more than ever. The mechanical teacher had been giving her test after test in geography and she had been doing worse and worse until her mother had shaken her head sorrowfully and sent for the County Inspector.
Questions :
(i) Name the writer of the story ‘The Fun They Had’.
(ii) What was Margie’s opinion about school?
(iii) What had been doing her mechanical teacher?
(iv) How were Margie’s responses?
(v) Why was the County Inspector sent for?
Answer
(i) Isaac Asimov.
(ii) Margie hated school.
(iii) Her mechanical teacher had been giving her test after test in geography.
(iv) Margie’s responses were very poor.
(v) The County Inspector was sent for to check the mechanical teacher.
PASSAGE 3
He was a round little man with a red face and a whole box of tools with dials and wires. He smiled at Margie and gave her an apple, then took the teacher apart. Margie had hoped he wouldn’t know how to put it together again, but he knew how all right, and, after an hour or so, there it was again, large and black and ugly, with a big screen on which all the lessons were shown and the questions were asked. That wasn’t so bad. The part Margie hated most was the slot where she had to put homework and test papers. She always had to write them out in a punch code they made her learn when she was six years old, and the mechanical teacher calculated the mark in no time.
Questions :
(i) Name the chapter and its writer.
(ii) Who is ‘he’ in the first line ?
(iii) Why did Margie’s mother send for him ?
(iv) What did the inspector repair ?
(v) Explain Margie’s teacher.
Answer
(i) Chapter : The Fun They Had, Writer : Isaac Asimov.
(ii) ‘He’ is the county Inspector.
(iii) Margie’s mother sent for him to repair Margie’s mechanical teacher.
(iv) He repaired Margie’s mechanical teacher.
(v) Margie had a mechanical teacher.
PASSAGE 4
The Inspector had smiled after he was finished and patted Margie’s head. He said to her mother, ‘It’s not the little girl’s fault, Mrs Jones. I think the geography sector was geared a little too quick. Those things happen sometimes. I’ve slowed it up to an average ten year level. Actually, the overall pattern of her progress is quite satisfactory.’ And he patted Margie’s head again.
Questions :
(i) Which Inspector has been referred to in these lines ?
(ii) What had the Inspector done ?
(iii) Who was Mrs. Jones ?
(iv) The Inspector did a thing twice. What was it ?
(v) Which word in the passage means ‘the way in which something happens’ ?
Answer
(i) The County Inspector, who came to repair Margie’s mechanical teacher is referred to in these lines.
(ii) He had repaired Margie’s mechanical teacher.
(iii) Mrs. Jones was Margie’s mother.
(iv) The Inspector patted Margie's head twice.
(v) pattern.
Ch. 2 The Sound of Music
Part-I Evelyn Glennie
PASSAGE 1
Evelyn Glennie’s loss of hearing had been gradual. Her mother remembers noticing something was wrong when the eight-year-old Evelyn was waiting to play the piano. ‘They called her name and she didn’t move. I suddenly realised she hadn’t heard,’ says Isabel Glennie. For quite a while Evelyn managed to conceal her growing deafness from friends and teachers. But by the time she was eleven her marks had deteriorated and her headmistress urged her parents to take her to a specialist. It was then discovered that her hearing was severely impaired as a result of gradual nerve damage. They were advised that she should be fitted with hearing aids.
Questions :
(i) At what age was her deafness sighted first?
(ii) For what her name was called?
(iii) What was Evelyn’s response when her name was called?
(iv) When was her deafness confirmed?
(v) From whom did she try to conceal her deafness?
Answer
(i) At the age of eight years.
(ii) Her name was called to play the piano.
(iii) She did not move at the call of her name.
(iv) Her deafness was confirmed when she was eleven years old.
(v) From her teachers and friends.
PASSAGE 2
But Evelyn was not going to give up. She was determined to lead a normal life and pursue her interest in music. One day she noticed a girl playing a xylophone and decided that she wanted to play it too. Most of the teachers discouraged her but percussionist Ron Forbes spotted her potential. He began by tuning two large drums to different notes. ‘Don’t listen through your ears,’ he would say, ‘try to sense it some other way.’ Says Evelyn, ‘Suddenly I realised I could feel the higher drum from the waist up and the lower one from the waist down.’ Forbes repeated the exercise, and soon Evelyn discovered that she could sense certain notes in different parts of her body. ‘I had learnt to open my mind and body to sounds and vibrations.’ The rest was sheer determination and hard work.
Questions :
(i) What had happened to Evelyn?
(ii) What was she determined to?
(iii) Who was Ron Forbes?
(iv) What did he inspire Evelyn for?
(v) How did he ask Evelyn to hear music?
Answer
(i) She had lost her hearing capacity completely.
(ii) She was determined to lead the normal life.
(iii) He was a famous percussionist of Evelyn’s school.
(iv) He inspired Evelyn to pursue her music.
(v) He asked Evelyn to hear music not through her ears but other parts of her body.
PASSAGE 3
Not surprisingly, Evelyn delights her audiences. In 1991 she was presented with the Royal Philharmonic Society’s prestigious Soloist of the Year Award. Says master percussionist James Blades, ‘God may have taken her hearing but he has given her back something extraordinary. What we hear, she feels–far more deeply than any of us. That is why she expresses music so beautifully.’
Questions :
(i) How do Evelyn’s audiences feel?
(ii) What award did she win in 1991?
(iii) Who was James Blades?
(iv) The things what we hear, what does Evelyn do with them?
(v) How does she express her music?
Answer
(i) Her audiences feel delighted.
(ii) ‘Soloist of the year Award’ by Philharmonic Society.
(iii) He was a master percussionist.
(iv) She feels them through her body.
(v) She expresses her music beautifully.
Ch. 2 The Sound of Music
Part-II Bismillah Khan
PASSAGE 1
Emperor Aurangzeb banned the playing of a musical instrument called pungi in the royal residence for it had a shrill unpleasant sound. Pungi became the generic name for reeded noisemakers. Few had thought that it would one day be revived. A barber of a family of professional musicians, who had access to the royal palace, decided to improve the tonal quality of the pungi. He chose a pipe with a natural hollow stem that was longer and broader than the pungi, and made seven holes on the body of the pipe. When he played on it, closing and opening some of these holes, soft and melodious sounds were produced. He played the instrument before royalty and everyone was impressed. The instrument so different from the pungi had to be given a new name. As the story goes, since it was first played in the Shah’s chambers and was played by a ‘nai’ (the barber), the instrument was named the ‘Shehnai’.
Questions :
(i) Why did Aurangzeb ban the playing of pungi?
(ii) Which family did the barber belong?
(iii) What did the barber decide to do?
(iv) Where did the barber play the new instrument the first time?
(v) What name was given to this new instrument?
Answer
(i) Aurangzeb banned the playing of pungi because he did not like its shrill unpleasant sound.
(ii) The barber belonged to a family of professional musicians.
(iii) The barber decided to improve the tonal quality of the pungi.
(iv) He played it in the Shah’s chamber.
(v) This instrument was named the ‘Shehnai’.
PASSAGE 2
The sound of the Shehnai began to be considered auspicious. And for this reason it is still played in temples and is an indispensable component of any North Indian wedding. In the past, Shehnai was part of the naubat or traditional ensemble of nine instruments found at royal courts. Till recently it was used only in temples and weddings. The credit for bringing this instrument onto the classical stage goes to Ustad Bismillah Khan.
Questions :
(i) How was the sound of the Shehnai considered?
(ii) On which occasions was the Shehnai played?
(iii) What was the Shehnai a part of?
(iv) What change did Bismillah Khan give to ‘Shehnai’?
(v) Name the lesson.
Answer
(i) The sound of the Shehnai was considered auspicious.
(ii) It was played in temples and on the occasion of weddings.
(iii) It was a part of the naubat or traditional ensemble of nine instruments found at royal courts.
(iv) He played Shehnai on other occasion also other then in temples and in weddings.
(v) ‘The Sound of Music : The Shehnai of Bismillah Khan.’
PASSAGE 3
Born on 21 March, 1916, Bismillah belongs to a well-known family of musicians from Bihar. Hisgrand father, Rasool Bux Khan was the Shehnai-nawaz of the Bhojpur king’s court. His father, Paigambar Bux, and other paternal ancestors were also great Shehnai players.
Questions :
(i) When was Bismillah Khan born?
(ii) Which family did Bismillah Khan belong to?
(iii) What was the name of his grandfather?
(iv) What was his grandfather’s profession?
(v) Name Bismillah Khan’s father.