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Chit-Chat

Form groups and chat.

How do you react when your parents scold you?

Ans: When my parents scold me I get upset and do not talk to them for a while.

How do you feel when someone insults you?

Ans: I feel both angry and embarrassed with someone insults me.

How would you react when you are cheated by your friends?

Ans: I would feel really sad and would not be able to trust them again.

Why is it wrong to make a difference among friends who belong to a different class, colour or community?

Ans: Ultimately we are all human beings. Our colour, caste or background does not matter and do not make who we are. Making differences amongst friends just because they belong to a different class, colour or community is the worst thing we can do for the growth of humanity.

1. Complete the table by providing suitable responses to the given actions.

1) You are punished by the teacher without any reason.

I shall not lose my temper but I shall talk to the teacher afterwards.

2) Your friends spread rumours about you.

I shall talk to my friends and ask them why they spread the rumour about me and tell them it is not the right thing to do.

3) Someone doubts you.

I shall assure them that they can trust me.

4) Your relative blames you for something.

I shall understand why they are blaming me and see who is really at fault.

5) Someone hurts you.

I shall not feel bad instead I will show the person why what they did was wrong.

2. Complete the sentences meaningfully and share them with the class.

If you read books, you will gain knowledge.

If you do exercise daily, you will become stronger.

If you study hard, you will pass the exam.

If you eat good food, you will become healthy.

You will do well in life, If you work hard.

3. Classify the following into weaknesses and strengths.

fear, confidence, clarity, confusion, worry, courage, cowardice, compassion, bravery, hesitation, punctuality, laziness, anger, faith, patience, ambition, generosity, impatience, cheerfulness, tolerance, arrogance, aggressiveness

Strengths

  • confidence
  • clarity
  • courage
  • compassion
  • bravery
  • punctuality
  • faith
  • patience
  • ambition
  • generosity
  • cheerfulness
  • tolerance

Weaknesses

  • fear
  • confusion
  • worry
  • cowardice
  • hesitation
  • laziness
  • anger
  • impatience
  • arrogance
  • aggressiveness

From the Chapter Pages

What does the poet call people who twist the truth to suit them?

Ans: The poet calls the people who twist the trust to suit them as knaves.

How should you react when someone lies about you and hates you?

Ans: When someone lies about you or hates you, you should not start dealing in lies yourself or give way to hating.

English Workshop

1. Read the following bits of advice and state whether you agree or disagree with them.

Get angry when others commit mistakes – Disagree

Keep friendship with all classes of people – Agree

Run away from troubles – Disagree

Hate the rich people and help the poor – Disagree on hating rich people

Get angry when others blame on us – Disagree

Reconstruct something we have built with care even if it has been broken by others – Agree

2. Pick out and enlist the positive and negative qualities from the poem in the respective columns.

Positive qualities

  • keep your head
  • make allowance for
  • don’t give way to hating
  • keep your virtue

Negative qualities

  • lose your head
  • twisted by Knaves
  • talk too wise
  • tired of waiting

3. Why do the lines in the poem begin with, “If you can _?”

What effect does this have?

Ans: The lines in the poem begin with “If you can” because the father is telling his son if he can behave in a certain way even when things are negative, bad or not as per his liking, then he will grow up to be a good, strong man.

This has an effect of putting your point across using a condition. The reader is forced to think what he or she would do if faced with similar situation. Also it maintains uniformity as all the advise begins with “If you can.”

4. Look at the use of opposite reactions in the poem.

For example, “If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs”

Find four other such opposite reactions from the poem. Note them down in your notebook.

Ans:

1) If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you.

2) If you can wait and not be tired by waiting.

3) Or being hated, don’t give way to hating.

4) If you can dream and not make dreams your master.

5. (a) Say WHAT

are the two imposters?

Ans: The two imposters are triumph and disaster.

can the unforgiving minute be made up of?

Ans: The unforgiving minute can be made up of sixty seconds worth of distance run.

(b) Say WHO

should you trust, when doubted?

Ans: You should trust yourself when doubted.

can you talk with and walk with?

Ans: You can talk with crowds and walk with Kings.

(c) Say WHEN

can the Earth become yours?

Ans: The Earth can become yours when you fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds worth of distance run. When you can keep your virtue and not lose the common touch and if neither friends nor foes can hurt you.

should you start rebuilding with old tools?

Ans: You should start rebuilding with old tools when things that you gave your life to has been broken.

(d) Say WHY

do knaves twist the truth?

Ans: Knaves twist the truth to make trap for fools.

should you consider all men equally important?

Ans: All men should be considered equally important as everyone has an impact on your life and it allows you to keep your virtue while not losing the common touch. By treating everyone equal, no one can hurt you more and at the same time you can respect them all. Above all, treating all men equal will make you a real man.

6. What should be our attitude towards people of different strata and classes?

Ans: Our attitude towards people of different strata and classes should be to treat everyone equally. You should neither treat anyone low nor too much. Everyone should be equal in our eyes. It is only then that we can keep our virtue and not lose the common touch.

7. What according to Rudyard Kipling is the highest quality that makes a man a true human being?

Ans: According to Rudyard Kipling, when you can fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds worth of distance run, then it would make a man a true human being. It means to make good use of every second without wasting on unimportant things.

8. Identify the Figures of speech used from those given in the bracket.

(Simile / Repetition / Antithesis / Personification / Metaphor / Alliteration / Apostrophe)

(a) “If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs”

Ans: Antithesis

(b) “If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster and treat those two imposters just the same”

Ans: Alliteration

(c) “And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise”

Ans: Repetition

(d) With worn-out tools

Ans: Metaphor, Alliteration

9. Write a letter to your parents, thanking them for advising you, when you were in a confused state of mind. Cover up the following points in the body of the letter.

  • Your problem and confusion.
  • The advice of your parents.
  • How you followed their advice.
  • How the problem got solved.
  • Your deep gratitude to them.

Answer:

205 Shiv Chawl,
SV Road,
Santacruz West,
Mumbai – 400054

8th October, 2020

Dear Mother and Father,

I hope both of you are doing well. Today, I wanted to write to you to let you know about something that has been on my mind for a while. Do you remember when I was having problems with my friends as I felt they were talking behind my back? I was really sad and felt that my friends had betrayed me.

However, during those times, when I confided in you both about my problem, you advised me to not to let things get me down and instead to have a open and frank discussion with my friends. You advised me to sit with them and let them know how I felt about their actions. You will be really happy to know that after thinking a while, I decided to follow your advise and talk to my friends. I called them and we sat one evening where I told them about how I felt betrayed by my closet friends. I was really happy that my friends understood my emotions and immediately apologized to me. They said they would never do such things again. They meant no harm, they were just having fun. They felt bad that their actions had hurt me and we were able to overcome all our problems. By talking to my friends openly, I was able to rekindle our friendship and we are all good friends again.

I want to thank you both from the bottom of my heart. Your advise as always was the best thing for me and I was able to get back to my normal life with great friends. I miss you both a lot and cannot wait to see you again during my holidays. Please do take care of yourselves and I will be with you soon.

Your loving son,
Gopal

10. Draft a speech to be given during the farewell for Standard X, on the topic ‘Changes, I would like in School Education of our State’.

Steps

  • Greeting and salutation
  • Self introduction and introduction of the topic
  • A catchy thought/episode/news etc. to start with
  • 2 to 3 changes that you suggest with their reason
  • Conclusion
  • Thank you/greeting

Answer:

Respected Principal, teachers and my dear friends. My name is Gopal and it gives me great pleasure to stand in front of you today. On this occasion of farewell for Standard 10th students, I would like to take the opportunity to talk to you about possible changes I would like to see in our state school education.

They say give the man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach the man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime. That proverb is extremely apt for our topic on hand today. Ideally we all, including the students as well as the teachers want to ensure that each and every child passing out from our school is able to stand on their two feet and is able to face the world outside with confidence and skill. At the moment, our curriculum focuses too much on theory and reading. I would like to see this change to more of practical learning that includes hands on experience with various activities. What this will do is help us learn the reality of a job at hand. We would be able to actually do tasks ourselves than depend upon elders or other experienced people to help us out.

The other change that is related to what I have been talking about is a skills based teaching method. We need to learn various skills that can be applied in the real world. Skills based teaching will make every student job ready. Companies will not have to waste time on training and induction process. Also it will help us better prepare for our college and further studies.
With skills and practical training, along with current reading and theory, we would have a whole holistic education that will better prepare us for facing the world. Our state has already taken some excellent and valuable steps to create a wonderful education system. With implementation of skills based training at school level itself, our education system will go to a whole new level.

I want to thank each and every one of you here today who have listened to me so patiently. I want to thank our respected Principal and our beloved teachers who have been a wonderful guide to all us students over the years. As we bid farewell to our school, we shall always remember you with fond memories and will remember what you have taught us during our important development years in school.

Thank you once again and I wish all of you here all the success in life.

11. Project:

1. Rudyard Kipling’s work is known to all of us. Write at least five poems of Kipling in your notebook and submit it to your teacher. You can take help of your school library or search for these poems on the internet.

Ans:

  • The White Man’s Burden
  • Mandalay
  • The Gods of the Copybook Headings
  • The Ballad of East and West
  • My Boy Jack
  • Recessional

2. Rudyard Kipling’s book, entitled ‘The Jungle Book’ is world wide famous. It’s theme and setting of the story attracts the readers from the beginning. Write a book review of Kipling’s book ‘The Jungle Book’ in 100 to 150 words.

Ans:

The Jungle Book written by renowned author Rudyard Kipling is a children’s book that is appreciated by both kids as well as adults. The book was first published in 1894 and has also been adapted into movies. The story of The Jungle Book is based in India and revolves around a child named Mowgli who was lost in the jungle and raised by wolves. As he grows in the jungle and sees the animals as his family, he is also hunted by an evil Tiger named Sher Khan. In his journey, Mowgli meets his two best friends Bagheera the black panther and Baloo the Bear. The Jungle Book has lots of fun characters and will appeal to children of all ages. It is a story full of adventure and emotions with Mowgli coming to terms with him being a human and his relation with his family in the animal kingdom.

Language Study

‘If’ Clause / Conditional Clause

1. Look at the following sentences:

If I practise hard, I shall win the game.

If you buy a new car, it will cost you a lot of money.

Each of those sentences has two clauses – main clause and subordinate clause.

If I practise hard —-> Subordinate Clause

I shall win the game —-> Main Clause

Here, the subordinate clause indicates ‘possibility’ or ‘likelihood’. The tense of a subordinate clause depends on the main clause.

Subordinate Clause —-> Main Clause

Simple Present —-> Simple Future

Simple Past —-> would + base form of verb

Past Perfect —-> would + have + past participle

Complete the following sentences.

(a) If I like it, I will buy it for my birthday.

(b) If it rains, we will have a holiday.

(c) If you reached on time, you would catch the train.

(d) If she had obeyed her parents, she would have been fine.

2. Pick out lines that contain the following Figures of Speech.

(a) Antithesis (Opposite ideas)

Ans: If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs

(b) Personification

Ans: If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster, And treat those two imposters just the same

(c) Repetition

Ans: And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise

(d) Metaphor

Ans: And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools