STD. IX ENGLISH KUMARBHARATI

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1 Written as per the latest syllabus prescribed by the Maharashtra State Bureau of Textbook Production and Curriculum Research, Pune. STD. IX ENGLISH KUMARBHARATI Salient Features Exhaustive coverage of the latest syllabus in a simple and easy to grasp Format Answers to Textual Questions along with Additional Questions Glossary providing meanings of difficult and uncommon words Paraphrases of all Poems and Summaries of all Chapters Ample questions on Grammar and Vocabulary Covers Activity based Questions Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing Separate Section on Writing Skills Printed at: Repro India Ltd., Mumbai Target Publications Pvt. Ltd. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, C.D. ROM/Audio Video Cassettes or electronic, mechanical including photocopying; recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the Publisher _11930_JUP P.O. No

2 PREFACE In the case of good books, the point is not how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you. Std. IX: English Kumarbharati is a complete and thorough guide critically analysed and extensively drafted to boost the student s confidence. The book makes learning easy for students by segregating each chapter into different extracts. Paraphrases of the poems and Summaries of the lessons are provided for quick understanding along with answers to textual questions. Exhaustive practice of Grammar and Vocabulary will enhance the language skill of the students. Moreover, a glossary containing meanings of difficult and uncommon words is provided to help students grasp the lessons and poems fast and well. Activities to improve overall language skill form a part of the Chapters too. A separate section on Writing Skills has been provided for additional practice. The journey to create a complete book is strewn with triumphs, failures and near misses. If you think we ve nearly missed something or want to applaud us for our triumphs, we d love to hear from you. Please write to us at: mail@targetpublications.org A book affects eternity; one can never tell where its influence stops. From, Publisher Best of luck to all the aspirants! No. Topic Name Page No. UNIT ONE Let s Begin! Life A Synopsis The Swiss Family Robinson Have you ever seen? Have you thought of the verb have The Necklace 19 UNIT TWO 2.1 Invictus A True Story of Sea Turtles Somebody s Mother The Fall of Troy Autumn The Past in the Present 64 UNIT THREE 3.1 Silver Reading Works of Art The Road Not Taken How the First Letter was Written 86 No. Topic Name Page No. UNIT FOUR 4.1 Please Listen! The Storyteller Intellectual Rubbish My Financial Career Tansen 122 WRITING SKILLS 1 Unseen Passages Expand on the Theme Letter Writing Dialogue Writing Report Writing Speech Writing Views and Counterviews Information Transfer 147 Note: Textual questions are represented by * mark.

3 Let s Begin Chapter 1.3: Hope is the thing with feathers Know your Teacher *1. Interview your teacher. Use the following points His / Her name The qualities he / she likes best in his / her students His / Her favourite English author / book / film, etc. His / Her favourite teacher in school or college, and the reasons why he / she liked that teacher. What your teacher would like you to focus on in Std IX. Interviewing my teacher: - What is your good name, Sir/Madam? - Which qualities do you like the best in your students? - Who is your favourite English author? or - Who is your favourite Hindi movie? or - Which is your favourite book? - Who was your favourite teacher in your school? - What are the reasons that make you like that teacher? - According to you, where should our focus lie as the students of class IX? [Note: The above interview questions are given for reference. Students can add more questions to the list.] The Bigger the Better *2. Form groups of ten students in each, seated in a circle. Keep your paper and pen ready. At the start, the group leader begins by writing any 1 letter of the alphabet and passes the paper to the next. The second one should add a second letter, but make sure it does not spell a complete word (an, be, is etc.) and pass it to the next. Each student should think and add a letter to help form a bigger and bigger word. The spelling of the word should not end when he/she adds a letter. If it does, he / she is out. Then start with a new letter. The student left, after the rest in the group are out, is the winner. Tip: The word excite can be stretched to exciting instead of having it end with e. [Students are expected to attempt the above activity in class.] Priorities *3. Hold a discussion in the classroom to decide your priorities for this year s work. Together with your classmates and teacher, number the following in order of priority. You may add more features to this list. pronunciation speaking listening to English programmes on radio and TV searching something in English every day learning rules of grammar learning rules of punctuation learning to correct your own work writing independently memorising spellings copying words and lines from the board/books (You may add to this list.) [Students are expected to attempt the above activity in class.] En - trance *4. Complete the following to empower yourself with words beginning with En- e.g. En glish i. en (delight in) en (make best efforts) to i en (improve) our iv. en (ask to find out) about v. en (imagine) vi. en (make richer) our v en (gain knowledge and understanding) ourselves! i. enjoy endeavour i enrich iv. enquire v. envisage vi. enrich v enlighten [Note: Students are expected to find more words beginning with en- in the dictionary.] 1

4 1.1 Life Glossary Words buoyant (adj) flit (v) lament (v) manfully (adv) oft (adv) quell (v) sway (n) transient (adj) Paraphrase 2 2 Meanings that can rise upward to fly lightly express grief or regret bravely archaic form of often end, suppress controllong influence temporary The poem Life, composed by Charlotte Bronte, conveys her personal thoughts about life. In these twenty-four lines, the poet has optimistically reversed pessimistic thoughts and attitude. In the beginning of the poem, she says that life is not as gloomy or as painful a dream as some wise men portray it to be. A few problems in the beginning should be taken as a sign of a pleasant path ahead. Sometimes, sadness or confusion may blur the clarity in our lives, but we should remember that, like the grey clouds in the sky, they do not stay for long. The poet then goes on to say that we should not feel sad when a rose falls because rain will make a new rose bloom. The blooming of a rose is a metaphor for gaining success in life. It is important to not get upset with failures as they are the stepping stones to our success. We should remember to pick ourselves up and move ahead. We should not forget to enjoy the small moments of joy and happiness when they pass by swiftly. The poet further says that even if we are consumed by grief over the loss of a loved one and sadness seems to engulf us, defeating all the hope around; we must try to remain optimistic. In the poem, hope is compared to a bird with golden wings, who has fallen, but has not been defeated. It still has wind in its bright wings and it can still steer us through all the sorrow and lead us to happiness. Hope is the strongest of all feelings that can get us through the worst trials of our lives. The poet concludes by saying that courage can supress pessimism and we can emerge victorious despite all obstacles that pull us down, if we hold on to hope in our lives. *1. There are many popular lines like : Life is a game play it well. Life is a journey keep going ahead. Discuss and write down a few such metaphorical lines about life. You can make them up yourselves. i. i iv. v. i. Life is a ball, so dance till you drop. Life is a stage and we all have our parts to play. i Life is a song, dance to it. iv. Life is a mirror and your actions are your reflection. v. Life is a melody play it well. *2. Prepare as many acrostics using the word LIFE, as you can. Two examples are given below. i. Live In Freedom Ever [You can turn it into a game, using a time-limit. Make sure your acrostics are related to life.] i. Listen Imbibe Feel Empathise Pre-reading Activities Liberty Integrity Fraternity Equality Lead Inspire Foster Empower [Note: The above answers are for reference.]

5 *3. Listen carefully and write the word in the appropriate column. Positive Feelings Negative Feelings hopeful, lonely, happy, jealous, surprised, shy, loving, proud, cheerful, anxious, nervous, excited, embarrassed, scared, silly, comfortable, peaceful, depressed, enthusiastic, motivated, inspired, threatened, crushed, angry Positive Feelings hopeful, happy, loving, cheerful, excited, comfortable, peaceful, enthusiastic, motivated, inspired, surprised Negative Feelings scared, lonely, jealous, shy, proud, anxious, nervous, embarrassed, silly, depressed, threatened, crushed, angry [Note: The above answers are for reference. Students can classify the words based on their views.] *4. It is possible to have both kinds of emotions (positive and negative feelings) at the same time. Have you experienced it? Try to describe the situation in short. It is quite true that at times our mind is equally occupied with both positive and negative feelings. I have this feeling often during my exams. I feel both nervous and excited when I start attempting a question paper. I think, I feel nervous because of the unpredictability of the questions and I feel excited because I get to test my knowledge. Extract I Extract I Read the extract from line 1 to 12 on page 3 of your textbook and answer the following questions. [ Life, believe, is... as they fly.] Simple Factual Reading 1. Complete the following sentences: i. A little morning rain foretells a Clouds of are transient. i The shower will make the bloom. iv. Life s rapidly and merrily flit by. i. pleasant day gloom i roses iv. sunny hours *1. What do sages say? Sages say that life is a dark dream. Chapter 1.1: Life and gloomy *2. What does the rain often foretell? The rain often foretells a pleasant and happy day. *3. What should we do during joyful times in life? During the joyful times in our life, we should cheerfully and gratefully enjoy each and every moment. *4. Pick out from the extract one line each that reflects an optimistic (positive) attitude and pessimistic (negative) attitude. Complex / Understanding Oft a little morning rain Foretells a pleasant day: Vocabulary Life believe, is not a dream, *1. Give other -ly adverbs of similar meaning for the following from the poem. Use a thesaurus if needed. i. rapidly merrily i gratefully iv. cheerily i. quickly cheerfully i thankfully iv. happily *2. Explain the metaphor in the following lines: i. Oft a little morning rain Foretells a pleasant day Sometimes there are clouds i The shower will make the roses bloom iv. Life s sunny hours flit by i. i iv Morning rain is the metaphor which means small difficulties and the word day is a metaphor for a journey / endevour Clouds as a metaphor stands for gloomy thoughts and confusion Roses as a metaphor signifies new opportunities and success. Sunny hours is used as a metaphor for happy and joyous moments. 3

6 Std. IX : English Kumarbharati 3. List the rhyming words from the extract. i. say day gloom bloom i merrily cheerily iv. by fly v. all fall 1. Do you think that keeping a positive attitude helps in dealing with problems in life? Explain. Yes, I think that keeping a positive attitude helps in dealing with problems in life. If we have a positive attitude, we are able to look at the brighter side of things. In the face of difficulties, being optimistic helps us to stay inspired and motivated. 1. Read the extract and match the following: 4 4 i. steps in a. buoyant elastic springs b. death i golden wings c. courage iv. quell despair d. hope (i b), (ii d), (iii a), (iv c) *1. What does our Best refer to? Our Best refers to our loved ones, including our parents, family members and friends. *2. Why are the wings of hope golden? The wings of hope are golden because they are bright and of exceptional value. The writer has used this expression to highlight the positive worth of hope. *3. Pick out from the extract, one line each that reflects an optimistic (positive) attitude and pessimistic (negative) attitude. Personal Response Extract I Extract II Read the extract from line 13 to 24 on page 3 of your textbook and answer the following questions. [ What though...quell despair! ] Simple Factual Reading Complex / Understanding Still buoyant are her golden wings, And calls our Best away? 4. Do you think the treatment of the poem is optimistic? Yes, the treatment of the poem is optimistic. Though the poet has used some expressions which sound pessimistic, the notion of hope recurs throughout the poem. In other words, we can say that the poet wants to optimistically deal with the negative experiences of life. The poet seems to believe in the idea that tomorrow is another day and rejects those notions which say that tomorrow never comes. *1. Give other -ly adverbs of similar meaning for the following from the extract. Use a thesaurus if needed. i. manfully fearlessly i gloriously iv. victoriously i. bravely boldly i charmingly iv. successfully 2. List the rhyming words from the extract. i. in win away sway i springs wings iv. fell well v. fearlessly-victoriously vi. bear despair 1. The poet describes hope as a strong bird with golden wings. How would you define hope? What are the things which give you hope? According to me, hope is an abstract idea or a thought, which makes us believe that something good will surely happen. It can help one in going through many torments in life. Hope can be in any form. I get hope from my friends, my parents and the books that I read. Sometimes, reading poems can make us feel hopeful too, for instance, this poem on hope can be a ray of hope to someone. *1. Pick out three examples of interrogation (rhetorical questions) from the poem. Explain in your own words the point that each one makes. i. i Vocabulary Personal Response Appreciation of the Poem Interrogation Explanation

7 Interrogation i. If the shower will make the rose bloom Oh, why lament its fall? i What though death at times steps in, And calls our Best away? What though Sorrow seems to win, O er hope a heavy sway? Explanation One should not weep over the loss of a flower when rain can make another one bloom. We should not lose hope even if death takes away our dear ones far from us. We should not worry even if sorrow defeats hope because hope has the potential to rise up again. *2. And calls our Best away? is a gentle way of expressing the unpleasant idea of a loved one dying. It is an example of euphemism. Think and write down three or four ways in which we can express the idea of death in a tactful and gentle manner. i. i iv. i. at peace angels carried him or her i the passing of iv. faded away *3. Pick out four examples of personification. Write what is personified in each: i. i iv. i. What though death at times steps in, personification: death is personified Activities Reading Chapter 1.1: Life *1. Read: The Psalm of Life a poem by H.W. Longfellow. [Students are expected to attempt the above activity on their own.] Writing *1.... and that s how I realised that courage and hope can help me overcome any major mishap / problem in life. Write an episode / experience from your own life that leads to the above conclusion. When I was in eighth standard I fell off the roof of my house and broke my right hand. I got a permanent cast for two months, however, my exams were just around the corner. A writer was assigned to me, so that I could appear for my exams. I was uncomfortable with the idea of a writer writing whatever I would dictate to him / her. My parents and school teachers kept on encouraging me. I did not let the accident affect my studies. I prepared well and appeared for the exams. After two months, when the result was out I was pleasantly surprised to see that I passed the exams with flying colours and that s how I realised that courage and hope can help me overcome problems in life. i iv. What though Sorrow seems to win, personification: sorrow is personified Yet Hope again elastic springs, Unconquered, though she fell, personification: hope is personified For gloriously, victoriously, Can courage quell despair! personification: courage is personified 5