Read the extract and complete the activities given below: (12 Marks)
| When my father laughs, it is not only our home that reverberates but the adjacent houses feel the ripples as well. He loves to laugh – only now, at a ripe old age. In our younger days we hardly remember seeing or hearing him laugh. He may have laughed in the company of his friends, but not at home. My father, a professor of English, had ‘rigid. cold eyes’. His eyes never flickered, penetrating deep into the person in front, if he happened to be the target, enough to upset him from his seat. And they were cold not from an absence of warmth, but like steel that had been tempered. Of course, it was not for us to question why his eyes were cold or why he rarely laughed at home. Ours was to accept his authority in order to live.
Every morning, we would try to gauge father’s mood from the movement of his eyes or the few words he spoke. If his voice didn’t have a rough edge, we would breathe and move around a bit freely. On the other hand, when his throat produced grunts and rumbles, we knew we had had it for the day. The most difficult situation was when he was silent. Unable to read him, we would be on the horns of a dilemma: Was it fine to go for a football match? Or, would that invite a fine of two slaps, if not three penalty kicks? My father’s moods were like Chennai’s climate- hot, hotter, hottest. Yet, like millions of Madrasis who have not only survived their city’s climate but have also grown to love it, we came to love our father the way he was. He kept us on a tight leash with his stern countenance. fearing that we would go astray if given any liberties. Discipline was his motto, perhaps inherited from his own English professors. For that, I am grateful to him. At the end of the day, he exudes a quiet smile of satisfaction at having reared a brood of worthy citizens, if not exactly highly ‘valuable’ ones. Freed now from the burden of bringing up children, my father has dispensed with his rigid, cold facade. And he laughs a lot. He has to unload all those cans of laughter in him that had their lids, screwed on for so long. So it’s not strange that my children refuse to believe that their grandfather and laughter were ever strangers. |
A1. Rewrite the following sentences and state whether they are True or False: (2)
a. The writer’s father loved to laugh all the time- FALSE
b. The writer’s father did not laugh in his friends’ company- FALSE
c. Though father’s eyes appeared cold, they were full of warmth- TRUE
d. The few words father would speak, would declare his mood- TRUE
A2. Complete the following sentences: (2)
a. The father would fear about the children that they would go astray if given any liberties.
b. The rare sight for the writer in his childhood was to see or hear his father laugh.
c. The writer’s father would exude a quite smile of satisfaction at the end of the day because of having reared a brood of worthy citizens.
d. The writer’s children refuse to believe that their grandfather and laughter were ever strangers.
A3. Find facts from the extract regarding the mood of writer’s father: (2)
| The children would try to gauge father’s mood from the movement of his eyes or words he spoke |
a. The children would breathe and move freely, if his voice didn’t have a rough edge. b. The children knew they had had it for the day, when his throat produced grunts and rumbles. c. The children would be on the horns of dilemma, when he was silent. |
| The moods of the father were like Chennai’s climate | hot, hotter, hottest |
A4. Express your views regarding the importance of discipline in education. (2)
Answer– Discipline is a way in which we align our body, mind and our soul to follow a proper order. Discipline is ever more important during school life. The process to learn and master discipline starts at school. We can’t be well educated without discipline. In school education, discipline is a set of rules & regulations that remind us of the proper code of behavior.
A5. LANGUAGE STUDY: (2)
1) He kept them on a tight leash with his stern countenance.
(Choose the correct alternative that indicates modal auxiliary showing ‘advice’)
a. He must keep them on a tight leash with his stern countenance.
b. He may keep them on a tight leash with his stern countenance.
c. He should keep them on a tight leash with his stern countenance.
d. He could keep them on a tight leash with his stern countenance.
2) We came to love our father the way he was.
(Choose the correct alternative to get the Present Perfect Tense form of the given sentence)
a. We have been coming to love our father the way he was.
b. We had come to love our father the way he was.
c. We come to love our father the way he was.
d. We have come to love our father the way he was.
A6. Match the words in column ‘A’ with their Synonyms in column ‘B’: (2)
| Column A | Column B |
| 1. facade | a. echoes |
| 2. dilemma | b. important |
| 3. valuable | c. puzzle |
| 4. reverberates | d. appearance |
| e. accepts |
(1-d, 2-c, 3-b, 4-a)
HSC Board सर्व विषय सराव प्रश्नपेढी (Question Bank)
