What are the main features of the mechan | Class 9 English - Beehive Chapter The Fun They Had, The Fun They Had NCERT Solutions

Do you agree with Margie that schools today are more fun than the school in the story? Give reasons for your answer.

II. This story about a frightening incident is narrated in a humorous way. What makes it humorous? (Think of the contrasts it presents between dreams and reality. Some of them are listed below.)
1. (i) The kind of person the doctor is (money, possessions)
    (ii) The kind of person he wants to be (appearance, ambition) 

2. (i) The person he wants to marry
   (ii) The person he actually marries

3. (i) His thoughts when he looks into the mirror
    (ii) His thoughts when the snake is coiled around his arm
Write short paragraphs on each of these to get your answer.

II. Answer each of these questions in a short paragraph (about 30 words).
1. How did Santosh begin to climb mountains?
2. What incidents during the Everest expedition show Santosh’s concern for her team-mates?
3. What shows her concern for the environment?
4. How does she describe her feelings at the summit of the Everest?
5. Santosh Yadav got into the record books both times she scaled Mt Everest. What were the reasons for this?

When and how did Bismillah Khan get his big break?

Why did Bismillah Khan refuse to start a shehnai school in the U.S.A.?
 

Why did Margie hate school? Why did she think the old kind of school must have been fun?

I. Discuss in pairs and answer each question below in a short paragraph (30– 40 words).
1. How many characters are there in the narrative? Name them. (Don’t forget the dog!).
2. Why did the narrator (Jerome) volunteer to do the packing?
3. How did George and Harris react to this? Did Jerome like their reaction?
4. What was Jerome’s real intention when he offered to pack?
5. What did Harris say after the bag was shut and strapped? Why do you think he waited till then to ask?
6. What “horrible idea” occurred to Jerome a little later?
7. Where did Jerome finally find the toothbrush?
8. Why did Jerome have to reopen the packed bag?
9. What did George and Harris offer to pack and why?
10. While packing the hamper, George and Harris do a number of foolish and funny things. Tick the statements that are true.
(i) They started with breaking a cup.
(ii) They also broke a plate.
(iii) They squashed a tomato.
(iv) They trod on the butter.
(v) They stepped on a banana.
(vi) They put things behind them, and couldn’t find them.
(vii) They stepped on things.
(viii) They packed the pictures at the bottom and put heavy things on top.
(ix) They upset almost everything.
(x) They were very good at packing.

Now use these adverbs to fill in the blanks in the sentences below.
(i) The report must be read so that performance can be improved.
(ii) At the interview, Sameer answered our questions , shrugging his shoulders.
(iii) We all behave when we are tired or hungry.
(iv) The teacher shook her head when Ravi lied to her.
(v) I forgot about it.
(vi) When I complimented Revathi on her success, she just smiled and turned away.

(vii) The President of the Company is busy and will not be able to meet you.
(viii) I finished my work so that I could go out to play.

I. Answer these questions.
1. “At last a sympathetic audience.”
(i) Who says this?
(ii) Why does he say it?
(iii) Is he sarcastic or serious?

2. Why does the intruder choose Gerrard as the man whose identity he wants to take on?

3. “I said it with bullets.”
(i) Who says this?
(ii) What does it mean?
(iii) Is it the truth? What is the speaker’s reason for saying this?

4. What is Gerrard’s profession? Quote the parts of the play that support your answer.

5. “You’ll soon stop being smart.”
(i) Who says this?(ii) Why does the speaker say it?
(iii) What according to the speaker will stop Gerrard from being smart?

6. “They can’t hang me twice.”
(i) Who says this?
(ii) Why does the speaker say it?

7. “A mystery I propose to explain.” What is the mystery the speaker proposes to explain?

8. “This is your big surprise.”
(i) Where has this been said in the play?
(ii) What is the surprise?

III. Answer the following questions in not more than 100–150 words each.
1. Compare and contrast the atmosphere in and around the Baudhnath shrine with the Pashupatinath temple.
2. How does the author describe Kathmandu’s busiest streets?
3. “To hear any flute is to be drawn into the commonality of all mankind.” Why does the author say this?

(IV).     1. The Narrative Present

Notice the incomplete sentences in the following paragraphs. Here the writer is using incomplete sentences in the narration to make the incident more dramatic or immediate. Can you rewrite the paragraph in complete sentences?
(You can begin: The vet and I made a dash back to the car. Bruno was still floundering ... )
(i) A dash back to the car. Bruno still floundering about on his stumps, but clearly weakening rapidly; some vomiting, heavy breathing, with heaving flanks and gaping mouth. Hold him, everybody! In goes the hypodermic—Bruno squeals — 10 c.c. of the antidote enters his system without a drop being wasted. Ten minutes later: condition unchanged! Another 10 c.c injected! Ten minutes later: breathing less stertorous — Bruno can move his arms and legs a little although he cannot stand yet. Thirty minutes later: Bruno gets up and has a great feed! He looks at us disdainfully, as much as to say, ‘What’s barium carbonate to a big black bear like me?’ Bruno is still eating.
(ii) In the paragraphs above from the story the verbs are in the present tense (eg. hold, goes, etc.). This gives the reader an impression of immediacy. The present tense is often used when we give a commentary on a game (cricket, football, etc.), or tell a story as if it is happening now. It is, therefore, called the narrative present. You will read more about the present tense in Unit 10.

                              2.  Adverbs
Find the adverbs in the passage below. ( You’ve read about adverbs in Unit 1.) We thought that everything was over when suddenly a black sloth bear came out panting in the hot sun. Now I will not shoot a sloth-bear wantonly but, unfortunately for the poor beast, one of my companions did not feel that way about it, and promptly shot the bear on the spot.
(i) Complete the following sentences, using a suitable adverb ending in –ly.
(a) Rana does her homework .
(b) It rains in Mumbai in June.
(c) He does his work .
(d) The dog serves his master .
(ii) Choose the most suitable adverbs or adverbial phrases and complete the following sentences.
(a) We should get down from a moving train. (never, sometimes, often)
(b) I was in need of support after my poor performance. (badly, occasionally, sometimes)
(c) Rita met with an accident. The doctor examined her . (suddenly, seriously, immediately)

3. Take down the following scrambled version of a story, that your teacher will dictate to you, with appropriate punctuation marks. Then, read the scrambled story carefully and try to rewrite it rearranging the incidents. A grasshopper, who was very hungry, saw her and said, “When did you get the corn? I am dying of hunger.” She wanted to dry them. It was a cold winter’s day, and an ant was bringing out some grains of corn from her home. She had gathered the corn in summer.
“I was singing all day,” answered the grasshopper.
“If you sang all summer,” said the ant, “you can dance all winter.”
“What were you doing?” asked the ant again.
The grasshopper replied, “I was too busy.”
“I collected it in summer,” said the ant. “What were you doing in summer?
Why did you not store some corn?”

Irony is when we say one thing but mean another, usually the opposite of what we say. When someone makes a mistake and you say, “Oh! that was clever!”, that is irony. You’re saying ‘clever‘ to mean ‘not clever’.

Expressions we often use in an ironic fashion are:
• Oh, wasn’t that clever!/Oh that was clever!
• You have been a great help, I must say!
• You’ve got yourself into a lovely mess, haven’t you?
• Oh, very funny!/ How funny!
We use a slightly different tone of voice when we use these words ironically. Read the play carefully and find the words and expressions Gerrard uses in an ironic way. Then say what these expressions really mean. Two examples have been given below. Write down three more such expressions along with what they really mean.

Match the meanings with the words/expressions in italics, and write the appropriate meaning next to the sentence. The first one has been done for you.
1. I knew a man was following me, I was scared out of my wits. (very frightened)

2. I got a fright when I realised how close I was to the cliff edge.
3. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw the bull coming towards him.
4. You really gave me a fright when you crept up behind me like that.
5. Wait until I tell his story — it will make your hair stand on end.
6. Paralysed with fear, the boy faced his abductors.
7. The boy hid behind the door, not moving a muscle.

What had once happened to Tommy’s teacher?

What did Margie write in her diary?

II. Answer each question in a short paragraph.
1. What difference does the author note between the flute seller and the other hawkers?
2. What is the belief at Pashupatinath about the end of Kaliyug?
3. The author has drawn powerful images and pictures. Pick out three examples each of
  (i) the atmosphere of ‘febrile confusion’ outside the temple of Pashupatinath (for                          example:some people trying to get the priest’s attention are elbowed aside...)
  (ii) the things he sees
 (iii) the sounds he hears

Some verbs of reporting are given in the box. Choose the appropriate verbs and fill in the blanks in the following sentences. were complaining shouted replied remarked ordered suggested
(i) “I am not afraid,”_____ the woman.
(ii) “Leave me alone,” my mother .______
(iii) The children______ that the roads were crowded and noisy.
(iv) “Perhaps he isn’t a bad sort of a chap after all,” ______the master.
(v) “Let’s go and look at the school ground,______” the sports teacher.
(vi) The traffic police______ all the passers-by to keep off the road.

What things about the book did she find strange?

I. Answer these questions in one or two words or in short phrases.
1. Name the two temples the author visited in Kathmandu.
2. The writer says, “All this I wash down with Coca Cola.” What does ‘all this’ refer to?
3. What does Vikram Seth compare to the quills of a porcupine?
4. Name five kinds of flutes.