Poem - The Bridge Builder by Will Allen Dromgoole (Word-Meanings & Question-Answers)

 

                                               Poem - 3
                                      The Bridge Builder 
                                   (New) Word-Meanings

	Word	Meaning
1.	lone	single/ alone
2.	highway	main road
3.	gray	grey/ old
4.	tide	stream/ current
5.	sullen	sorrowful
6.	twilight	the soft glowing light from the sky when the sun is below the horizon, caused by the reflection of the sun's rays from the atmosphere.
7.	stream	a small narrow river
8.	pilgrim	traveller
9.	followeth	to follow
10.	chasm	a very big gap

 

Question & answers-

A. Answer these questions.

1. Describe the stream which the old man crossed.
Ans- The stream which the old man crossed was sullen, vast, deep and wide. He noticed that the stream can create problems for the people coming after him. So, he decided to make a bridge on it.

2. Why did the fellow pilgrim try to stop the old man?
Ans- The fellow pilgrim tried to stop the old man from building the bridge because he thought the old man had already crossed the dangerous chasm and there was no need for him to go back to the other side. Going back would mean further difficulty and danger at his age, it would be very difficult for him to cross it back again.

3. “This chasm that has been as naught to me
     To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be;”
Why does the speaker say that the chasm might be a pitfall for the fair-haired youth? What does the old man do after this? Why does he do that?
Ans- The speaker, the old man says that the chasm might be pitfall for the fair haired youth because unlike the old man who is experienced and knows the ways of the turbulent stream, a young traveller would not know the way to cross the stream and chasm might prove dangerous for him. The old man therefore decides to build a bridge spanning the tide. He does that to help the future generations of people to cross the stream safely without any difficulty.

4. Find two instances in the poem which tell you about the unselfish nature of the old man.
Ans- Two instances in the poem which tell you about the unselfish nature of the old man are-
The old man, while crossing the swift-moving stream, saw a tide that could create trouble for the people coming after him. After crossing the river, he decided to construct the bridge to save travellers from danger as a kind gesture for those who are on their way to get across the water. 

Being experienced, he has easily passed the chasm, unharmed, but the inexperienced young generations may fail to do so. Therefore, he wanted to show his generosity and concern for the future generation.

 

B. Think and answer.

2. How would you justify the title of the poem?
Ans- It is a suitable title. The word bridge denotes a connection between a person and a goal that is difficult to achieve. Bridge builders like the old man work for the society and make changes so that a large number of people can achieve a common goal.

 

 

 

 

A Farmer's Greatest Treasure (Question-Answers)

 

B. Read these lines from the text and answer the questions.

1. “Oh, what a feast there’ll be tonight!”

a. Who said these words?
Ans- Aisu said these words.

b. Why did the speaker think, “there’ll be a feast”?
Ans- The speaker’s whole family was starving due to drought. When he found a sack of wheat in the barn, he became so happy that he and his family would have a feast that night.

c. Describe the speaker’s state of mind while saying these words.
Ans- Aisu was extremely happy. He thought he will have a feast that night and his family would have food for the next few days.

2. “..he has taught us the true value of a farmer’s greatest treasure.”

a. Who said these words?
Ans- Farmers of the village said these words.

b. Who does ‘he’ refer to?
Ans- ‘he’ refers to Maosha San.

c. What is a farmer’s greatest treasure?
Ans- Seeds of grains can give yield to the farmers. A farmer can fulfil all his requirements from the yield. So, seeds of grains are the greatest treasure of any farmer.

C. Describe and analyse the character of Maosha San with reference to the situations in the text.

Ans- Maosha San was a generous man. He was loved by all because he had a habit of giving without expecting anything in return. When the drought hit the village, villagers faced huge scarcity of grains and even ate their last grains. But Maosha saved his last sack of fine grains’ seeds for himself and for the villagers. He gave his own life to feed his family and to feed the whole village. It was because of the patience of Maosha that the fields turned lush green again and the barn of all the farmers overflowed with new grains again.

D. Think and answer.

1. It is obvious from the story that Maosha was a generous man. But was Aisu generous too? How do you know this?
Ans- Yes, Aisu was generous and obedient too. When he found out the sack of wheat in the barn, he rushed to his father to tell him that they had enough grains to eat well for the next few days. But his father told him that he has deliberately kept those seeds and refused to use those grain seeds. Aisu was disappointed and pain of hunger filled his eyes, even then he obeyed his father like a good son.

2. Do you think the villagers should have made preparations for the next year as Maosha did? Why do you think so?
Ans- Yes, I think the villagers should have made preparations for the next year as Maosha did. It is important for everyone to make preparations for the future, as one should always be prepared for the difficulties which future can hold for us. Life is not always easy and it is not necessary that every time a person like Maosha will save someone’s life. Patience, hard work and good planning is required for a successful life.

 

Listen to the complete explanation of the chapter here.

Note : For the complete explanation of the chapter refer to the above video.

A Farmer's Greatest Treasure (Word-Meanings)

                     

Listen to the complete explanation of the chapter in the video. 

                                              Lesson - 5
                              A Farmer’s Greatest Treasure
                                   (New) Word-Meanings

	Word	Meaning
1.	distress	a painful situation
2.	trembling	to be affected with great fear
3.	digging	to remove soil
4.	ripening	to grow or become ripe
5.	berries	a fruit
6.	rotted	to decay
7.	seedlings	a young plant grown from seed
8.	tender	showing care
9.	barn	a large building for the storage of farm products
10.	shovel	a tool to dig out something
11.	stumbled	to come to an obstacle
12.	astonished	great surprise
13.	feast	plenty of food
14.	grind	to crush
15.	sprang	to jump up(past tense of spring)
16.	deliberately	to do something that is already planned
17.	stammered	to make stops and repetitions in speaking
18.	miserable	comfortless
19.	famine	an extreme scarcity of food
20.	stalks	a part of plant that supports another

 

The Two Magicians (Question-Answers)

B. Read these lines from the text and answer the questions.

1. “Will you agree to my proposal?”

a. Who is the speaker? What was his proposal?
Ans- The speaker is Tripura Babu. His proposal was to perform in Surapati’s Lucknow show in place of him.

b. Why had the listener not agreed to the proposal initially?
Ans- The listener (Surapati) did not agree to the proposal initially because it was the first time he was going to perform outside Bengal. He did not want to begin his new career with a lie that he was ill and his guru will perform in place of him.

c. Did the listener change his mind?
Ans- Yes, the listener changed his mind when Tripura Babu’s stare caused numbness and trembling in his whole body.

2. “Anil,” Surapati called, “Come here. Now watch this.”

a. What did Surapati show Anil?
Ans- Surapati showed Anil the trick of the coin and the ring.

b. What was Anil’s reaction?
Ans- Anil was so terrified that he would have dropped the cup of tea which he had brought for Surapati.

c. Pick out the sentence from the text which tells us about Anil’s reaction.
Ans- The sentence from the text which tells us about Anil’s reaction is- ‘Anil would have dropped the cup and broken it if Surapati had not stretched out a hand at the last moment and caught it mid-air.’

C. Answer in detail.

1. How did Tripura Babu get Surapati to agree to his request?
Ans- Tripura Babu took a pack of cards from his pocket and asked Surapati “Can you take this knave from the back and bring it forward to rest on this three of clubs, in just one movement of your hand?”
Surapati took the pack of cards and realised that his fingers were turning numb. Soon, his whole arm felt paralysed. In a daze, he looked at Tripura Babu, as he was smiling at him. Surapati’s whole body began to tremble.
Then Surapati realised the power of his guru and agreed to his request.

 

The Two Magicians (Word-Meanings)

                                               Lesson - 4
                                       The Two Magicians 
                                   (New) Word-Meanings

	Word	Meaning
1.	carriage	a railway passenger coach
2.	staring	to look fixedly with wide open eyes
3.	sagged	to lose firmness or energy
4.	sockets	an opening
5.	mild	gentle in behaviour
6.	bated	to decrease
7.	aback	surprised
8.	desperate	loss of hope
9.	faintly	lacking courage
10.	regret	to be sorry
11.	embarrassment	confusion or disturbance of mind
12.	daze	to lose clear vision
13.	queer	strange
14.	perspiration	to emit matter through the skin
15.	inhuman	lacking kindness
16.	tremble	to be affected with great fear
17.	wearily	dull
18.	trick	play or a procedure meant to deceive