Question
A1. Simple Factual Activities:
State whether the following statements are Right or Wrong. Correct the wrong ones:
(i) The beggar and the young girl were playing on the road because there was a lot of traffic.
(ii) The scene of the beggar and the girl made Meena peep into her own life.
(iii) The beggar became Meena's role model.
(iv) It took Meena almost two years to put the change into effect.
‘Yes, a beggar,’ she repeated, as if to reassure me. ‘He was old and used to stay in front of my house with his five-year old granddaughter. As you know, I was a chronic pessimist. I used to give my leftovers to this beggar every day. I never spoke to him. Nor did he speak to me. One monsoon day, I looked out of my bedroom window and started cursing the rain. I don’t know why I did that because I wasn’t even getting wet. That day I couldn’t give the beggar and his granddaughter their daily quota of leftovers. They went hungry, I am sure.
‘However, what I saw from my window surprised me. The beggar and the young girl were playing on the road because there was no traffic. They were laughing, clapping and screaming joyously, as if they were in paradise. Hunger and rain did not matter.They were totally drenched and totally happy. I envied their zest for life.
‘That scene forced me to look at my own life. I realized I had so many comforts, none of which they had. But they had the most important of all assets, one which I lacked. They knew how to be happy with life as it was. I felt ashamed of myself. I even started to make a list of what I had and what I did not have. I found I had more to be grateful for than most people could imagine. That day, I decided to change my attitude towards life, using the beggar as my role model.’
After a long pause, I asked Meena how long it had taken her to change.
‘Once this realization dawned’, she said, ‘it took me almost two years to put the change into effect. Now nothing matters. I am always happy. I find happiness in every small thing, in every situation and in every person.’
‘Did you give any gurudakshina to your guru ?’ I asked.
‘No. Unfortunately, by the time I understood things, he was dead. But I sponsored his granddaughter to a boarding school as a mark of respect to him.’
A2. Complex Factual Activities:
(1) Meena sponsored the granddaughter of the beggar because _______________.
(a) she was alone in her life after his death.
(b) it was a token of respect to the beggar.
(c) she was rich and so she wanted to help.
(2) _______________ was the most important of all assets, that the beggar and his granddaughter had but the writer was lacking.
(a) Attitude towards life
(b) So many comforts
(c) Hunger.
A3. Activities based on Vocabulary:
Match the synonyms:
State whether the following statements are Right or Wrong. Correct the wrong ones:
(i) The beggar and the young girl were playing on the road because there was a lot of traffic.
(ii) The scene of the beggar and the girl made Meena peep into her own life.
(iii) The beggar became Meena's role model.
(iv) It took Meena almost two years to put the change into effect.
‘Yes, a beggar,’ she repeated, as if to reassure me. ‘He was old and used to stay in front of my house with his five-year old granddaughter. As you know, I was a chronic pessimist. I used to give my leftovers to this beggar every day. I never spoke to him. Nor did he speak to me. One monsoon day, I looked out of my bedroom window and started cursing the rain. I don’t know why I did that because I wasn’t even getting wet. That day I couldn’t give the beggar and his granddaughter their daily quota of leftovers. They went hungry, I am sure.
‘However, what I saw from my window surprised me. The beggar and the young girl were playing on the road because there was no traffic. They were laughing, clapping and screaming joyously, as if they were in paradise. Hunger and rain did not matter.They were totally drenched and totally happy. I envied their zest for life.
‘That scene forced me to look at my own life. I realized I had so many comforts, none of which they had. But they had the most important of all assets, one which I lacked. They knew how to be happy with life as it was. I felt ashamed of myself. I even started to make a list of what I had and what I did not have. I found I had more to be grateful for than most people could imagine. That day, I decided to change my attitude towards life, using the beggar as my role model.’
After a long pause, I asked Meena how long it had taken her to change.
‘Once this realization dawned’, she said, ‘it took me almost two years to put the change into effect. Now nothing matters. I am always happy. I find happiness in every small thing, in every situation and in every person.’
‘Did you give any gurudakshina to your guru ?’ I asked.
‘No. Unfortunately, by the time I understood things, he was dead. But I sponsored his granddaughter to a boarding school as a mark of respect to him.’
A2. Complex Factual Activities:
(1) Meena sponsored the granddaughter of the beggar because _______________.
(a) she was alone in her life after his death.
(b) it was a token of respect to the beggar.
(c) she was rich and so she wanted to help.
(2) _______________ was the most important of all assets, that the beggar and his granddaughter had but the writer was lacking.
(a) Attitude towards life
(b) So many comforts
(c) Hunger.
A3. Activities based on Vocabulary:
Match the synonyms:
| Column 'A' | Column 'B' |
| (1) paradise | (a) enthusiasm |
| (2) zest | (b) valuable thing |
| (3) asset | (c) wet |
| (4) drenched | (d) heaven |
A4. Activities based on Contextual Grammar:
(1) Do as directed:
He used to stay in front of my house.
(Rewrite the sentence by using 'would'.)
(2) Change the voice:
That scene forced me to look at my own life.
(Begin the sentence with "I .....)
A5. Personal Response:
(1) According to you, how can we help beggars?
