Questions

PARA QUE UNIT [4M]

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3 questions · timed · auto-graded

Question 14 Marks
When the walking tour was done, I rushed to a phone booth and, almost tearing the cord so it could reach me outside, phoned Stephen Hawking's house. There was his assistant on the line and I told him I had come in a wheelchair from India (perhaps he thought I had propelled myself all the way) to write about my travels in Britain. I had to see Professor Hawking-even ten minutes would do. "Half an hour," he said. "From three-thirty to four."
And suddenly I felt weak all over. Growing up disabled, you get fed up with people asking you to be brave, as if you have a courage account on which you are too lazy to draw a cheque. The only thing that makes you stronger is seeing somebody like you, achieving something huge. Then you know how much is possible and you reach out further than you ever thought you could.
Questions:
(1) I rushed to a phone booth and, almost tearing the cord so it could reach me outside, phoned Stephen Hawking's house. What kind of the writer's feeling do these underlined words show?
(2) Why had the writer come all the way from India?
(3) Why did the writer feel weak all over?
(4) What makes a disabled stronger, according to the writer?
Answer
(1) These words show the writer's intense eagerness to see Stephen Hawking.
(2) The writer had come all the from way India to write about his travels in Britain.
(3) The writer was expecting that he would hardly get ten minutes to meet Stephen Hawking. Instead of that, he got half an hour time for the interview. Because of this unexpected permission, his anxiety turned into nervousness and he felt weak all over.
(4) According to the writer, seeing another disabled achieving something huge makes a disabled person stronger.
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Question 24 Marks
"What do you think is the best thing about being disabled?" I had asked him earlier. "I don't think there is anything good about being disabled."
"I think." I said, "you do discover how much kindness there is in the world."
"Yes," he said: it was a disadvantage of his voice synthesiser that it could convey no inflection, no shades or tone. And I could not tell how enthusiastically he agreed with me.
Every time I shifted in my chair or turned my wrist to watch the time - I wanted to make every one of our thirty minutes count-I felt a huge relief and exhilaration in the possibilities of my body. How little it mattered then that I would never walk, or even stand.
Questions:
(1) What was the reply from Stephen Hawking for the best thing about being disabled'?
(2) Why could the writer not tell the intensity of Stephen Hawking's enthusiasm in replying his question ?
(3) Why did the writer look at his watch every now and then?
(4) What was the writer's feeling in the end ?
Answer
(1) For the best thing about being disabled Stephen Hawking replied that he didn't think there is anything good about being disabled.
(2) The writer could not tell the intensity of Stephen Hawking's enthusiasm in replying his question because the voice synthesiser I could not convey any inflection, shades or tone of Stephen Hawking's speech.
(3) The writer looked at his watch every now and then to watch the time as he wanted to make every minute of the allotted time count.
(4) In the end the writer felt a huge relief and exhilaration in the possibilities of his body. Now he felt that even if he would walk, or even stand, it did not matter to him.
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Question 34 Marks
"Is there any advice you can give disabled people, something that might help make life better?"
"They should concentrate on what they are good at; I think things like the disabled Olympics are a waste of time."
"I know what you mean." I remembered the years I'd spent trying to play a Spanish guitar considerably larger than I was; and how gleefully I had unstringed it one night. The half-hour was up. "I think I've annoyed you enough," I said, grinning. "Thank you for ..." "Stay." I wai "Have some tea. I can show you the garden."
The garden was as big as a park, but Stephen Hawking covered every inch, rumbling along in his motorised wheelchair while I dodged to keep out of the way. We couldn't talk very much; the sun made him silent, the letters on his screen disappearing in the glare.
Questions :
(1) What advice did Stephen Hawking give to disabled people?
(2) What had the writer been trying to play some years?
(3) What was said by the writer to Stephen Hawking courteously after the half hour was up?
(4) Why could the writer and Stephen Hawking not talk much in the garden?
Answer
(1) Stephen Hawking advised disabled people that they should concentrate on what they are good at.
(2) Some years the writer had been trying to play a Spanish guitar considerably larger than he was.
(3) After the half-hour was up, the writer told Stephen Hawking courteously that he thought he had annoyed him enough and thanked him for the same.
(4) The writer and Stephen Hawking could not talk much in the garden as the letters on his screen were disappearing in the glare of the sunlight.
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PARA QUE UNIT [4M] - English STD 8 Questions - Vidyadip