7th standard English ( A Letter from a Mother )

 

A Letter from a Mother

I . Take turns with your partner, the hoy or the girl sitting next to you, to ask or answer these questions. Explain why you think your answer is correct. Quote from the letter where ever necessary. Write down your answer.

1.This is a letter written by a father to his daughter.
Answer:Not True

2.What, do you think, the age of the daughter could be?
Answer:The age of daughter could be 12 or 13.

3.It is somewhat painful for both parents and the child to be separated.
Answer:(True).

4.Why, do you think, the daughter has gone away from home and living in a distant place?
Answer:I think the daughter has gone away from home for the purpose of education and also to cultivate the habit of doing their works on their own, to be well-disciplined, strong-minded and persistent, responsible, etc,.

 

5.The mother says, “This is the first time apart.” What does she mean? Explain this to your partner.
Answer:‘This is the first time apart”. She meant that they were used to being close all these days. This is the first time both are apart from each other.

6.The mother says, “……… you will be ready to fly away.” Explain what she means.
Answer:“like a bird, you will be ready to fly away”
She meant that like a bird because a bird stays in the nest nurtured by the mother until it develops the strength to fly, it flies out. In the same way, when a child grows up it naturally becomes independent and lives far from their parents.

7.The mother praises her daughter for her six good qualities. What are they? Scan paragraph 2 and find them. Explain why she praises her so.
Answer:The six good qualities the daughter possess are

1.    strong-minded

2.  persistent

3.  not easily discouraged

4.  independent

5.  responsible

6.  taking her parent’s help when she needed it.

The mother praises her daughter because when the daughter was unable to keep pace with the teacher’s teaching speed, she herself made her study cards and also sought her parent’s guidance. When she finally succeeded in this, she learned how to solve her own problems when it arose as well as responsible enough to ask for help and guidance from others.

(The mother praises her daughter to remind her that she can manage any situation as she is capable of thinking independently. She also takes others to help when it is necessary.)

8.An example of the daughter’s good behaviour is given. What is it?
Answer:When the teacher was going faster than she could manage, she herself made study cards and took help from her parents finally succeeded in learning tables. The daughter’s good behaviour is she was independent enough to think about her problems.

 

9.Imagine you are living in a hostel. Tell your partner about your life there.
Answer:My hostel life is different from life I had at home. Here I have to be punctual. The dining hall is closed after a specific time. I have to take care of my personal things like cleaning the room, washing clothes. I have to adjust to my roommates. Luckily I have got roommates who have the same thinking as me. I have to switch off the room light at 11 pm.

The hostel gates are close at 7 p. m. sharp. I have to plan ahead what I have to buy and come before that time. I get time to go to the library to refer as well as devote more time to study.

I am able to interact with students who have come from different parts of India. We have a few foreign students who have come here for the student exchange programme. I am slowly getting acquainted with them.

10.Learning to look after oneself is learning to feel dependent.
Answer:(Not True).

11.Poonam once said to her hostel mate: “Speak up for your needs. Why are you hesitant?”
Answer:(Not True)

 

12.What is homesickness? Have you ever felt homesick?
Answer:Homesickness happens when someone is separated from home or from familiar people and environment. Everyone feels homesick from time to time.

I have felt homesick often. During weekend, I think of the goodtime I used to have with my family. The picnic we used to go, the long walks with my father, the fights with my brother.

My mother’s delicious food reminds me everyday whenever I eat the hostel food. But every time I tell myself. I am staying in hostel for a specific purpose and a will go back home after that. This makes me happy and overcome homesickness.

13.Look at the third sentence in paragraph 5. Rewrite it as 3 simple sentences.
Answer:Begin like this
Are you homesick?
If so help someone else to overcome homesickness
That may help you feel better.

 

14.What good qualities can hostel life develop. According to Mary Ann Cain? Give examples, (you can use these words: broadmindedness, sympathy, helpfulness.
Answer:Hostel life develops the good qualities of being independent, responsible, persistent, broadmindedness, sympathy, helpfulness. According to Mary Ann Cain, hostel life teaches independence, helps to do their work on their own and also cultivate the quality of responsibility.

Sympathy: Whenever we find someone homesick we have to show sympathy and help them to come out from their homesickness. It will even bring ourselves out of homesickness. The hostel life teaches us to show concern about others. Hostel life also teaches us how to cope with new situation and also to overcome the confusion which happens at the times of learning new ways or getting introduced to new people. In hostel life since all the students live under one roof it helps to develop the sense of oneness ie, broadmindedness.

15.The mother tells her daughter: “It is good to be an introvert.
Answer:(Not True).

16.Is it good to be an introvert or an extrovert? Tell your partner about this.
Answer:Extrovert students will make a lot of friends quickly and will have more fun. As they are extrovert in nature, they will take part in group activities and have general fun also. They also learn to depend on each other. Extrovert students increase their smartness, become good sportsmen, develop high tolerance capacity, and also accepting things easily.

On the other hand, students who are introverted will be shy, have low self-esteem. They find it difficult to make friends easily and this leads to frustration in them. They can easily indulge in risky activities like drugs, alcohol, and smoking. Since ragging is more rampant in hostels, these shy introverted ones will have a tough time.

Too much of extrovert or introvert is not good. Extrovert students may not devote much time in their studies as they will be busy with their friends. But introvert can devote and concentrate more in their studies if they want to.

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II .. Write the noun for the verb given :
i. choose – choice
ii. live – Livilhood
iii. Lose – Lose
iv. sing – singalong
v. speak – speech
vi. run – runway

III . Write two sentences for each pair of verb and noun
Example: She always chooses her dresses well. Her choices are always good.

Sentences
1. Verb: If I am given a chance, I will choose to live in the green hills.
    noun: I had no choice, but to agree with him

2. Verb: We breathe, so we live.
     noun: Our livelihood depends on the work we do.

3. Verb: Even if we lose a fight, we should be Chivalrous enough defeat.
   noun: The book, I thought was lost, was found under the bed.

4. Verb: We asked her to sing a ditty.
    noun: She agreed to sing but asked us to sing along.

5. Verb: Do not Speak until you are asked to.
   noun: The Speech by Dr. Ralam was very inspiring.

6. Verb: Why are you running away?
    noun: The plane crashed onto the runway.

IV . Write the Verb for the noun given _____
i. bath – bathe.
ii. food – fed.
iii. sale – sells
iv. cheer – cheered
v. check – checked

V . Write two sentences for each pair of words:
Example:
Has she had her bath?
No, she is bathing the baby

Noun Verb

1. bath – bathe
Has she had her bath?
No, she is bathing her baby.

2. sale – sells
i. Sale of sarees is from next week.
ii. She sells sarees at more profit

3. Check – Checked
i. Check your bag before going.
ii. Ofcourse, I checked it already.

4. food – fed.
i. Food has to be prepared cleanly.
ii. I fed the baby in the morning.

5. Cheer – cheered
i. Cheer up and forget the past.
ii. Her song cheered me up from my sorrows.

VI “ODD MAN OUT”
(a person or thing left when all the others have been put into groups)

. Circle the odd man out and tell your partner the reason for doing so

1.    economics           economist         sociology           history. Economist is a professional all others are study subjects.

2.  drama            singer                    actor              dancer

Drama is enacted all the others are performers

3.  Tiger,            cheetah          and      leopard are adults animals.

           A cub can be any of these animals.

 

1.How does the mother advices her daughter to overcome homesickness?
Answer:Mother advices her daughter that she is not the only one who will be suffering from it, other’s who stays in the hostel feels the same. All are sailors of the same boat. To overcome the sad feeling of homesickness one has to help someone else through their homesickness which helps her to feel better herself when she comes to know that she is not alone suffering in that situation.

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2.How Can the daughter adjust to her environment?
Answer:In a new environment, nobody will be there to care as, at home. So one has to be very careful and look after themselves and they have to ask for whatever they are in need.

3.How a mother encourages her child to manage herself?
Answer:The mother encourages her daughter to tell her not to be afraid to get introduced to new people, they have to look after their own happiness without waiting for someone to look after them. At the same time, the mother also advices her daughter’not to forget to look out for other’s welfare too. This is how the mother fills her daughter with the quality of extrovertness.