IN THE KINGDOM OF FOOLS

1. What are the two strange things the guru and his disciple find in the Kingdom of Fools?
Ans: The two strange things that the guru and his disciple found in the kingdom of fools
were that the whole kingdom was asleep during the day and carry out their work at
night and whether it was a measure of rice or a bunch of banana everything cost the same
in the kingdom one duddu one rupee.
2. Why does the disciple decide to stay in the Kingdom of Fools? Is it a good idea?
Ans: The disciple decides to stay in the Kingdom of Fools because everything was cheap
in that kingdom. He wanted to have good, cheap food. No, it was not a good idea. The
guru even warned the disciple that it was the Kingdom of Fools and it won't last very
long.
3. Name all the people who are tried in the king’s court, and give the reasons for their trial.
Ans: The owner of the house, i.e., the merchant, the bricklayer, the dancing girl, and the
goldsmith, were tried in the king's court. They all were tried because the thief died when
the wall of the merchant's house collapsed. The merchant tried to build a weak wall.
4. Who is the real culprit according to the king? Why does he escape punishment?
Ans: According to the king, the real culprit is the rich merchant whose wall fell on the
thief. He has escaped the punishment because he is slim and the stake at which the
punishment is to be given requires a fat person.
5. What are the Guru’s words of wisdom? When does the disciple remember them?
Ans: The guru's words of wisdom were that it was the city of fools. He advised the
disciple to leave the city because he would not know what they would do next. The
disciple remembers this when he was going to be executed.
6. How does the guru manage to save his disciple’s life?
Ans: The king didn't want to lose his kingship. So, he and his minister died at the stake.
The Guru and his disciple were released. Thus, the Guru managed to save his disciple's
life by befooling the foolish king.

THE HAPPY PRINCE (MOMENTS)

1. Why do the courtiers call the prince ‘the Happy Prince’? Is he really happy? What
does he see all around him?
Ans: The courtiers called the prince 'the Happy Prince' because he was always happy.
He did not know what tears were as he lived in a palace where sorrow was not
allowed to enter. No, he is not really happy.
2. Why does the Happy Prince send a ruby for the seamstress? What does the swallow
do in the seamstress’ house?
Ans: The Happy Prince sent a ruby for the seamstress as she was extremely poor and
could not feed her child who was suffering from fever. The swallow, on being
 persuaded by the prince, went to the seamstress's house. She had fallen asleep so the
swallow kept the ruby on the table where the woman worked.
3. For whom does the prince send the sapphires and why?
Ans: The prince sent the sapphires for the playwright so that he could finish a play for
the director of the theatre in time.
4. What does the swallow see when it flies over the city?
Ans: The swallow flew over the great city and saw the rich making merry while the
beggars were sitting at the gates. He flew into dark lanes and saw the white faces of
starving children.
5. Why did the swallow not leave the prince and go to Egypt?
Ans: Since the prince had given away the two sapphires of his eyes to the people in
need, he had become blind. Touched by his kindness and to give him support, the
swallow decided to stay with the prince always.
6. What are the precious things mentioned in the story? Why are they precious?
Ans: The precious things mentioned in the story are the leaden heart of the happy
prince and the dead bird. They are precious because both the happy prince and the
swallow were very kind generous and selfless.

THE BEAUTIFUL MIND

1. Who had these opinions about Einstein? (i) He was boring. (ii) He was stupid and
would never succeed in life. (iii) He was a freak.
Ans: (i) Einstein's playmates thought that he was boring. (ii) Einstein's
headmaster thought that he was stupid and would never succeed in life. (iii)
Einstein's mother thought that he was a freak.
2. Explain what the reasons for the following are. (i) Einstein leaving the school in
Munich for good. (ii) Einstein wanting to study in Switzerland rather than in
Munich. (iii) Einstein seeing in Mileva an ally. (iv) What do these tell you about
Einstein?
Ans: (i) Einstein left the school in Munich for good because he disliked the
school's regimentation and often had arguments with his school teachers. (ii)
Einstein wanted to study in Switzerland rather than in Munich because
Switzerland was a city that was much more liberal than Munich.
3. What did Einstein call his desk drawer at the patent office? Why?
Ans: Einstein called his desk drawer at the patent office the “bureau of theoretical
physics”. This was because the drawer was where he used to store his secretly
developed ideas.
4. Why did Einstein write a letter to Franklin Roosevelt?
Ans: Einstein wrote a letter to Franklin Roosevelt because he wanted to warn
America that Germany had the ability to build and use the atomic bomb which if
exploded in a port, would destroy the entire port as well as some of the
surrounding territory.
5. How did Einstein react to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
 Ans: Einstein was deeply shaken by the disaster in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He
wrote a public missive to the United States President. He proposed the formation
of a world government to stop the nuclear weapons.
6. Why does the world remember Einstein as a “world citizen”?
Ans: Einstein is remembered as a “world citizen” because of his efforts towards
world peace and democracy. He was concerned about the consequences of the
atomic bomb. He even wrote a public missive to the United Nations and proposed
the formation of a world government to control the use of nuclear weapons.
7. Here are some facts from Einstein’s life. Arrange them in chronological order.
[7 ] Einstein publishes his special theory of relativity.
[9 ] He is awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics.
[11 ] Einstein writes a letter to U.S. President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and warns
against Germany’s building of an atomic bomb.
[2 ] Einstein attends a high school in Munich.
[3 ] Einstein’s family moves to Milan.
[ 1] Einstein is born in the German city of Ulm.
[ 5] Einstein joins a university in Zurich, where he meets Mileva.
[12 ] Einstein dies.
[8 ] He provides a new interpretation of gravity.
[ 4] Tired of the school’s regimentation, Einstein withdraws from school.
[6 ] He works in a patent office as a technical expert.
[10 ] When Hitler comes to power, Einstein leaves Germany for the United States.

THE SNAKE AND THE MIRROR

1. “ The sound was a familiar one.” What sound did the doctor hear? What did
he think it was? How many times did he hear it? (Find the places in the text.)
When and why did the sounds stop?

Answer: The doctor heard the sound of rats. The sound was a familiar one. He
heard this sound four times. The phrases are ‘Again I heard that sound from
above’, ‘Again came that noise from above’, ‘Suddenly there came a dull thud
as if a rubber tube has fallen’. The sounds stopped after the appearance of the
snake.
2. What two “important” and “earth-shaking” decisions did the doctor take while
he was looking into the mirror?

Answer: The doctor took the following two ‘important’ and ‘earth shaking’
decisions: (a) He would shave daily and grow a thin moustache to look more
handsome.
(b) He would always keep that attractive smile on his face.
3. “I looked into the mirror and smiled,” says the doctor. A little later he says, “I
forgot my danger and smiled feebly at myself.” What is the doctor’s opinion
about himself when (i) he first smiles, and (ii) he smiles again? In what way
 do his thoughts change in between, and why?

Answer: The doctor thought that he had a good smile when he first smiled.
But when he smiled a little later, he laughed at his destiny. His life was in
danger. His thoughts got changed because of the snake. He was quite near to
death.
.I. answer each question below in a short paragraph

Question 1.
“ The sound was a familiar one.” What sound did the doctor hear? What did he think it was?
How many times did he hear it? (Find the places in the text.) When and why did the sounds stop?
Answer:
The doctor heard the sound of rats. The sound was a familiar one. He heard this sound four
times. The phrases are ‘Again I heard that sound from above’, ‘Again came that noise from
above’, ‘Suddenly there came a dull thud as if a rubber tube has fallen’. The sounds stopped after
the appearance of the snake.

Question 2.
What two “important” and “earth¬shaking” decisions did the doctor take while he was looking
into the mirror?
Answer:
The doctor took the following two ‘important’ and ‘earth shaking’ decisions:

(a) He would shave daily and grow a thin moustache to look more handsome.
(b) He would always keep that attractive smile on his face.

Question 3.
“I looked into the mirror and smiled,” says the doctor. A little later he says, “I forgot my danger
and smiled feebly at myself.” What is the doctor’s opinion about himself when (i) he first smiles,
and (ii) he smiles again? In what way do his thoughts change in between, and why?
Answer:
The doctor thought that he had a good smile when he first smiled. But when he smiled a little
later, he laughed at his destiny. His life was in danger. His thoughts got changed because of the
snake. He was quite near to death.

II. This story about a frightening incident is narrated in a humorous way. What makes it
humorous?

Write short paragraphs on each of these to get your answer.

Question 1.

1. The kind of person the doctor is (money, possessions)

 2. The kind of person he wants to be (appearance, ambition)

Answer:

1. The doctor is a poor man. He does not have much money. His house has no electricity. It is
a small rented room which has many rats. He has about sixty rupees in his suitcase. Along
with some shirts and dhotis, he also possesses one solitary black coat.
2. He wants to be a handsome person. So he decides to shave daily and grow a thin
moustache. He also wishes to accumulate wealth.

Question 2.

1. The person he wants to marry

2. The person he actually marries

Answer:

1. He intends to marry a woman doctor who has plenty of money and a good medical
practice. He wishes to have a fat wife so that she cannot run after him and catch him when
he would make a mistake.
2. The person he actually marries is a thin reedy person with the gift of a sprinter.

Question 3.

1. His thoughts when he looks into the mirror

2. His thoughts when the snake is coiled around his arm

Answer:

1. He thinks that he should look smart. So he decides to shave daily and retain his smile. He
is happy and contented when he looks into the mirror.
2. When the snake coiled around his left arm above the elbow, he kept sitting there holding
his breath. He became motionless. He was afraid of the snake.

POEM 2-WIND

1. What are the things the wind does in the first stanza?
 Ans: In the first stanza it says, the wind shatters the window panes, scatters the journals,
and knocks the books off the shelf. It also causes rain and tears the pages of books. In the
end, the poet has offered suggestions about how we can make friends with the wind.

2. What does the poet say the wind god winnows?

Ans: The poet says that the wind god winnows the weak crumbling houses, doors, rafters,
wood, bodies, lives and hearts, and then crushes them all.
3. What should we do to make friends with the wind?
Ans: When we stay strong, the wind won't destroy us and it will become friends with us.
Through this, the poet conveys that we must stay strong so that we can withstand difficult
situations and overcome the challenges in life. Then, we could be friends with our
hardships.
4. What do the last four lines of the poem mean to you?
Ans: In the last four lines, the poet inspires us to face the wind, which symbolises the
hardships of our lives, courageously. He tells us that the wind can only extinguish the
weak fires; it intensifies the stronger ones. Similarly, adversities deter the weak-hearted
but make stronger those who have unfaltering will.
5. How does the poet speak to the wind — in anger or with humour? You must also have
seen or heard of the wind “crumbling lives”. What is your response to this? Is it like the
poet’s?
Ans: The elements of the wind are very powerful. They can be our friends and enemies.
When the wind turns into a storm, it can blow away houses, trees and everything. It also
causes damage to boats and frighten the sailors and fishermen out at sea. Yet, I do not
agree with the poet that the wind only crumbles the lives. lt is responsible to bring rain. It
makes the climate pleasant. But I agree that we should build strong buildings to escape
from the destruction of wind.