English important questions

b. 'Nobody' and 'Somebody' (Emily Dickinson): In her poem 'I'm Nobody! Who are you?', Emily Dickinson playfully takes the side of being a 'Nobody'. She greets the reader as a fellow 'Nobody' and warns not to tell, or 'they'd banish us'. ...

a. Larkin's attitude to the environment ('Going, Going'): In 'Going, Going', Philip Larkin shows a sad, pessimistic and anxious attitude towards the environment. He mourns the way England's green fields, meadows, villages and natural bea...

a. Summary of "Fear": The story "Fear" describes a train journey during which a boy, Armando Gonzalez, behaves strangely and frightens the other passengers. His nervous movements and unusual manner make the travellers suspect that he is dangerous, and their fear grows into hostility. In truth Armando has done nothing harmful; much of the terror exists only in the minds of the frightened passengers and, at times, in Armando's own troubled imagination. The 'fear' is therefore largely imaginary, a product of prejudice and a nervous mind rather than of any real danger. The story shows how easily fear can spread among people and how it can make ordinary human beings cruel and unjust towards someone who is simply different.

b. Barbara Holland, "Speaking of Children": In this essay Barbara Holland honestly admits that her hesitation about having many children comes less from money and more from her love of peace, privacy and solitude. She values her quiet, independent life, her free time and her personal space, and she fears that a house full of children would fill every hour with noise, demands and duties, leaving her no room for herself. While she recognises the financial burden that children bring, her deeper worry is emotional: the loss of the calm, private world she cherishes. Thus the essay reveals a mother's frank confession that what she fears losing most is not money but her own peace and personal freedom.

c. Message of "Six Million Dollar Man": The writer's message is that a human being is beyond all price. He starts from the popular idea, taken from a television serial, that a man could be rebuilt for six million dollars. He then reasons scientifically: if we value a human not by the cheap chemical elements of the body but by the incredibly complex organisation of its cells, proteins and information, the price rises enormously, first to something like six million dollars and then far beyond it. Because no laboratory can create such complex, living order, and because each higher level of organisation multiplies the value, the worth of a human being finally becomes infinite. The essay thus teaches us to respect the priceless value of every human life.

a. The Lost Doll (in own words): The story tells of a little girl who dearly loved her doll and took it everywhere with her. One day, while playing outside, she carelessly left the doll behind and lost it. She searched everywhere and wept bitterly, for the doll was her closest companion. In her sorrow she learns how deeply we can love even a simple thing, and how painful it is to lose what is dear to us. The story gently reflects the innocence of childhood and the first lessons of loss and attachment that a child must learn.

b. Summary of "On the Vanity of Earthly Greatness": In this witty short poem Arthur Guiterman shows that all worldly power and glory come to nothing in the end. He gives examples: the mighty mastodon is now only a few bones in a museum; the fierce dinosaur (Tyrannosaurus) has become common fossils; the great emperor Xerxes has turned to dust; and the mighty Charlemagne's grandeur has faded away. Through these examples the poet reminds us, half seriously and half humorously, that earthly greatness is vain, for time and death level everything, even the poet himself.

c. "The Three Day Blow" as a dramatic story: Hemingway's "The Three Day Blow" is called dramatic because it is built almost entirely on dialogue and action, like a scene from a play. Two young friends, Nick and Bill, sit in a cabin during a three-day autumn storm, drinking whisky and talking about books, baseball, their fathers and, above all, about Nick's broken love affair with a girl called Marjorie. Through their casual, realistic conversation the reader feels Nick's hidden pain and his gradual relief as he convinces himself that the break-up may not be final. The storm outside mirrors the emotional 'blow' inside Nick. With little description and much lifelike talk, the story unfolds dramatically, revealing character and feeling through what the friends say rather than through the author's narration.

a. Human beings are priceless ("The Six Million Dollar Man"): The writer begins from the popular idea, made famous by the television serial, that a human body could be rebuilt for six million dollars. He then reasons scientifically: if w...

a. Phoenix Jackson overcoming obstacles (A Worn Path): Phoenix Jackson is a very old African-American woman who makes a long, difficult journey through the countryside to fetch medicine for her sick grandson. On the way she meets many ob...

a. How Janet helps Kim (Recurring Dream): When Kim is repeatedly troubled by a frightening ghost in her recurring dream, her friend Janet helps her with patience, understanding and courage. Instead of laughing at Kim's fear, Janet listens to her, comforts her and helps her look calmly at the cause of the dream. By supporting Kim, encouraging her to face and understand her hidden fear rather than run from it, Janet helps her friend overcome the terror, so that the dream loses its power and finally stops. The story shows how true friendship and understanding can free a person from fear.

b. Events of 1939 (Look at a Teacup): The year 1939 was important both personally and historically. On the personal side, it was the year the writer's parents were married, the beginning of their family life, marked by keepsakes such as the family teacup. On the wider historical side, 1939 was the year the Second World War broke out, when peace collapsed and the whole world was thrown into turmoil. Thus in that single year a marriage began and a global war began, and the small teacup comes to hold the memory of both private joy and public tragedy.

c. Suburbs born, lived and dying with the auto (The Nightmare Life Without Fuel): Isaac Asimov means that the growth of the suburbs is completely tied to the motor car. The suburbs 'were born with the auto' because people could only live far from their workplaces once cars made daily travel easy; they 'lived with the auto' because everyday life there, shopping, schooling and commuting, depends entirely on driving. Now, as fuel runs short, the suburbs are 'dying with the auto', for without cheap petrol people can no longer travel the long distances such a life demands. The statement warns that a way of life built on abundant fuel cannot survive once that fuel disappears.

d. Wrong concepts about migraine (In Bed): Joan Didion says people wrongly believe that a migraine is not a real illness but only an excuse, a sign of weakness, laziness or a nervous, self-pitying mind, something the sufferer could simply overcome by will power. Didion corrects this by explaining that migraine is a genuine physical and chemical condition, largely inherited and linked to one's temperament, which cannot be wished away. She teaches that instead of feeling ashamed, the sufferer should accept migraine as a part of the body, rest during an attack, and make a kind of peace with it, treating it honestly as a real medical fact rather than a moral failing.

a. Reason for recurring dreams (Recurring Dream): Recurring dreams usually spring from strong feelings or unsettled matters in a person's mind, such as fear, guilt, grief or an unfulfilled wish. When the mind cannot deal with a powerful experience while awake, it returns to it again and again in sleep. In the story the repeated dream reflects a troubled, anxious state of mind, and it stops only when the underlying worry is understood and settled. Thus recurring dreams are the mind's way of struggling with something it has not yet been able to accept or resolve.

b. Summary of "The Poplar Field": William Cowper's poem laments the cutting down of a row of poplar trees by the river Ouse. The trees that once gave him cool shade and whose leaves whispered pleasantly in the wind are now felled and laid low, and the blackbird has lost its favourite perch. Standing among the fallen trees, the poet reflects that the pleasures of nature pass away swiftly, and that human life is just as short and fleeting. The poem is a quiet, tender meditation on change, loss and the transience of all earthly things.

c. Character sketch of Supriya (Malini): Supriya, a character in Tagore's play Malini, is a devoted and thoughtful young man torn between loyalty to his dear friend Kemankar and his duty to justice and to the noble Princess Malini. He is gentle, sincere and deeply loving, yet capable of a painful, self-sacrificing decision when he betrays Kemankar's plot to save the innocent. His act is not born of selfishness but of a higher moral conscience, and he suffers greatly for it. Supriya thus emerges as a sensitive, honest and tragic figure, showing that true goodness sometimes demands a heavy personal price.

d. Who the gardener really is (The Gardener): We come to know the gardener's true identity through his manners, his dignity and the quiet nobility he shows in his humble work. Although he serves as an ordinary gardener, his refined behaviour, patience and selfless devotion reveal that he is really a man of high birth or noble heart who has taken up this lowly task out of love or in disguise. His conduct, more than his position, tells us who he truly is, and teaches that real worth lies in character, not in rank.

Authority and the taboos of well-meaning parents: Authority is the recognised power or right of a person or institution to give orders, make decisions and expect obedience. It exists in the family, the school, religion, the law and the s...

a. W.B. Yeats: William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) was a great Irish poet and dramatist and a leading figure of twentieth-century literature. Deeply attached to Irish myth, nationalism and mysticism, he wrote famous poems such as "The Secon...

Why the first edition of Lyrical Ballads (1798) came as a shock: Lyrical Ballads, published jointly by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1798, is regarded as the work that began the Romantic movement in English poetry. It...

a. Harshness of winter in 'When Icicles Hang' (Shakespeare's 'Winter'): Shakespeare conveys the bitter harshness of winter not by naming it directly but through concrete images of everyday country life. Icicles hang by the wall, the shep...

P.B. Shelley and John Keats: major works and ideas Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) and John Keats (1795-1821) are two of the greatest poets of the second generation of English Romanticism, both of whom died young yet left immortal poetr...

a. T.S. Eliot: Thomas Stearns Eliot (1888-1965) was an American-born British poet, critic and dramatist and a leader of the modernist movement. His major works include the long poems 'The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock', 'The Waste Land...

Television as a rival to the theatre: Television and the theatre are both powerful forms of drama and entertainment, but in the modern age television has become a strong rival to the theatre, and in many ways it has overshadowed it. Tele...

b. Mr. Princey's character (Wet Saturday): In John Collier's story 'Wet Saturday', Mr. Princey is a cold, proud and calculating man who cares far more for his house, his name and his social position in the village than for his own family...

a. Why were people looking at Armando? (Fear): The passengers on the train kept looking at Armando Gonzalez because he behaved strangely and seemed different from ordinary people. His restlessness, his frightened expression and the whisp...

a. Who was the gardener? (The Gardener): In the story the man who worked silently as the gardener turns out to be far more than an ordinary servant. Though he is treated as a humble labourer, his dignity, patience and quiet nobility show...

a) I am not satisfied with this job. - I think I will look for a better one.

b) She seems very friendly. - I think I will invite her to my party.

c) I am a bit hungry today. - I think I will have something to eat.

d) I really must try and get rid of this cold. - I think I will take some medicine and rest at home.

e) I hope my parents are not worried about me. - I think I will phone them and tell them I am fine.

a) You ought to take regular exercise and eat less oily food.

b) You had better see a doctor at once.

c) You should avoid coffee at night and try to relax before bed.

d) You had better run it under hot water to loosen the lid.

e) You should inform your bank immediately so that they can stop it.

a) Even though her parents objected, she insisted on getting married.

b) Even though he worked hard in the exam, he scored poor marks.

c) Even though modern electronic devices are expensive, lots of people are buying them.

d) Even though the government is importing a lot of fuel, people are not getting it easily.

e) Even though most of the householders are getting financial support, they are not constructing their houses.

a. She arrived too late to get a bus.

b. You are too young to get married.

c. That cake is too stale to eat.

d. She talks too fast for me to understand.

e. The ground is too muddy to sit on.

a. A: Would you mind not making a noise? I'm reading. B: Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know that. b. A: Would you mind not speaking English? I don't understand it. B: Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know that. c. A: Would you mind not singing songs? I...

a. A night watchman is a person who guards a building or place during the night and keeps it safe from thieves. b. A mechanic is a person who repairs and maintains machines and motor vehicles. c. A plumber is a person who fits and repair...

i. I bought this book yesterday. (past simple, 'yesterday') ii. The earth goes round the sun. (present simple, universal truth) iii. Everyday Mr. Sharma goes to college on bike. (present simple, habit) iv. They have not gone out yet. (pr...