Oral Comprehension Check
Page no- 65
1. Where in the classroom does Wanda sit and why?
Ans. Wanda Petronski used to sit in the seat next to the last seat in the last row in Room Thirteen. She used to sit in the corner of the room where there was most scuffling of feet, most roars of laughter when anything was said, and most of mud and dirt on the floor.
She used to sit over there as she was very quiet and rarely said anything at all. She was not enough sound economically. Her legs were filled with mud. She used to come from far away.
2. Where does Wanda live? What kind of a place do you think it is?
Ans. Wanda lived in Boggins Heights which is covered with mud.
I think it is a rural area which is covered with mud.
3. When and why do Peggy and Maddie notice Wanda’s absence?
Ans. On Monday and Tuesday, Wanda didn’t go to school, but no one noticed her absence. When Peggy and Maddie waited for her in order to make some fun out of her, they realised that she was absent.
4. What do you think “to have fun with her” means?
Ans. “To have fun of her” means to laugh at her and cracking jokes on her. In the story, Peggy and Maddie used to have fun of Wanda.
Oral Comprehension Check
Page no- 67
1. In what ways was Wanda different from the other children?
Ans. Wanda was different from the other students in a number of ways. Wanda Petronski, the name, itself, was quite uncommon from the rest. She used to wear a faded blue dress, which has never been ironed. But she claimed that she was having a hundred dresses.
2. Did Wanda have a hundred dresses? Why do you think she said she did?
Ans. Wanda was quite poor, so it was not possible for her to afford those hundred dresses. No, Wanda didn’t have a hundred dresses.
Wanda said so because her classmates used to tease her asking about how many dresses. So, these compelled her to say that she was having a hundred dresses and sixty pairs of shoes.
3. Why is Maddie embarrassed by the questions Peggy asks Wanda? Is she also like Wanda, or is she different?
Ans. Maddie was embarrassed by the questions as she was also poor like Wanda. She understood her feelings. She, herself, wore somebody’s hand-me-down clothes.
Yes, she is the same as Wanda as she was also from a poor family and didn’t want others to tease Wanda for her dress.
Comprehension Check
Page no- 70
1. Why didn’t Maddie ask Peggie to stop teasing Wanda? What was she afraid of?
Ans. Peggy was the most popular girl in the school. If Maddie would tell her to stop teasing Wanda, they might make Maddie the new target. Maddie, like Wanda, was quite poor. She usually wore somebody’s hand-me-down clothes.
She was afraid that Peggy, along with the other girls, would make her the new target and would make fun of her. Moreover, she was wearing the old dress of Peggy and she might ask her from where she got those. It would be so embarrassing for her. Peggy was also the best friend of Maddie. She thought that Peggy couldn’t do anything wrong as she was the best-liked girl in the whole room.
2. Who did Maddie think would win the drawing contest? Why?
Ans. Maddie thought that Peggy would win the drawing contest. This was because Peggy drew better than anyone else in the room. She was liked by everyone in the school.
3. Who won the drawing contest? What had the winner drawn?
Ans. Jack Beggles, among the boys and Wanda Petronski, among the girls won the drawing contest.
Jack drew an outboard motor. On the other hand, Wanda drew a hundred dresses of different colours and designs, each of which was capable of winning the contest.
Thinking about the Text
Page no- 70
1. How is Wanda seen as different by the other girls? How do they treat her?
Ans. Wanda was different from the other students in a number of ways. Wanda Petronski, the name, itself, was quite uncommon from the rest.
She was poor and had no friends. She used to wear a faded blue dress, which have never been ironed. But she claimed that she was having a hundred dresses.
The other girls used to make fun of her by asking the number of dresses she had. Moreover, they teased her by her name.
2. How does Wanda feel about the dresses game? Why does she say that she has a hundred dresses?
Ans. Wanda never showed any expressions. But she must have felt bad. She was poor but it wasn’t her fault. They compelled her to say that she was having the hundred dresses.
The other girls used to tease her as she wore the same dress every day. So, she was compelled to say about the hundred dresses.
3. Why does Maddie stand by and not do anything? How is she different from Peggy? (Was Peggy’s friendship important to Maddie? Why? Which lines in the text tell you this?)
Ans. Peggy was the most popular girl in the school. If Maddie would tell her to stop teasing Wanda, they might make Maddie the new target. Maddie, like Wanda, was quite poor. She usually wore somebody’s hand-me-down clothes. On the other hand, Peggy was quite rich.
She was afraid that Peggy, along with the other girls, would make her the new target and would make fun with her. Moreover, she was wearing the old dress of Peggy ad she might ask her that from where she got those. It would be so embarrassing for her.
The lines from the text are as follows:
- Peggy, who had thought up this game, and Maddie, her inseparable friend, were always the last to leave.
- She was Peggy’s best friend, and Peggy was the best-liked girl in the whole room.
- Peggy could not possibly do that anything that was really wrong, she thought.
- Oh, Maddie was sure Peggy would win.
- What does Miss Mason think of Wanda’s drawings? What do the children think of them? How do you know?
Ans. Miss Mason appreciated the efforts made by Wanda. She announced that Wanda had drawn a hundred dresses of different colours and designs, each of which was capable of winning the contest.
The other children of the classroom admired her drawings. Everyone burst into applause and even the boys were glad to have a chance to stamp on the floor and whistled. Even Peggy and Maddie appreciated her work.
This can be proved from the last line, “And here’s that green one, Boy, and I thought I could draw.”
Thinking about language
Page no- 71
- Look at these sentences.
- She sat in the corner of the room where the rough boys who did not make good marks sat, the corner of the room where there was most scuffling of feet, …
- The time when they thought about Wanda was outside of school hours …
They italicised clauses help us to identify a set of boys, a place, and at a time. They are answers to the questions ‘What kind of rough boys?’ ‘Which corner did she sit in?’ and ‘What particular time outside of school hours?’ They are ‘defining’ or ‘restrictive’ relative clauses. (Compare them with the ‘non-defining’ relative clauses discussed in Unit 1.)
Compare the following to make sentences like those above.
- This is the bus (what kind of bus?). It goes to Agra. (use which or that)
- I would like to buy (a) shirt (white shirt?). (The) shirt is in the shop window. (use which or that)
- You must break your fast at a particular time (when?). You see the moon in the sky. (use when)
- Find a word (what kind of word?). It begins with the letter Z. (use which or that)
- Now find a person (what kind of person). His or her name begins with the letter Z. (use where)
Ans.
- This is the bus that goes to Agra.
- I would like to buy a shirt that is in the shop window.
- You must break your fast at a particular time when you see the moon in the sky.
- Find a word that begins with letter Z.
- Now find a person whose name begins with letter Z.
- Then go to a place whose name begins with letter Z.
II. The Narrative Voice.
This story is in the ‘third person’ that is, the narrator is not a participant in the story. But the narrator often seems to tell the story from the point of view of one of the characters in the story. For example, look at the italicised words in this sentence
Thank goodness, she did not live up on Boggins Heights or have a funny name.
Whose thoughts do the words ‘Thank goodness’ express? Maddie’s, who is grateful that although she is yet not as poor as Wanda, or as ‘different’. (So she does not get teased; she is thankful about that.)
- Here are two other sentences from the story. Can you say whose point of view the italicised words express?
- But on Wednesday, Peggy and Maddie, who sat down front with other children who got good marks and who didn’t track in a whole lot of mud, did notice that Wanda wasn’t there.
- Wanda Petronski. Most of the children in Room Thirteen didn’t have names like that. That had names easy to say. Like Thomas, Smith or Allen.
Ans:
- The italicised words express the point of view of Maddie and Peggy.
- The italicised words express the point of view of the other students except Maddie and Peggy.
- Can you find other such sentences in the story?
III. Look at this sentence. The italicised adverb expresses an opinion or point of view.
Obviously, the only dress Wanda had was the blue one she wore every day. (This was obvious to the speaker.)
Other such adverbs are apparently, evidently, surprisingly, possibly, hopefully, incredibly, luckily. Use these words appropriately in the blanks in the sentences below. (You may use a word more than once, and more than one word may be appropriate for a given blank.)
- _____, he finished his work on time.
- _____, it will not rain on the day of the match.
- _____, he had been stealing money from the employer.
- Television is _____ to blame for the increase in violence in society.
- The children will _____ learn from their mistakes.
- I can’t _____ lend you that much money.
- The thief had _____ been watching the house for many days.
- The thief _____ escaped by bribing the jailor.
- _____, no one had suggested this before.
- The water was _____ hot.
Ans.
- Surprisingly
- Hopefully
- Evidently
- evidently
- hopefully
- possibly
- apparently
- possibly
- Surprisingly
- incredibly