Oral Comprehension Check
Page no- 74
1. What did Mr Petronski’s letter say?
Ans. Mr. Petronski’s letter said that Wanda Petronski would not be coming to school from the next day. They were shifting to a big city. He added that no one would ask them about their names and no one would be able to tease them. This shows that they were quite hurt by the behaviour of the other students.
2. Is Miss Mason angry with the class, or is she unhappy and upset?
Ans. Yes, Miss Manson was angry with the class. Miss Manson was very upset. But she believed that the students had not done anything purposely and deliberately. She also told that they must have done this out of thoughtfulness. But it was really unfortunate as well as sad.
3. How does Maddie feel after listening to the note from Wanda’s father?
Ans. Maddie felt bad and realised her mistake. She could not concentrate on her studies. She felt that she should have protested when Wanda was being teased. She considered her to be a coward. But she had never enjoyed when Wanda was being asked about her dresses.
4. What does Maddie want to do?
Ans. Maddie felt guilty after getting to know that Wanda left school for their behaviour. She wanted to apologise for everything. Even she wanted her to know that she didn’t want to hurt her feelings.
Oral Comprehension Check
Page no- 76
1. What excuses does Peggy think up for her behaviour? Why?
Ans. Peggy gave various excuses for her behaviour. She told that she had never called Wanda a foreigner or made fun of her name. She even told that Wanda might have made Peggy her inspiration. That was the reason her designs were so exquisite.
Peggy made such excuses as she realised her mistake too but was not able to confess infront of anyone.
2. What are Maddie’s thoughts as they go to Boggins Heights?
Ans. Maddie felt guilty and she wanted to tell Wanda that she didn’t want to hurt her. She even wanted to announce that she had won the drawing contest and her drawings were really exquisite. Moreover, she thought that she would not allow her to leave the place.
3. Why does Wanda’s house remind Maddie of Wanda’s blue dress?
Ans. Wanda used to wear a faded blue dress everyday at school. But the dress was clean. In the same manner, Wanda’s house and the yard was shabby but was clean like her dress. This reminded Maddie of her blue dress.
Oral Comprehension Check
Page no- 77
1. What does Maddie think hard about? What important decision does she come to?
Ans. Wanda thought that she would not allow any situation to happen in the future.
She took a firm decision that she would protest when anyone would make fun of others because of their name or looks. Even if it meant losing Peggy’s friendship, she would not stop herself. She didn’t want the same situation to arise in any way.
Oral Comprehension Check
Page no- 79
1. What did the girls write to Wanda?
Ans. The girls wanted to apologise for their misbehaviour but instead, it turned out to be a friendly letter as though they were writing it to their good friend. They described how pretty her drawings were. It was not only liked by them but the whole class. They wrote asking about Wanda’s new teacher and the place where she was staying. They wanted to say sorry for their misdeeds. They signed it with lots of X’s for love.
2. Did they get a reply? Who was more anxious for a reply?
Ans. No, they didn’t get any reply from Wanda.
Maddie was more anxious about the reply as she was from a poor family and she could understand how Wanda must have felt. Peggy had begun to forget the whole business. Maddie prepared speeches about Wanda, defending her from crowds of girls trying to tease her.
3. How did the girls know that Wanda liked them even though they had teased her?
Ans. The girls got to know that Wanda liked them from the letter that Wanda had sent to their teacher Miss. Mason. She had asked her teacher to give the green dress with red trimmings to Peggy and the blue dress to Maddie. Later on, Maddie noticed that Wanda had drawn her and seeing this she ran to Peggy. There, they noticed that the painting was of Peggy’s. It was absolutely looking like Peggy. By this, they got to know that Wanda liked them.
Thinking about the Text
Page no- 79
1. Why do you think Wanda’s family moved to a different city? Do you think life there was going to be different for their family?
Ans. Wanda’s family had moved to a different city because they couldn’t see their children to be humiliated every day. They perhaps thought that in a big city their children would face such troubles.
I think they would lead a better life as the mentality of the people in the big city might be better than them.
2. Maddie thought her silence was as bad as Peggy’s teasing. Was she right?
Ans. Yes, Maddie was right as silence was as bad as doing something wrong. Peggy used to tease Wanda by asking her the number of dresses she had, but Maddie never protested so that could mean that she was in support of them. Maddie tried to protest but she was afraid of losing Peggy’s friendship. So, that was a mistake in an equal manner.
3. Peggy says, “I never thought she had the sense to know we were making fun of her anyway. I thought she was dumb. And gee, look how she can draw!” What led Peggy to believe that Wanda was dumb?
Ans. Earlier when Peggy used to tease Wanda, she never showed any emotions. Moreover, Wanda was so quiet and she used to sit away from others. So, Peggy thought that she might be dumb as Wanda told that she was having a hundred dresses despite of wearing the same faded blue dress everyday in the school. Whenever she was asked about the number of dresses she had, she would reply the same.
4. What important decision did Maddie make? Why did she have to think hard to do so?
Ans. Maddie took a firm decision that she would protest when anyone would make fun of others because of their name or looks. Even if it meant losing Peggy’s friendship, she would not stop herself. She didn’t want the same situation to arise in any way.
She was thinking hard to do so as she felt guilty. She was poor herself but couldn’t save Wanda from being teased.
5. Why do you think Wanda gave Maddie and Peggy the drawings of the dresses? Why are they surprised?
Ans. Maddie and Peggy wrote a letter to Wanda, but she had not replied to it. May be she was missing them so much in spite of their misbehaviour. Moreover, Wanda had drawn them and she wished to gift it to them as a symbol of forgiveness.
They were surprised as they didn’t expect this to happen. They had teased Wanda everyday and it was a regular routine to them. But Wanda had drawn them with so much of accuracy.
6. Do you think Wanda really thought the girls were teasing her? Why or why not?
Ans. Yes, I think Wanda was smart enough to understand that the girls were teasing her. This is because she must have expressed her feelings to her father; otherwise, he would not be able to know the matter. He couldn’t see her daughter getting humiliated every day due to which he decided to leave school and go to a big city where they would not face the same situation.
Thinking about the Language
Page no- 81
1. Here are thirty adjectives describing human qualities. Discuss them with your partner and put them in the two-word webs (given below) according to whether you think they show positive or negative qualities. You can consult a dictionary if you are not sure of the meanings of some of the words. You may also add to the list the positive or negative ‘pair’ of a given word.
kind, sarcastic, courteous, arrogant, insipid, timid, placid, cruel, haughty, proud, zealous, intrepid, sensitive, compassionate, introverted, stolid, cheerful, contented, thoughtless, vain, friendly, unforgiving, fashionable, generous, talented, lonely, determined, creative, miserable, complacent.
Ans. Positive:
kind, sensitive, zealous, courteous, intrepid, creative, compassionate, cheerful, contented, friendly, fashionable, generous, talented, determined
Negative:
Sarcastic, arrogant, insipid, timid, cruel, haughty, proud, introverted, stolid, thoughtfulness, vain, unforgiving, lonely, miserable
Page No: 81
II. What adjectives can we use to describe Peggy, Wanda and Maddie? You can choose adjectives from the list above. You can also add some of your own.
1. Peggy ______________
2. Wanda ______________
3. Maddie ______________
Ans: 1. Peggy: sarcastic, cheerful, contented
2. Wanda: kind, timid, introvert, generous, talented, lonely, creative
3. Maddie: kind, timid, sensitive, miserable, understanding
III. 1. Find the sentences in the story with the following phrasal verbs.
| lined up | thought up | took off | stood by |
- Look up these phrasal verbs in a dictionary to find out if they can be used in some other way. (Look at the entries for line, think, take and stand in the dictionary.) Find out what other prepositions can go with these verbs. What does each of these phrasal verbs mean?
Ans.
- Use at least five phrasal verbs in the sentences of your own.
Ans: (i) And she thought of the glowing picture those hundred dresses made − all lined up in the classroom.
(ii)Peggy, who had thought up this game, and Maddie, her inseparable friend, were always the last to leave.
(iii) Miss Mason took off her glasses, blew on them and wiped them on her soft white handkerchief.
(iv)She had stood by silently, and that was just as bad as what Peggy had done.
IV. Colours are used to describe feelings, moods and emotions. Match the following ‘colour expressions’ with a suggested paraphrase.
(i)The Monday morning blues feel embarrassed / angry / ashamed
(ii) go red in the face feel very sick, as if about to vomit
(iii) look green sadness or depression after a weekend
of fun
(iv) the red carpet the sign or permission to begin an
action
(v) blue-blooded a sign of surrender or acceptance of
defeat; a wish to stop fighting
(vi) a green belt in an unlawful act; while doing
something wrong
(vii) a black guard a photographic print of building plans;
a detailed plan or scheme
(viii) a grey area land around a town or city where
construction is prohibited by law
(ix) a white flag an area of a subject or a situation
where matters are not very clear
(x) a blue print a dishonest person with no sense of
right or wrong
(xi) red-handed a special welcome
(xii) the green light of noble birth or from a royal family
Ans:
- sadness or depression after a weekend of fun
- feel embarrassed / angry / ashamed
- feel very sick, as if about to vomit
- a special welcome
- of noble birth or from a royal family
- land around a town or city where construction is prohibited by law
- a dishonest person with no sense of right or wrong
- an area of a subject or a situation where matters are not very clear
- a sign of surrender or acceptance of defeat; a wish to stop fighting
- a photographic print of building plans; a detailed plan or scheme
- in an unlawful act; while doing something wrong
- the sign or permission to begin an action