TEXTBOOK (NCERT) ANSWERS OF An Elementary Classroom in a Slum CBSE CLASS 12 ENGLISH CORE

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Think it out

Page no- 93

1. Tick the item which best answers the following.

a. The tall girl with her head weighed down means

The girl

  1. is ill and exhausted
  2. has her head bent with shame
  3. has untidy hair

Ans. (i) is ill and exhausted.

b. The paper-seeming boy with rat’s eyes means

The boy is

  1. sly and secretive
  2. thin, hungry and weak
  3. unpleasant looking

Ans. (ii) thin, hungry and weak.

c. The stunted, unlucky heir of twisted bones means

The boy

(i) has an inherited disability

(ii) was short and bony

Ans. (i) has an inherited disability

d. His eyes live in a dream. A squirrel’s game, in the tree room other than this means

  1. full of hope in the future
  2. mentally ill
  3. distracted from the lesson

Ans. (i) full of hope in the future.

e.  The children’s face are compared to ‘rootless weeds’

This means they

  1. are insecure
  2. are ill-fed
  3. are wasters

Ans. (i) are insecure.

2. What do you think is the colour of ‘sour creams’? Why do you think the poet has used this expression to describe the classroom walls?

Ans. The colour of ‘sour cream’ is off white.

I think the poet used this expression to describe the classroom walls because he wanted to describe the poor state of the classroom as well as the pathetic condition of the children sitting out there. They are poverty-stricken.

3.The walls of the classroom are decorated with the pictures of ‘Shakespeare’, ‘buildings with domes’, ‘world maps’ and beautiful valleys. How do these contrast with the world of these children?

Ans. The walls of the classroom are decorated with the pictures of ‘Shakespeare’, ‘building with domes’, ‘world maps’ and beautiful valleys which were being donated by some people. All of these are irrelevant to their present situations. They are malnourished as well as poverty-stricken.

They have nothing to do with those pictures as those symbolises big cities and rich society which is in stark contrast to their situations. To them, Shakespeare is a very bad example and an irrelevant one. Moreover, the world symbolizes the map of the rich elites which is not their map.

The picture depicts the scenery of the beautiful Tyrolese valley which again symbolises prosperity and splendour. On the other hand, the slums are dusty with narrow streets. The sky is filled with dust and is dark and foggy. These are far away from rivers and other sources of beauty.

4. What does the poet want for the children of the slums? How can their lives be made to change?

Ans. The poet wants the government to look after the pathetic condition of the slum children. The slum children were malnourished and they need immediate attention from the government so that the world map that was hung in the walls of the classroom turns out to be their maps.

The tall girl whose head is weighed down due to the family pressures, the boy who is as thin as a paper has rat’s eyes and suffer from gnarled disease inherited from his father, and the other boy who is lively and his eyes live in a dream. To them, the window is their world.

Their lives can be changed by providing them with better facilities and opportunities so that they would be able to lead a better life with quality food, education, and living. He wants to bring out the children from that kind of environment and show them the outer bright world.