What ‘experiment’ did Maxwell think Camusfearna would be suitable for?

What made Mr Keesing allow Anne to talk in class?

Chubukov says of Natalya: “... as if she won’t consent! She’s in love; egad, she’s like a lovesick cat...” Would you agree? Find reasons for your answer.

Are there people like Lencho in the real world? What kind of a person would you say he is? You may select appropriate words from the box to answer the question.

   greedy            naive                   stupid                ungrateful 
   selfish            comical               unquestioning

Why didn’t Valli want to make friends with the elderly woman?

Did Lencho try to find out who had sent the money to him? Why/Why not?

What ideals does Nelson Mandela set for the future of South Africa?

Anne says teachers are most unpredictable. Is Mr Keesing unpredictable? How?

How does Mandela describe the systems of government in his country

(i) in the first decade, and
(ii) in the final decade of the twentieth century?

Was Lencho surprised to find a letter for him with money in it?

Do you think Mr Keesing was a strict teacher?

Why was the young seagull afraid to fly? Do you think all young birds are afraid to make their first flight, or are some birds more timid than others? Do you think a human baby also finds it a challenge to take its first steps?

How does Wanda feel about the dresses game? Why does she say that she has a hundred dresses?
 

Join the sentences given below using who, whom, whose, which, as suggested.

1. I often go to Mumbai. Mumbai is the commercial capital of India. (which)
2. My mother is going to host a TV show on cooking. She cooks very well. (who)
3. These sportspersons are going to meet the President. Their performance has been excellent. (whose)
4. Lencho prayed to God. His eyes see into our minds. (whose)
5. This man cheated me. I trusted him. (whom)

What are ‘compulsive habits’? What does Maxwell say are the compulsive habits of

(i) school children
(ii) Mij?

How did Anne justify her being a chatterbox in her essay?

“They were beckoning to him, calling shrilly.” Why did the seagull’s father and mother threaten him and cajole him to fly?

This play has been translated into English from the Russian original. Are there any expressions or ways of speaking that strike you as more Russian than English? For example, would an adult man be addressed by an older man as my darling or my treasure in an English play?

Read through the play carefully, and find expressions that you think are not used in contemporary English, and contrast these with idiomatic modern English expressions that also occur in the play.

Would you agree that the “depths of oppression” create “heights of character”? How does Mandela illustrate this? Can you add your own examples to this argument ?

Why does the postmaster send money to Lencho? Why does he sign the letter ‘God’?

What does Chubukov at first suspect that Lomov has come for? Is he sincere when he later says “And I’ve always loved you, my angel, as if you were my own son”? Find reasons for your answer from the play.