Given below are some nouns, and a set of modifiers (in the box). Combine the nouns and modifiers to make as many appropriate phrases as you can. (Hint: The nouns and modifiers are all from the texts in this book.)

temple          girls                   triangle             dresses
person          thoughts            boys                 roar
gifts              scream              farewell             expression
time              subject              landscape         handkerchief
crossing       flight                  chatterbox         profession
physique      coffee                view                  celebration
college         rough                 hundred            stone                       ordinary
love             uncomfortable    white                 slang                       slack
bare             railroad              termendous       family                      marriage
plump          invigorating        panoramic         heartbreaking         birthday
incorrigible  ridiculous            loud                   first                         three

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?

How did Valli save up money for her first journey? Was it easy for her?

Do you think Mr Keesing was a strict teacher?

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

How did the rain change? What happened to Lencho’s fields?

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 ?

What did the postmaster do then?

What did the military generals do ? How did their attitude change and why?

Why is Mij’s species now known to the world as Maxwell’s otter?

Can you say how 10th May is an ‘autumn day’ in South Africa?

Do you keep a diary? Given below under ‘A’ are some terms we use to describe a written record of personal experience. Can you match them with their descriptions under ‘B’? (You may
look up the terms in a dictionary if you wish.)
                       A                                                                                                                            B

      (i) Journal                                                                                     – A book with a separate space or page for each day, in which you write down your and                                                                                                                      feelings or what has happened on that day 

      (ii) Diary                                                                                       – A full record of a journey, a period of time, or  an event, written every day
      (iii) Log                                                                                         – A record of a person’s own life and experiences (usually, a famous person)
      (iv) Memoir(s)                                                                               – A written record of events with times and dates, usually official