The Priceless Gift
Let’s understand the text:
1. What did the writer experience in the restaurant?
Ans: The writer went to a vegetarian restaurant in the lunch time. The restaurant was crowded. The writer chose the corner table and skimmed through the newspaper.
2. What did he notice there?
Ans: The writer noticed a very young girl looking at him. Her eyes were large and they had a sad expression. When she was going out she asked the cashier in a low voice that whether the writer was an Indian.
3. What was the writer’s first impression of the girl?
Ans: The writer noticed a young girl whose eyes were large and had sad expression. And when she enquired about him to the cashier the writer became curious. Her eyes that had sad emotions made him think that the girl had some problem.
4. What made the writer surprised?
Ans: The girl was looking at the writer and wanted to know whether he was an Indian. When she enquired about him to the cashier and once again looked at the writer, the writer was surprised.
5. Why did he enquire from the cashier?
Ans: He noticed that the girl was interested to know about him. And when she asked the cashier about the writer, it made writer curious to know what it is was exactly. So he went to the cashier and enquired about the girl from him.
6. What information did he get from the cashier?
Ans: The cashier told the writer that the girl went to that restaurant on Saturdays. She went to the restaurant and pay day only because she didn’t earn much.
7. Where did the writer go on the next Saturday?
Ans: The writer went to the same restaurant where he had noticed that girl.
8. Why did he arrange the chair opposite hers?
Ans: The writer went to the same restaurant and saw the same girl sitting at the same table as before. He took the chair and arranged opposite to her because he wanted to have a conversation with her.
9. What query did the girl make about the writer?
Ans: The girl asked the writer whether he was an Indian.
10. What impression did the writer have about the family of the girl?
Ans: The writer came to know from the girl that her brother was a soldier and was serving in India. Her brother was the only guardian of her family. She lived with her widow mother. The writer understood that the both of them especially her mother wanted to know about him and was worried of him.
11. How was the writer treated at Maggie’s house? Who was there to welcome him?
Ans: The writer went to Maggie’s house with her. He was welcomed with eagerness and smile. He was treated with happiness and respect. Mrs. Bethy, Maggie’s mother welcomed him.
12. What was Mrs. Bethy doing when the writer met her? Why was she unwilling to go for a handshake?
Ans: Mrs. Bethy was making cakes when the writer met her. As her hands were covered with flour, she was not able to go for a handshake.
13. Why did the girl usually visit the restaurant on Saturdays?
Ans: The girl didn’t earn much. She visited the restaurants on Saturdays because it was her pay days.
14. What did Mrs. Betty believe about the ring?
Ans: Mrs. Betty had belief that the ring was special and magical. She believed that one can know about a distant person when one gaze into it and concentrated on it.
15. What made the author to tell a lie about the ring?
Ans: Maggie insisted the author to look into the ring and tell her mother that Franky was alive and well. The author thought that it would not be okay to lie once for making Mrs.Betty recover from her illness.
16. Did the telling of a lie benefit Mrs. Bethy?
Ans: Yes, telling of lie did benefit Mrs. Bethy. When the author looked into the ring and told Mrs.Bethy that Franky was alive and well, she raised her head a little off the pillow. The news made her happy and soon she was recovered.
17. Why did the writer feel guilty about himself?
Ans: When the writer calculated and realized that Franky had been killed before someday when he had lied about his well-being to his mother. The realization of his lie made him feel guilty.
18. What was Maggie’s gift to the writer?
Ans: When the writer told Maggie that he was going to India, he also told her that he would visit her brother’s grave and write to her. Then Maggie thanked him and gave him a shilling which she had earned with much toil. She wanted the author to buy flowers from a shilling and lay on her brother’s grave. A shilling earned from her hard work was Maggie’s gift to the writer.
19. Why was it a priceless gift?
Ans: The girl’s economic condition was not so good and she earned every penny with much toil. A shilling that she earned with much toil represents her greatest gift for her brother. It shows her unconditional love for him.
20. Did Maggie love her brother dearly? Give reasons.
Ans: Maggie loved her brother Franky with all her heart. Her love for him was unconditional. She had to take much efforts to earn single penny and she kept a shilling for buying flowers for her brother’s grave, this act shows how deep her love was for her brother.
Let’s understand the text better :
1. Why did the writer choose the corner table in the restaurant?
Ans: The writer went to a vegetarian restaurant. The restaurant was crowded and some of the chairs and tables were pushed into a corner, so the writer chose the corner table and skkimed through the newspaper.
2. How did the writer start a conversation with the young girl?
Ans: The writer went to the same restaurant and saw the same young girl seated on the same chair. He sat opposite to her and wished her good afternoon, in this way he started a conversation with the young girl.
3. How could the writer guess the girl to be poverty-stricken?
Ans: When the writer noticed the girl for the first time, he saw that her eyes were sad. Then he got to know from the cashier that she visited the restaurant only on Saturdays which were her pay days. From the above details, the writer guessed that the girl was stricken by poverty.
4. Which of the following do you think the author will talk about after meeting the girl?
(a) Meeting the girl again
(b) Enquiring about her nature of work
(c) about her family
(d) all the above.
Ans: (c) about her family
5. ‘I was moved by what he said’. What impression did the writer get aboutthe girl?
Ans: When the cashier told the writer that the girl visited only her pay days, Saturday, the writer was shocked. He felt sad for that young girl who worked so hard and earned.
6. What impression did the girl have on India?
Ans: The girl had decent knowledge about India. The girl and her mother wanted to know about India more from the writer. They both thought that there were many snakes and tiger in India and those animals killed people. They also believed that the ring that Franky had sent them from India was magical and could tell about the distant person when gazed at it. Maggie read in books that Indian people love the truth.
7. ‘Will it be too much of a lie’? Why did the girl say so?
Ans: The girl’s mother was ill and this made the girl worried. She requested the writer to look into the ring and tell her mother that his son was alive and well. She told him lie to make her mother feel fine and it was just a white lie. She thought that such white lie won’t be too much to ask for, so she insisted the writer to lie.
8. Why did the writer feel ashamed to face Mrs. Bethy at the time of his return to India?
Ans: The writer went to meet Mrs. Bethy and Maggie before leaving to India. He then came to know that both of them were in mourning and Franky had been killed on the frontier. He then calculated and found that Franky had died before some days he told Mrs.Bethy that he was alive and well, this made him guilty. His lie made feel ashamed to face Mrs. Bethy at the time of his departure.
9. Why was the shilling Maggie presented to the writer was an invaluable offering?
Ans: Maggie didn’t earn much. Whatever she earned, it was after much toil and she gave a shilling to the writer to buy flowers to keep on her brother’s grave. A shilling holds much value in her life and that she offered to the writer. A shilling was more than a penny, it was the greatest gift, it was symbol of love and sacrifice.
Let’s learn some words :
1. There is an expression of anger on his face. (express)
2. He made his departure from the scene after a dialogue. (depart)
3. She performed well at her first opportunity. (opportune)
4. She showed a curiosity for my past life. (curious)
5. I had a conversation with my friend. (converse)
6. You need a lot of concentration on the subject to understand it perfectly. (concentrate)
(B) Look at the following dialogues carefully and write them in the correct sequence as they occur in the story.
Correct Sequence-
7. ‘Are you an Indian? My brother is in India’.
6. ‘May I know your name?’
‘Excuse me, my hands are covered with flour?’
8. ‘What kind of country is India, Sir?’
5. ‘My son is in the Punjab. He is a soldier’.
9. ‘Show Mr. Gupta the ring which your brother sent you’.
10. ‘Mrs. Bethy, your son is alive. He is well’.
2.‘Are you leaving today? she asked.
3. ‘When I go to that part of the country / I shall visit your brother’s grave and write to you.’
1. ‘How can I ever thank you?’ she said.
(C) Study the following combination (collocation) of words. One is adjective and the other is noun. Examples.
Fill in the gaps choosing the appropriate adjectives. One has been done for you.
(i) I hope that some miraculous change will occur.
(ii) The children have virtuous appetite.
(iii) There was some sad news for the child.
(iv) She suffered from a serious illness.
(v) He leads a healthy life all the time.
(vi) He started with a brief description of the subject.
(vii) He attends every weekly meeting.
(viii) Ramesh is the only child of his father.
(D) Compound adjectives are beautifully formed with the adding of noun with participle. One of such compound adjectives is used in the text.
1. Moth-eaten
2. Heart-broken
3. Bed-ridden
4. Hand-made
Words in the circles are not written in order. Put them in order and make sentences.
1. She was wearing the old moth-eaten cloth.
2. The child is completely ill and bed-ridden.
3. The poverty-stricken peasants were helped by the Government.
4. She was heart-broken to receive the news.
5.The toy on the table is hand-made.
1. Supply the correct form of the verb to fill in the gaps in the following narration.
Ans: When the match was coming to an end I was told (tell) by my father to leave the stadium quickly to attend to my cousin at the hospital where he was brought (bring) by an ambulance. I was shocked (shock) to hear this. An auto rickshaw had arranged (arrange) and I reached the hospital and then to the ward in no time. I saw that my cousin was bandaged (bandage) and was lying on the bed with a saline hanging on a stand beside the bed. The nurse told me he was injected (inject) with antibiotics.
H. Let’s write :
There are a few dialogues between the teacher and Deepak. Some dialogues are omitted. Fill in the dialogues according to the sequence. A few hints are given in the bracket.
Teacher : Deepak. Please come here if you have finished writing.
Deepak : Sir, it is over.
Teacher : Give me the complete writing. (demand the copy)
Deepak : Here is my copy. Sir, the question was difficult.
Teacher : Do you have any question? (enquiring)
Deepak : Yes Sir, we were taught this subject twice. But I was confused.
Teacher : (Checking the note) Deepak, is the sentence correct?
Deepak : Sir, this sentence was actually told by you.
Teacher : It is just and correct.
Deepak : Sir, I remember your words.
Rome was not built in a day.
Teacher : How was it? (Asks to know his response)
Deepak : Sir, I was greatly moved by it.
Teacher : Where did you learn this sentence?
Deepak : Sir, I found this sentence in a book.
Teacher : Where did you get the book from?
Deepak : I bought the book in the exhibition.
There was a great rush in the exhibition.
Teacher : What else did you bring?
Deepak : I also bought one story book.
Teacher : It is better to have companionship of books.