A Baker from Goa - Multiple Choice Questions

 

Q No	Question	Choice A	Choice B	Choice C	Choice D
1	Which of the following statements is true?	Goa was famous for its bread.	The original bakers are still there in Goa.	Bread baking has changed over the times.	No one eats bread these days.
2	How did the baker announce his arrival?	By shouting loudly	By the thud and jingle	By going through the streets	By displaying the wares
3	In those days children were attracted by _____ the baker made.	cakes	bread rolls	bread bangles	bol
4	Why didn’t the children brushed their teeth or wash their mouths?	because the tigers never brushed teeth	hot tea could wash and clean everything	it was not necessary at all	all of these
5	Who would buy the bread?	Paskine or Bastine	Land Lady	House mistress	House maid
6	A ‘rebuke’ is  _____	an approval	a disapproval	a statement	an appreciation
7	How many times would the baker come every day?	as many times as needed	three times	two times	the baker never came
8	A kind of bread called ‘bol’ is associated with _____	Marriages in Goa	Children in Goa	House maids in Goa	Wedding receptions in Goa
9	What kind of bread is a must for Christmas?	bol	bread bangles	bolinhas	sweet loaves
10	Who should prepare sandwiches for marriage engagements?	the baker	the lady of the house	the maid	the bride
11	In olden days the baker used to wear a dress called _____	kabai	pader	half pants	full pants
12	The baker’s billing period was _____	daily	weekly	fortnightly	monthly
13	If you have a jackfruit like appearance. You are ______	a baker	wealthy and successful	a resident of Goa	you are a failure
14	How can you say that ‘baking was indeed a profitable profession’ in Goa?	because everyone needs bread	no function is complete without bread	the baker’s family looked happy and prosperous	everyone liked bakers
15	People may call you a pader in Goa if you are wearing ________	a half pant	a full pant	a pant that reaches below your knees	a kabai
16	Wall and Pencil are associated with	architecture of Goa	homes in Goa	baker’s accounts	none of these
17	A fragrance is a _____	a pleasant smell	a bad smell	the smell of bread	the smell of bakery
18	The antonym for ‘vanish’ is _______	disappear	appear	invisible	incredible
19	‘time-tested’ means _____	short lived	writing a test in time	unable to write a test in time	long living
20	A traditional baker’s bamboo	was used by bakers	made thud and jingle sound	announced the arrival of the baker	all of these
21	The baker would greet ______ with ‘Good morning’.	the children who surrounded him	the lady of the house	the maid	the master of the house
22	Which is right?	loaves for elders and bangles for children	bangles for elders and loaves for children	bangles for ladies and loaves for men	bangle for maids and loaves for children
23	The children used a ______ as a toothbrush.	a neem leaf	a bread loaf	a mango leaf	none of these
24	Which of the following is not associated with baking?	mixing	firing	moulding	furnace
25	Goa was a colony of _______	the British	the French	the Americans	the Portuguese
26	By reading this lesson, you understand that the author is  _______	baker	a baker’s son	a resident of Goa	a visitor to Goa
27	An ‘open testimony’ is a _____	a public statement	a private statement	a secret statement	a legal statement
28	Marriage gifts are meaningless without the sweet bread known as the bol….means	Sweet bread known as bol is meaningless in a marriage	Sweet bread known as bol is very important in a marriage	Sweet bread known as bol is not important in a marriage	Sweet bread known as bol is unnecessary in a marriage
29	The author of ‘A Baker from Goa’ is	Arup Kumar Datta	Lokesh Abrol	Lucio Rodrigues	Ted Roberts
30	The children would climb a bench or a parapet wall to ______	steal some bread bangles	to look into the baker’s bread basket	to be rebuked by the elders	to disturb the baker

 

Q No	Ans	Q No	Ans	Q No	Ans
1	A	11	A	21	B
2	B	12	D	22	A
3	C	13	B	23	C
4	D	14	C	24	B
5	D	15	C	25	D
6	B	16	C	26	C
7	C	17	A	27	A
8	A	18	B	28	B
9	C	19	D	29	C
10	B	20	D	30	B

 

The Little Girl

 

Introduction

The title of the story refers to the main character named Kezia. The theme of the story is about the relationship between children and their parents. Kezia has a strict father and a stern mother. She has a grandmother who understands her and loves her. Kezia is afraid of her father. The story deals with the change of opinion of Kezia on her father.

The writer Katherine Mansfield tells us that children have a very important bond of love with their parents. When children are young, sometimes they may not feel that their parents love them because their parents are strict. Children may think that many actions of parents are unjustified. But soon children realize that all the actions of their parents are beneficial for them. They will know that parents are concerned about them. Beneath the outward strictness parents have hearts full of love and affection for the children. The bond of love between parents and their children has been highlighted throughout this story.

Summary

‘The Little Girl’ is the story of a little girl, Kezia who could not understand her father’s strictness. She was scared of him. She kept a distance from him, whenever he would be at home. She considered him to be as big as a giant. She would often get nervous and stutter while talking to him. She longed for his love and affection like her neighbor Mr. Macdonald.

Once she was kept indoors as she was affected by cold. Her grandmother suggested that she make a gift for her father’s birthday next week. They decided that Kezia would make a pincushion for him. Kezia made a beautiful pin-cushion, but she accidentally made a mistake. She filled it with bits of paper that she got by tearing her father’s important speech. She was punished for that. This incident further estranged Kezia from her father.

She would often look at the neighbors, the Macdonalds playing joyously in their lawn. Mr. Macdonald was such a good father and played so lovingly with his children. She wondered he might be a different sort of father.

Once her mother fell ill and was hospitalized. She was left alone at home under the care of the cook. At night she had a nightmare and woke up screaming. She found her father standing by her bedside. He picked her up and took her to her room. He tucked her up in his bed and soon fell asleep. Kezia felt secure lying near her father. She realized that her father was not as big as a giant. She felt the beating of her father’s loving large heart. Finally, she realized her father was very loving and had a generous heart.

Meanings to some new words and phrases

a figure to be feared: a person to be feared
Glad sense of relief: feeling relaxed
Fainter and fainter: to lessen or reduce
slip down: come down quietly and unwillingly
Stutter: to stammer, to speak with pauses
given it up: stopped doing it
Trying so hard: making a lot of efforts
Wretched: unhappy, sad
on the brink of suicide: about to commit suicide
suicide: kill oneself
Snoring: the sound produced by some people when there are asleep.
Gravely: seriously.
Laboriously: with lot of effort or difficulty.
Wandered into: went into, by chance
Scraps: small pieces of cloth or paper etc that are not needed.
shadowed room means that as it was dark, there was a light outside the room which was making shadows in the room.
a sad little pattern refers to the sad atmosphere in the room.
The damned thing: used to express anger at something.
Hue and Cry: angry protest.
given it up: stopped doing it
Trying so hard: making a lot of efforts
Bedclothes Refers to the sheets, the top sheets that you cover yourself when you are sleeping.
Clung: to attach yourself to something.
Nightmare: a bad dream. A Butcher is a person who cuts animals, who cuts meat.
tucked up: covered up nicely in bed
Snuggled: moved into a warm, comfortable position, close to another person

Question and Answers

I. Given below are some emotions that Kezia felt. Match the emotions in Column A with the items in Column B.

A	B
1. fear or terror 2. glad sense of relief 3. a "funny" feeling, perhaps of understanding	(i) father comes into her room to give her a goodbye kiss (ii) noise of the carriage grows fainter (iii) father comes home (iv) speaking to father (v) going to bed when alone at home (vi) father comforts her and falls asleep (vii) father stretched out on the sofa, snoring

Ans.

A	B
fear or terror	(iii) father comes home (iv) speaking to father (v) going to bed when alone at home (vii) father stretched out on the sofa, snoring
glad sense of relief	(i) father comes into her room to give her a goodbye kiss (ii) noise of the carriage grows fainter
a “funny” feeling, perhaps of understanding	(vi) father comforts her and falls asleep

II. Answer the following questions in one or two sentences.

1. Why was Kezia afraid of her father?

Kezia was afraid of her father because he was strict. He scolded her for her mistakes and even gave physical punishment. He looked at disapprovingly when she stammered before him. Kezia wanted her father to be affectionate with her. She thought that her father looked like a giant.

2. Who were the people in Kezia’s family?

In all there were four members in Kezia’s family – her father, her mother, her grandmother and Kezia herself. They had a cook named Alice.

3. What was Kezia’s father’s routine

(i) before going to his office?

(ii) after coming back from his office?

(iii) on Sundays?

i) Before going to the office, Kezia’s father would visit Kezia in her room. He would give her a kiss and then leave for work in his carriage.

ii) After coming back from the office in the evening, Kezia’s father would ask for tea to be brought for him in the drawing-room. He would also ask for his slippers and the newspapers loudly.

iii) On Sunday afternoons, he would stretch out on the sofa with his handkerchief on his face. He would keep his feet on one of the best cushions and sleep.

4.In what ways did Kezia’s grandmother encourage her to get to know her father better?

Ans. Kezia’s grandmother wanted Kezia to have a strong bond of love and affection with her parents. In order to develop that, she encouraged Kezia to go downstairs every Sunday afternoon to spend time with her parents and to get to know them better.

III. Discuss these questions in class with your teacher and then write down your answers in two or three paragraphs each.

1.Kezia’s efforts to please her father resulted in displeasing him very much. How did this happen?

Ans. Kezia’s grandmother suggested that she make a surprise gift for her father as his birthday was approaching. They planned that Kezia would make a pin cushion for him and her grandmother gave her a piece of yellow-colored silk fabric for it. Kezia stitched the cushion from three sides and was looking for pieces of torn cloth or paper to stuff into the cushion.

As her grandmother was out in the garden, the Kezia reached her parents’ room. She found some sheets of fine paper lying on the bed table. She thought that the paper would be suitable for the pincushion. So, tore the sheets of paper into tiny bits and stuffed it into the cushion. Kezia was glad that finally, the surprise gift was ready. Sadly, she did a serious mistake of destroying her father’s speech that was prepared for the Port Authority.

Kezia’s father was angry with her and wanted to teach her a lesson, not to touch anything that did not belong to her. So, he hit Kezia’s palms with a ruler.

2. Kezia decides that there are “different kinds of fathers”. What kind of father was Mr. Macdonald, and how was he different from Kezia’s father?

Ans. Mr. Macdonald, Kezia’s neighbor had five children. One day, she saw them having fun. Baby Mao was sitting on Mr. Macdonald’s shoulders. His other two daughters stuck to his coat’s pockets and they ran all around the flower beds, laughing and having fun. His sons opened the water hose on him.

This happy scene made her decide that there were different kinds of fathers. Mr Macdonald was different from her father. He was not strict, played with his children and they laughed all the while.

On the other hand, Kezia’s father was always angry at her. He stared at her, scolded her for stammering and being silly.

Her father’s strict nature made Kezia wonder that what for had God made fathers.

3. How does Kezia begin to see her father as a human being who needs her sympathy?

Ans. One day, Kezia’s mother was ill and went to the hospital with her grandmother. Kezia was left alone with the cook, Alice. At night, Alice put Kezia to bed but Kezia was reluctant to sleep as her grandmother was not at home. She needed her grandmother in case she got scared by a nightmare. Alice ordered her not to scream and disturb her father who was asleep in the next room.

She got a nightmare. A butcher with a knife, a rope, and a dreadful smile scared her. Kezia screamed and shouted for her grandmother. Her father woke up. He took her to his room and comforted her. He lay Kezia in his bed. Kezia snuggled him. She realized that her father had fallen asleep. Then Kezia realized that her father worked hard. He was also a human being who needed sympathy.

Can We Change This?

 

Reading 1

1. What was the sight that the narrator found amusing? Was it really so?

An elderly paraya man was carrying a snack packet with the help of a string. He could easily hold the packet with his hands. Instead, he was bringing it without touching it. The manner in which he carried the parcel made the narrator laugh. The narrator found it amusing.

No. There is nothing amusing in the incident. The elderly man was treated as an untouchable. People thought that anything an untouchable person touches gets polluted.

2. Why was the narrator’s Annan not amused by her story?

The narrator’s Annan understood the meaning of the incident. He knew that the elderly paraya man had to be humble and humiliated before a higher caste person. It is not funny and the narrator’s Annan was not amused.

3. What feeling did the realization of truth evoke in the narrator?

The narrator felt provoked and got angry after realizing the truth that lower caste people were being humiliated.

4. What humiliation did the lower castes have to face?

The lower castes had to do all the chores of the household without touching things. They had to do all the hard work like sweeping cow sheds, collecting cow dung. They had to eat the leftovers. They had to treat upper caste people including children with respect. They had to be humble. They had to do whatever the higher caste people demanded. They were treated badly.   

5. ‘Naicker was furious.’ (Page 73, paragraph 1) Why? Was this justified?

Annan, a paraya boy, a grandson of one of his servants had the courage to talk to the Naiker disrespectfully. So the Naicker was furious.

No. It was not justified.

6. What discrimination did the narrator undergo on daily basis at school?

The narrator along with other children of her caste had to do all the hard work at school. They carried water to the teacher’s house. They watered the plants. They did all chores of the school. If something unwanted had happened in the school, the lower caste children were blamed.

7. Relate the humiliating incident that the narrator experienced at school?

There was a coconut tree that grew at a convenient slant in the narrator’s school. One day, the children were playing a game on the tree. They ran up the tree and touched the coconuts and came back. The coconut bunch was twisted by some excited children. Just as the narrator was about to touch the coconuts, when her turn came, the coconuts had fallen down with a thud. Everybody scattered but the narrator, being a lower caste girl, was blamed.

During the school assembly the following day, she was humiliated. She was not allowed to attend her classes.

8. Justify the title of the narration?

The title of this lesson, ‘Can we change this?’ tells us about certain bad practices in our society. We have to put a stop to such practices as untouchability. The title challenges us and asks us to do something to change the bad practices of our society. The title is justified and appropriate.

Reading 2

1. What socio-economic strata did the narrator belong to? Quote words and phrases from the text to support your answer.

The narrator belonged to a lower caste known as paraya. They were poor and treated as untouchables. The word ‘paraya’ means ‘the other people’. The narrator was from Cheri Street where parayas lived. She says ‘parayas’ as ‘our people’. These words and phrases support that the narrator belonged to paraya community.

2. How was the narrator different from others who faced discrimination?

While the others who faced discrimination suffered silently, the narrator felt provoked and became angry. She was inspired by her Annan’s suggestion and concentrated on her studies. She studied well and achieved the top rank in her class.

3. What alternative did Annan suggest to the narrator? Do you agree with him?

Annan suggested the narrator that the best way to be respected and accepted among her friends was through learning and education. Yes. I agree with his suggestion.

4. As the narrator, write a page in your diary after a humiliating day at school.

Day:

Date:

Dear diary,

Today was the most sorrowful day in my life. I was blamed without any reason. I was humiliated before our class. All this is because I am a lower caste student.

Pardhu, an upper-caste student had lost his new pen. The pen was really beautiful. Every student was jealous. During the last period, Pardhu complained that he had lost his pen. He said that somebody stole it.

Everyone in the class, including the class teacher blamed me and called me a thief. They said that lower caste people are thieves by nature. They searched my bag thoroughly, but the pen is not in the bag. How could it be? I wept silently. Later they found the pen in the playground.

So, this was the saddest day of my life.

Bye, bye dear diary.

 

Vocabulary

Unscramble the words in brackets to discover more about an anti-apartheid activist.

Stephen Biko (1946-1977) was an illustrious anti-apartheid __________ (tactivis) in South Africa. He began as a student leader, and went on to found the Black Consciousness Mvment which he hoped would __________ (peomrwe) and mobilize much of the urband black population.

He was arrested on 18 August 1977 and died in police custody on 12 September. He is often called the greated __________ (artrym) of the anti-apartheid movement. He was famous for his slogan ‘Black is beautiful’. His __________ (uteqs) for black identity continues to __________ (nirisep) people to this day.

Answers

activist, empower, martyr, quest, inspire

The Legend of the Northland

 Introduction:

‘A legend of the Northland’ is a ballad. Ballad is such kind of poem which tells a story in short stanzas and in the poem all the stanzas comprise four lines. 

There are 16 stanzas in this poem and these stanzas will tell us a story.  Ballads are a part of a folk culture or popular culture and are passed on orally from one generation to the next. Folk culture is a popular story of any area. Folk culture comprises traditional stories that are passed on from one generation to the next generation.

This story is of the Northland area, the area which is near the North Pole. Though the exact place is not specified, it is evident that ‘Northland’ means the area in the northernmost part of the earth i.e., near the North Pole. ‘Legend’ is a historical story,  which is very old and has been passed on from generation to generation.

Summary:

The poem is a legend about an old lady who angered Saint Peter because of her greed. Saint Peter was preaching around the world and reached the door of a cottage one day, where this woman lived. She was making cakes and baking them on a hearth. St. Peter was fainting with hunger. He asked the lady to give him a piece of cake. 

The cake that she was baking then appeared to be too big, so she did not give him that, and instead, she baked another smaller one. That also appeared to be big so she did not give him that also. The second time she baked yet another smaller cake but found it too big to give away. In the third attempt, she took an extremely little scrap of dough and rolled it flat. She had it as thin as a wafer but was unable to part with that also. 

This angered St. Peter a lot. He said that she was not fit to live in human form and enjoy food and warmth. He cursed her and transformed her into a woodpecker bird who had to bore in hard, dry wood to get its scanty food. She can be seen in the trees all day boring and boring for food.

 Questions and Answers:

 1. Which country or countries do you think “the Northland” refers to?

A. The northland refers to the region around the north pole which is extremely cold. 

2. What did Saint Peter ask the old lady for? What was the lady’s reaction?

A. Saint Peter asked the lady to give him a cake as he was hungry. The lady did not give him a cake out of the ones that she had baked, instead, she wanted to bake a smaller one for him.

3. How did he punish her?

A. He punished the selfish lady by turning her into a woodpecker bird that had to bore into the dry wood all day to get some food and shelter.

4. How does the woodpecker get her food?

A. The woodpecker gets food by boring holes in the wood.

5. Do you think that the old lady would have been so ungenerous if she had known who Saint Peter really was? What would she have done then?

A. If the old lady knew who Saint Peter was, then she would not have been ungenerous. On the other hand, she would have served him well for the fulfillment of her greedy desires.

6. Is this a true story? Which part of this poem do you feel is the most important?

A. It is not a true story. The point of the story where the woman is turned into a woodpecker bird is the most important. This is so because the punishment teaches everyone the lesson to be generous.

7. What is a legend? Why is this poem called a legend?

A. A legend is a popular story from the past which is believed to be true but cannot be verified. It contains a moral which is narrated to the children to teach them moral values.

8. Write the story of ‘A Legend of Northland’ in about ten sentences.

A. Saint Peter was preaching around the world and reached the door of a cottage one day.  A woman who lived there was making cakes. St. Peter was fainting with hunger. He asked the lady to give him a piece of cake. She was a greedy woman and didn't want to give away anything to others. She tried to make smaller cakes. In the third attempt, she made a wafer-thin cake.  She was unable to part with that also. This angered St. Peter a lot. He said that she was not fit to live in human form and enjoy food and warmth. He cursed her to become a woodpecker. She had to bore in hard, dry wood to get its scanty food.

Grammar Exercises

Let’s look at the words at the end of the second and fourth lines, viz., ‘snows’ and ‘clothes’, ‘true’ and ‘you’, ‘below’ and ‘know.’ We find that ‘snows’ rhymes with ‘clothes’, ‘true’ rhymes with ‘you’ and ‘below’ rhymes with ‘know’.

Find more such rhyming words.

A. The rhyming words in the poem are:

few	Through
earth	Hearth
done	One
lay	Away
flat	That
myself	Shelf
faint	Saint
form	warm
food	wood
word	bird
same	Flame

Literary Devices in the poem:

Rhyme Scheme: abcb

1. Alliteration is the repetition of a consonant sound in two or more close words.

Stanza 1 - that, they, them through - ‘th’ sound is repeating

Stanza 2 - they, the - ‘th’ sound is repeating

look, like - ‘l’ sound is repeating

funny, furry - ‘f’ sound is repeating

Stanza 3 - they, them- ‘th’ sound is repeating

yet, you - ‘‘y sound is repeating’

learn, lesson - ‘l’ sound is repeating

tell, tale, to - ‘t’ sound is repeating

Stanza 5 - woman, was – ‘w’ sound is repeating

Them, the, hearth - ‘th’ sound is repeating

Stanza 6 - faint, fasting - ‘f’ sound is repeating

Stanza 8 - still, smaller - ‘s’ sound is repeating

Stanza 9 - took, tiny -‘t’ sound is repeating

Stanza 10 - seem, small - ‘s’ sound is repeating

Stanza 13 - build, birds - ‘b’ sound is repeating

by, boring, boring – ‘b’ sound is repeating

 2. Repetition any word or sentence is repeated to lay emphasis on it.

Stanza 1 - ‘away’ word is repeated

Stanza 9 – ‘rolled’ word is repeated

Stanza 13, 16 – ‘boring’ word is repeated

 3. Enjambment running lines of poetry from one to the next without using any kind of punctuation to indicate a stop

Stanza 1 - line 3 and 4

Stanza 2 - Line 1 and 2; line 3 and 4

Stanza 3 - Line 3 and 4

Stanza 4 - Line 1 and 2; 3 and 4

Stanza 10 - Line 1, 2 and 3

Stanza 11 - Line 1 and 2

 4. Simile Comparison using ‘as’ or ‘like’

Stanza 2 – ‘the children look like bear’s cubs’. Children compared to bear’s cubs

Stanza 9 – ‘baked it thin as a wafer’. Cake is compared to a wafer.

Stanza 15 – ‘clothes were burned black as a coal’. The colour of the burned clothes is compared to that of coal.