Important Question Answers
Class 9 Beehive
Q1. Describe the characteristics of the old School? How did it influence Margie?
Ans. Old kind of school was a special building where all the children go and study together. The students of same age used to sit together in a room and learn same subjects or things. They were taught by a real teacher who was human who used to teach, ask questions and give them home work.
Yes, Margie was influenced greatly with the old school. Being lonely in her school she was
thinking of old school and wished to study there and have fun being together with other students of her age.
Q2. Will future schools be completely devoid of
humans and human values? Give reasoned answer.
Ans. I don’t think so that future schools will be devoid of human touch and human values as technology also needs to be programmed, maintained and corrected by human and in want of human values education will lose its meaning. (Other points may be added according to personal opinions.)
Q3. What does the last two lines in the poem 'The Road not taken' convey? Does the
poet regret his choice or accept it?
Ans. In the last two lines poem’s theme is conveyed that our decision can make greater impact in our life so we should take our decisions wisely. The poet tells that his choice of second road which was a different and difficult choice made his life different from the life of common and ordinary people. The poet doesn’t certainly regret his choice. He accepts his choice and is confident of his decision that it will bring a substantial difference in his life.
Q4. Who helped Evelyn Glennie to continue with music? What did
he do and say?
Ans. Evelyn’s potential was noticed by the master
percussionist, Ron Forbes who encouraged her to pursue music. He asked her to
feel music through her body parts especially lower body instead of hearing it
through her ears. He trained her by tuning two large drums to different notes.
This way, Evelyn could sense various sounds and vibrations through different
parts of her body.
Q5. Write a brief bio sketch of Evelyn mentioning her achievements.
Ans. Evelyn Glennie lived in Scotland. When she was
eight years old, her mother noticed her deafness. She was discouraged by all
but her potential was noticed by the master percussionist, Ron Forbes who
encouraged Evelyn to feel music through her body parts.
Evelyn pursued her passion to become a big musician.
She got admission in the Royal Academy of Music, London and scored the highest
marks in the history of the academy. Evelyn evolved into a multi –
percussionist and attained mastery over almost a thousand musical instruments.
In 1991, she won the Royal Philharmonic Society’s prestigious ‘Soloist of the
Year’ Award.
Evelyn gives free concerts for hospitals, prisons and schools. Her story is an inspiration for the differently abled and the young learners.
Q6. Write a brief bio sketch of Bismillah Khan in
around 120 words.
Ans. Born in a well known family of great shehnai
players, Bismillah took to music early in life. Bismillah started practising
shehnai at the banks of river Ganga. He got his big musical break to play
shehnai on the opening of All India Radio in Lucknow in 1938. He was the first
Indian to play Raag Kaafi from Red Fort in Delhi on 15 August, 1947. He also
performed at the Lincoln Hall, USA. He also perfomed in Montreal, Cannes Art
Festival and Osaka Trade Fair. An auditorium inTehran was named after him. He
composed music for two films, Gunj Uthi Shehnai being one of them. Padma shri,
Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan and Bharat Ratna was conferred on him.
Q7. How is shehnai different from a Pungi?
Ans. Shehnai was improvisation on Pungi by a barber in the royal court of king Aurangzeb. The stem of Shehnai was longer and broader than Pungi with seven holes on it. Sound of Pungi was shrill and harsh while that of shehnai was soft and melodious.
Q8. Why did Bismillah Khan refuse to start a shehnai
school in USA?
Ans. Once, a student of Bismillah Khan offered him to start and head a shehnai school in USA. He declined it saying that he can’t leave Benaras. When the student said that he would recreate Benaras in USA, Bismillah wanted to know how he would transport river Ganga, there implying that it was impossible for him to leave Banaras as the river Ganga has always been a great source of inspiration behind his music.
Q9. What should we do to make friends with the wind?
Ans. We need to make ourselves stronger if we wish
to be friend of wind. We must build strong homes with firm doors and windows.
We should also practise to make our bodies and hearts stronger and not complain
about harsh winds of difficulties in life so that our strong will power and
determination would never be defeated and weakened by any force.
Q10. What do the last four lines of the poem 'Wind' mean to
you?
Ans. A very significant message is hidden in the
last four lines that strong people are not affected by adversities but the weak
are. Through these lines, the poet inspires us to be strong, firm and
determined so that we may face all the hardships or obstacles in the life to
come. He tells us that the wind can only extinguish the weak fires but
intensifies the stronger ones. In the same way, people who do not fight against
the challenges coming in their lives, they have to face the failure. On the
other hand, those who stay determined and make sincere efforts to meet their
goals, come out to be successful.
Q11. What does the poet like to do when it rains?
Which memories does the poet recall on a rainy day?
Ans. The poet, Coates Kinney finds it a blessing to
lie on his bed in his small cottage chamber keeping his head on the pillow as
he enjoys the musical patter of the rain. Every rain drop falling on his roof
produces a tinkling sound and brings many beautiful memories to him.
On a rainy day the poet fondly remembers his
childhood and his mother who makes him and his siblings sleep. While making
them sleep she looks at the poet's face lovingly. This loving gesture and
action of his mother is the fondest memory from the poet's childhood.
Q12. Write a short note on relationship between Kezia
and her father.
Ans. Kezia is scared and nervous in the morning to
face her father. She always wants to avoid her father as she is scared of him.
Whenever Kezia stammers out of nervousness, her father scolds her and asks her
to speak properly but Kezia becomes even more nervous, consequently, stammers
and fumbles more badly. Thinking about him was like thinking about a giant. She
used to cry often and wonder why God has made fathers. But, towards the end she
realised that her father gets tired due to work and that there is no one to
look after him.. She was happy to acknowledge that her father had a big heart.
And, she was no more scared of her father.
Q13. Why did father punish Kezia? Was it justified?
What does this incident tell about Kezia’s father?
Ans. Father punished Kezia harshly as he got furious
on her for tearing his important speech. No. the incident wasn’t justified.
Young children must be dealt and approached gently and lovingly as love and
affection cast a positive influence on young minds and their tender hearts.
Their hearts can be touched in a better way and they can change for better with
loving treatment and nice behaviour. Kezia’s father was too much busy with his
work and too tired to pay attention to the expectations of a growing child and
special needs of his sensitive child.
Q14. How does Kezia begin to see her father as a human being who needs her sympathy?
Ans. When Kezia, being alone in house, had got
scared of a nightmare, her father comforted her and made her sleep lovingly on
his bed. But, he slept before Kezia could and this made her think that his
father is a normal human being who needs love and nobody was there to take care
of him. She felt sympathetic towards her father and started understanding
him.
Q15. Why does the world remember Einstein as a ‘world
citizen’?
Ans. Einstein led a life devoted to scientific
developments and advancements and for this purpose he broke the boundaries of
nations and cities. He left his country as it was not liberal and conducive to
creative and free learning. As a scientist he worked in Switzerland and USA.
After Hiroshima Nagasaki tragedy he was utterly shaken and wrote a public
missive to United Nations proposing for the formation of world government.
Later he became active in politics campaigning against arms build up and their
use. He also campaigned for world peace and democracy. Though he was born in
Germany, he never limited himself to his country. When
he died, he was considered to be a visionary and world citizen.
Q16. What role did the science teacher of A P J Abdul Kalam play in his life and education?
Ans. A P J Abdul Kalam's science teacher, Subramaniam Ayer tried his best to remove racial and religious discrimination in his contemporary society. He wanted to teach that Kalam has to stay firm and determined to fight against social and religious inequality. He taught by acting himself against it and inviting him, a muslim boy to dine in his own house. He told that education is the only way to remove this social evil. That's why he suggested Kalam to go to a big city for higher studies and be at par with people from various religious backgrounds and bring religious harmony across the nation.
Q17. What does the poet mean by ‘A slumber did my spirit seal’?
Ans. Through this opening line the poet, William Wordsworth means to say that a slumber which refers to the sudden death of Lucy came as a shock to the poet. The grief of losing his beloved made him numb and unable to feel anything. It seems to him as if a deep sleep had closed off his spirit and, shut his mind and heart and that’s why he was unable to perceive any emotion or human fears.
Q18. What does the poet want to convey through the line "No men are foreign"?
Ans. Through the line "No men are foreign" the poet urges the entire humanity to live in peace and harmony and bridge the difference based on religion, culture or nationality strengthening solidarity and fraternity across the globe. This line reflects the central idea of the poem that all are equal and same in our features, needs and works and we should live as the brothers, the children of same God. Throughout the poem the poet highlights the theme of universal brotherhood and world peace. Very beautifully he tells the mankind that we can win others with love and not by war.
Q20. Compare and contrast the atmosphere in and around the Baudhnath shrine with the Pashupatinath temple.
Ans. The atmosphere in and around the Baudhnath shrine is completely different from that of the Pashupatinath temple. There is an atmosphere of ‘febrile confusion’ in the Pashupatinath Temple. Priests, hawkers, devotees, tourists, cows, monkeys, pigeons and dogs roam through the ground in the temple. There are so many worshippers that some people trying to get the priest’s attention are elbowed aside by others pushing their way to the front. At the main gate, some saffron-clad Westerners struggle for permission to enter but the policeman didn’t allow as they are not ‘Hindus’. A fight breaks out between two monkeys. One chases the other and one jumps onto a shivalinga, then runs screaming around the temple. At the Baudhnath stupa, the Buddhist shrine of Kathmandu, there is, in contrast, a sense of stillness and quietness. Small shops stand on its outer edge of the stupa. Unlike Pasupatinath temple, there are no crowds and no hue and cry. This stupa is a haven of quietness in spite of the busy streets around, and which is a complete contrast to the atmosphere at the Pashupatinath Temple.
