SSLC English Lesson 2 - 'The Snake and the Mirror' : Textual Passage-based Q & A, and Grammar Elements

 Lesson 2

The Snake and the Mirror

Textual Passage-based Questions and Answers

1. Read the following passages and answer the questions that follow:

 It was a hot summer night about ten o' clock. I had my meal at the restaurant and returned to my room. I heard a noise from above as I opened the door. The sound was a familiar one. One could say that rats and I shared the room. I took out my box of matches and lighted the kerosene lamp on the table.

The house was not electrified; it was a small rented room. I had just set up medical practice and my earnings were meagre. I had about sixty rupees in my suitcase. Along with some shirts and dhotis, I also possessed one solitary black coat which I was then wearing.

1.  ‘The sound was a familiar one’. What was the sound?

2.   Which statement shows that there were a lot of rats in the room?

3.   Why were the doctor’s earnings meagre?

4.   What were the things the doctor had in his suitcase?

5.   Why did the doctor have to light a kerosene lamp?

 2. Read the following passages and answer the questions that follow:

 One feels tempted to look into a mirror when it is near. I took a look. In those days I was a great admirer of beauty and I believed in making myself look handsome. I was unmarried and was a doctor. I felt I had to make my presence felt. I picked up the comb and ran it through my hair and adjusted the parting so that it looked straight and neat. Again I heard that sound from above.

I took a close look at my face in the mirror. I made an important decision - I would shave daily and grow a thin moustache to look more handsome. I was, after all, a bachelor, and a doctor!

1.     When does one feel tempted to look into a mirror?

2.     What did the doctor believe in, in those days?

3.     What do you know about the characteristics of the doctor from this passages?

4.     What important decision did the doctor make?

5.   ‘I took a look’. What is the pattern of this sentence?

3. Read the following passages and answer the questions that follow:

 I looked into the mirror and smiled. It was an attractive smile. I made another earthshaking decision. I would always keep that attractive smile on my face . . . to look more handsome. I was after all a bachelor, and a doctor too on top of it!

Again came that noise from above.

 I got up, lit a beedi and paced up and down the room. Then another lovely thought struck me. I would marry. I would get married to a woman doctor who had plenty of money and a good medical practice. She had to be fat; for a valid reason. If I made some silly mistake and needed to run away she should not be able to run after me and catch me!

     1.     What was the earthshaking decision that the doctor made?

2.     What was the lovely thought that struck the doctor?

3.     What kind of a woman did the doctor want to marry?

4.     What was the reason the doctor decided to marry a fat woman?

5.     ‘Again came that noise from above’. Identify the Subject NP.

4. Read the following passages and answer the questions that follow:

 The doctor replied, ‘I ran and ran till I reached a friend's house. Immediately I smeared oil all over myself and took a bath. I changed into fresh clothes. The next

morning at about eight-thirty I took my friend and one or two others to my room to move my things from there. But we found we had little to carry. Some thief
had removed most of my things. The room had been cleaned out! But not really, the thief had left behind one thing as a final insult!’

‘What was that?’ I asked.
The doctor said, ‘My vest, the dirty one.

1.   What did the doctor do after he reached his friend’s house?

2.   Why did the doctor took his friend and one or two others to his room the next

      morning?

3.   ‘The room had been cleaned out!’ What had happened there?

4.   What is mentioned in the passage as ‘a final insult’?

5.   ‘Smeared’ is formed by adding the suffix ‘–ed’ to the root form ‘smear’. Pick out

       from the passage two other words suffixed with ‘–ed’

 Answers to the passage-based questions

 Passage 1:

1. The familiar sound was the one made by rats.

2.  ‘One could say that rats and I shared the room’.

3.  He had only just set up his medical practice.

4.  He had about sixty rupees and some shirts and dhotis in his suitcase.

5.  The house was not electrified. So he had to light a kerosene lamp.

 

Passage2:

1.  One feel tempted to look into a mirror when it near.

2.  In those day, the doctor believed in making himself look handsome.

3.  The doctor was young, unmarried and an admirer of beauty. He wanted to make

     himself look handsome and to make his presence felt.

4. The doctor made an important decision to shave daily and grow a thin moustache to

    look more handsome.

5.  I took a look. - SVO

Passage 3:

1.     He decided to keep an attractive smile on his face.

2.     The lovely thought was that he would marry.

3.     He wanted to marry a rich woman doctor with good medical practice. She should be fat too.

4.     If he made some silly mistake and wanted to run away from her, she should not be able to run after him and catch him.

5.     The Subject NP: that noise.

 

Passage 4:

1. He smeared oil all over himself and took a bath and changed into fresh clothes.

2. The doctor took his friend and others to his room the next morning to move his things

    from there.

3. Some thief had removed most of his things from the room.

4. The thief had left behind the doctor’s dirty vest as ‘a final insult’.

5. Reached (reach + -ed) , cleaned (clean + -ed)

Completing Conversations

1. Complete the following conversation suitably.

Doctor:       Good morning sir.  .....................a...................?

Inspector:  No, we haven’t  got yet any information about the thief.

Doctor:       I believe your are doing your best to find the thief,..........b..............?

Inspector:  Yes, doctor. We’re doing our best.

Doctor:. ....................c........................?

Inspector:  Yes, of course, we hope we can catch him soon.

Doctor:       Do you need any more information from me?

Inspector :  No, thank you. If I need,.........d........... .

Doctor:      Ok sir. Thank you. Bye!

                                    Answers: a. Have you got any information about the thief?

                                                   b.  aren’t you?

                                                   c. Do you hope we can catch him soon?

                                                   d. I will call you.

 2. Complete the following conversation suitably.

    Friend: Doctor, you look very scared!  …………a……………?

    Doctor: A cobra coiled on my arm.

    Friend: What, a cobra! It didn’t bite you, ………b……..?

    Doctor: No, it didn’t. It left me and moved towards the mirror.

    Friend: Let’s go there and look if it’s still there,……c…..?

    Doctor: No, not now. We had better…………d………. .

    Friend: Okay, we can go tomorrow morning.

 Answers:

a.     What happened?

b.     did it?

c.      shall we?

d.     go tomorrow morning.

3. Complete the following conversation suitably.

     Mother: Wake up son, it’s already 8 o’clock.

    Doctor: Mom, let me sleep a little more.

    Mother: ............a..............?

    Doctor: No, I’m not going for work.

    Mother: .............b..............?

    Doctor: I don’t feel  well.

    Mother: Then, you had better.......c........ .

    Doctor: Okay mom, I’ll take rest.

    Mother: You have some medicines with you,......d.......?

    Doctor: Yes mom, I have.

 Answers:

a.     Are you not going for work  today?

b.     What happened?  / Why don’t you go for work?

c.   take rest.

d.   don’t you?

Cloze Type Questions

1. Complete the following passages using appropriate words from the brackets.

 I went back ……a……. the room and sat down…..b…….the chair. I opened the box ……c……. the table…….d…….took out a book, The Materia Medica.      

    (beneath, on, into, and, but)

Answers: a. into  b. on  c. beneath  d. and

2. Complete the following passages using appropriates words from the brackets.

There was no time……a……… do any such a thing.    The snake slithered along my shoulder……b…….coiled around my left arm above…..c……elbow. The hood was spread out and its head was hardly three……d…..four inches from my face!

 (and, to, or, in, the)

 Answers: a. to  b. and c. the  d. or

3. Complete the following passages using appropriates words from the brackets.

 The door opened…….a……. darkness.   The room was filled……b…….darkness. In the light……c.…. the lamp I sat there like……d……stone image in the flesh.

      ( in, of, into, with, a)

 Answers:  a. into  b. with  c. of  d. a

 4. Complete the following passages using appropriates words from the brackets.

 I was suddenly a man……a…..flesh and blood. Still holding my breath I got up……b…… the chair. I quietly went out  ……..c…….the door into…….d……. veranda.

     (the, through, a, of, from)

 Answers: a. of  b. from   c. through   d. the

Editing

1. Edit the underlined errors in the following passage.

I maid (1)  my bed and pulled it close to the wall. I lay down but I could not slept (2). I got up and go (3) out to theveranda for a little airs (4), but the wind god seemed to have taken time off.

Answers:

1. made   2. sleep  3. went  4. Air

 2. Edit the underlined errors in the following passage.

There was (1) no medicines in the room. I was but  an (2) poor, foolish and stupid doctor. I forget (3) my danger and smiled feebly at himeslf (4)

Answers:

1. were  2. a  3. forgot  4. myself

 3. Edit the underlined errors in the following passage.

Was it admiring it’s (1) own beauty? Was it trying to  make a (2) important decision about growing a moustaches (3) or using eye shadow and mascara or  wearing a vermilion spot on its forhead? (4)

Answers:

1. its  2. an  3. moustache  4. forehead.

 4. Edit the underlined errors in the following passage.

Have (1)  a snake ever coiled itself round any part of your body? A full-blooded cobra?’ All of we (2) fell silent. The question came from the homeopath. The topic came up when we are (3) discussing snakes. We listened attentively as the doctor continued with the tail(4).

Answers:

1. Has  2. us  3. were  4. tale

 Reported Speech

1. Report the following conversation.     

 The doctor: Do you have an experience of a snake falling on your body?

 Friends: No, we don’t have such an experience.

 a.     What did the doctor ask his friends?

 b.     What did they reply?

Answers:

a.     The doctor asked his friends whether they had an experience of a snake falling on their body.

b.     The friends replied that they didn’t have such an experience.

2. Report the following conversation.   

Friends: When did the snake incident happen?

      Doctor: It happened two years ago.

     a.     What did the friends ask the doctor?

b.     What did the doctor reply?

Answers:

a.     The friends asked the doctor when the snake incident had happened.

b.     The doctor replied that it had happened two years before

 3. Report the following conversation.

 Doctor:     I’ve a complaint to register with you.

Inspector: What’s your complaint about?

     a.     The doctor said to the Police Inspector………… .

b.     The Inspector asked the doctor………………… .

Answers:

a.     The doctor said to the Police Inspector that he had a complaint to register with him.

      b. The Inspector asked the doctor what his complaint was about.

4. Report the following conversation.

Inspector: Don’t stay anymore here. It’s better for you to shift this old house.

    Doctor: I’m also thinking about this.

     a.     What did the Inspector tell the doctor?

b.     What was the doctor’s response?

 Answers:

a.     The Inspector told/advised the doctor not to stay anymore there, and he also said that it was better for him to shift that old house.

      b. The doctor responded that he was also thinking about that.

______________________________________________________________________

5.     Report the following conversation.

 

Friend: doctor, is your wife fat?

      Doctor: No, she is not fat. She is a thin reedy person.

     a.     The friend asked the doctor……………………..

b.     The doctor replied………………………………

Answers:

a.     The friend asked the doctor if his wife was fat.

b.     The doctor replied that she was not fat, she was a thin reedy person.

 6. Report the following conversation.

     Friend: Doctor, when you ran, did the snake follow you?

    Doctor: No, it did not follow me.

     a.     What did the friend ask the doctor?

b.     What did the doctor reply?

Answers:

a.     The friend asked the doctor if the snake had followed him when he had run.

b.     The doctor replied (negatively) that it had not followed him.

 7. Report the following conversation.

    Doctor: the thief had left behind one thing as a final insult.

    Friend: What was it?

 

a.     What did the doctor say?

b.     What did the friend ask?

Answers:

a.     The doctor said that the thief had left behind one thing as a final insult.

b.     The friend asked what it had been.

 8. Report the following conversation.

     Doctor: How terrible the night was!

    Friends: Let’s look for a new house now itself.

 a.     What did the doctor say?

b.  What did the friends say?

Answers:

a. The doctor exclaimed that the night had been very terrible.

b. The friends suggested that they should look for a new house then itself.

Phrasal Verbs 

1. Complete the following conversation using appropriate phrasal verbs given in

    brackets.

Doctor       : Last night I just ______a______ from a danger.

Neighbour : What happened?

Doctor       : A cobra fell on me. It happened so unexpectedly that I

                   was terribly _____b_______.

Neighbour :Is the snake still there? Did you _____c_____ it?

Doctor : I did not search fort. I have still not _____d____ the shock.

Neighbour : You had better take rest for a while.

                     (got over, got away, taken aback, look for,)

Answers: a. got away  b. taken aback c. look for d. got over

_______________________________________________________________________

2. Complete the following passage using appropriate phrasal verbs given in

    brackets.

After he escaped from the snake, the doctor ___a_____to his friend’s house.  He terribly______b______to his  friend about the snake incident . They thanked God that he could____c____from the dangerous snake.  The doctor____d____to stay that night there and go back to his room next morning.

       (put across, set out, made up his mind, get away)

Answers:

a.     set out  b. put across  c. get away  d. made up his mind

 3. Complete the following passage with suitable phrasal verbs given in the brackets.

 After meals at a restaurant the doctor___a____in his room around 10 o’clock in the night.  After some time he ____b____ an unwelcome guest – a full-blooded  cobra. It coiled around his left arm. He could not_____c_______the pain it  made on his arm. But when the snake saw its reflection in a mirror, it_____d___him and moved towards the mirror.

       (came across, turned up, gave up, put up with)

Answers:

Turned up, b. came across, c. put up with, d. gave up)

 4. Replace the underlined words in the following passage with suitable phrasal verbs given in the brackets.

 When the snake landed on the homeopath,  he sat still and prayed to God. It seemed that God didn’t  ignore (1) his prayer. The snake soon abandoned (2) him and moved towards  the mirror.  The doctor continued (3) sitting there for a while and escaped (4) from the snake.

       (got away, gave up, went on, turn down)

Answers: 1. turn down  2. gave up 3. went on  4. got away

 Sentence Analysis

1.     ‘I also possessed one solitary black coat which I was then wearing’.

       Identify the relative clause.

Ans: which I was then wearing.

_______________________________________________________________________

 2. ‘I opened the two windows in the room’.

      Identify the Noun Phrase in the object position and a prepositional phrase.

Ans:NP in the object position: the two windows in the room

        Prepositional Phrase: in the room

 _____________________________________________________________________

3. ‘Another lovely thought struck me’.

     Identify the Noun Phrase in the subject position and the

     Head Noun.

Ans: The Suhject NP: Another lovely thought

          Head Noun: thought

 ______________________________________________________________________

4. ‘The snake's landing on me and my turning were

     simultaneous’.

     Identify the Subject NP and the Verb Phrase.

Ans: The Subject NP: The snake’s landing on me and my

         turning

         The Verb Phrase: were simultaneous

 ______________________________________________________________________

5. ‘I would get married to a woman doctor who had plenty
    of money’.
    Identify a Relative Clause

    Ans: Relative Clause: who had plenty of money

 ______________________________________________________________________

 6. ‘Each of us heaved a sigh of relief.’

      Identify the Subject NP and the Verb Phrase.

      Ans: Subject NP: Each of us

              Verb Phrase: heaved a sigh of relief.

 ______________________________________________________________________

7. ‘It was a snake which was taken with its own beauty!’

     Identify the Relative Clause.

Ans: Which was taken with its own beauty

Sentence Patterns

A) Identify the patterns of the following sentences:

 

1.     ‘I heard a noise from above’.

Ans. SVO

2. ‘I had about sixty rupees in my suitcase’.

Ans. SVOA

3. ‘I could not sleep’.

Ans. SV

4. ‘It was an attractive smile.’

Ans. SVC

5. ‘Death lurked four inches away.’

Ans. SVA

6. My friend gave me fresh clothes.

Ans. SVOO

7.     The doctor called himself a stupid doctor.

Ans. SVOC

 B) Construct sentences in the following patterns

     1.     SV: (He didn’t jump.)

2.     SVO: (He lighted a kerosene lamp.)

3.     SVC: (The doctor was unmarried.)

4.     SVOO: (The doctor’s friends offered him all help.)

5.     SVA: (He prayed quietly.)

6.     SVOA: (He kept the lamp on the table.)

7.     SVOC: (This story makes the readers happy.)

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