KSEEB 10th English A Hero Lesson Notes Questions and Answers
Check Your Understanding :
“Share your responses”
(Refer to Text Page No. 3 & 4):
Question 1.
Swami’s father drew his attention to a report in the newspaper. What was the report about ?
Answer:
It was about the bravery of a village boy who came face to face with a tiger.
Question 2.
The report said that the boy (who fought with the tiger) stayed on the tree for half-a-day. Why did he do so? (Choose the right answer)
a. He wanted to watch the tiger from the top of a tree.
b. He wanted someone to kill the tiger.
c. He wanted to take rest for some time.
Answer:
(b) He wanted someone to kill the tiger.
Question 3.
Swami said that a very strong and grown-up person might have fought with a tiger. Do you think he made this remark out of his
(a) experience
(b) wisdom
(c) belief ?
‘Choose the most appropriate word)
Answer:
(c) belief.
Question 4.
“Can you prove you have courage?” Swami’s father said, (Answer the following questions)
(a) Was he joking ? Or Serious ?
(b) Was it a challenge ? Or a command ?
Answer:
(a) He was serious.
(b) It was a challenge.
Question 5.
The place where Swami usually slept was ……….. (Fill in the blank)
Answer:
beside his granny in the passage.
Question 6.
What is disgraceful, according to Swami’s father ?
Answer:
According to swami’s father, it is disgraceful for Swami sleeping beside his granny or mother like a baby.
(Refer to Text Page No. 5 & 6):
Question 1.
What do you think was the practice of granny before she went to bed ?
Answer:
Swami’s granny used to tell stories to Swami before she went to bed.
Question 2.
Was Swami really sleeping? Or was he pretending ?
Answer:
He was pretending.
Question 3.
To Swami, his father looked like an (Fill in the blank).
Answer:
apparition.
Question 4.
Why do you think Swami looked at his granny and his mother while following his father to the room ?
Answer:
Because he thinks that they may help him or prevent his father from taking him.
Question 5.
“There might be scorpions behind your law books, ” said Swami
a. Had he seen them earlier ? Or were there scorpions really ?
b. Was it a trick to escape from his father ? (Answer all the questions)
Answer:
(a) He had not seen any scorpions.
(b) It was a trick played by Swami to escape from his father.
(Refer to Text Page No. 7):
Question 1.
Swami wished that the tiger hadn’t
spared the boy, which means
(choose tile right answer)
a. he didn’t want the boy to be alive.
b. he didn’t want the tiger to be alive.
Answer:
(a) he didn’t want the boy to be alive.
Question 2.
As silence deepened in the room, what was Swami reminded of ?
Answer:
He remembered all the stories of devils and ghosts he had heard in hi his life.
Question 3.
Which place in the room did Swami think was safe, compact and reassuring ?
Answer:
Swami got up and spread his bed under the bench so that he could’ save himself from the eyes of the ghosts.
Question 4.
Swami touched ………….. in the room instead of granny, (fill in the blank appropriately)
Answer:
the wooden leg of the bench.
Question 5.
Swami saw a moving creature in the room. Was it
a. his shadow ?
b. a scorpion ?
c. a man ?
(Fill in the blank)
Answer:
(c) a man ?
(Refer to Text Page No. 9):
Question 1.
Who cried, “Aiyo! Something has bitten me?”
Answer:
The burglar cried out.
Question 2.
Who did father, cook and a servant stumble upon ?
Answer:
They stumbled upon a burglar.
Question 3.
Why were congratulations showered on Swami ?
Answer:
Because Swami had bitten into the flesh of one of the most notorious house-breakers of the district. He was caught. For this reason congratulations were showered upon.
Question 4.
Do you think Swami really wanted to join the police? If not, what did he want to be ?
Answer:
No. Swami didn’t really want to join the police. Actually he wanted to be an engine driver, a railway guard, or a bus conductor.
Question 5.
Did Swami muster up courage to sleep alone after the burglar’s incident?
Answer:
No. Swami didn’t muster up courage to sleep alone after the burglar’s incident.
Question 6.
Who supported Swami – His mother or his granny ?
Answer:
Swami’s mother supported Swami.
Think About the Text :
(Refer to Text Page No. 9):
Question 1.
A report about a boy in the newspaper was an unexpected event in Swami’s life. Justify.
Answer:
When Swami’s father read about the boy who came face to face with a tiger and high flight up the tree, Swami didn’t believe this. He asked his father how a boy could fight a tiger. His father talked about the courage. The boy had and asked Swami to sleep in his office alone if he had courage. This forced Swami to sleep alone. In the end, he bit the leg of the burglar thinking that he bit the leg of the ghost. Then came his father, cook and a servant and caught hold of the burglar. The police inspector praised the bravery of his Swami.
Question 2.
Swami made a comment on the newspaper report. Was he right? How did his view differ from that of his father ?
Answer:
When Swami’s father talked about the bravery of the boy, Swami told that the boy must have even very strong person but not a boy out of all. He further asked how a boy could fight with a tiger. Then his father told him that courage is everything and strength and age are not important. Swami didn’t agree with this, and asked his father what he could do if a tiger should attack him.
Question 3.
What desperate attempts did Swami make to escape from his father ?
Answer:
At first, Swami slept early and made wild gesticulations to silence his grandmother. He snored but his father came and told him to get up.
Question 4.
Why did Swami conclude that his father’s proposition was frightful ?
Answer:
Swami’s father told Swami to sleep alone in his office room but Swami found it a frightful proposition because he had always slept beside his grandmother in the passage and he didn’t like to have any change.
Question 5.
As the night advanced, Swami felt that something terrible would happen to him. What would it be? How would it happen?
Answer:
Swami’s heart beat faster. He remembered all the stories of devils and ghosts he had heard from his friends. He brought to his mind all that his friends had said and seen about the devils of whom they had seen in the banyan tree. He expected that the devils would come up and carry him.
Question 6.
There was absolute silence in the room. In spite of it, some noises reached Swami’s ears. What were they?
Answer:
Swami heard all kinds of noises namely the ticking off the clock, rustle of trees, snoring sounds and some vague night insects humming.
Question 7.
Narrate Swami’s dreadful experience when he was lying under the bench.
Answer:
When Swami slept under the bench, he was racked with nightmares of tiger was chasing him and he tried to escape but he couldn’t move. He could see the tiger scratching its claws on the ground and heard a loud thud. Swami groaned in despair. At last he opened his eyes and saw something moving down. He gazed at it with horror. He thought it would be the ghost. It was almost do or die point to him. So he gathered up all his courage and bit the leg of a man who made agonising cry, then came Swami’s father and caught the man who was a burglar.
Question 8.
How was Swami honoured by his classmates, teacher and the headmaster?
Answer:
swami’s classmates looked at Swami with all the respect. His teachers praised him. They patted his buck. The hear master called Swami as a true scout.
Question 9.
Why did father want Swami to sleep alone in the office room?
Answer:
Swami’s father to prove that courage is everything, strength and age are not important. He wanted his son to have courage to sleep alone. He also told Swami that it was disgraceful sleeping beside his grandmother or mother like a baby, as he was in the second form and he didn’t like the way he was being brought up.
Question 10.
Who do you think was wiser, Swami or his father? Justify your preference.
Answer:
Swami’s father is wiser. Because he wanted his son to have courage and be bold. But Swami considered it as a frightful proposition. But he was made to sleep alone which helped him to catch a burglar in the end. So the purpose of his father is served. When Swami gathered all his might, he could act. So his father is wiser.
Question 11.
Why did Swami feel relieved at the end?
Answer:
At last Swami could sleep beside his grandmother and his father gave up his idea of telling him to sleep alone again because Swami’s mother objected strongly.
Question 12.
Suppose you are Swami of the story. Write a brief letter to your friend describing how you helped to catch a burglar in your house.
Answer:
My dear friend Arun,
I am well here and hope the same from you. How are your parents? How is your study going on? Now, 1 would like to tell you an interesting thing which made me a hero for sometime.
As you know, I always sleep beside my granny but my father objected strongly and made me to sleep in his office room alone. I was frightened but could sleep and I experience a lot of nightmares. I was afraid of ghosts. When I opened my eyes, I could see a shadow coming towards me. I thought it was a devil.
Ten it was a do or die point for me. So I bit the leg of the man (thinking it was ghost) who cried and was caught by his father. The shadow was the real burglar. I was honoured by my friends, teachers and headmaster and the police department. This incident made me a hero.
Now as usual, I sleep beside my grandmother. I will tell you more about this when you come here. Please reply me about my experience.
My regards to your parents,
Yours loving friend,
Swami.
Question 13.
Some words describing the characters of the story A Hero’ are given in brackets. Put them in the appropriate columns. (caring, protective, innocent, tricky, authoritative, disciplined, helpless, nervous)
Answer:
Swami’s father : authoritative,disciplined.
Mother : caring, helpless
Granny : nervous, protective
Swami : innocent, tricky
Enrich Your Vocabulary
Task 1. Homophones – Homophones are words that sound the same but have different meanings and different spellings.
Fill in the blanks with appropriate word.
1. We had ………… many apples to carry, (too/two)
Answer:
too
2. I …………… a horse at the Marina Beach, (road/rode)
Answer:
rode
3. Did you have a ………….. for lunch? (pear/pair)
Answer:
pear
4. The books are over ………… on the shelf, (their/there)
Answer:
there
Task 2. Fill in the blanks with choosing the appropriate word and complete the story.
This is a …………. (storey /story) told by a ………….. (night/ knight). Once he received a letter. When he
………….. (red/ read) it …………… (through/ threw), he could not believe his own eyes. ……………….(Far/ For), it was written………… (buy/ by) none other than the queen of the land. She asked him to meet her …………… (at/ yet) a secret place. The knight was in a fix. But he thought ……….. (of/ off) a plan to tide over this problem. He ………(vent/ went) to the meeting place, not alone, but along with his ………… (fair/ fare), wife, Can you guess what happened then?
Answer:
This is a story told by a knight. Once he received a letter. When he read it through, he could not believe his own eyes. For, it was written by none other than the queen of the land. She asked him to meet her at a secret place. The knight was in a fix. But he thought of a plan to tide over this problem. He went to the meeting place, not alone, but along with his fair wife, Can you guess what happened then?
Task 3 : Scramble the letters to form words. See the meaning clues in brackets.
1. a t r t e f I …………. (praise)
2. bo u d t …………. (suspect)
3. r a g t e d y …………. (unhappy ending)
4. r a g f e n m t …………. (a piece)
5. r a e t l …………. (careful)
6. c a c s r i y t …………. (short supply)
7. y m t s a t h p e i c …………. (not cruel)
Answer:
1. a t r t e f l flatter (praise)
2. b o u d t doubt (suspect)
3. r a g t e d y tragedy (unhappy ending)
4. r a g f e n m t fragment (a piecel)
5. r a e t l alert (careful)
6. c a c s r i v t scarcity (short supply)
7. v m t s a t h p e i c sympathetic (not cruel)
Listed and Comprehend Answer the following :
Question 1.
Why do you think the audience, on hearing the dialogue burst into laughter?
Answer:
Because the actor told his dialogue in the reverse way.
Question 2.
Try to repeat the words as delivered by the actor.
Answer:
“Stars were barking, dogs were twinkling and thief broke the clock and took away the wall.”
Question 3.
If you had been the actor, how would you have said it ?
Answer:
“Stars twinkling, dogs were barking, and a thief broke the wall and took away the clock.”
Speak Well
Language function: Refusing Invitation.
Imagine the headmaster meets Swami after the burglar’s incident. He offers an invitation. But, Swami refuses it politely. Read the dialogue
Headmaster: Swami, if I’m not wrong, you still look nervous.
Swami: Me? No… no… no… not at all sir. I’m all right.
Headmaster: That’s good. How did you find that there was a burglar in the room? You’ve done a great thing Swami. In fact, we’ve decided to honour you. Come on.
Swami: Many thanks, sir. I’d love to be there. But I’ve an important function at my grandpa’s house. Er…not now sir.
Headmaster: How about next week?
Swami: That’s a good idea, but let me think about it.
Headmaster: O.K. Swami.
Language function: Accepting Invitation
Imagine you are Zakir invited by your friend to be present at the award winning ceremony, occasioned by his winning three first places in sports competition. Accept the invitation. Look at the dialogue and practise in pairs.
Vasu : Hi, Zakir how’re you?
Zakir : I ’m fine, Vasu you look wonderful. Anything special? Are the competitions over?
Vasu : Yes, I’ve good some news to tell you. I won three medals -all first places.
Zakir : That’s fantastic. Come on. Let’s celebrate.
Vasu : That’s why I just came here to see you. The sports authorities are going to have an award winning ceremony, tomorrow, at the town hall. It will be at 4 in the evening. I want you to be there.
Zakir : Hurray! Certainly I’ll be there riot at 4, but even ‘earier’. Let’s have sweets now. Come on.
Vasu : Oh, Sure.
Imagine that Swami receives advice from his father and his granny. How would Swami say that he accepts it or refuses it? Write a dialogue using the expressions given below.
Accepting
a. That’s a very good idea. Thank you.
b. Of course! I didn’t think of that. Many thanks.
c. Thank you for suggesting it. I think I, will.
d. I think I must do that.
e. Yes, I will. It’s very good of you to make the offer.
f. That’s very kind of you. I will
Refusing
a. Thank you for the suggestion. I’ll certainly think about it.
b. That may be a good idea. Let me think about it.
c. I think, on, the whole, I’d rather not. Thank you all the same.
d. ‘It is certainly a possibility. May I think about it?
e. That’s very good of you but I am not sure I want to.
f. Do you mind if I didn’t? I know you are being kind.
In pairs, play the roles of Swami and his father. You can modify the content of the story to suit your conversation using the expressions mentioned above.
Answer:
Swami : Thank you for suggesting it. I think I will, (accepting)
Swami : That may be a good idea. Let me think about it. (Refusing)
Self-Assessment
Read the statement and put a tick mark in the appropriate box. (Answer shown against each statement)
| SI. No | Statement | Yes | No | To some extent |
| 1. | I was able to present the dialogue taking roles. | ✓ | – | – |
| 2. | I have knowledge of different language functions to accept or refuse an invitation politely. | – | – | ✓ |
| 3. | I can use different language functions to accept or refuse invitation politely in my conversation. | – | – | ✓ |
| 4. | I can speak with proper stress, pause, intonation, facial expression and clear pronunciation. | ✓ | ||
| 5. | I can modify the content of the story to suit my conversation using correct expressions. | _ | _ | ✓ |
Read and Respond
Task – 1 : A man went to an astrologer.
Astrologer: Come my child, your name is Suraj Khanna,
Khanna : Yes, indeed!
Astrologer: You have two sons and two daughters.
Khanna : How true!
Astrologer : You bought four kilos of sugar and five kilos of rice yesterday, and there are five members of your household remaining after your parents passed away.
Khanna : I am impressed. But can you tell me about my future?
Astrologer : Okay then. Come back with your horoscope booklet tomorrow. And, here, take your ration card back.
Answer the questions below :
Question 1.
Mr. Khanna was surprised at the astrologer’s prediction. What made him feel so?
Answer:
Because he told about him everything correctly.
Question 2.
Why wasn’t the astrologer able to predict Mr. Khanna’s future?
Answer:
Because he hadn’t seen his horoscope.
Question 3.
In the conversation given above, who do you think has better common sense?
Answer:
The astrologer has better common sense.
Task-2 :
My brother, an Army doctor, was part of the UN peacekeeping mission in the Congo. At the end of the one- year term, his Congolese commander awarded him a letter of merit that ended with “and he worked hardly to restore normalcy in the region.” Which word in the passage above gives the opposite meaning of what was meant to be said?
Answer:
He worked hardly.
Task – 3
Look at the cartoon. Interpret it orally with your partner. What is funny as shown in the cartoon?
Answer:
The man pressing the buttons of the waiter instead of the buttons on the lift.
Learn Grammar Through Communication
Use of Modals : Some sentences are given below
a. Rewrite them beginning with ‘the clue’ given in brackets
b. Identify the language function. One example is given.
e.g.: Is it all right if I sit here?
(Begin with ‘could’)
Function. Seeking permission.
Sentence rewritten: Could I sit here?
1. Please return my library books.
Begin with ‘will’ ……………….
Answer:
Will you return my library books ?
Function: Permission
2. The files are heavy. I’ll carry them for you.
Begin with ‘would’ …………..
Answer:
Would you allow me to carry files for you ?
Function: Obligation.
3. That’s your essay. Perhaps you have no objection if I see it.
Begin with ‘May’
Answer:
May-1 see your essay ?
Function: Permission.
4. Let me switch on the fan, OK?
Begin with ‘Do you’
Answer:
Do you switch on the fan?
Function: Questioning
5. ‘Bring the books to my office’
Begin with ‘would’
Answer:
Would you bring the books to my office?
Function: Command.
‘Bring the books to my office’
Begin with ‘would’
Answer:
Would you bring the books to my office?
Function: Command.
Make Reference
Task-1: Look at these (partial) dictionary entries.
lorry n BrE : a large motor vehicle for carrying heavy goods.
truck n 1. BrE : an open railway vehicle for carrying goods.
2. AmE a large motor vehicle
BrE lorry 3. A simple vehicle for carrying goods which is pushed or pulled by hand.
These entries tell us that
a. lorry is a word in British English. (This is indicated by BrE; some dictionaries say ‘Brit’ instead.)
b. truck in British English means. an open railway vehicle, not a motor vehicle.
c. In American English (‘AmE’ or, in some dictionaries, ‘US’), truck me ans a motor vehicle – the same as lorry.
d. truck can also mean a simple vehicle pushed or pulled by hand, that is, a hand-pulled (or hand-pushed) cart, in both British and American English.
Although British English and American English are largely the same, there are some differences between them in the spelling, pronunciation and meaning of words. Dictionaries give us information on these differences.
Task-2 :
Now look at the following dictionary entry.
windbag n infml derog. A person who talks too much and bores people.
What does ‘derog’ here mean? It means: that the word windbag is derogatory, that is, a person will feel insulted if he/she is called a ‘windbag’. Certain words in every language are derogatory and it is useful to know about them in order to avoid causing offense without intending so.
Task-3 :
With the help of a dictionary, find out what you can understand about the following words.
1. cheque and check as nouns.
Answer:
Cheque: Take this blank cheque.
Check : He made a proper check.
2. hire and rent as verbs.
Answer:
hire : He hired my taxi.
rent: I rent my building for office purpose.
Additional Questions & Answer
I. Write a short essay of about 250 words on the following.
Question 1.
Describe the various tricks that Swami tried to avoid sleeping alone in the office and what was the result?
Answer:
R.K. Narayan is a gifted writer, his writings have a deep insight into the children’s psychology. ‘A Hero’ tells the story of a 2nd standard boy who is ordered by his rigid father to sleep alone in the office room. Father wanted to know whether his son was courageous enough to sleep alone away from his granny.
The entire ordeal started when Father happened to read in the newspaper the story of a young lad. The lad was on his way home by the jungle path. He came face to face with a tiger and had a fight with the ferocious animal. He was not match for the beast and hence he fled up a tree and stayed on their till some people came that way and killed the tiger.
Having read this report Father looked fixedly at the boy and as him whether he was as courageous as the lad in the story. He replied that it was not the question of courage and it was the question of strength and age. The lad in the story might be a grown up man, maintained. Father did not like this and asked him whether he proves his courage by sleeping alone in the office room. The boy was terrified. He could not even think of such a proposition. He wants to avert such an eventuality at any cost. So he employed all the tricks that any boy at age could visualize.
First, the boy tried to divert Father’s attention by changing subject. He talked about their cricket dub. They were going to ad even elders in their cricket dub thereafter. They were buying b new bats and balls. But father was not interested in the cricket dub their captain’s proposal. He cut in and ordered that the boy should sleep alone thereafter. The boy knew that nobody could alter the decision of his father.
Swami rose silently and tiptoed away to his bed in the passage.Granny asked him whether he wanted a story. Swami made gesticulations to silence his granny but she saw nothing. So S threw himself on his bed and pulled the blanket over his face. Gran again asked him if he was really very sleepy. Swami urged the g lady not to shout and let others know about his presence there. Said he would die if he didn’t get a good sleep. “He turned, overcooled, and snored under the blanket”.
Father came and saw Swami lying in the hall. He asked the boy to get up. Father rolled up the bed, took it under his arm and asked follow him. Swami threw a look of appeal at his mother. He once again requested Father to let him sleep in the hall. The reason he gave was that the office room was very dusty and there might be scorpions behind Father’s law books. Father did not admit his request. He also rejected Swami’s request to let him keep a lamp burning in the room.
In the night he had all sorts of horrible dreams. All the devils and ghosts that he had read of in story books and heard of from the elders came to his mind. He saw in his dream that the devil was coming to tear him up. The other dream was about the tiger that was coming to eat him up. Presently he saw something moving down.
He thought it might be corning to eat him up. He had no time to waste. Mustering all his strength, he hugged the shape and ‘used his teeth on it like a mortal weapon. There came a shrieking and somebody tumbled and fell amidst furniture. In a moment everyone in the house came to the spot and caught hold of the notorious burglar in the district.
Everyone congratulated Swami for his bravery. When Father returned home from the club that night, Swami was not there in the office room. He asked Mother where the boy was sleeping. She replied that he was sleeping in the hall beside 1 granny. Father remarked that Swamiji wanted to go to bed before he returned from the club.
Mother asked Father not to risk his life again. Father hesitatingly agreed saying that he might not be blamed if the boy was spoiled. Swami was not asleep. He had been following the whole conversation from under the blanket and felt tremendously relieved to hear that his father was giving him up.