The Little Girl

AP 9th Class English Beehive 3rd Lesson The Little Girl Questions and Answers

Thinking About the Text :

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

Answer:

II. Answer the following

Questions in one or two sentences

Question 1.
Why was Kezia afraid of her father?

Answer: Kezia was afraid of her father because he was in a habit of finding out her mistakes. He was very strict. He used to talk to her harshly

Question 2.
Who were the people in Kezias family ?

Answer: The people in Kezias family are her mother, father and grandmother

Question 3.
What was Kezias fathers routine?

1. before going to his office
2. after coming back from his office
3. on Sundays

Answer: Kezias fathers routine

1. Before going to his office: He went into Kezias room to give her a casual kiss
2. After coming back from his office: He would ask for the newspaper and tea
3. On Sundays: He would stretch out on the sofa. He would cover his face with his handkerchief, put his feet on one of the cushions, sleep soundly and snoring

Question 4.
In what ways did Kezias grandmother encourage her to get to know her father better?

Answer: Kezias grandmother encouraged her to get to know her father better by sending her to the drawing room to talk to her parents on Sundays. "She also suggested Kezia to make a gift of a pin-cushion on her fathers birthday

III. Discuss these

Questions in class with your teacher and then write down your answers in two or three paragraphs each

Question 1.
Kezias efforts to please her father resulted in displeasing him very much. How did this happen?

Answer: Kezias efforts to please her father resulted in displeasing him. Kezias grandmother encouraged her to understand her father in a better way. On every Sunday, her grandmother sent her down to the drawing room. She hoped that the girl would have a nice talk with her father and mother. But her father always got irritated with her. He used to call her little brown owl

One day her grandmother suggested her to make a gift of a pin-cushion on her fathers birthday. Kezia stuffed her pin-cushion with papers. But the sheets she had torn and filled in the cushion were her fathers speech for the Port Authority. He scolded her and punished her by hitting her palm with a ruler for tearing the papers of his speech

Question 2.
Kezia decides that there are "different kinds of fathers". What kind of father was Mr Macdonald, and how was he different from Kezias father?

Answer: Unlike Kezias father, Mr. Macdonald was a loving person. He would play with his children. But Kezias father never played with her. Mr. Macdonald would put the baby Mao on his shoulders

Two girls would hang on to his pockets. He would run round and round the flower beds laughing. He was very nice and friendly with his children. He was just opposite to the Kezias father

Kezias father was never friendly and his mouth was big. She was especially terrified with the manner in which he looked at her over his spectacles. Mr. Macdonald never punished his children

He played with them whenever he was free. Kezias father looked angry and harsh. He punished her by hitting her palm with a ruler for tearing the papers of his speech

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

Answer: One day, Kezias mother became ill, and she and her grandmother went to hospital. Kezia was left at home in the care ofAlice, the cook. At night, when Alice put her to the bed she had a nightmare

She saw a butcher with a knife and a rope. He came close to her with a dreadful smile. She could not move but cried out. But, to her surprise, she found her father standing near her bed. He took her in his arms and made her sleep by his side

After some time, still half asleep, she crept close to him, snuggled her head under his arm and held tightly to his shirt. Now she felt comfortable. Her father told her to rub her feet against his legs and get them warm

This made her realise that he had to work hard every day due to which he got too tired to play with her like Mr Macdonald. She expressed her feelings for her father by telling hìm that he had a big heart

Thinking About Language : I. Look at the following sentence

There was a glad sense of relief when she heard the noise of the carriage growing fainter. Here, glad means happy about something. Glad, happy, pleased, delighted, thrilled and overjoyed are synonyms (words or expressions that have the same or nearly the same meaning.) However, they express happiness in certain ways

Read the sentences below.

• She was glad when the meeting was over
• The chief guest was pleased to announce the name of the winner

Question 1.
Use an appropriate word from the synonyms given above in the following sentences. Clues are given in brackets?

1. She was __________ by the news of her brothers wedding. (very pleased)
2. I was __________ to be invited to the party: (extremely pleased and excited about)
3. She was __________ at the birth of her granddaughter. (extremely happy)
4. The coach was __________ with his performance. (satisfied about)
5. She was very __________ with her results. (happy about something that has happened)

Answers :

1. She was thrilled by the news of her brothers wedding
2. I was delighted to be invited to the party
3. She was overjoyed at the birth of her granddaughter
4. The coach was pleased with his performance
5. She was very happy with her results

Question 2.
Study the use of the word big in the following sentence. He was so big - his hands and his neck, especially his mouth.Here, big means large in size. Now, consult a dictionary and find out the meaning of big in the following sentences. The first one has been done for you?

1. You are a big girl now. older
2. Today you are going to take the biggest decision of your career. __________
3. Their project is full of big ideas. __________
4. Cricket is a big game in our country. __________
5. I am a big fan of Lata Mangeskar. __________
6. You have to cook a bit more as my friend is a big eater. __________
7. What a big heart youve got, Father dear. __________

Answers:

1. most important
2. innovative / amazing
3. popular / familiar
4. great
5. greedy
6. affectionate / kind

II. Verbs of Reporting

Study the following sentences

"What!" screamed Mother. "N-n-no", she whispered. "Sit up," he ordered

The italicised words are verbs of reporting. We quote or report what someone has said or thought by using a reporting verb. Every reporting clause contains a reporting verb. For example: He promised to help in my project. "How are you doing?" Seema asked. We use verbs of reporting to advise, order, report statements, thoughts, intentions,

Questions, requests, apologies, manner of speaking and so on

Question 1.
Underline the verbs of reporting in the following sentences?

1. He says he will enjoy the ride.
2. Father mentioned that he was going on a holiday
3. No one told us that the shop was closed
4. He answered that the price would go up
5. I wondered why he was screaming
6. Ben told her to wake him up
7. Ratan apologised for coming late to the party

Answers :

1. He says he will enjoy the ride.
2. Father mentioned that he was going on a holiday
3. No one told us that the shop was closed
4. He answered that the price would go up
5. I wondered why he was screaming
6. Ben told her to wake him up
7. Ratan apologised for coming late to the party

Question 2.
Some verbs of reporting are given in the box. Choose the appropriate verbs and fill in the blanks in the following sentences?

1. "I am not afraid," __________ the woman.
2. "Leave me alone," my mother __________
3. The children __________ that the roads were crowded and noisy
4. "Perhaps he isnt a bad sort of a chap after all," __________ the master
5. "Lets go and look at the school ground," __________ the sports teacher
6. The traffic police __________ all the passers-by to keep off the road

Answers :

1. replied
2. shouted
3. were complaining
4. remarked
5. suggested
6. ordered

Speaking : Form pairs or groups and discuss the following

Questions

Question 1.
This story is not an Indian story. But do you think there are fathers, mothers and grandmothers like the ones portrayed in the story in our own country?

Answer: The setting of this story is not India. But the characters portrayed in the story are universal. We, see the characters of mother, father and grandmother are seen in this story. This story is suitable for Indian context also

Question 2.
Was Kezias father right to punish her? What kind of a person was he You might find some of these words useful in describing him?

Answer: An authoritative father usually likes to punish his children when they make mistakes. So Kezias father was right to punish her. Kezias father seemed to be authoritative. He was serious in his emotions. His feelings were undemonstrative. Though he was loving and caring, he appeared to be a strict person. He was hard-working and responsible. He appeared to be unkind as he was a disciplinarian. His short-tempered nature overcame his affectionate feelings

Writing :

Question.
Has your life been different from or similar to that of Kezia when you were a child? Has your perception about your parents changed now? Do you find any change in your parents behaviour vis-à-vis yours? Who has become more understanding? What s teps would you like to take to build a relationship based on understanding? Write three or four paragraphs ( 150 - 200 words) discussing these issues from your own experience?

Answer: There are some similarities between Kezias childhood and mine. I was punished by mother and father for my mischievous behaviour. Whenever I made a mistake, I was punished by my parents. My parents were very authoritative and they take everything seriously. But they are loving and caring parents

In my childhood I considered my parents to be cruel. But my perspective about my parents has changed a lot by the passage of time. Now I understood that they were good and kind. They had not punished me wantonly. They did everything for my sake

When I grew up, my behaviour has changed a lot. My parents also began to respect my age and maturity. Now I began to know from my parents what is good and what is bad. Mutual understanding is the basis of a good relationship. It is important to spend much time with parents and the members of the family to develop some common understanding of the issues of the family. Children have to understand the excessive concern of the parents. They should see the things from the perspective of their parents. Thus we can build a good relationship among the members of the family

The Little Girl Summary in English

Once there was a little girl named Kezia who lived with her parents and grandmother. But Kezia was always afraid of her father and tried to stay away from him as much as she could. She felt relieved when he went to work and trembled with fear whenever she had to be near him. She thought her father was mean and unkind, so she tried her best to avoid him when he was at home.

Kezias grandmother would always tell her to try and understand her parents better. She encouraged Kezia to spend time talking with her parents in the drawing room. However, whenever Kezia tried to talk to them, they were always distant and cold towards her. It made her sad

One day, Kezias grandmother suggested that she should make a pin cushion as a gift for her fathers upcoming birthday. Kezia worked hard to sew three sides of the cushion, leayng one side open to fill it with something soft. She didnt know what to use, so she went into her mothers room to find, some scraps. To her surprise, she found sheets of paper there. Without knowing, those papers were her fathers important speech for the Port Authority

Kezia tore the sheets into small pieces and used them to stuff the pin cushion. Then she sewed the fourth side. When her mother found out what Kezia had done, she called her to the drawing room where her father was waiting. He was very angry and didnt even listen to why Kezia tore the papers

He punished her by hitting her hands with a ruler. Kezia was very sad and couldnt understand why she was being punished for telling the truth and making a mistake. She felt miserable and cried,

Questioning why fathers were created by God

Later that evening, Kezia saw Mr. Macdonald, a neighbor, playing and having fun with his children. This made her realize that not all fathers were the same. Some, like Mr. Macdonald, were kind and loving, while others, like her own father, were rude and harsh

After this incident, Kezias feelings towards her father started to change. One day, her mother fell ill and had to go to the hospital. Her grandmother went with her, so Kezia was left alone in the house with only the cook, Alice

During the daytime, everything was fine, but at night, Kezia had a terrible nightmare. She dreamed of a scary butcher with a knife and a rope. She couldnt move or escape from him

The nightmare woke Kezia up, and when she opened her eyes, she saw her father standing next to her bed. He comforted her and took her to his own bedroom. He made a cozy place for her to sleep on his bed and told her she could warm her feet by rubbing them against his legs. Kezia felt safe and loved in her fathers.presence, realizing that he wasnt as bad as she had thought. She could feel his fatherly love that she had been missing all along

Kezia understood that her father was usually grumpy because of his hard work to provide for the family. By the evening, he was often too tired to play with her. After that day, Kezia respected and loved her father just as much as she loved her grandmother and mother

The Little Girl Summary in Telugu

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