We should be content with what life gives us.

Honesty is the best policy.

The characters in this story speak in English. Do you think this is their language? What clues are there in the story about the language its characters must be speaking in?

If you were caught in a situation like this, how would you have dealt with it?

What would have happened to Matilda if she had confessed to her friend that she had lost her necklace?

What was the cause of Matilda’s ruin? How could she have avoided it?

The course of the Loisels’ life changed due to the necklace. Comment.

How do they replace the necklace ?

What do M. and Mme Loisel do next ?

How is the problem solved ?

What fresh problem now disturbs Mme Loisel ?

What kind of a person is her husband ?

What kind of a person is Mme Loisel ? Why is she always unhappy ?

On the other hand, Adrienne Rich has been known to use trees as a metaphor for human beings; this is a recurrent image in her poetry. What new meaningsemerge from the poem if you take its trees to be symbolic of this particular meaning?

Does the poem present a conflict between man and nature? Compare it with A Tiger in the zoo. Is the poet suggesting that plants and trees, used for ‘interior decoration’ in cities while forests are cut down, are ’imprisoned’ and need to ‘break out’?

Why do you think the poet does not mention “the departure of the forest from the house” in her letters? (Could it be that we are often silent about important happenings that are so unexpected that they embarrass us? Think about this again when you answer the next set of questions.) ?

What happens to the house when the trees move out of it?

How does the poet describe the moon: (a) at the beginning of the third stanza, and (b) at its end? What causes this change?

(ii) What does the poet compare their branches to?

(i) Where are the trees in the poem? What do their roots, their leaves, and their twigs do?

(ii) What picture do these words create in your mind: “… sun bury its feet in shadow…”? What could the poet mean by the sun’s ‘feet?’

(i) Find, in the first stanza, three things that cannot happen in a treeless forest?

Thinking About Language. Write a page — about three paragraphs — on one of the following topics : Are you concerned about traffic and road safety? What are your concerns? How would you make road travel safer and more enjoyable?

Thinking About Language. Write a page — about three paragraphs — on one of the following topics : Have you made a journey that was unforgettable in some way? What made it memorable?

Thinking About Language. Write a page — about three paragraphs — on one of the following topics : Have you ever planned something entirely on your own, without taking grownups into your confidence? What did you plan, and how? Did you carry out your plan?

Thinking About the Text. The author describes the things that Valli sees from an eight-year-old’s point of view. Can you find evidence from the text for this statement?

Thinking About the Text. What does Valli mean when she says, “I was just agreeing with what you said about things happening without our knowledge” ?

Thinking About the Text. Why does Valli refuse to look out of the window on her way back?

Find the lines in the text which tell you that Valli was enjoying her ride on the bus.

Thinking About the Text. Why does the conductor refer to Valli as ‘madam’?

What kind of a person is Valli? To answer this question, pick out the following sentences from the text and fill in the blanks. The words you fill in are the clues to your answer.

Thinking About the Text. How did Valli plan her bus ride? What did she find out about the bus, and how did she save up the fare?

Thinking About the Text. What was Valli’s deepest desire? Find the words and phrases in the story that tell you this.

ORAL COMPREHENSION. III. Her first journey.......................weren’t many passengers. Why didn’t Valli want to go to the stall and have a drink? What does this tell you about her?

ORAL COMPREHENSION. III. Her first journey.......................weren’t many passengers. Why didn’t she get off the bus at the bus station?

ORAL COMPREHENSION. III. Her first journey.......................weren’t many passengers. What did Valli see on her way that made her laugh?

ORAL COMPREHENSION. III. Her first journey.......................weren’t many passengers. How did Valli save up money for her first journey? Was it easy for her?

ORAL COMPREHENSION. II. Well, one fine .......................................... and staring out. Why didn’t Valli want to make friends with the elderly woman?

ORAL COMPREHENSION. II. Well, one fine .......................................... and staring out. What does Valli tell the elderly man when he calls her a child?

ORAL COMPREHENSION. II. Well, one fine .......................................... and staring out. Why does Valli stand up on the seat? What does she see now?

ORAL COMPREHENSION. II. Well, one fine .......................................... and staring out. Why does the conductor call Valli ‘madam’?

ORAL COMPREHENSION. THERE was a girl ..................... planned and replanned. What do you think Valli was planning to do?

What did Valli find out about the bus journey? How did she find out these details?

ORAL COMPREHENSION. THERE was a girl ..................... planned and replanned. What was a source of unending joy for Valli? What was her strongest desire?