Lesson 10
Tales of Childhood
More for Reading
A. Short Answer Type Questions
• Answer the following questions :
1. What was Harold Dahl's father?
Ans: Harold Dahl's father was a fairly prosperous merchant who owned a store in Sarpsborg and traded in just about anything from cheese to chicken-wire.
2. Who was Harold Dahl?
Ans: Harold Dahl was Roald Dahl's father, a Norwegian who came from a small town near Olso, called Sarpsborg. Besides it, he was a successful shipbroker.
3. What happened to Harold Dahl at the age of fourteen?
Ans: Harold Dahl had lost an arm at the age of fourteen.
4. What does a shipbroker do?
Ans: A shipbroker is a person who supplies the ship with everything it needs when it comes into port - fuel and food, ropes and paint, soap and towels, hammers and nails, and thousands of other little items.
5. What was the only fuel used by ships in those days?
Ans: In those days, the only fuel that was used by ships, was coal.
6. Who was the narrator's mother? When did Harold meet her?
Ans: The narrator's mother was Sofie Magdalene Hesselberg. Harold met her during the summer of 1911.
7. Describe the country mansion beside the village of Radyr.
Ans: The country mansion beside the village of Radyr was a mighty house with turrets on its roof and with majestic lawns and terraces all around it. There were many acres of farm and servant cottages.
8. What is a sty?
Ans: A sty is a place where pigs are kept.
9. For what purposes were the horses used?
Ans: The horses were used for pulling the ploughs and hay-wagons.
10. Do you think that the narrator was happy living in the imposing mansion?
Ans: The narrator's father moved into an imposing mansion. I think that the narrator was happy living in the imposing mansion because there were all amenities, luxuries and comfort.
12. How old was the narrator's father when he died?
Ans: The narrator's father was fifty-seven years old when he died.
13. How old was the narrator when Astri died?
Ans: The narrator was three years old when Astri died.
14. How was Cumberland lodge?
Ans: Cumberland lodge was nothing more than a pleasant medium-sized subarban villa.
15. How old was the narrator when he went to his first school?
Ans: The narrator was six years old when he went to his first school.
16. How old was Astri when she died?
Ans: Astri was seven years old when she died from appendicitis.
17. Why was pneumonia a very dangerous disease?
Ans: As there was no penicillin or any other magical antibiotic cures in those days, pneumonia was a very dangerous disease.
18. What made the narrator's father reluctant to fight against the disease?
Ans: The narrator's father was thinking of his beloved daughter, Astri who died at the age of seven from appendicitis and he was wanting to join her in heaven. It made the narrator's father reluctant to fight against the disease.
19. Why did the narrator's mother sell the mansion?
Ans: The narrator's mother had lost a daughter and her husband in the space of a few weeks. Suddenly he faced the gravest problems and responsibilities. Addition to this, she had five children to look after. This is why the narrator's mother sold the mansion.
20. Describe the narrator and his eldest sister's tricycle rides.
Ans: The narrator and his eldest sister used to go racing at enormous speeds down the middle of the road and when they come to a corner, they would lean to one side and take it on two wheels.
21. Why was it safe for tiny school children to go tricycling on highways?
Ans: It was safe for tiny school children to go tricycling on highways because the sight of a motor car on the street was an event in the old days.
22. What was the name of the narrator's first school?
Ans: The name of the narrator's first school was the Elmtree House.
23. Which blurred memory does the narrator have of his early days?
Ans: The narrator has a blurred memory of sitting on the stairs of his kindergarten school and trying over and over again to tie one of his shoelaces.
24. How did the narrator enjoy his journeys to and from school?
Ans: The narrator's journeys were tremendously exciting. The excitement centred around his new tricycle. He and his eldest sister used to race their way to and from school on their tricycles.
25. "It's not much, but it's all there is left" - Why, according to you, did the narrator make this comment?
Ans: The narrator went to his kindergarten school sixty two years before. So it was impossible to remember all incidents before the age of seven or eight though he described some joyous moments from his kindergarten school. This is why the narrator made this comment.
C. Sentence Type Questions :
• Rearrange the following sentences in the correct order and put the numbers in the given boxes:
1.(i) He met Sofie Magdalene Hesselberg in 1911.
(ii) They, along with their family members, moved to Radyr
in 1918.
(iii) Harold Dahl became a successful shipbroker and set up
a farm at Cardiff.
( iv) They married soon after.
(v) Harold Dahl lost his arm when he was fourteen.
(vi) The writer's grandfather was a prosperous merchant.
More for Practice
2.(i) The narrator's mother sold the big house.
(ii) The patient had to fight to survive.
(iii) The narrator's father went down with pneumonia.
(iv) Astri died from appendicitis.
(v) The narrator's father died at the age of fifty seven.
(vi) The narrator's father adored Astri beyond measure.
C. Sentence Completion Type Question
Complete the following sentence with information from the text:
1.(a) The narrator's grandfather was
.
(b) Harold Dahl had lost .
(c) A shipbroker is a person
.
(d) In the country mansion beside the village of Radyr, there were .
More for Practice
2.(i) The fuel on which the ship's engine ran in those days
was .
(ii) The narrator's grandfather owned a store in
.
(iii) Astri died from appendicitis when the narrator was
(iv) Astri's death left the narrator's father literally speechless for days because
(v) The narrator's father became so grief-stricken that when he himself went down with pneumonia
Ans: he did not much care whether he lived or died.
D. True or False Type Questions :
Write 'T' for true and 'F' for false statements in the given boxes. Give supporting statements for each of your answers:
1.(a) The narrator was the eldest child in the family.
(b) Astri was the favourite child of the narrator's father.
(c) The narrator's father died of appendicitis.
(d) After his father's death, the narrator along with his
other family members moved Llandaff.
More for Practice
2.(i) Harold Dahl came from a small town near Montreal.
(ii) Harold Dahl's father set up a shipbroking farm at
Cardiff.
(iii) The narrator's father was a rich and successful
businessman.
Ans: True My father had lost an arm when he was fourteen, but had became a successful
shipbroker.
(iv) The narrator was senior to Astri.
(v) The narrator's father put up a brave fight against
pneumonia.
(vi) There was a long gap of time between the death of the
narrator's sister and that of his father.
(vii) Selling the big house, the narrator's mother moved to
a smaller one in Llandaff.
(viii) A shipbroker sells ships only.
(ix) In those days the ships ran on fossil fuel.
(x) Antibiotic was available in those days for medical
threatment.
(xi) The narrator's father did not believe in heaven.
• Fill in the chart with information from the text:
• In the following sentences, underline the verb forms which show that the person denoted by the Subject does something. Circle the verb forms which show that something is done to the person denoted by the Subject: (নীচের বাক্যগুলিতে সেইসব verb form গুলির তলায় দাগ দাও যেগুলি Subject -এর দ্বারা চিহ্নিত ব্যক্তি কিছু করে। সেইসব verb form গুলিকে বৃত্তের মধ্যে রাখো যেগুলি Subject-এর দ্বারা করা কাজকে বোঝায় :)
(i) She sings a song.
(ii) A song is sung by her.
(iii) He drew a picture.
(iv) A picture was drawn by him.
• Identify the voice of the following sentences and fill in the table given below:
উত্তর পেতে সদস্যপদ প্রয়োজন
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