Chapter 2: Somebody’s Mother

Read the following proverb that has a biblical reference.

‘Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.’ Now find at least 5 other proverbs/ axioms/quotations which convey the same message. Search the internet/dictionary of proverbs.

SOLUTION

'How people treat you is their karma; how you react is yours'.
'Treat others as you wish to be treated. Don't just be nice, but be kind to other people. That can be so rewarding'.
'Be Good to people. You will be remembered more for your kindness than any level of success you could possibly attain'.
'How you treat others, is how you really feel inside'.
'Be careful how you treat people. What you do to others has a funny way of coming back to you'.

Study the following sets of words :

Set A – pleased, happy, joyful, ecstatic
Set B – letter, word, sentence, paragraph

The words in these sets are arranged in ascending order, each word showing a higher degree than the previous one.

Now rearrange the following groups of words in ascending order.

adult
aged
infant
youth

SOLUTION

Ascending order:

3. infant

4. youth

1. adult

2. aged.

cold
freezing
cool
chill

SOLUTION

Ascending order:

3. cool

1. cold

4. chill

2. freezing

brilliant
genius
bright
intelligent

SOLUTION

Ascending order:

3. bright

4. intelligent

1. brilliant

2. genius.

mountain
peak/summit
mound
hill

SOLUTION

Ascending order:

3. mound

4. hill

1. mountain

2. peak/ summit.

Prepare similar word chains using the following ideas.

rain	drizzle	______	______	______
wind	breeze	______	______	______
sunshine	warm	______	______	______
waterbody	pool	______	______	______
size	big	______	______	______
size	small	______	______	______

SOLUTION

rain	drizzle	shower	torrent	deluge
wind	breeze	windy	typhoon	cyclone
sunshine	warm	pleasant	bright	hot
waterbody	pool	lake	river	sea
size	big	large	huge	gigantic
size	small	miniature	minute	microscopic

Pick outlines from the poem that help create images of the following in our mind and write them in the table.

No.	Old Woman	The Street	Schoolboys
1.
2.
3.

SOLUTION

No.	Old Woman	The Street	Schoolboys
1.	The old woman was ragged	Streets were white with snow	were laughing
2.	Bent with the chill of winter	Streets were crowded	like a flock of sheep
3.	her feet were trembling	Horse carriages were trampling down	hastened on their way.

Write at least 5 rhymes from the poem.

SOLUTION

gray - day, snow - slow, shout - out, sheep - deep, and feet - street are examples of rhymes from the poem.

Give, in your own words, TWO reasons for each of the following :

The woman was reluctant to cross the street by herself.

SOLUTION

She was old and weak. She was afraid of being run over by the horse carriages.

The schoolboys were in a happy mood.

SOLUTION

They were let out of school. It was freedom from a long busy day.

One of the schoolboys helped the old woman cross the street.

SOLUTION

He felt it was his moral duty. He also knew that someday when his mother would need help, a stranger like him would help her in return.

We must help those who are in need.

SOLUTION

Your heart feels happy and content. You never know when you would need help in return in life.

Think and write in 5-6 lines, why most of the people on a road/street ignore those in need of help. What about you? Write about your feelings after you have helped/ not helped when needed

SOLUTION

Most people on a road I street ignore those in need of help because they are either coldhearted or they feel that another person may come forward to help. They may even try to cheat us if we try to help them. When I helped someone in need I felt really proud of myself. It made me feel happy and content from inside. It made my day.