1. Comprehension I: A Scene From Shakuntala

Question 1.
Who, according to the two policemen, did the ring belong to?
Answer:
According to the two policemen, the ring belonged to the king.

Question 2.
What, according to the policemen, did the king think of the moment he got the ring?
Answer:
The king remembered someone he loved when he got the ring.

Question 3.
When did the policemen arrest the fisherman?
Answer:
The policemen arrested the fisherman when he was trying to sell the ring.

Question 4.
How did the fisherman support his family?
Answer:
The fisherman supported his family by catching fish using fishnets.

Question 5.
Who is Januka?
Answer:
Januka is one of the two policemen.

Question 6.
What did the chief of the police bring from the king?
Answer:
The chief brought a written order from the king confirming the fisherman’s innocence.

Question 7.
What reward did the king give to the fisherman?
Answer:
The king gave the fisherman a bracelet as a reward.

B. Answer the following questions in three or four sentences each: A Scene From Shakuntala

Question 1.
How did the chief confirm that the gem was in a fish’s belly?
Answer:
The chief confirmed the gem was in a fish’s belly by smelling the ring. He noticed it had the real smell of raw meat, which proved it had been inside a fish.

Question 2.
Why do you think the chief warns Suchaka not to be careless?
Answer:
The chief warned Suchaka not to be careless and to wait at the gate until he returned from the palace. This shows the chief’s responsibility and caution to avoid letting the prisoner escape.

Question 3.
Why did the king give a reward to the fisherman?
Answer:
The king gave a reward to the fisherman because the ring helped him recall his beloved Shakuntala. It was not the gem’s value, but the memories it brought back that moved the king deeply.

Question 4.
What made Suchaka think of killing the pickpocket?
Answer:
Suchaka believed the fisherman was a pickpocket and was annoyed by the situation. His frustration and anger made him think of killing the fisherman, whom he thought was a thief.

Question 5.
How did the fisherman get the ring?
Answer:
The fisherman got the ring while cutting up a carp. He found the ring with a magnificent gem inside the fish’s belly and was trying to sell it when the policemen caught him.

C. Read the extracts and answer the questions: A Scene From Shakuntala

Question 1.
“I live on the Ganges at the spot where Indra came down”
a. Who said these words?
Answer:
The fisherman said these words.

b. Who does ‘I’ refer to?
Answer:
‘I’ refers to the fisherman.

c. Where did he live?
Answer:
He lived on the banks of the river Ganges, at the spot where Indra came down.

Question 2.
“Wait here at the big gate until I come out of the palace. And don’t be careless”
a. Who said these words?
Answer:
The chief of police said these words.

b. Who does ‘I’ refer to?
Answer:
‘I’ refers to the chief of police.

c. Why did he warn him not to be careless?
Answer:
He warned him not to be careless because he was going inside the palace, leaving the fisherman behind, and wanted to ensure the fisherman didn’t escape.

Question 3.
“I think, when the king saw it, he remembered somebody he loves”
a. Who said these words?
Answer:
One of the policemen said these words.

b. What does “it” refer to?
Answer:
“It” refers to the ring with the magnificent gem.

c. What did the king see?
Answer:
The king saw the ring that he had once given to Shakuntala.

Vocabulary II: A Scene From Shakuntala

A. Match the words in column ‘A’ with their meanings in column ‘B’.

B. Find the opposite of the following words from the text: A Scene From Shakuntala

1. Hard-hearted → Tender-hearted
2. Careful → Careless
3. Arrest → Release
4. Punishment → Reward

C. Fill in the blanks with suitable forms of the phrasal verbs given in brackets:

(give up, ask for, bring up, depend upon.)

1. Yesterday, we asked for your address but you refused to give.
2. Fisherman said, “You can’t give up the trade of your ancestors.”
3. Children depend upon their parents.
4. Shakuntala was brought up in the company of birds, animals, and nature.

D. Sit in pairs, with help of dictionary find out the correctly spelt words.

1. magnificent, magnifiecent, maganefecent, magneficent.
2. cheef, chief, cheif, chefe.
3. anicester, ancsester, anciester, ancestor.
4. writen, wreeten, written, ritten.
   Answer:
   1. magnificent ✅
   2. chief ✅
   3.ancestor ✅
   4.written ✅

III. Language Activities: A Scene From Shakuntala

A look at these sentences carefully.

a. Januka said, “You can’t just drop in on a king”.
b. Januka told the policemen that he couldn’t just drop in on a king

The sentence (a) is in direct speech in which we see the actual words of the speaker.

Whereas in sentence b) we do not see exactly the same words as used in ‘a’, The sentence in (b) is in indirect speech.

Note the changes:
1. Change in tense
2. Change in number
3. Change in punctuation

B. Now read the following conversation and try how you can report them.

1. Suchaka: You have done the king a good turn, chief.
2. Januka: All for the sake of this fisherman, it seems to me.
3. Fisherman: Take half of it, master, to pay for something to
   drink.
4. Januka: Fisherman, you are the biggest and best friend I’ve got.
                 The first thing we want is something to drink. Let’s go  
                 where they keep it.

Begin like this:

1. Suchaka told the chief that he had done the king a good turn.
2. Januka said that it was all for the sake of the fisherman, it seemed to him.
3.Fisherman told the masters to take half of it to pay for something to drink.
4.Januka told the fisherman that he was the biggest and best friend he had got, and added that the first thing they wanted was something to drink and they should go where it was kept.

C. Look at these sentences carefully.

1. a) As soon as he saw the ring he broke down for a moment.

   Sentence like this can be changed as follows by using no sooner ….. than and without changing the meaning
   No sooner did he see the ring than he broke down for a moment.
   Here are some sentences beginning with as soon as. Change them using no sooner …….. than.

Question 1.
As soon as he saw the police he ran away.
Answer:
No sooner did he see the police than he ran away.

Question 2.
As soon as the teacher entered the classroom all the students stood up.
Answer:
No sooner did the teacher enter the classroom than all the students stood up.

Question 3.
As soon as she saw the snake she fainted.
Answer:
No sooner did she see the snake than she fainted.

D. Let us see how to combine two sentences using too——— to and so ——— that ——— not.

Ex : He is very weak. He cannot walk
                     He is too weak to walk
                     He is so weak that he cannot walk

Combine the following sentences in two ways as shown above.

1. He is ill. He cannot resume his duty.

• He is too ill to resume his duty.
• He is so ill that he cannot resume his duty.

2. It is very cold. She cannot go out.

• It is too cold for her to go out.
• It is so cold that she cannot go out.

3. The poem is very difficult. They cannot understand it.

• The poem is too difficult for them to understand.
• The poem is so difficult that they cannot understand it.

4. The tree is very tall. He cannot climb it.

• The tree is too tall for him to climb.
• The tree is so tall that he cannot climb it.

5. The list is very long. I cannot mention it here.

• The list is too long for me to mention here.
• The list is so long that I cannot mention it here.

A Scene from Shakuntala Summary