Page 65
Question 1.
Where in the classroom does
Wanda sit and why?
Answer:
Wanda Petronski used to sit on the corner most benches, lost in her world,
where rough boys usually sat. She was a very poor, shy and quiet girl and did
not want to mess with others so she preferred to sit in isolation.
Question 2.
Where does Wanda live? What
kind of a place do you think it is?
Answer:
Wanda lives upon Boggins
Heights, where poor people live. It is not a developed area and is covered
with mud. There are no proper roads or streets and it is a kind of slum.
Question 3.
When and Why do Peggy and
Maddie notice Wanda’s absence?
Answer:
Wanda didn’t come to school on Monday and Tuesday but nobody noticed her
absence as she did not have friends in the class. When Peggy and Maddie waited
for Wanda to make fun of her after the school was off, they noticed that she
was absent, otherwise nobody bothered about her there.
Question 4.
What do you think “to have
fun with her” means?
Answer:
“To have fun with her ” means to laugh at her as it is human tendency to
make fun of others imperfections which are mostly about the appearance. Here
in the story, Wanda is a source of amusement or pleasure because of her shy
nature and her hundred dresses.
Page 67
Question 5.
In what way was Wanda
different from the other children?
Answer:
Wanda Petronski was a polish
girl whose parents had settled down in America. She was a source of fun
because of her last name which made her different from others, because
Americans did not have such names and it was difficult to pronounce.
She came to school alone and her feet were covered with mud. She preferred
to sit alone in the last in the class. She had only one blue dress which was
faded but claimed of having a hundred dresses. These qualities make her
different from other children.
Question 6.
Did Wanda have a hundred
dresses? Why do you think she said she did?
Answer:
Wanda was teased everyday by
her classmates after school
hours. They
used to make fun of her dress and her name. One day tired of all the teasing
and taunting, she claimed of having a hundred dresses and sixty pairs of
shoes, but nobody believed her.
She was a
determined girl and had a great amount of self-confidence. For her number of
dresses were not important but the inner talent which had the real value.
Question 7.
Why is Maddie embarrassed by
the questions Peggy asks Wanda? Is she also like Wanda, or is she
different?
Answer:
Maddie is embarrassed by the questions Peggy asks Wanda because she is also
poor and understands the mental condition of Wanda. She also wears dresses
handed down by rich family. Though, she is an American but she has the same
mind-set as Wanda and doesn’t want anyone to tease Wanda because of her dress
or her name.
Page 70
Question 8.
Why didn’t Maddie ask Peggy
to stop teasing Wanda? What was she afraid of?
Answer:
Maddie didn’t ask Peggy to stop
teasing Wanda because Peggy was the most popular girl in the school. She was a
nice girl but when it came to Wanda she behaved differently, otherwise she
helped everyone in trouble. Though, she wants Peggy to stop teasing Wanda, she
didn’t ask her to do so as she was afraid of being the next target of such
taunts and teasings.
Question 9.
Who did Maddie think would
win the drawing contest? Why?
Answer:
Maddie always believed that Peggy would win the drawing contest as she was
good in drawing and everybody in the school loved her. She had a good image
and impression on her teachers and classmates. No other girl in the class
could draw as well as her. So, Peggy definitely had very good chances of
winning the drawing contest according to Maddie.
Question 10.
Who won the drawing contest?
What had the winner drawn?
Answer:
Among the boys, Jack Beggles and among the girls, Wanda
Petronski won the drawing contest. To show her determination she did not
attend the school for two days and had drawn a • hundred sketches of dresses
of different colours.. Each of them was capable to win the contest
individually.
Wanda had drawn all the
dresses which she had claimed to have had in the class. Everybody was very
impressed with her drawing skill and clapped for her.
Thinking about the Text
Page 70
Question 11.
How is Wanda seen as
different by the other girls? How do they treat her?
Answer:
Wanda is a polish girl who has
setded in America with her parents. She lived in Boggin’s Height. She came to
school in same faded blue dress everyday with her feet always covered with
mud. Her last name is quite funny and difficult to pronounce for her
classmates. Her appearance was not perfect to be in a higher class so all the
students made fun of her and teased her after the school hours. After being
teased over her tolerance she ) claimed to have had a hundred dresses in her
closet.
Question 12.
How does Wanda feel about
the dresses game? Why does she say that she has a hundred dresses?
Answer:
Wanda feels very embarrassed
but remains silent in the class. She doesn’t talk to anyone and sits on the
back bench with rough boys so that nobody can give attention to her. She is
deeply hurt but never complains about it. To avoid their taunts and
humiliation, Wanda says that she has a hundred dresses and sixty pairs of
matching shoes in her closet. Later on, she draws all of them on paper for the
drawing competition.
Question 13.
Why does Maddie stand by and
does not do anything? How is she different from Peggy? or (was Peggy’s
friendship important to Maddie? Why? Which lines in the text tell you
this?)
Answer:
Peggy is the most popular girl in the class and Maddie is her closest
friend. Though, Maddie is poor, Peggy never teases her as she does with Wanda
so Maddie is afraid of losing her friendship. That’s why, she does not risk to
annoy Peggy and prefers to be silent. The line, “Peggy was the best-liked girl
in the whole room. Peggy could not possibly do anything that was really wrong”
illustrates this.
Question 14.
What does Miss Mason think
of Wanda’s drawings? What do the children think of them? How do you know?
Answer:
Miss Mason is very impressed
with Wanda’s drawings. She considers them really beautiful and worthy of
winning individually. The children are also impressed by the drawing skills of
Wanda that they all applaud and whistle when she wins among the girls.
Thinking about Language
Page 71
Question 1.
Combine the following to make
sentences.
1. This is the bus (what kind
of bus?). It goes to Agra, (use which or that).
2. I would like to buy, (a) shirt (which shirt?) (The) shirt is in the shop
window, (use which or that)
3. You must
break your fast at a particular time (when?). You see the moon in the sky.
(use when)
4. Find a word (what kind of
word?). It begins with the letter Z, (use which or that)
5. Now find a person (what kind of person ?) His or her name begins with the
letter Z. (use whose)
6. Then go to a
place (what place?). There are no people whose name begins with Z in that
place, (use where)
Answers:
1. This is the bus that goes to Agra.
2. I would like to buy a shirt that is in the shop window.
3. You must break your fast at a particular time when you see the moon in
the sky.
4. Find a word that begins with
letter Z.
5. Now find a person whose name
begins with letter Z.
6. Then go to a
place where there are no people whose name begins with letter Z.
Question 2.
The Narrative Voice Here are
two other sentences from the story. Can you say whose point of view the
italicised words express?
1. But on
Wednesday, Peggy and Maddie, who sat down in front with other children who got
good marks and who didn’t track in a whole lot of mud, did notice that Wanda
wasn’t there.
2. Wanda Petronski. Most of
the children in room thirteen didn’t have names like that. They had names easy
to say, like Thomas, Smith or Allen.
Answer:
1. The italicised words express
the point of view of Peggy and Maddie.
2.
These italicised words express the point of view of other children of Wandas’
class excluding Peggy and Maddie.
Question 3.
Other such adverbs are
apparently, evidently, surprisingly, possibly, hopefully, incredibly, luckily.
Use these words appropriately in the blanks in the sentences below. (You may
use a word more than once and more than one word may be appropriate for a
given blank.)
1. ____, he finished his
work on time.
2. ____, it will not rain
on the day of the match.
3. ____, he had
been stealing money from his
employer.
4. Television is ____ to blame for the increase in violence in society,
5. The children will ____ learn from their mistakes.
6. I can’t ____ lend you that much money.
7. The thief had ____ been watching the house for many days.
8. The thief ____ escaped by bribing the jailor.
9. ____no one had suggested this before.
10. The water was ____hot.
Answers:
1. Surprisingly
2. Hopefully
3. Possibly
4. evidendy
5. hopefully
6. possibly
7. apparendy
8. luckily
9. Incredibly
10. incredibly