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Maharashtra Board Class 10 Solutions for English Reader – Help Me Go Home
Pre-reading Activities
Question 1:
Helping the needy
In natural calamities or manmade calamities, many innocent lives are in trouble. Form groups, discuss and decide how your class would like to help the needy. A group leader will report finally.
Answer:
i. Collecting funds
ii. Arranging refugee camps
iii. Providing food, water
iv. Arranging for medical facilities
v. Helping the authorities in operations
vi. Arranging blood donation camps
vii. Providing clothes
viii. Providing temporary shelter
Question 2:
What will you do?
What will you do in the following situation? In groups discuss and share your responses to the class.
If you find a person seriously injured and is lying unattended on the road
Answer:
i. I will stop to help him and find out the severity of his injuries.
ii. I would call the ambulance and seek help from other people to provide him with first aid.
iii. I shall accompany him to the hospital and inform his family.
iv. I can donate my blood if the person requires it.
v. I may even call the police and inform them about the accident.
vi. I would take care of the victim until his family arrives.
vii. I think I should keep his belongings (wallet, mobile, etc.) safe with me and later, hand them over to his family members.
viii. I can also find out about his wellbeing after a few days.
A1. Factual Reading
Question 1:
Glance through the passage and choose from the correct alternatives. Write down the lines.
i. Where did the incident take place?
a. India b. China
c. Singapore
Answer:
c. Singapore – (line 9 to 12)
They had set out on this school trip to Singapore’s Tan Tock Seng Hospital, laughing and chatting, assuming that it would be just another boring lecture-cum-tour-the kind that was routinely organized by the Crescent Girls School.
ii. Which life-support machine is mentioned in the text?
a. incubator
b. ventilator
c. sonography
Answer:
b. ventilator – (line 15 to 17)
It was all about the VAIs or ventilator-assisted patients who couldn’t go home even if they were dying because their lives depended on an ugly beeping machine.
iii. Children are from …………
a. Crescent Boys’ School
b. Crescent Girls’ School
c. Crescent Boys’ and Girls’ School
Answer:
b. Crescent Girls’ School – (line 9 to 12)
They had set out on this school trip to Singapore’s Tan Tock Seng Hospital, laughing and chatting, assuming that it would be just another boring lecture-cum-tour-the kind that was routinely organized by the Crescent Girls School.
iv. Who is ‘we’ in the text?
a. students
b. teachers
c. patients
Answer:
a. students – (line 27 to 28)
“But can’t we do something?” asked Zoe quietly. “I mean we’re young and strong and Back at school, a noisy co-curricular activity (CCA) session ensued.
v. CCA means ……….
a. co-class activity
b. co-curricular activity
c. co-centred activity
Answer:
b. co-curricular activity – (line 36)
Question 2:
Read the comments of different characters in the passage. Glance through the passage again, find out and then complete the table.
Answer:
A2. Understanding the Passage
Question 1:
Read the passage carefully and find out the characters and their roles and complete the table.
Answer:
A3. Meaning from the Text
Question 1:
Find one word bearing the following meaning. Search from the passage.
Paragraph number is given to help you to find the word.
i. causing feeling of great sadness = ……………. (Para No. 1)
ii. laugh in a silly way = …………….. (Para No. 2)
iii. feeling sick; wanting to vomit = ……………. (Para No. 2)
iv. showing very strong feelings or opinions = …………….. (Para No. 4)
v. control or not to show emotions or feelings = ……………. (Para No. 5)
vi. statement, answer, etc. given in a strong and forceful way = ……………. (Para No. 8)
vii. strong feeling of excitement and interest = …………….. (Para No. 12)
Answer:
i. heartrending ii. giggling
iii. queasy iv. vehemently
V. repress vi. emphatically
vii. enthusiasm
Question 2:
Form pairs and match the words with their meanings.
Answer:
(i – f),(ii – g), (iii – b),(iv – e), (v – h), (vi – a),(vi— c), (viii – d)
Question 3:
Write from the passage the opposites of the following words.
i. cheap ii. old
iii. weak iv. accepted
v. unworthy
Answer:
i. expensive
ii. young
iii. strong
iv. rejected
v. worthy
A4. Language Study
Do as Directed.
Question 1:
The images were simply heartrending. (Frame a ‘Wh’ question to get the underlined part as an answer)
Answer:
What were simply heartrending?
Question 2:
What drab walls! (Rewrite as an Assertive sentence)
Answer:
The walls were very drab.
Question 3:
But can’t they take those machines home? (Change the Voice)
Answer:
But can’t those machines be taken home by them?
Question 4:
But cant we do something asked Zoe quietly (Punctuate the sentence)
Answer:
“But can’t we do something?” asked Zoe quietly.
Question 5:
“The heart pin sale is a great idea,” said Ms. Chia. (Rewrite in Indirect speech)
Answer:
Ms. Chia said that the heart pin sale was a great idea.
A5. Personal Response
Question 1:
Do you think every school should organize such activities? Explain.
Answer:
Yes, I think every school should organize extra-curricular activities. Education should not be confined to books and four walls of a classroom. Different activities would instill the values like compassion, care and concern in the kids towards their fellow beings. It would also create a sense of responsibility in students and they will learn to tackle the harsh realities of life. .
Question 2:
The school girls used two methods to raise money. Suggest some other ways that can be helpful to raise money for the needy persons.
Answer:
There are innumerable ways that can be helpful to raise money for needy persons.
They are as follows:
i. An art fair can be held at school to exhibit and sell works created by students.
ii. A garage sale (selling things no longer used in our homes) can be held to raise money.
iii. A talent show (singing, dancing, magic show) can be put up and the money made from the sale of tickets can be used for a noble cause.
iv. Funds can be raised by doing chores (cleaning the garden, feeding the animals, etc.) for neighbours, friends, relatives, etc.
v. Children can donate a part of their pocket money for the cause.
vi. Instead of wasting money on fire¬crackers every Diwali, children can put it to better use by helping the needy.
A1. Factual Reading
Question 1:
Glance through the passage and state whether the following statements are True or False.
i. The team Fireflies was guided by Ms. Chia and Ms. Sarabhai.
ii. On 8th August 2012, a street sale was organized with a total of thirty-nine volunteers.
iii. The project helped to know the school mates and interact with each other.
iv. The charity truck was next on the agenda.
v. The teamwork of girls enabled the patients’ family to come home.
Answer:
i. True ii. False
iii. True iv. False
v. False
Question 2:
Fill in the blanks with words from the passage.
i. …………… applied to Citi-YMCA youth for causes programme for seed funding.
ii. They had…………. to execute their plans, so frantic preparations started.
iii. …………….. didn’t care about the patients until she learnt about them.
iv. …………….. found Team Fireflies’ cleaning better than petrol stations.
Answer:
i. Team Fireflies ii. one week
iii. Lai Shuman iv. Mr. Khan
Question 3:
Find out from the passage who said the following lines.
i. “To know that we’re actually helping someone makes me feel warm all over.”
ii. “Before this, I hadn’t even heard of VAI patients.”
iii. “It’s kind of empowering.”
iv. “Will you be here next week so I can get my car washed again?”
Answer:
i. Natalia Kusumo
ii. Quek Shu
iii. Lai Shumin
iv. Ms. Tan
A2. Understanding the Passage
Question 1:
Arrange the following incidents in order of their happening.
Answer:
i. The project was named as Team Fireflies.
ii. 150 enthusiastic students took part in the straw heart pin-making session.
iii. A street sale was organized with the help of eighty-nine volunteers.
iv. SG$ 22,774.46 was earned by the girls from the entire project.
v. The teamwork of the girls enabled the patients to come home.
Question 2:
Complete the table.
Answer:
A3. Meaning from the Text
Question 1:
Write from the passage words that mean:
i. moving around
ii. summarised a recent development to someone
iii. very quickly
iv. list of items to be discussed in a meeting
Answer:
i. churning ii. briefed
iii. rapidly iv. agenda
Question 1:
A mammoth straw heart pin-making session was organized. (Change the Voice)
Answer:
They organized a mammoth straw heart pin¬making session.
Question 2:
To know that we are actually helping someone makes me feel warm all over. (Rewrite beginning with ‘Knowing’)
Answer:
Knowing that we are actually helping someone makes me feel warm all over.
Question 3:
Not all the cars were dirty. (Rewrite as an Assertive sentence)
Answer:
Very few cars were dirty.
Question 4:
yes you do echoed ms tan (Punctuate the sentence)
Answer:
“Yes, you do!” echoed Ms. Tan.
Question 5:
The girls giggled. (Add a question tag)
Answer:
The girls giggled, didn’t they?
A5. Personal Response
Question 1:
The story has taken place in Singapore. Still you find that this can happen in our country as well. How do you get this feeling?
Answer:
The story has taken place in Singapore. Still, we find that this can happen in our country as well because the base of the human society is the same, everywhere. There could be a difference in the way of living but the feelings of love, empathy and compassion remain the same. We see the concern of the girls in the text as they help the patients to be with their families in their last days. Similarly, many students in India or elsewhere in the world have a similar desire of helping the needy.
Question 2:
Why do you think the girls enjoyed both making heart pins and car washing?
Answer:
I think that the girls enjoyed making heart pins and washing cars because they worked with a purpose. They wanted to raise funds to help the VAI patients. It was a group activity and there was a lot of interaction between the girls. They could create awareness among others and get appreciated for their work. It was a project they had taken up on their own. Due to all these reasons, they enjoyed the work.
Question 3:
Why do you think the girls took the guidance of teachers than planning on their own? Explain.
Answer:
The girls took the guidance of teachers because they were too young to organize such a mammoth project on their own. It also involved various formalities like applying for seed funding, organizing street sales,
permission from the head of the school and so on. So, they needed the support and guidance of their teachers.
Additional Questions for Practice
Question 1:
Children
The story definitely hasn’t taken place in any part of India. However, you find a close similarity amongst the children in the story and the children in India. Go through the story quickly and find out.
i. Common points in the Children:
Answer:
Study tours are arranged in India as well as Singapore. The students visit places like hospitals where they get to study about the people, their conditions, their feelings and emotions and many more things. The students are touched by the conditions of the people who are suffering. They feel an urge to help them, they come together to work for a common cause and try to be socially useful.
ii. Common problems of the People:
Answer:
The patients who are very serious are compelled to stay in the hospital as they are kept on life-support machine. Such patients desperately want to go home and be with family members but are forced to spend their last days in the hospital rooms.
iii. Common Attitude:
Answer:
The children are very much touched with the sorrowful conditions of the patients. They get emotional and want to do everything possible to help these patients.
iv. Common Solutions:
Answer:
The determined children come up with various solutions to help the desperate patients. They also take guidance from their elders. In this story, the students come up with a solution of buying a ventilator so that the patients can return home and be with their family members in their last days. The children work hard unitedly for a common cause.
Question 2:
Read Part I and after discussing with your partner answer the following questions.
i. Answer in short.
a. Who were forced to stay in the hospital?
Answer:
Patients strapped on to life-support machines were forced to stay in the hospital.
b. Where did the school trip go?
Answer:
The school trip went to Singapore’s Tan Tock Seng Hospital.
c. Who organized the school trip?
Answer:
The Crescent Girls’ School organized the school trip.
d. What was decided in the CCA?
Answer:
In the CCA, it was decided to raise enough money to buy at least one ventilator for one of the patients at the hospital.
e. Where did the students search, for the life-saving machine?
Answer:
The students searched for the life-saving machine on the internet.
ii. Answer in one or two sentences each.
a. Why were the patients desperate to go to their homes?
Answer:
The patients were desperate to go to their homes because they wanted to be with their family members, but were forced to spend their last days in that horribly impersonal hospital rooms with nauseatingly clinical smell. There was not a bit of colour or brightness to bring some cheer in a dying person’s life. Even if they had to die, they wanted to be with familiar things and known people around them, instead of the cold scary hospital ward.
b. What did the video show?
Answer:
The video showed about the VAIs or ventilator-assisted patients who couldn’t go home even if they were dying because their lives depended on an ugly beeping machine.
c. What did the search reveal?
Answer:
The students made a quick search about the ventilator machine on the internet, along with several phone calls. It revealed that it was very expensive.
d. How could the girls gather funds for the desperate patients?
Answer:
The girls decided to hold a charity car wash in the school to gather funds for the desperate patients. It was also decided to hold street sales of handmade straw heart pins of different colours to raise funds.
iii. Answer in a short paragraph your own response.
a. Why do you think the school girls wanted to help the patients?
Answer:
The girls were very much shocked to see the pitiful condition of the dying patients in the hospital. They could not bear the fact that these patients were all alone in the impersonal rooms with nauseatingly clinical smell. Hence, they wanted to help the patients by bringing a bit of cheer and brightness in their lives.
Question 3:
Helping patients
The students in the story have done various activities in order to help the suffering patients. In pairs, discuss the help given and complete the web.
Answer:
i. discussion with teachers and classmates
ii. checked on the internet and made several phone calls to get information about ventilator
iii. volunteers from different schools were briefed and involved in the cause
iv. applied to Citi-YMCA Youth for Causes programme for seed funding of SG$ 1,600
v. organized a mammoth straw heart pin-making session
vi. held a street sale of handmade heart pins
vii. organized a charity car wash in school
viii. brought a ventilator
Question 4:
Cum
Look at the sentence and the underlined word.
It would be just another boring lecture-cum-tour.
i. What does the underlined word mean?
Answer:
The underlined word means ‘together with/combined with’. It is used between two nouns to designate an object of a combined nature.
ii. Find some more examples from the various sources and write.
Answer:
Restaurant-cum-bar; attic-cum-studio; driver- cum-tour guide; kitchen-cum-dining-room; sofa-cum-bed, etc.
Question 5:
Guess
Following are some of the guesses about what may have happened in Part II. Put a tick mark ( Z) for the alternative that you agree. Do this activity before reading Part II.
i. Girls were unable to collect money.
ii. Girls dropped the plan of helping patients.
iii. Girls forgot their plan and discussion.
iv. Collected money by charity work to achieve their goal.
Answer:
iv. Collected money by charity work to achieve their goal.
Question 6:
Read Part II and after discussing with your partner answer the following questions.
i. Answer in short
a. Who guided the Team Fireflies?
Answer:
Ms. Chia and Ms. Sarabhai guided the Team Fireflies.
b. When was the street sale organized?
Answer:
The street sale was organized on 8th August 2012.
c. Who planned the street sale?
Answer:
Zoe, Ada, Geraldine and Jacqueline planned the street sale.
d. How many volunteers were selected for the charity car wash programme?
Answer:
Fifty student volunteers were selected for the charity car wash programme.
e. How much money was earned by the students in a week?
Answer:
SG$ 4,643.40 was earned by the students in a week.
ii. Answer in one or two sentences each.
a. What were the reactions of the students who joined the heart pin¬making session?
Answer:
The students who joined the heart pin¬making session felt that it was great to be making a difference to the lives of VAI patients. The idea of helping someone made them feel warm all over. There was an involvement of a lot of students who spread awareness among the people.
b. How was the car washing done by the girls?
Answer:
Out of the 50 volunteers who were selected, very few actually knew the proper way to wash cars. Not all the cars were dirty, but the girls scrubbed away with a will. Their skirts became muddy and they were praised by the car-owners for their work. One of the car-owners said that their work was better than that done at the petrol stations.
c. What were the reactions of the car owners after the car-washing was done by the girls?
OR
How did the car owners react after the car washing?
Answer:
The car owners had words of praise for the girls. Mr. Khan said that the girls cleaned and washed his car better than the people at the petrol stations. Ms. Tan asked them whether they would be there next week also, so that she could get her car washed again.
Question 7:
Compare and Contrast
You have read the story ‘Help Me Go Home’. Now, form pairs/groups and compare your school with the Crescent Girls’ School, Singapore. Fill in the information in given table.
Answer:
[Note: Students can compare their school with the Crescent Girls ’ school on their own.]
Question 8:
Expressing oneself
Your teacher will arrange for a debate on the issue “Students should take part in the social work”. Work in groups of four students each and discuss your responses to the following questions. After the discussion get ready for the debate. Make use of some of the starters given in the table.
i. Do you think co-curricular activities should be organized in the schools?
Answer:
I think that co-curricular activities form a major part in a student’s education. They should be organized because these activities
help it, an all-round development of a student’s personality. For example, arranging adventurous sports may help in developing sportsman spirit, courage, decision-making power, presence of mind, etc. in a student.
ii. Should the students take part in community/public welfare activities?
Answer:
Yes, the students should take part in community / public welfare activities. In my opinion, public welfare activities should also be a part of such co-curricular activities as they make the students aware about the society in which they live and inspires them to act for its betterment. For instance, tree plantation activity helps them to understand the importance of afforestation in today’s date.
iii. Should the students become members / volunteers of social organizations?
Answer:
Yes, I feel students should become members / volunteers of social organizations.
iv. What are the various public welfare activities that can be done by the students of the schools?
Answer:
Public welfare activities such as visit to old- age homes, tree plantation programmes, cleanliness drives, etc. can be done by the students of the schools.
v. Why should the students give more time for their social work?
Answer:
Students should give more time for their social work as such activities develop a sense of responsibility among the students and they learn the values of co-operation, unity, love, care, etc.
Such activities, therefore, should be promoted to a greater extent.
[Note: Students may take the guidelines from the above discussion and conduct a debate as an oral activity in the classroom.]
Question 9:
Role play
Discuss with your partner and prepare the complete story in the form of a dialogue or a short play.
• Decide on the characters, their names, their role
• Decide on the dialogues, expressions, words, etc.
Answer:
Scene 1
(On the way to the school while returning back from a trip to Singapore’s Tan Tock Seng Hospital)
Ada (in a : It’s very saddening that these queasy patients on ventilator have to stay
voice) in such horribly impersonal hospital rooms, with drab walls and nauseatingly clinical smell. Can’t they take those machines home?
Jacqueline : I agree with you. They need to take these machines home. Even if they have to die, at least they’ll be at their home with familiar things and known people around them, instead of that cold scary hospital ward!
Ms. Chia : That would be an ideal solution for (putting her each of these patients. However, arm around ventilators are expensive machines Jacqueline) and these ones belong to the hospital. So, there is no option.
Zoe : But can’t we do something? I mean, we are young and strong.
Geraldine : Yes, we should do something – help them somehow.
Grace : I agree. Now that we know all this, we shouldn’t sit back and do nothing!
Ms. : All right. Let’s discuss this in the Sarabhai school and figure out if there is some way in which you can help these patients.
Scene 2 (At the school)
Ms. Chia : The main aim of this CCA session is to find out a way to raise the money for buying at least one ventilator for one of the patients at the hospital.
Zoe : Let me check the cost of a ventilator machine on the internet.
Ada : Okay. Till then, I’ll call my dad.
He has many friends who are doctors. Let’s see if we can get some more information about it.
(After a quick search on the internet for the ventilator)
Students : The ventilator seems to be very expensive.
Students : Its true. But, we will not give up.
We will raise the money somehow.
Jacqueline : Let’s go to some houses and help people with housework. In return, they may give us some money.
Geraldine : Let’s conduct a charity car wash our school. It may help.
Zoe : Let’s conduct a street sale of handmade straw heart pins of different colours to raise the funds.
Ms. Chia : Heart pin sale is a great idea. This
way, we can involve many students in making the pins and we can spread awareness of the cause as well, especially among those who buy them.
Scene 3 (Street sale)
Natalia : To know that we are actually helping someone makes me feel warm all over.
Quek : Before this, I hadn’t even heard of VAI patients,- but it’s great to be making a difference in their lives.
Ms. : Firstly, we need to understand our Sarabhai work properly. Along with the sale,
we need to spread the awareness about the cause. Got it girls?
All : Yes, Ma’am. We’ll try our best. (in one voice)
Scene 4 (After the sale)
Ms. Chia : What a grand success! I was glad to see all the pins getting sold in no time.
Zoe : Yes, at the end, we were left with no stock but a big pile of money, instead.
Lai : I didn’t really care about these patients before, but now I have leamt a lot about them and also helped them. It’s kind of empowering. And that feels good!
Zoe and Ada (happily): Glad to have you among us, Lai.
Scene 5 (Charity car wash)
(Car-washing activity of the girls got them not only the funds but also a lot of appreciation)
Mr. Khan : You clean better than the petrol stations!
Ms. Tan : Yes, you do! Will you be here next week so I can get my car washed again?
(Girls giggled among themselves) (After some time)
Geraldine : I am glad that we could collect the entire necessary amount through these activities. It feels great to think that we will now be able to help the patients.
All : Yes, we feel the same. (in one voice)
Question 10:
Punctuation
i. Go through the following sentences carefully and find out whether there is any difference between both the sentences. If any, what is it due to?
Answer:
In sentence (a), Raju is addressing his Daddy and suggesting that they eat.
In sentence (b), it seems Raju is suggesting to someone that they eat Daddy.
Though the words used in both the sentences are same, the difference in their meaning is the result of the use of punctuation marks.
A comma after the word ‘eat’ separates it from the word ‘daddy’ to suggest that Raju is addressing his ‘Daddy’.
We find no such comma between the words ‘eat’ and ‘Daddy’ in sentence (b).
ii. Observe the changes in the following joke carefully and discuss with your partner the questions given in the following box.
Discuss
a. Do both the sentences convey the same meaning?
Answer:
No, they don’t convey the same meaning.
b. What makes them different?
Answer:
The difference in the usage of punctuation marks (commas, inverted commas) makes them different.
c. What is the purpose of all these marks / signals?
Answer:
The purpose of these marks/signals is to express pauses in a sentence.
d. Are these marks essential in a sentence?
Answer:
Yes, these marks are very essential in a sentence. Without them, a sentence may not convey the meaning that it intends to.
iii. Go through the following sentences carefully and working in pairs, use the correct marks wherever essential.
a. Zoe said, “we should help the patients go home shouldnt we”!
Answer:
Zoe said, “We should help the patients go home, shouldn’t we?”
b. “what a great social work? said Jacqueline
Answer:
“What a great social work!” said Jacqueline.
c. namit sarabhai said, “lets discuss this plan at the school!”
Answer:
Namit Sarabhai said, “Let’s discuss this plan at the school.”
d. mr khan exclaimed, “how beautiful it is to get our cars cleaned from you all?
Answer:
Mr. Khan exclaimed, “How beautiful it is to get our cars cleaned from you all!”
e. is it difficult to collect such a huge amount,” doubted Shu hui.
Answer:
“Is it difficult to collect such a huge amount?” doubted Shu Hui
Question 11:
Letter to a pen-pal
Imagine that one of the characters in the story that you have read is your friend. Write a letter to him/her. Make use of the following points:
i. your impressions regarding what they have done
ii. enquire about their plans
iii. show your readiness to help
iv. ask how they made it happen successfully
v. ask about the difficulties they experienced
vi. ask for their help in carrying out your plans
Answer:
A/42, Meghana Apts, Near Shree Mandir. Navingaon,
Amravati – 412 251. 22nd December, 2013.
Dear Zoe,
Today, I am feeling proud to hear about your contribution to a great cause. I felt happy when my mother informed me about your active participation in the project. I got to know that you collected money to buy ventilators for the patients, who were desperate to go back home. Hats off to the spirit of selfless concern that you showed.
I just wonder how you managed to collect such a huge amount. It must have been difficult. How did you manage to raise the seed fund for the project and then get the basic training in making heart pins? I would like to hear about all your efforts, right from the beginning. Also, you were successful in getting the blessings and appreciation from people. I would like to be a part of such projects in the future. Even my friends are willing to lend a helping hand.
I am planning to start a project that would provide the poor with some medical help from medical stores. These medical stores can keep a drop box in their shops, so that people can donate their unused medicines in there. They would need to keep a check on the expiry date of the medicines. I would need your guidance in this project. I am sure you will be willing to help.
Waiting for your reply.
Your loving friend,
ABC