Standing Up for Yourself | Question-Answer | Invitation to English 1 | CHSE Odisha | +2 1st Year
Standing Up for Yourself Question Answer CHSE Odisha | CHSE Odisha Class 11 Standing Up for Yourself Question Answer
UNIT – I
Think it out:
Question 1.
Is the narrator a child or an adult narrating his childhood experiences?
Answer:
The narrator is an adult narrating his childhood experiences.
Question 2.
Does the narrator have happy experiences in his childhood? Why/Why not?
Answer:
The narrator has both happy and unhappy experiences in his childhood. His parents were divorced. His mother left him. These circumstances made him lonely. The street became his teacher. He cultivated all bad habits. Another good habit he developed was the spirit of fearlessness which he has kept intact till today.
Question 3.
What was his relationship with his father?
Answer:
The narrator’s father lived somewhere in Kazakhstan with his new wife and hardly he got letters from his father. In short, there was no genuine relationship between father and son.
Question 4.
How did his mother spend his time?
Answer:
His mother spent her time in singing and giving entertainment to the troops.
Question 5.
What does ‘my education was left to the street’ mean here?
Answer:
After the divorce, his father lived with his new wife and his mother spent time in singing and giving entertainment to the troops. As a result, he became lonely and the street became his master. It taught him both good and bad habits.
Question 6.
What were two habits that remained with him all his life?
Answer:
The two habits that remained with him all his life were his preparedness to face the battle of life at any moment and his spirit of fearlessness.
Question 7.
What in your opinion was the best lesson that the street taught to the writer?
Answer:
In my opinion, the best lesson that the street taught to the writer was the habit of fearlessness. It taught him not to fear anyone.
UNIT – II
Think it out :
Question 1.
What made Red look older than he really was?
Answer:
His big and broad shoulders made Red look older than he really was.
Question 2.
How did he roam in the street?
Answer:
He roamed carelessly in the street with his legs wide. He walked like a seaman on the floor of a ship.
Question 3.
How did he dress himself?
Answer:
He dressed himself in a peculiar manner. He put on a cap. From under his cap, the writer noticed its peak at the back of his head.
Question 4.
Did he intentionally dress and walk in the manner described?
Answer:
A villain as he was, Red intentionally dressed and walked in the manner described.
Question 5.
Why did his lieutenants also wear their caps back to front?
Answer:
His lieutenants also wore their caps back to front, because they, like Red, wanted to evoke fear in everyone’s mind.
Question 6.
What pet animal comes to your mind when you read the expression ‘tripped at his heels’?
Answer:
When we read the expression ‘tripped at his heels’, the pet animal that comes to my mind is a dog.
Question 7.
What was his way of forcing money out of other boys?
Answer:
His way of forcing money out of other boys was to stop them and say simply but firmly the one-word ‘money’.
Question 8.
How did he rule the street?
Answer:
He ruled the street by stopping any boy and saying simply but firmly nothing but the one word ‘money’. His hangers-on emptied his pockets, and they beat him ruthlessly in case he resisted.
Question 9.
Was the narrator afraid of Red? Quote the sentence from the text in support of your answer.
Answer:
The narrator was certainly afraid of Red. The line ‘So was /’ is a case in point.
UNIT – III
Think it out :
Question 1.
What was the first thing the narrator did to overcome his fear of Red?
Answer:
The first thing that the narrator did to overcome his fear of Red was to write a poem about him.
Question 2.
How did the people in the street respond to the poem?
Answer:
The people in the street learnt the poem by heart. They were filled with great joy and excitement. Their hatred for Red ruled the most.
Question 3.
Explain the expression ‘triumphant hatred’.
Answer:
The narrator’s poem about Red filled the people in the street with great joy and excitement. They gave up their fear of Red and expressed their hatred for him with great satisfaction.
Question 4.
How did Red sneer at the narrator?
Answer:
Red addressed the narrator as a poet slowly with a mischievous smile on his face. He commented sarcastically that at last he wrote verses and asked if they rhymed.
Question 5.
What was the result of his first encounter with Red?
Answer:
Red struck the narrator’s head with a metal covering for the knuckles. As a result, he fell down with blood gushing out of his head and lost consciousness. He was confined to bed for several days. This was the result of his first encounter with Red.
Question 6.
‘This was my first remuneration as a poet’ – was the narrator happy with his reward as a poet?
Answer:
The narrator was not happy at all with his reward as a poet.
Question 7.
What was a more difficult situation for the narrator: to be injured by Red or to overcome his fear of Red when he saw Red after his injury?
Answer:
A more difficult situation for the narrator was overcoming his fear when he saw Red after his injury.
Question 8.
What was the result of his second encounter with Red?
Answer:
The result of his second encounter with Read was his determination to defeat the fear of Red despite suffering shame and experiencing futile anger at his cowardice.
UNIT – IV
Think it out :
Question 1.
How did the narrator train himself to grow stronger?
Answer:
To grow stronger, the narrator trained himself with a pair of parallel bars meant for gymnastic exercises. Besides, he resorted to weights.
Question 2.
How did he get a textbook on ju-jitsu?
Answer:
He got a textbook on ju-jitsu in exchange of a week’s ration card.
Question 3.
How long did he train himself before the final encounter with Red?
Answer:
He trained himself for three weeks before the final encounter with Red.
Question 4.
Where did the final encounter take place? What was Red doing then?
Answer:
The final encounter took place on the lawn in their yard, when Red was lost in playing a card game called vingt-et-un with his hangers-on.
Question 5.
How did the narrator attack Red?
Answer:
The narrator kicked and scattered cards played by Red and his lieutenants.
Question 6.
How did Red react to the narrator’s attack?
Answer:
Red reacted to the narrator’s attack in a state of surprise and asked him mockingly if he was looking for more.
Question 7.
How did the narrator tackle Red?
Answer:
The narrator tackled Red by making a fast sudden blow to him. Confused, he came towards the former furiously. The narrator cut him to size by catching his wrist and squeezing slowly.
Question 8.
How did Red suffer at the hands of the narrator?
Answer:
Crying loudly in pain, Red rolled on the ground. His fingers suffered injuries. The narrator made him sob and rub the tears over his small-pox-marked face with his dirty fist.
Question 9.
What lesson did the narrator learn during his encounter with a bully like Red?
Answer:
During his encounter with a bully like Red, the narrator learns that one needn’t be afraid of the strong. Besides, it is imperative for all to know the technique of vanquishing them.
Question 10.
What career did the narrator prepare himself for?
Answer:
The narrator prepared himself for becoming a poet. Besides writing poems, he should defend their themes at any cost.
Question 11.
Which of these do you think is true: courage means not having fear at all or courage means conquering fear? Justify your choice.
Answer:
I think courage means conquering fear. The narrator’s strong determination to defeat Red, the ruler of the street, bore a fruitful result and Red was defeated by him. This is a glittering example on point.
Post-Reading Activities:
Doing the Words
(A) In order to understand what you are reading from an English text, you need to guess the meaning of unfamiliar words/expressions from the context. Guess at the meaning of words from the way it is used in the sentences/text below. This will help you read faster and easier.
Question (i).
Alexander was so good with horses that he could ride any horse masterfully.
(clue: Did Alexander behave as a ‘master’ ?)
Answer:
skilfully
Question (ii).
His courage used to bewilder many including his father. One example was when he tried to master Bucephalus, an unruly horse, everyone was bewildered at his behavior.
(clue: Bigger words come from smaller ones whose meaning you would know: be + wild + er. ‘wild’ is something that we don’t know.)
Answer:
confuse
Question (iii).
He never worked as a lieutenant in the Greek army but was always its leader.
(clue: Is a lieutenant senior or junior to the leader of an army ?)
Answer:
sub-ordinate
Question (iv).
Alexander wanted to conquer the whole world. He actually conquered most of it.
(clue: Is it to rule or defeat ?)
Answer:
rule
Question (v).
Although he died very young, his military achievement was impressive.
(clue: Bigger words come from smaller ones that you may know, impress + ive. Was Alexander’s achievement remarkable or ordinary ?)
Answer:
remarkable
(B) Some words are in italics in each of the following sentences, and three different meanings are given below the sentence. Identify the meaning that best fits the words in italics.
Question 1.
What matters in the struggle for life is overcoming fear?
(i) present situation
(ii) have an important effect
(iii) problems
Answer:
(ii) have an important effect
Question 2.
Most of the play is written in verse.
(i) prose
(ii) dialogues
(iii) poetry
Answer:
(iii) poetry
Question 3.
We have decided to complete the project at whatever cost.
(i) no matter what the risk or loss may be
(ii) without considering how much money is needed
(iii) in the least expensive way
Answer:
(i) no matter what the risk or loss may be
Question 4.
I know for certain that daffodils bloom in Spring.
(i) want to make sure
(ii) know without a doubt
(iii) declare with confidence
Answer:
(ii) know without a doubt
Question 5.
She has made up her mind to buy a car this month.
(i) hoped
(ii) decided
(iii) thought
Answer:
(ii) decided
Question6.
We must stand up for what is right even if we are standing alone.
(i) defend
(ii) represent
(iii) face boldly
Answer:
(i) defend
(C) Mark the use of ‘heel’ in “Two or three lieutenants, in peaked caps back to front like Red’s, tripped at his heels.” Look up the word ‘heel’ in the dictionary. Study the meanings of ‘heel’ in the following idiomatic expressions. Use each of them in a sentence of your own.
(a) take to one’s heels – To run away
(b) on the heels of – Following closely behind somebody
(c) cool one’s heels – Completely controlled by somebody
(d) kick up one’s heels – To be relaxed and enjoy yourself
(e) turn on one’s heels – To turn around suddenly
(f) head over heels – Loving somebody very much
(g) come to heel – To agree to obey somebody and accept his order
(h) show a clean pair of heels
Answer:
(a) take to one’s heels – The two suspicious-looking men standing outside the jeweler’s shop took to their heels when the police car drew up.
(b) on the heels of – TV camera team arrived on the heels of the police.
(c) cool one’s heels – The interviewer hadn’t arrived, so the Secretary kept the four of us cooling our heels in the corridor for hours.
(d) kick up one’s heels – They were forced to keep up their heels for nearly an hour.
(e) turn on one’s heels – She turned on her heel and went back to her room.
(f) head over heels – They met in 2000 and felt head over heels in love.
(g) come to heel – A few government rebels refused to come to heel and had to be expelled from the party.
(h) show a clean pair of heels – Butler showed them all a clean pair of heels as he raced for the finishing line.