Written as per the latest syllabus prescribed by the Maharashtra State Bureau of Textbook

Production and Curriculum Research, Pune.

STD. IX
ENGLISH
KUMARBHARATI

Salient Features
• Based on the New Paper Pattern
• Exhaustive coverage of the Latest Syllabus  Passage based Format
• Answers to Textual Questions along with Additional Questions for practice
• Glossary providing meanings of difficult and uncommon words
• Paraphrases of all Poems and Summaries of all Chapters
• Separate Sections on Grammar and Writing Skills, including Creative Writing
• Covers Activity based Questions  Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing

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P.O. No. 109401

TEID: 12553_JUP
No. Topic Name Page No.
UNIT ONE
Let’s Begin! 1
1.1 Life 2
1.2 A Synopsis – The Swiss Family Robinson 7
1.3 Have you ever seen …? 16
1.4 Have you thought of the verb ‘have’ … 20
1.5 The Necklace 22
UNIT TWO
2.1 Invictus 34
2.2 A True Story of Sea Turtles 37
2.3 Somebody’s Mother 47
2.4 The Fall of Troy 52
2.5 Autumn 64
2.6 The Past in the Present 69
UNIT THREE
3.1 Silver 78
3.2 Reading Works of Art 82
3.3 The Road Not Taken 90
3.4 How the First Letter was Written 95
UNIT FOUR
4.1 Please Listen! 104
4.2 The Storyteller 111
4.3 Intellectual Rubbish 120
4.4 My Financial Career 128
4.5 Tansen 133
GRAMMAR
1 Parts of Speech 139
2 Articles 141
3 Tenses 142
4 Modal Auxiliaries 145
5 Gerunds, Participles and Infinitives 147
6 Punctuations 149
7 Subject and Predicate 151
8 Clauses 152
9 Question Tags 154
10 Direct and Indirect Speech 155
11 Active and Passive Voice 157
12 Types of Sentences - I 159
13 Types of Sentences - II 161
14 Degrees of Comparison 163
15 Figures of Speech 165
 WRITING SKILLS
1 Unseen Passages 167
2 Summary Writing 174
3 Expansion of Theme 176
4 Interview Questions 179
5 Letter Writing 180
6 Dialogue Writing 183
7 Report Writing 185
8 Speech Writing 187
9 Views and Counterviews 189
10 Information Transfer 191
11 Creative Writing 195

Note: Textual questions are represented by * mark.

 Let’s Begin!
*1. Know your Teacher The student left, after the rest in the group are
Interview your teacher. Use the following out, is the winner.
points – Tip: The word excite can be stretched to
exciting instead of having it end with ‘e’.
 His / Her name
[Students are expected to attempt the above activity
 The qualities he / she likes best in his / her
on their own.]
students
*3. Priorities
 His / Her favourite English author / book /
Hold a discussion in the classroom to decide
film, etc.
your priorities for this year’s work. Together
 His / Her favourite teacher in school or
with your classmates and teacher, number the
college, and the reasons why he / she liked
following in order of priority. You may add
that teacher.
more features to this list.
 What your teacher would like you to focus
 pronunciation
on in Std IX.
 speaking
Ans: Questions to interview the teacher:  listening to English programmes on
 What is your good name, Sir / Madam? radio and TV
 Which qualities do you like the best in  searching something in English every day
your students?  learning rules of grammar
 Who is your favourite English author?  learning rules of punctuation
or  learning to correct your own work
Which is your favourite Hindi movie?  writing independently
or  memorising spellings
 copying words and lines from the
Which is your favourite book?
board / books
 Who was your favourite teacher in your (You may add to this list.)
school / college?
 What did you like about him / her? [Students are expected to attempt the above activity
on their own.]
 According to you, where should our
*4. En - trance
focus lie as the students of class IX?
Complete the following to empower
[Note: The above interview questions are given for yourself with words beginning with ‘En-’
reference. Students are expected to interview their e.g. English
teacher using them.] i. en (delight in) _______
ii. en (make best efforts) to _______
*2. The Bigger – the Better iii. en (improve) our _______
Form groups of ten students each, seated in a iv. en (ask to find out) about _______
circle. Keep your paper and pen ready. v. en (imagine) _______
At the start, the group leader begins by writing vi. en (make richer) our _______
any one letter of the alphabet and passes the vii. en (gain knowledge and understanding)
paper to the next. The second one should add a ourselves!
second letter, but make sure it does not spell a
Ans: i. enjoy ii. endeavour
complete word (an, be, is, etc.) and pass it to
the next. Each student should think and add a iii. enhance iv. enquire
letter to help form a bigger and bigger word. v. envisage vi. enrich
The spelling of the word should not end when vii. enlighten
he / she adds a letter. If it does, he / she is out. [Note: Students are expected to find more words
Then start with a new letter. beginning with ‘en-’ from the dictionary.]
1
1.1 Life
seems to engulf us, defeating all the hope around; we
Glossary must try to remain optimistic. In the poem, ‘hope’ is
compared to a bird with golden wings, who has
Words Meanings fallen, but has not been defeated. It still has wind
buoyant (adj) that which can rise upward under its bright wings and it can still steer us through
flit (v) to fly lightly all the sorrow and lead us to happiness. Hope is the
lament (v) express grief or regret strongest of all feelings that can get us through the
manfully (adv) bravely worst trials of our lives.
oft (adv) archaic form of often The poet concludes by saying that courage can
quell (v) end, suppress suppress pessimism and we can emerge victorious
sway (n) controlling influence despite all obstacles that pull us down, if we hold on
transient (adj) temporary to hope and courage in our lives.

Pre-reading Activities
About the Author

Charlotte Bronte (1816 – 1855), an English poet and *1. There are many popular lines like :
novelist, wrote under the pen-name Currer Bell. She • ‘Life is a game  play it well.’
was one of the famous Bronte sisters, who are known • ‘Life is a journey  keep going ahead.’
for their contribution to English literature. Her life Discuss and write down a few such metaphorical
was filled with difficulties and miseries. Many of her lines about ‘life’.
novels, including ‘Jane Eyre’ and ‘Shirley’ are You can make them up yourselves.
considered as classics and have been widely
acclaimed. She critically analysed the gender and Ans: i. Life is a ball  dance till you drop.
social roles of her times. ii. Life is a stage and we all have our parts
to play.
iii. Life is a game  play it.
Paraphrase
iv. Life is a mirror and your actions are
The poem ‘Life’, composed by Charlotte Bronte, your reflection.
conveys her thoughts about ‘life’. The poet has v. Life is a melody  play it well.
optimistically reversed pessimistic thoughts and *2. Prepare as many ‘acrostics’ using the word
attitude. LIFE, as you can. Two examples are given
In the beginning of the poem, she says that life is not below.
as gloomy or as painful a dream as some wise men
portray it to be. A few problems in the beginning i. Live
should be taken as a sign of a pleasant path ahead. In
Sometimes, sadness or dilemmas may blur the clarity Freedom
in our lives, but we should remember that like the Ever
grey clouds in the sky, they do not stay for long. The ii. Liberty
poet then goes on to say that we should not feel sad Integrity
when we are in difficult situations because rain will Fraternity
make a new rose bloom. The blooming of a rose is a Equality
metaphor for gaining success in life. It is important
to not get upset with failures as they are the stepping [You can turn it into a game, using a time-limit.
stones to success. We should remember to pick Make sure your acrostics are related to ‘life’.]
ourselves up and move ahead. We should not forget Ans:
to enjoy the small moments of joy and happiness i. Listen
because they pass by swiftly. Imbibe
The poet further says that even if we are consumed Feel
by grief over the loss of a loved one and sadness Empathise

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 Chapter 1.1: Life
ii. Lead Ans: i. pleasant day
Inspire ii. gloom
Foster iii. roses
Empower iv. sunny hours
[Note: The above answers are for reference.]
Complex / Understanding
*3. Listen carefully and write the word in the
*1. What do sages say?
appropriate column.
Ans: Sages say that life is a dark and gloomy
Positive Feelings Negative Feelings dream.
*2. What does the rain often foretell?
hopeful, lonely, happy, jealous, surprised, Ans: The rain often foretells a pleasant and happy
shy, loving, proud, cheerful, anxious, day.
nervous, excited, embarrassed, scared, silly, *3. What should we do during joyful times in
comfortable, peaceful, depressed, life?
enthusiastic, motivated, inspired, Ans: During the joyful times in our life, we should
threatened, crushed, angry cheerfully and gratefully enjoy each and every
Ans: moment.
Positive Feelings Negative Feelings *4. Pick out from the extract one line each that
cheerful, comfortable, angry, anxious, reflects an optimistic (positive) attitude and
enthusiastic, excited, crushed, depressed, pessimistic (negative) attitude.
happy, hopeful, inspired, embarrassed, jealous,
loving, motivated, lonely, nervous, proud, Optimism Pessimism
peaceful, surprised scared, shy, silly, _________________ _________________
threatened
Ans:
[Note: The above answers are for reference.
Students can classify the words based on their own.] Optimism Pessimism
“Oft a little morning “Life, believe, is not a
*4. It is possible to have both kinds of emotions
rain dream,”
(positive and negative feelings) at the same
time. Have you experienced it? Try to Foretells a pleasant
describe the situation in short. day:”
Ans: It is quite true that at times, our mind is
equally occupied with both positive and Vocabulary
negative feelings. I have this feeling often
during my exams. I feel both nervous and *1. Give other ‘-ly’ adverbs of similar meaning
excited when I start attempting a question for the following from the poem. Use a
paper. I think, I feel nervous because of the thesaurus if needed.
unpredictability of the questions and I feel
i. rapidly
excited because I get to test my knowledge.
ii. merrily
Extract I iii. gratefully
iv. cheerily
Read the extract from line 1 to 12 on page 3 of
your textbook and answer the following Ans: i. quickly
questions. ii. cheerfully
[“Life, believe, is .............................. as they fly.”] iii. thankfully
iv. happily
Simple Factual 2. List the rhyming words from the extract.
1. Complete the following sentences: Ans: i. say – day
i. A little morning rain foretells a _______ ii. gloom – bloom
ii. Clouds of _______ are transient. iii. all – fall
iii. The shower will make the _______ bloom. iv. merrily – cheerily
iv. Life’s _______ rapidly and merrily flit by. v. by – fly
3
 Std. IX: English Kumarbharati

Extract II
I Vocabulary
*1. Give other ‘-ly’ adverbs of similar meaning
Read the extract from line 13 to 24 on page 3 of for the following from the extract. Use a
your textbook and answer the following thesaurus if needed.
questions. i. manfully  ii. fearlessly 
[“What though ..........................quell despair!”] iii. gloriously iv. victoriously
Ans: i. bravely ii. boldly
Simple Factual iii. charmingly iv. successfully
1. Read the extract and match the following: 2. List the rhyming words from the extract.
Ans: i. in – win ii. away – sway
i. steps in a. buoyant iii. springs – wings iv. fell – well
ii. elastic springs b. death v. fearlessly – victoriously
iii. golden wings c. courage vi. bear – despair
iv. quell despair d. hope
Appreciation of the Poem
Ans: (i – b), (ii – d), (iii – a), (iv – c)
1. What does the title of the poem ‘Life’,
Complex / Understanding suggest?
Ans: The title of the poem ‘Life’ suggests that it
*1. What does ‘our Best’ refer to? deals with the theme of life.
Ans: ‘Our Best’ refers to our loved ones, including
2. Write the name of the author of the poem.
our parents, family members and friends.
Ans: The author of the poem ‘Life’ is Charlotte
*2. Why are the wings of hope ‘golden’? Bronte.
Ans: The wings of hope are ‘golden’ because they 3. What rhyme scheme does the poem ‘Life’
are bright and of exceptional value. The writer use?
has used this expression to highlight the Ans: The poem follows ‘abab’ rhyme scheme
positive worth of ‘hope’. except for the first stanza. The rhyme sheme
of the first stanza is ‘abcb’.
*3. Pick out from the extract, one line each that
4. Pick out your favourite lines from the poem.
reflects an optimistic (positive) attitude and
Ans: “For gloriously, victoriously,
pessimistic (negative) attitude. Can courage quell despair!”
Optimism Pessimism 5. What is the central idea of the poem ‘Life’?
_________________ _________________ Ans: The poem ‘Life’ elaborates that life is not full
of sorrow and gloom as the moments of pain
Ans: do not stay for long. The unhappy moments of
life always lead to cheerful hours. In the
Optimism Pessimism
poem, rain is used to represent pain and
“Still buoyant are her “And calls our Best
sorrow. The poet believes that as roses do not
golden wings,” away?”
bloom without rain, we cannot understand the
4. Is the treatment of the poem optimistic? meaning of happiness without experiencing
Ans: Yes, the treatment of the poem is optimistic. sadness. Hope is a glorious thing, which has
Though the poet has used some expressions the ability to defeat despair courageously.
which sound pessimistic, the notion of hope 6. Figures of speech.
recurs throughout the poem. In other words, *i. Pick out four examples of personification.
we can say that the poet wants to Write what is personified in each:
optimistically deal with the negative Ans: a. “What though death at times steps in,”
experiences of life. The poem elaborates that  ‘death’ is personified and given
the good things in life overshadow the bad here, the animate quality of ‘stepping
ones. The poet seems to believe in the idea in’:
that ‘tomorrow is another day’ and rejects b. “What though Sorrow seems to win,”
those notions which say that ‘tomorrow never  here, ‘sorrow’ is personified and
comes’. given the animate quality of ‘winning’.
44