Begumpet, Hyderabad, Telangana-500 016

UNIT TEST I – 2022 - 2023

Class 9
Revision Worksheet
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Television & The Merchant of Venice

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

Q.1. They sit and stare and stare and sit

Until they’re hypnotised by it,
Until they’re absolutely drunk
With all that shocking ghastly junk.
Oh yes, we know it keeps them still,
They don’t climb out the window sill,
They never fight or kick or punch,
They leave you free to cook the lunch
And wash the dishes in the sink —
But did you ever stop to think,
To wonder just exactly what
This does to your beloved tot?

1. How does this stanza describe children’s fascination with television?

2. How does children’s habit of watching TV give some relief to their elders in the
house?
3. What does the phrase ‘all that shocking ghastly junk’ imply in this stanza?
4. Who are the people directly addressed by the poet in the last three lines? Do they
have a particular identity?
5. What message does the poet want to give his readers?

Q.2. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

IT ROTS THE SENSE IN THE HEAD!

IT KILLS IMAGINATION DEAD!
IT CLOGS AND CLUTTERS UP THE MIND!
IT MAKES A CHILD SO DULL AND BLIND
HE CAN NO LONGER UNDERSTAND
A FANTASY, A FAIRYLAND!
HIS BRAIN BECOMES AS SOFT AS CHEESE!
HIS POWERS OF THINKING RUST AND FREEZE!
HE CANNOT THINK — HE ONLY SEES!
1. What do the personal pronouns ‘IT’ and ‘HE’ signify in this stanza?

2. Why are the lines of this stanza written in capitals?

3. What is the message that the poet wants to give here?

4. Why does the poet think that a child cannot understand a fantasy or fairyland?

5. ‘HE CANNOT THINK—HE ONLY SEES!’ What does this line suggest?

Q.3. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

‘All right!’ you’ll cry. ‘All right!’ you’ll say,

‘But if we take the set away,
What shall we do to entertain
Our darling children? Please explain!’
We’ll answer this by asking you,
‘What used the darling ones to do?
‘How used they keep themselves contented
Before this monster was invented?’

1. Comment on the style of expression employed by the poet in this stanza.

2. Who are referred to as ‘you’ and ‘we’ in this stanza?

3. How does the poet express the dilemma suffered by the parents?

4. Why does the poet use the word ‘monster’ in the last line? What does it signify?

5. Which point does the poet try to stress here?

Q.4. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

Have you forgotten? Don’t you know?

We’ll say it very loud and slow:
THEY… USED… TO… READ! They’d READ and READ,
AND READ and READ, and then proceed
To READ some more. Great Scott! Gadzooks!
One half their lives was reading books!
The nursery shelves held books galore!
Books cluttered up the nursery floor!

1. Who are the people addressed in this stanza? What does the poet speak of?
2. What does the poet suggest as an alternative to the harmful practice of watching TV
continuously?

3. Explain the line: ‘We’ll say it very loud and slow’.

4. What is the significance of capitalising some words in this stanza?

5. Which famous writer has been referred to as ‘the great Scott’?

Q.5. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

And in the bedroom, by the bed,

More books were waiting to be read!
Such wondrous, fine, fantastic tales
Of dragons, gypsies, queens, and whales
And treasure isles, and distant shores
Where smugglers rowed with muffled oars,
And pirates wearing purple pants,
And sailing ships and elephants,
And cannibals crouching ’round the pot,
Stirring away at something hot.
(It smells so good, what can it be?
Good gracious, it’s Penelope.)

1. Explain the first two lines of this stanza.

2. What types of tales were read by children in the past? How were they useful for their
young readers?

3. How was the world depicted in the fantasies different from the one that is shown in
the TV programmes?

4. Fantasies serve as a productive and interesting pastime that stirs the imagination of
children. In which other way are they beneficial for the children?

Q.6. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

The younger ones had Beatrix Potter

With Mr. Tod, the dirty rotter,
And Squirrel Nutkin, Pigling Bland,
And Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle and
Just How The Camel Got His Hump,
And How the Monkey Lost His Rump,
And Mr. Toad, and bless my soul,
There’s Mr. Rat and Mr. Mole
Oh, books, what books they used to know,
Those children lived long ago!
1. Which period does this stanza talk about?

2. Which important features of reading before the invention of television does the poet
highlight here?

3. How does the poet respond to the practice of reading in the past?

4. Which age group of children can most easily relate to the fictional characters
mentioned in the stanza?

5. The name of which famous writer of children’s books has been mentioned in this
stanza?

Q.7. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

So please, oh please, we beg, we pray,

Go throw your TV set away,
And in its place you can install
A lovely bookshelf on the wall.
Then fill the shelves with lots of books,
Ignoring all the dirty looks,
The screams and yells, the bites and kicks,
And children hitting you with sticks

1. Explain these opening lines of the stanza: So please, oh please, we beg, we pray, Go
throw your TV set away.

2. What does the poet want the parents to replace the TV set with? Why?

3. What does the poet mean by the phrase ‘ignoring all the dirty looks’?

4. What does the concluding couplet of this stanza suggest about the response of
children to the initiative taken by their parents?

5. Parents play a major role in shaping the future of their children. How does this
assumption get reflected here?

Q.8. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

Fear not, because we promise you

That, in about a week or two
Of having nothing else to do,
They’ll now begin to feel the need
Of having something to read.

1. What does the phrase ‘Fear not’ suggest about the mental state of people to whom
this stanza is addressed?
2. Explain the concluding couplet: They’ll now begin to feel the need Of having
something to read.

3. What does the poet’s promise relate to?

4. Comment on the tone of conversation adopted by the poet.

5. Why does the poet feel that children should be compelled to have ‘nothing else to do’,
in order to understand the importance and joy of reading books?

Q.9. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

And once they start — oh boy, oh boy!

You watch the slowly growing joy
That fills their hearts.
They’ll grow so keen
They’ll wonder what they’d ever seen
In that ridiculous machine,
That nauseating, foul, unclean,
Repulsive television screen!
And later, each and every kid
Will love you more for what you did.
1. What kind of emotional response does the first line of the stanza convey? When will
this response be noticeable?

2. What has been referred to in this stanza as ‘that ridiculous machine’?

3. How does this stanza speak of the maturing of children’s realisation regarding their
newly acquired habit?

4. Why, according to the poet, will the children start loving their parents?

5. Describe a few qualities that the parents should have, if they want positive change in
their children as suggested here.

The Merchant of Venice

Antonio:
In sooth, I know not why I'm so sad :
It wearies me; you say it wearies you;
But how I caught it, found it, or came by it,
What stuff 'tis made of, whereof it is born,
I am to learn;
And such a want-wit sadness makes of me,
That I have much ado to know myself.
1. To whom are these words addressed? Where are the characters?

2. Explain : 'And such a want-wit sadness makes of me,

That I have much ado to know myself.

3. Explain the meaning of the given extract.

4. What reasons does his friend give for Antonio's state of mind?

5. What purpose does Shakespeare achieve by beginning the play in this manner?

Salarino:
Your mind is tossing on the ocean,
There where your argosies with portly sail,
Like signiors and rich burghers on the flood,
Or, as it were, the pageants of the sea,
Do overpeer the petty traffickers,
That courtesy to them, do them reverence,
As they fly by them with their woven wings.

1. Who is being addressed? Apart from the two characters, who else is there with them?
2. To what remarks of the listener, does Salarino make these comments? To what are the
ships compared? How do the ships move? What is meant by 'petty traffickers'? What do
they do when they see the argosies?

3. Give the meanings of :

(a) Argosies
(b) Pageants of the sea
(c) Woven Wings

4. How would have Salanio behaved if he had such Argosies on the sea? What would
have made him sad?

5. Do you think these are the reasons which make Antonio sad? Give reasons.

6. What idea does the reader get about Antonio's financial status? What is its
significance in play?
Salarino:
My wind, cooling my broth,
Would blow me to an ague, when I thought
What harm a wind too great might do at sea.
I should not see the sandy hour-glass run
But I should think of shallows and of flats,
And see my wealthy Andrew dock'd in sand
Vailing her high-top lower than her ribs
To kiss her burial.
1. What would be the feelings of the speaker if he saw the wind cooling his broth?
2. What is meant by 'sandy hour-glass'? How would the speaker feel if he saw the hour
glass?
3. Give the meanings of :
(a) Ague
(b) Shallows and flats
(c) Wealthy Andrew

4. What is referred to as 'Wealthy Andrew'? Why is it so?

5. How does Antonio reply to his speech?

Salarino:
Should I go to church
And see the holy edifice of stone,
And not bethink me straight of dangerous rocks,
Which touching but my gentle vessel's side
Would scatter all her spices on the stream,
Enrobe the roaring waters with my silks;
And, in a word, but even now worth this,
And now worth nothing ?

1. How would Salarino feel if he went to a church?

2. Bring out the context of the extract.
3. What is the 'holy edifice'? What will it signify to him ? What is the symbolic meaning
of the comparison drawn?
4. Explain the following: 'but even now worth this and now worth nothing'
5. Give meanings of :
(a) My gentle vessel's side
(b) Enrobe the roaring waters
Salarino:
Now, by two-headed Janus,
Nature hath framed strange fellows in her time :
Some that will evermore peep through their eyes,
And laugh like parrots at a bag-piper;
That they'll not show their teeth in way of smile,
Though Nestor swears the jest is laughable.

1. Explain the comparison drawn out with Janus?

2. Who is Nestor? Why is he mentioned here?
3. Explain :
(a) Laugh like parrots at a bagpiper
(b) Vinegar aspect
4. What conclusion does Salarino come to with the sadness of Antonio?
5. Comment on the parting remark of Salarino.

Gratiano:
Let me play the fool :
With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come,
And let my liver rather heat with wine
Than my heart cools with mortifying groans.
Why should a man, whose blood is warm within,
Sit like his grandsire cut in alabaster,
Sleep when he wakes, and creep into the jaundice
By being peevish?

1. What observation had Gratiano earlier made regarding Antonio? Is he correct in his
observations?

2. To what comment made by Antonio does Gratiano give this reply? Who else is there
with Gratiano at this moment?

3. What does the speaker prefer to do? What does it depict about his character?

4. Give the meaning of: And let my liver --------------groans.

5. Explain : 'grandsire cut in alabaster' and 'creep into the jaundice by being peevish'.
6. What's the Elizabethan belief about jaundice?

Gratiano:
There are a sort of men whose visages
Do cream and mantle like a standing pond,
And do a wilful stillness entertain,
With purpose to be dress'd in an opinion
Of wisdom, gravity, profound conceit,
As who should say, 'I am Sir Oracle,
And when I ope my lips, let no dog bark!'

1. According to Gratiano, why is he speaking in such a stern manner? To whom are these
words being addressed to?
2. What sorts of men are described here? How do they look?
3. Explain- "Do cream and mantle like a standing pool".
4. According to the speaker, why do some men put on an air of solemnity?
5. Later on he refers to gudgeon. In what context is he referred to? What opinion do you
get of Gratiano from this scene? What does Lorenzo say later about him?
6. How does Gratiano prefer to have wrinkles? Why? Give another instance where he
reveals his preference for enjoying life. What does he say about grandfather cut in
alabaster?
7. Explain: (a) 'I am Sir Oracle' (b) Let no dog bark
Answer
(a) 'I am Sir Oracle'- Sir Oracle is the wisest and most respected person, who can
prophesy the future

(b) Let no dog bark- They are the dogs that should stop barking.

8. What was Gratiano's advice to Antonio at the end of his speech? Briefly.

Bassanio:
'Tis not unknown to you, Antonio,
How much I have disabled mine estate,
By something showing a more swelling port
Than my faint means would grant continuance :
Nor do I now make moan to be abridg'd
From such a noble rate.

1. To what inquiry of Antonio does the speaker make this reply? What details do you get
about the lady later in this scene?
2. What does Bassanio mean by 'disabled mine estate'? Why does he say this?
3. What do you understand by the term 'to be abridged'? Why is Bassanio forced to
abridge? Does he feel sorry for it? What does this show of his character? What is his chief
care now?
4. How much does Bassanio rate Antonio in his affection and respect?
5. What opinions have you formed about the speaker's character ?

Bassanio:
In my school-days, when I had lost one shaft,
I shot his fellow of the self-same flight
The self-same way with more advised watch,
To find the other forth; and by adventuring both,
I oft found

1. In what context does Bassanio speak these words?

2. Bring out the meaning of the extract. What does he want to establish with this
childhood
example?
3. What aspect of the speaker's personality is revealed here?
4. What assurance does the speaker give here?
5. How does Antonio respond to these words?

Bassanio:
Nor is the wide world ignorant of her worth,
For the four winds blow in from every coast
Renowned suitors; and her sunny locks
Hang on her temples like a golden fleece;
Which makes her seat of Belmont Colchis' strand,
And many Jasons come in quest of her.
O my Antonio, had I but the means
To hold a rival place with one of them,
O my Antonio, had I but the means
To hold a rival place with one of them,
I have a mind presages me such thrift
That I should question less, be fortunate.

1. Who is the lady being talked about? Why is the speaker talking about her at this time?
2. Explain the meaning of 'Nor is the wide world ignorant of her worth, For the four
winds blow from every coast Renowned suitors'. To whom this lady has been compared
in the extract and what way?
3. Bring out the significance of 'golden fleece', 'Colchos strand' and 'Jason'.
4. What does Bassanio request his friend to do? How will the friend benefit from his
action?
5. How does his friend respond to this request?
6. How is this request of Bassanio going to affect Antonio's future?

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