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Chapter 2.4 Please Listen!

Textbook Questions and Answers

Warming up!

Chit-chat:

• What makes you laugh?
• What makes you angry?
• What makes you sad?
• What makes you happy?

Twenty Questions:

Form groups of 6-8. One person (leader) chooses one item – a picture, a paragraph or a lesson from any one of the 9th standard textbooks and writes the reference on a slip of paper and folds it. Others ask him/her questions and try to guess what it is, from his/her answers. Follow the rules given below.

• The maximum number of questions the rest of the group can ask is 20.
• You cannot ask a direct question like ‘What do you have in mind?’
• You can ask ‘Wh-’ questions or ‘Yes/no’ questions.
• The leader has to give truthful answers.

Agreements and Disagreements:

Form pairs. list the things on which you have the same opinion and also the ones on which you have different opinion Prepare a list of ten things In all and see how far you agree or disagree with your friend. Some useful phrases are given alongside.
You could talk about:

• Clothes, latest fashion.
• Performance of sportsmen and women.
• Trafflcfrransport In your area.
• Cleanliness and hygiene In your area.
• Future occupatIons/Careers.
• Latest news Items.
• TV programmes
• Mobile Apps
• Any subject of your choice.

Question 1.
Form pairs. List the things on which you have some opinion and also the ones on which you have different opinions. Prepare a list of ten things in all and see how far you agree or disagree with your friend. Use the phrases given in the margin of the textbook page no. 50:
Answer:
Performance of sportsmen and sportswomen

English Workshop:

1. Complete the following with the help of the lines of the poem.
When I ask you to listen to me, you start doing –
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………

Question 1.
Complete the following with the help of the lines of the poem.
Answer:

1. Abby and Billy Graham will get advice in the same newspaper.
2. I may be discouraged and faltering but not helpless according to the poet.
3. If you accept a simple fact that I feel what I feel, I can stop trying to convince you.
4. When you do something for me that I need to do for myself, you contribute to my fear and inadequacy.
5. The poet is aware that God is mute and he doesn’t give advice or try to fix things.
6. Irrational feelings make sense when we understand what is behind them.

2. Write the opposites (antonyms) of the following.

Question 1.
Write the opposites (antonyms) of the following.
(a) cheap × …………..
(b) discouraged × …………..
(c) inadequacy × …………..
(d) accept × …………..
(e) simple × …………..
(f) irrational × …………..
(g) understand × …………..
(h) clear × …………..
Answer:
(a) cheap × costly
(b) discouraged × encouraged
(c) inadequacy × adequacy
(d) accept × reject
(e) simple × hard
(f) irrational × rational
(g) understanding × misunderstanding
(h) clear × unclear

3. Use the following charts to prepare meaningful dialogues.
Use your ideas to fill in the blanks.

Question a.

Prepare a similar conversation about a film.
Answer:

Question b.

Answer:

4. Maintain a diary at least for a week. Write about your interactions with other people in your surroundings in 3-4 lines. Also write whether you find the interactions happy- unhappy, satisfactory-unsatisfactory, enjoyable-stressful, etc.

Question 1.
Maintain a diary at least for a week. Write about your interactions with other people in your surroundings in 3-4 lines. Also write whether you find the interactions happy- unhappy, satisfactory-unsatisfactory, enjoyable-stressful, etc.
Answer:
Diary For a week
Day one – Today I met our new neighbour. I was happy to know that their son is of my age and studying in Std. IX.
Now continue the same diary writing for the remaining days.

5. Write an informal letter from a teenager to his/her parent, expressing a few thoughts from the poem.
(My dear /Dearest /Hit Are you surprised to see this letter? I wanted talk to you about this, but then I thought I will be able to express myself better in a letter…. Love jYours lovingly/Yours ……… )

Question 1.
Write an informal letter from a teenager to his/her parent, expressing a few thoughts from the poem.
(My dear /Dearest /Hit Are you surprised to see this letter? I wanted talk to you about this, but then I thought I will be able to express myself better in a letter…. Love jYours lovingly/Yours …….. )
Answer:
A3, Gala Residency,
Prabhadevi,
Mumbai – 400 028.
22nd July, 2019
Dearest Papa,
Are you surprised to see this letter? I wanted to talk to you directly about this, but then I thought I will be able to express myself better in a letter.

I am still upset over our argument which took place yesterday. I was a little bit rude with you. But I just wanted you to listen to my concern. Instead of listening to me completely, you started advising me. That really hurt me a lot.

I always wish, that I should share my thoughts with someone. Sharing makes me happy and feel lighter. But whenever, I try to share something with you, you start advising me instead of listening to me. I hope you will try to understand my feelings.

Yours lovingly,
Sahil

Additional Important Questions and Answers

Read the following extract and do the activities:

Simple Factual Activities:

Question 1.
Complete the following web:
(Answer is directly given.)
Answer:

Question 2.
State whether the following statements are True or False:
Answer:

1. You do not do what I asked you to do. – True
2. Whenever you do not listen to me, I feel you are trampling on my feelings. – True
3. The speaker of this poem is an elderly man. – False
4. When I ask you to listen me, you start giving me advice. – True

Question 3.
State whether you agree or disagree with the following statements:
(Answers are directly given.)
Answer:

1. If the feeling is clear, the answers are obvious. – Agree
2. Rational feelings make sense when we understand what’s behind them. – Disagree
3. God always gives advice or tries to fix things. – Disagree
4. Prayer works sometimes for some people because God is mute. – Agree

Complex Factual Activities:

Answer in 1-2 words:

Question 1.
How old is the speaker in the poem?
Answer:
around 14-15 years

Question 2.
Who is he/she talking to?
Answer:
his/her parent

Question 3.
What must have happened before the speaker says all this?
Answer:
His/Her parent might have not heard him/ her.

Question 4.
Who is not listening to whom?
Answer:
A parent is not listening to his child.

Question 5.
Match the following:

Answer:

Question 6.
What does the poet say about God?
Answer:
The poet says God is mute. He doesn’t give advice or try to fix things. God just listens to your ) prayer and observes how do you work.

Question 7.
Is the poet willing to listen to others?
Answer:
Yes, the poet is willing to listen to others but he says if you want to listen to him, you should wait till your turn comes. Then only he will be able to listen to others.

Poetic Device Activity:

Question 1.
Write down rhyming words from the extract for the following:
(Answers are directly given.)
Answer:
1. peel – feel
2. dream – seem

Question 2.
Find out rhyming word from the extract for “dear”
Answer:
dear – clear.

Activity-based on Poetic Device:

Question 1.
Are there any rhyming words? Why?
Answer:
There are no any rhyming words because the poem is an example of ‘free verse’.

Appreciation of Poem

1. Title: ‘Please Listen!’
2. Poet: The poem is by an anonymous (unknown) poet.
3. Theme/Central Idea: The central idea of the poem is the need of an adolescent to be heard patiently. The poem also reflects on our habit of giving advice or offering help without hearing out the problems of teenagers fully.
4. Rhyme Scheme: There is no rhyme scheme. This poem is an example of ‘free verse’.
5. Figure of Speech: Repetition, alliteration.
6. Special Features: This poem is a soliloquy. Soliloquy is a dramatic speech uttered by one character. The soliloquist thus reveals his or her inner thoughts and feelings to the listener.
7. Favourite Line: My favourite lines from the poem are:
1. “Listen! All I ask is that you listen.”
2. God just listens and lets you work it out for yourself.
8. Why I like the poem: I like the poem because I can personally relate to the poem. I have undergone the speaker’s plight many a time. So I can identify with the speaker’s feelings very easily.

Vocabulary Focus:

Question 1.
What is the difference between ‘hear’ and ‘listen’?
Answer:
‘To hear’ means to receive with the ear the sound made by someone or something; to be aware of some sound.
‘To listen’ means to consciously give one’s attention to a sound and try to understand it.
E.g. -1 was trying to listen to their conversation but the audio was so bad that I couldn’t even hear what they were saying.