Solution of Chapter 6. The Hundred Dresses - II (First Flight - English Book)

What did Mr. Petronski’s letter say? (CBSE, SA-I)

Is Miss Mason angry with the class, or is she unhappy and upset?

How does Maddie feel after listening to the note from Wanda’s father?

What does Maddie want to do?

What excuses does Peggy think up for behavior? Why?

What are Maddie’s thoughts as they go to Boggins Heights?

Why does Wanda’s house remind Maddie of Wanda’s blue dress?

What does Maddie think hard about? What important decision does she come to?

What did the girls write to Wanda?

Did they get a reply? Who was more anxious for a reply, Peggy or Maddie? How do you know?

How did the girls know that Wanda liked them even though they had teased her?

Why do you think Wanda’s family moved to a different city? Do you think life there was going to be different for their family?

Maddie thought her silence was as bad as Peggy’s teasing. Was she right?

Peggy says, “I never thought she had the sense to know we were making fun of her anyway. I thought she was too dumb. And gee, look how she can draw!” What led Peggy to believe that Wanda was dumb? Did she change her opinion later?

What important decision did Maddie make? Why did she have to think hard to do so?

Why do you think Wanda gave Maddie and Peggy the drawing of the dresses? Why are they surprised?

Do you think Wanda really thought the girls were teasing her? Why or why not?

Here are thirty adjectives describing human qualities. Discuss them with your partner and put them in the two-word webs (given below) according to whether you think they show positive or negative qualities. You can consult a dictionary if you are not sure of the meanings of some of the words. You may also add to the list the positive or negative ‘pair’ of a given word.

What adjective can we use to describe Peggy, Wanda, and Maddie? You can choose adjectives from the list above. You can also add some of your own.

1. Peggy ………………………. ……………………………

2. Wanda ……………………… …………………………...

3. Maddie ……………………… ……………………………

Find the sentences in the story with the following phrasal verbs.

Look up these phrasal verbs in a dictionary to find out if they can be used in some other way. (Look at the entries for line, think, take and stand in the dictionary). Find out what other prepositions can go with these verbs. What does each of these phrasal verbs mean?

1. Lined up: All the students were lined up for the national anthem in the assembly.

2. Thought up: Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam had thought up his inventions for the country.

3. Took off: After coming home from school, I first took off my shoes.

4. Stood by: The teachers always stood by the Principal.

Use at least five such phrasal verbs in sentences of your own.

Colours are used to describe feelings, moods, and emotions. Match the following ‘colour expressions’ with a suggested paraphrase.

Role Play

The story of Wanda Petronski presents many characters engaged in many kinds of behavior (teasing, playing, sitting in class). From groups. Choose an episode or episodes from the story. Assign roles to each member of the group from that episode, and try to act it.

Look again at the letter which Wanda’s father writes to Miss Mason, Wanda’s teacher. Mr. Petronski is not quite aware how to write a formal letter in English. Can you rewrite it more appropriately? Discuss the following with your partner before you do so. The format of a formal letter: How to begin the letter and how to end it; the language of the letter needs to be formal (Avoid informal words like ‘holler’ and fragments like ‘No more ask why funny name.’)

Write complete sentences.

Are you interested in drawing and painting? Ritu Kumar, one of India’s best- known dress designers, has no formal training in designing. She started by sketching ideas for her own dresses so much that they asked her to design clothes for them, and even paid her for it! Imagine you are going to make a career out of your hobby. What sort of things will you need to learn? Write a paragraph or two on this topic after consulting an expert or doing reference work on your chosen area.

Rewrite a part of the story as if Wanda is telling us her own story.

Notice the use of the word 'turn' in the first line, "I think I could turn and live with animals...” What is the poet turning from?

Mention three things that humans do and animals don't.

Do humans kneel to other humans who lived thousands of years ago? Discuss this in groups.

What are the 'tokens' that the poet says he may have dropped long ago, and which the animals have kept for him? Discuss this in class. (Hint: Whitman belongs to the Romantic tradition that includes Rousseau and Wordsworth, which holds that civilization has made humans false to their own true nature. What could be the basic aspects of our nature as living beings that humans choose to ignore or deny?