NCERT From the Diary of Anne Frank Question Answers​ Class 10 English

Thinking about Language (Page 55–58)

Question I: Look at the following words.

headmistress long-awaited homework
notebook stiff-backed outbursts

Answer: These words are known as compound words because they are formed by joining two or more words together.

Compound words can be classified as:

• Nouns: headmistress, homework, notebook, outbursts

• Adjectives: long-awaited, stiff-backed

• Verbs: sleep-walk, baby-sit

Match the compound words under ‘A’ with their meanings under ‘B’. Use each in a sentence.

Answer:

Sentences:

• Her friend’s departure was heartbreaking news for her.

• Staying in the hostel away from her parents made Riya feel homesick.

• Rihan behaves like a blockhead and often becomes a subject of ridicule.

• One aim of education is to develop law-abiding citizens.

• Never overdo things when trying to impress others.

• The little girl sat daydreaming in class, unaware of the teacher’s gaze.

• Traffic came to a halt due to a breakdown in the middle of the road.

• The government took steps to improve agricultural output.

Question II: Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal Verbs

A phrasal verb is a verb followed by a preposition or an adverb. Its meaning is often different from the meanings of its parts. Compare the meanings of the verbs get on and run away in (a) and (b) below. You can easily guess their meanings in (a) but in (b) they have special meanings.

(a) • She got on at Agra when the bus stopped for breakfast.

• Dev Anand ran away from home when he was a teenager.

(b) • She’s eager to get on in life. (succeed)

• The visitors ran away with the match. (won easily)

Some phrasal verbs have three parts: a verb followed by an adverb and a preposition.

(c) Our car ran out of petrol just outside the city limits.

(d) The government wants to reach out to the people with this new campaign.

1. The text you’ve just read has a number of phrasal verbs commonly used in English. Look up the following in a dictionary for their meanings (under the entry for the italicised word).

(i) plunge (right) in (iii) ramble on

(ii) kept back (iv) get along with

2. Now find the sentences in the lesson that have the phrasal verbs given below. Match them with their meanings. (You have already found out the meanings of some of them.) Are their meanings the same as that of their parts? (Note that two parts of a phrasal verb may occur separated in the text.)

Answer:

• plunge in: “…if I were to plunge right in, I’d better provide a brief sketch of my life…”

• kept back: “…who’ll move up to the next form and who’ll be kept back.”

• move up: “…teachers decide who’ll move up to the next form…”

• ramble on: “Anyone could ramble on and leave big spaces…”

• get along with: “I get along pretty well with all my teachers.”

• calm down: “…my angry outbursts can’t calm them down.”

• stay in: “…wondering whether to stay in or go out.”

• make up for: “…intended to make up for the other…”

• hand in: “I handed it in, and Mr Keesing had nothing to complain about…”

1. Meanings of the following phrasal verbs:

Answer:

• plunge (right) in: begin immediately without delay

• kept back: prevented from being promoted

• ramble on: speak or write aimlessly

• get along with: have a friendly relationship

Question III: Idioms

Idioms

Idioms are groups of words with a fixed order, and a particular meaning, different from the meanings of each of their words put together. (Phrasal verbs can also be idioms; they are said to be ‘idiomatic’ when their meaning is unpredictable.) For example, do you know what it means to ‘meet one’s match’ in English? It means to meet someone who is as good as oneself, or even better, in some skill or quality. Do you know what it means to ‘let the cat out of the bag’? Can you guess?

1. Here are a few sentences from the text which have idiomatic expressions. Can you say what each means? (You might want to consult a dictionary first.)

(i) Our entire class is quaking in its boots. __________________________________________

(ii) Until then, we keep telling each other not to lose heart. ______________________________

(iii) Mr Keesing was annoyed with me for ages because I talked so much. ____________________

(iv) Mr Keesing was trying to play a joke on me with this ridiculous subject, but I’d make sure the joke was on him.

1. Meanings of idiomatic expressions

Answer:

(i) quaking in its boots – trembling with fear
(ii) not to lose heart – not to lose hope
(iii) for ages – for a very long time
(iv) the joke was on him – he was cleverly outsmarted

2. Here are a few more idiomatic expressions that occur in the text.

Try to use them in sentences of your own.

(i) caught my eye (iii) laugh ourselves silly

(ii) he’d had enough (iv) can’t bring myself to

Answer:

(i) Our entire class is quaking in its boots – trembling with fear and anxiety

(ii) Until then, we keep telling each other not to lose heart – encouraging one another to remain hopeful

(iii) Mr Keesing was annoyed with me for ages because I talked so much – he remained irritated with Anne for a long period due to her talkative nature

(iv) Mr Keesing was trying to play a joke on me with this ridiculous subject, but I’d make sure the joke was on him – Anne cleverly turned the situation around and outsmarted him

Question IV:

Do you know how to use a dictionary to find out the meanings of idiomatic expressions? Take, for example, the expression caught my eye in the story.

Where — under which word — would you look for it in the dictionary?

Look for it under the first word. But if the first word is a ‘grammatical’ word like a, the, for, etc., then take the next word. That is, look for the first ‘meaningful’ word in the expression. In our example, it is the word caught.

But you won’t find caught in the dictionary, because it is the past tense of catch. You’ll find caught listed under catch. So you must look under catch for the expression caught my eye. Which other expressions with catch are listed in your dictionary?

Note that a dictionary entry usually first gives the meanings of the word itself, and then gives a list of idiomatic expressions using that word. For example, study this partial entry for the noun ‘eye’ from the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 2005

You have read the expression ‘not to lose heart’ in this text. Now find out the meanings of the following expressions using the word ‘heart’. Use each of them in a sentence of your own.

1. break somebody’s heart

2. close/dear to heart

3. from the (bottom of your) heart

4. have a heart

5. have a heart of stone

6. your heart goes out to somebody

Answer:

1. break somebody’s heart: to deeply hurt someone emotionally

   • It is wrong to break someone’s heart intentionally.

2. close/dear to heart: someone very special

   • Music has always been close to my heart.

3. from the bottom of your heart: sincerely

   • I thank my teachers from the bottom of my heart.

4. have a heart: show kindness

   • Please have a heart and help the needy.

5. have a heart of stone: lack sympathy

   • Only someone with a heart of stone could behave so cruelly.

6. your heart goes out to somebody: feel sympathy

   • My heart goes out to the victims of the accident.

Question V: Contracted Forms

When we speak, we use ‘contracted forms’ or short forms such as these:

can’t (for can not or cannot) I’d (for I would or I had) she’s (for she is)

Notice that contracted forms are also written with an apostrophe to show a shortening of the spelling of not, would, or is as in the above example.

Writing a diary is like speaking to oneself. Plays (and often, novels) also have speech in written form. So we usually come across contracted forms in diaries, plays and novels.

1. Make a list of the contracted forms in the text. Rewrite them as full forms of two words.

For example:

I’ve = I have

2. We have seen that some contracted forms can stand for two different full forms:

I’d = I had or I would

Find in the text the contracted forms that stand for two different full forms, and say what these are.

1. List of contracted forms and their full forms

Answer:

• I’ve – I have

• Can’t – cannot

• I’m – I am

• Won’t – would not

• Don’t – do not

• Doesn’t – does not

• Didn’t – did not

• Who’ll – who will

• You’re – you are

• There’s – there is

• I’d – I would

• We’ll – we will

• He’d – he had

• That’s – that is

• Who’s – who is

• Haven’t – have not

• It’s – it is

• Wouldn’t – would not

2. Contracted forms with two meanings

Answer:

• I’d – I had / I would

• It’s – It is / It has

• Who’s – Who is / Who has

• That’s – That is / That has

Speaking (Page 58-59)

Question 1: Here is an extract adapted from a one-act play. In this extract, angry neighbours who think Joe the Inventor’s new spinning machine will make them lose their jobs come to destroy Joe’s model of the machine.

You’ve just seen how contracted forms can make a written text sound like actual speech. Try to make this extract sound more like a real conversation by changing some of the verbs back into contracted forms. Then speak out the lines.

[ The door is flung open, and several men tramp in. They carry sticks, and one of them, HOB, has a hammer .]

MOB : Now where is your husband, mistress?

MARY : In his bed. He is sick, and weary. You would not harm him!

HOB : We are going to smash his evil work to pieces. Where is the machine?

SECOND : On the table yonder.

MAN

HOB : Then here is the end of it!

[ HOB smashes the model. MARY screams .]

HOB : And now for your husband!

MARY : Neighbours, he is a sick man and almost a cripple. You would not hurt him!

HOB : He is planning to take away our daily bread… We will show him what we think of him and his ways!

MARY : You have broken his machine… You have done enough…

Answer:

Activity to be done by yourself.

Writing (Page 59)

Question 1: Now you know what a diary is and how to keep one. Can you keep a diary for a week, recording the events that occur? You may share your diary with your class, if you wish to. Use the following hints to write your diary.

• Though your diary is very private, write as if you are writing for someone else.

• Present your thoughts in a convincing manner.

• Use words that convey your feelings, and words that ‘paint pictures’ for the reader. Be brief.

‘Diary language’ has some typical features such as subjectless sentences (Got up late in the morning), sentence fragments without subjects or verbs (…too bad, boring, not good), contracted forms (they’re, I’ve, can’t, didn’t, etc.), and everyday expressions which people use in speech. Remember not to use such language in more formal kinds of writing.

Answer:

Activity to be done by yourself.

Listening (Page 59)

Question 1:

Your teacher will read out an extract from The Diary of Samuel Pepys (given on the next page) about the great fire of London. As you listen complete this summary of the happenings.