Unit
-10
THE
TOUCH
Come, let us talk about this story:
1) Each of the following statements has four
alternatives. Choose the right answer and write it. Work with your partner to
do this.
a) A good way for parents to receive their
children returning from school is
i) to ask about their score in Maths.
ii) to ignore them simply.
iii) to embrace them lovingly and speak to
them lovingly.
iv) to ask about their report card
Ans: to embrace them lovingly and speak to them lovingly.
b) What had happened when the narrator
visited her father on an earlier occasion?
i) she had seen him quarreling with people.
ii) he had been sleeping.
iii) he had been too weak to talk.
iv) she had noticed bugs on his cot.
Ans: she had noticed bugs on his cot.
c) The narrator hesitated even to touch her
father because
i) that’s how she had been raised.
ii) he was suffering from illness.
iii) she hated her father.
iv) her husband had told her to keep
distance.
Ans: that’s how she had been raised.
2. Read the extract and answer the following
questions.
a) “Who is it?” he asked as he turned on his
side.
i) Who asked this question?
Ans: The narrator’s father asked this
question.
ii) When did this person ask this?
Ans: “Are you asleep?”the narrator enquired
him at that that person asked that.
iii) What was the reply?
Ans: The reply was “I”.
b) “Sit properly ‘amma’, you’ll fall off”
i) Who is ‘amma’ here?
Ans: “Amma” is the narrator here.
ii) Who said this?
Ans: This was said by the narrator’s father.
iii) Where were they at that time?
Ans: They were in rickshaw at that time.
c) “It would be so nice if you moved into
this town”
i) Why did father say this?
Ans: The father said this because the
narrator was living in a faraway town and the father was also alone.
ii) How did the narrator react to this?
Ans: The narrator looked at him helplessly.
iii) What did father do then?
Ans: Father did not speak again and he
stroked the narrator’s hand silently.
3) Say whether the following statements are
true or false. Rewrite the false statements correctly.
a) The young woman in this story is the main
character – False
Ans: The old narrator’s father in this story
is the main character.
b)This time the father shows his affection for
his daughter.
Ans: True
c) The daughter thinks it would be a good
idea to ask her mother to clip father’s nails – False
Ans: Asking mother to do it would be as
useless as the mortar weeping on the shoulder of the drum.
d) The young woman becomes emotional thinking
of her widowed sister-in-law – False
Ans: The narrator felt elated and did the job
carefully. He could not ask my
sister-in-law, but perhaps he wanted me to do something for him.
e) The author decides to take her father to
her house – False.
Ans: The author looked at him helplessly. A
look he could not see. She could not reassure him with words either.
4) Answer in one word or a sentence each.
a) Why had the narrator come to that town?
Ans: The narrator’s mother-in-law was not
feeling well and to spend some time with her, the narrator had come to that
town.
b) What was the caution she had received from
her husband before going to visit her father?
Ans: She had received the caution from her
husband before going to visit her father was that she should not sit on her
father’s bed but pull up a chair and sit.
c) Was the narrator’s mother alive?
Ans: Yes, the narrator’s mother was alive.
d) What did father say to her finally?
Ans: The father said to her, “It would be so
nice if you moved into this town. I could stay with you.”
e) Why had the narrator hesitated to face her
father?
Ans: The narrator could not reassure him that
she would move into the same town. So, the narrator had hesitated to face her
father.
5) Answer the following in two or three
sentences each.
a) What was the narrator’s childhood like?
Ans: The narrator had kept distance from her
father for a long time in the name of discipline. Her father was orthodox and
she never dared touch him. She thought ritual purity should be maintained by
keeping distance from him.
b) Why did the narrator feel, in her
childhood, that her father kept her at a distance?
Ans: The narrator felt, in her childhood,
that her father kept her at a distance because her father in the name of discipline
and orthodox way of life he kept distance from her.
c) The “mortar” and the “drum” in the proverb
refer to two people. Who are they?
Ans: They are the narrator’s father and the
mother.
d) Why did her father ask her to clip his
nails?
Ans: Father asked her to clip his nails
because asking her mother to do it would be useless.
e) How did the narrator feel while returning
from her father’s house?
Ans: She welled tears in her eyes and blurred her
view of the road and her father’s tender touch haunted her while returning from
her father’s house.
Words in use:
6) Fill
in the blanks with suitable words given in the bracket.
{noticed, longed, hesitated, groped, moved,
enjoyed}
a) The soldier at the border longed
to meet his family.
b) The old woman groped
in the air to find the door.
c) The climax of the play moved
our heart.
d) A watchman noticed
the thieves and blew his whistle.
e) Venkatarama hesitated
to ask my permission to go home.
7) Make the opposites for the following, by
adding suitable prefixes given in bracket.
(ir, in, un, mis, dis, im)
a) known × unknown b) discipline × indiscipline
c) responsible × irresponsible d)
continue × discontinue
e) proper × improper f)
understand × misunderstand
8) Complete the following sentences on your own,
using the words given in bracket.
a) My grandmother was an
orthodox woman {orthodox}
b) The firefighters extinguished
the fire in the mall {extinguished}
c) A bulldozer crushed down a
building {crush}
d) The doctor was helpless when
the patient asked for explanation {helpless}
e) Suguna, “Chatting is not
good while studying” {chatting}
Grammar
Active
and passive voice.
While changing active into passive:
i) The object of the verb in active voice
becomes [new] subject in passive.
ii) ‘by’ is placed before the [new] object.
iii) The past participle form of the verb is
used.
Change the voice in the following sentences.
a) People don’t respect corrupt politicians.
Ans: Corrupt politicians are not respected by
the people.
b) The students are planting the trees.
Ans: The trees are being planted by the
students.
c) They help the orphans.
Ans: The orphans are helped by them.
d) Anitha presented a golden watch to me.
Ans: A golden watch was presented to me by
Anitha.
e) He had broken the chair.
Ans: The chair had been broken by him.
f) A man called Lippershy had invented the
telescope in 1608.
Ans: The telescope had been invented in 1608
by a man called Lippershey.
g) A telescope makes distant objects appear
to be near.
Ans: Distant objects are made to appear near by
a telescope.
