Class 10 English - First Flight - Chapter From the Diary of Anne Frank NCERT Solutions | Why does Anne want to keep a diary?

What made Mr Keesing allow Anne to talk in class?

Anne says teachers are most unpredictable. Is Mr Keesing unpredictable? How?

Do you think Mr Keesing was a strict teacher?

What does Anne write in her first essay?

How does Anne feel about her father, her grandmother, Mrs Kuperus and Mr Keesing? What do these tell you about her?

How did Anne justify her being a chatterbox in her essay?

What tells you that Anne loved her grandmother?

Was Anne right when she said that the world would not be interested in the musings of a thirteen-year-old girl?

Why does Anne provide a brief sketch of her life?

What do these statements tell you about Anne Frank as a person?
(i) We don’t seem to be able to get any closer, and that’s the problem. Maybe it’s my fault that we don’t confide in each other.
(ii) I don’t want to jot down the facts in this diary the way most people would, but I want the diary to be my friend.
(iii) Margot went to Holland in December, and I followed in February, when I was plunked down on the table as a birthday present for Margot.
(iv) If you ask me, there are so many dummies that about a quarter of the class should be kept back, but teachers are the most unpredictable creatures on earth.
(v) Anyone could ramble on and leave big spaces between the words, but the trick was to come up with convincing arguments to prove the necessity of talking.

Where in the classroom does Wanda sit and why?
 

What was Valli’s favourite pastime?

What ‘experiment’ did Maxwell think Camusfearna would be suitable for?

What did Lencho hope for?

When her son dies, Kisa Gotami goes from house to house. What does she ask for? Does she get it? Why not?

Where did the ceremonies take place ? Can you name any public buildings in India that are made of sandstones?

What does Chubukov at first suspect that Lomov has come for? Is he sincere when he later says “And I’ve always loved you, my angel, as if you were my own son”? Find reasons for your answer from the play.

Why was the young seagull afraid to fly? Do you think all young birds are afraid to make their first flight, or are some birds more timid than others? Do you think a human baby also finds it a challenge to take its first steps?

Where does Wanda live? What kind of a place do you think it is?
 

What was a source of unending joy for Valli? What was her strongest desire?

Why were two national anthems sung?

Match the words on the left with a word on the right. Some words on the left can go with more than one word on the right.

(i) a portion of – blood
(ii) a pool of – cotton
(iii) flakes of – stones
(iv) a huge heap of – gold
(v) a gust of – fried fish
(vi) little drops of – snow
(vii) a piece of – water
(viii) a pot of – wind

What “twin obligations” does Mandela mention?

Study the sentences given below.

(a) They looked like black mountains.

(b) Inside the clouds, everything was suddenly black.

(c) In the black clouds near me, I saw another aeroplane.

(d) The strange black aeroplane was there.

The word ‘black’ in sentences (a) and (c) refers to the very darkest colour. But in (b) and (d) (here) it means without light/with no light.

‘Black’ has a variety of meanings in different contexts. For example:

(a) ‘I prefer black tea’ means ‘I prefer tea without milk’.

(b) ‘With increasing pollution the future of the world is black’ means With increasing pollution the future of the world is very depressing/without hope’.

Now, try to guess the meanings of the word ‘black’ in the sentences given below. Check the meanings in the dictionary and find out whether you have guessed right.

Questions.

1. Go and have a bath, your hands and face are absolutely black____ .

2. The taxi-driver gave Ratan a black look as he crossed the road when the traffic light was green____.

3. The bombardment of Hiroshima is one of the blackest crimes against humanity____.

4. Very few people enjoy Harold Pinter’s black comedy____.

5. Sometimes shopkeepers store essential goods____.

6. Villagers had beaten the criminal black and blue____.

Where did the ceremonies take place ? Can you name any public buildings in India that are made of sandstones?

Was Lencho surprised to find a letter for him with money in it?

The author describes the things that Valli sees from an eight-year-old’s point of view. Can you find evidence from the text for this statement?

This play has been translated into English from the Russian original. Are there any expressions or ways of speaking that strike you as more Russian than English? For example, would an adult man be addressed by an older man as my darling or my treasure in an English play?

Read through the play carefully, and find expressions that you think are not used in contemporary English, and contrast these with idiomatic modern English expressions that also occur in the play.

Why does the conductor call Valli ‘madam’?

Why did such a large number of international leaders attend the inauguration ? What did it signify the triumph of?