π Life and Love
π Ways with Words
A. Match the words with their meanings.
| Words | Meanings |
|---|---|
| a. exhausted | tired |
| b. apparent | clear |
| c. vista | vision |
| d. undulating | wavy |
| e. destined | predetermined |
| f. stuffy | suffocating, airless |
| g. restrain | prevent, hinder |
B. Write the meaning and word class of the following words. Then use them in sentences of your own.
1. implore (verb): beg someone earnestly or desperately to do something.
I regretfully and respectfully implore you to help us.
2. despair (noun): the complete loss or absence of hope.
A few positive words can turn despair into hope.
3. beseech (verb): ask (someone) urgently and fervently to do something.
I will fall at his feet and beseech him.
4. eloquent (adjective): able to express a feeling.
He made an eloquent plea for peace.
5. whirl (noun): a state of confusion.
My head is starting to whirl.
6. egoism (noun): the fact of being excessively conceited in oneself.
His egoism stopped him from loving anyone but himself.
7. agony (noun): extreme physical or mental suffering.
She screamed again in agony as pain seared through her shoulder.
8. delirious (adjective): in a state of wild excitement or ecstasy.
The patient may be somewhat confused and delirious.
9. delusive (adjective): giving a false or misleading impression.
They were only coquetting a little with us, or bent on kindling delusive hopes.
10. compensate (verb): reduce the bad effect of loss.
His enthusiasm compensates for his lack of skill.
11. mortgage (noun): convey a property to a creditor as security on a loan.
She didnβt have enough money to pay the mortgage.
12. brood (noun): a large family of children.
He grew up among a lively brood of brothers and sisters.
13. prelude (noun): an action or event serving as an introduction to something more important.
A ceasefire had been agreed as a prelude to full peace negotiations.
D. Choose the correct word.
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| a. Sarita was shocking/shocked to hear about earthquake. | Answer: shocked |
| b. I think that rainy days in winter are depressing/depressed. | Answer: depressing |
| c. The football match was very exciting/excited. I enjoyed it. | Answer: exciting |
| d. The meals at Delight CafΓ© are satisfying/satisfied. | Answer: satisfying |
| e. I've got nothing to do. I'm boring/bored. | Answer: bored |
| f. Tanka is very good at telling funny stories. He can be very amusing/amused. | Answer: amusing |
| g. The teacher's explanation was confusing/confused. Most of the students didn't understand it. | Answer: confusing |
| h. He is such a boring/bored person. He never wants to go out. | Answer: boring |
| i. I will be surprising/surprised if she does well in her test. | Answer: surprised |
| j. Are you interesting/interested in politics? | Answer: interested |
E. Write the correct form of the adjective in the blanks as in the example.
a. They frustrate me but they don't bore me. I never get bored when I study grammar.
b. If teachers want to interest the students, they must use interesting materials.
c. Certain stories interest almost everybody. For example, most students are interested in fairy tales.
d. Certain things frighten me, but I never get frightened when I speak English.
e. If I get a good grade, that excites me. And if I get more than ninety percent, I am really excited.
π Understanding the Text
a. Who was Nellie? What did she use to dream of?
=> Answer: Nellie was a young and beautiful girl belonging to the family of a landowner and a general. Her mind was often occupied with the idea of marriage, which she strongly wished to experience.
b. What was she doing with the looking glass?
=> Answer: Nellie was gazing at her reflection in the looking glass. She looked into it with weary, partly closed eyes.
c. Why did she go to the doctor on one winter night?
=> Answer: Nellie went to visit the doctor during a winter night because her husband had fallen ill and required medical assistance.
d. What was Stepan Lukitch doing when she reached his bedroom?
=> Answer: When Nellie arrived at Stepan Lukitchβs bedroom, she found him lying on his bed.
e. Why was the doctor not ready to go to see her husband?
=> Answer: Stepan Lukitch was already exhausted and suffering from illness himself. He had spent the previous three days attending to typhus patients, leaving him incapable of going out to examine Nellieβs husband.
f. Why did Stepan Lukitch suggest Nellie to go to the Zemstvo doctor?
=> Answer: He directed Nellie toward the Zemstvo doctor because his own illness prevented him from visiting her husband. Since the patient needed medical attention without delay, another doctor had to be contacted.
g. Nellie said, βCome, perform that heroic deed! Have pity on us!" What was that pity to be done?
=> Answer: Nellie was appealing to the doctor to help them by treating her husband who was seriously ill.
h. When Nellie said, "I must have fallen asleep." What does it mean?
=> Answer: It means that Nellie had awakened after falling asleep and had come out of the imagined experience, becoming conscious of the actual reality around her.
i. What is the main theme of the story?
=> Answer: The story explores several important aspects of human experience, including devotion, loneliness, escape, fear, love, dedication, hope, defeat and independence.
π§ Critical Thinking
a. βThe looking glass (mirror)β is used as a symbol in the story. What does it symbolise?
Answer:
The mirror functions as a window into Nellieβs private dreams. Her strongest wish is to find a husband, and the looking glass allows her imagination to create the romantic future she desires. Instead of remaining within the limitations of her ordinary life, she mentally enters a world shaped by her hopes and fantasies. While observing the mirror, she imagines her βdestined oneβ with extraordinary clarity, almost as though he were physically present. Thus, the looking glass expresses Nellieβs romantic longing, her wish for marriage, and her tendency to escape from reality through imagination.
b. Chekhov employs the magic trick in the story, using a very elegant transition from reality to imagination to reality sequence. Discuss its relevance to life of young people.
Answer:
The unusual journey from reality into an imagined world and then back to reality gives Anton Chekhovβs The Looking Glass a quality similar to a fairy tale. Nellieβs situation can be imagined as that of a distressed princess, while her husband resembles an unfortunate prince. The husband is not given a name, which further connects the story with traditional fairy tales in which the romantic male character may remain unnamed. Cinderella, for example, presents its prince without giving him a personal name.
This imaginative structure is relevant to young people because youthful emotions and expectations can sometimes make ordinary experiences seem extraordinary. Love, fear, suffering, and hardship may be viewed through an idealized or exaggerated perspective. Nellieβs dream demonstrates this process: an idea about love develops into a highly emotional and frightening experience within her imagination.
The return to reality is equally meaningful. Once her imagined circumstances become terrifying, Nellie wakes from the experience and the frightening world disappears. This shows how the imagination can intensify feelings and make unreal situations appear genuine for a period of time.
However, the contrast between imagination and reality is not limited to young people. Adults can also become influenced by fantasy, exaggeration, and unrealistic representations of life. Books, films, television programmes, social media, and news outlets may present events in sensational or one-sided ways. Consequently, people of every age can sometimes move between factual reality and imagined or exaggerated versions of it. Chekhovβs technique therefore reflects a wider human tendency while remaining particularly meaningful to the emotional and imaginative world of young people.
π Grammar
B. Match the expressions with their functions.
| Expressions | Functions |
|---|---|
| a. A: What do you want to take? B: Iβll have tea, please. | Deciding |
| b. A: Are you free this evening? B: No, Iβm going to meet my uncle. | Expressing a prior plan |
| c. The day will be lovely tomorrow. | Predicting a future action |
| d. There is no cloud in the sky. Itβs going to be a lovely day. | Predicting with evidence |
| e. Donβt worry. I wonβt tell anyone. | Promising |
| f. I'll take you to the movies if you like. | Offering |
| g. Iβll tell your parents what you did. | Threatening |
C. Choose the correct answer.
**a. A: Are you busy this evening?
B: Yes, I am going to the movies. (will go/am going to)**
=> Answer: am going to
**b. A: Where are you going for holiday this summer?
B: Not sure yet. Maybe I will go to Ilam. (will go/am going to)**
=> Answer: will go
c. I think you will like this movie. (will /are going to)
=> Answer: will
d. I canβt join you at the party, I am going to be away for two weeks. (will /am going to)
=> Answer: am going to
e. This exercise looks really hard. I will help you. (will/am going to)
=> Answer: will
**f. A: Hello. Can I speak to Sima, please?
B: Just a minute. I will get her. (will/am going to)**
=> Answer: will
g. Perhaps she will pass the exam. (will/is going to)
=> Answer: will
h. βI havenβt got my phone.β βThatβs OK. I will lend you mine.β (will/am going to)
=> Answer: will
D. Complete the sentences using will or be going to with the verbs.
**a. Hari: Did you call Bina?
Prem: Oh, I forgot. I will call her now. (call)**
=> Answer: will call
**b. Sunita: Have you got a ticket for the play?
Hema: Yes, I am going to watch it on Saturday. (watch)**
=> Answer: am going to watch
c. βThe alarm is ringing. Itβs making an awful noise.β βOK, I will switch it off.β (switch)
=> Answer: will switch
d. Do you think they will like the presents we got for them? (like)
=> Answer: will like
e. βLok is starting university tomorrow.β βWhat is he going to study?β (he/study)
=> Answer: is going to study
f. If I meet him, I will tell him the news. (tell)
=> Answer: will tell
g. The phone is ringing. I will answer it. (answer)
=> Answer: will answer
h. If you donβt stop bullying her, I will tell the teacher. (tell)
=> Answer: will tell
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