Class 10 - Unit 02 - Section C - UNCLE PODGER HANGS A PICTURE

 

UNIT 2 – HUMOUR SECTION C – UNCLE PODGER HANGS A PICTURE

 Comprehension –

I. Given below is a list of items Uncle Podger used in order to hang the picture.  Read the story again and list them in the order in which they are used in the story.

 

string, nails, ladder, picture, hammer, rule, spirit level, light, picture cord

 

Answer - ladder, light, rule, spirit level, nails, hammer, string, picture cord, picture

 

II. Answer the following questions.

1. Do you think the children in the house were fools? Why did Uncle Podger think so about them?

Answer - The children in the house were not fools. Uncle Podger was trying to hang the picture and kept doing mistakes one after the another like missing things. At one point he even failed to find the mark where the nail was to go in. When everybody failed to find the things or the right spot he thought them as fools.

 

2. Despite telling that he would hang the picture himself, why was Uncle Podger not able to do it?

Answer - Despite telling that he would hang the picture himself, Uncle Podger was not able to do it because he was not comfortable with hanging the picture. He involved everyone in the house but still failed to hang it because he was a clumsy old man who kept doing a series of mistakes like breaking the glass of the picture, missing the nail and the hammer and even the mark.

 

3. The story of hanging the picture is incomplete. Write what happened after Uncle Podger dropped the hammer at the end of the story.

Answer - After some days when his thumb would be healed; he would again involve everyone to arrange the things and would try to hang the picture. Though, I don’t think that it would be any different from what we have read in the story.

 

4. Write down four actions that make Uncle Podger a funny character.

Answer - The lesson is full of actions that make Uncle Podger a funny character. Like –

1. He sent the maid out for six-pennyworth of nails, and then one of the boys after her to tell her the size of the nail.

2. He cut his finger and kept looking for the handkerchief, which was in the pocket of the coat on which he had been sitting.

3. He kept dropping the nail and the hammer and the mark.

4. He fell on the piano and struck all the notes at the same time.

 

5. What did Aunt Maria say when Uncle Podger used bad language? What does it tell you about her character?

Answer - When Uncle Podger used bad language, Aunt Maria said that she would not allow the children to stand round and hear such language. It shows that she was a good mother and did not want her children to learn bad language. It also shows that she wanted them to learn good things and follow good habits.

 

6. Did Aunt Maria have confidence that Uncle Podger will hang the picture? Quote the line that makes you think so.

Answer - Aunt Maria did not have confidence that Uncle Podger would hang the picture. The following lines makes me think in this way.

“Aunt Maria would say quietly that, next time Uncle Podger was going to hammer a nail into the wall, she hoped he’d let her know in time, so that she could make arrangements to go and spend a week with her mother while it was being done.”

 

7. How many times did Uncle Podger fail to hang the picture? List the evidences from the story.

Answer - Uncle Podger failed three times to hang the pictures in the story.

1. And then he would lift up the picture, and drop it … he would try to save the glass, and cut himself.

2. He would use a bit of string this time, …the string would slip, and down he would fall on to the piano.

3. At last, Uncle Podger would find the spot again… he would strike his thumb, and drop the hammer, with a loud cry, on somebody’s toes.

 

III. Read the incidents given in the table below and pick out adjectives from the box to describe Uncle Podger.

 

disorganized, forgetful, blames others, careless, clumsy, impatient

 

	Incidents from the story	Adjectives describing Uncle Podger’s Character
1	He dropped the picture, hammer and nail.	careless
2	He took off his coat and didn’t know that he was sitting on it.	forgetful
3	He fell down when trying to reach the spot where the nails should go in.	clumsy
4	He shouted at all the children for not being able to find the coat when he was sitting on it himself.	impatient
5	He sent the maid to get nails without telling what size.	disorganized
6	He said even a cat can find things that his family cannot.	Blames others

 

Vocabulary

 In the sentences given below, the underlined phrases can be expressed in one word. Write meanings of the phrases in the space provided.

 

Underlined phrases	One word substitution
a. A new picture would come and would be standing in the drawing room, waiting to be put up.	hung
b. And then he would take off his coat and begin.	remove
c. You can’t find a coat that I put down not five minutes ago.	kept
d. We would have to go down on our knees and look for it.	search
e. I never came across such people in my whole life.	met
f. Oh, you can give it up, I found it all by myself.	stop

 

I. Expressing habitual action and states in the past

In this lesson we find the word ‘would’ used several times. Pick out ten

sentences from the text where ‘would’ has been used. We have picked

some for you.

1. Aunt Podger would ask what was to be done with it.

2. Then he would take off his coat and begin.

3. He would send the maid out for six pennyworth of nails.

4. he would gradually work down, and start the whole house.

5. And then he would lift up the picture, and drop it,

6. he would try to save the glass, and cut himself; and then he would jump

round the room, looking for his handkerchief.

7. we would all have to go down on our knees and look for it,

8. We would find the hammer for him, and then he would have lost sight of the

mark he had made on the wall,

9. Aunt Maria would say that she would not allow the children to stand round and hear such language.

10. Uncle Podger would find the spot again, and put the point of the nail on

It

(There are abundance of such sentences. Ask the students to find them.)

We can use the phrase ‘used to’ instead of ‘would’.

 

II. For each of the following sentences, choose either ‘used to’ or ‘would’. If both are possible, use ‘would’.

1. When I was a child, my father would pick me up and throw me in the air. I used to love it.

2. My uncle used to have a bicycle, when I was young. He would take me for a ride.

3. For years, I used to be afraid of ghosts , as my grandmother

would tell me stories of them every night .

4. I would become Krishna during Janmastami every year in childhood,

and every year I used to break the matki.

5. I used to know many songs as a child, so my friends would ask me to sing every time we worked in the fields.

6. When I was five, I would be able to do incredible stunts. I would

climb every tree in the neighbourhood and swing like a monkey.

 

III. Read the conversation and fill in the blanks with used to or would. Use used to

to describe states in the past and would to describe habits in the past.

Shahila: Hey guys, how about making biryani on Friday?

Shabana: Hmm, I’m not sure if biryani is such a good idea…

Rajiv: But you used to love biryani? What happened? I remember that we would

eat lots of it when your mother used to make it for Eid.

Shabana: I still do. But yesterday we had some, and …

Rajiv: OK, I see. Well, then I have a better idea. Let’s have a potluck party. I will

prepare some cabbage curry, the way mom would do it. I used to like it a lot when I was a kid. And Shabana can make some fried rice.

Shahila: Really? I used to hate cabbage when I was a child. But now I like

it. Maybe I can prepare some kheer.

© Anupam Agrawal