15. Excuses, Excuses!

 A. WARMER

What excuses do you make for being late or absent of not doing home work? Discuss some common excuses children often make?

Late again, Blenkinsopp?

What's the excuse this time?

Not my fault, Sir.

All dead, sir.

Whose fault is it then?

Grandma's sir.

Garndma's? What did she do?

She died, sir.

Died?

She is seriously dead all right, sir.

That makes four grandmothers this term, Blenkinsopp?

And all on P. E. days,

I know, It's very upsetting, sir, dest bo

How many grandmothers have you got, Blenkinsopp?

Grandmothers, sir? None, sir.

You said you had four?

All dead, sir.

And what about yesterday, Blenkinsopp?

What about yesterday, sir?

You were absent yesterday.

That was the dentist, sir?

The dentist died?

No sir, one teeth, sir.

You missed the math test, Blenkinsopp.

I'd been looking forward to it, sir.

Right. Line up for P. E.

Can't, sir.

No such word as 'can't' Blenkinsopp.

No kit, sir

Where is it?

Home, sir.

What's it doing at home?

Can't sir,

Why not?

Bad hand, sir.

Who usually does it?

Grandma, sir. A. WARMER

What excuses do you make for being late or absent of not doing home work? Discuss some common excuses children often make?

Late again, Blenkinsopp?

What's the excuse this time?

Not my fault, Sir.

All dead, sir.

 

Whose fault is it then?

Grandma's sir.

Garndma's? What did she do?

She died, sir.

Died?

She is seriously dead all right, sir.

 

That makes four grandmothers this term, Blenkinsopp?

And all on P. E. days,

 

I know, It's very upsetting, sir, dest bo

 

How many grandmothers have you got, Blenkinsopp?

Grandmothers, sir? None, sir.

You said you had four?

All dead, sir.

 

And what about yesterday, Blenkinsopp?

What about yesterday, sir?

You were absent yesterday.

That was the dentist, sir?

The dentist died?

 

No sir, one teeth, sir.

You missed the math test, Blenkinsopp.

I'd been looking forward to it, sir.

Right. Line up for P. E.

Can't, sir.

No such word as 'can't' Blenkinsopp.

No kit, sir

Where is it?

Home, sir.

What's it doing at home?

Can't sir,

Why not?

Bad hand, sir.

 

Who usually does it?

Grandma, sir.

Why couldn't she do it?

Dead, sir.

 

B.1. Think and Tell :

Q. 1. Why was Blenkinsopp late?
Ans. Blenkinsopp was delayed due to the passing of his grandmother.

 

Q. 2. Why was Blenkinsopp absent?
Ans. Blenkinsopp was absent because the dentist treated one of his teeth.

 

Q.3. Why was Blenkinsopp unable to line up for Physical Education?

Ans. Blenkinsopp unable to line up for Physical Education because he had not his kit.

 

Q. 4. Why did Blenkinsopp not put on kit for Physical Education?
Ans. Blenkinsopp’s kit was left at home. so, he did not put on kit for Physical Education.

 

Q. 5. Who helped Blenkinsopp to put on Physical Education kit?
Ans. Grandma helped Blenkinsopp to put on Physical Education kit.

 

B.2. Think and Write:

B.2.1. True or False
1. Based on the story write ‘true’ or ‘false’ next to each sentence given below.
(a) Blenkinsopp was late because of his fault.
(b) The excuse Blenkinsopp made for being absent for his maths test was his grandmother’s death.
(c) Belnkinsopp really wanted to miss the maths test.
(d) Blenkinsopp agreed to line up for P.E.
(e) Belnkinsopp used the words “can’t, sir” thrice in the poem.

Ans. (a) false, (b) true, (c) true, (d) false, (e) false.

B.2.2. Tick the answers to each of the questions given below.

1. What’s the excuse this time? The teacher asked this question because
(a) It was not the first time Belnkinsopp was late.
(b) Blenkinsopp was late for the first time.
(c) Blenkinsopp’s teacher felt sorry for him.

2. Blenkinsopp’s kit was at home because he wanted to prove that
(a) It was dirty
(b) Not ironed
(c) Her grandmother was dead.

Ans. 1. (a), 2. (c).

B.2.3. Answer the following questions:

Q. 1. How was the grandmother responsible for Blenkinsopp’s coming late?
Ans. Grandmother had died so she was faulty for Blenkinsopp’s coming late.

Q. 2. Why was Blenkinsopp’s P.E. kit at home?
Ans. Due to bad hand, Blenkinsopp’s P.E. kit was at home?

Q. 3. What excuses did Blenkinsopp make for his mistakes and negligence?
Ans. Blenkinsopp made many excuses for his mistakes and negligence. He excused his grandmother death for his late. He excused dentist for his absent yesterday. He excused was not forward for math’s test. He excuses his kit was at home for his physical Education.

Q. 4. What is your opinion about Blenkinsop?
Ans. Blenkinsopp is a pretending boy. He frequently makes mistakes and evades his fault another.

C. WORD POWER:

C.1.Go through the text again and guess the meaning of the following words:

excuse,    fault,    term, absent,   missed,   usually

Ans. Excuse – overlook a fault.
Fault– blemish
Absent– not present
Missed– omitted
Usually –generally

C. 2. Abbreviation
e.g.
P. E. Physical Education
An abbreviation is a shortened or contracted form of a word or phrase used to represent the whole.

Find out what these short forms stand for.

1. Mr. Mister
2. Dr. Doctor
3. Md. Muhammad
4. Govt. Government
5. Ltd. Limited
6. No. Number
7. Min. Minute
8. Kg. Kilogram
9. etc. Etcetera
10. Max Maximum

 

D.  GRAMMAR:

 

D.1.Comma and Inverted Commas:

Comma is used to separate words from each other and to separate a reporting verb from the reported speech.

Example:
I have pens, pencils and books.
She says, “I am a girl.”
Inverted Commas are used to show the actual words of a speaker.

Example: The boy said, “I am a student.”
Titles of songs, books, stories etc. are also put within Inverted Commas.

Example: I am reading “India Today”.
We may use single commas in the place of double commas.
Have you read ‘Panchatantra’?

D.1.1 Use Commas or Inverted Commas where necessary.
1. He said I want to buy books note-books pencils and pens.
2. There were lions elephants tigers and bears in the zoo.
3. Tanzim said I have eaten mangoes oranges grapes papayas and bananas.
4. Tufail Monu Farhan Rajesh Shivam and Ravi are friends.
5. He asked What is your father?

Ans.
1. He said, “I want to buy books, note-books, pencils and pens.”
2. There were lions, elephants, tigers and bears in the zoo.
3. Tanzim, said, “I have eaten mangoes, oranges, grapes, papayas and bananas”.
4. Tufail, Monu, Farhan, Rajesh, Shivam and Ravi are friends.
5. He asked, “What is your father?”

E. Let’s Talk, and Write:

E.1. Role plays the conversation between the teacher and Blenkinsopp in prose.

Ans.
Teacher              – Why are you late today, Blenkinsopp?
Blenkinsopp       – Sir, I am late today, my grandma had died.
Teacher              – And why you were absent yesterday?
Blenkinsopp     – Sir, dentist had treated my one tooth. So I was absent yesterday, Sir.
Teacher               – Why you missed math test, Blenkinsopp?
Blenkinsopp      – I’d been looking forward t it, sir.
Teacher              – Line up for P.E. Blenkinsopp?
Blenkinsopp     – Can’t, Sir.
Teacher             – Why can’t?
Blenkinsopp     – No kit, Sir.
Teacher            – Where is it?
Blenkinsopp   –   At home, Sir.

 

E.2. You are ill. Write an application to your Headmaster requesting him to grant you leave for two days.

Ans. To

             The headmaster
             Middle School Devasthapur
             Through: The Class Teacher of class VI.

Sir,
     Respectfully, I beg to say that I am a student of class VI. I have been suffering from fever.

So, I am unable to come to school from 24.05.2024 to 25.05.2024.

Kindly grant me leave for two days.
Your obedient student
Name-X
Class VI, Roll No.-15

F. TRANSLATION:

F.1. Translate into English
यह गलती किसकी है ?
वह किताब किसकी है ?
आप किसके बेटे हैं ?
यह किन लोगों का देश है ?
हमलोग किनके छात्रा हैं ?

Ans.

Whose mistake is this?
Whose book is that?
Whose son are you?
Of which people is this country?

Whose students are we?

 

Why couldn't she do it?

Dead, sir.