Page 156 - English Grammar - 8

‘‘Then it wasn’t very civil of you to offer it,’’ said Alice angrily.

‘‘It wasn’t very civil of you to sit down without being invited,’’ said the March Hare.
‘‘I didn’t know it was your table,’’ said Alice; ‘‘it’s laid for a great many more than three.’’
‘‘Your hair wants cutting,’’ said the Hatter. He had been looking at Alice for some time with
great curiosity, and this was his first speech.
‘‘You should learn not to make personal remarks,’’ Alice said with some severity; ‘‘it’s very
rude.’’
The Hatter opened his eyes very wide on hearing this; but all he said was, ‘‘Why is a raven like
a writing-desk?’’

‘‘Come, we shall have some fun now!’’ thought Alice. ‘‘I’m glad they’ve begun asking riddles.
I believe I can guess that,’’ she added aloud.
‘‘Do you mean that you think you can find out the answer to it?’’ said the March Hare.
‘‘Exactly so,’’ said Alice.

‘‘Then you should say what you mean,’’ the March Hare went on.
‘‘I do,’’ Alice hastily replied; ‘‘at least—at least I mean what I say—that’s the same thing, you
know.’’
‘‘Not the same thing a bit!’’ said the Hatter. ‘‘You might just as well say that “I see what I eat”
is the same thing as “I eat what I see’!”
‘‘You might just as well say,’’ added the March Hare, that ‘I like what I get’ is the same thing as
‘I get what I like’!”
‘‘You might just as well say,’’ added the Dormouse, who seemed to be talking in his sleep, ‘‘that
‘I breathe when I sleep’ is the same thing as ‘I sleep when I breathe’!”

‘‘It is the same thing with you,’’ said the Hatter, and here the conversation dropped, and the
party sat silent for a minute, while Alice thought over all she could remember about ravens
and writing-desks, which wasn’t much.

Answer the following questions based on your reading of the extract.
1. Find the synonym of the following words in the passage.

a. polite b. great interest
Comprehension
c. sternness d. cheering on
2. Answer briefly.

a. Why did the Dormouse not mind being used as a cushion?
b. Did Alice know a lot about ravens and writing-desks? Mention the phrase that says
so.

B. Read the following passage carefully.
Once there was an utterly foolish bird. It sang songs; it flew; it jumped, but did not read the
scriptures and did not have the faintest sense of etiquette. The king said, “Such birds are
completely useless! They only eat the fruits in the royal orchards and result in a deficit to the
royal treasury.” He called the minister, and commanded, “Educate it.” The King’s nephew
was given the responsibility of educating the bird. The scholars held long discussions on what
caused the creature to be so foolish and how it could be educated.

They concluded: much learning could not be stored in the tiny nest that the bird could make

154