Class 10 English Chapter 12 The Hundred Dresses – I

 

TEXTUAL QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

1. Where in the classroom does Wanda sit and why? 

Ans: Wanda sits in the seat next to the last seat in the last row in Room Thirteen. She sits in the corner because she comes from Boggins Heights and with dry mud in her feet. 

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

Ans: Wanda lives in Boggins Heights. It is a rural area with muddy roads. 

3. When and why do Peggy and Maddie notice Wanda’s absence? 

Ans: Peggy and Maddie notice Wanda’s absence on Wednesday because they waited for her to come to school to have some fun with her but she didn’t come. 

4. What do you think “to have fun with her” means? 

Ans: “To have fun with her” means to tease her. 

Oral comprehension check

1. In what ways was Wanda different from the other children? 

Ans: In many ways Wanda was different from the other children. Her name was queer and she wore a blue faded dress that did not fit her properly. She had no friends. 

2. Did Wanda have a hundred dresses? Why do you think she said she did? 

Ans: Wanda did not have a hundred dresses. She said so in reply to the fun they made of her. 

3. Why is Maddie embarrassed by the questions Peggy asks Wanda? Is she also like Wanda, or is she different? 

Ans: Maddie is embarrassed by the questions Peggy asks Wanda because she is poor and she might be the next target. She is different from Wanda from the point of view of her name and her living place. 

Oral comprehension text

1. Why didn’t Maddie ask Peggie to stop teasing Wanda?  What was she afraid of? 

Ans: Maddie didn’t ask Peggy to stop teasing Wanda because she had no courage to do so. She was afraid of losing her friendship with Peggy. 

2. Who did Maddie think would win the drawing contest? Why? 

Ans: Maddie thought that Peggy would win the drawing contest. Because Peggy could draw more beautifully than anyone could in the room. 

3. Who won the drawing contest? What had the winner drawn? 

Ans: Jack Beagles won for the boys for drawing an outboard motor and Wanda petronski won for the girls for drawing a hundred drawings, all beautiful. They were exquisite. 

Think about the Text

1. How does Wanda feel about the dresses game? Why does she say that she has a hundred dresses? 

Ans: Wanda feels bad about the dresses game. She says that she has a hundred dresses in reply to the question and to counter them. 

2. How does Maddie stand by and not do anything? How is she different from Peggy? (Was Peggy’s friendship important to Maddie? Why? Which lines in  the text tell you this?) 

Ans: Maddie stands by Peggy and does nothing. Because she has no courage to speak to Peggy. She is different from Peggy from the point of view that she never teased Wanda. Peggy’s friendship was important for her because Peggy was the most popular girl in the class. She also wire Peggy’s used dresses. 

3. What does Miss Mason think of Wanda’s drawings? What do the children think of them? How do you know? 

Ans: Miss Mason thinks of Wanda’s drawings that they are “exquisite, all different and all beautiful “. The children found them “amazing”. They clapped their hands in joy and applauded. The boys whistled. 

Thinking about Language

1. Look at these sentences –

a)  She sat in the corner of the room where the rough Boys who did not make good marks, sat, the corner of the room where there was most sniffing of feet,…..

b)  The time when they thought about Wanda was outside of school hours……. 

These italicised clauses helps us to identify a set of boys, a place, and a time. They are answers to the questions ‘What king of rough boys?’  Which  corner did she sit in?   and ‘what particular time outside of school hours?’ They are ‘defining’ or ‘restrictive’ relative clauses. (Compare them with the ‘non-defining’ relative clauses discussed in unit -1.)

Combine the following to make sentences like those above

1. This is the bus (What kind of bus?). It goes to Agra. (use which or that) 

2. I would like to buy (a)  shirt (which shirt?). This shirt is in the shop window. (use which or that)

3. You must break your fast at a particular time (when). You see the moon in the sky. (use when) 

4. Find a word (what kind of word?). It begins with the letter Z. (use which or that) 

5. Now find a person (what kind of person). His or her name begins with the better Z. (use whose) 

6. Then go to place (what place?). There are no people whose name begins with Z in that place. (use where) 

Ans: 1. This is the bus that goes to Agra. 

2. I would like to buy the shirt that is in the shop window. 

3. You must break your fast when you see the moon in the sky. 

4. Find a word which begins with the letter Z. 

5. Now find a person whose name begins with the letter Z. 

6. Then go to a place where there are no people whose name beings with Z in that place. 

2. The Narrative Voice 

This story is the ‘third person’ that is, the narrator is not a participant in the story. But the narrator often seems to tell the story from the point of view one of the characters in the story. For, example, look at the italicised words in this sentence. 

Thank goodness, she did not live up on Boggins Heights or have a funny name. Whose thoughts do the words “Thank goodness ” express? Maddie’s, who is grateful that although she is poor, she is yet not as poor as Wanda, or as ‘different’. 

(So she does not get teased; she is thankful about that.) 

1. Here are two other sentences from the story. Can you say whose point of view the italicised words express? 

i)  But on Wednesday. Peggy and Maddie, who sat down front with other children who got good marks and who didn’t track in a whole lot of mud, did notice that Wanda wasn’t there. 

ii)  Wanda petronski. Most of the children in Room thirteen didn’t have names like that. They had names easy to say, like Thomas, Smith or Allen. 

Ans: i) The italicised expressions is the writer’s point of view. 

ii) The italicised expressions is the writer’s point of view. 

2. Can you find other such sentences in the story? You can do this after you read the second part of the story as well. 

Ans: Other such sentences are there in the second part of the story that reads: “Goodness! Wasn’t there anything she could do? If only she could tell Wanda she hadn’t meant to hurt her feelings. “

3. Look at this sentence. The italicised adverb expresses an opinion or point of view. 

Obviously, the only dress Wanda had was the blue one she wore every day. (This was obvious to the speaker.) 

Other such adverbs are apparently, evidently, surprisingly, possibly, hopefully, incredibly, luckily. Use these words appropriately in the blanks in the sentences below. (You may use a word more than once and more than one word may be appropriate for a given blank. 

1.  …………..,he finished his work on time. 

2.  ………….,it will not rain on the day of the match. 

3. …………..,he had been stealing money from his employer. 

4. Television is………… to blame for the increase in violence in society. 

5. The children will………… learn from their mistakes. 

6. I can’t……….. lend you that much money. 

7. The thief had………… been watching the house for many days. 

8. The thief I escaped by bribing the jailor. 

9. ………,no one had suggested this before. 

10. The water was………….  hot. 

Ans: 1. Luckily.    

2. Hopefully.  

3. Evidently. 

4. Apparently.

5. Evidently.

6. Apparently. 

7. Possibly.

8. Surprisingly.

9. Incredibly. 

10. Possibly. 

Comprehension Questions and Answers

Q:- Read the passages carefully and answer the question by choosing the appropriate options given below :–

1. Today, Monday, Wanda petronski was not in her seat. But nobody, not even Peggy and Madeline, the girls who started all the fun, noticed her absence. Usually Wanda sat in the seat next to the last seat in the last row in room thirteen. She sat in the corner of the room where the rough boys who did not make good marks sat, the corner of the room where there was most scuffing of feet, most roars of laughter when anytime funny was said, and most mud and dirt on the floor. 

Questions :-

1. Who noticed Wanda petronski’s absence? 

a) Peggy.    

b) Madeline. 

c) The girls.

d) Nobody. 

Ans: d) Nobody.

2. Wanda usually say in the seat next to the last seat in the-

a) First row.

b) Last row in Room Thirteen. 

c) Second row.

d) Last row in Room Twelve.

Ans: b) Last row in Room Thirteen.

3. She usually sat there because –

a) She was dull. 

b) She was afraid of girls. 

c)  She wanted to get rid of the fun made of het

d) She liked to make fun of other girls. 

Ans: c)  She wanted to get rid of the fun made of het.

4. Most of the boys who sat in the last row were in the habit of –

a) Making good marks. 

b) Making complaints. 

c) Making friendship. 

d) Scuffing of their feet on the ground. 

Ans: d) Scuffing of their feet on the ground.

2. But on Wednesday, Peggy and Maddie, who sat down front with other children who got good marks and who didn’t track in a whole lot of mud, did notice that Wanda wasn’t there. Peggy was the most popular girl in school. She was pretty, she had many pretty clothes and her hair was curly. Maddie was her closest friend. The reason Peggy and Maddie noticed Wanda’s absence was because Wanda had made them late to school. They had waited and waited for Wanda, to have some fun with her, and she just hadn’t come. 

They often waited for Wanda Petronski to have fun with her.

Questions:-

1. Where did Peggy and Maddie sit? 

a) Down front. 

b) Up back. 

c) Down back.       

d) Up front. 

Ans: a) Down front.

2. Who else sat with Peggy and Maddie? 

a) All children.    

b) No one.

c) Brilliant children.

d) Naughty children.

Ans: c) Brilliant children.

3. Who was the most popular girl in school? 

a) Wanda.       

b) Peggy. 

c) Maddie.    

d) None of these.

Ans: b) Peggy.  

4. Peggy and Maddie would wait for Wanda to –

a) Play with her.     

b) Come to school together.     

c)  Laugh with her.     

d) Have fun with her. 

Ans: d) Have fun with her. 

3. Wanda didn’t have any friends. She came to school alone and went home alone. She always wore a faded blue dress that didn’t hang right. It was clean, but it looked as though it had never been ironed properly. She didn’t have any friends, but a lot of girls talked to her. Sometimes, they surrounded her in the school yard as she stood watching the little girls play hopscotch on the worn hard ground. 

“Wanda”, Peggy would say in a most courteous manner as though she were talking to miss Mason.  “Wands”, she’d  say, giving one of her friends a nudge, “tell us. How many dress did you say you had hanging up in your closet? “

Question :-

1. Why did Wanda come to school alone? Because

a) Nobody liked her.

b) She was unsocial.

c) She was poor.

d) She had no friend. 

Ans: d) She had no friend.

2. She always wore a faded blue dress because –

a) She asked it. 

b)  Everyone appreciated it. 

c)  She was poor. 

d) She had a hundred dresses in her closet. 

Ans: c)  She was poor.

3. Peggy made fun of Wanda  by-

a)  Pointing out her peculiar name. 

b)  Showing her shabby dress. 

c)  Pointing to her muddy shoes. 

d)  Asking her about dresses. 

Ans: d)  Asking her about dresses.

4. Who had a funny name? 

a) Peggy.

b) Maddie. 

c) Wanda.      

d) Mason. 

Ans: c) Wanda. 

4. Peggy was not really cruel. She protected small children from bullies. And she cried for hours if she saw an animal mistreated. If anybody had said to her. “Don’t you think that is a cruel way to treat Wanda? ” She would have been very surprised. Cruel? Why did the girl say she had a hundred dresses? Anybody could tell that that was a lie. Why did she want to lie? And she wasn’t just an ordinary person, else why did she have a name like that?  Anyway, they never made her cry. 

As for Maddie, this business of asking wanda everyday how many dresses and how many hats, and how many this or that she had was bothering her. Maddie’s was poor herself. She usually wore somebody’s hand-me-downs clothes. Thank goodness, she didn’t live up on boggins heights or have a funny name. 

Question :-

1. Peggy’s nature proves that she was-

a) Cruel.

b)  Not cruel.

c) Naughty.   

d) Humble. 

Ans: b)  Not cruel.

2. Peggy took Wanda for-

a) An ordinary girl.    

b) A humble girl.

c) A rich girl.      

d) A brilliant girl.

Ans: a) An ordinary girl.

3. What bothered Maddie?

a) Asking Wanda questions. 

b)  Making fun of Wanda.

c) Peggy’s friendship. 

d) Her involvement. 

Ans: b)  Making fun of Wanda.

4. Maddie’s poverty can be understood from-

a) Wearing new dresses. 

b) Wearing old shoes. 

c)  Wearing Peggy’s used dresses. 

d)  Her friendship with Peggy. 

Ans: c)  Wearing Peggy’s used dresses. 

5. Today, even though they had been late to school, Maddie was glad she had not had to make fun of Wanda. She worked her arithmetic problems absent-mindedly. “Eight times eight let’s see…… “She wished she had the nerve to write Peggy a note because she knew she never would have the courage to speak right out to Peggy, to say, “Hey, peg, let’s stop asking Wanda how many dresses she has. ” When she finished her arithmetic she did start a note to Peggy. Suddenly she paused and shuddered. She pictured herself in the schoolyard, a new target for Peggy and the girls. Peggy might ask her where she got the dress that she had on, and Maddie would have to say it was one of Peggy’s old ones that Maddie’s mother had tried to disguise with new trimmings so no one in Room Thirteen would recognise it. 

Question:-

1. How did Maddie want to ask Peggy to stop making fun of Wanda? 

a) Telling her with a request. 

b)  Requesting her as soon as she met her. 

c)  Sending her a note of requests. 

d) Cutting her relationship with Peggy. 

Ans: c)  Sending her a note of requests.

2. Why was Maddie glad? Because –

a) She was late for school. 

b)  She solved arithmetic problems. 

c)  She did not meet Wanda. 

d)  She had not had to make fun of Wanda. 

Ans: d)  She had not had to make fun of Wanda.

3. She shuddered because she thought that-

a) She would be Peggy’s next target. 

b)  Peggy would stop teasing Wanda. 

c)  Wanda would tease her. 

d) Peggy would make friendship with Wanda. 

Ans: a) She would be Peggy’s next target.

4. ‘trimmings ‘ means-

a) Shape.

b) Design.

c) Decorations.   

d)  Style.

Ans: c) Decorations.  

6. The minute they entered the classroom, they stopped short and gasped. There were drawings all over the room, on every ledge and window-sill, dazzling colours and brilliant, lavish designs, all drawn on great sheets of wrapping paper. There must have been a hundred of them, all lined up. There must be drawings for the contest. They were! Everybody stopped and whistled or murmured admiringly. A soon as the class had assembled, Miss Mason announced the winners. Jack Beggs had won for the boys, she said, and his design for an outboard motor was on exhibition in Room Twelve, along with the sketches by all the other boys. 

Question :-

1. Why did they stop short and gasp? Because –

a)  They were already late for school. 

b)  The result of the drawing contest was declared. 

c)  They saw beautiful drawings all over the room. 

d)  There were many pictures there. 

Ans: c)  They saw beautiful drawings all over the room.

2. Everybody admired them-

a) Shouting.

b) Whistling. 

c) Saying nice things.

d) Touching the drawings. 

Ans: b) Whistling.

3. Who won the contest for girls? 

a) Peggy.         

b) Maddie. 

c) Mason.         

d) Wanda.

Ans: d) Wanda.  

4. According to Maddie who would win the contest? 

a)  Wanda.         

b) Maddie herself.

c)  Mason.         

d) Peggy. 

Ans: d) Peggy.

Short Answer type question

1. Where did Wanda petronski sit in the class and why? 

Ans: Wanda petronski was a polish girl. Their family came to America. She came to school and took her seat of the last row. She sat there because she had no friends and her shoes were caked with mud. 

2. Who made fun of Wanda and why? 

Ans: Peggy and Maddie made fun of Wanda because she had a funny name to the Americans. Peggy was local but Wanda was a foreigner and she used to wear a faded blue dress and her feet were usually caked with dry mud. 

3. What kind of girl was Wanda petronski? How did she look? 

Ans: Wanda petronski was very quite and rarely said anything at all. Nobody had heard her laugh aloud. She simply smiled. She always wore a faded blue dress that did not fit her right. She came to school with dry mud in her feet. She came of a poor family. 

4. How did Peggy and Maddie make fun of Wanda petronski? 

Ans: Peggy and Maddie would ask Wanda petronski how many dresses she had in her closet. Peggy also asked her how many pairs of shoes she had. Wanda replied that she had a hundred dresses in her closet- all lined up and sixty pairs of shoes. All the other girls would stop playing and listen to these questions and answers. 

5. What kind of girl was Peggy? Why did she make fun of Wanda? 

Ans: In fact, Peggi was a good girl. She was kind-hearted, intelligent and lovely. She was the most popular girl in the school. She was not cruel. She protected small children from bullies. She also felt pain when an animal was mistreated. She teased Wanda because Wanda said that she had a hundred dresses in her closet. Peggi thought it to be a lie. 

6. What did Peggy and Maddie do on the result day of drawing contest? 

Ans: On the result day of drawing contest Peggy and Maddie hurried to school under Peggy’s umbrella. They did not wait for Wanda. Maddie was sure that Peggy would come out first. So it was an important day for them. 

Long Answer Type Question

1. In what kind of place did Wanda usually sit in the classroom? Why? 

Ans: Wanda usually sat in the seat next to the last seat in the last row in Room Thirteen. She in the corner. There the rough boys sat who did not get good marks. They made noise by scuffing of their feet when something funny was said. They also burst into laughter. But Wanda was very quite and rarely said anything. Nobody saw her laugh. She simply smiled. She came from Biggins  Heights  and her feet were caked with dry mud. In the midst of most Americans she was the only polish girl. 

2. How did Peggy make fun of Wanda? What was Wanda’s reaction? 

Ans: Wanda petronski was a polish girl. She was poor. To Peggy and other American students Wanda had a peculiar name.  Wanda always wore a faded blue dress which did not fit her right. Peggy made fun of Wanda for her dress. Peggy would signal her friend Maddie and ask Wanda how many dresses she had. Wanda would reply that she had a hundred dresses in her closet-all lined up. Peggy would again ask what those dresses were like. Wanda would reply “all silk colours, velvet.” She also said that she had sixty pairs of shoes. She replied to the questions without showing any emotion. All the girls would burst into laughter. 

3. What contest was held in the school? Who won the contest? 

Ans: In the school drawing and coloring contest was held. For girls, the contest consisted of designing dresses and for boys of designing motorboat. Everyone hoped that Peggy would win because she drew better that anyone else in the room. Maddie was sure that Peggy would win. 

Jack Beagles won for the boys and Wanda petronski for the girls. She drew one hundred design while most girls submitted one or two sketches. Her design were all different and all beautiful.