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The living conditions of Maggie and her mother were very poor. They lived in a small house in the Lambeth area where poor peopled lived. Here the streets are above the ground. Kitchens are often below street level. They had very cheap furniture and that too was very little. The carpet was very old and torn in many places. Maggie’s mother baked cakes and sold them for a living.

Initially Mr. Gupta wanted to give back the Shilling to Maggie telling her that there were plenty of flowers in India and he could get some flowers free to place them on her brother’s grave. But this would deprive the girl of the joy of sacrifice she was making for her dead brother. So Mr. Gupta accepted the shilling. The grief in her heart would lessen with the sacrifice she was making. To earn a shilling she had to do a lot of work.

Take a coffee mug and add two teaspoons of coffee powder and one spoon of sugar. In another vessel, bring milk to boil. Pour boiling milk in the coffee mug. Stir well and serve. Strong coffee is ready to taste.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar and cocoa powder. 

In another small bowl, whisk together the butter and eggs. 

Add the egg mixture into the flour mixture, and stir it well till it is mixed thoroughly. 

Bake the brownies in an electric oven for 25 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Boil one litre of milk till it becomes thick and creamy and is reduced to one fourth its quantity. Add sugar to taste. 

Keep aside five tablespoons of cold milk and mix two heaped spoons of ice cream powder. Pour the ice cream powder mixed milk to the boiling milk and stir continuously till it thickens. Add two drops of vanilla, strawberry or chocolate essence to taste and stir well. After it cools, freeze for four hours.

Francis or Frank is the brother of Maggie and son of Mrs. Clifford. They both love him dearly. He is in the Punjab, in the regiment fighting on the Northwest Frontier. He loves his mother and sister. He has sent her sister a book of pictures of Simla and the surrounding mountain country. He is superstitious. He also sent her a crystal ring saying that it was given to him by a yogi. The yogi had told him it was a magical ring. If somebody looked into the crystal, thinking of a person who is far away, he can see the person and what he is doing. Maggie and Mrs. Clifford often looked into the crystal ring but they never saw Francis. Finally we come to know that Francis was killed in war and was buried at Fort Monroe, near Dera- Ghazi-Khan. Maggie wants the narrator to place some flowers on her brother’s grave when he goes to India and she pays him a shilling for that. It is from this sacrificial act of hers that the story gets its title.

Take an egg and beat the egg well with a fork or egg beater. 

Finely chop a small onion, one grren chilly, one pod of garlic, coriander leaves Mix the chopped ingredients to the beaten egg.

Add salt to taste and beat. Heat a tava and add a spoon of oil. Pour the mixture into the hot tava like a dosa. Flip sides till it gets cooked on both sides.

(a) The budding twigs spread out their fan to catch the breezy air. 

(b) The poet thought the twigs were experiencing the j oy of their contact with the breezy air.

Superstitions are bad. But they are rampant in the society. Superstitions are often connected with religious beliefs and some unscrupulous people exploit the believers by feeding them with superstitions. Some people believe that if a black cat crosses your way, the work for which you are going will not be done. It is stupid to believe in superstitions. I don’t believe in any. I believe in God but not in the superstitions traded in his name.

The girl is from a poor family and that we can guess from the dress she is wearing. She has large eyes which have a sad expression. The waitress says that she comes to the restaurant only on Saturdays for her lunch because Saturday is the pay day. On the other days she does not take lunch because she has no money. She is working in a nearby shop, maybe for a very small pay. As she is a teenager nobody would hire her for a big salary.

Mr Gupta and Maggie tiptoed into the sitting room because Maggie wanted to talk to him in private. They did not want to disturb the sick woman with their talk.

The narrator’s attention was drawn to the English girl because she had been watching him with interested surprise. But she turned her eyes away as soon as he looked at her. She was 13 or 14 years old. From her clothes one could guess she was a poor girl. She had large eyes which had a sad expression.

Maggie had a violin and she learned to play some songs with her own efforts. She could not go to any teacher to learn violin because of the lack of money. Her mother knows that Maggie has talent for playing violin. She tells the narrator that if ever their circumstances improved she would send Maggie to have violin lessons. This incident deeply touched the narrator’s heart.

The narrator was curious about the girl because he found she was curious about him. She asked the cashier if he was an Indian and if he came to the restaurant every day. From the waitress he had come to know that the girl works in a nearby shop. So to meet her he looked into the shops on the streets near St. Martin’s Lane and the shops on the Strand. But he could not trace her. Then he met her in the restaurant again on the next Saturday during lunch time.

A little quantity of washing soda is put inside the test tubes and conical flasks.

Some lukewarm water is added to it. 

The inside of the test-tubes and conical flasks are brushed carefully using a brush. 

Then they are washed with running water. 

Finally they are rinsed with water and kept inverted in the test tube stands and allowed to dry.

Nature’s holy plan is to offer joy and peace to all forms of life on earth. He firmly believes that man is meant to spend his days blissfully taking part in the vitality and joy surrounding him. The poet believes that the harmonious, peaceful and happy  co-existence of birds, plants, trees and brooks soothes the troubled mind of man. But he remembered the depravity of man which was evident in Napoleonic wars. He was fed up with man’s capacity to destroy innocent lives and property.

The poet is unhappy with unnatural aspects of industrial revolution, the misery caused by wars, greedy and aggressive behaviour causing suffering in humans. Man has lost his sensitivity to listen to the joyful lessons of nature and has gone to the extent of denuding the forest which really sustains life on earth. The poet stands to reason that nature functions on God’s plan but the man changes the holy plan wrecking the natural joy of human life.

She is a teenager from a poor family. She had large eyes with a sorrowful expression. When she saw the narrator, some ideas came to her mind and that is why she watches him so closely. Then she tries to find out if he is an Indian and if he comes to that particular restaurant all the time. Something about Indians has got into her mind and she is trying to clarify her doubts. She is a polite girl who thanks people even when some small service is given to her.

The narrator went to the restaurant again in the hope of meeting the young English girl. He was told by the waitress that the girl came to the restaurant on Saturdays for lunch.

Maggie was unable to go to work because her mother was seriously sick. Since there was nobody in the house to look after her sick mother, she could not go for work.

C.V. Burgess is a master craftsman who reveals only a’few names. The first patient Joe and his wife Emily are the most dominant characters. Joe is inside the surgical room. Emily is anxious about the husband. Among the two children the dramatist uses only the girl’s name Dorothea and the Dentist hospital becomes a play area for Dorothea and the little boy who claim the same magazine for reading. The snobbish woman who goes on showing her photo album gives us an impression if she came to see the doctor or to show her photos. The whole play revolves around the dramatic irony of patients’ guess as to what happened inside the dentists’ room and what really happened.

The pliers, hack saw and the huge hammer were taken inside the dentist’s room only for opening the tool cabinet. But the patients wondered how these would’be used in dental surgery. The groaning noise from inside the dentist’s rooms and the vexation of Emily Joe add to the fear of the patients waiting. A few women patients leave the waiting room scared of subjecting themselves to the torture of having their bad teeth extracted with carpentry tools. The nurse moves about with all feigned seriousness without disclosing the fact of the misplacement of key.

First of all, the pages are carefully arranged page wise according to sections. 

All the sections are then stitched and the sides of the book are cut neatly. 

The book is covered with a suitable brown paper and pasted carefully. 

Two card board sheets are cut slightly bigger than the size of the book.

Saturday is special to Maggie and her mother for two reasons. It is Maggie’s pay day, on which she can enjoy a meal in a restaurant. Saturday night is a time of festivity in poor neighbourhoods like Lambeth. It is a day when the poor are able to spend a little as they receive their wages. Maggie’s mother bakes cakes and sells them on Saturdays and that is how they make a living. So Saturday is special to both of them.

The girl thought that India was a dangerous country full of tigers, snake and fevers. This is the impression she got from people.

Abolish discrimination against those with AIDS People living with HIV infection and AIDS should have the same basic rights and responsibilities as those which apply to all citizens of the country. They have the same rights to liberty and autonomy, security of the person and to freedom of movement as the rest of the population. No restrictions should be placed on the free movement of HIV-infected people, and they may not be segregated, isolated or quarantined in prisons, schools, hospitals or elsewhere merely because of their HIV-positive status.

Only a sexual relationship without proper precautions will be a risk factor. Therefore they should be accepted whole heartedly without any discrimination. People with HIV infection or AIDS are entitled to the right to make their own decisions about any matter that affects marriage and child-bearing – although counselling about the consequences of their decisions should be provided. Due to the fear of isolation, ignorance, denial, and discrimination, people will allow HIV to develop into AIDS, further decreasing life expectancy, since the body’s immune system function will have been significantly lowered.

Along with family bonds and intimate relationships, a spiritual relationship is also strained. Fear and vulnerability included fear of punishment from God, fear of being discovered as HIV/ AIDS-positive and fear of the future and death. They should be given the love, warmth, psycho-social and emotional support.

The story has aptly titled the price of flowers. A young girl impoverished and miserable sacrifices a shilling for flowers to place on her brother’s grave. The narrator does not want to destroy the kind gesture that the girl makes for he knows it brings her a lot of consolation.

India is a vast country with different climate zones and it is not the same everywhere nor is it the same all the year-round.

Faith plays an important role in the story. Mrs Clifford believes that Indians can see things in a crystal. When the narrator tells her that he can see her son alive and well in the crystal she recovers from her illness.

Maggie was not satisfied with her job. It was a mechanical job. She wanted to have job to make use of her head, her brain. She would like to be a secretary.

Lay the Person Down, if Possible. Elevate the person’s feet about 12 inches unless head, neck, or back is injured or you suspect broken hip or leg bones.

Begin CPR, if necessary.

Treat obvious injuries.

Keep Person Warm and Comfortable. 

If the person is not breathing or breathing seems dangerously weak, rush him to the nearest hospital or call 108.

1. is holding

2. had been looking, asked

3. needed, was

4. had happened, ran

5. had sent, has not received

‘With the Photographer’ by Stephen Leacock is narrated in the first person. The narrator while sitting in the photographer’s studio begins, to read some magazines and sees how other people look and the narrator begins to feel insecure about his appearance. It is also noticeable that the photographer takes a dislike to his face judging it to be wrong.

What should have been a simple process of taking a photograph becomes something of a nightmare for the narrator. How confident the narrator becomes is noticeable when he returns to the photographer’s studio the following Saturday. He realises that the photograph that has been taken of him looks nothing like him. This angers the narrator as he was simply looking for a photograph that would show his likeness. He accepts that he may not be to everybody’s liking when it comes to his physical appearance but is angered by the changes made. The photographer has retouched the photograph so much that the narrator does not recognise himself.

The end of the story is also interesting as the reader realises that it is just a worthless bauble when he begins to cry. He has been judged solely by his appearance by the photographer whose job was to simply take a life like photograph.

Fort Monroe 

Dera-Ghazi-Khan 

Noth-west Frontier

India, PIN 600-002 

2 January 1946

Dear Maggie,

I’m sorry that I could not write to you earlier because I was busy with the an Service training and the formalities connected with it. I hope you and your mother are fine. I am okay here. I am trying to cope with my new responsibilities.

I went to Fort Monroe, near Dera-GhaziKhan to visit your brother’s grave. As desired by you, I placed some beautiful rose flowers on his grave. When I was standing there I thought of you and your mother and imagined how you must have felt when you heard about Franks’ untimely death. I met two soldiers from the Regiment to which Frank belonged and they told me what a fine lad Frank was. They also told me that he often talked to them about you and your mother. In fact he had bought some Indian clothes to give both of you when he returned home.

But destiny sometimes plays cruel jokes. I feel extremely sorry that you lost such a fine brother and your mother such a marvelous son. I pray for his soul. May his soul rest in peace!

Please greet your mother on my behalf. The cake she gave me was delicious.

I keep remembering you and I speak about you to my friends. When I visit England next time, I will definitely come and see you people.

With lots of love, 

Yours lovingly, (Gupta Narain)

Maggie wanted Mr. Gupta to gaze into the crystal and tell her mother that Franks was alive and well even if he did not see anything in the crystal. Her mother was seriously sick and her sickness is aggravated by her worries about Frank from whom she hasn’t heard for long. If Mr.’ Gupta tells her that Frank is alive and well, it will help her to recover.

The story The Price of Flowers’ belongs to the category of ‘Anecdote’. It is an interesting story about a real event.

Maggie’s full name is Full name Alice Margaret Clifford. She is a young English girl. She is 13 or 14 years of age. When we see her first she is wearing poor clothes showing she is very poor. Her hair hung in a heavy stream down her back. She had large eyes with a sad expression. She works in a shop close the restaurant where she met the writer. She goes to the restaurant only on Saturdays because Saturday is pay day.

Maggie is a hardworking girl. She lives with her old mother in a small house. Her only brother Francis is in the army and he is in India. She loves her brother very much and he too loves her.

She loves her mother. She nurses her when she is sick. She is superstitious. That is why she believes in the story told by her brother that by looking into the crystal ring one could see people who are far and what they are doing, if one thinks of them and looks into the ring carefully. She is very disciplined. She has polite manners and this is clearly shown in her behaviour.

Maggie is ambitious and she is not happy with her work in the shop. She says it is a mechanical job. She wants to do a job where her brain can be used. When she gets a better job she will rent o a better house and take her mother there. It shows much she cares for her mother. When her mother is in a critical condition she even asks Mr. Gupta to tell her mother a lie about her brother so that the mother feels better by hearing that her son is alive and well in India. Maggie is a very fine girl.

She wants Mr. Gupta to go to the grave of her brother who is buried in India and gives one shilling to him. A shilling is a lot of money for a poor girl like her. To get that, she has to work hard for many days. Her action shows how much she loved her brother. Her sacrifice brings tears to the eyes of Mr. Gupta and we too are moved to tears when we see such selfless love of a teenage girl for her dead brother. I can easily say that Maggie is a model for girls of her age.

Maggie gave a shilling to Mr. Gupta to buy flowers and place them on her brother’s grave at Mort Monroe, near Dera Ghazi Khan when he goes to India.

The narrator decided to take the shilling from Maggie just to make her happy. She has sacrificed a lot to give him the shilling to buy flowers for her brother’s grave. She will feel consoled when she has done something nice for her brother.

By ‘brain work’ I understand those types of work which need some thinking. We in India often call ‘brain work’ as white collar jobs.

Mr Gupta went to Maggie’s house because she invited him. She wanted to introduce him to her mother, who wanted to meet an Indian to find out the truth about the stories she had heard about India. Moreover, Mr. Gupta had developed some liking and sympathy towards Maggie and was willing to help her in any way possible.

1. have been waiting

2. had already left

3. attacked

4. sought

5. had fled

I also want work that will make me use my head. I want to do work that needs my brain, my thinking powers. 

I like to be a teacher as teaching is supposed to be the noblest profession. A teacher always makes impressions on the minds of hundreds of students. He/ She has to be intelligent and understanding so as to help the students learn. As students have different abilities the teacher uses a variety of skills to constantly invent and make the classroom an interesting place so as to encourage learning. Teachers are role models and many of them make a lasting impression on the lives of students.

Teachers have to be smart as well as intuitive so as to understand the needs of their students. Teachers mould the minds of the students. Therefore nation-building is ultimately in the hands of the teachers. Dr. Abdul Kalam said that no nation can rise above its teachers. The quality of a nation depends on the quality of its teachers. So I want to be a teacher and use my brain to develop the brains of my students.

Maggie asked the narrator whether the narrator was a vegetarian to find out if he was a yogi. She had heard that yogis do not eat meat and they have occult (magical) powers.

Cool the areas that were exposed to fire. 

Hold burned skin under cool running water or immerse in cool water until pain subsides. 

Protect burn. 

Cover with sterile, non-adhesive bandage or clean cloth. 

Apply Silver Ointment and see a Doctor at the earliest. 

Follow Up

The narrator asked the girl if he should call her Miss Clifford or Alice. She replied saying that she was not grown up and he might call her what he liked. She laughingly added that she was usually called Maggie. The narrator then wanted to know if she was anx¬ious to grow up. Her answer was yes. He then wanted to know why she wanted to grow up. He said that when she would be grown she would be paid more for her work and her mother was old. The narrator wanted to know if the work she was doing was to her liking. She said she did not like the work as it was very mechanical. She wanted some work that needed the use of her brain. She wanted to be a secretary.  

Correct option is C) have to

If you are 18 years of age, visit the Road Transport Office.

Fill in the Driving Licence application form and submit with fees and a passport size photo. Wait a couple of days for the LLR to be issued. Practice driving with an L Board and with enough practice visit the RTO again to test drive the twowheeler or four-wheeler.

When you pass the test drive test, starting the vehicle, reversing the vehicle etc, you will be issued a regular license for driving.

Correct option is D) can

Correct option is B) by

(i) Yes, is it a new product that you are promoting? 

(ii) Is there any inaugural offers? 

(iii) I’ll buy one.