Class 9 NCERT Solutions English Chapter 3 - The Little Girl
The Little Girl Exercise 38
Solution l-1
Solution lll-3
When her grandmother and mother were in the hospital, she was left alone at home with the cook, Alice. At night when she was in her bed, she wondered what she would do in case she had a nightmare. Her grandmother used to tuck her in her own bed whenever Kezia had a nightmare.
However, she had the same nightmare that night and cried out her grandmother's name. When she woke up, she saw her father beside her bed. He asked her what had happened and when he realized she was having a bad dream he carried her in his arms to his room, tidied up the bed and carefully tucked her up next to him. Half asleep, she crept close to him, snuggled her head under his arm, and held tightly to his shirt. she was no longer afraid of the dark. Her father asked her to rub her feet against his legs so that she could make them warm. He was so tired that he slept before she did.
It was then that she saw her father in a new light. She realized that he was not so big after all and there was no one to look after him. She understood that he had to work every day and was too tired to be like Mr. Macdonald. She felt bad that she had torn up his speech. She expressed her new feelings for her father by saying that he had a big heart.
Solution lll-2
She decided that there were different sorts of fathers when she saw the Macdonalds, who lived next door. When she looked through a gap in the fence in the evening, she saw the Macdonalds playing 'tag' together. The father had the little baby ‘Mao”on his shoulders, while his two little girls were hanging on to his coat pockets. They ran round and round the flower- beds and were shaking with laughter. Once she even saw his boys turn the hose on him—and he tried to catch them laughing all the time. This was when she decided that there were different sorts of fathers. Unlike Mr. Macdonald, her father never played or laughed with her. He only scolded her and told her to do things in a proper manner. She was often too afraid to go near him and stuttered with fear when he questioned her. In this way, Mr. Macdonald was quite a contrast to Kezia's father.
Solution ll-1
Kezia was afraid of her father because she found him to be a very dominating and authoritative person who commanded every one including her mother around the house. She felt that every one in the house was obliged to please him and be at his service. Besides she always looked at him as someone who scolded her and told her to do things properly and in a certain manner. His general appearance, his hands and his neck, especially his mouth when he yawned were big and she was especially terrified with the manner in which he looked at her over his spectacles.
Solution ll-3
(i) Before going to his office, Kezia's father usually went into her room to give her a casual kiss. He then took a carriage to work.
(ii) After coming back from his office, he asked mother in a loud voice to bring
him tea, newspaper, and his slippers. Kezia would then come down from her room and take off his boots. He would look at Kezia from over his spectacles and she would be terrified and when he asked her how she was she would start to stutter.
(iii) On Sunday afternoons, Kezia found her father stretched out on the sofa, his handkerchief on his face, and his feet on one of the best cushions, sleeping soundly and snoring.
Solution ll-4
On Sundays, Kezia's grandmother sent her to the drawing room to have a nice talk with her parents. Her grandmother also told her that father’s birthday was coming, and suggested she make him a pin-cushion for a gift out of a beautiful piece of yellow silk.
Solution ll-2
Solution lll-1
Kezia often tried too hard to please her father. While talking to him, she tried so hard to say the words correctly that she stuttered a lot. She was so afraid of him that she never answered him properly and he ended up scolding her. Once, Kezia's grandmother told her that her father's birthday was nearing. She suggested that Kezia should make a pin-cushion out of a beautiful piece of yellow silk as a gift for her father's birthday. She started making the cushion and had stitched three sides when she wondered what she should fill it with. She wandered into her mother's bedroom to look for scraps and found many sheets of fine paper on the bed table. She gathered the sheets, tore them into tiny pieces, and stuffed and stitched up the fourth side of the cushion. Unfortunately, the sheets she had torn were her father's speech for the Port Authority. Her father was extremely angry with her when he got to know about it and sent her to bed and beat her on her hands with a ruler. Hence, Kezia's efforts to please her father resulted in displeasing him very much.
The Little Girl Exercise 39
Solution 1
(i) She was delighted by the news of her brother’s wedding.
(ii) I was thrilled to be invited to the party.
(iii) She was overjoyed at the birth of her granddaughter.
(iv) The coach was happy with his performance.
(v) She was very pleased with her results.
Solution 2
(i) Older
(ii) Most important
(iii) Excellent ideas
(iv) Huge in popularity
(v) Greatest
(vi) Eats a lot (in quantity)
(vii) A good and kind heart
The Little Girl Exercise 40
Solution 1
(i) He says he will enjoy the ride.
(ii) Father mentioned that he was going on a holiday.
(iii) No one told us that the shop was closed.
(iv) He answered that the price would go up.
(v) I wondered why he was screaming.
(vi) Ben told her to wake him up.
(vii) Ratan apologized for coming late to the party.
Solution 2
(i) "I am not afraid," replied the woman.
(ii) "Leave me alone," my mother shouted.
(iii) The children were complaining that the roads were crowded and noisy.
(iv) "Perhaps he isn't a bad sort of a chap after all," remarked the man.
(v) "Let's go and look at the school ground," suggested the sports teacher.
(vi) The traffic police ordered all the passers-by to keep off the road.
