The Ant and the Grasshopper | Unit 9.1 | English

Unit 9

Work And Lesiure

The Ant and the Grasshopper

Reading 1

A. Choose the appropriate words given below to replace the underlined words in the given sentences.

[industry, hilarious, qualm, enticements, obliged, amendments, expostulations]

a. If your talent combines with diligence, you can excel in your field.

⇒ industry

b. The dessert menu has a lot of delicious temptations.

⇒ enticements

c. The house passed the bill without listening to the public objections.

⇒ expostulations

d. Knowledge of the ill effects of tobacco has led to modifications in smoking behaviour.

⇒ amendments

e. Without any regret, Yule started spending his father’s inheritance.

⇒ qualm

f. Mr. Smith read a humorous story which matched his real life.

⇒ hilarious

B. Put the following sentences from the story in the correct order.

The correct order is:

1. The Ramsays were perfectly respectable people.
2. Tom left his wife and his office.
3. When his money was spent, he borrowed it from friends and spent it on luxuries.
4. George continued to pay for his brother’s expenses.
5. Tom promised to make a fresh start.
6. Tom bought a motor car and some very nice jewellery.
7. Tom never settled down.
8. Tom began to blackmail his brother for money.
9. Tom took the help of Cronshaw to cheat his brother, and left for Monte Carlo.

C. Answer the following questions.

a. Why is Tom described as the ‘black sheep’ of the Ramsay family?

⇒ Tom was a black sheep in Ramsays’ family because he always created problems.

b. What was a respectable profession for Tom?

⇒ To serve in a bar or to drive a taxi was a respectable profession to Tom.

c. Why was George Ramsay staring into space?

⇒ George Ramsay was staring into space because his only brother, Tom, troubled him very much.

d. Why did Tom leave his work and wife?

⇒ Tom left his work and wife because he wanted to enjoy himself.

e. How did Tom manage his life when he ran out of money in the beginning?

⇒ Tom managed his life when he ran out of money at first by borrowing from friends.

f. How did Cronshaw and Tom cheat George?

⇒ Cronshaw and Tom cheated George by creating a fake case at the court.

g. What made George realise that his brother would never settle down?

⇒ George gave Tom considerable sums for amendment which Tom spent to buy a car and jewellery. Such situations forced George to realise that his brother would settle down.

h. What is the moral of the story ‘The Ant and Grasshopper’?

⇒ The story writer takes a different approach to the moral of the traditional fable, presenting a contrasting perspective. Instead of emphasizing the notion that honesty and hard work lead to success, the story delves into the darker aspects of life, suggesting that not everyone who is honest and diligent will necessarily achieve prosperity. However, despite this portrayal, the narrative also carries a message of optimism, encouraging readers to maintain a positive outlook even during difficult times.

Read the story again and write a brief summary.

The Ramsays were a respected family, led by George Ramsay and his troublesome brother, Tom. Despite starting a business, Tom found it dull and abandoned not just his venture but also his wife and two children to embark on a journey. In dire need of funds, he borrowed money from friends, while George, hoping Tom would eventually settle down and start anew, continuously supported him financially. However, Tom misused the money given by George, purchasing a car and jewellery instead of focusing on stability. When George stopped providing him with funds, Tom resorted to blackmailing his own brother. Eventually, with the assistance of Cronshaw, he concocted a fraudulent lawsuit and managed to acquire five hundred pounds. Immediately after cashing the cheque, Tom and Cronshaw escaped to Mont Carlo, where they remained for several months.

Grammar I

Causative Verbs

A. Fill in the gaps with the correct form of have, get or make.

a. Did they make you give a speech on behalf of the group?

b. Instead of buying a new car, why don’t you get the old one fixed?

c. I will get my hair cut tomorrow morning.

d. The teacher gets every one of us to write an essay yesterday.

e. Ms Shrestha usually gets her hair dried at the hairdresser’s.

f. My mum always makes me clean my room on Saturdays.

g. I got my landlord to fix the broken windowpane this morning.

h. Suman had all the Maths problems solved by the teacher.

B. Rewrite the sentences with have, get or make.

a. She will ask her sister to light the lamp.

⇒ She will make her sister light the lamp.

b. I am going to ask the dentist to fill my teeth.

⇒ I get the dentist to fill my teeth.

c. Will you ask the barber to cut your hair?

⇒ I get the barber to cut my hair.

d. I can’t design my house myself. So I am going to ask an architect to do it.

⇒ I have an architect design my house.

e. The girl asked her mechanic to repair her moped.

⇒ She got her mechanic to repair her moped.

f. The landlady asks the gardener to cut the grass.

⇒ The landlady makes the gardener cut the grass.

C. Choose the best alternatives and complete the sentences.

[The answer of the Question has been bold]

a. Mina got Shambhu ……………… (carry/to carry/carried) her suitcase.

b. Rita had Ankit ………………… (wash/to wash/washed) her clothes.

c. They got me ……… (dance/to dance/danced) at my brother’s wedding.

d. Kumari was made………….(turn on/to turn on/turned on) the television.

e. Barsha got new books …………… (buy/to buy/bought) her last week.

f. Upendra got Mukesh ………… (watch/to watch/watched) his house.

g. My father is very kind. He never makes us ……… (do/to do/done) heavy work.

h. The film was very humorous. It made us all………………… (laugh/to laugh/laughed) throughout the film.

i. His hair was too long. So he had it ………………… (cut/to cut/cutting) yesterday.

j. The manager……………..(made/got/make) his secretary attend the conference.

k. Mathew made the mechanic ………………… (overhaul/to overhaul/overhauling) his car.

l. Smith had Jacque ……………… (fetch/to fetch/fetched) a pail of water.

m. My maths teacher asked us to remember all the theorems. In other words, we were made ……… (remember/remembered/to remember) all the theorems.