DRAGONFLY DILEMMA, Padma Ganpati

DRAGONFLY DILEMMA, Padma Ganpati

WORD MEANING

1. tranquil – calm
2. inhabited – lived in
3. scurried – moved about quickly or hurriedly
4. stalk – stem, soft and thin stick
5. spied – noticed secretly
6. enquired – investigated, finding out
7. puzzled – tricked
8. lies – exists, remains
9. bid – ordered, commanded, (here) suggested
10. slippery – smooth and cannot be climbed
11. exhausted – tired
12. efforts – attempts, trying
13. amazed – surprised
14. rejoiced – celebrated, enjoyed
15. heady – exciting
16. intoxicated – affected, charmed
17. metamorphosis – a complete change
18. acrobatics – physical art done by acrobat
19. recollected – remembered
20. shirking – remove, darting
21. lethargy – tired, fatigued
22. barely – hardly
23. vain – loss, waste
24. terribly – too much
25. distressed – upset, worried
26. dawned – began
27. consoled – pacify
28. transformation – a complete change

A. COOSE THE CORRECT OPTION

1. The lady water bug was moving slowly up the ____________ stalk.

a. hyacinth

b. lily (✓)

c. seaweed

2. The leader of the water bugs climbed to the surface of the water.

a. on a warm spring day. (✓)

b. on a cold winter day.

c. on a hot summer day.

3. The leader of the water bugs turned into a

a. lily.

b. butterfly.

c. dragonfly. (✓)

4. Her newly formed wings were ____________ at first.

a. dry

b. moist (✓)

c. heavy

B. ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS.

1. Why did the leader of the water bugs find the climbing difficult?

The leader found it difficult because the stalk of the water lily was slippery and she was out of breath.

2. Why couldn’t the dragonfly go back to her old community?

She couldn’t go back to her old community because she was no longer a water bug and it was the law of nature. Everytime, as a dragonfly, she tried she bounced back.

C. THINK ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED AFTER THE WATER BUG TURNED INTO THE DRAGONFLY AND COMPLETE THE SENTENCES.

D. READ THE SENTENCES FROM THE TEST AN ANSWR THE QUESTIONS THAT FOLLOW.

1. “Why is she climbing up the stalk”?

a. Who said this?

The water bug who was spying the lady water bug said this.

b. Who does the word ‘she’ refer to?

‘She’ refers to the lady water bug who was laboriously climbing the lily stalk.

c. Why was ‘she’ climbing up the stalk?

She was climbing the stalk because her time of metamorphosis had come and it was by nature, she had to climb the stalk.

2. “I can’t break my promise.”

a. Who said this?

The transformed dragonfly said this.

b. What promise had the speaker made?

She had promised that she would go back to her community of dragonfly and tell every what had happened to her.

c. Could the speaker keep the promise?

No, the speaker could not keep the promise, because she was no longer able to go back. Everytime she tried, she bounced back.

E. DISCUSS IN THE CLASS.

1. The water bug-turned-dragonfly was a creature of honour. Do you agree with this? Give reasons for your answer.

Yes, I agree that water-bug-turned-dragonfly was a creature of honour. Now she was out of water and the small community where they did not know about the world outside. She can not fly high from place to place and go anywhere into wonderful world.

2. When the water bug changed into the dragonfly, she saw the world in a new light. Think about what new-found things would have appealed to her the most? Had you been in her place, what things would you have loved the most?

STUDENTS MUST ATTEMPT ANSWERING THIS QUESTION BY SELF.

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