GENEROSITY
MODEL MILLIONAIRE
Oscar Wilde
Word Meaning
1. charming – happy, delightful
2. ultimately – finally, eventually
3. delightful – happy, charming
4. retired – left, no more in service
5. worse – bad
6. fond of – interested
7. ragged – dirty, shabby
8. fascinating – charming
9. profile – outline
10. freckled face – face with small, brownish spots
11. sought after – in demand, everyone’s favourite
12. flung – thrown
13. raised – elevated, high
14. patched – sticked, stitched, repaired
15. battered – shabby, damaged
16. miserable – sad, pathetic, in bad condition
17. shilling – British currency
18. sovereign – solemn, great
19. fellow – person
20. scolding – accusing
21. easel – stand, support
22. blushing – modest, timid
23. conquest – win, victory
24. coarse – rough
25. all tears and tatters – clothes that are old and bodily torn
26. guineas – old British coins each worth of 21 shillings
27. forlorn – sad and lonely
28. wretched – very unhappy
29. took his leave – said goodbye to someone and left
30. extravagance – wasteful or careless spending
31. dreadful – awful, shocking
32. heaps – piles, stack
33. rags – strips, pieces
34. splendid – gorgeous, marvelous, wonderful
35. wretch – miserable, unhappy
36. reckless – careless
37. stammered – not able to say clearly, falter
38. apologies – sorry
39. remark – comment
40. affairs – work, activity
41. dines – to have dinner
42. prevent – stop
43. exclaimed – said in surprise
44. dismay – panic, shock, nervous
45. roar – loud sound
46. falling to bits – in a very bad condition because of regular
use
47. relentless – strict and stubborn
48. chuckling – murmuring, making continuous low noise
49. rubbing – moving hand back and front
50. wrinkled – folded
51. growled – howled, rumbled, express with uncomfortable noise
52. fits of laughter – unstoppable laugh
53. apology – sorry
54. extended – handed over
55. sulkily – in an angry but quite manner
56. duffer – a foolish person
57. rare – difficult to find, not easily available
A.3 Discuss in pair
a. What
kind of a person was Hughie Erskine?
Hughie Erskine was wonderfully
good-looking person. He had crisp brown hair, clear cut profile and grey eyes.
He was very popular among his friends and had every accomplishment except that
of making money. Apart from this he was also very kind and generous person.
b. Such
beggars as he is not to be met with every day. Why do you think the speaker
said this?
The speaker, Alan Trevor
said these words because he knew about the beggar was one of the richest men in
Europe and he could buy all London without overdrawing his account. Such millionaire
was only in disguise of a beggar in Trevor’s studio for a painting.
A.4 Read the Story
a. Why would Hughie be glum?
Hughie often looked glum as
he did not have the money to get engaged and marry his fiancé, Laura Merton,
who was the daughter of a retired Colonel. The Colonel did not say anything
regarding their engagement; he only asked Hughie to earn 10000 pounds on his
own before he would allow him to marry his daughter. This made Hughie even
sadder.
b. How do you
think Hughie felt seeing the beggar?
Hughie found the model
amazing but felt miserable as he looked an old poor. He thought these kinds of
models should be compensated as they were also working hard as the painters.
c. Why was
Hughie upset with what Trevor said?
Hughie, out of pity, had
given the beggar the only sovereign he had. When he learnt the truth about the
beggar actually being the richest man in Europe, Hughie felt ashamed. He was
upset with what Trevor said because Trevor had disclosed everything, including
Hughie’s financial status, to the model.
d. Think
about two phrases: millionaire models and model millionaires. Why
has the author used these two phrases? What do you think about the sentence as
the closing sentence of the story?
The term ‘millionaire models’
refers to millionaires who act as models. On the other hand, the term ‘model
millionaire’ refers to millionaires who can be considered to be role models for
all other millionaires. The author has used these two phrases to explain that
millionaire models are rare as only a few such models can become millionaires. On
the other hand, model millionaires are rarer as very few millionaires could be considered
to be role models in the world.
A.9 Answer the following questions.
a. Why
couldn’t Hughie marry Laura?
Hughie had no profession.
Hence Laura’s father a retired Colonel, who like Hughie couldn’t give his daughter’s
hand to him due to his poor financial condition.
b. Did
Hughie feel sorry for the old man? Give reasons for your answer.
Yes, Hughie felt sorry for
the old man. The old man as he thought did not get a good share of income despite
his contribution as model. Eventually he gave away all he could find from his
pocket, sovereign as he thought the old man needed it the most.
c. Why was
the old model interested in knowing everything about Hughie?
The old man, in reality Baron
Hausberg, was interested in knowing everything about Hughie because he was
generous and wanted to help Hughie. He also knew about the Colonel’s condition
about Hughie earning 10000 pounds.
d. Trevor
had told the old model everything about Hughie. Did Hughie approve of what
Trevor had done? Justify your answer.
Hughie did not approve of
what Trevor had done. Hughie was already embarrassed after knowing the Baron’s reality
and for giving the Baron a sovereign. He was upset that the Baron would think
him to be a foolish person.
e. Why did
the old model not sign Hughie’s wedding present as ‘Baron Hausberg’?
The old model did not want
to sign Hughie’s wedding card as Baron Hausberg because he did not want to
embarrass Hughie. He wanted to be viewed as an old beggar, the way Hughie saw
him.
A.6 Based on your understanding complete the action-impact table.
A.7 Choose the correct options.
a. What does Luigi’s private affairs
i. his
financial status (√)
ii. his family
background
iii. his love
interest and approaching wedding
iv. his unsettled
carrier and job history
b. What
does Trevor mean by without overdrawn in his account?
i. Arranging for
extra money to be put in the bank
ii. Spending
more money than in the bank (√)
iii. completing
processes to release bank payments
iv. requesting
temporary loan from the bank
c. Who
is surprised because he doesn’t know ………………………..
i. how Trevor
paints
ii. the process
of painting
iii. his next
occupation
iv. the
real identity of the better (√)
d. Select
the most strongly conveyed emotion in the question ‘what on Earth do you mean?’
i. surprise
(√)
ii. anger
iii. contemplation
iv. sarcasm
e. What
is the tone of the author in the lines above it’s like morals
i. morose
ii. romantic
iii. pensive
iv. witty (√)
A.9 Choose the correct options
a. Baron Hausberg was both a millionaire model and a model millionaire. Do you agree with this statement? Why/Why not?
Yes, Baron Hausberg was both a millionaire model and a model millionaire. Baron Hausberg was a millionaire who posed as a model for painters such as Alan Trevor. He was also a model millionaire as he was a role model for people as along with being rich and powerful, he was gene
A.10 Answer in detail
a. Baron Hausberg was both a millionaire model and a model millionaire. Do you agree with this statement? Why/Why not?
Yes, Baron Hausberg was both a millionaire model and a model millionaire. Baron Hausberg was a millionaire who posed as a model for painters such as Alan Trevor. He was also a model millionaire as he was a role model for people as along with being rich and powerful, he was generous too.
b. Hughie
was unable to stick to one profession. Are you also unable to commit to one
thing for long? Write a short note on why this happens and what one can do to
overcome it.
DO
BY SELF
c. Compare
and contrast the male characters in the story: the Colonel, Hughie, Trevor and
Baron Hausberg.
The Colonel
He was retired and was Laura Merton’s father. He admired Hughie’s personality but was apprehensive about his financial condition. Though the had the resources, he did not take the initiative to get Hughie and Laura engaged.
Hughie
Erskine
He was a handsome and charming man. He was popular among his friends. He had every accomplishment except that of making money. He was delightful, ineffectual with a perfect profile and no profession.
Alan
Trevor
He was an artist who saw
beauty even in rags. He liked Hughie’s charm and delighted personality.
Baron
Hausberg
He was very rich but also generous and helpful. When Hugie gave him a sovereign, baron was impressed because despite of Hugie being poor, he gives it to beggar. Baran gets all information about Hughie from Trevor and after a few he was happy to send check of 10, 000 pound to Hughie helping him to marry Laura.
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