NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English First Flight Chapter 4 From The Diary of Anne Frank
NCERT Solutions for CBSE Class 10 English First Flight Chapter 4 From The Diary of Anne Frank are provided here. This diary is written by Anne Frank and includes many questions that are important for exams. We have solved all the NCERT questions of the lesson with a detailed explanation that help students to complete their assignments & homework. We have provided NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English First Flight Chapter 4 From The Diary of Anne Frank in PDF format so that you can download them for offline use.
Class 10 English First Flight Chapter 4 NCERT Questions and Answers
Activity (Page No. 49)
Question 1. Do you keep a diary? Given below under A are some terms we use to describe a written record of personal experience. Can you match them with their descriptions under ‘B’? (You may look up the terms in a dictionary if you wish.)
| A | B |
| (i) Journal | A book with a separate space or page for each day, in which you write down your thoughts and feelings or what has happened on that day |
| (ii) Diary | A full record of a journey, a period of time or an event, written every day |
| (iii) Log | A record of a person’s own life and experiences (usually, a famous person) |
| (iv) Memoir(s) | A written record of events with times and dates, usually official |
Answer:
| A | B |
| (i) Journal | A full record of a journey, a period of time or an event, written every day |
| (ii) Diary | A book with a separate space or page for each day, in which you write down your thoughts and feelings or what has happened on that day |
| (iii) Log | A written record of events with times and dates, usually official |
| (iv) Memoir(s) | A record of a person’s own life and experiences (usually, a famous person) |
Question 2. Here are some entries from personal records. Use the definitions above to decide which of the entries might be from a diary, a journal, a log or a memoir.
1. I woke up very late today and promptly got a scolding from Mum! I can’t help it — how can I miss the FIFA World Cup matches?
Answer: Diary
2. 10:30 a.m. Went to the office of the Director 01:00 p.m. Had lunch with Chairman 05:45 p.m. Received Rahul at the airport 09 : 30 p.m. Dinner at home
Answer: Log
3. The ride to Ooty was uneventful. We rested for a while every 50 km or so and used the time to capture the magnificent landscape with my HandyCam From Ooty we went on to Bangalore. What a contrast! The noise and pollution of this once-beautiful city really broke my heart.
Answer: Journal
4. This is how Raj Kapoor found me – all wet and ragged outside RK Studios. He was then looking for just someone like this for a small role in ‘Mera Naam Joker and he cast me on the spot. The rest, as they say, is history.
Answer: Memoir
Oral Comprehension Check (Page No. 51)
Question 1. What makes writing in a diary a strange experience for Anne Frank?
Answer: Writing in a diary was a strange experience for Anne Frank as she never had a diary and it was a gift on her 13th birthday. She considered it her best friend on which she relied the most and with whom she shared all her ups and downs.
Question 2: Why does Anne want to keep a diary?
Answer: Anne used to feel lonely and upset always as she had no friend. She wanted to get all the burden and worries off her chest, hence she decides to keep a diary in which she could confide her secrets and treat it as a true friend.
Question 3. Why did Anne think she could confide more in her diary than in people?
Answer: Anne did not have a true friend. She had many friends, but she only talked to them about ordinary everyday things. She did not seem to get any closer to them. She felt that maybe it was her fault that she could not confide in them. Knowing that the situation would not change and believing a paper to have more patience than people, she decided to write and confide in a diary.
Oral Comprehension Check (Page No. 51)
Question 1. Why does Anne provide a brief sketch of her life?
Answer: Anne provided a brief sketch of her life because she wanted to describe about her family, school and herself. By reading her diary, it could help the reader to develop some sort of connection with her and all the activities that were happening around her at that time.
Question 2. What tells you that Anne loved her grandmother?
Answer: Anne’s grandmother had fallen ill and had to be operated upon. Therefore, Anne’s birthday passed with little celebration. Her grandmother died the next year. Anne wrote in her diary that no one knew how often she thought of her grandmother and still loved her.
Oral Comprehension Check (Page No. 54)
Question 1: Why was Mr Keesing annoyed with Anne? What did he ask her to do?
Answer: Mr Keesing was annoyed with Anne because she was a very talkative girl. He often punished her by assigning her extra homework to write essays on topics that was related to her nature in order to keep her silent.
Question 2. How did Anne justify her being a chatterbox in her essay?
Answer: In her essay, Anne wanted to come up with convincing arguments to prove the necessity of talking. She argued that talking was a student’s trait and that she would do her best to keep it under control. She further wrote that she would never be able to cure herself of the habit since her mother talked as much as she did. There was not much that one could do about inherited traits. This was how she justified her being a chatterbox in the essay.
Question 3. Do you think Mr Keesing was a strict teacher?
Answer: No, Mr Keesing was not a bad or strict teacher because a teacher did something for the welfare of his students. Any teacher would be annoyed if children keep on talking in the class. Secondly, if he had been strict he would not have laughed at Anne’s funny arguments.
Question 4.What made Mr Keesing allow Anne to talk in class?
Answer: Anne was able to justify her talkative nature every time she was punished by Mr. Keesing. On three occasions, as punishment, he gave her topics to write essays on. However, on each occasion he was impressed by the manner in which she presented her arguments. Finally, Mr. Keesing accepted the fact that Anne would always be that way. Hence, she was allowed to talk in class.
Thinking about the Text
Question 1. Was Anne right when she Said that the world would not be interested in the musings of a 13 year old girl?
Answer: Yes, Anne was right when she said so because most of the people don’t want to give importance to a child’s perspective toward the world because they are too immature for the world. But Anne Frank has become one of the most discussed of all holocaust victims. Her ‘diary’ has been translated into many languages.
Question 2. There are some examples of diary or journal entries in the ‘Before You Read’ section. Compare these with what Anne writes in her diary. What language was the diary originally written in? In what way is Anne’s diary different?
Answer: Anne’s diary was originally written in Dutch. It was different from other entries in several aspects and from most of the examples given before the text. She had named her diary as ‘Kitty’. She wrote in an informal tone which exuded the carefree nature of a teenager. She confided her feelings and secrets on it as she considered her diary to be her best friend. She wrote a lot of personal events and memories in her diary which made it different from other diaries.
Question 3. Why does Anne need to give a brief sketch about her family? Does she treat ‘Kitty’ as an insider or an outsider?
Answer: Anne gave an introduction of her family in the ‘diary’ because it was hard to make other realise that a 13 years old teenager could write about her loneliness. Kitty was an ‘outsider’ which was gifted by her parents on her 13th birthday but she considered it her best friend and treated it as an insider.
Question 4. How does Anne feel about her father, her grandmother, Mrs Kuperus and Mr Keesing? What do these tell you about her?
Answer: Anne had fond of memories of her adorable father, her grandmother, Mrs Kuperus and Mr Keesing, her Maths teacher who had left indelible and lasting impressions on her mind and had a major impact in her life. The way she wrote about all of them in her diary revealed that Anne was very attached to each of these persons and was quite good at understanding people. She had developed an everlasting bond and a wonderful interpersonal relation with each of them.
Question 5. What does Anne write in her first essay?
Answer: Mr Keesing asked her to write an essay on the topic ‘A Chatterbox’ as punishment. In the essay: she accepted the drawbacks of being talkative but argued that it was in her genes as her mother was also very talkative. It was difficult to give up the habit and it was also a student’s trait. Even Mr Keesing laughed at the argument she had given.
Question 6. Anne says teachers are most unpredictable. Is Mr Keesing unpredictable?
Answer: Anne took perfect example of Mr Keesing as an unpredictable teacher because Mr Keesing seemed to be indifferent towards Annes’ behaviour. Earlier he laughed but later he allowed Anne to talk in the class post reading her essays.
Question 7. What do these statements tell you about Anne Frank as a person?
(i) We don’t seem to be able to get any closer, and that’s the problem. Maybe it’s my fault that we don’t confide in each other.
(ii) I don’t want to jot down the facts in this diary the way most people would, but I want the diary to be my friend.
(iii) Margot went to Holland in December, and I followed in February, when I was plunked down on the table as a birthday present for Margot.
(iv) If you ask me, there are so many dummies that about a quarter of the class should be kept back, but teachers are the most unpredictable creatures on earth.
(v) Anyone could ramble on and leave big spaces between the words, but the trick was to come up with convincing arguments to prove the necessity of talking.
Answers: (i) These lines show that Anne had no true friend whom she could confide in. She even put the blame on herself that the fault might be hers.
(ii) This line shows that Anne really considered her diary as a friend whom she could trust and narrate all her stories to. She did not want just a diary in which she could write down the facts like others did. She considered it as her friend and named her Kitty.
(iii) This statement shows that Anne was a fun-loving person. She was witty and knew how to present things in a funny way. She narrated this incident with a lot of fun. The use of ‘plunked down’ shows her sense of humour.
(iv) This statement shows that she had an opinion on everything. She thought that a quarter of her class was full of dummies, signifying that she herself was intelligent enough to make it to the next class. She thought of teachers as the most unpredictable creatures on earth because nobody could say which students they would fail and which students would be passed on to the next class.
(v) This statement shows that Anne knew a lot about writing. She was given the task of writing an essay as a punishment. She took it on with full vigour. She did not want to write it like others who merely left big spaces between the words to make the essay look voluminous. She knew that the trick was to come up with a convincing argument to prove the necessity of talking. She was different in her approach from everybody else.
Thinking about Language
I. Look at the following words
| headmistress | long-awaited | homework |
| notebook | stiff-backed | outbursts |
These words are compound words. They are made up of two or more words.
Compound words can be:
• nouns: headmistress, homework, notebook, outbursts
• adjectives: long-awaited, stiff-backed
• verbs: sleep-walk, baby-sit
Match the compound words under A with their meanings under ‘B’. Use each in a sentence.
| A | B |
| 1. Heartbreaking | – obeying and respecting the law |
| 2. Homesick | – think about pleasant things, forgetting about the present |
| 3. Blockhead | – something produced by a person, machine or organisation |
| 4. Law-abiding | – producing great sadness |
| 5. Overdo | – an occasion when vehicles/machines stop working |
| 6. Daydream | – an informal word which means a very stupid person |
| 7. Breakdown | – missing home and family very much |
| 8. Output | – do something to an excessive degree |
Answer:
| A | B |
| 1. Heartbreaking | – producing great sadness |
| 2. Homesick | – missing home and family very much |
| 3. Blockhead | – an informal word which means a very stupid person |
| 4. Law-abiding | – obeying and respecting the law |
| 5. Overdo | – do something to an excessive degree |
| 6. Daydream | – think about pleasant things, forgetting about the present |
| 7. Breakdown | – an occasion when vehicles/machines stop working |
| 8. Output | – something produced by a person, machine or organisation |
II. Phrasal Verb
2. Now find the sentences in the lesson that have the phrasal verbs given below. Match them with their meanings. (You have already found out the meanings for some of them.) Are their meanings the same as that of their parts? (Note that two parts of a phrasal verb may occur separated in the text.)
| (i) plunge in | – speak or write without focus |
| (ii) kept back | – stay indoors |
| (iii) move up | – make (them) remain quiet |
| (iv) ramble on | – have a good relationship with |
| (v) get along with | – give an assignment (homework) to a person in authority (the teacher) |
| (vi) calm down | – compensate |
| (vii) stay in | – go straight to the topic |
| (viii) make up for | – go to the next grade |
| (ix) hand in | – not promoted |
Answer:
| (i) plunge in | – go straight to the topic |
| (ii) kept back | – not promoted |
| (iii) move up | – go to the next grade |
| (iv) ramble on | – speak or write without focus |
| (v) get along with | – have a good relationship with |
| (vi) calm down | – make (them) remain quiet |
| (vii) stay in | – stay indoors |
| (viii) make up for | – compensate |
| (ix) hand in | – give an assignment (homework) to a person in authority (the teacher) |
(i) plunge in − go straight to the topic
Since no one would understand a word of my stories to Kitty if I were to plunge right in, I’d better provide a brief sketch of my life, much as I dislike doing so.
(ii) kept back − not promoted
The reason, of course, is the forthcoming meeting in which the teachers decide who’ll move up to the next form and who’ll be kept back.
(iii) move up − go to the next grade
The reason, of course, is the forthcoming meeting in which the teachers decide who’ll move up to the next form and who’ll be kept back.
(iv) ramble on − speak or write without focus
Anyone could ramble on and leave big spaces between the words, but the trick was to come up with convincing arguments to prove the necessity of talking.
(v) get along with − have a good relationship with
I get along pretty well with all my teachers.
(vi) calm down − make (them) remain quite
Even G.’s pleading advances and my angry outbursts can’t calm them down.
(vii) stay in − stay indoors
I thought of this saying on one of those days when I was feeling a little depressed and was sitting at home with my chin in my hands, bored and listless, wondering whether to stay in or go out.
(viii) make up for − compensate
This birthday celebration in 1942 was intended to make up for the other.
(ix) hand in − give an assignment (homework) to a person in authority (the teacher)
I handed it in, and Mr Keesing had nothing to complain about for two whole lessons.
III. Idioms
Here are a few sentences from the text which have idiomatic expressions. Can you say what each means? (You might want to consult a dictionary first.)
(i) Our entire class is quaking in its boots. __________________
(ii) Until then, we keep telling each other not to lose heart. _________________
(iii) Mr Keesing was annoyed with me for ages because I talked so much. ____________________
(iv) Mr Keesing was trying to play a joke on me with this ridiculous subject, but I’d make sure the joke was on him. _______________________
Answers: (i) Our entire class is quaking in its boots. – shaking with fear and nervousness
(ii) Until then, we keep telling each other not to lose heart. – not to lose hope or expectation
(iii) Mr Keesing was annoyed with me for ages because I talked so much. – for a long time
(iv) Mr Keesing was trying to play a joke on me with this ridiculous subject, but I’d make sure the joke was on him. – he was outwitted by her
2. Here are a few more idiomatic expressions that occur in the text.
Try to use them in sentences of your own.
(i) caught my eye
(ii) he’d had enough
(iii) laugh ourselves silly
(iv) can’t bring myself to
Answer: (i) caught my eye: A yellow school bus with balloons all over it caught my eye.
(ii) he’d had enough: Harry suffered a lot due to his illness. He’s had enough of mental trauma.
(iii) laugh ourselves silly: My best friend and I had a hearty laugh watching the comedy show and laughed ourselves silly.
(iv) can’t bring myself to: I can’t bring myself to have more carbs in my diet.
Question IV:
Do you know how to use a dictionary to find out the meanings of idiomatic expressions? Take, for example, the expression caught my eye in the story.
Where — under which word — would you look for it in the dictionary?
Look for it under the first word. But if the first word is a ‘grammatical’ word like a, the, for, etc., then take the next word. That is, look for the first ‘meaningful’ word in the expression. In our example, it is the word caught.
But you won’t find caught in the dictionary, because it is the past tense of catch. You’ll find caught listed under catch. So you must look under catch for the expression caught my eye. Which other expressions with catch are listed in your dictionary?
Note that a dictionary entry usually first gives the meanings of the word itself, and then gives a list of idiomatic expressions using that word. For example, study this partial entry for the noun ‘eye’ from the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 2005.
Eye
• Noun
• Part of Body 1 [C] either of the two organs on the face that you see with: The suspect has dark hair and green eyes.
• Ability to See 3 [sing.] the ability to see: A surgeon needs a good eye and a steady hand.
• Way of Seeing 4 [C, usually sing.] a particular way of seeing sth: He looked at the design with the eye of an engineer.
• Of Needle 5 [C] the hole in the end of a needle that you put the thread through.IDM be all eyes to be watching sb/sth carefully and with a lot of interest before/in front of sb’s (very) eyes in sb’s presence; in front of sb: He had seen his life’s work destroyed before his very eyes.Be up to your eyes in sth to have a lot of sth to deal with: We’re up to our eyes in work.
You have read the expression ‘not to lose heart’ in this text. Now find out the meanings of the following expressions using the word ‘heart’. Use each of them in a sentence of your own.
1. break somebody’s heart
2. close/dear to heart
3. from the (bottom of your) heart
4. have a heart
5. have a heart of stone
6. your heart goes out to somebody
Answer: 1. break somebody’s heart: to hurt or upset someone deeply
It is never a good idea to break someone’s heart.
2. close/dear to heart: someone close to you
My best friend is very close to my heart.
3. from the (bottom of your) heart: feel for someone genuinely
I love my parents from the bottom of my heart.
4. have a heart: to evoke feeling and help someone in pain
The beggar on the roadside asked the shopkeeper to have a heart and give him some food to eat.
5. have a heart of stone: a person with no feelings or sentiments
The man beat up the beggar on the road as he has a heart of stone.
6. your heart goes out to somebody: to sympathise with someone
My heart goes out to the little boy who lost his parents in the air crash.
Question V:
Contracted Forms
When we speak, we use ‘contracted forms’ or short forms such as these:
can’t (for can not or cannot) I’d (for I would or I had) she’s (for she is)
Notice that contracted forms are also written with an apostrophe to show a shortening of the spelling of not, would, or is as in the above example.
Writing a diary is like speaking to oneself. Plays (and often, novels) also have speech in written form. So we usually come across contracted forms in diaries, plays and novels.
1. Make a list of the contracted forms in the text. Rewrite them as full forms of two words.
For example:
I’ve = I have
2. We have seen that some contracted forms can stand for two different full forms:
I’d = I had or I would
Find in the text the contracted forms that stand for two different full forms, and say what these are.
Answer: (i) I’ve – I have
(ii) Can’t – Cannot
(iii) I’m – I am
(iv) Won’t – Would not
(v) Don’t – Do not
(vi) Doesn’t – Does not
(vii) Didn’t – Did not
(viii) Who’ll – Who will
(ix) You’re – You are
(x) There’s – There is
(xi) I’d – I would
(xii) We’ll – We will
(xiii) He’d – He had
(xiv) That’s – That is
(xv) Who’s – Who is
(xvi) Haven’t – Have not
(xvii) It’s – It is
(xviii) Wouldn’t – Would not
Speaking (Page 58-59)
Question 1:
Here is an extract adapted from a one-act play. In this extract, angry neighbours who think Joe the Inventor’s new spinning machine will make them lose their jobs come to destroy Joe’s model of the machine.
You’ve just seen how contracted forms can make a written text sound like actual speech. Try to make this extract sound more like a real conversation by changing some of the verbs back into contracted forms. Then speak out the lines.
[The door is flung open, and several men tramp in. They carry sticks, and one of them, HOB, has a hammer.]
MOB : Now where is your husband, mistress?
MARY : In his bed. He is sick, and weary. You would not harm him!
HOB : We are going to smash his evil work to pieces. Where is the machine?
SECOND : On the table yonder.
MAN
HOB : Then here is the end of it!
[HOB smashes the model. MARY screams.]
HOB : And now for your husband!
MARY : Neighbours, he is a sick man and almost a cripple. You would not hurt him!
HOB : He is planning to take away our daily bread… We will show him what we think of him and his ways!
MARY : You have broken his machine… You have done enough…
Answer: Activity to be done by yourself.
Writing (Page 59)
Question 1: Now you know what a diary is and how to keep one. Can you keep a diary for a week recording the events that occur? You may share your diary with your class, if you wish to. Use the following hints to write your diary.
• Though your diary is very private, write as if you are writing for someone else.
• Present your thoughts in a convincing manner.
• Use words that convey your feelings, and words that ‘paint pictures’ for the reader. Be brief.
‘Diary language’ has some typical features such as subjectless sentences (Got up late in the morning), sentence fragments without subjects or verbs (…too bad, boring, not good), contracted forms (they’re, I’ve, can’t, didn’t, etc.), and everyday expressions which people use in speech. Remember not to use such language in more formal kinds of writing.
Answer: Activity to be done by yourself.
Listening (Page 59)
Question 1: Your teacher will read out an extract from The Diary of Samuel Pepys (given on the next page) about the great fire of London. As you listen complete this summary of the happenings.
Summary
This entry in the diary has been made on ___________________ by _____________________. The person who told Pepys about the fire was called ____________________. She called at ___________________in the morning. Pepys went back to sleep because ____________________. Pepys rose again at _______________________ in the morning. By then about ___________________________ houses had been burned down. The fire had spread to _______________________ by London Bridge. Pepys then walked to the ____________________along with Sir J. Robinson’s _______________________________.
Answer: This entry in the diary has been made on 2nd September, 1666 by Samuel Pepys. The person who told Pepys about the fire was called Jane. She called at three in the morning. Pepys went back to sleep because he thought it was far enough. Pepys rose again seven in the morning. By then about 300 houses had been burned down. The fire had spread to Fish Street by London Bridge. Pepys then walked to the Tower along with Sir J. Robinson’s little son.