NCERT Solutions
Oral Comprehension Check (Page 65)
Question 1 : Where in the classroom does Wanda sit and why?
Answer : Wanda Petronski used to sit on the cornermost benches, lost in her world, where rough boys usually sat. She was a very poor, shy and quiet girl and did not want to mess with others so she preferred to sit in isolation from the main group of girls.
Question 2 : Where does Wanda live? What kind of a place do you think it is?
Answer : Wanda lives up on Boggins Heights, where poor people live. It is not a developed area and is covered with mud. There are no proper roads or streets and is a kind of slum. Because of no proper drainage system, the problem of waterglogging creates unhygenic conditions there.
Question 3 : When and why do Peggy and Maddie notice Wanda’s absence?
Answer : Wanda didn’t come to school on Monday and Tuesday but nobody noticed her absence as she did not have friends in the class. When Peggy and Maddie waited for Wanda to make fun of her after the school was off, they noticed that she was absent, otherwise nobody bothered about her there.
Question 4 : What do you think “to have fun with her” means?
Answer : “To have dun with her” means to laugh at her as it is human tendency to make fun of others imperfections which are mostly about the appearance. Here in the story, Wanda is a source of amusement or pleasure because of her shy nature and her hundred dresses.
Oral Comprehension Check (Page 67)
Question 1 : In what way was Wanda different from the other children?
Answer : Wanda Petronski was a Polish girl whose parents had settled down in America. She was a source of fun because of her last name which made her different from others, because Americans did not have such names and it was difficult to pronounce.
She was to school alone and her school alone and her feet were covered with mud. She had only blue dress which was faded but she claimed of having a hundred dresses. These qualities make her different from other children.
Question 2 : Did Wanda have a hundred dresses? Why do you think she said she did?
Answer : Wanda was teased everyday by her classmates after school hours. They used to make fun of her dress and her name. One day tried of all the teasing and taunting, she claimed of having a hundred dresses and sixty pairs of shoes, but nobody believed her.
She was a determined girl and had a great amount of self-confidence. For her, not number of dresses but the inner talent which had the real value was important.
Question 3 : Why is Maddie embarrassed by the questions Peggy asks Wanda? Is she also like Wanda, or is she different?
Answer : Maddie is embarrassed by the questions Peggy asks Wanda because she is also poor and understands the mental condition of Wanda. She also wears dresses handed down by rich families. Though, she is an American but she has the same mindset as Wanda and doesn’t want anyone to tease Wanda because of her dress or her name.
Oral Comprehension Check (Page 70)
Question 1 : Why didn’t Maddie ask Peggy to stop teasing Wanda? What was she afraid of?
Answer : Maddie didn’t ask Peggy to stop teasing Wanda because Peggy was the most popular girl in the school. She was a nice girl but when it came to Wanda she behaved differently, otherwise she helped everyone in trouble. Though, otherwise she helped everyone in trouble. Though, she wanted Peggy to stop teasing Wanda, she didn’t ask her to do so as she was afraid of being the next target of such taunts and teasings.
Question 2 : Who did Maddie think would win the drawing contest? Why?
Answer : Maddie always believed that Peggy would win the drawing contest as she was good in drawing and everybody in the school loved her. She had a good image and impression on her teachers and classmates. No other girl in the class could draw as well as she. So, Peggy definitely had very good chances of winning the drawing contest according to Maddie.
Question 3 : Who won the drawing contest? What had the winner drawn?
Answer : Among the boys, Jack Beggles and among the girls, Wanda Petronski won the drawing contest. To show her determination, she did not attend the school for two days and had drawn a hundred sketches of dresses of different colours. Each of them was capable to win the contest individually.
Wanda had drawn all the dresses which she had claimed to have in the class. Everybody was very impressed with her drawing skill and clapped for her.
Thinking about the Text (page 70)
Question 1 : How is Wanda seen as different by the other girls? How do they treat her?
Answer : Wanda is a Polish girl who has settled in America with her parents. She lives in Boggins Heights. She comes to school in same faded blue dress everyday with her feet always covered with mud. Her last name is quite funny and difficult to pronounce for her classmates. Her appearance is not perfect to be in a higher class so all the students make fun of her and tease her after the school hours. After being teased over her tolerance, she claims to have a hundred dresses in her closet.
Question 2 : How does Wanda feel about the dresses game? Why does she say that she has a hundred dresses?
Answer : Wanda feels very embarrassed but remains silent in the class. She doesn’t talk to anyone and sits on the last bench with rough boys so that nobody can give attention to her. She is deeply hurt but never complains about it. To avoid their taunts and humiliation, Wanda says that she has a hundred dresses and sixty pairs of matching shoes in her closet. Later on, she draws all of them on paper for the drawing competition.
Question 3 : Why does Maddie stand by and does not do anything? How is she different from Peggy?
Or,
Was Peggy’s friendship important to Maddie? Why? Which lines in the text tell you this?
Answer : Peggy is the most popular girl in the class and Maddie is her closest friend. Though, Maddie is poor, Peggy never teases her as she does with Wanda, so Maddie is afraid of losing her friendship. That’s why, she does not risk to annoy Peggy and prefers to be silent. The line, “Peggy was the best-liked girl in the whole room. Peggy could not possibly do anything that was really wrong” illustrates this.
Question 4 : What does Miss Mason think of Wanda’s drawings? What do the children think of them? How do you know?
Answer : Miss Mason is very impressed with Wanda’s drawings. She considers them really beautiful and worthy of winning individually. The children are also impressed by the drawing skill of Wanda that they all applaud and whistle when she wins among the girls.
Thinking about Language (Page 71, 72)
Question I : Combine the following to make sentences.
i) This is the bus (what kind of bus?). It goes to Agra. (use which or that).
ii) I would like to buy (a) shirt (which shirt?).(The) shirt is in the shop window. (use which or that)
iii) You must break your fast at a particular time (when?). You see the moon in the sky. (use when)
iv) Find a word (what kind of word?). It begins with the letter Z. (use which or that)
v) Now find a person (what kind of person?). His or her name begins with the letter Z. (use whose)
vi) Then go to a place (what place?). There are no people whose name begins with Z in that place. (use where)
Answer : Student do it yourself.
Question II. The Narrative Voice
Here are two other sentences fro the story. Can you say whose point of view the italicised words express?
i) But on Wednesday, Peggy and Maddie, who sat down in front with other children who got good marks and who didn’t track in a whole lot of mud, did notice that Wanda wasn’t there.
ii) Wanda Petronski. Most of the children in room thirteen didn’t have names like that. They had names easy to say, like Thomas, Smith or Allen.
Answer : Student do it yourself.