DIVISIONAL PUBLIC SCHOOL & INTERMEDIATE COLLEGE, LAHORE

NOTES ENGLISH CLASS VIII

UNIT 01 (PROSE): A SHOT IN THE DARK
A COMPREHENSION
1. Answer the following questions.
Q-a. What position does Philip Sletherby hope to get?
Answer: Philip Sletherby hopes to become the member of parliament for the county of Chalkshire.
Q-b. Who is Philip Sletherby on his way to visit? Why ?
Answer: Philip Sletherby is on his way to visit Mrs Saltpen-Jago because if she approves of him, she
will support his ambition to become the MP for Chalkshire.
Q-c. How does Bertie know that Philip Sletherby is going to visit Bertie’s mother?
Answer: Bertie knows that Philip Sletherby is going to visit Bertie’s mother because he hears
Sletherby’s club acquaintance saying that through the train window.
Q-d. Where is Bertie going?
Answer: Bertie is going from London to the countryside to go fishing for the weekend.
Q-e. What are the six items Bertie has in his pockets?
Answer: The six items Bertie has in his pockets are: a sixpenny coin, a cigarette-case, a matchbox,
a key, a silver pencil case, and a railway ticket.
Q-f. What has Bertie forgotten and what does he want Philip Sletherby to do?
Answer: Bertie has forgotten his coin-purse/money. He wants Philip Sletherby to lend him some
money.
Q-g. What are the two reasons why Philip Sletherby does not help Bertie?
Answer: Philip Sletherby does not help Bertie because the crest he describes is different to the one
Sletherby saw on the letter he received and because he says that his mother has dark hair.
These questions are more difficult. Discuss them first.
Q-h. Who is the other man travelling to Brill Manor and what are three things we learn about
him?
Answer: The other man travelling to Brill Manor is Claude People. We learn that: he is an important
lawyer; he has travelled on the same train; he is noisy/talks a lot; he is not the sort of man to notice
an absorbed silence; he likes and knows about cars, and he knows Mrs Saltpen-Jago well. Pupils
can pick out three things. Share their responses so that they can add further examples, if time
permits.
Q-i Which part or parts of the story show us that Philip Sletherby thinks highly of himself?
Answer: The part of the story that show us that Philip Sletherby thinks highly of himself is the
paragraph at the top of page 9 in which Sletherby imagines impressing others with his
story.(Pupils might also comment on other passages in which Sletherby appears to be smug or self-
satisfied.)
Q-j. Which parts of the story show us that it was written and is set in the past?
Answer: The language used shows us that the story was written a while ago. We might pick out
references to the coin purse or to sending letters or to old-fashioned phrasing. We might also look
at the description of the car (and the horse-drawn carriages of their grandfathers).
2. Answer the following with reference to context.
a. Philip Sletherby settled himself down in an almost empty railway carriage, with the pleasant
feeling of starting off on an agreeable and profitable trip.
i. Explain which word best describes how this character is feeling?
 Irritated smug embarrassed
ii. How does he feel at the end of the story?
shocked/unwell/irritated
iii. How does he hope to profit from the trip?
He hopes to secure the nomination of Mrs Saltpen-Jago so that he can become the MP for
Chalkshire.
b. There was a tinge of coldness in his voice.
i. What does this statement mean?
Cold is used as a synonym for hostility/unfriendliness here.
ii. Who is being described here?
Sletherby
iii. Why does he feel as he does?
Sletherby believes that Bertie lied to him and he is unable to disguise his feelings when he hears
Bertie’s description of his family crest.
c. The train moved on, leaving the so-called son of the Saltpen-Jago family cursing furiously on the
platform.
i. Whose perspective is being expressed here?
Philip Sletherby’s
ii. What is meant by ‘ so-called’ ?
Sletherby does not believe that he is Mrs Saltpen-Jago’s son.
iii. Why is Bertie ‘cursing furiously’?
He thought he would be able to borrow money to fund his weekend trip but now he has been left
stranded.

B WORKING WITH WORDS

1. Find the adverbs in the passage. Which verbs do they describe?
The adverbs are followed by the verbs in brackets. The pupils may be asked to use the adverbs with
different verbs, orally, before they begin to write their own sentences.
i. sedately (was greeted)
ii. noisily (was greeted)
iii. furiously (cursing/was searching)
iv. promptly (responded)
v. carelessly (asked)
vi. scarcely (was…worthwhile/had… glanced)
vii. ruefully (stared)
viii. ineffectively (was searching)
ix. hastily (glance)
x. rightly (remember)
xi. presently (exclaimed)
xii. severely (said)
Making Sentences:
 The captain was moving sedately through a crowd of protestors.
 The chief guest was greeted noisily.
 Mr. Ahmed was searching furiously for something in his pockets.
 After getting tired, the guest promptly fell asleep.
 He was driving carelessly.
 She could scarcely control her joy.
 She smiled ruefully and apologized for her mistake.
 Mr. George was searching ineffectively for his lost books.
 She glanced hastily around the room and then sat in a corner.
 I rightly remember that I had seen Khalid in the Sunday market.
 Presently he is working as a manager in this company.
 Father severely said to his son to pay attention to studies.

2.
a. The story contains many words to do with looking. Here is a list of these words and a couple that
do not appear in the story. Use them in sentences of your own.
 Scrutinised= The inspection team scrutinised all the papers.
 Espied= We espied an injured deer in the jungle.
 Pick out= I couldn’t pick you out in that photo.
 Searched= The lost hen was searching for her home.
 Spotted= The secret agent spotted the enemy in the crowd.
 Fixed eyes on= Everybody fixed eyes on the house that was on fire.
 Glanced= He glanced at his watch and quickly ran towards the .
 Observed= Students observed silence during the speech of the chief-guest.
 Stared= The prisoner stared out of the window.

C LEARNING ABOUT LANGUAGE

1. Make up interesting sentences of your own using the following.
Pupils will make up their own sentences. Examples:
a. You ought to feel ashamed of yourself for calling him names.
b. You ought to go now; it is getting late and your parents may start worrying.
c. She ought to write to her father; she hasn’t written for ages and he is very ill.
d. They ought to have been punished, but they were let off.
e. We oughtn’t to hear what they are saying to each other; their conversation is private.
f. Ought he to be allowed to do that? (Ought he to do that?) I thought his teacher said he was not
allowed to.
g. We ought to know the answer; we only learnt about it yesterday.
h. You oughtn’t to play near the windows; you might break the panes.
i. Ought they to return after the cinema, or might they be allowed to go to their friend’s house?
2. Ellipsis
Discuss the explanation and the examples given. Can the pupils construct any more sentences? Let
them try and then read them out. Discuss what they come up with.
Find the mistakes in the following and correct them.
a. I am going to the market but Mimi is not. The verb used in the first part with I (am going) does not
fit with Mimi (is going). So it should be: Mimi is not.
b. You are working hard but your friend is not (working hard).
c. Sara is having roast chicken but the others are having vegetable curry.
d. Drawing and writing are good skills to learn, but scrawling is not so good.
e. Multan has been marked on the map but Rawalpindi, Karachi, and Abbottabad have been left off.
Workbook: pages 6–10

A SHOULD YOU DARE?

1. Construct sentences using should have or ought to have; use but too.
A. I went to see a film last night. I had to do my homework.
Answer: I went to see a film last night, but I ought to have (should have) studied for my text.
B. They came to visit me. They had to be at work.
Answer: They came to visit me, but they ought to have (should have) been at work.
C. We played tennis. We had to finish writing the report.
Answer: We played tennis, but we ought to have (should have) finished writing the report.
D. He spent all his money. He had to pay some debts.
Answer: He spent all his money, but he ought to have (should have) paid his (some) debts.
E. She had to feed the chickens. She lay in the sun.
Answer: She lay in the sun, but she ought to have (should have) fed the chickens.

2. Rewrite the sentences using ought not to have or should not have.
A. She was wrong to tease her younger sister.
Answer: She ought not to (should not) have teased her sister.
B. It was wrong of him to eat all the fruit.
Answer: He ought not to (should not) have eaten all the fruit.
C. They were unwise to start on their journey so late.
Answer: They ought not to (should not) have started on their journey so late.
D. It was not a good thing for you to spend all your money.
Answer: You ought not to (should not) have spent all your money.
E. I wish you had not left the front door open.
Answer: You ought not to (should not) have left the front door open.
F. The boys were unkind to shout at me like that.
Answer: They ought not to (should not) have shouted at me like that.

Dare!
Use dare or dared and frame questions to show the speaker’s indignation.
A. I am angry with him for telling a lie.
Answer: How dare he lie to me?
B. I am angry with her because she told a lie.
Answer: How dared she lie to me?
C. I am indignant because she broke my pen.
Answer: How dared she break my pen?
D. I am indignant at them for throwing their rubbish in my garden.
Answer: How dare they throw their rubbish in my garden?
E. I am annoyed with you for looking at me like that.
Answer: How dare you look at me like that?
2. Fill in the blanks with dared or dared to. Use not where necessary.
A) The children were so frightened, they---------------complain to their teacher.
B) ---------------we go to the edge of the rock?
C) She doesn’t ---------------say anything to her father about the picnic tomorrow.
D) At the meeting yesterday nobody-----------challenge the main speaker.
E) The men lost two boats last week; -------------they try to go out to sea in rough weather like this?
 F) The prisoners------------- move because the guards were ordered to shoot them if they did.
G) The headmaster may be very busy at the moment, ------------we interrupt him?
H) She --------------- enter the yard for fear of being bitten by the dog.
Answers:
a. dared not b. dare c. dare to d. dared to e. dare f. dared not g. dareh. dared
not

B SLOWLY BUT SURELY.

1. Fill in the blank spaces. Use each word once.

a. hastily b. scarcely c. promptly d. furiously
e. noisily f. carelessly g. ineffectually h. ruefully
i. sedately j. rightly k. eventually.
j.

A) The laywer looked up at the departures board and then hastily finished her meal.
B) The difficult child scarcely touched the green vegetables on her plate.
C) Everyone was there so the meeting started promptly at nine o’clock.
D) Feeling angry about the poor service in the hotel, the man jabbed furiously at the keys on the keyboard as he
wrote to manager.
E) Excited to be going on a camping trip, the children chattered noisily on the bus.
F) Martha carelessly left the guest room in a mess.
G) The party was really disruptive; the neighbours pleaded ineffectually for them to turn the music down.
H) The children watched ruefully as their den was destroyed.
I) Enjoying the sunshine on his back, the old man walked sedately through the park.
J) Rightly or wrongly he was held responsible for the failure of the project and penalized severely.
K) The hunters waited: presently their patience was rewarded when the man-eater emerged from its lair.