NCERT Class 10 English | Chapter 1 The Pace For Living | All Question Answer | SM Study Point

A. Work in small groups and do the following: 

Q. 1. Talk to your friends and seek their opinion on the life-style of the modern youth, Ask them : 

(i) Do you find life leisurely or fast?

(ii) Are you satisfied with what you see today? 

Ans. (i) I asked some of my friends whether they found their life leisurely or fast or not. Some of them replied in negative and some in affirmative.

Group A: We find our life leisurely and pacy because we enjoy various modern facilities of life without any care. We have no responsibility of any work or achievement. We enjoy our real freedom. So, the life today is leisurely and pacy.

Group B: We do not find our life leisurely or pacy because when we want to do something, we find it difficult to accomplish. We only, then, wander in the world of fancy. Nobody takes care for another. As a result everybody is unsafe.

(ii) Group A: Some of my friends answered that they are very satisfied with what they find today. They have a wide way before them to flourish. There is no cares and anxiety in today's life because our life has become mechanical and we find everything easy to do with machines. Today's life needs very little efforts of ours.

Group B: Some of my friends say that they are not satisfied today with what they see around. The life has become very complex and fast. The machines have made them instrumental. Individual activities have been freezed. Everybody is running after a crowd to get more and more but nobody cares for the other.

B. Answer the following questions briefly : 

Q. 1. Where did the writer watch the play?

Ans. The writer watched the play in Dublin. 

Q. 2. Who was the chief character in the play? 

Ans. In the play, the chief character was an elderly corn-merchant of Irish country town.

Q. 3. Does the writer dislike rapid movement in every field ? 

Ans. No, the writer did not dislike rapid movement in every field.

Q. 4. In which situation, does the writer find himself in the cinema?

Ans. In cinema the writer finds himself in a hopeless fog and is unable to follow the film.

Q. 5. How does the writer classify himself as a thinker? 

Ans. The writer has classified himself as a member of the tribe of Islow thinkers.

TEXT QUESTIONS AND THEIR ANSWERS

C. 1. LONG ANSWER QUESTIONS :

Q. 1. Write a few sentences about the elderly corn-merchant.

Ans. The corn-merchant was an elderly man. He was anxious due to the current fast trend of life. He was a slow person. His nephew was cheating him. His wife was extravagant. She believed in spending £ 10 on a holiday. In short, we can say that the pace of life was too much for him. So, he was anxious.

Q. 2. "They tell me there's an aeroplane now that goes at 1,000 miles an hour. Now that's too fast!" What light does the remark of the corn-merchant throw on the fast life today?

Ans. The statement enlightens that the pace of life has become so fast today that the grown up people and he who is slow thinker are unable to confront with it. It is the life of machines today to which grown up persons cannot stride. Elderly people feel that the pace for living today is not suitable for man.

Q. 3. What sort of excitement do we have today which our ancestors lack? Is it an advantage or a disadvantage ?

Ans. Today we have the excitement of fast-going life. We can enjoy different experiences and pleasure in a short time today. Our ancestors had no excitement in their life, they were contented with what they had already with them. They did not aspire for a pacy life or for getting something more and more.

The excitement we feel today is the need of time. Without it we cannot do today. But, getting too much excited is harmful for human life, so it is a disadvantage.

Q. 4. Who are taken to be slow thinkers? How are the slow thinkers handicapped today?

Ans. Our ancestors or there might be some tribes who are taken to be slow thinkers.

The slow thinkers cannot complete in race of life today because everything is running fast. The slow thinkers cannot get their living in today's life. The slow thinkers are guaranteed to get the lowest marks in any intelligence test today because all these tests today are designed to measure the speed of our mind more than anything else. So, such slow thinkers are taken to be handicapped.

Q. 5. What enlightenment does the writer seek from his wife ? What does it suggest about the plight of the modern man ?

Ans. The writer, in the lesson, seeks enlightenment for the scenes and characters in the film what he is watching with his wife. He is unable to follow the film and, so, he seeks enlightenment from her.

Such a man, as the writer is, today is considered to be handicapped in the business of getting a living.

Q. 6. Summarise the central idea of this essay.

Ans. The essay “ The Pace For Living “ illustrates the characteristics of modern life. It throws light on the fast pace of modern life. R.C Hutchinson nicely demonstrates the plight of our modern lifestyle. The writer has very well explained the advantages and disadvantages of slow and fast lives. Fast thinkers will achieve the opportunity to make a living but will rush life and not understand the objectives of life.

C. 2. GROUP DISCUSSION :

Discuss the following in groups or pairs :

Q. 1. Life has become too fast today.

Ans. The Topic has been discussed between Groups A and B.

Group A: Today the life has become very quick. We have to take rapid action to accomplish our work. Every work is carried on and performed with the help of machine. So, man has to follow the machine. Today no one has time to talk to another patiently. Everybody is running to get more and more, to do more and more, and to know more and more rapidly. Thus, the life, today, has become fast.

Group B: It is not correct to say that the life has become fast. The life always runs in its own course. The fact is that human needs and nature have changed their direction. Rapid growth of population, revolution in transport and communication have devalued the importance of human participation in the business of getting a living. Machines, today, have simplified everything. Even human mind has become mechanised today. Thus, we are compelled to think that the life has become fast.

Q. 2. The fast life of the western society is compelling the westerners to turn to India.

Ans. The fast life of the Western Society is compelling the Westerners to turn to India.

Group A: In favour of the topic.

Group B: Against the topic.

A: The westerners have experienced the speedy business of life. The hectic behaviour of people has perplexed them and made them restless. They have lost their rest and pleasure of life. They do not get their contentment. The life has become monotonous. It has created boredome and unrest. On the other hand the immaterial life of India gives peace and solace to the people. So, the westerners are compelled to turn to India.

B: It is not the effect of modern fast life that has compelled the westerners to turn to India but it is the psychological effect of life that distant thing looks charming. So, not only westerners are attracted towards Indian life, on the contrary Indians are also attracted towards the western culture and life. So, both the people are attracted towards other's life.  

C. 3. COMPOSITION:

Q. 1. Write a letter to your mother about a hectic day that you spent.

Ans. 

Nayatola, Chapra 

6th May, 2010

Dear Mother,

I am very pleased to write you about a hectic day which I passed last time.

I was going to my school walking on the road. In the midway I saw a great crowd moving speedily on the road. Shops were getting closed. The crowd looted some of the shops and also burnt some of them. The crowd was hurling brick-bats and smashing everything aside the road. Some people were running away here and there. I became frightened. I too, took my way hurriedly back to home.

Thank God, He saved me. 

Convey my salute to father.

Your loving Son 

XYZ

To,

Smt. Surekha Devi

Jahanabad.