Vasudha Jha
Read the following story and answer the questions that follow:
The North Wind and the Sun
Once, the North Wind and the Sun had a quarrel about which of them was the stronger. While they were disputing with much heat and bluster, a Traveller passed along the road wrapped in a cloak.
“Let us agree,” said the Sun, “that he is the stronger one who can strip that Traveller of his cloak.”
“Very well,” growled the North Wind, and at once sent a cold, howling blast against the Traveller.
With the first gust of wind the ends of the cloak whipped about the Traveller’s body. But he immediately wrapped it closely around him, and the harder the Wind blew, the tighter he held it to him. The North Wind tore angrily at the cloak, but all his efforts were in vain.
Then the Sun began to shine. At first his beams were gentle, and in the pleasant warmth after the bitter cold of the North Wind, the Traveller unfastened his cloak and let it hang loosely from his shoulders. The Sun’s rays grew warmer and warmer. The man took off his cap and mopped his brow. At last he became so heated that he pulled off his cloak, and, to escape the blazing sunshine, threw himself down in the welcome shade of a tree by the roadside.
Moral- Gentleness and kind persuasion win where force and bluster fail.
उत्तरी हवा और सूरज
एक बार उत्तरी हवा और सूरज के बीच यह झगड़ा हो गया कि उनमें से ज़्यादा ताकतवर कौन है। वे ऐसे ही गुस्से में झगड़ रहे थे कि तभी एक यात्री लबादा ओढ़े हुए सड़क पर से गुज़रा।
सूरज बोला, “इस बात पर सहमत होते हैं कि जो भी इस यात्री का लबादा उतरवाएगा, वो ही अधिक ताकतवर होगा।”
“बहुत बढ़िया,” उत्तरी हवा ने गुर्राया, और एकाएक यात्री की ओर एक ठंडी हवा का जबरदस्त झोका छोड़ा।
हवा के पहले झोके से यात्री के लबादे के कोने उड़ने से लगे। पर उसने एकदम से लबादे को ज़ोर से पकड़ के ओढ़ लिया। जितनी ज़ोर से हवा बहती, वह उतना ही कसकर लबादे को पकड़ लेता। उत्तरी हवा ने गुस्से में बहुत तेज़ हवाएं भेजी, लेकिन उनके सारे प्रयास व्यर्थ हो गए।
फिर सूरज चमकने लगा। पहले तो उनकी किरणे हल्की थीं, और उत्तरी हवा की कड़ी सर्दी के बाद सूरज की सुखमई गर्माहट में यात्री ने अपना लबादा निकाल के कंधे पर डाल दिया। सूरज की किरणे और ज़्यादा गर्म होने लगीं। यात्री ने टोपी उतार कर अपनी भौं पोछीं। आखिरकार उसे इतनी गर्मी लगने लगी की तपते सूरज से बचने के लिए उसने अपना लबादा उतारा और सड़क के किनारे एक पेड़ की छांव में आश्रय ले लिया।
शिक्षा– विनम्रता और सज्जनतापूर्ण अनुनय वहां जिताता है जहां बल और धमकियां हरा दें।
Exercise-I
Fill in the blanks with the correct words from the options:
- The North Wind and the Sun were having an ____. (argument/accord)
- The traveller was ____ (cajoled/garbed) in a cloak.
- The North Wind sent a ____ (gait/gale) towards the traveller.
- At first, the Sun made the weather ____. (brisk/balmy)
- To escape the ____ (glaring/blithe) sun, the traveller sat down under a tree.
Vocabulary/शब्दावली
Quarrel (n.)- बहस
Dispute (n.)- विवाद
Bluster (v.)- धमकी देना या शोर शराबा करना
Cloak (n.)- लबादा
Strip (v.)- पहनी हुई चीज़ उतारना
Growl (v.)- गरजना
Howling (adj.)- गरजता हुआ
Gust (n.)- झोंका
Vain (adj.)- व्यर्थ
Beam (n.)- किरण
Pleasant (adj.)- सुखद
Unfasten (v.)- बटन या गांठ खोलना
Mop (v.)- पोछना
Blazing (adj.)- जलता हुआ
Persuasion (n.)- अनुनय
Specify (v.)- विशेष रूप से कहना
Redundant (adj.)- अनावश्यक
Grammar/व्याकरण
Active and Passive Voice-II
Here are some rules that we follow when changing the voice from active to passive, or vice versa:
- The subject of the active verb becomes the object of the passive verb. Sometimes, it is dropped.
Example- “Lisa grabbed her bag.”
“Lisa” is the subject here, “grabbed” is the active verb, and “her bag” is the object.
So, when changed to passive, it becomes;
“The bag was grabbed by Lisa.”
Now, “Lisa” is the object of the verb, whereas “the bag” is the subject.
Take another example; “Someone closed the door.”
Here, when changing it to the passive voice, we can either say,
“The door was closed by someone.” or simply; “The door was closed.”
It is important to mention the doer of the action when it is specified, as in the first case. But occasionally, we can skip that if (i) it is not specified. (ii) it is redundant or obvious. Similarly, sometimes when we are changing the voice from passive to active, it is important to realise the doer of the action even if they are absent. In such cases, words like someone, somebody, he, she, it, etc. can help.
- The object of the active verb becomes the subject of the passive verb.
Example- “I opened the box.”
“I” is the subject here. It is doing the action.
The action is opening, “opened” is the active verb.
“The box” is the object of the action/active verb.
So, when changed to passive, it becomes;
“The box was opened by me.”
- When changing from active to passive voice, the preposition “by” is added before the object in passive voice.
Ex- “The box was opened by me.”
“Dinner was prepared by Sahil.”
We will learn about some more rules in the next segment. Meanwhile you can practise with the following exercises.
Exercise
Arrange the following jumbled sentences and rewrite them in the active/passive voice:
- been the vase broken has.
- Ritu elected the as teacher the class-monitor.
- closed the was window.
- Shakespeare written by been plays thirty-seven have
- car the blue was red the by car hit.
- oath the has king taken.
- anthem sung the by choir is national the.
- done my has work been.
- my the run neighbours shop by grocery is.
- am by her inspired I.
Last month’s answers:
- A bouquet was given to me by my friend.
- Cookies were sent to me by her as a gift.
- Someone stole Riya’s watch.
- The furniture in my house was dusted by me this morning..
- My teacher gave me this pen.
- The police caught the thief.
- A book on grammar was read by Anuj yesterday.
Or; Yesterday, a book on grammar was read by Anuj.
- A cake was made by my mom.
- Someone is streaming a film on monkeys online.
- Meena drew this painting.
