NCERT Solutions for The Hundred Dresses Part-I Class 10 First Flight English
Book Solutions1
Where in the classroom does Wanda sit and why ?
Answer
Wanda Petronski is a poor girl who wears the same blue dress everyday. She is very shy and quiet girl who doesn't want to invite trouble from her other classmates .So, she sits in the last corner seat of her classroom where rough boys of her class sit.
2
Where does Wanda live? What kind of a place do you think it is ?
Answer
Wanda lives in Boggins Height where poor people live and people have strange names. It must have been a place without proper drainage and sewerage system and the streets must have been dirty and crowded. Her mother used to decorate and put laces on those dresses so that they looked new.
3
When and why do Peggy and Maddie notice Wanda’s absence?
Answer
Wanda was a girl who preferred to sit in isolation. No one noticed that she had not come on Monday and also Tuesday. It was when Peggy and Maddie were waiting for Wanda.
4
What do you think “to have fun with her” means?
Answer
Wanda was always a target of ridicule for her friends because of her shy nature and her boastings about hundred dresses. Her friends wanted to have fun by asking her about how many dresses she owned.
1
In what way was Wanda different from the other children?
Answer
She was a Polish Girl who had come to settle down in America. She was different from others because she had a weird second name which was difficult to pronounce. She came to school alone and her feet used to be covered with mud and she would wear the same dress everyday.
2
Did Wanda have a hundred dresses ? Why do you think she said she did ?
Answer
Wanda was the butt of ridicule of her friends who would ask her about her dresses. To their reply, she would boast of owning a hundred dresses and sixty pair of shoes in her closet. She had only one faded blue dress which she wore everyday but she had lot of patience. So she would talk about her hundred dresses to satisfy the queries of her classmates.
3
Why is Maddie embarrassed by the questions Peggy asks Wanda ? Is she also like Wanda, or is she different ?
Answer
Maddie herself is a poor girl who wears clothes handed down by Peggy. She can understand the plight and pain of Wanda who wears the same blue dress to school everyday. Maddie herself teases Wanda but she does not like it. She wants others to stop teasing Wanda.
1
Why didn’t Maddie ask Peggie to stop teasing Wanda ? What was she afraid of ?
Answer
Peggy was the most popular girl in the school but she behaved differently with Wanda by teasing her. Maddie did not like Peggy teasing Wanda about her dress and appearance but she could never ask her to stop doing so for fear of being the target of ridicule in the place of Wanda.
2
Who did Maddie think would win the drawing contest ? Why ?
Answer
Maddie believed that since Peggy was liked by both students and teachers and enjoyed a good reputation and also had good talent in drawing so it was obvious that Peggy would win the drawing contest.
3
Who won the drawing contest ? What had the winner drawn ?
Answer
Among the boys Jack Beggles and among the girls Wanda Petronski had won the drawing contest. Wanda had beautifully drawn a hundred dresses with brilliant colours. She drew the same dresses that she would describe while answering her classmates about how many dresses she owned.
1
How is Wanda seen as different by the other girls? How do they treat her?
Answer
She was a Polish Girl who had come to settle down in America. She was different from others because she had a weird second name which was difficult to pronounce. She came to school alone and her feet used to be covered with mud and she would wear the same dress everyday. She was ridiculed for her appearance and dress. When her classmates asked her to count the number of dresses she had, she told them that she had hundred dresses and sixty pair of shoes in her closet. Other girls of her class enjoy joking with her and teasing her.
2
How does Wanda feel about the dresses game ? Why does she say that she has a hundred dresses ?
Answer
Wanda is always embarrassed when asked about how many dresses she has because she is a girl who lives in Boggins Height and comes from a poor family who cannot afford good clothes. Her family had migrated from Poland to America. She did not talk much to her classmates and generally sat on the last corner seat of her classroom where other rough boys of the class sit. To avoid the taunts and comments of her classmates she told them that she owned a hundred dresses.
3
Why does Maddie stand by and not do anything? How is she different from Peggy? (Was Peggy’s friendship important to Maddie? Why? Which lines in the text tell you this?)
Answer
Maddie is also a poor girl who wears dress given by rich family but Peggy does not behave with Maddie as she does with Wanda. Peggy is the most popular girl in the school and is Maddie's friend so when Peggy teases Wanda, Maddie stands by and doesn't not stop Peggy. She doesn't want to lose Peggy friendship. The line "Peggy was the best-liked girl in the whole room. Peggy could not possibly do anything that was really wrong' shows her popularity. Moreover, she didn't want Peggy to tell the students that she wore Peggy’s dresses.
4
What does Miss Mason think of Wanda’s drawings? What do the children think of them? How do you know?
Answer
Miss mason appreciated the hundred paintings of Wanda. She is highly impressed with her artistic talent and the fact that she had drawn so many dresses. She considers him worthy of winning a drawing contest. The children are also filled with admiration for the hundred drawings made by Wanda. They all applaud and whistle when the winner is announced. And in the end, Peggy exclaimed, “…and I thought I could draw.” This shows that she also realized how good Wanda’s drawings were.
I
Combine the following to make sentences like those above.
2. I would like to buy (a) shirt (which shirt?). (The) shirt is in the shop window. (use which or that)
3. You must break your fast at a particular time (when?). You see the moon in the sky. (use when)
4. Find a word (what kind of word?). It begins with the letter Z. (use which or that).
5. Now find a person (what kind of person). His or her name begins with the letter Z. (use whose)
6. Then go to a place (what place?). There are no people whose name begins with Z in that place. (use where)
Answer
1. This is the bus which goes to Agra.
2. I would like to buy the shirt that is in the shop window.
3. You must break your fast when you see the moon in the sky.
4. Find a word which begins with the letter Z.
5. Now find a person whose name begins with the letter Z.
6. Then go to a place where there are no people whose name begins with Z.
II
Can you say whose point of view the italicised words express?
(i) But on Wednesday, Peggy and Maddie, who sat down 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) Wands 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
(i) In the given sentence, the italicised words express the point of view of Peggy and Maddie.
(ii) In the given sentence, the italicised words express the point of view of the narrator.
III
Look at this sentence. The italicised adverb expresses an opinion or point of view.
Obviously, the only dress Wanda had was the blue one she wore every day. (This was obvious to the speaker.)
Other such adverbs are apparently, evidently, surprisingly, possibly, hopefully, incredibly, luckily. Use these words appropriately in the blanks in the sentences below. (You may use a word more then once and more than one word may be appropriate for a given blank.)
1. ________, he finished his work on time.
2. ________, it will not rain on the day of the match.
3. ________, he had been stealing money from his employer.
4. Television is _______ to blame for the increase in violence in society.
5. The children will _______ learn from their mistakes.
6. I can’t ________ lend you that much money.
7. The thief had ________ been watching the house for many days.
8. The thief ________ escaped by bribing the jailor.
9. ________, no one had suggested this before.
10. The water was _______ hot.
Answer
1. Surprisingly, he finished his work on time.
2. Hopefully, it will not rain on the day of the match.
3. Evidently, he had been stealing money from his employer.
4. Television is evidently to blame for the increase in violence in society.
5. The children will hopefully learn from their mistakes.
6. I can’t possibly lend you that much money.
7. The thief had apparently been watching the house for many days.
8. The thief possibly escaped by bribing the jailor.
9. Surprisingly, no one had suggested this before.
10. The water was incredibly hot.