Balbharti Maharashtra State Board Class 9 English Solutions My English Coursebook Chapter 3.2 The Fall of Troy Notes, Textbook Exercise Important Questions and Answers.
Maharashtra State Board Class 9 My English Coursebook Solutions Chapter 3.2 The Fall of Troy
My English Coursebook Std 9 Guide Chapter 3.2 The Fall of Troy Textbook Questions and Answers
Warming up:
Chit-chat:
- Do you know stories from any epics or mythological poems?
- Who is your favourite mythological character? What do you like about that character?
- Who is your favourite warrior?
- If you could visit a place in the ancient world or the mytholocial world, which place would you choose? Which event would you like to see?
Building a Story
Form groups of eight. The group leader prepares slips of paper for each of the seven points given below and distributes them among the others. The group sits in a circle, taking their seats according to the number on the slip they have. Then each one completes the sentence on his/her slip without sharing it with the others. The group leader collects the slips and reads all the sentences aloud as one continuous passage. Does the story make sense? The group then works on the story to make it more meaningful and interesting.
- Once there was a …………………………
- Who lived in a …………………………
- He/She ate …………………………
- She/He went …………………………
- There She/He saw …………………………
- She/He was …………………………
- That is why …………………………
Part – I
English Workshop:
1. Find antonyms of the following from the passage:
Question 1.
Find antonyms of the following from the passage: (Answers are directly given.)
Answer:
- barren × fertile
- surrender × attack
- cowardly × brave
- defenceless × safe
- offended × pleased
- peace × war
- exposed × closed
2. Correct the following sentences using facts from the passage:
Question (a)
Troy traded in cattle and grass with other cities.
Answer:
Troy traded in goods and grain.
Question (b)
During war, Trojans jumped over the fort gates.
Answer:
During war, Trojans would close the doors of the fort.
Question (c)
Helen escaped with Menelaus.
Answer:
Helen eloped with Paris, a prince of Troy.
Question (d)
The Greek armies and heroes always defeated the Trojans.
Answer:
Sometimes the Greeks defeated the Trojans and sometimes the Trojans defeated the Greeks.
Question (e)
Both the enemies were eager to continue fighting.
Answer:
Both the armies were tired of war. The Trojans of being shut in their city and the Greeks of living away from home.
Question (f)
Troy was attacked because it was strong rich city.
Answer:
Troy was attacked because the Greeks wanted to take revenge on Troy for the wrong’done to their King Menelaus.
3. State the counteraction for the following actions:
Question (a)
Helen eloped with Paris.
Answer:
Counteraction: The Greeks wanted to take revenge on Troy they sailed and laid siege to the city of Troy.
Question (b)
The Greeks sailed to Troy and attacked it.
Answer:
Counteraction: The Trojans fought hard and the siege continued for ten long years.
Question (c)
Hector was killed by Achilles.
Answer:
Counteraction: Achilles himself was killed later on by a poisoned arrow that entered his heel, the only part of his body, where he could be wounded.
Question (d)
The siege continued for ten long years.
Answer:
Counteraction: The Trojans were tired of being shut up in their city and the Greeks deeply desired to see their homes again.
Question (e)
The fighting went on daily.
Answer:
Counteraction: Even then the siege did not end. The Greeks could not take the city, on the other hand, the Trojans could not force them to sail away back to Greece.
4. From either of our two Indian epics, find out which battle/war lasted the longest? Write down about its cause, the enemy armies, its heroes, its duration and the final outcome.
Question 1.
From either of our two Indian epics, find out which battle/war lasted the longest? Write down about its cause, the enemy armies, its heroes, its duration and the final outcome.
Answer:
Mahabharat
1. Cause: Kauravas took possession of the kingdom of Hastinapur forcibly, which rightfully belonged to Pandavas and they were not ready to give even an inch of the land to Pandavas. So, it led to the outbreak of the war.
2. The enemy armies:
Kauravas: 100 Kaurava brothers and many friendly kings like Shakuni, Shalya, Kama, etc. with their armies.
Pandavas: 5 Pandavas, Kashiraja, King Drupad, King Virat, Dhrushtadhyumna, etc. and their armies.
3. Heroes:
- Pandavas : Dharma (Yudhishthir), Arjun, Bhim, Nakul, Sahadev, Abhimanyu and Shri Krishna as the charioteer of Arjun.
- Kauravas: Duryodhan, Dushasan, Kama, Bhishmacharya, Dronacharya, Jaydrath.
4. Duration: The war lasted for eighteen days.
5. Final outcome: The war ended in victory to Pandavas. All mighty warriors from Kaurava side except Ashwathama were killed and it was a complete ruin for them. Pandavas regained Hastinapur.
5. Underline the subject in the following sentences:
Question 1.
Underline the subject in the following sentences:
(a) Paris had brought her to Troy.
(b) The Greeks waited to take revenge on Troy.
(c) The Greek armies sailed to Troy.
(d) The fighting went on daily.
(e) Reading is a good habit.
Here, we see that the ‘-ing’ form of the verb ‘fight’ is used as a subject in ‘The fighting went on’. It does the work of a noun. When the ‘-ing’ form of a verb is used as a noun, it is known as a gerund or verbal noun.
- Gardening is an art.
- Cooking is a science.
- I enjoy reading poems.
- I like writing, too.
Rewrite the above sentences using other appropriate gerunds in place of the ones given here.
Example: Speaking is an art.
- Gardening is an art.
- Cooking is a science.
- I enjoy reading poems.
- I like writing, too.
- Swimming is a good exercise.
- He is good at running.
- I am fond of playing.
- Travelling refreshes our minds.
Part – II
English Workshop:
1. Find and write the Greek and the Trojan names used in the story (Part I and II).
Question 1.
Find and write the Greek and the Trojan names used in the story (Part I and II).
Answer:
1. Greek names: Menelaus, Helen, Achilles, Odysseus, Agamemnon, Aphrodite (goddess).
2. Trojan names: Paris, Hector, King Priam.
2. List all the words related to ‘war’ from both parts of the story.
Question 1.
List all the words related to ‘war’ from both parts of the story.
Answer:
enemy, attack, fortress, ships, protect, defend, brave soldiers, heroes, kings, countries, revenge, siege, fighting, battles, killing, arrows, victory, engineer, peace, disaster, terror, death, conquerors.
3. Note the following constructions carefully and then use them to express your own ideas:
Question (a)
A horse big enough to hold men inside it.
……………. enough to …………… ………….
Answer:
A stick long enough to fell mangoes from the tree.
Question (b)
The Greeks were tired of the long war.
……………. tired of …………… ………….
Answer:
We are tired of the tedious work.
Question (c)
They are afraid of the long voyage home, too.
……………. afraid of …………… ………….
Answer:
They are afraid of the impending storm.
Question (d)
They made it too big to go inside your city.
……………… too ………………. to ……………….
Answer:
They bought a cupboard that was too big to go inside our house.
Question (e)
They were so excited that they paid no attention to his words.
……………….. so ………………. that ………………..
Answer:
We were so excited that we could not think of anything except our picnic.
4. Put the following events in the order in which they took place. Number then accordingly:
Question 1.
Put the following events in the order in which they took place. Number then accordingly:
Answer:
(a) The Trojans found a Greek man under the big wooden horse. [1]
(b) They broke down a part of the wall and brought the horse in. [3]
(c) The cunning Odysseus thought of a plan. [1]
(d) The Greeks burnt their tents and sailed away. [4]
(e) Troy was burnt down. [3]
(f) The Greeks built a big wooden horse. [2]
(g) The great heroes hid inside the horse. [3]
(h) The priest warned the Trojans not to break the wall. [2]
(i) The Trojans were happy to see the Greek ships go. [5]
(j) The Trojans slept soundly. [4]
(k) The Greek army entered the city. [2]
5. Form pairs. Imagine you are a pair of Trojans and you have come to know about Odysseus’s plan. Make a counter plan to defeat the Greeks. Write down your plan as you explain to your fellow Trojans:
Question 1.
Form pairs. Imagine you are a pair of Trojans and you have come to know about Odysseus’s plan. Make a counter plan to defeat the Greeks. Write down your plan as you explain to your fellow Trojans:
Answer:
While observing the large wooden horse, I heard some movements inside it. Friends, I am sure it is some trick to attack our city at night. Their great heroes must be inside the horse. They have not sailed away. They must be somewhere near and will return only when they will get the signal from the Greeks in the horse.
Friends, they will not get the signals from them. Look, we shall get bundles of ropes and tie the ropes tightly around the whole of the horse, so that no one would be able to come out and give signals. That Greek man also is in my custody. We shall arrange heavy barricades to close our wall gates. We shall take this opportunity to lift their siege.
We shall hold these heroes in the horse to ransom, in order to force them to lift the siege, surrender and leave our shore. Let’s come together and implement this plan immediately.
Language Study:
6. Refer to the Language Study pages and read the following entries:
Question (a)
Refer to the Language Study pages and read the following entries:
- word
- phrase
- clause
- sentence
Question (b)
A phrase is a meaningful group of words. Read the following phrases :
- the wise Odysseus
- a great horse of wood
- a skilful engineer
- the greatest heroes
- the secret of opening and shutting the entrance
- on the seashore outside the walls
- in the darkness
- watching for the return of the fleet
- part of their strong wall
Question 1.
Write three phrases on your own.
All the above phrases are parts of sentences they do not form a complete sentence by themselves. A sentence expresses a complete idea. You know that it has a subject and a predicate. A sentence has at least one finite verb in it.
Read the following examples:
- The tents had been burnt.
- The shore was deserted.
- The Greek ships had all gone.
2. Write three sentences using your own ideas.
Question (c)
When we read the story of ‘The Fall of Troy’, we see that here (as elsewhere), many sentences express two or more complete ideas linked together. For example,
- When the Trojans dragged him out, the man pretended to be very frightened of them.
- They wanted also to kill me and offer me as a sacrifice to the sea-god but I escaped and hid from them.
- In the darkness the fleet sailed back, and the leading ship, which was Agamemnon’s, bore a red light high on its mast.
All these sentences consist of clauses. A clause has a subject and a verb. Some clauses can stand by themselves as a complete sentence.
Example: The man pretended to be frightened of them.
But some clauses do not make complete sense by themselves.
Example: When the Trojans dragged him out
It is only when we read the entire sentence that we understand what is being said.
Thus, we have seen that a clause is a part of a sentence and there are two types of clauses:
(a) Main clause – It can stand by itself.
(b) Subordinate or dependent clause : It depends on the main clause, and is incomplete without it.
Note that a sentence can have two or more main clauses or a main clause and one or more dependent clauses, but we cannot have a sentence without a main clause.
Question 3.
Identify one example of a main clause and one example of a dependent clause from page 74.
My English Coursebook 9th Class Solutions Chapter 3.2 The Fall of Troy Additional Important Questions and Answers
Simple Factual Activities:
Question 1.
Fill in the blanks with correct information from the passage. Choose the correct option from the brackets: (Answers are directly given.)
Answer:
- Troy was a rich trading city in Asia Minor. (beautiful/trading)
- Troy was a strong city protected by its wall. (Mount Ida/wall)
- Troy was well situated for commerce and agriculture, (fertile fields/commerce and agriculture)
- Helen was the wife of a Greek king Menelaus. (Paris/Menelaus)
Question 2.
Complete the following sentences using the information from the passage:
(Answers are directly given.)
Answer:
- The Greek leaders decided to follow the advice of the wise Odysseus.
- The Trojans thought that the long siege was over at last.
- The last man who entered the wooden horse was the architect himself.
- Troy was taken, not by force but by a trick.
Question 3.
State whether the following statements are True or False:
Answer:
- The huge wooden horse was an offering to the god of the sea. – False
- The man left by the Greeks told the false story of the horse. – True
- Their wise priest told the Trojans not to make a hole in the wall. – True
- The Greeks were tired of the long war and had sailed away. – False
Complex Factual Activities:
Question 1.
How did the location of Troy help it to grow into a very rich/prosperous city?
Answer:
The city was well situated for commerce and agriculture. Their ships sailed and carried goods and grain over the sea in front of the city. Many rivers and streams flowed from Mount Ida. Well-watered and fertile valleys among the hills grew corn in fertile fields cattle were reared on the rich grass of the meadows. So Troy became a rich/ prosperous city.
Question 2.
How were the Trojans protected?
Answer:
The Trojans had built a strong wall around their city to prevent the enemy attack from the sea. The great gates of the wall were kept closed in time of war. They were safe from all attacks by the walls surrounding the city as well as by the hills behind the city.
Question 3.
What was the cause of the ten year old war between the Greeks and the Trojans?
Answer:
Paris, a prince of Troy, had persuaded Helen, wife of a Greek king Menelaus, to elope with him. Paris brought her to Troy. The Greeks wanted to take revenge on Troy and laid siege to the city. The fight began and the war continued for ten long years.
Who were the brave heroes on either side who were killed in the war? How?
Question 1.
Who were the brave heroes on either side who were killed in the war? How?
Answer:
Great heroes on both sides were killed in the course of time. Hector was killed by Achilles. Achilles himself was killed later on by a poisoned arrow that entered his heel. The prince of Troy, Paris, was also killed by a poisoned arrow.
Question 2.
How did Odysseus plan to defeat the Trojans?
Answer:
Odysseus advised his men to build a great wooden horse, big enough to hold men inside it and let some of their best fighters hide in the horse. Then let them burn their tents and pretend to sail away in their ships. But instead of sailing away, they would return in the night. When the Trojans were asleep, they would attack the city and burn, kill and defeat the Trojans.
Question 3.
What was the reason for Trojans to rejoice and celebrate?
Answer:
The Trojans woke up and came out for fighting as usual. They were delighted and surprised what they saw on the seashore outside the walls. The tents of the Greeks were burnt, the shore was deserted so they thought that the long siege was over at last. They were sure that the Greeks had gone. They were glad to be free to go where they pleased. That was the reason for the Trojans to rejoice and celebrate.
Question 4.
How did the cunning Greek explain the presence of such a large wooden horse?
Answer:
The cunning Greek explained to the Trojans that the Greeks were tired of the long war and had sailed away in their ships. They were afraid of the long voyage home and so they made a large horse and left that as an offering to the god of the sea.
Question 5.
What reckless/thoughtless step did the Trojans take?
Answer:
Thinking that the horse would bring them good luck the Trojans broke down a part of their strong wall in order to drag the horse in the city and that brought the ruin of their city.
Activities based on vocabulary:
Question 1.
Write the words related to ‘Geography’ from the passage.
Answer:
Asia Minor, trading city, Aegean, Black Sea, agriculture, grain, peak of Mount Ida, rivers, streams, valleys, hills, fertile fields, cattle, grass, fortress, meadows.
Question 2.
Match the adjectives in Column ‘A’ with the nouns in Column ‘B’:
‘A’ | ‘B’ |
1. high | (a) fortress |
2. brave | (b) peak |
3. fertile | (c) fields |
4. strong | (d) soldiers |
Answer:
- high – peak
- brave – soldiers
- fertile – fields
- strong – fortress.
Question 3.
Write the words related to war from the passage.
Answer:
fighting, siege, force, battles, armies, heroes, I kill, defence, resist, poisoned arrow, wounded.
Question 4.
Find the nouns for the following adjectives from the passage :
- skilful
- cunning
- wonderful
- wooden
Answer:
- engineer
- Odysseus
- piece of work
- horse.
Question 5.
Write all the words ending with ‘-mg’ form of verbs:
Answer:
Sailing, being, opening, shutting, expecting.
Question 6.
Arrange the letters properly to make a meaningful word :
- aagni
- bndeih
- rohse
- seegi.
Answer:
- again
- behind
- shore
- siege
Question 7.
Write the meaningful sentences from the jumbled words:
1. the Greeks did a large such Why horse make?
2. wise their them priest warned not so to do.
Answer:
1. Why did the Greeks make such a large horse?
2. Their wise priest warned them not to do so.
Question 8.
Match the names of the persons in Column ‘A’ with the information in Column ‘B’:
Answer:
- Agamemnon – sailing in the leading ship of Greeks
- Aphrodite – a Greek goddess
- Priam – Old Trojan King
- Helen – wife of King Menelaus.
Question 9.
Write the phrases related to Greeks’ attack on Troy.
Answer:
Set fire to houses, burn and kill, sight of leaping flames, sound of shouting, noise of weapons, cries of weeping women, the sleeping Trojans taken by surprise, put on their armour, seize their weapons, went up in flames, all in vain.
Activities based on contextual grammar:
Question 1.
A prince of Troy had persuaded Helen.
(Begin with ‘Helen had – ’ and change the voice.)
Answer:
Helen had been persuaded by a prince of Troy.
Question 2.
The city was strongly defended by its brave soldiers. (Choose the correct option of Active voice)
(a) Its brave soldiers defended strongly by the city.
(b) Its brave soldiers defended the city strongly.
Answer:
Its brave soldiers defended the city strongly.
Question 3.
Underline the infinitives in the sentences:
(Answers are directly underlined.)
1. Paris persuaded Helen to elope with him.
2. The Greeks wanted to take revenge.
Question 4.
Greeks could not take the city. (Make the sentence affirmative.)
Answer:
Greeks were unable to take the city.
Question 5.
Every day Greeks came out of their gates. (Rewrite the sentence using Past Continuous tense.)
Answer:
Every day Greeks were coming out of their gates.
Question 6.
The Trojans, too, fought hard. (Add a question tag.)
Answer:
The Trojans, too, fought hard, didn’t they? ‘
Question 7.
Find the gerund from the sentence. The fighting went on daily.
Answer:
fighting.
Question 8.
They will return in the night. (Frame a Wh-question to get the underlined part as an answer.)
Answer:
When will they return?
Question 9.
They went to sleep.
(Write the sentence in Past Progressive tense.)
Answer:
They were going to sleep.
Question 10.
Why did the Greeks make such a huge horse?
(Rewrite the sentence using Past Perfect tense.)
Answer:
Why had the Greeks made such a huge horse?
Question 11.
The walls are no longer necessary.
(Add a question tag.)
Answer:
The walls are no longer necessary, are they?
Question 12.
The Greeks have gone.
(Rewrite the sentence using Simple Past tense.)
Answer:
The Greeks went.
Choose the correct alternative from the brackets and complete the following sentences:
Question 1.
Choose the correct alternative from the brackets and complete the following sentences:
(Answers are directly underlined.)
Answer:
- They were killed with their great heroes. (with/for)
- They found the car m their own garage. (on/in)
- He jumped into the river to save the child. (over/into)
- She was gazing at the strange person. (on/at)
Question 2.
Write the past tense and past participle forms of the following verbs:
(Answers are directly given.)
Answer:
Verb | Past tense | Past participle |
come | came | come |
lead | led | led |
speak | spoke | spoken |
swim | swam | swum |
Complete the words by using correct letters:
Question 1.
Complete the words by using correct letters:
- s _ ege
- ro_nd
- bra _ e
- w_ong
Answer:
- siege
- round
- brave
- wrong
Copy the following sentences correctly in your notebook:
Question 1.
Copy the following sentences correctly in your notebook:
Answer:
1. The Greek wanted to take revenge on Troy for the wrong done to Menelaus.
2. “But why did the Greeks make such a huge horse?”
Put the following words in alphabetical order:
Question 1.
Put the following words in alphabetical order:
Answer:
1. fields, battles, ships, arrows
2. grain, grow, gates, Greek
3. arrows, battles, fields, ships.
4. gates, grain, Greek, grow.
Punctuate the following sentences:
Question 1.
1. Then he asked the boys where are you going children and for what
2. The king said what a strange appeal
Answer:
1. Then he asked the boys, “Where are you going, children, and for what?”
2. The King said, “What a strange appeal!”
Question 2.
Write four small words (minimum 3 letters each) using the letter in the given word :
“sometimes.”
Answer:
- some
- time
- mime
- tie
Question 3.
Spot the error and rewrite the correct sentences:
1. Great heroes on both sides was killed in the course of the war.
2. The Trojans came out of their gates, and the Greeks came out of their tents and ships and the fighting goes on.
Answer:
1. Great heroes on both sides were killed in the course of the war.
2. The Trojans came out of their gates, and the Greeks came out of their tents and ships and the fighting went on.
Question 4.
Write related words as shown in the example: (Answers are directly given.)
Answer:
Question 5.
Complete the following word-chain of nouns Add four words, each beginning with the last letter of the previous word:
Stream → ……………., ……………….., …………….., ……………..
Answer:
Stream → mountain → nature → electricity → years.
Question 6.
Make your own meaningful sentence by using the phrase ‘in front of.
Answer:
There is a big ground in front of our school.
Question 7.
Add a prefix or suffix to make new words and use any one of the root words in your own sentence:
1. imagine
2. education
Answer:
1. imaginary
2. educational
Sentence: Just try to imagine that you are a rich person.
Question 8.
Add a clause to expand the sentence meaningfully:
The person cried for help ………………
Answer:
The person cried for help because he was caught in the big fire.
Personal Response:
Question 1.
Do you know one of the wars in ancient India was fought over a woman? Describe it in short.
Answer:
I know such a war was fought between Ram and Ravan. Ravan, the demon king of Lanka, came in disguise as a Sadhu and forcefully took away Seeta, the wife of Ram. Ram with his monkey army reached Lanka. He fought against Ravan, defeated him and killed Ravan and brought back Seeta to Ayodhya.
Question 2.
Why, do you think, did the Greeks burn their tents?
Answer:
The Greeks burnt their tents to show the Trojans that they have left for Greece and did not wish to continue the siege any more. They wanted them (Trojans) to be careless and carefree about the Greek attack and their army.
Question 3.
Was it enough to use the wooden horse to hide some soldiers? What was done to make the Trojans take it inside the city?
Answer:
No, it was not enough to use it for hiding some soldiers. The Greeks wanted their entry into the city with all their army men. Unless the walls around the city were broken down they would not have got that opportunity. That’s why they made the horse very large and lured the Trojans to take it inside the city by breaking the walls.
Question 4.
Was the big wooden horse really an offering to the god of the sea?
Answer:
No, the big wooden horse really was not an offering to the god of the sea. It was a false tale of the Greek who was found under the big horse by the Trojans. It was told to lure the Trojans for taking the horse inside the city for sudden attack without their knowledge.
Question 5.
Why, do you think, were the Trojans so excited?
Answer:
I think, the Trojans thought that the siege by the Greeks was lifted and there would be no war any more. Again they thought that they were bringing in good luck for the city by presence of the wooden horse. They did not think of the impending danger.
Question 6.
Do you think that the conquerors of war are happy after their victory?
Answer:
No, I don’t think so. Both defeated and victorious countries have to bear the brunt of war. Both have to suffer because of the disastrous consequences they face. Both suffer the loss of lives, money, peace and so many other things. It takes a long time for both to regain their normal life.
Question 7.
Which of the following are the adverse effects of war? Tick [✓] them in the given box:
Answer:
- Many people are killed. [✓]
- The country gains fame and glory. [✗]
- They lose peace in the land. [✓]
- Thousands are wounded. [✓]
- Soldiers enjoy fighting. [✗]
- Those who win the war become rich and famous. [✓]
Oral Work
Question 1.
Read the story and retell it in your mother tongue, Read the following passage and do the activities: