School Breaks Up
by R.K. Narayan
(Cambridge Connection)
Comprehension
A. Answer the questions.
1. What was Swaminathan writing?
= Swaminathan was writing the Tamil paper in the examination hall.
2. How many questions were there in the question paper?
= There were six questions in the question paper.
3. Can you name some of Swaminathan's classmates?
= Some of Swaminathan's classmates are - Shankar, Rajam, Mani and Pea.
4. How much time had Swaminathan taken to complete the exam?
= Swaminathan had taken two hours and forty minutes to complete the exam.
5. Was he happy with the exam? Why did he worry about it later?
= He was happy with the exam as he managed to come out of the exam hall twenty minutes before.
He worried about it later because the other boys along with his friends were still in the exam hall. He would have felt more comfortable if all the boys had given their papers as he had done twenty minutes before.
B. What idea have you formed about Swami's -
1. nature.
= Swaminathan is a child with innocence and impishness. His mind is not fixed in any one thing. He can not stay idle in one place i.e. in the exam hall. He is also concerned about his peers.
2. age.
= In the introduction of the story, it has been mentioned that Swaminathan is a ten-years-old boy.
3. friends.
= He is very close to his peers. As of them, they are also evasive in studies like Swaminathan.
C. Read the lines and answer the questions.
1. "Swaminathan suddenly wished that he had not come out so soon.:
a. Where was Swaminathan before he came out?
= Swaminathan was in the exam hall before he came out.
b. Why had he come out so early?
= He had come out so early because he was feeling so bored after completing his paper. It was his last exam of that semester. If only he could pluck up enough courage to hand in the paper and go out, he would have no more examinations for a long time to come.
c. Why did he wish that he had not come out so early?
= He wished that he had not come out so early because many of his classmates along with his friends were still in the exam hall writing their paper.
2. " 'What moral do you infer from the story of the Brahmin and the Tiger?' "
a. In what context does this sentence appear in the story?
= It was the sixth and last question of the Tamil paper of Swaminathan.
b. What was Swaminathan's answer?
= Swaminathan's answer was - "Love of gold bangle cost one one's life."
c. Do you agree with Swaminathan's answer? Why or why not?
= I do not totally agree with Swaminathan's answer. He could have chosen better words.
It was not 'Love' for gold. Rather it was 'greed' for gold bangle that lead the Brahmin to be in the stomach of the tiger.
3. "..... had at once pretended to be busy with the answer paper."
a. Who is being talked about here?
= Swaminathan is being talked about here.
b. Why did he suddenly pretended to be busy?
= He suddenly pretended to be busy because a supervisor was observing him.
c. What did he do then?
= He thought of doing a little revision. He read a few lines of the first question and was bored. He turned over the leaves and kept gazing at the last answer. He had to pretend that he was revising.
D. Think and answer.
1. Why did Swaminathan pretend to revise his paper when the supervisor looked at him?
= Swaminathan pretended to revise his paper when the supervisor looked at him unless the latter would have scold him for not writing his answers.
2. Describe what Swaminathan's friends were doing when he left the examination hall.
= With his left shoulder resting against the wall, Shankar was lost to the world. Rajam, sitting under the second ventilator, between two Third-Form boys, had become a writing machine. Mani was still gazing at the rafters, scratching his chin with the pen. The Pea was leaning back in his seat, revising his answers.
3. Was Swaminathan fully prepared for the Tamil paper? Give reasons for your answer.
= No, Swaminathan was definitely not fully prepared for the Tamil paper.
Out of the six questions set, he had answered the first question to his satisfaction, the second was doubtful, the third was satisfactory, the fourth, he knew, was clearly wrong. He probably skipped the fifth question as there no mention of it in the text. As of the sixth question, he was not aware of the fact that a story may have a moral.
4. What interesting things did Swaminathan wish to do once he left the exam hall?
= Swaminathan wished to do what he pleased once he left the exam hall. He wanted to roam about the town in the evenings and afternoons and mornings. He wished to through the books. He longed to command granny to tell endless tales.
About the Author :
Rasipuram Krishnaswami Narayan (1906 -2001) was an Indian writer, best known for his stories set in the fictitious town of Malgudi, titled The Malgudi Days. He beautifully outlines his characters through their actions in everyday life, bringing out the peculiarities of human relationships. Narayan wrote his first novel Swami and Friends in 1935. It is also one of his best-received works.