CBSE Class 10 English The Hundred Dresses I Worksheet

THE HUNDRED DRESSES – 1

GIST
Wanda Petronski, a Poor Polish girl had immigrated to America along with her family. She studied in a school with other American students. Every day she came to school in a faded blue dress which was never ironed. She sat in the corner of the class room where some noisy boys sat. Wanda was an introvert. The other students would wait for her, pass comments and make fun of her outside the school. Peggy and Maddie often talked to her but they too, made fun of her. Wanda was close to Maddie. Peggy would often ask Wanda about her dresses in her closet. Wanda would reply that she had a hundred silk dresses. Peggy and Maddie would laugh and ask about Wanda’s shoes. Wanda would reply that she had 60 pairs of different shoes. Maddie was unlike Peggy. She was poor and wore old clothes usually given to her by others. She disliked all when they laughed at Wanda and wished Peggy would not tease her.Wanda’s absence from school went unnoticed.
All the students waited anxiously for the announcement of the names of winners of the drawing and colouring competition. Peggy was expected to be the winner. The drawings were displayed all over the class. Miss. Mason announced that girls had sent only one or two drawings, but a girl had sent hundred beautiful drawings. To everyone’s surprise, Wanda Petronski was declared the winner.Unfortunately, Wanda was absent on that day to hear the applause that was due to her.

Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow : 

1. Wanda Petronski, most of the children in Room thirteen did not have names like that. They had names easy to say, like Thomas, Smith or Allen. There was one boy named Bounce, Wille Bounce, and people thought that was funny in the same way that Petronski was. Wanda did not have any friends. She came to school alone and went home alone. She always wore a faded blue dress that didn’t hang right. It was clean, but it looked as though it had never been ironed properly.

Question. Which name in the passage did not match with other names ?
a. Wanda Petronski
b. Allen
c. Thomas
d. Smith
Answer.a. Wanda Petronski

Question. There was one boy named ___________.
a. Ricky Stone
b. Roger Heart
c. Alex Spring
d. Wille Bounce
Answer.d. Wille Bounce

Question. Which dress Wanda always wore?
a. bright red dress
b. faded green dress
c. light pink dress
d. faded blue dress
Answer.d. faded blue dress

Question. Trace a word from the passage that means ‘worn’.
a. ironed
b. faded
c. bounce
d. hang
Answer.b. faded

2. At last Maddie sat up in bed and pressed her forehead tight in her hands and really thought. This was the hardest thinking she had ever done. After a long, long time, she reached an important conclusion. She was never going to stand by and say nothing again. If she ever heard anybody picking on someone because they were funny looking or because they had strange names, she’d speak up. Even if it meant losing Peggy’s friendship. She had no way of making things right with Wanda, but from now on she would never make anybody else that unhappy again. 

Question. Maddie was hurt at whose moving away?
a. Peggy’s
b. Anne’s
c. Wanda’s
d. Suzy’s
Answer.c. Wanda’s

Question. After a long time she reached on an important ____________.
a. conclusion
b. result
c. decision
d. arrangement
Answer.a. conclusion

Question. Give a synonym of ‘decision’ from the passage :
a. thought
b. thinking
c. unhappy
d. conclusion
Answer.d. conclusion

Read the given extracts to attempt the questions that follow:

The next day, Tuesday, Wanda was not in school, either. And nobody noticed her absence again. But on Wednesday, Peggy and Maddie, who sat down in 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. Peggy was the most popular girl in school. She was pretty, she had many pretty clothes and her hair was curly. Maddie was her closest friend. The reason Peggy and Maddie noticed Wanda’s absence was because Wanda had made them late to school.

Question. Who noticed the absence of Wanda for the first time on Wednesday?
(a) Her classmates
(b) Her teachers
(c) Her cousins
(d) The school servant
Answer. (a) Her classmates

Question. “Who didn’t track in a whole lot of mud …" referred to?
(a) Children of teaching staff.
(b) Children who came from economically well to do background.
(c) Children who came from economically weaker section.
(d) Children who were differently abled.
Answer. (b) Children who came from economically well to do background.

Question. Peggy and Maddie got late because ….......... .
(a) they stopped on a bakery to purchase a cake.
(b) they stopped to visit a church nearby.
(c) they were waiting for Wanda to make fun of her.
(d) they were waiting for Wanda to have breakfast with her.
Answer. (c) they were waiting for Wanda to make fun of her.

Question. What kind of dichotomy is narrator trying to present in the above lines?
(a) Between children of teaching staff and ordinary children.
(b) Between children of engineers and children of doctors.
(c) Between girls and boys.
(d) Between high society elite and lower one.
Answer. (d) Between high society elite and lower one.
Question. Select the suitable word from the extract to complete the following:
Accept: Refuse :: Presence:
(a) Popular
(b) Absence
(c) Pretty
(d) Curly
Answer. (b) Absence

Read the given extracts to attempt the questions that follow:

Sometimes, when Peggy was asking Wanda those questions in that mocking polite voice, Maddie felt embarrassed and studied the marbles in the palm of her hand, rolling them around and saying nothing herself. Not that she felt sorry for Wanda, exactly. She would never have paid any attention to Wanda if Peggy hadn’t invented the dresses game. But suppose Peggy and all the others started in on her next? She wasn’t as poor as Wanda, perhaps, but she was poor. Of course, she would have more sense than to say she had a hundred dresses. Still, she would not like for them to begin on her. She wished Peggy would stop teasing Wanda Petronski.

Question. In what ways Wanda was different from others?
(1) She stayed alone mostly.
(2) She remained mostly silent.
(3) She wore new colourful dresses everyday.
(4) She kept bob cut hairstyle.
(5) She was extraordinarily tall.
(a) Only (1) (b) (1) and (2)
(c) Only (2) (d) (4) and (5)
Answer. (b) (1) and (2)

Question. Select the most appropriate option for (1) and (2).
(1) She wished Peggy would stop teasing Wanda Petronski.
(2) Maddie felt sorry for making fun of Wanda.
(a) (1) is true and (2) is false.
(b) (2) is opposite of (1).
(c) (1) furthers the meaning of (2).
(d) Both (1) and (2) cannot be inferred from the paragraph.
Answer. (c) (1) furthers the meaning of (2).

Question. Identify the Maddie’s mood from the above lines.
(a) Angry
(b) Gloomy
(c) Frustrated
(d) Embarrassed
Answer. (d) Embarrassed

Question. Select the option which displays an example of "felt sorry for something/someone"
(a) He has deliberately hit someone and now intimidating him to keep quiet.
(b) He mocked others for fun in his childhood but now regret what he did.
(c) He went out for a picnic but forgot to take food along with him.
(d) He failed to secure good marks .
Answer. (b) He mocked others for fun in his childhood but now regret what he did.

Question. What do we get to know about Maddie from the following line?
“She would never have paid any attention to Wanda if Peggy hadn’t invented the dresses game.”
(a) Maddie is an arrogant girl who loves to show off her wealth.
(b) Maddie is a kind girl who does not wish to hurt anyone; however, she is unwillingly mocking someone to go with the flow of her best companion.
(c) Maddie is an ignorant girl who does not care about others.
(d) Maddie is highly intelligent and skillful.
Answer. (b) Maddie is a kind girl who does not wish to hurt anyone; however, she is unwillingly mocking someone to go with the flow of her best companion.

Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.

1. Wanda didn’t have any friends. She came to school alone and went home alone. She always wore a faded blue dress that didn’t hang right. It was clean, but it looked as though it had never been ironed properly. She didn’t have any friends, but a lot of girls talked to her. Sometimes, they surrounded her in the school yard as she stood watching the little girls play hopscotch on the worn hard ground.

Question. What would Wanda watch on the hard ground?
Answer.Wanda stood watching the little girls play hopscotch on the worn hard ground.

Question. How did she come to school and go from school?
Answer.She came to school alone and went home alone.

Question. Why do you think Wanda had no friends?
Answer.Wanda had no friends as she was an introvert and had inferiority complex.

Question. How did she dress up?
Answer.She always wore a faded blue dress that was never ironed.

2. TODAY, Monday, Wanda Petronski was not in her seat. But nobody, not even Peggy and Madeline,the girls who started all the fun, noticed her absence. Usually Wanda sat in the seat next to the last seat in the last row in Room Thirteen. She sat in the corner of the room where the rough boys who did not make good marks sat, the corner of the room where there was most scuffling of feet, most roars of laughter when anything funny was said, and most mud and dirt on the floor.

Question. Where did Wanda sit?
Answer.Wanda sat in the corner of the room next to the last seat in the last row in Room Thirteen.

Question. Whose absence was unnoticed?
Answer.Wanda’s absence was unnoticed.

Question. Write the meaning of the word ‘scuffing’
Answer.Noisy, dragging movements of the feet on the ground.

Question. What kind of boys sat in the corner of Room Thirteen?
Answer. The boys who did not score good marks sat in the corner of Room Thirteen.
 

Short Answer Questions :

Question. What kind of girl was Peggy?
Answer. Peggy was a pretty and popular girl in the class. She was a sensitive girl who protected small children from bullies. She cried for hours if she saw an animal mistreated. She would join Maddie while enquiring about her dresses and shoes. Though her intentions were not to be rude or cruel, she did so to have fun.

Question. Why did Wanda Petronski sit in the last row?
Answer. Wanda had no friends. She came alone to school and went back alone. She sat in the corner of the last row in Room Thirteen. She wore a faded blue dress and her shoes were covered with dry mud.

Question. What was the drawing and colouring contest? How was Peggy known to fare in it?
Answer. The drawing and colouring contest consisted of designing dresses. For boys, it was about designing motorboats. The most beautiful drawing was to be declared first. Peggy was known to draw better than anyone else in the room. She could copy a picture from a magazine or some film star quiet correctly. Maddie was sure Peggy would win.

Question. What did Maddie do after solving her arithmetic problems?
Answer. Maddie felt bad that Peggy made fun of Wanda. She couldn’t say it directly to Peggy. She was angry. But she did not show it. So, she started writing a note to her about it. Suddenly she started picturing herself in place of Wanda. She started shaking and immediately came out of her trance

Question. Where did Wanda sit in the classroom and why ? 
Answer. Wanda felt it comfortable to sit at the back of the class where the noisy rough boys, who got low marks,sat. She did so as she was not well dressed and her feet were dirty, where nobody noticed her.

Question. Why did Peggy and Maddie not notice Wanda’s absence?
Answer. Peggy and Maddie did not notice Wanda’s absence since Wanda was a quiet girl and usually did not communicate with the other children of the class. She sat in the corner of the class and her presence did not matter much to Peggy and Maddie. They considered her inconsequential.

Question. How would Wanda react to being made fun of her by Peggy and Maddie?
Answer. Wanda know that Peggy and Maddie would make fun of her. Wanda would move in the streets with dull eyes and closed mouth. It was because of insults. She hitched her left shoulder every now and then in a funny way. She would alone finish the walk to school and she always remained serious.

Question. Why did Maddie feel guilty of herself ?
Answer. Maddie felt guilty of herself because she always supported Peggy for fun. She never stopped Peggy for making fun of Wanda. Later, she was remorseful to see the beautiful dresses gifted by Wanda.

Question. How did Wanda describe her hundred dresses?
Answer. Wanda said that her hundred dresses were silky and very colourful. She took great pride in describing them. All the dresses she described were different from each other. One was pale blue with coloured trimmings, another was brilliant jungle green with a red sash.

Long Answer Questions :

Question. Compare and contrast Peggy and Maddie. Why couldn’t Maddie stop Peggy from teasing Wanda Petronski?
Answer. Peggy and Maddie were two close friends. They belonged to different financial and cultural backgrounds. Peggy was pretty and had many beautiful dresses. Maddie, on the other hand, was from a poor family. Peggy used to hand over her old clothes to Maddie. Maddie’s mother would cover up the old clothes with new trimmings which would make it difficult for the other classmates to recognize them.
The girls would sit on the first row .Peggy was very good at drawing. Everyone felt that Peggy would win the girl’s medal in the drawing and colouring competition.Maddie felt uncomfortable when Peggy teased Wanda and wished she would stop doing so.

Question. What did Peggy and other girls think about Wanda Petronski? How was she different from other girls?
Answer. Peggy and other girls hardly noticed Wanda Petronski’s presence or absence in the class.Wanda sat in the last row in the class. Only ‘rough boys’ who never got good marks and made a lot of noise sat in that corner. A lot of dirt and mud could be found on the floor there. Nobody knew why she sat there. Wanda lived at Boggins Heights and her footwear carried a lot of dry mud with her from there. Girls found her coming to school and going home alone. She had no friends. Peggy, Maddie and others talked to Wanda only when she was outside the class. Peggy particularly enjoyed making fun of Wanda. Maddie would mockingly ask Wanda uncomfortable questions about her hundred dresses and sixty pairs of shoes. None believed that a poor girl like Wanda who usually wore a faded blue dress could have a hundred dresses. Peggy thought that Wanda was telling a lie. Maddie was different. She didn’t like Peggy making fun of Wanda. She wished Peggy would stop teasing Wanda in that manner.

Question. Why did Wanda leave school? How did the attitude of her classmates hurt her? Should we have such attitude towards our classmates? How should we treat the students like Wanda?
Answer. Wanda was a Polish girl studying in a school with American girls. She was not treated well by her classmates. The girls made fun of her name and dresses. One day, her father wrote a letter to the school informing that they were moving to a big city where no one would make fun of her name and status. The attitude of her classmates had hurt her. One should not have such attitude towards their classmates. Every school and class has students like Wanda who do not come from affluent families. We should not make fun of their dresses or their status. We should judge them according to their talent and we should recognise their creativity. Moreover, every individual possesses equal right to education and we must learn to give everybody an equal and unbiased treatment.

Question. How did Wanda win the hearts of her classmates at the end of the story?
Answer. Wanda was a poor girl. She had an unfamiliar name and different looks. Other students made fun of her name and called her ‘Pollack’. Peggy and other girls teased her about a hundred dresses which she claimed she had but wore the same faded blue dress. Fed up with the teasing, she left the school and went to a big city. Before leaving, she had taken part in the art competition and submitted a hundred drawings of different designs. They were so beautiful that all her classmates were amazed. They could never guess that she could be so talented. Moreover, she had proved herself right that she possessed a hundred dresses. Her classmates not only realized their mistakes but were also impressed by her creative talent. Wanda finally won their hearts when she gifted all her drawings to her class. Specially the green dress with red trimming to Peggy and the blue one to Maddie. She left tears in her classmate’s eyes. Everybody loved her and missed her. Peggy and Maddie repented for teasing and bullying her.

Question. What was the drawing and colour contest? Who was expected to win it but who actually won it? How did Miss Mason announce it?
Answer. For girls, the drawing and colour contest consisted of designing dresses. For boys, it was designing motorboats. Everybody thought Peggy would win it as she drew better than anyone else in the class. On the day of the announcement of the winners, all entered the classroom. They saw the drawings. They stopped short and gasped. There were beautiful drawings covering the walls of the class. They were in dazzling colours. Everybody praised them. Miss Mason declared Wanda as the winner of the contest for girls. She also stated that Jack Beggles had won the prize for the boys. His design for an outboard motor was on display in Room twelve.

Question. Peggy teased Wanda in school. But she did not realise that she was being cruel. She justified it by saying that Wanda lied. Are these the traits of a bully? Give ways to stop bullying in school.
Answer. Yes, these are the traits of a bully. A bully usually identifies a soft target, some one who will not retaliate and will tolerate the bullying quietly. In this case, Peggy did not realise that she is being a bully. She believed that since Wanda lied about the number of dresses she had, it give her the right to tease and question her about them. She knew it very well that she was bullying or harassing poor Wanda, but she was also conscious of not being considered a bad person. So, she justified herself by saying that Wanda has been a liar so she deserved the treatment. She bullied her with the backing of the other girls. One way of stopping this phenomenon in schools is to sensitise all the students to the individuality and uniqueness of each student. The other way is to punish anyone found bullying severely so as to deter others from indulging in bullying.

Unseen Passage Class 10 English

1.Read the following passage carefully:

1. It is simple: when we buy a product, we check its manufacturing or expiry date. But we rarely check the ingredients. For example, most shampoos and soap contain the chemical sodium lauryl sulfate(SLS) which is carcinogenic, most toothpastes have very high sugar content, deodorants contain aerosols which deplete the ozone layer and harm the skin, and washing soaps clog drains and do not degrade easily. In short, almost all ‘washing and cleaning’ agents, including toothpastes, contain surfactants (like SLES or SLS)and other harmful chemicals that contribute to carbon emissions during their manufacture.

2. So using a herbal hair wash powder or a shampoo that has no SLS will keep your hair and you healthier. Substitute ayurvedic tooth powders for toothpastes. If you are inclined, you can make your own washing soap at home for use in a washing machine, which is far more eco friendly that the readymade detergents(recipes are available on the Net).And always remember if you are eating something that your grandmother or mother cannot make at home then you are inviting trouble.