Jharkhand Board Class 9TH English Notes | THE SOUND OF MUSIC - I (EVELYN GLENNIE)
JAC Board Solution For Class 9TH English Prose Chapter 2
COMPREHENSION
■ Read the following passage and answer the questions that
follow :
1. Rush hour crowds jostle for position on the underground
train platform. A slight girl, looking younger than her seventeen
years, was nervous yet excited as she felt the vibrations of the
approaching train. It was her first day at the prestigious Royal
Academy of Music in London and daunting enough for any
teenager fresh from a Scottish farm. But this aspiring musician
faced a bigger challenge than most: she was profoundly deaf.
Q. (a) Who is 'she here? What kind of a girl was she?
(b) Why was she nervous yet excited?
(c) Why was 'it' daunting enough for her?
(d) What challenge did she face? Why?
(e) Give words from the passage which mean the same
as:
(i) reputed, (ii) wanting to be.
Ans. (a) 'She' is Evelyn Glennie here. She was a small and thin
girl of about seventeen years.
(b) She was nervous as it was her first day at the prestigious
Royal Academy of Music in London. She excited as she
could feel the vibrations of the approaching train.
(c) 'It' was daunting enough for her because she had come
from a small countryside Scottish farm.
(d) She faced to challenge of learning music because she
was profoundly deaf.
(e) (i) reputed - prestigious,
(ii) wanting to be - aspiring.
2. Evelyn Glennie's loss of hearing had been gradual. Her
mother remembers noticing something was wrong when the eight-
year-old Evelyn was waiting to play the piano. "They called her
name and she didn't move. I suddenly realised she hadn't heard."
says Isabel Glennie. For quite a while Evelyn managed to conceal
her growing deafness from friends and teachers. But by the time
she was eleven her marks had deteriorated and her headmistress
urged her parents to take her to a specialist. It was then discovered
that her hearing was severely impaired as a result of gradual nerve
damage. They were advised that she should be fitted with hearing
aids and sent to a school for the deaf. "Everything suddenly looked
black," says Evelyn.
Q. (a) What was noticed about Evelyn by her mother when
she was waiting to play the piano?
(b) What did Evelyn do for some time thereafter?
(c) When did the headmistress ask Evelyn's parents to
take her to a specialist?
(d) What was the result?
(e) Find a word from the passage which means 'grew
worse'.
Ans.(a) She noticed her deafness.
(b) She hid her deafness from friends and teachers.
(c) When Evelyn was eleven years old.
(d) It was found that her hearing had gone worse.
(e) 'deteriorated'.
3. And for all this, Evelyn won't accept any hint of heroic;
achievement. "If you work hard and know where you are going,
you'll get there." And she got right to the top, the world,s most
sought-after multipercussionist with a mastery of some thousand
instruments, and hectic international schedule.
It is intriguing to watch Evelyn function so effortlessly
without hearing. In our two-hour discussion she never missed a
word. "Men with bushy beards give me trouble," she laughed. It is
not just watching the lips, it's the whole face, especially the eyes."
She speaks flawlessly with a Scottish tilt. "My speech is clear
because I could hear till I was eleven," she says. But that doesn't
explain how she managed to learn French and master basic
Japanese.
Q. (a) What will Evelyn not accept?
(b) What does Evelyn think of 'hard work'?
(c) How is she looked at now at international level?
(d) How does Evelyn function?
(c) Find words which the same as following―
(i) attracting and curious
(ii) without much difficulty.
Ans.(a) Evelyn won't accept any hint of heroic achievement.
(b) She thinks that it is the only thing that can take her to
the top
(c) She is looked at as a master of some thousand instruments.
(d) She functions effortlessly though she is deaf.
(e) (i) attracting and curious – intriguing
(ii) without much difficulty – effortlessly.
Long Answer Type Quesions
Answer these questions in about 80-100 words each :–
Q. 1. How does Evelyn hear music?
Ans. Evelyn can not hear music through her ears as she is deaf.
With the help of her percussionist, she learns to hear the music by
sensing its different notes in different parts of her body. She opens
up her mind and body to sounds and vibrations. She says that it
pours in through every part of her body. It tingles in the skin, her
cheek bones and even in her hair. She can sense the sound passing
up the sticks of the xylophone into her fingerprints. She feels the
resonances flowing into her body by leaning against the drums.
She removes her shoes to let music pass through her feet up her
legs on a wooden platform. In this way, Evelyn heard through lip-
reading and watching the eye's and facial expressions through her
eyes and other parts of her body.
Q. 2. What kind of a girl is Evelyn Glennie? What special
ability has the God blessed her with ?
Ans. Evelyn Glennie is a small, thin girl of shy nature. She
started losing her hearing capability since she was 8. She hid her
disability till eleven. The specialist explained it to be due to gradual
nerve damage. She became completely deaf but she didn't lose
hope. She wanted to be a musician. As hearing is essential for
music, everyone discouraged her. She was highly patient and
composed. She confesses to be a workaholic. She with strong and
focused determination and passion, kept working hard to get her
goal. A percussionist helped her learn hearing through other parts
of the body than ears. In this way, the God took her hearing but has
blessed her with extraordinary sensing powers.
Q.3. What are Evelyn's contribution to the world of music
and the humanity ?
Ans. Evelyn was a deaf girl who defied all odds to become a
world famous musician. She proved it that with hard work,
determination and patience, one can change his destiny. She
mastered about 1000 percussions more than others. She brought
percussion in the front of the orchestra and made it an essential
part of it. She also proved that it could be very moving. She gives
free concerts in persons and hospitals and conducts classes for
young musicians as well as the handicapped ones. She inspires the
handicapped people to 'work hard to achieve their goal'.
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