English : Unit 7 : Poem : My Computer Needs A Break
Warm up
In pairs, tell each other how computer plays a vital role in all fields.
1. Computer helps students learn new things.
2. It is a boon to modern society.
3. It is widely used in all fields such as Economics, Science, Medical, Law, Engineering, Designing, Graphics and Film making etc.
4. Computer literacy is vital to success in today’s world.
5. Computers have helped in the design of safety equipment in sports.
Glossary
brainy (adj) – very intelligent
absent-minded (adj) – being forgetful
vanish (v) – disappear
dreadful (adj) – unpleasant
gobbled (v) – ate hastily or greedily
erratically (adv) – unsteadily or unpredictably
squirm (v) – to twist the body in discomfort
Questions Answers
A) Answer the following:
1. How does the poet describe her computer?
Answer: The poet describes her computer as very intelligent and smart. The computer seems to know a lot of information by heart.
2. What happened to the computer?
Answer: The computer was behaving badly, forgets to save and store anything. A virus has got into it and it became sick.
3. List four things that the computer could not do after it became absent-minded
Answer:
(a) The computer forgets to save the poet’s work.
(b) It doesn’t check her spellings.
(c) It hides all her files.
(d) It makes her work vanish in the most dreadful way.
4. What made the poet squirm?
Answer: When the computer actually gobbled a worm, a virus, it behaved unsteadily. So the poet squirmed.
5. Why did the poet call the doctor?
Answer: The computer caught a virus and fell very sick. So the poet had to call a doctor.
B) Fill in the blanks.
1. Computers are brainy and smart.
2. We get answers for questions by a click.
3. The computer forgot to save the poet’s work.
4. The computer actually gobbled a worm.
5. The poet feels that his computer needs a holiday.
C. Pick out the rhyming words from the poem.
Smart – Answer: heart
click – Answer: quick
right – Answer: sight
sick – Answer: quick
D) Match the poetic lines with Figures of speech
1) So brainy – personification
2) Mountains – personification
3) It’s so absent minded – hyperbole
4) Computer gobbled a worm – metaphor
5) Very sick – metaphor
Ans [1.(d), 2.(c), 3.(a), 4.(b), 5.(e)]
1. So brainy – (d) metaphor
2. Mountains – (c) hyperbole
3. Its so absent minded – (a) personification
4. Computer gobbled a worm – (b) personification
5. Very sick – (e) metaphor
E) Find the alliterating words from the poem
1) Save – Answer: store
2) Doctor – Answer: double
3) Virus – Answer: very
4) makes – Answer: most
5) Gobbled – Answer: Govindan
ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS
I. Poem Comprehension:
1. My computer has always been so brainy and smart –
It seems to know mountains of information by heart.
(a) What has the computer always been to the poet?
Answer: The computer had always been so brainy and smart.
(b) Why does the poet use the word ‘mountains’?
Answer: She had used this word to insist that the computer knows a lot of information.
(c) What do you mean by ‘brainy’.
Answer: ‘Brainy’ means “intelligent”.
2. It forgets to ‘save’ my work, and store it away,
And instead, makes it vanish in the most dreadful way.
(a) What does the computer forget?
Answer: The computer forgets to save the poet’s work.
(b) What vanishes in the most dreadful way?
Answer: Her works vanish in the most dreadful way.
(c) What do you mean by the word “dreadful”?
Answer: “Dreadful” means “unpleasant”.
II. Poem Appreciation:
1. If I type in a question, and give my mouse a click,
My computer always gives me the answer really quick!
(a) Pick out the rhyming words.
Answer: click – quick are the rhyming words.
(b) Name the alliterated words.
Answer: my – mouse are the alliterated words.
2. And one day, my naughty computer actually gobbled a worm,
And behaved so erratically that it made me squirm.
(a) What is the figure of speech used here?
Answer: Personification is used here. The computer is given human traits. It gobbled a worm.
(b) Pick out the alliterated words.
Answer: made – me are the alliterated words.
II. Very Short Questions and Answers:
1. What do you mean by phrase “mountains of information”?
Answer: It means a lot of information.
2. Who is absept-minded?
Answer: The poet’s computer is absent-minded.
3. What do you mean by the word “erratically”?
Answer: “Erratically” means “unsteadily or unpredictably”.
4. Why did the computer fall very sick according to the poet?
Answer: The computer fell very sick because it caught a virus.
5. What vanished from the poet’s sight?
Answer: Files vanished from the poet’s sight.
III. Short Questions and Answers:
1. What happened one day?
Answer: One day, the poets computer actually gobbled a worm that was a virus and behaved so unsteadily. This made the poet discomfort.
2. Why did the poet call a doctor?
Answer: The poet called in a doctor to examine her computer which caught a virus and fell very sick.
3. Why did the poet say that she didn’t know what to do?
Answer: Her computer behaved badly and became absent-minded. So the poet said that she didn’t know what to do.
IV. Paragraph Question with Answer.
1. What are the problems faced by the poet with her computer?
Answer: The poet’s computer had always been so intelligent and fashionable. It gave a lot of information quickly. But after some days, it gave her a lot of problems. She says that it was absent-minded. She did not know what to do about it. It forgot to save her work and store it away. It made her work vanish in the most unpleasant way. It didn’t check her spellings. It hid her files and vanished them from her sight. One day it gobbled a virus and fell very sick. So she had to call a doctor (a technician) to set it right.
Parallel Reading
Ode to Technology…
You’ve brought us closer,
Then made us more distant.
Made us more aware,
Then made us doubtful of ourselves.
Introduce us to more friends,
Then invited more enemies.
Given us more publicity,
Then exploited us.
Save us more time,
Now it’s spent to be more busy.
Simplify our tasks just to make life more difficult.
You’re an entrapping blessing in disguise.
Made us feel more secure,
Yet gave us more tools to break in.
You’ve become our new addiction,
Just a second without you,
Got us in technology withdraw.
You’re a complication in simplicity.
There’s so much to love you but also so much to hate.
Can’t live with you or without you…
Tien Dang
PARALLEL READING
Additional Questions:
1. Who bought us closer and then made us more distance?
Answer: Technology brought us closer and then made us more distance.
2. What did technology do?
Answer: It introduced us to more friends and invited enemies. It gave us more publicity and exploited us. It saved us more and it is spent to be more busy.
3. What does the poet say about the Technology?
Answer: The technology is an entrapping blessing in disguise.
4. Which is our new addiction?
Answer: Technology is our new addiction.
5. Can we live without Technology?
Answer: No, we cannot live without technology.