Television
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ROALD DAHL
I. Multiple-Choice Questions (MCQs)
Question 1.
Repetition of ‘Never’ brings out the poet’s ____________?
(A) blatant dislike of TV for the children
(B) advise to parents to be considerate towards their children’s act of watching the television
(C) appeal to ban TV for children
(D) none of these
Answer:
(A) blatant dislike of TV for the children
Question 2.
‘Them near your television set.’ Here ‘them’ refers?
(A) parents
(B) children
(C) both parents and children
(D) the readers
Answer:
(B) children
Question 3.
‘The idiotic thing refers to ___________?
(A) foolish person
(B) lunatics
(C) an useless object
(D) none of these
Answer:
(D) none of these
Question 4.
The expression gaping at the screen’ implies _____________?
(A) parents’ inclination towards watching TV
(B) opening one’s mouth
(C) the children’s obsession with TV
(D) the poet’s disenchantment with it
Answer:
(C) the children’s obsession with TV
Question 5.
With all that shocking ghastly junk. The underlined expression means __________?
(A) dirt
(B) terrible unsubstantial thing
(C) deadly thing
(D) none of these
Answer:
(B) terrible unsubstantial thing
Question 6.
Oh yes. we know it keeps them still. Does the underlined expression mean __________?
(A) parents should be careful
(B) children need to be silent for the interest for their parents
(C) the poet wants silence
(D) all of these
Answer:
(B) children need to be silent for the interest of their parents
Question 7.
Does this do to your beloved tot? Here ‘your’ refers to ___________?
(A) the poet’s
(B) the children’s
(C) parent’s
(D) none of these
Answer:
(C) parent’s
Question 8.
Does TV rob of the children of their ___________?
(A) study
(B) enjoyment of life
(C) fancies
(D) imaginative power
Answer:
(D) imaginative power
Question 9.
IT CLOGS AND CLUTTERS UP THE MIND!’ The poet uses only capital letters to bring home
___________?
(A) uses of TV
(B) insight into the children’s minds
(C) the devastating impact of TV on children
(D) his cold attitude toward TV
Answer:
(C) the devastating impact of TV on children
Question 10.
The poet fervently wants children to ____________?
(A) watch TV at the time
(B) read literature
(C) create a fairy world
(D) play
Answer:
(B) read literature
II. Short Type Questions with Answers
Question 1.
What has the poet watched in every house?
Answer:
The poet has watched the children spending their time looking at the pictures -on the TV
screen which has become a common feature nowadays.
Question 2.
How do children act while watching TV?
Answer:
While watching TV. children sit or lie around the TV set in a lazy position eating and spilling
snacks forgetting about their own selves.
Question 3.
What is the most important thing we have learned?
Answer:
The important thing that the poet says about children and television is that we should by no
means let them sit and stare at the television set.
Question 4.
What is a still better option?
Answer:
The poet says that it would be still better not to install the idiot box at our home that destroys
a child’s creativity.
Question 5.
What does the poet say about what is shown on TV?
Answer:
The poet says that TV becomes a harmful addiction for children because they are completely
hypnotized by it and are absolutely drunk with all the shockingly rubbish things on it.
Question 6.
Account for the last 6 lines written in capital letters?
Answer:
The last 6 lines written in capital letters highlight the devastating impact of the television set
on children.
Question 7.
What light does the poet throw on parents?
Answer:
The poet bluntly states that the parents have neither thought nor wondered what actually
awaits their TV-drunk children. (Repetition of ‘s’ (‘sit’, ‘stare’, ‘stare’, ‘sit’)
Question 8.
What happens to a child’s imagination because of its obsession with TV?
Answer:
As a result of their obsession with TV, the children’s imaginative power suffers a terrible
death. In other words, all they do is watch and believe what others say on TV.
Question 9.
What important thing does the poet say about children and television?
Answer:
The poet says that parents should not allow their children to glue to their TV set. Besides,
they should not set this ‘idiotic box’ at all.
Question 10.
How do children spend their time with the television?
Answer:
Children spend their time with the television with their mouths wide open.
Question 11.
How do children behave while watching the TV?
Answer:
While watching the TV, children sit or lie leisurely and at that time they eat and spill snacks.
Question 12.
How does TV become a harmful addiction for children?
Answer:
TV becomes a harmful addiction for children when they watch it too much and become
charmed by that fictional world.
Question 13.
Why do parents let their children watch TV?
Answer:
Parents let their children watch TV to refrain them from doing mischievous deeds such as
‘climbing out the window sill’. Besides, they don’t fight or kick or punch at all. As a result,
parents themselves are free to cook the food and wash the dishes.
Question 14.
Do you think TV does the role of a babysitter? Justify?
Answer:
Yes, I think TV plays the role of a baby sitter. Television takes care of the children and gives
them pleasure. Here the idiotic box acts on behalf of their parents.
Question 15.
What are the undesirable consequences of watching the television?
Answer:
The undesirable consequences of watching the television are manifold. For this a child ceases
to think, wonder and imagine, and becomes dull. He is deprived of understanding a pleasant,
imaginary situation and of world of wonder and magic. His creative power suffers a great jolt.
Question 16.
Why does the poet use all capital letters to end his poem?
Answer:
The poet uses all capital letters to end his poem with a view to sending a message to parents
and children. The latter should cultivate the habit of reading instead of being adversely
affected by watching TV constantly.
Question 17.
What comparison does he make to prove his point?
Answer:
To prove his point, he brings out a comparison between a child’s brain and cheese; the former
becomes as soft as the latter.
Question 18.
“HE CANNOT THINK – HE ONLY SEES !” – What does “he” refer to?
Answer:
‘He’ refers to a child.
Summary
At the outset, the poet sends a sort of wake-up call to the parents. They should refrain their
children from sitting near their television set. Besides, they should not set up the ‘idiotic
thing’ at all. Those children are always glued to the television has now become a common
sight. Children watch them with their mouths wide open. Sitting leisurely and eating and
spilling snacks, they look at it for a long time until their eyes wilt under pressure. They don’t
take their eyes off the set until they are charmed by its spell. They watch it with fascination.
Their eyes are fixed on those horrible things of little value. Then the poet throws light on the
parents. They allow their children to watch the television to prevent them from doing
mischief. Besides, they cook their food and wash their dishes freely. The poem comes to an
end with a reference to the dangerous consequences children face as a result of watching TV
constantly. They cease to think, wonder and imagine. Their imaginative power dies a
premature death. It chokes a child’s mind. It fills his mind with too many things. A child
becomes dull and blind to the world of magic and wonder. He is robbed of understanding ‘a
fantasy’. TV leads to a child’s brain-wash. The poet gives vent to his concern stating that TV
puts an end to his thinking power.
