Tamilnadu Board Class 9 English Solutions Supplementary Chapter 4 The Cat and the Pain-killer

Tamilnadu State Board Class 9 English Solutions Supplementary Chapter 4 The Cat and the Pain-killer

A. Choose the most suitable option.

The Cat and The Painkiller Mind Map Question 1. Tom was disturbed because __________________.
(a) he didn’t sleep well
(b) his scores were low at school
(c) his friend Becky Thatcher stopped coming to school
(d) he had picked up a fight with Becky Thatcher
Answer:
(c) his friend Becky Thatcher stopped coming to school

Question 2.
Aunt was an experimenter in __________________.
(a) trying new recipes
(b) designing fashionable frocks
(c) modem gardening techniques
(d) trying out new medicines
The Cat and The Painkiller Questions and Answer:
(d) trying out new medicines

The Cat and The Painkiller 9th Standard Question 3.
Tom used the pain-killer to __________________.
(a)take care of his health
(b) mend the crack on the sitting room floor
(c) cure Becky Thatcher
(d) help his aunt
Answer:
(b) mend the crack on the sitting room floor

The Cat and The Painkiller Characters Question 4. Peter sprang a couple of yards in the air as __________________.
(a) he had a teaspoon of the pain-killer
(b) his tail was caught in the mousetrap
(c) Tom threw him out of the window
(d) Aunt gave him a push
Answer:
(a) he had a teaspoon of the pain-killer

Question 5.
Finally Aunt Polly said to Tom that he__________________  .
(a) need not take any more medicine
(b) has to go to school regularly
(c) should not meet any of his friends
(d) must take medicines every day
Answer:
(a) need not take any more medicine

MCQs – Additional

Question 1.
Becky Thatcher, his friend had stopped coming to __________.
(a) his house
(b) school
(c) playground
(d) the shop
The Cat and The Painkiller Answer:
(b) school

Question 2.
She began to try all manners of __________ on Tom.
(a) medicines
(b) wonders
(c) remedies
(d) tricks
Answer:
(c) remedies

Question 3.
The __________ of life was gone.
(a) joy
(b) view
(c) relief
(d) charm
Answer:
(d) charm

Question 4.
She was any __________ experiment in these
(a) incurable
(b) achievable
(c) improvable
(d) encourging
Answer:
(a) incurable

Question 5.
The boy grew more and more sad and pale and ___________.
(a) worried
(b) exhausted
(c) dejected
(d) convinced
Answer:
(c) dejected

Question 6.
But Peter __________ that he did want it.
(a) told
(b) nodded
(c) accepted
(d) signified
Answer:
(d) signified

Question 7.
Peter sprang a couple of __________ in the air.
(a) days
(b) hours
(c) yards
(d) minutes
Answer:
(c) yards

Question 8.
Tom lay on the floor expiring with __________ .
(a) joy
(b) laughter
(c) anxiety
(d) Worry
Answer:
(b) laughter

Question 9.
The old lady bent down and took the __________ and held it out.
(a) cup
(b) saucer
(c) teaspoon
(d) glass
Answer:
(c) teaspoon

Question 10.
Aunt Polly felt a sudden painful __________ .
(a) guilt
(b) regret
(c) attitude
(d) urge
Answer:
(b) regret

B. Identify the character or speaker of the following lines.

1. He banged against furniture
2. She stood petrified with astonishment peering over her glasses.
3. ‘That is, I believe they do.’
4. ‘What has that got to do that with it?’
5. ‘I done it out of pity for him.’

Answers:

1. Peter, the cat
2. Aunt Polly Arts
3. Tom Sawyer
4. Aunt Polly
5. Tom Sawyer

Identify The Character / Speaker – Additional

1. She added hot baths, sitz baths, shower baths and plunges.
2. He became fed up and so he thought over various plans of relief. Arts:
3. ‘Tom, what on earth ails that cat?’
4. ‘Deed I don’t know, Aunt Polly’.
5. Now, Sir, what did you want to treat that poor dumb beast so, for?’.
6. ‘Hadn’t any aunt! – You numbskull’.
7. ‘Heaps. Because if he’d had one she’d burnt him out herself’.
8. ‘I was meaning for the best, Tom’.
9. What on earth ails cat?
10. Her eyes watered a little.
11. Next, he rose on his hind feet and danced around in a frenzy of enjoyment.

Answers:

1. Aunt Polly
2. Tom
3. Aunt Polly
4. Tom
5. Aunt Polly
6. Aunt Polly
7. Tom
8. Aunt Polly
9. Aunt Polly
10. Aunt Polly
11. Peter, the cat

C. Based on your reading, rearrange the following sentences in the correct sequence.

1. Since all her methods failed, finally she gave him a pain-killer.
2. He told his aunt that Peter had no aunt, so he gave him the medicine.
3. The pain-killer triggered adverse reactions on Peter.
4. It jumped out of the open window.
5. Tom was dull and depressed.
6. This incident upset Aunt Polly and she questioned him.
7. But, Tom gave that pain-killer to the cat Peter.
8. So, Aunt Polly tried different types of remedies on him.
Answers:
3, 8, 5, 6,1, 7, 4, 2

3. The pain-killer triggered adverse reactions on Peter.
8. So, Aunt Polly tried different types of remedies on him.
5. Tom was dull and depressed.
6. This incident upset Aunt Polly and she questioned him.
1. Since all her methods failed, finally she gave him a pain-killer.
7. But, Tom gave that pain-killer to the cat Peter.
4. It jumped out of the open window.
2. He told his aunt that Peter had no aunt, so he gave him the medicine.

D. Based on your understanding of the story, write the answers for the following questions in a sentence or two.

Cat and the Painkiller Question 1.
Why did Tom lose the charm of his life?
Answer:
Tom’s friend Becky Thatcher stopped coming to school. So he lost the charm of his life.

Question 2.
Why did Aunt Polly try different remedies on Tom?
Answer:
Tom’s aunt wanted to try new medicines of producing health. She was infatuated with patent medicines and an incurable experimenter. So, she tried different remedies on Tom.

Question 3.
How did the medicine diminish
Answer:
Tom professed to be fond of pain-killer. So he asked for it often. He used to pour it into a crack in the sitting room floor. Thus the medicine diminished

Question 4.
Did Tom compel Peter to have the pain-killer?
Answer:
No. Tom did not compel Peter to have the pain-killer.

Question 5.
Why did Peter wish to taste the pain-killer?
Answer:
Peter wished to taste the pain-killer because he wanted it.

Question 6.
How did Aunt Polly discover the reason for Peter’s absurd behaviour?
Answer:
Aunt found the teaspoon and held it out. Thus she discovered the reason for Peter’s absurd behaviour.

Question 7.
What was the reason given by Tom for giving the pain-killer to the cat?
Answer:
Tom said that the cat had no aunt. So he gave it the medicine.

Question 8.
Why did Aunt Polly’s eyes water?
Answer:
Aunt realized that the cruelty to the cat is cruelty to the little boy too. So her eyes watered.

Short Questions And Answers: Additional

Question 1.
Does Aunt Polly show her love on Tom outwardly? Why?
Answer:
No, she does not show her love outwardly, as she wanted to make Tom a good boy.

Question 2.
On whom does Tom play pranks?
Answer:
Tom plays pranks on Aunt Polly.

Question 3.
How did Tom behave, when Becky Thatcher stopped coming to School?
Answer:
He became unhappy. There was nothing but boredom left. He put his hoop and bat away. He had no joy in playing them anymore.

Question 4.
How did Aunt Polly begin to assist the water?
Answer:
She began to assist the water with a slim oatmeal diet and blister – plasters.

Question 5.
What was Tom doing with the pain killer?
Answer:
Tom was mending the health of a crack in the sitting room floor with it.

Question 6.
Who was Peter and what did it beg for?
Answer:
peter was Aunty Polly’s cat and it did beg for a teaspoon of the pain-killer.

Question 7.
What did Peter do, after it took the pain killer?
Answer:
It sprang a couple of yards in the air, delivered a war-whoop and set off round and round the room, banging against furniture, upsetting flower-pots and making a general confusion.

Question 8.
What did Aunt Polly see?
Answer:
Aunt Polly saw Peter, the cat throw a few double summersets, deliver a final mighty hurrah and sail through the open window, carrying the rest of the flower-pots with him.

Question 9.
When enquired about the cat’s action, what did Tom say to Aunt Polly?
Answer:
He said that cats always act like that when they are having a good time.

Question 10.
What did Aunt Polly do to Tom, when she discovered the teaspoon with traces of medicine?
Answer:
She pulled Tom up by his ears and cracked his head soundly with her thimble

E. Answer the following questions in about 80-100 words.

Question 1.
Describe the different types of remedies tried by Aunt Polly on Tom.
Answer:
Tom’s aunt was the type of person who was infatuated with patent medicines and
new ways of producing health or mending it. The first remedy aunt Polly tried on Tom was the water treatment. She stood him up in the woodshed and drowned him with a deluge of cold water; then she scrubbed him down with a towel like a file; then she rolled him up in a wet sheet and put him under blankets till he sweated his soul clean.

The boy remained as dismal as a hearse. Aunt Polly began to assist the water with a slim oatmeal diet and blister plasters. When she heard of Pain-killer, she ordered a lot at once. She tasted it and it was simply fire in a liquid form. She gave Tom a teaspoonful pain-killer and watched with anxiety for the result.

Question 2.
Narrate the funny sequence between Tom Sawyer and Peter, the cat.
Answer:
The “Pain-killer” became a regular treatment, and to Tom Sawyer, it tasted like
liquid fire. Tired of the daily doses, one day Tom feeds a spoonful to the cat Peter, which upon receiving the medicine begins to do somersaults in the air while “spreading chaos and destruction in his path.” When Aunt Polly leams that Tom has fed the cat the pain-killer, Tom explains for his actions by saying that he “done it out of pity for the cat because he (the cat) hadn’t any aunt” to “bum him out” and “roast his bowels.”

Paragraph ; Additional Question

Question 1.
Why did Aunt Polly felt a sudden painful regret?
Answer:
When Aunt Polly scolded Tom for treating the poor cat in such a way, Tom replied that he had done that out of pity for him, because the cat hadn’t any aunt to show any attention on it as Tom, who had received all attention from his aunt. Hearing this, Aunt Polly felt a sudden painful regret. She thought that what was cruelty to a cat, might be a cruelty to a boy too. She began to soften and felt sorry for Tom. Her eyes watered a little. She patted Tom on the head and told him that she did whatever she thought was best for him.

F. Complete the summary of the extract using the appropriate words from the box below.

Tom Sawyer felt dejected as Becky Thatcher had stopped coming to school. His Aunt Polly was very concerned about his health condition. So, she began to try various remedies on him. Tom became fed up with his Aunt’s brand of remedies and pretended to like the pain-killer. He started to ask for it very often. But, Tom used the medicine to mend the crack on the floor. One day, Tom gave the pain-killer to his Aunt’s cat, Peter. The pain killer had an adverse effect on the cat and it started to jump around the room. Aunt Polly entered the room in time to see the cat throw a few summersets and sail through the open window. She found the teaspoon with a little pain-killer sticking to it and knew that Tom had treated the cat with it. She realised that, what was cruelty to the cat should be the same to the boy too and stopped giving medicines to him

G. In the story we find a lot of American slang usage of English. Complete the tabular column with standard English .one has been done for you

H. Complete the mind map based on the inputs from extract

Role Play

1. Students can volunteer and take roles of Tom and Peter and enact the story in class. The other students who witness the role play can discuss the following.

Question a.
How well did your classmates enact the story?
Answer:
My classmates enacted the story to perfection. They did an excellent execution of the dialogues and made the audience enjoy in amusement.

Question b.
Which part did they do well?
Answer:
They did the climax well.

Question c.
Which part of their role play, according to you, could have been enacted better?
Answer:
The cat’s role could have been made well.

Question d.
If asked to give suggestion to Improve their acting skill, what would you suggest?
Answer:
I would suggest them to act before a mirror and see their reflection and perform for better performance on the stage.

Additional Questions

I. Rearrange The Following Jumbled Sentences In The Correct Order.

Question A.
1. The charm of life was gone.
2. Becker Thatcher, his friend has stopped coming to school.
3. He put his hoop and bat away. There was no joy in them anymore.
4. This disturbed Tom and he became unhappy.
5. There was nothing, but boredom left.
Answer:
2, 4,1, 5, 3

2. Becker Thatcher, his friend has stopped coming to school.
4. This disturbed Tom and he became unhappy.
1. The charm of life was gone.
5. There was nothing, but boredom left.
3. He put his hoop and bat away. There was no joy in them anymore.

Question B.
1. Tom said, ‘Don’t ask for it unless you want it’.
2. Peter was sure.
3. One day, Tom was in the act of closing the crack, when Peter came along purring and begging for a taste.
4. But Peter signified that he did want it.
5. You better make sure.
Answer:
3,1, 4, 5, 2

3. One day, Tom was in the act of closing the crack, when Peter came along purring and begging for a taste.
1. Tom said, ‘Don’t ask for it unless you want it’.
4. But Peter signified that he did want it.
5. You better make sure.
2. Peter was sure.

Question C.
1. I know you were meaning for the best and so was I with Peter.
2. She put her hand on Tom’s head.
3. ‘Oh, go long with you. Tom, before you annoy me again’.
4. ‘I was meaning for the best Tom. And, Tom, it did do you good’.
5. It done him good, too. I never see him around so since.
Answer:
2, 4,1, 5, 3

2. She put her hand on Tom’s head.
4. ‘I was meaning for the best Tom. And, Tom, it did do you good’.
1. I know you were meaning for the best and so was I with Peter.
5. It done him good, too. I never see him around so since.
3. ‘Oh, go long with you. Tom, before you annoy me again’.

Question D.
1. Then he went tearing around the house again, spreading chaos and destruction in his path.
2. Peter was agreeable.
3. Next he rose on his hind feet and danced around in a frenzy of enjoyment.
4. So Tom opened his mouth and poured down the pain killer.
5. Peter sprang a couple of yards in the air, banging against furniture, upsetting flower pots and making general confusion.
Answer:
2,4, 5, 3,1

2. Peter was agreeable.
4. So Tom opened his mouth and poured down the pain killer.
5. Peter sprang a couple of yards in the air, banging against furniture, upsetting flower pots and making general confusion.
3. Next he rose on his hind feet and danced around in a frenzy of enjoyment.
1. Then he went tearing around the house again, spreading chaos and destruction in his path.

II. Read The Passage And Answer The Questions.

1. Becky Thatcher, his friend, had stopped coming to school. This disturbed Tom. He became unhappy. The charm of life was gone; there was nothing but boredom left. He put his hoop away, and his bat; there was no joy in them anymore and so his aunt Polly was concerned. She was infatuated with patent medicines and all new methods of producing health mending it. She was an incurable experimenter in these things.

Question (a).
Who was Becky Thatcher?
Answer:
She was Tom’s friend.

Question (b).
Why did she stop coming to school?
Answer:
She stopped coming to school, as she was ill.

Question (c).
Who was concerned about Tom’s health?
Answer:
Aunt Polly was concerned about Tom’s health.

Question (d).
Why did Tom put away his hoops and bat?
Answer:
As he did not find joy in his hoops and bat anymore, after Becky stopped coming to School, he put them away.

Question (e).
Who was an incurable experimenter in mending health?
Answer:
Aunt Polly was an incurable experimenter in mending health.

2. The boy remained bored. She began to assist the water with a slim oatmeal diet and blister- plasters. She calculated his capacity and filled him up every day with quack cure-alls. He became fed up and so he thought over various plans of relief, and finally hit upon that of professing to be fond of pain-killer. He asked for it so often that he became a nuisance, and his aunt ended by telling him to help himself and quit bothering her.

Question (a).
How did Aunt Polly assist the water?
Answer:
She began to assist the water with a slim oatmeal diet and blister-plasters.

Question (b).
With what did Aunt fill Tom up?
Answer:
Aunt Polly filled him up every day with quack cure-alls.

Question (c).
Who became fed up with Aunt Polly’s activities?
Answer:
Tom became fed up with Aunt Polly’s activities.

Question (d).
What did Tom ask for so often?
Answer:
He asked for the pain killer very often.

Question (e).
What did Aunt Polly tell Tom to do?
Answer:
She asked him to help himself for the pain killer and quit bothering her.

3. The old lady bent down and took the teaspoon and held it out! Tom winced and dropped his eyes. Aunt Polly raised him by the usual handle – his ear – and cracked his head soundly with her thimble.
‘Now, sir, what did you want to treat that poor dumb beast so, for?’
‘I done it out of pity for him – because he hadn’t any aunt.’

Question (a).
What did the old lady do?
Answer:
She bent down, took the teaspoon and held it out.

Question (b).
What was Tom’s reaction at this?
Answer:
He winced and dropped his eyes.

Question (c).
What did Aunt Polly do to him?
Answer:
She pulled his ears and cracked his head soundly with her thimble.

Question (d).
Why did Tom treat the cat in such a way?
Answer:
He did it out of pity for him.

Question (e).
Why did he pity him?
Answer:
He pitied him because he hadn’t any aunt.

The Cat and the Pain Killer Textual Activities

Warm up

There has always been a close bonding between children and animals. Studies have revealed that living with pet animals increases empathy, compassion and self-esteem among children.

Question 1.
Do you have a pet at home?
Answer:
Yes, I have a pet at home.

Question 2.
If yes, what animal is it and what is its name?
Answer:
It is a dog and its name is ‘Sally’.

Question 3.
Did you have any humourous moments with it? If yes, what was it?
Answer:
It plays frisbee with me. It is humourous to see it catching the frisbee in its mouth and running towards me after a long time.

Question 4.
How do you care for your pets?
Answer:
I feed my pet well, give him a bath daily and take him out for a walk.

The Cat and the pain killer by Mark Twain

Samuel Langhorne Clemens, (30 Nov. 1835 – 21 Apr. 1910), better known by his pen name’Mark Twain was a American writer. Among his novels are “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” (1875) and “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” (1885), the latter often called “The Great American Novel”.

He was also a riverboat pilot, journalist, lecturer, entrepreneur and inventor. Twain was raised in Hannibal, Missouri, which later provided the setting for his novels. A gifted raconteur, distinctive humorist, and irascible moralist, he transcended the apparent limitations of his origins to become a popular public figure and one of Americas best and most beloved writers.

The Cat and the pain killer Summary

Tom is temporarily distracted from his troubles when Becky stops coming to school. He tries to find out the reason for her absence by hanging around her house. He finally learns that she is ill and be¬gins to worry that she may die. He is so concerned about Becky that he stops playing and loses interest in everything. His quiet behaviour causes Aunt Polly to be concerned about him. An experimenter at heart, Polly tries all sorts of remedies on Tom in an effort to cure him, but nothing seems to work.

She reads her Health magazines to look for additional things to try and discovers the water treatment cure that makes a person sweat so much it purifies his soul. When she tries this on Tom, he just becomes more sad and melancholic.
Tom is so forlorn that he does not even protest against the torture that he is being put through; his silence bothers his aunt even more. She decides that Tom’s indifference must definitely be broken. She orders a new painkiller, which she immediately administers to her nephew. Tom has decided that he has indulged himself enough and will endure no more. He pretends to like the horrible painkiller as it is simply fire in a liquid form.

He asks his aunt for a dose so frequently that she tells Tom to take it for himself. While Aunt Polly is not looking, he pours the medicine in a crack in the sitting room floor. His aunt’s cat comes into the room one day when he is in the act of filling the crack with the medicine. Tom takes a spoonful of the painkiller and gives it to the cat. When the cat swallows it, it jumps in the air and bangs itself against the furniture, ft topples the flowerpots and jumps out of the window, leaving behind a mess. Aunt Polly is struck dumb at the cat’s antics.

When she comes to question Tom about the cat, she finds him rolling in laughter. She discovers the spoon with traces of medicine still sticking to it. She pulls Tom up by his ear and asks him why he gave the painkiller to the cat. Tom replies that he gave it to the cat out of pity, for he himself had been receiving all of Aunt Polly’s attention, while the cat was being ignored. She pats Tom on the head and tells him that

she did whatever she thought was best for him. This chapter is filled with typical Twain humour. Tom’s sadness over Becky’s not being at school and his worries about her death are intentionally exaggerated to the point of being humorous. Aunt Polly’s experimentation on Tom is also out of proportion and causes the reader to laugh. Tom’s incident with the cat is also filled with humour, even though he uses it to teach Aunt Polly a lesson.

The Cat and the pain Main Characters :

1. Tom sawyer
2. Aunt Polly
3. Peter, the cat,
4. Becky Thacher, Tom’s friend

The Cat and the pain Mind map

The Cat and the pain Glossary

Tamilnadu Board Class 9 English Solutions