NCERT Solutions for Class 12 English (Kaleidoscope Short Stories) One Centimetre questions and answers

NCERT Solutions for Class 12 English (Kaleidoscope Short Stories) One Centimetre questions and answers | Book: Kaliedoscope - Short Stories |  NCERT Solutions Chapter - 5 English - Short Stories Class 12

One Centimeter

Bi Shu-min

Understanding the Text

Q.1. How did Tao Ying's son influence the way she led her life?

Ans :- Tao Ying was not an educated lady but lived a humble life. Even she did not belong to a family of importance . Her life greatly influenced her son's life. She wanted to set a good example in front of her son, she would always remain gracious and gentle in front of her son. She always kept her up to mark and poise to set a good impression upon her son. She was really an interesting lady.

Q.2. Pick out instances from the story to show that official rules are often arbitrary.

Ans :- In the story we see that official rules are often arbitrary when Tao Ying buys a ticket for Xiao Ye, even though there is no need for him to buy . The old lady is shown keeping scales imbalanced for the reason to make the populace feel good about themselves. The events depict arbitrariness in the office rules.

 

Q.3. Tao Ying was very careful about spending money. What were her reasons for refusing the compensation offered by the temple officials?

Ans :- Temple officials were distributing compensation but it was of no importance to her because Tag Ying, Xiao Ye mattered more than anything else in the world. Tao Ying believed that day's happiness cannot be bought and happiness of her son was above everything.

Q.4. Why was her final vindication important to Tao Ying?

Ans :- Her final vindication important to Tao Ying because Tao Ying felt it was important to clear things to her son that she was not wrong about his height and that she was not trying to exempt him from the ticket. Her son's trust in her, mattered more than anything to her, even that compensation didn't matter anything to her.

Talking about Text

Q.1. The way a child looks at the world is very different from that of an adult.

Ans :- World is very mysterious to all of us. Everybody has its own view about it. Children do not analyze deeply and rationally as adults do that makes them quick in giving their review. Children view others and leam from them how they need to react in a particular situation. Children do not understand the deeper truth and reasons that affects their response to the world deeply. So it varies person to person. 

Q.2. There is always a gap between what we really are and what we wish to appear to be to others.

Ans :- People don't show who they really are due to the fear of being rejected or not being accepted by the society. So they always try to conceal their reality. The society greatly affects the person and the way he presents himself to the outside world.

Appreciation

Q.1. Comment on the significance of the first sentence of the story to its theme.

Ans :- In the story the first sentence mentions about the arbitrary nature of rules and how Tao Ying's ideology of the world was based on her values ​​that didn't always match her values. Both theme and first sentence point out the same meaning of arbitrariness of rules. So the first sentence of the story is very significant.

 

Q.2. Would you describe the author's portrayal of Tao Ying's character in the story as sympathetic, critical or realistic ?

Ans :- The author's portrayal of Tao Ying's character in the story is realistic and analyzes the whole situation in advance. She makes sure that she acts within the diameter of her taught values ​​as her son is influenced by her. 

Q.3. Identify the episodes that bring out the ambivalent attitude to ethics commonly seen in human life?

Ans :- Ambivalent attitude to ethics is commonly visible in the story when Tao Ye pays for her son's bill and the old lady is kind enough to keep the scale inaccurate in order to flatter people. Ambivalent means having mixed kind of feeling about something, while ethic means set of moral values. So it is clearly visible in human life.

 

Q.4. How effectively does the narrative technique adopted in this story illustrate 'unity of thought'?

Ans :- The narrative technique adopted in this story depicts all the emotions of its people. Depicting personal thoughts, feelings emotions connects readers to the plot very closely. The rules put down by Aristotle tells about the unity of time, action, and place in the same way narrator maintains the unity of thought that makes narration more understandable and connective to readers. By depicting the inner most thoughts, inner character is shown of the character.