A helpless Situation - New Oxford Modern English - Class 8 - English

What does Uncle Simmons remember very well?

How old was the woman when she wrote to Mark Twain?

What reason does the woman give the author for giving such a long introduction?

What specific requests does the woman make in her letter?

How do we know that Mark Twain thought the letter was absurd?

Which people, according to Mark Twain, are likely to have ‘influence’?

Briefly, what two important things does Mr H want to find out from Mark Twain?

How does Mr H draw his meeting with Mark Twain to a conclusion?

What might the woman have said in her letter to Mark Twain that would have made a greater impact on him? Study the letter and suggest general improvements she could have made.

Mark Twain describes people who write letters requiring help and those who do not. Which characteristics distinguish one type from the other?

Do you agree or disagree with the view that influential people should be approached for help in personal matters?

He got hurt in the old Hal Clayton claim that was abandoned like the others, putting in a blast and not climbing out quick enough, though he scrambled the best he could.

i. Who says these words and to whom?
ii. Who got hurt?
iii. What is a claim?
iv. What happened as a result of him ‘not climbing out quick enough’?
v. What question Is asked about this incident by Mr H later on in the story?

It goes to every well-known merchant, and railway official, and manufacturer, and capitalist, …

i. What goes and how does it go?
ii. What pattern does this (it) always follow?
iii. From what type of person would ‘it’ not be sent to people of influence?

‘No, that isn’t all. There are other ties.’

i. Who is speaking and to whom?
ii. What is not all? What has been the topic of discussion?
iii. Which further ties does the speaker go on to describe?

“I know the cabin her uncle lived in, in the mines; I knew his partners, too…”

i. Who says these words and to whom?
ii. What significance does knowing the cabin and the uncle’s partners have?
iii. How does this information tie into the overall conversation?
iv. What reaction do these words elicit from the listener?

How does Mark Twain justify his scepticism about being able to remember the woman's uncle?

Match the opposites in A and B. If in doubt, use a dictionary.

There are eight books below. Unfortunately, some of the letters of the names of either the authors or the titles are missing. Can you write the missing letters? You may have to do a little research first.

Now try and write the following in reported speech. Remember that there are a number of ways in which the sentences could be written.
a.            ‘I---I think not,’ said Mr H.
b.            ‘I believe I do not know,’ replied Mr C.
c.             ‘Yes, I---I knew her uncle,’ claimed Mr C.
d.            ‘I appeal to you to grant me this favor,’ wrote the woman.
e.            Mr H asked, ‘How do her books strike you?’
f.             ‘Recent?’ asked Mr. H. ‘When was all this?’
g.            ‘What a basis to judge a book upon!’ exclaimed Mr H.

Find suitable noun clauses to complete the following. Say whether the noun clauses are the subject, object, object of a preposition or complement.
a.    ………………………………………………………………………………………………. was true.
b.    We could not think ………………………………………………………………………………
c.     It is very easy to remember …………………………………………………………………
d.    Looking up, I saw ………………………………………………………………………………..
e.    The teacher never told them ………………………………………………………………

Write five sentences of your own using noun clauses beginning with:
a. what        
b. whether   
c. whatever
d. why          
e. that