something in the tone of that made Tom done him good, too.

I never see him

apprehensive. around so since’

‘Yes’m. That is, I believe they do.’ ‘Oh, go ‘long with you, Tom, before
you annoy me again. And you try and see
‘You do?’
if you can’t be a good boy, for once, and
‘Yes’m.’ you needn’t take any more medicine.’
The old lady bent down and took the
About the Author
teaspoon and held it out! Tom winced and
dropped his eyes. Aunt Polly raised him by Samuel Langhorne
the usual handle – his ear – and cracked Clemens (1835-1910),
his head soundly with her thimble. better known by his
pen name Mark Twain,
‘Now, sir, what did you want to treat
was an American
that poor dumb beast so, for?’
writer, humourist,
‘I done it out of pity for him - because entrepreneur,
he hadn’t any aunt.’ publisher and lecturer. Twain was
raised in Hannibal, Missouri, which
‘Hadn’t any aunt! – you numbskull.
later provided the setting for his novels.
What has that got to do that with it?’
His famous works are The Adventures
‘Heaps. Because if he’d had one of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of
she’d burnt him out herself! She’d a Huckleberry Finn.
roasted bowel out of him ‘thout any more
feeling than if he was a human!’
Aunt Polly felt a sudden painful
Glossary
regret. This was putting the thing in a new
light; what was cruelty to a cat might be
cruelty to a boy too. She began to soften;
infatuated (v) : inspired with an
she felt sorry. Her eyes watered a little,
intense but short-
and she put her hand on Tom’s head and
lived passion
said gently:
or admiration
‘I was meaning for the best, Tom. for someone or
And, Tom, it did do you good.’ something
Tom looked up in her face with just plunges (n) : act of casting or
a recognisable twinkle peeping through thrusting forcibly
his gravity. or suddenly into
‘I know you was meaning for the something liquid
best, aunty, and so was I with Peter. It

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quack (n) : a fraudulent or 3. Tom used the pain-killer to
ignorant pretender ___________________
to medical skill
a) take care of his health.
professing (v) : claiming often
falsely, that one has b) mend the crack on the sitting room
a quality or feeling floor.
frenzy (n) : a state of c) cure Becky Thatcher.
uncontrolled d) help his aunt.
excitement
somersaults (n) : an acrobatic 4. Peter sprang a couple of yards in the
movement either air as __________
forward or backward
a) he had a teaspoon of the pain-killer.
in which the body
rolls end over end, b) his tail was caught in the mouse
makes a complete trap.
revolution c) Tom threw him out of the window.
petri ed (adj.) : extremely frightened d) Aunt gave him a push.

A. Choose the most suitable option. 5. Finally Aunt Polly said to Tom that he
__________________
[Link] was disturbed
because _____________ a) need not take any more medicine.

a) he didn’t sleep well. b) has to go to school regularly.

b) his scores were low c) should not meet any of his friends.
at school. d) must take medicines every day.
c) his friend Becky Thatcher had
B. Identify the character or speaker
stopped coming to school.
of the following lines.
d he had picked up a fight with Becky
Thatcher. 1. He banged against furniture, upsetting
flower-pots and making general havoc.
2. Aunt was an experimenter in
. She stood petrified with astonishment
_______________
peering over her glasses.
a) trying new recipes.
3. ‘That is, I believe they do.’
b) designing fashionable frocks.
4. ‘What has that got to do that with it?’
c) modern gardening techniques.
5. ‘I done it out of pity for him.’
d) trying out new medicines.

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

. 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 painkiller to the cat Peter.
8. So, Aunt Polly tried different types of remedies on him.

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

1. Why did Tom lose the charm of his life?

2. Why did Aunt Polly try different remedies on Tom?
3. How did the medicine diminish?
4. Did Tom compel Peter to have the painkiller?
5. Why did Peter wish to taste the painkiller?
6. How did Aunt Polly discover the reason for Peter’s absurd behaviour?
7. What was the reason given by Tom for giving the painkiller to the cat?
8. Why did Aunt Polly’s eyes water?

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

1. Describe the different types of remedies tried by Aunt Polly on Tom.

2. Narrate the funny sequence between Tom Sawyer and Peter, the cat.

F. Complete the summary of the extract using the appropriate words from the
box below.
pain-killer stopped cruelty remedies teaspoon school
summersets Peter pretended dejected health crack

Tom Sawyer felt _________ as Becky Thatcher had stopped coming to _______. His
Aunt Polly was very concerned about his ________ condition. So, she began to try various
________ on him. Tom became fed up with his Aunt’s brand of remedies and __________ to
like the pain-killer. He started to ask for it very often. But, Tom used the medicine to mend
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the on the floor. One day, Tom gave the pain-killer to his Aunt’s cat, . The
________ 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 ____________ and sail through
the open window. She found the ___________ with a little pain-killer sticking to it and
knew that Tom had treated the cat with it. She realised that, what was _________ to the
cat should be the same to the boy too and __________ giving medicines to him.

. In the story we nd a lot of American slang usage of English. Complete the

tabular column with standard English. One has been done for you.

Finally hit ‘pon.

There ain’t anything mean about me. There isn’t anything mean about me.
‘Deed I don’t know.
Yes’m. That is, I believe they do.
‘She’d a roasted bowel out of me.’
‘Oh, go ‘long with you, Tom.’

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

Becky Thatcher, Tom’s friend

had ___________________
coming to school.
So, Tom became _________
______________________
______________________.
Aunt Polly ______________
______________________
about Tom.
She tried________________
_______________________
_______________________.
Tom pretended to like _____
______________________
and asked for it very often.
One day Tom gave the
pain-killer to _____________
_______________________.
The incidents that
followed made his aunt
___________________.

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