The Television // solution // treasure trove // poem

"TELEVISION" Treasure Trove Workbook Solutions/Notes

Television Solutions/Notes, poem written by Roald Dahl

POST BY  ABHINAV ABHIJEET

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UNSOLVED PASSAGES

PASSAGE-1 

(i)  'We' are referred to the parents who are unaware of the bad effects of television, which is affecting their children's future, and killing their precious time.

(ii) The ignorant parents of the children who are addicted to television are being referred to, by the poet, as he wants to inform them of the bad effects of watching television.

(iii) 'Idiotic thing' refers to the television set. It is being called 'idiotic' as all it does, is kill the children's precious time where they can study, and learn something, instead of watching television.

(iv) The poet tries to reason, and convince the parents, that the television set is useless, and that the parents should not even install the television in the first place.

(v) There is some relevance of this advice in our present-day world, as the television does waste our time, but then again, we can what is happening around the world via new channels, we can also gain knowledge from channels like Discovery, National Geographic, etc.

PASSAGE-2  

TELEVISION

(i) The advice that was given by the poet to the parents earlier in the context was to stop their children from wasting their time in front of the tube, and not to install the television at all.

(ii) The poet describes the television as an 'idiotic thing', saying that it is a device with no benefits at all, and it only wastes our time and money. He says that books are better than television.

(iii) The thing that the poet has observed in every house, is a television set, which he hates to see, and does not understand why parents even install it for.

(iv) According to the poet, the 'eyes' of the children pop out when they keep watching the television for too long, and with no stopping. In order words, he tries to say that their eyes are harmed.

(v) In the last lines of this context, the poet is using metaphor when he is comparing the children with a dozen eyeballs. He uses this figure of speech, to make the poem more amusing, and interesting.

PASSAGE-3

(i) The children who continuously keep watching the television for a long time without taking a break, are being addressed to, in the poem.

(ii) The poet's main concern is children, who are taking damage to their body as well as their future by watching the television without studying or taking a break.

(iii) 'That shocking ghastly junk' is addressed to the programs which appear on the television, which the children love to spend their precious time on.

(iv) The parents let their children watch television uninterrupted since then their children do not annoy or disturb them anymore, as their time is mostly spent in front of the television.

(v) According to the poet, watching television makes the children dull, as they are only wasting their time on the tube, instead of reading books, or play outside, which can provide actual benefit for them.

PASSAGE-4

(i) The parents let their children watch television for so long, since their kids do not disturb, or make interactions with them anymore, because of the television, and so, in order to enjoy the freedom, they let them do so.

(ii) The poet says that watching an excess of television makes children dull, and dumb, and also damages their thinking power since the television only shows junk content which gives no knowledge at all.

(iii) According to the poet, television is making children unimaginative, because it contains no knowledge at all, and only shows content which contains no educational value, thus, making them unimaginative.

(iv) The activity referred to later in the poem that sharpens the brain is by reading books. As the poet says, books are the only source for knowledge, and to get creative.

(v) No, I do not agree to this because, in this period, there are many educational, business related, etc, types of shows that can often educate us about the things, that we might not know. There are also new channels that give us the day to day general knowledge of what is happening around the world.

PASSAGE-5

(i) The parents' response to the poet's advice to them about their children watching television is that, if they remove the television set, there will be no means for the children to entertain themselves with.

(ii) The poet reminds the parents of how they used to entertain themselves, back in the day, when they were children themselves, and tells them that they did so by reading books.

(iii) The exclamations, 'Great Scott' and 'Gadzooks' used by the poet in the extract, is used to express the shock, and annoyance of the poet on the parents who do not stop their children from watching television.

(iv) The poet uses all capital letters in this line, so as to emphasize the point that in his time when he was a child, he and his parents spent their time reading books.

(v) The poet recommends reading of books to the children, as he believes that books are the only source of knowledge, and for the minds of children to be more creative.

PASSAGE-6 

(i) The anxiety which the poet has shown regarding watching television by the children is that they start to feel uncomfortable without the tube since they are addicted to it.

(ii) The poet wants the children to read books, to make use of their time, and learn something, instead of watching television, which only wastes time, and kills imagination.

(iii) The poet says that the reading of books is better than watching television by informing us that when we read books, we learn something, and also get creative, which, watching the television cannot do.

(iv) The stories about Mr. Tod, and his dirty dog, the squirrel Nutkin, the small pig named Bland, and Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle, were very amusing, and thus, captivated the young minds in the past.

(v) No, I do not agree with the poet, since although books are the source of entertainment and knowledge. We can never know about the things happening all over the world without the news on TV. Books can not update us every day to day events just in minutes.

PASSAGE-7

(i) The poet recommends reading books to children because he says that books can also entertain us, and increases our creativity. He says that we can also learn something from books.

(ii) The stories about Mr. Tod, and his dirty dog, the squirrel Nutkin, the small pig named Bland, and Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle were very fascinating, and thus, interested the children in the past.

(iii) Since the 'Penelope' is a sweet smelling dish. The poet uses this term to describe the fun, and joy in reading storybooks, by giving this example from a famous storybook.

(iv) He was a famous British writer, who was very popular and loved by most of the children, for his amusing stories, like Mr. Tod, and his dirty dog; squirrel Nutkin, etc.

(v) The animal characters in the stories of Beatrix Potter, used by the poet here, to express the examples of good books, are Mr. Tod and his dirty dog, squirrel Nutkin, Pigling Blang, and Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle.

PASSAGE-8 

(i) 'We' are referred to the people which side with the poet, on thinking that the television is a useless thing and that we should go back to the means of entertainment in the past, which were books.

(ii) The advice that is repeated here is to throw away the television, and make a bookshelf in its place because he believes that TV is making children dull, and unimaginative, and he wants to stop this from happening.

(iii) The 'dirty looks' as said by the poet in the extract refers to the angry, and annoyed children, who will give cold stern stare to their parents when they un-install the TV set.

(iv) The impression of the children mentioned here by the poet is the type of children who are very rude and do not listen to their parents, even when they are doing something for their own good.

(v) No, I would not react violently, but instead, try to reason to them, and not watch television excessively, and make a fixed time to watch the tube.

PASSAGE-9

(i) The parents of the children, who watch television for no fixed time, are being addressed here. They are being referred here, as they are responsible for their children to become dull, and dumb.

(ii) The action of the parents to remove the television, and force them to read books, would evoke protest by their youngsters, since they have become addicted to the tube, and can not live without it.

(iii) The parents should ignore the angry looks of their children, the kicks, and hits from sticks by their children, and even biting them while they remove the television set.

(iv) The poet uses the exclamation-'oh boy, oh boy', to express the surprise, and amusement, which the parents are going to feel when they see their children reading books.

(v) If the youngsters start reading books, they would be actively engaged with the stories. They would be thinking and imagining the stories on their own, and thus, their brains would become sharper.

PASSAGE-10

(i) According to the poet, in the absence of the television set, the children will want to spend their time. So, they will read, and when they do so, they will completely forget about watching television.

(ii) When the television set is removed, the children will try to entertain themselves by reading some good books, and when they will do that, they will totally forget about watching television.

(iii) Once the children begin to read the books, their mind becomes filled with joy at the wonderful, and fantastic stories, and they would imagine these stories themselves.

(iv) According to the poet, once the television set is removed, and they start reading books, they will eventually forget about the TV set, and start on to enjoy themselves, even while reading books.

(v) A. He thinks that TV makes the young, very lazy, and they do not want to do an activity,

 other than 

that.

       B. He assumes that it blocks their minds, and imagination, making them dull, and   dumb.



BY ABHINAV ABHIJEET