CLASS 12 · KALIEDOSCOPE · CHAPTER 19
Original, student-friendly answers to Isaac Asimov's discussion of science fiction, myths, mysteries, and the rules that make a story fair.
16 worked answers · short steps first, explanations when you need them
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Question Stop and Think 1
Compare the unfamiliar worlds both genres imagine and how they explain them.
Both imagine unfamiliar worlds and powers; myths often use magic or gods, while science fiction uses imagined science and technology.
Question Stop and Think 2
Connect science-fiction possibilities to scientific change and natural laws, with consistent story rules.
It imagines change through science and technology in a universe governed by natural laws, and follows consistent rules.
Question Stop and Think 3
Identify the Ali Baba story and traditional wonder tales featuring magical travel.
'Open Sesame' comes from the Ali Baba tale in The Thousand and One Nights; flying carpets and winged horses belong to traditional wonder tales.
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Question Understanding the Text 1
Give each genre's central content and science fiction's changed background.
Sports, Western, and jungle stories are defined by their subject matter; science fiction is defined by a scientifically changed setting, so genres can overlap.
Question Understanding the Text 2
Explain that clear world rules and shared clues make a science-fiction mystery fair.
It can be fair if the writer explains the technology's limits in advance and gives the reader the same clues as the investigator.
Question Understanding the Text 3
Mention sudden rules, scientific errors, hidden clues, and inconsistent imagined technology.
Avoid last-minute powers, inaccurate science, hidden clues, and inconsistent rules. Explain the imagined technology and let readers see the clues.
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Question Talking about the Text 1
Explain how imagination suggests possibilities while evidence tests them.
Fantasy helps people picture possibilities and ask questions; observation and evidence are still needed to test explanations.
Question Talking about the Text 2
Give examples while distinguishing imaginative anticipation from exact prediction.
Science fiction has imagined video communication, computers, robots, and space travel, but usually not their exact design or timing.
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Question Appreciation 1
Describe his respect for wonder, playful comparisons, and distinction between myth and science fiction.
He respects myths' imaginative power, compares them humorously with modern devices, and distinguishes their magical explanations from science fiction.
Question Appreciation 2
Explain that a one-sentence paragraph highlights a point and gives the reader a pause.
It emphasises a key idea, creates a pause, and gives the essay a lively, conversational rhythm.
Question Appreciation 3
List transition phrases and say whether each adds, contrasts, explains, or concludes.
Linkers include 'for that matter', 'and yet', 'then', 'nevertheless', and 'after all'; they signal addition, contrast, conclusion, qualification, or support.
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Question Language Work A(i)
Give each creature's main form and offer Indian figures as approximate similarities only.
Centaur: human-horse; Satyr: human-goat; Sphinx: human-lion; Harpy: bird-woman; Gryphon: eagle-lion; Gorgon: snake-haired monster; Pegasus: winged horse. Approximate Indian parallels include kinnaras, Narasimha, Garuda, and Uchchaihshravas; none is an exact match.
Question Language Work A(ii)
Name the warriors, the duel's cause and outcome, and Priam's appeal.
In the Iliad, Achilles kills Hector after Hector kills Patroclus. Hector's father Priam later persuades Achilles to return the body.
Question Language Work B Pronunciation Task
Break the dialogue into natural breath groups while keeping phrases together.
For example: 'Good morning, / this is Ten-2-Ten supermarket. / Can I help you?' and 'I'd like to speak to the person in charge of your After Sales Service, / please.' Other sensible breath-group divisions are acceptable.
Question Language Work C Grammar Task 1
Move each object to subject position and use be plus the past participle.
1. A sudden change of rules was expected. 2. Writers are not prevented from using actual science. 3. It was revealed that he did not know the difference. 4. It was demonstrated that he could not tell the difference, and the plot was reduced to a shambles. 5. All boundary conditions must be explained to the reader.
Question Language Work C Grammar Task 2
Find the two clauses after 'ask' and give other verbs that introduce a stated idea.
'Ask' introduces 'that they be self-consistent…' and 'that they be well-written…'. Other clause-taking verbs include think, know, believe, demonstrate, imagine, and say.