1. Say whether the following statements are true or false.

(a) The merchant ships brought spices and other treasures from India and other countries to Italy.
Ans: True

(b) Antonio had gone on a long voyage.
Ans: False

(c) Bassanio was very rich.
Ans: False

(d) Portia had many brothers and sisters.
Ans: False

(e) Portia’s suitors chose the gold and silver caskets.
Ans: True

(f) Bassanio borrowed money from Shylock in Antonio’s name.
Ans: True

(g) Shylock was not at all generous.
Ans: True

(h) Shylock demanded a pound of Antonio’s flesh.
Ans: True

(i) Portia saved Antonio in the court of law.
Ans: True

(j) Antonio’s ships were lost at sea.
Ans: False

2. Write a few lines about each character.

(i) Antonio:
Ans: Antonio was a rich merchant who lived in the prosperous city of Venice in Italy. He sent his ships to faraway countries, bringing back spices and other treasures, thus making a lot of profit. He was a kind man with many friends. His best friend was Bassanio, for whom he was even ready to stake his life.

(ii) Bassanio:
Ans: Bassanio was a young and handsome nobleman with no money. He wanted to marry Portia. He had to go to Belmont to try his luck at marrying Portia. He won Portia’s hand in marriage.

(iii) Portia:
Ans: Portia was a beautiful and intelligent woman. She was the only daughter of a very wealthy man. Her father had died, leaving her a large estate. Her father had written a will stating how Portia’s husband had to be selected. Portia happily married Bassanio in accordance with her father’s will.

(iv) Shylock:
Ans: Shylock was a Jewish moneylender. He had a lot of money. He was not a generous person. Money was all that he cared for. He did not like Antonio and wanted to harm him. He got a chance to do so when Antonio went to him to borrow money for Bassanio. He readily gave the money, but with a strange condition that was very cruel and inhuman.

3. Write the following in short :

(1) The story of the three caskets.
Ans: Portia’s father, a very wealthy man, died, leaving her a large estate. Her father had prepared a will in which he had written how her husband should be selected. He had to choose between three caskets: one made of gold, one of silver, and one of lead. Each had something written on it and a message inside the box. The one who took the right casket, which was the lead casket, won Portia’s hand in marriage.

(2) What the young lawyer pleaded.
Ans: Antonio was taken to court by Shylock to fulfil his strange and cruel demands. If the condition were fulfilled, Antonio would lose his life. A lawyer entered the court to fight Antonio’s case. The lawyer requested that Shylock show mercy even though the law was on his side. The lawyer pleaded that mercy is a quality of God. He further said that when a person shows mercy to someone, both are blessed. He said that mercy was more valuable than a king’s crown. All the pleadings of the young lawyer did not have any effect on Shylock, who stuck to his inhuman condition of wanting a pound of Antonio’s flesh.

(3) The events at the court.
Ans: When Antonio was taken to court by Shylock to get his inhuman demand fulfilled, the Duke, who liked Antonio, felt sorry for him. Portia asked Bassanio to pay Shylock double the amount, which Shylock refused. Everyone in the court considered Shylock’s demand to be inhuman. The Duke asked Shylock to show mercy, but Shylock refused. A young lawyer entered the court to fight Antonio’s case. This was the turning point. The lawyer fought for Antonio very cleverly and helped him get out of the inhuman condition.

4. Write the conditions that Portia put down to warn Shylock.

Ans: The young lawyer fighting Antonio’s case asked Shylock to show mercy. Shylock was adamant and stuck to the bond, saying that all he wanted was a pound of Antonio’s flesh. The lawyer then cleverly allowed Shylock to take Antonio’s pound of flesh. The lawyer warned the Jew that while doing so, he should not shed even one drop of Antonio’s blood. He also warned Shylock that he should cut exactly one pound of flesh – nothing less and nothing more, according to the bond.

5. Find four words ending with ‘-ous’ from the story. Can you add three more words ending with ‘-ous’ to this list ?

Ans:
(i) prosperous
(ii) dangerous
(iii) generous
(iv) advantageous
(v) monstrous
(vi) wondrous
(vii) jealous
(viii) treacherous
(ix) mountainous

6. Read the following words. Write the words that are combined to make these words.

faraway
nobleman
whoever
moneylender
sometimes
Add ten more words to the list on your own. Each of the component words must be meaningful.
Ans:
(i) faraway – far, away
(ii) nobleman – noble, man
(iii) whoever – who, ever
(iv) moneylender – money, lender
(v) sometimes – some, times
(vi) cupboard – cup, board
(vii) careless – care, less
(viii) painless – pain, less
(ix) comfortable – comfort, able
(x) handsome – hand, some
(xi) forward – for, ward
(xii) photograph – photo, graph
(xiii) strawberry – straw, berry
(xiv) pineapple – pine, apple
(xv) anywhere – any, where

7. Read the following chains of words :

fortune – fortunate – fortunately – unfortunately
know – knowing – knowingly – unknowingly
amaze – amazing – amazingly
possible – impossible – impossibly

8. A letter or group of letters added to the front of a word to change its meaning and make a new word is called a prefix.

Examples :
fortunately – unfortunately
agree – disagree
possible – impossible
human – inhuman
legal – illegal

Add proper prefixes to the following words to make new words.
kind
Ans: unkind

intelligent
Ans: unintelligent

advantage
Ans: disadvantage

happy
Ans: unhappy

allow
Ans: disallow

safe
Ans: unsafe

9. Find at least three sentences in the story which have modal verbs.

(i) Portia’s husband should be selected.
Ans: should – modal

(ii) Whoever chooses me, must give and hazard all he has.
Ans: must – modal

(iii) Shylock would cut off a pound of Antonio’s flesh.
Ans: would – modal

10. Visit a library : Read other tales from Shakespeare, for example, Julius Caesar, As You Like It, Macbeth and The Tempest.

Ans: Students must do this on their own.

11. Hold a mock trial for any one of the following offences. There should be a complainant, a defendant and lawyers to argue the case on behalf of them. The whole class can vote to pass the judgement. On what occasions will you plead for justice ? What punishment will you suggest ? When will you plead for mercy?

(a) A very poor and honest servant has broken a vase while cleaning it. The vase was
valuable and the employer liked it very much.
(b) A poor man stole some ornaments from a rich girl.
(c) A young man was injured in a road accident due to another man’s careless driving.
Ans: Students must do this on their own.