Question

Read carefully the passage given below and answer the questions (a),(b)and (c) that follow briefly and

in your own words. What personal qualities are desirable in a teacher ? Probably no two people would draw up exactly

similar lists, but I think most people would accept the following :

The teacher’s personality should be pleasantly live and attractive .This does not rule out people who

are physically plain or even ugly ,because many such have great personal charm. But it does rule out

such types as the over-excitable ,melancholy ,frigid,cynical,sarcastic,frustrated and overbearing. I

would say too,that it excludes all of a dull or purely negative personality. I shall stick to what I said in

my earlier book ;that school children probably ‘suffer more from bores than from brutes’ . Then it is merely desirable but essential for a teacher to have a genuine capacity for sympathy -in the

literal meaning of that word ; a capacity to tune in to the minds and feelings of other

people ,especially, since most teachers are school teachers, to the minds and feelings of children. Closely related with this is the capacity to be tolerant - not, indeed of what is wrong, but of the frailty

and immaturity of human nature which induce people , and again especially children ,to make

mistakes. Next, I hold it essential for a teacher to be both intellectually and morally honest .This does not mean

being a plaster saint. It means that he will be aware of his intellectual strengths, and limitations ,and

will have thought about and decided upon the moral principles by which his life shall be guided. There

is no contradiction in my going on to say that a teacher should be a bit of an actor .That is part of the

technique of teaching ,which demands that every now and then a teacher should be able to put on an

act -to enliven a lesson,correct a fault, or award praise .Children ,especially young children ,live in a

world that is larger than life. A teacher must remain mentally alert . He will not get into the profession if of low intelligence ,but it

is all too easy even for the people of above average intelligence, to stagnate intellectually . A teacher

must be quick to adapt himself to a situation , however improbable, and able to improvise if

necessary at less than a moment’s notice . On the other hand ,a teacher must be capable of infinite patience .This ,I may say ,is largely a matter

of self-discipline and self-training ;none of us are born like that .He must be pretty resilient; teaching

makes great demand on nervous energy . And he should be able to take in his stride the innumerably

petty irritations any adult dealing with children has to endure. Finally,I think a teacher should have the kind of mind which always wants to go on learning .Teaching

is a job at which one will never be perfect ;there is always something more to learn about it .There are

three principal objects of his study ; the subject or subjects which the teacher is teaching ; the

methods by which they can best be taught to the particular pupils in the classes he is teaching and -by

far the most important -the children,young people or adults to whom they are to be taught. The two

cardinal principles of education today are that education is the education of the whole person ,and

that it is best acquired through full and active cooperation between two persons ,the teacher and the

learner. (a) (i) Given below are five words or phrases .Find words which have a similar meaning in the

passage.(5)

1. the maximum amount that something can obtain

2. produce or make from whatever is available

3. cease to flow or move

4. able to withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions

5. learn or develop

(ii) For each of the words given below ,write a sentence of at least 10 words ,using the same

word ,unchanged in form ,but with a meaning different from what it carries in the passage: (5)1. live

2. charm

3. bit

4. principal

5. pupils

(b) Answer the following questions as briefly as possible in your own words:

1. What kind of personalities does the author think unsuitable for taking up teaching as a career? (2)

2. What kind of tolerance does the author expect a teacher to have ? (2)

3. Describe the kind of honesty the author thinks a teacher should have ?(2)

4. Why is it important for a teacher to be an actor ?(2)

5. Why does the author think that teaching is a job at which one can never be perfect?What are the

three objects of his study? (2)

(c) Write a precis in 100 words stating the author’s view on teachers. (10)​

Answer 1

Answer:

Read carefully the passage given below and answer the questions (a),(b)and (c) that follow briefly and

in your own words. What personal qualities are desirable in a teacher ? Probably no two people would draw up exactly

Answer 2

what kind of tolerance does the author expect a teacher should have?