Class 11 English 2024 Edition www.tntextbooks.in · Section 166

Warm Up • What are all the factors that influence our moods? • How do you behave under the spells of different moods? • Do you think it is important not to be swayed by every passing mood? • Suggest some ways by which we can maintain a calm temperament under all circumstances. Now, read the story 'The Singing Lesson' in which the attitude of an aggrieved music teacher undergoes a drastic change in keeping with her moods. With despair – cold, sharp despair – buried deep in her heart like a wicked knife, Miss Meadows, in cap and gown and carrying a little baton, trod the cold corridors that led to the music hall. Girls of all ages, rosy from the air, and bubbling over with that gleeful excitement that comes from running to school on a fine autumn morning, hurried, skipped, fluttered by; from the hollow classrooms came a quick drumming of voices; a bell rang; a voice like a bird cried, "Muriel." And then there came from the staircase a tremendous knock-knock-knocking. Someone had dropped her dumbbells. The Science Mistress stopped Miss Meadows. "Good morning," she cried, in her sweet, affected drawl. "Isn't it cold? It might be winter." Miss Meadows, hugging the knife, stared in hatred at the Science Mistress. Everything about her was sweet, pale, like honey. You would not have been surprised to see a bee caught in the tangles of that yellow hair. "It is rather sharp," said Miss Meadows, grimly. The other smiled her sugary smile. "You look frozen," said she. Her blue The Singing Lesson Unit Supplementary Katherine Mansfield -C-SR-The Singing - - :