The Secret of the Machines

 The Secret of the Machines- Book back answers.

A. Answer the following questions briefly.

1.Who does ‘we’ refer to in the first stanza?
(a) Human beings
(b) Machines
Answer:
(b) Machines

 2.Who are the speakers and listeners of this poem?
Answer:
The machines are the speakers. The readers are the listeners.

 3.What metals are obtained from ores and mines?
Answer:
The metals obtained from ores are iron ores and minerals from mines.

 4.Mention a few machines which are hammered to design
Answer:
The wheel, axle, pulley, wedge, screw, lever, etc are hammered to design.

 5.Mention the names of a few machines that run on water, coal, or oil.
Answer:
Power Station, Pipeline transport, Water Heaters, Train, Car, Plane, Ship are a few machines that run on water, coal or oil.

 6.Mention a few machines used for pulling, pushing, lifting, driving, printing, ploughing, reading, and writing etc.
Answer:
Pompey, crane, winch, printer, tiller machine, computer, telephone, etc.

 7.Are machines humble to accept the evolution of the human brain? Why?
Answer:
The machines humble themselves only before God and not humble to accept the evolution, of the human brain since they warn us to be humble and tell us about their power to wipe out mankind. (The poetic lines related to the answer to this question is not given in the textbook.)

 8.What feelings are evoked in us by the machines in this poem?
Answer:
Love, pity and forgiveness are the feelings evoked in us by the machines.

 9.‘And a thousandth of an inch to give us play:’
Which of the following do the machines want to prove from this line?
(a) Once Machines are fed with fuel, they take a very long time to start.
(b) Once Machines are fed with fuel, they start quickly.
Answer:
(b) Once Machines are fed with fuel, they start quickly.

 10.“And now, if you will set us to our task,
We will serve you four and twenty hours a day!”
(a) Who does the pronoun ‘you’ refer to here?
(b) Whose task is referred to as ‘our task’ here?
(c) Open conditional clause is used in the given line. Why is the future tense ‘will set’ and ‘will serve’ used both in the ‘if clause’ and in the ‘main clause?’
(d) Do the machines serve us twenty-four hours a day?
(e) Rewrite the given lines with the ending ‘365 days a year.’
Answer:
(a) The pronoun ‘you’ refers to the people
(b) The work of the machines is referred to as ‘our task’ here.
(c) The future tense is used in both the clauses because the people do not make use of the machines properly and maintain them correctly. So the poet stresses that if they are set to their work properly, they will work perfectly.
(d) Yes, the machines serve us twenty-four hours a day
(e) And now, if you will set us to our task, we will serve you, 365 days a year.