Std 8 English chapters › Unit 1 · Question Answers ↓ · Take the lesson test ↓
In short: Sayali, upset by her parents' constant quarrels, keeps making mistakes and falling, and is teased as 'Slippery', until a caring teacher gives her responsibility and she finds confidence.
(आई-वडिलांच्या सततच्या भांडणांमुळे अस्वस्थ असलेली सायली सतत चुका करते, पडते आणि वर्गातील मुली तिला 'स्लिपरी' म्हणून चिडवतात; पण एक संवेदनशील शिक्षिका तिच्यावर जबाबदारी सोपवते आणि तिला आत्मविश्वास मिळतो.)
- Type: Story
- Writer: Popti Hiranandani
- Narrator: Sayali, a lonely schoolgirl
- Unit: 1
Summary in English
Sayali tells her story. In the English class she takes out the wrong notebook, and when she nervously walks up, the notebook falls on the teacher's feet. She is punished. In history, her favourite subject, she goes blank although she has prepared well.
At home her parents quarrel all the time, and the fear stays with her at school. One day she falls down the school stairs and tears her new frock. Her mother scolds her but does not hug her. Only her little brother gently asks if she is in pain. The girls in class name her 'Slippery' and make up a rhyme to tease her. She lives in constant fear.
A teacher then helps her. When the girls tease her again, Sayali turns her back and ignores them, and they go away confused. The teacher makes her responsible for bringing the register, chalk and duster every morning and sends her to keep notebooks in the teachers' room. Sayali does the job quickly, the teacher smiles, and Sayali feels proud and free of fear.
मराठीत सारांश (Summary in Marathi)
सायली आपली गोष्ट सांगते. इंग्रजीच्या तासाला ती चुकीची वही काढते आणि घाबरत पुढे जाताना वही शिक्षिकेच्या पायावर पडते. तिला शिक्षा होते. इतिहासाच्या, म्हणजे तिच्या आवडत्या विषयाच्या तासाला, चांगली तयारी करूनही तिला काहीच आठवत नाही.
घरी आई-वडील सतत भांडतात आणि ती भीती शाळेतही तिच्या मनात राहते. एके दिवशी ती शाळेच्या जिन्यावरून घसरून पडते आणि तिचा नवा फ्रॉक फाटतो. आई तिला रागावते, पण जवळ घेत नाही. फक्त तिचा लहान भाऊ प्रेमाने विचारतो, 'तुला खूप दुखतंय का?' वर्गातील मुली तिला 'स्लिपरी' म्हणतात आणि चिडवण्यासाठी कविता रचतात. ती सतत भीतीत जगते.
मग एक शिक्षिका तिला मदत करतात. मुली पुन्हा चिडवतात तेव्हा सायली पाठ फिरवून त्यांच्याकडे दुर्लक्ष करते आणि त्या गोंधळून निघून जातात. शिक्षिका तिला रोज सकाळी हजेरीपत्रक, खडू आणि डस्टर आणण्याची जबाबदारी देतात आणि वह्या शिक्षक-कक्षात ठेवायला पाठवतात. सायली ते काम झटपट करते, शिक्षिका हसतात आणि सायलीला अभिमान वाटतो; तिची भीती नाहीशी होते.
Theme and Message (मध्यवर्ती कल्पना)
A child's troubles at home can affect their confidence; kindness, trust and responsibility from a caring adult can help them grow strong.
घरातील ताणतणावामुळे मुलाचा आत्मविश्वास कमी होऊ शकतो; एखाद्या संवेदनशील मोठ्या व्यक्तीने दाखवलेला विश्वास, प्रेम आणि दिलेली जबाबदारी त्याला खंबीर बनवू शकते.
Useful Words (शब्दार्थ)
| Word | मराठी अर्थ | Use it in a sentence |
|---|---|---|
| gaze | एकटक नजर | The teacher's gaze was fixed on me. |
| stern | कडक | The principal gave a stern warning. |
| yearning | तीव्र इच्छा | She had a yearning to meet her mother. |
| perpetual | सततचा | He lived in perpetual fear. |
| muster courage | धैर्य एकवटणे | She mustered courage to speak on stage. |
| in a jiffy | क्षणार्धात | I will finish this in a jiffy. |
For the Exam (परीक्षेसाठी)
- Language study: compound words (homework, kind-hearted), prefixes (disobey, unafraid) and suffixes (careful, joyful).
- Learn continuous and perfect tenses: ‘I was coming’ (past continuous), ‘has asked’ (present perfect). See Past Tense.
1.4 Miss Slippery: English Workshop Question Answers
Every English Workshop activity for this story, plus the Word Play and Live English pages, as games. Score points, earn stars and challenge a friend on WhatsApp! (खेळा, गुण मिळवा आणि मित्रांना आव्हान द्या!)
🎬 Warm-up: Put Sayali’s story in order
What happens to Sayali?
- Sayali drops her notebook at the English teacher's feet.
- She goes blank in the History class.
- She falls down the stairs and tears her new frock.
- The girls start calling her 'Slippery'.
- The teacher calls her to the teachers' room and offers to be her friend.
- Sayali ignores the teasing girls.
- The teacher gives her new responsibilities, and Sayali feels proud.
🤔 Think as you read
Why did Sayali keep making mistakes at school?
Answer: The fights at home made her nervous, and she could not concentrate.
What did Sayali long for from her mother?
Answer: Even a sympathetic pat would have soothed her.
What two relationships did the teacher offer Sayali?
Answer: She said she was like a didi (elder sister) and asked to be her friend.
Warm-up 2. Punctuation and capital letters
👉 Tap the correctly punctuated sentence.
why did you go to nagpur — which two words need capital letters?
Answer: The first word of a sentence and a place name take capitals: Why did you go to Nagpur?
what a loud explosion that was
Answer: An exclamation ends with !
All five sentences
- Amar said, “I could not complete my Geography homework.”
- Why did you go to Nagpur?
- The President of India lives at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.
- What a loud explosion that was!
- Physics, Chemistry, Zoology and Botany are branches of Science.
Q1. Compound words
🎯 Join two words to make a compound word from the lesson.
Word + word
Answer key
notebook, classroom, kind-hearted, antiseptic, ear-tips, water bottle, never-ending, high-pitched, all-devouring, well-prepared, teachers’ room.
Q2 (A). Prefixes for opposites
🎯 Tap a word and its opposite.
Add a prefix
Q2 (B). Suffixes to make adjectives
🎯 Tap a word and its adjective form.
Round 1
Round 2
Q3. Find similar words
🧩 Choose the word or phrase from the story.
Meaning → word in the story
Q4. Answer in short
👉 Tap the best answer.
(1) The History teacher asked them to memorize WHAT?
Answer: Sayali was well-prepared but went blank.
(2) Sayali’s new frock tore HOW?
Answer: Someone screamed and she tumbled down.
(3) Sayali hugged WHO tight?
Answer: He asked, ‘Are you in great pain?’
(4) Sayali was called ‘Slippery’ WHY?
Answer: The class monitress gave her the nickname.
(5) The teacher told her to meet her WHEN?
Answer: Sayali was late, and the teacher asked to see her after class.
(6) The teacher asked her to carry the notebooks WHERE?
Answer: She was to keep them in the teacher’s drawer.
Q6. What would you say?
🧩 Match each feeling with an expression.
Situation → expression
Language Study: irregular verbs
🎯 Tap a verb and its past participle.
Present ↔ past participle
Answer key
go-went-gone; come-came-come; sing-sang-sung; buy-bought-bought; drive-drove-driven; fall-fell-fallen; know-knew-known; run-ran-run; see-saw-seen; take-took-taken
Language Study: continuous or perfect?
🗂️ Sort the sentences.
Which tense?
Language Study: polite requests
👉 Tap the most polite version.
Take me to your teacher.
Answer: Would you please …? is polite.
Tell me something about your school.
Answer: Could you …? is polite.
🔤 Word Play: anagrams
🎯 Same letters, new word! Tap the pairs.
Anagrams
🧩 Riddles
👉 Tap the answer.
What comes down but never goes up?
Answer: Rain only falls down.
What has hands but cannot clap?
Answer: A clock has hands.
What has a neck but no head?
Answer: A bottle has a neck.
What can you see in a calendar and also eat?
Answer: A date is a day and also a sweet fruit.
What belongs to you but is used more by others?
Answer: Others call you by your name more than you do.
Mother tongue or other tongue?
🎯 Tap the English word and what it means in Marathi.
English word ↔ what the same sound means in Marathi
Think and Write (विचार करा, लिहा)
- How did the teacher help Sayali? What would you have done in her place?
- Why should we never tease a classmate? Write a short paragraph.
- Convert one part of the story into a short skit with dialogues.
Online test · 15 questions
1.4 Miss Slippery: Lesson Test
Multiple choice · instant score with answers · certificate for 80% and above · free, no login
शिक्षकांसाठी: धडा शिकवून झाल्यावर ही test वर्गाला पाठवा. प्रत्येक विद्यार्थ्याचे गुण तुम्हाला आपोआप मिळतील.
These are original study notes by englishresources.in to help you revise. Read the lesson in your Balbharati textbook first: these notes do not replace it and do not reproduce its text.