My Computer Needs a Break

My Computer Needs A Break

My computer has always been so brainy and smart –

It seems to know mountains of information by heart.

If I type in a question, and give my mouse a click,

My computer always gives me the answer really quick!

But of late, my computer has been behaving badly too,

It’s so absent-minded, that I don’t know what to do.

It forgets to ‘save’ my work, and store it away,

And instead, makes it vanish in the most dreadfulway.

My computer doesn’t check that my spellings are right,

And hides my files, so that they vanish from sight.

And one day, my naughty computer actually gobbleda worm,

And behaved so erratically that it made me squirm.

Then my computer caught a virus, and fell very sick,

So I had to call in a doctor, double quick.

As the doctor examined my computer, I just had to say,

‘Doctor, do you think my tired computer wants a holiday?’

– Shanthini Govindan

About the Author:

Shanthini Govindan is a widely published, award-winning author of children’s literature in English in India, who has written over 50 books for children including poetry, picture books and short stories for children of all ages.

Glossary

brainy (adj) – very intelligent

absent-minded (adj) – being forgetful

vanish (v) – disappear

dreadful (adj) – unpleasant

gobbled (v) – ate hastily or greedily

erratically (adv) – unsteadily or unpredictably

squirm (v) – to twist the body in discomfort

Answer the following:

1. How does the poet describe her computer?

Ans: The poet describes the computer as brainly (very intelligent) and smart. She says that, her computer knows a lot of information by heart.

2. What happened to the computer?

Ans: The computer is absent-minded. It forgets to save her files. Sometimes the files vanish in the most dreadful way.

3. List four things that the computer could not do after it became absent-minded

Ans: 

a. Computer forgot to save the poet’s work.

b. It doesn’t check her spelling.

c. It hides her files.

d. It makes her work vanish in most dreadful way.

4. What made the poet squirm?

Ans: The computer gobbled a worm. The computer behaved so erratically that it made the poetess squirm.

5. Why did the poet call the doctor?

Ans: The computer caught a virus and fell very sick. So the poet called a doctor.

Fill in the blanks.

1) Computers are brainly and smart.

2) We get answers for questions by a click of a mouse.

3) The computer forgot to save the poet’s work.

4) The computer actually gobbled a worm.

5) The poet feels that his computer needs a break.

Pick out the rhyming words from the poem.

Smart – heart

click – quick

right – sight

sick – quick

Match the poetic lines with Figures of Speech.

1) So brainly – personification

2) Mountains –  personification

3) It’s so absent minded  – hyperbole

4) Computer gobbled a worm – metaphor

5) Very sick  – metaphor

Answer:

1) So brainly – personification

2) Mountains – metaphor

3) It’s so absent minded – personification

4) Computer gobbled a worm – hyperbole

5) Very sick  – metaphor

Find the alliterating words from the poem.

1) Save – store

2) Doctor – double

3) Virus – very

4) Makes – most