11th English : The First Patient
Unit 3.3 > The First Patient
Warm up
Given below is a list of tools and equipment. Associate them with the appropriate profession and complete the table.
plough, hammer, oven, thermometer, voltmeter, wood, chisel, seed, drill, voltage, detector, cutting, boards, stone, picker, spatula, cultivator, nail, puller, wire, strippers, framing, square, fork, flashlight
| Farmer | plough, seed, cultivator. |
| Carpenter | hammer, wood, chisel, drill, cutting, boards, nail, puller, framing, square. |
| Electrician | voltmetre, voltage, detector, wire, strippers, flashlight. |
| Chef | oven, fork, spatula. |
Glossary
- groaning − crying in pain
- dreadful − extremely bad
- ice-lollies − flavoured ice or ice cream on a stick
- weeny tug − small pull
- gas − anesthesia
- scream − a very funny thing
- ferrying − carrying
- queer − strange
- writhing − twisting the body from side to side
- agony − severe pain
- sulking − being sad and silent
- blurred − hazy, not clear
1. Complete the summary of the play choosing the appropriate words from the list given below.
A number of patients wait at the (1) waiting room of a dentist’s clinic. Everybody is tensed at he thought of painful (2) tooth being extracted. One of the women is bent on showing everyone her (3) photographs. After the arrival of the dentist, Joe, the first (4) patient is called in. Sometime later, the nurse comes out and goes in with a (5) hammer. Everyone is (6) frightened at this, imagining Joe is being subjected to a lot of hammering in the process of his tooth being pulled out. Once again the nurse comes out to fetch a large pair of (7) pliers and later on she takes in a (8) hacksaw. A little boy confesses that he pretended to have (9) toothache because he did not wish to go to school. The loud (10) sawing and screeching from within the room makes everyone leave the (11) clinic, one by one. Finally there are only two women in the waiting room, one of them being Joe’s wife. She weeps (12) worried about her husband. But Joe comes out and explains that he has shifted his (13) appointment to the evening and has been given some pills for the pain. After they leave, the dentist comes out and locates the key of his tool (14) cabinet. He has been trying to open it using the hammer, the pliers and the hacksaw only in vain. The women with the photographs is surprised to see that the (15) queue had moved quickly and she is the next patient to go in.
| hammer | patient | hacksaw | cabinet |
| queue | worried | waiting | room |
| pliers | photographs | clinic | toothache |
| tooth | frightened | sawing | appointment |
2. Based on your understanding of the play, complete the Graphic Organiser (GO) suitably.
3. Based on your understanding of the play, answer the following questions in about three or four sentences each.
a) Who were the patients waiting for?
The patients were waiting for the dentist.
b) How did the woman 5 spend her time in the waiting hall?
Woman 5 had a bunch of photographs of hers which she had taken during her holidays. She spent her time by showing the photographs to others.
c) How did the other Woman react to Woman 5?
The other Woman did not show much interest to see her photographs.
d) Are children afraid of visiting the dentist? Give reasons.
Children are afraid of visiting the dentist. They are afraid of the pain they may undergo when the dentist treats their teeth.
e) What were the strange instruments the nurse carried to the surgery? How did the waiting patients interpret her act?
The nurse carried a hammer, a pair of pliers and a hacksaw. The waiting patients interpreted that the dentist was using those instruments on the patient Joe.
f) Bring out the people’s reaction to the noises from the surgery.
The waiting people heard the hammering and the screeching noise from the surgery. Woman 1, Joe’ wife thought that the dentist was using the instruments on her husband and the noises were coming from the use of those instruments. So she was trying to go inside. Woman 2 pulled her back and tried to pacify her. Man 4 was confident that the dentist knew how to use the instruments.
g) Why did they sympathise with the first patient?
The first patient was Joe. When he was inside, the nurse carried a hammer, a pair of pliers and a hacksaw. Those who were waiting in the waiting room thought that the dentist was using the instruments on the first patient. So they sympathised with the first patient.
h) Why was Woman 1 panic more than the others?
Woman 1 was more panic than the others because she was the wife of Joe who was inside the surgery. She thought her husband was in great pain.
i) Woman 5 was not aware of what was happening. Why?
Woman 5 was not aware of what was happening because she was only interested in showing her photographs to others.
j) How did Woman 5 move ahead in the waiting list of patients?
The patients were listening to the hammering and screeching noises from the surgery. They felt scared. Moreover it was getting late as the dentist was trying to find out his key to the tool cabinet. The patients lost their patience and they left one by one. Woman 5 was unaware of that because she was interested in showing her photographs to others. Thus she moved ahead in the waiting list.
k) Why do patients leave the clinic without meeting the dentist?
The patients were listening to the hammering and screeching noises from the surgery. They felt scared. Moreover it was getting late as the dentist was trying to find out his key to the tool cabinet. The patients lost their patience and they left one by one.
l) What had really happened in the dentist’s room?
The dentist had lost his key to the tool cabinet. So he could not open the cabinet. In order to open the tool cabinet he used the hammer, the pliers and the hacksaw. The hammering and screeching noises came from the surgery because the dentist was trying to open the tool cabinet with those instruments.
VOCABULARY
4. Read the descriptions given under Column A and match them with their correct -ist words describing specialists in the various fields of medicine given under Column B.
| A | B |
| 1. one who specializes in lung problems | a) gynaecologist |
| 2. one who specializes in skin problems | b) gastroenterologist |
| 3. one who treats diseases specific to women | c) dermatologist |
| 4. one who treats kidney diseases | d) neurologist |
| 5. one who treats diseases and disorders of the nervous system | e) pulmonologist |
| 6. one who treats stomach disorders | f) cardiologist |
| 7. one who treats vision problems | g) nephrologist |
| 8. one who specializes in critical infants | h) otolaryngologist |
| 9. one who treats heart problems | i) ophthalmologist |
| 10. one who treats the problems of ear, nose, tongue | j) neonatologist |
| Ans : 1 – e, 2 – c, 3 – a, 4 – g, 5 – d, 6 – b, 7 – h, 8 – j, 9 – f, 10 – i | |
Listening
Read the following sentences. Now listen to the talk on the importance of humour and laughter for good physical and mental health. You may listen to the text again if required, to help you choose the correct option.
i) Humour has the power to motivate and _______ stress and pain.
- improve
- intensify
- reduce
- increase
Ans : reduce
ii) It seems generally _______ that our bodies respond in a positive way to a hearty laugh.
- accepted
- denied
- improved
- confused
Ans : accepted
iii) The _______ is stocked with books, comics, funny posters, audiotapes and videos.
- waiting room
- humour room
- ICU
- reception
Ans : humour room
iv) One can plan to use humour yet rely on _______ opportunities to employ it.
- late
- better
- future
- spontaneous
Ans : spontaneous
v) Humour is called a way of _______ not a part of living.
- living
- playing
- nourishing
- developing
Ans : living
SPEAKING
Complete the dialogue between a patient and doctor with ten sets of utterances.
Doctor : Good evening.
Patient : Good evening sir.
Doctor : What is your problem?
Patient : I have fever for two days doctor.
Doctor : Do you have body pain?
Patient : Yes doctor, some time I couldn’t sleep because of body pain.
Doctor : Let me check you …….. Yes you have 102° fever. Did you take any medicine?
Patient : No doctor. I can’t eat well for two days.
Doctor : Yes, when you have 102 fever surely you cannot eat.
Patient : I think you may give me some medicine for my problem. You see, I have to attend a meeting tomorrow so I should be alright tomorrow.
Doctor : Tablets will not give you immediate relief.
Patient : So what should I do?
Doctor : It is better to have a prick, I mean an injection.
Patient : Oh! I am sorry I can’t bear the pain.
Doctor : Why do you behave like a small baby sir?
Patient : Doctor I am sorry. Whatever you say, I am not for injection.
Doctor : You see now we have a very thin injection. It will not be painful.
Patient : Anyway you will prick me.
Doctor : That is true, but it will not be painful. Without injection you cannot get immediate relief.
Patient : Ok sir, then go ahead.
5. Answer the following questions in a paragraph of about 80 – 100 words each.
i) Based on your understanding of the play, explain how a mistaken understanding of events can lead to confusion. How has the author used this unexpected combination of events in the situation to create humour?
‘The First Patient’ by C V Burgess – dentist waiting room – dentist arrives – first patient enters – nurse with hammer, pair of pliers, a hacksaw – patients mistake – dentist tries to open tool cabinet – except one all left
C V Burgess in his play, ‘The First Patient’ displays a dentist’s clinic with some waiting patients. When the dentist arrived, the first patient Joe entered the surgery. After few minutes the nurse carried a hammer inside the surgery. The waiting patients thought that the dentist would use the hammer on Joe. Then she carried a pair of pliers and a hacksaw. The waiting patients were afraid of the dentist and left the clinic one by one. Then it was clear that they had a mistaken understanding of the situation. The dentist lost his key to his tool cabinet so he had used all the instruments to open the cabinet. But he could succeed. All the patients except one left the clinic so the dentist lost his one day business.
ii) Have you ever found yourself in such a situation? Discuss in groups and act out such a situation.
Once I accompanied my sister to a private clinic. She was suffering from a severe cold. As we were asked to sit in the waiting-room, the doctor arrived. The nurse called the first patient and took him into the consultation room. Minutes ticked by, and my sister was actually the second to see the doctor. We were at the end of our tether because the first person had not come out and more than one hour was over. I pestered the nurse with enquiry after enquiry. She lost her cool and moved to the other doctor’s surgery. Being curiosity-stricken, I opened the door ajar only to find that both the patient and the doctor were not in the room. I felt dazed, and approached the nurse to know what was happening. The nurse told me very coolly that both of them made their exit through the other door because they wanted to watch the thrilling final world cup soccer match.
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