Class 9 English · Original EZT practice
Follow That Dream (Class 9 English Chapter 8): a mother's honest letter about dreams
'By all means follow that dream.' A mother opens her letter to her teenage daughter Ming with those words - and then does something harder than encouragement: she tells the truth about what a dream costs. Writing on 19 June 1995, Irene Chua explains that world-class skill in any field asks for at least ten years of singular, intensive pursuit, and that dreams survive only when passion is matched by planning and sacrifice. This page gives a summary, themes and practice questions. (Note: this is original practice, not a textbook exercise key.)
6 original worked examples, 6 fresh self-check questions and 4 mixed questions, with explained answers. These are not copied textbook exercises, an official chapter index or a full answer key. No affiliation with NCERT is claimed.
Official sources for topic and edition context, checked 24 October 2026:
1. Summary - what separates greatness from the ordinary
Great men and women become great because they have a dream and pursue it till it comes true; what differentiates greatness from the ordinary is how much effort and sacrifice people invest. Reaching world-class standard in any field demands singularly and intensively pursuing the subject for at least ten years. It starts with a passion, grows into the conviction that realising it is imperative, and then requires counting the cost - years of effort, financial investments and sacrifice - before the plunge, in any field: sports, science, arts, business or design.
2. Summary - support networks and dreams that stay dreams
The road is uphill most of the way, and the dreamer is often buoyed up only by knowing they are doing what they love best and are doing the right thing; when stamina runs out, the prospect of success keeps them on track. Winners never win alone - Academy Award winners always thank the host of people who formed their support network. Yet for many people dreams remain dreams: they never get beyond wishful thinking, trade the dream for security, or have circumstances change their lives - like those who dreamed of studying at the then Raffles College before the Japanese invasion during World War II altered their destiny, or those who left secondary school to work so their siblings could study.
3. Summary - dreams can change and still be worth chasing
After all the obstacles are considered, if the burning conviction is still coursing through one's veins, one should go ahead and do something about it. From her own experience, the mother says life itself may change a person's dreams - and these new hopes and aspirations are no less than the original dream of younger days, though they take longer to realise and draw in many more participants. Her own example: publishing this book was a dream she chased in the last ten years - not the dream of her youth, but one she is genuinely excited about.
Choose, solve, check, then try a fresh question.
Before calculating, read the method prompt and name the condition that makes it useful. Write your own attempt. Open the steps only when you need them, and use the check to catch a wrong sign, unit or interpretation. Finish with the fresh question before reading its answer.
Sequence the plunge
Choose the method: Passion, conviction, cost, commit.
EZT practice question
According to Ming's mother, what must a person do before taking the plunge into a dream?
Show the worked solution
- First feel a passion for a particular interest.
- Then form the conviction that realising it is imperative.
- Count the cost in years of effort, financial investments and sacrifice - and commit only if the dream is still burning in one's blood.
Answer: First feel a passion for a particular interest, then form the conviction that realising it is imperative, and then count the cost in years of effort, financial investments and sacrifice - and only if the dream is still burning in one's blood after that honest counting, commit to the task and plunge.
Check: The order matters: feeling, then conviction, then arithmetic, then commitment.
Watch for this: Do not put the plunge before the counting - the letter insists the honest count comes first.
Now try it yourself
When is the letter written, and who writes to whom?
Check your answer
On 19 June 1995; the mother - Irene Chua, in an excerpt from her collection 'My Daughter, My Friend' - writes to her teenage daughter, Ming.
Date, writer and reader frame the letter as real advice from a parent, not a lecture.
Fix the ten-year bar
Choose the method: World-class has a minimum.
EZT practice question
How long must one pursue a subject to reach world-class standard, and in which fields does this hold?
Show the worked solution
- Reaching world-class standard demands pursuing the subject singularly and intensively.
- The minimum the letter names is at least ten years.
- This holds in any field: sports, science, arts, business or design.
Answer: At least ten years of singular and intensive pursuit - and the letter says this holds in any field, whether sports, science, arts, business or design.
Check: Two qualifiers carry the claim: singular (one focus) and intensive (full effort).
Watch for this: Do not say the ten-year bar applies only to sports or the arts - the letter extends it to every field it names.
Now try it yourself
Name the fields the letter says a dream could belong to.
Check your answer
Sports, science, arts, business, or design.
The list shows the cost of a dream is field-independent.
Track what keeps a dreamer going
Choose the method: Love of the work, then the prospect.
EZT practice question
What keeps a dreamer going when stamina runs out?
Show the worked solution
- The road is uphill most of the way.
- The dreamer is buoyed up by knowing they are doing what they love best and are doing the right thing.
- When stamina runs out, the prospect of success keeps them on track.
Answer: Before stamina runs out, the knowledge that they are doing what they love best and are doing the right thing buoys them up; when stamina does run out, the prospect of success keeps them on track.
Check: The letter gives two fuels in sequence - love of the work first, the prospect of success second.
Watch for this: Do not credit applause or luck - the letter names only the work itself and the prospect of success.
Now try it yourself
What does the mother mean when she says she is 'not going to put a wet blanket' on Ming's dreams?
Check your answer
She will not discourage the dream - but Ming must still consider the years the dream will need.
Encouragement and honesty arrive together in that one image.
Explain the Academy Awards
Choose the method: Every winner names a network.
EZT practice question
Why does the letter mention the Academy Awards?
Show the worked solution
- Every Academy Award winner thanks a host of people.
- Those people formed the winner's support network.
- So for one winner there is always a group who stood by them - achieving a dream is never a solo effort.
Answer: Because every winner thanks the host of people who formed their support network - showing that for one winner there is always a group of people who stood by them, and that achieving a dream is never a solo effort.
Check: The example argues against the myth of the lone achiever.
Watch for this: Do not read the reference as glamour - it is evidence about support networks, not fame.
Now try it yourself
What keeps the dreamer buoyed up before stamina runs out?
Check your answer
The knowledge that they are doing what they love best and are doing the right thing.
Inner conviction and outer support are the letter's two pillars.
List why dreams stay dreams
Choose the method: Three ways a dream stalls.
EZT practice question
Why do dreams remain dreams for many people, and what happened to those who dreamed of Raffles College?
Show the worked solution
- Some never get beyond wishful thinking.
- Some trade the dream for security.
- Some have circumstances change their lives - like the would-be students of the then Raffles College, whose destiny the Japanese invasion during World War II changed forever; the college is now the National University of Singapore.
Answer: Dreams remain dreams when people never get beyond wishful thinking, trade the dream for security, or have circumstances change their lives - like those who dreamed of the then Raffles College before the Japanese invasion during World War II changed their destiny forever; the college is now the National University of Singapore.
Check: Wishful thinking, security and circumstances are the letter's three distinct stall-points.
Watch for this: Do not blame only laziness - the letter includes circumstance, like war, among the dream-breakers.
Now try it yourself
Who else does the letter name among those whose circumstances changed?
Check your answer
Those who left secondary school to work so their siblings could study.
Sacrifice for family is the quietest way a dream is deferred.
Weigh the changed dream
Choose the method: New hopes are no less.
EZT practice question
'Life itself may change a person's dreams.' What example does the mother give from her own life?
Show the worked solution
- Publishing the book Ming is reading was a dream she chased in the last ten years.
- It was not the dream she had in her youth - her original dream changed over the years.
- Yet the new dream excites her just as much, and her closing wish is that at least one of Ming's dreams comes true.
Answer: Publishing this book was a dream she chased in the last ten years - not the dream of her youth, because her original dream changed over the years, yet the new dream excites her just as much; her closing wish is that at least one of Ming's dreams comes true too.
Check: A changed dream is not a failed dream - the letter calls new hopes and aspirations no less than the original.
Watch for this: Do not say a changed dream is worth less - the mother explicitly says the new hopes are no less than the original dream of younger days.
Now try it yourself
What two things make a changed dream harder to fulfil, according to the letter?
Check your answer
It takes a much longer time to realise, and the participants in one's dreamscape become many more.
Time and participants are the two costs of a dream that grows with life.
Try a mixed set
Choose a method or explanation before opening each answer.
1. Date, writer and reader of the letter?
Show answer and reason
19 June 1995; Irene Chua, from 'My Daughter, My Friend', to her daughter Ming.
The frame is a mother's honest advice, not a lecture.
2. The minimum for world-class standard?
Show answer and reason
At least ten years of singular, intensive pursuit.
In any field: sports, science, arts, business or design.
3. Why the Academy Awards reference?
Show answer and reason
Every winner thanks the host of people who formed their support network.
No one achieves a dream alone.
4. The mother's own changed dream?
Show answer and reason
Publishing this book, chased in the last ten years.
New hopes and aspirations are no less than the original dream.
Try it yourself
Work these on paper before checking any notes. Answers are deliberately not shown here.
- Quote the four steps the letter demands before the plunge.
- List the letter's three reasons dreams remain dreams.
- In one sentence, explain why a changed dream is not a failed dream.
Know the rule but lose track of the steps?
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Questions about this practice page
- What is Follow That Dream about?
- It is a letter from Irene Chua's collection 'My Daughter, My Friend', written on 19 June 1995 from a mother to her teenage daughter Ming, about what it really takes to follow a dream: passion, conviction, an honest count of the costs, and years of effort and sacrifice.
- How long does it take to reach world-class standard, according to the letter?
- At least ten years of singular, intensive pursuit of the subject - in any field, whether sports, science, arts, business or design.
- Why do most dreams remain dreams?
- Because people never get beyond wishful thinking, trade their dream for security, or have circumstances change their lives - like the would-be Raffles College students whose destiny was changed by the Japanese invasion during World War II.
- What role do other people play in achieving a dream?
- No one wins alone: Academy Award winners always thank the host of people who formed their support network, and a changed dream draws in even more participants in one's dreamscape.
- What is the theme of Follow That Dream?
- Dream honestly, not just fondly: passion must be tested against the real costs in years, money and sacrifice - and if the conviction still burns after that counting, plunge, knowing that even a changed dream is no less worth chasing.