EXTRA QTS AND ANSWERS AND ANALYTICAL QUESTIONS

LOST CHILD AND ROAD NOT TAKEN

His father looked at him red-eyed, in his familiar tyrant’s way. His mother, melted by the
free spirit of the day was tender and, giving him her finger to hold, said, “Look, child,
what is before you!”

(a) When did the father look red-eyed at the child?

Ans: The father looked red-eyed at the child, who was desperately asking for
toys piled up in the stores lining the road to the fair.

(b) Who is a tyrant? Was the father actually a tyrant?

Ans: A tyrant is a cruel man who always keeps his self-interest supreme. The father
was not a tyrant in this sense of the term. He was simply a strict disciplinarian as a
parent.

(c) What was the ‘free spirit of the day’ that made the mother ‘tender’?

Ans: It was the day of the festival of spring and all were in a mood to rejoice. The mood
of festivity was the free spirit that made the mother soft-hearted.

(d) Why did the mother ask the child to look before him?

Ans: The mother asked the child to look before him because she wanted to divert his
attention from the toys in the shops without upsetting him after his father’s stern refusal.
But he half knew as he begged that his plea would not be heeded because his parents
would say he was greedy.

(a) Who is ‘he’ in this line?

Ans: ‘He’ is the little boy from the story “The Lost Child”.

(b) What was the plea made by him?

Ans: He asked his parents to buy him the sweetmeat burfi being sold at the
entrance of the fair.

(c) How did he ‘half knew’ that his plea would not be heeded?

Ans: The child’s parents were strict disciplinarians and would generally refuse to grant
him his wish. So he somewhat knew that his request would not be heeded to this time
as well.

(d) What did he do after this?

Ans: He moved on without waiting for an answer from his parents, assuming their
silence to be a refusal.

Will you have a ride on the horse?” he gently asked as he approached the ring. The
child’s throat tore into a thousand shrill sobs and he only shouted, “I want my mother, I
want my father!”

(a) Who is ‘he’ in the first line of the extract? Whom is ‘he’ offering a ride on the
horse?
Ans: ‘He’ is the kind man who rescues the child from getting trampled in the shrine. He
asks the lost child for a ride on the horse.

(b) Why does ‘he’ ask for a ride?

Ans: The kind man asks for a ride because the child was crying inconsolably for his
parents and he wanted to quieten the child by diverting his attention.

(c) Why did the child’s throat ‘tore into a thousand shrill sobs’?

Ans: The child’s throat tore into a thousand shrill sobs because he was extremely
scared and wanted to be united immediately with his parents.

(d) Why did the child shout, “I want my mother, I want my father!”?

Ans: The child was feeling insecure without his parents so he called out for
them. He didn’t care much about toys, sweets, garlands or riding on a
roundabout.

Parents were in a hurry to reach the fair but the child was delaying them. How?

Ans: The child was getting tempted by all the distractions available on the
way to the fair. Sometimes they would stop at toy shops, while other times
they would start chasing butterflies. The parents had to pause frequently to
call them and tell them to walk beside them.

Why did the child feel both repelled and fascinated by the fair?
Ans: The child looked at the crowd and became uneasy because he’d never
seen so many people before. He saw other kids around him bumping into
each other and laughing, marveling at the wonders of new things to see.

The fair lost all its charm and attraction for the child. When did this happen?

Or

How was the child separated from his parents?

Ans: Tempted by the sight of a sweetmeat seller, a balloon-seller, a flower-seller, a

snake-charmer and finally the roundabout in motion, the child failed to keep pace with
his parents and got separated. This separation filled him with panic and he lost interest
in the fair.

What was the child’s response to the many offers made by the man?

Ans: The child simply wailed inconsolably. In between his sobs, he expressed his
desire to be with his mother and father. He refused to even glance at the various things
offered by the man in an attempt to quieten him.

The kind-hearted stranger tried his best to calm down the lost child but failed.
Why did the child remain inconsolable?

Ans. The stranger who noticed the lost child was a kind-hearted man. He had the heart
that could feel the agony of a lost child. He lifted him up in his arms. He tried to distract
his attention by offering a ride on the roundabout and making him hear the music of the
flute. He offered him to buy sweets and balloons to soothe him. He failed in his attempt
because the lost child had nothing in his mind except his parents.
How did the festival of spring bring out the latent joy in human nature?

Ans: The festival of spring marks the onset of sunshine after a long spell of cold winter.
Everything in nature comes back to life. The bustling insects, worms, trees and fields fill
the human heart with joy. The festival of spring, as described in the lesson “The Lost
Child”, brings together people from different parts and they express their happiness by
thronging the fair in large numbers. They dress up brightly and the colour yellow
dominates their attire. Sweets, flowers, swings, games etc. mark this day. People take a
break from their daily routine and enjoy the festival with their loved ones. They also
remember to express gratitude to God by visiting the shrine. Thus, the latent joy in
human nature gets expressed in spring.

Q6. The man who had rescued the child was compassionate and kind. Discuss.

Or

What values of humanity are reflected through the character of the kind man?

Ans:

The witness of the rescue had a heart full of goodness. He didn’t ignore the
boy’s painful shrieks for his parents, risking his own safety to save them from
getting trampled. The man did all he could to comfort and soothe the boy, not
forgetting about his own purpose of visiting the shrine as he inquired about the
boy’s parents.
When he was unable to reach the child with comfort, he didn’t give up. He
tried to calm the situation by giving the child what he required: the little things
that children love. The kind man earnestly tried to ease the child, so that they
could find his parents. His character reflects human values of kindness,
compassion, care and love.

A child longs for toys, sweets and other things but not at the cost of his parents.”
Comment.

Ans.

When the child realized he had been separated from his parents, he started
crying. Tears rolled down his cheeks. His face was full of fear. He was
panicked and ran this way and that. His yellow turban got untied. His clothes
became dusty. He ran towards the shrine in search of his parents
There was a crowd of people. Before someone could stomp on him, a good-
hearted person picked him up to protect him from the crowd. He greeted the
stranger and asked where he came from and who his parents were. The child
bawled even more than that and cried for his parents.

Q11. When children are taken to a fair, they ask their parents to buy them many
things. Should their parents do so? Explain with reference to the lesson The Lost
Child’.

Ans. Children are the beauty of our house. Without them the picture of our house is
incomplete. They are the future of our house. While rearing them, parents have to take
every care. There is no limit to the demands of children. Good parents always try to fulfil
them as far as possible. Children like to visit fairs very much. They want to enjoy things
and go on a roundabout. When parents take their children to the fair, they have to take
every care of them, otherwise, their children may get lost in the fair. If children are
attracted by any snake charmer or some beautiful scenes in the fair, they should not
allow their children to drift away. Instead, they should always hold the hands of children
tightly in the fair. Moreover, children should be allowed to eat only those things in the
fair which may not create problems for their health. While in the fair, children should be
given every opportunity to enjoy it.

And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden back.
Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to
way I doubted if I should ever come back [CBSE 2010 (Term I)]
(a) ‘Both’ in line one refers to :
(i) leaves (ii) roads (iii) steps (iv) the poet and his friends
Ans : (a) (ii)

(b) The poet chose to travel on another road because :

(i) it was easier (ii) it was shorter and easier (iii) it was grassy and
wanted wear (iv) he was sure of his success on that way
Ans: (b) (iii)

(c) The poet doubted if :

(i) he could ever finish his journey (ii) he could meet his family again
(iii) he could join his friend (iv) he could ever come back to travel the
first road
Ans: (c) (iv)

3. Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better
claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
(a) The poet didn’t take the first road as :
(i) It had worn out by continuous use (ii) It had been tried and tested
(iii) It was expected of him (iv) It looked shabby
Ans: (a) (i)

The poet doubts his comeback because

(i) he continues to follow the road he chooses (ii) he is very lazy
(iii) he is a man on the move (iv) he never repeats himself
Ans: (b) (i)

(c) The first line of the extract can be explained as_________ .

(i) the world is round (ii) all roads have a dead end
(iii) all roads join at an intersection (iv) all roads lead to other roads
Ans: (c) (iv)

Read the following extract and answer the questions given below.
1. And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
(a) What decision does the speaker take of the ‘first’ road ?
Ans. When the poet sees two roads diverging in a forest, he decides to take
the second one and leave the first one for some other day.
(b) Explain : ‘‘In leaves no step had trodden black.’’
Ans. It means that the leaves on the other road were intact. There were no
marks that anyone had trodden on them.

(c) What doubt crops up in the speaker’s mind ?

Ans. The poet was in a dilemma as to which road, out of the two, he should
follow.

2. Two roads diverged in yellow wood

And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth

(a) Why did the poet feel like travelling both the roads ?
Ans. He wanted to do so because both the roads looked equally fair and
promising.

(b) Why did the poet choose the other road ?

Ans. He chose the other road because it was grassy, less travelled and
wanted wear.

(c) What was the doubt in poet’s mind ?

Ans. The poet doubted if he would ever be able to come back to travel the
first road
Then took———————–the same.
a) Which road did the poet take?
b) Why did the poet take the “other” road?

Ans:a) The poet took the other road; meaning the road that was not taken by
most of the travellers.

b) The poet took the road less travelled by – which is the other road, because
it looked equally attractive, and it looked grassy and needed people to walk on
it so it would look as worn out or traveled on as the one that he did not choose
to go on.

What was the poet’s dilemma in the poem ‘The Road Not Taken’ ? [CBSE
2010 (Term I)]
Ans: The poet faces a dilemma that every man faces in his life, i.e. making a
right decision. One day during the walk the poet reached bifurcation in the
road. Out of the two roads, he had to take only one. He decides to take the
second road which was less frequented. Hence the road is a symbolic of the
choice. It is just not possible to make more than one choice, and to take both
the roads. So the poet decides to take the road less travelled.

4. Why did the poet keep the first road for another day ? [CBSE 2010
(Term I)]
Ans: Once the poet had to make a decision as to which road he should travel
out of two in front of him. He examines both the roads and finds the other road
less travelled. He didn’t want to follow a beaten track and decides to take the
other road and keep the first road for some other day. But somewhere in his
mind, he is troubled with the thought that he may not be able to do so.

5. “I took the one less travelled by.” What do we come to know about the
poet from this line ? [CBSE 2010 (Term I)]
Or
What does the choice made by the poet indicates about his personality
in the poem ‘The Road Not Taken’?
Ans: This line reveals the adventurous nature of the poet because when he
had to take a decision of making a choice, he did not take the beaten track.
He chooses the path which is not frequented. He decides to leave the first
road for some other day knowing fully well that he will not get a chance to go
back to it.

Why was it so difficult for the poet to make a decision? Give reasons.
Ans. It was difficult for the poet to make a decision as he had no idea what
any of them had in store for him. He was at a difficult time in his life, to remain
in USA where he was not given recognition or to migrate to England. Only the
future could tell. It was like taking a leap in the dark. Who could tell its result?
It was difficult to say how he would be received in England as his experience
of his birthplace USA was bitter.

4. What is the moral presented by the poet in the poem ‘The Road Not
Taken’?
Ans. This is an inspirational poem and quite tricky, according to Robert Frost
himself. The poem presents an antithesis. The traveller comes to a fork and
wishes to take both, which is impossible. One of the roads is described as /;[[
grassy and ‘wanting wear’, then he says that both the roads look the same.
This represents the eternal dilemma of man : he finds the grass greener
always on the other side. This poem is a call for the reader to forge his or her
way in life and not follow the path that others have taken. This poem
encourages self-reliance, reinforces the power of independent thinking and
sticking to one’s decisions. The poet does not moralise about choice, he
simply says that choice is inevitable and you will never know till you have lived
the ‘difference’. So there is nothing right or wrong about a choice, it is all
relative. Whatever direction one takes one must pack it with determination and
zest for one can never turn the clock back, or relive that moment.

What is the theme of the poem ‘The Road Not Taken’?

Ans. The regret in life when we do not make the right decision. Life is full of
challenges and difficult decisions have to be made on which depends our
future life and success. When even this happens and we make a choice out of
many or two then the choices or choice not made keeps haunting us making
us ponder what could have happened if we had made that choice which we
did not, if we had taken that road, which we did not take.