A LETTER TO GOD

Read the following extracts carefully and answer the questions that follow.
Question 1.
The house- the only one in the entire valley- sat on the crest of a low hill. From this height one
could see the river and the field of ripe corn dotted with the flowers that always promised a good
harvest. The only thing the Earth needed was a downpour or at least a shower. Throughout the
morning Lencho who knew his fields intimately had done nothing else but see the sky towards
the North-East. “Now we’re really going to get some water, woman.
” The woman who was preparing supper, replied, “Yes, God willing”.
(a) Where was Lencho’s house located?
(b) What was Lencho’s wife preparing?
(c) Find the word from the passage which means ‘very closely’.
(d) What does ‘Crest’ means?
Answer:
Lencho’s house was located on the crest of a low hill.
(b) Lencho’s wife was preparing supper.
(c) The word is ‘Intimately’.
(d) Crest means the top part of a hill.
Question 2.
It was during the meal that, just as Lencho had predicted, big drops of rain began to fall. In the
North-East huge mountains of clouds could be seen approaching. The air was fresh and sweet.
The man went out for no other reason than to have the pleasure of feeling the rain on his
body. [CBSE 2012]
(a) What could be seen approaching in the North-East?
(b) Why did Lencho go out?
(c) Give an antonym of the word Big.
(d) Which word in the passage is a synonym of ‘forecast’.
Answer:
(a) Huge mountains of clouds could be seen approaching in the North-East.
(b) Lencho went out to have the pleasure of feeling the rain on his body.
(c) The word is ‘small’.
(d) The word ‘predict’ is a synonym of forecast.
Question 3.
With a satisfied expression he regarded the field of ripe corn with its flowers, draped in a. curtain
of rain. But suddenly a strong wind began to blow and alongwith the rain very large hailstones
began to fall. These truly did resemble new silver coins. The boys, exposing themselves to the
rain, ran out to collect the frozen pearls.
(a) What happened to the rain suddenly?
(b) ‘The frozen pearls’ refers to which thing in the paragraph.
(c) Find the similar meaning-of ‘contented’ in the paragraph.
(d) Find from the passage a word which means ‘to take after’.
Answer:
(a) The rain suddenly changed into hailstones.
(b) ‘The frozen pearls’ refers to hailstones.
(c) The word is ‘Satisfied’.
(d) The word is ‘Resemble’.
Question 4.
Not a leaf remained on the trees. The corn was totally destroyed. The flowers were gone from the
plants. Lencho’s soul was filled with sadness. When the storm had passed, he stood in the
middle of the field and said to his sons. “A plague of locusts would have left more than this. The
hail has left nothing.
(a) Describe Lencho’s feeling as shown in the passage.
(b) What happened to the crop when the storm had passed?
(c) Find the word that means the opposite of ‘restored’ as used in the passage.
(d) What do you mean by ‘hail’ in the last line?
Answer:
(a) Lencho was filled with sadness when the storm had passed.
(b) The crop was completely destroyed when the storm had passed.
(c) The word is ‘destroyed’.
(d) ‘Hail’ is balls of ice that falls from the sky in the form of rain.
Question 5.
“That’s what they say: no one dies of hunger.” All through the night, Lencho thought only of his
one hope: the help of God, whose eyes, as he had been instructed, see everything, even what is
deep in one’s conscience. Lencho was an ox of a man, working like an animal in the fields, but
still he knew how to write.
(a) What was Lencho’s only hope?
(b) How did Lencho work in the field?
(c) Find the exact word of similar meaning ‘moral sense’ given in the passage.
(d) Explain ‘an or of a man’.
Answer:
(a) Lencho’s only hope was the help of God.
(b) Lencho worked as an ‘ox’ in the field.
(c) The word is ‘conscience’.
(d) It means a man working hard like an ox or animal.
Question 6.
The postmaster- a fat, amiable fellow- also broke out laughing, but almost immediately he turned
serious and tapping the letter on his desk, commented. “What faith! I wish I had the faith of the
man who wrote this letter. Starting.up a correspondence with God!”
So, in order ndt to shake the writer’s faith in God, the postmaster came up with an idea: answer
the letter. But when he opened it, it was evident that to answer it he needed something more
than goodwill, ink and paper. But he stuck to his resolution: he asked for money from his
employees, he himself gave part of his salary and several friends of his vreie obliged io give
something ‘for an act of charity’.
(a) What kind of a person the postmaster was?
(b) How did the postmaster help Lencho?
(c) Find the exact word in similar meaning ‘without delay’ given in the passage.
(d) Determination is synonymous with …………….
Answer:
(a) The postmaster was a fat, amiable and helpful fellow.
(b) The postmaster helped Lencho by collecting money from his employees and friends.
(c) The word is ‘Immediately’.
(d) Determination is synonym with Resolution.
Question 7.
The following Sunday, Lencho came a bit earlier than usual to ask if there was a letter for him. It
was the postman himself who handed the letter to him while the postmaster, experiencing the
contentment of a man who has performed a good deed, looked on from his office.
Lencho showed not the slightest surprise on seeing the money; such was his confidence, but he
became angry when he counted the money. God could not have made a mistake, nor could he
have denied Lencho what he had requested.
(a) Why did Lencho come earlier to the post office?
(b) Why wasLencho angry when he counted money?
(c) Find the word which means the opposite of permitted from the passage.
(d) Which word in the passage gives the meaning ‘that one will be successful one day’.
Answer:
(a) Lencho came earlier to the post office to know if there was a letter for him.
(b) Lencho was angry when he counted money as it was not the full amount that he had
demanded from God.
(c) The word is ‘denied’.
(d) The word is ‘confidence’.
Question 8.
When he finished, he went to the window to buy a stamp which he licked and then affixed to the
envelope with a blow of his fist. The moment the letter fell into the mailbox the postmaster went
to open it. It said: “God: Of the money that I asked for, only seventy pesos reached me. Send me
the rest, since I need it very much. But don’t send it to me through the mail because the post
office employees are a ‘bunch of crooks’. Lencho.” [CBSE 2016]
(a) What did Lencho do wijh the stamp?
(b) What did the postmaster do when the letter fell into the mailbox and why?
(c) Find out the word which has the similar meaning as ‘attached’ used in the passage.
(d) Which word in the passage denotes a dishonest person?
Answer:
(a) Lencho licked and affixed the stamp to the envelope with a blow of his fist.
(b) The postmaster immediately opened the letter to know Lencho’s feeling for the money he had
received.
(c) The word is ‘affixed’.
(d) The word is ‘crook’.
NELSON MANDELA: LONG WALK TO FREEDOM
Read the following extracts carefully and answer the questions that follow.
Question 1.
10th May dawned bright and clear. For the past few days, I had been pleasantly besieged by
dignitaries and world leaders who were coming to pay their respects before the inauguration. The
inauguration would be the largest gathering ever of international leaders on South African soil.
The ceremonies took place in the lovely sandstone Amphitheatre formed by the Union Buildings
in Pretoria. For decades this had been the seat of white supremacy, and now it was the site of a
rainbow gathering of different colours and nations for the installation of South Africa’s first
democratic, non-racial government. [CBSE2015]
(a) Who were coming and for what before the inauguration?
(b) What happened on the inauguration?
(c) Find out the word that means the same ‘commencement’ from the passage.
(d) Find the word from the passage which means ‘an open space surround by sloping land’.
Answer:
(a) Dignitaries and world leaders were coming to pay their respects before the inauguration.
(b) On the inauguration the first ever democracy, a non-racial government was installed as a
victory of good or evil.
(c) The word is ‘inauguration’.
(d) The word is ‘ampitheater’.
Question 2.
On that lovely autumn day I was accompanied by my daughter Zenani. On the podium, Mr de
Klerk was first sworn in as second Deputy President. Then Thabo Mbeki was sworn in as first
Deputy President. When it was my turn, I pledged to obey and uphold the Constitution and to
devote myself to the well-being of the republic and its people.
(a) Who accompanied Nelson Mandela on the inauguration?
(b) Who took the oath before Mandela? For what?
(c) Find out the word from the passage that has the same meaning as ‘maintain’.
(d) ……. means a small platform that a person stands on when giving a speech etc.
Answer:
(a) Zenani, the daughter of Nelson Mandela accompanied him on the inauguration.
(b) Mr Deklerk and Mr Thabo Mbeki took oath before Nelson Mandela as the second and first
deputy president respectively.
(c) The word is ‘uphold’.
(d) The word is ‘podium’.
Question 3.
We, who were outlaws not so long ago, have today been given the rare privilege to be host to the
nations of the world on our own soil.
We thank all of our distinguished international guests for having come to take possession with
the people of our country of what is after all a common victory for justice, for peace, for human
dignity.
We have, at last, achieved our political emancipation. We pledge ourselves to liberate all our
people from the continuing bondage of poverty, deprivation, suffering, gender and other
discrimination.
(a) What does ‘we’ refer in the first line of the passage?
(b) What did the people of South Africa achieve at last?
(c) The word ‘bondage’ means …… in the passage.
(d) Give a synonym of ’emancipation’.
Answer:
(a) ‘We’ refers to the people of South Africa in the first line of the jpassage.
(b) The people of South Africa achieved their political emancipation at last.
(c) The word bondage means slavery in the passage.
(d) ‘Freedom/liberation’ is a synonym of emancipation.
Question 4.
A few moments later we all lifted our eyes in awe as a spectacular array of South African jets,
helicopters and troop carriers roared in perfect formation over the Union Buildings.
It was not only a display of pinpoint precision and military force, but a demonstration of
military’s loyalty to democracy, to a new
government that had been freely and fairly elected. Only moments before, the highest generals of
South African defence force and police, their chests bedecked with ribbons and medals from days
gone by, saluted me and pledged their loyalty. I was not unmindful of the fact that not so many
years before they would not have saluted but arrested me. Finally a chevron of Impala jets left a
smoke Trail of the black, red, green, blue and gold of the new South African flag.
(a) What did the highest generals do in the event?
(b) What did the smoke trail of Impala symbolise?
(c) Pick out the word from the passage that means the same as adorned.
(d) is a line or pattern in the shape of ‘V’ signifying victory.
Answer:
(a) The highest generals of defence and police saluted Mandela and pledged their loyalty to him.
(b) The smoke trail of Impala symbolised the new national flag of South Africa.
(c) The word is ‘bedecked’.
(d) Chevron.
Question 5.
On the day of the inauguration, I was overwhelmed with a sense of history. In the first decade of
the 20th century, a few years after the bitter Anglo-Boer war and before my own birth, the white-
skinned people’s of South Africa patched up their differences and created a system of racial
domination against the dark-skinned people of their own land. The structure they created formed
the basis of one of the harshest, most inhumane societies the world has ever known. Now, in the
last decade of the 20th centuryrand my own eighth decade as a man, that system had been
overturned for ever and replaced by one that recognised the rights and freedoms of all peoples,
regardless of the colour of their skin. That day had come about through the unimaginable
sacrifices of thousands of my people, people whose suffering and courage can never be counted
or repaid.
(a) What happened after Anglo-Boer war?
(b) On what basis the structure of new government created?
(c) Pick the word in the passage which has the same meaning as ‘submerged’.
(d) What is the meaning of the phrase ‘to patch up the differences’?
Answer:
(a) After Anglo-Boer war, the white people of South Africa erected a system of racial
discrimination against the black people of their own land.
(b) New government was created as the recognition of the rights and freedoms of all peoples
regardless of the colour of their skin.
(c) The word is ‘overwhelmed’.
(d) The meaning is ‘to settle some dispute’.
Question 6.
The policy of apartheid created a deep and lasting wound in my country and my people. All of us
will spend many years, if not generations, recovering from that profound hurt. But the decades of
oppression and brutality had another, unintended, effect, ‘ and that was that it produced the
Oliver Tambos, the Walter Sisulus, the Chief Luthulis, the Yusuf Dadoos, the Bram Fischers, the
Robert Sobukwes of our time-men of such extraordinary courage, wisdom and generosity that
their like may never be known again. Perhaps it reguires such depths of oppression to create
such heights of character. My country is rich in the minerals and gems that lie beneath its soil,
but I have always known that its greatest wealth is its people, finer and truer than the purest
diamonds.
(a) What did the policy of apartheid create?
(b) According to Mandela, what is the greatest wealth?
(c) Find out the word in the passage which means ‘large-heartedness.’
(d) Pick out the word from the passage which means to treat somebody/something cruelly and
unfairly.
Answer:
(a) The policy of apartheid created a deep and lasting wound in the country and its people.
(b) According to Mandela the people of his nation are the greatest wealth, not the gems or
minerals.
(c) The word is ‘generosity’.
(d) The word is ‘to oppress’.
Question 7.
“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is
not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear. No one is born hating another
person because of the colour of his skin or his background or his religion. People must learn to
hate and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to
the human heart than its opposite. Even in the grimmest times in prison, when my comrades
and I were pushed to our limits, I would see a glimmer of humanity in one of the guards, –
perhaps just for a second, but it was enough to reassure me and keep me going. Man’s goodness
is a flame that can be hidden but never extinguished.”
(a) How does Mandela define the brave?
(b) Which was the grimmest time for Mandela?
(c) Find a word similar in meaning to ‘victory’.
(d) Explain Man’s goodness is flame that can be hidden but never extinguished.
Answer:
(a) Mandela defines the brave as the one who has the courage to conquer fear.
(b) When Mandela and his comrades were pushed to their limit behind the bars, it was the
grimmest time for him.
(c) The word is ‘triumph’.
(d) It means goodness flows through the human heart constantly: under compulsion, the shadow
of selfishness may stop it for a while but it can never be altogether removed.
Question 8.
In life, every man has twin obligations- obligations to his family, to his parents, to his wife and
children; and he has an obligation to his people, his community, his country. In a civil and
humane society, each man is able to fulfil those obligations according to his own inclinations and
abilities. But in a country like South Africa, it was almost impossible for a man of my birth and
colour to fulfil both of those obligations. In South Africa, a man of colour who attempted to live
as a human being was punished and isolated. [CBSE 2014 ]
(a) What are the obligations that every man has in life?
(b) Why was it impossible for a coloured man to discharge his obligations?
(c) Find the word in the passage which has same meaning as ‘duty’.
(d) A word synonymous with intentions’ is ……… in the passage.
Answer:
(a) Every man has two obligations one is to his family and second to his community and country.
(b) In South Africa if a coloured man tried to fulfil his obligations, he was punished and isolated.
(c) The word is.‘obligation’.
(d) Inclinations.
Question 9.
“I was not born with a hunger to be free. I was born free — free in every way that I could know.
Free to run in the fields near my mother’s hut, free to swim in the clear stream that ran through
my village, free to roast mealies under the stars and ride the broad backs of slow-moving bulls.
As long as I obeyed my father and abided by the customs of my tribe, I was not troubled by the
laws of man or God. It was only when I began to learn that my boyhood freedom was an illusion,
when I discovered as a young man that my freedom had already been taken from me, that I
began to hunger for it. At first, as a student, I wanted freedom only for myself, the transitory
freedoms of being able to stay out at night, read what I pleased and go where I chose. Later, as a.
young man in Johannesburg, I yearned for the basic and honourable freedoms of achieving my
potential, of earning my keep, of marrying and having a family—the freedom not to be obstructed
in a lawful life.”
(a) In what ways was Mandela free?
(b) What kind of freedom did Mandela yearn for as a man?
(c) Give the meaning of the word ‘illusion’?
(d) What do you mean by ‘transitory’.
Answer:
(a) Mandela was free to run in the fields, free to swim in the stream, free to roast mealies and
ride the backs of slow moving bulls.
(b) Mandela yearned for the basic and honourable freedoms of achieving his potential of earning
his life, of marrying and having a family.
(c) Something which appears to be real but isn’t actually so.
(d) Transitory means ‘momentary or impermanent’
Question 10.
“But then I slowly saw that not only was I not free, but my brothers and sisters were not free.
I saw that it was not just my freedom that was curtailed, but the freedom of everyone who looked
like I did. That is when I joined the African National Congress and that is when the hunger for
my own freedom became the greater hunger for the freedom of my people.
It was this desire for the freedom of my people to live their lives with dignity and self-respect that
animated my life, that transformed a frightened young man into a bold one, that drove a law-
abiding attorney to become a criminal, that turned a family-loving husband into a man without a
home, that forced a life-loving man to live like a monk. I am no more virtuous or self-sacrificing
than the next man, but I found that I could not even enjoy the poof and limited freedoms I was
allowed when I knew my people were not free. Freedom is indivisible; the chains on anyone of my
people were the chains on all of them, the chains on all of my people were the chains on me.”
(a) Why did Mandela join the African National Congress?
(b) Why did Mandela say that freedom was indivisible?
(c) Find out the word in the passage with the same meaning ‘worthy’.
(d) Which word of English can replace the word ‘animated’ given is the passage without altering
its sense.
Answer:
(a) Mandela joined the african national congress because he wanted to fight for the freedom of his
people.
(b) Mandela knew that freedom is indivisible because the chains on anyone of his people were
chains on all of them.
(c) the word is ‘virtuous’.
(d) the word is compelled/forced.
TWO STORIES ABOUT FLYING
Story I His First Flight
Read the following extracts carefully and answer the questions that follow.
Question 1.
The young seagull was alone on his ledge. His two brothers and his sister had already flown
away the day before. He had been afraid to fly with them. Somehow when he had taken a little
run forward to the brink of the ledge and attempted to flap his wings he became afraid. The great
expanse of sea stretched down beneath, and it was such a long way down miles down. He felt
certain that his wings would never support him; so he bent his head and ran away back to the
little hole under the ledge where he slept at night.
(a) Why was the young seagull afraid?
(b) What did the young seagull feel about his wings?
(c) Pick out the word from the passage that means the same as ‘the verge’.
(d) Pick out the word from the passage which means ‘a narrow flat piece of rock that sticks out
from a cliff’.
Answer:
(a) The young seagull was afraid of flying over the sea.
(b) The young seagull felt that his wings would never support him.
(c) The word is ‘brink’.
(d) The word is ‘ledge’.
Question 2.
That was twenty-four hours ago. Since then nobody had come near him. The day before, all day
long, he had watched his parents flying about with his brothers and sister, perfecting them in
the art of flight, teaching them how to skim the waves and how to dive for fish. He had in fact,
seen his elder brother catch his first herring and devour it, standing on a rock, while his parents
circled around raising a proud cackle. And all the morning the whole family had walked about on
the big plateau midway down the opposite cliff taunting him for his cowardice.
(a) The young seagull had been alone for how much time?
(b) Why was the whole family taunting the young seagull?
(c) Find the word which can be replaced by ‘consume’ in the passage?
(d) The word ‘bravery’ is an antonym of ……….
Answer:
(a) For twenty four years, the young seagull was alone.
(b) The whole family was taunting the young seagull for his cowardice.
(c) The word is ‘devour’.
(d) The word is ‘cowardice’.
Question 3.
He stepped slowly out to the brink of the ledge, and standing on one leg with the other leg hidden
under his wing, he closed one eye, then the other, and pretended to be falling asleep. Still they
took no notice of him. He saw his two brothers and his sister lying on the plateau dozing with
their heads sunk into their necks. His father was preening the feathers on his white back.
Only his mother was looking at him. She was standing on a little high hump on the plateau, her
white breast thrust forward.
Now and again, she tore at a piece of fish that lay at her feet and then scrapped each side of her
beak on the rock.
(a) What did the young seagull do out of his ledge?
(b) What was seagull’s father doing?
(c) Find out the word in the passage which mean the same as ‘to sharpen’.
(d) What does plateau mean?
Answer:
(a) The young seagull pretended to be falling asleep and watched his brothers and sister lying on
the plateau.
(b) The seagull’s father was preening the feathers on his white back.
(c) The word is ‘preening’.
(d) A plateau is an area of land that is higher than the land around it.
Question 4.
Then a monstrous terror seized him and his heart stood still. He could hear nothing. But it only
lasted a minute. The next moment he felt his wings spread outwards. The wind rushed against
his breast feathers, then under his stomach, and against his wings. – He could feel the tips of his
wings cutting through the air. He was not falling headlong now. He was soaring gradually
downwards arid outwards, He was no longer afraid.
He just felt a bit dizzy. Then he flapped his wings once and he soared upwards. “Ga, ga, ga, Ga,
ga, ga, Gaw-col-ah,” his mother swooped past him, her wings making a loud noise. He answered
her with another scream. Then his father flew over him screaming. He saw his two brothers and
his sister flying around him curving and banking and soaring and diving. [CBSE 2016]
(a) What did the young seagull feel the next moment?
(b) What did the young seagull’s mother do?
(c) Find out the word from the passage that means the same as ‘fly high in the air’.
(d) Find out from the passage a word that means ‘to grab’.
Answer:
(a) The next moment young seagull felt his wings spread outwards.
(b) The young seagull’s mother swooped past him and made a loud noise with her wings.
(c) The word is ‘soaring’.
(d) The word in ‘seized’.
Question 5.
His parents and his brothers and sister had landed on this green flooring ahead of him. They
were beckoning to him, calling shrilly. He dropped his legs to stand on the green sea. His legs
sank into it. He screamed with fright and attempted to rise again flapping his wings. But he was
tired and weak with hunger and he could not rise, exhausted by the strange exercise. His feet
sank into the green sea, and then his belly touched it and he sank no farther. He was floating on
it, and around him his family was screaming, praising him and their beaks were offering him
scraps of dog-fish.
(a) What does the phrase, ‘this green flooring’ refer to?
(b) What made the young seagull tired?
(c) Find out the word that means the same as ‘inviting’.
(d) The word ……… means a small piece/amount of something.
Answer:
(a) ‘The green flooring’ refers to the green surface of the sea.
(b) The young seagull was tired because he was weak with hunger and he made a successful
attempt for his first flight.
(c) Beckoning.
(d) Scrap.
Story II The Black Aeroplane
Read the following extracts carefully and answer the questions that follow.
Question 1.
The moon was coming up in the east, behind me, and stars were shining in the clear sky above
me. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. I was happy to be alone high up above the sleeping
countryside. I was flying my old Dakota aeroplane over France back to England. I was dreaming
of my holiday and looking forward to being with my family. I looked at my watch at one thirty in
the morning.
I should call Paris Control soon. I thought. As 1 looked down past the nose of the aeroplane, I
saw the lights of a big city in front of me.
(a) How was the weather when the pilot started flying his aeroplane?
(b) Why was the pilot flying his old Dakota aeroplane over France back to England?
(c) Find out the word similar in the meaning to ‘hoping with pleasure’.
(d) Choose from the passage the word which means ‘land outside towns or cities’.
Answer:
(a) When the pilot started flying his aeroplane, it was a clear weather as the moon was up in the
east, stars were shining and there wasn’t any cloud in the sky.
(b) The pilot was flying his old Dakota aeroplane over France back to England because he wanted
to enjoy his holiday and morning breakfast with his family.
(c) Looking forward to.
(d) The word is countryside.
Question 2.
Paris was about 150 kilometres behind me when I saw the clouds. Storm clouds. They were
huge. They looked like black mountains ‘standing in front of me across the sky-1 knew I could
not fly up and over them, and I did not have enough fuel to fly around them to the north or
south. CBSE 2016
(a) What happened when the pilot was about 150 kilometres away from Paris?
(b) What does the author compare the clouds to?
(c) Find out the word similar in meaning as sufficient.
(d) The word ‘elephantine’ is similar in meaning to the word ………
Answer:
(a) The pilot saw storm clouds when he was about 150 kilometres away from Paris.
(b) The author compares the clouds to black mountain.
(c) The word is ‘enough’.
(d) The word is ‘huge’.
Question 3.
“He knows that I am lost”, I thought ‘He’s trying to help me.
He turned his aeroplane slowly to the north, in front of my Dakota, so that it would be easier for
me to follow him. I was very happy to go behind the strange aeroplane like an obedient child.
After half an hour the strange black aeroplane was still there in front of me in the clouds. Now,
there was only enough fuel in the old Dakota’s last tank to fly for five or ten minutes more. I was
starting to feel frightened again. But then he started to go down and I followed through the
storm.
(a) Why was the pilot happy to find his aeroplane behind another aeroplane in the black clouds?
(b) Why was the pilot frightened again?
(c) Find the opposite of ‘insufficient’ from the passage.
(d) What does a ‘storm’ mean?
Answer:
(a) The pilot was happy to find his aeroplane behind another aeroplane in the black clouds
because another pilot was helping him come out of the storm clouds.
(b) The pilot felt frightened again because the fuel was not sufficient to reach the destination as it
was only enough for next five or ten minutes.
(c) Enough.
(d) A storm is a very bad weather with strong winds and rain, thunder and lightning.
Question 4.
I landed and was not sorry to walk away from the old Dakota near the control tower. I went and
asked a woman in the control centre where I was and who the other pilot was. ‘I wanted to say
‘Thank you’.
She looked at me very strangely, and then laughed.
‘Another aeroplane? Up there in this storm? No other aeroplanes were flying tonight. ‘Yours was
the only one I could see on the radar.”
So who helped me to arrive there safely without a compass or a radio, and without any more fuel
in my tanks? Who was the pilot on the strange black aeroplane, flying in the storm, without
lights? CBSE 2016
(a) Why did the writer go to the Control center immediately?
(b) Why was the writer shocked after hearing the woman’s word?
(c) Find out the word in the passage that means the same as ‘peculiar’.
(d) Which part of speech does the word ‘tonight’ belong to?
Answer:
(a) The writer went to the Control center to ask about the black aeroplane so he could thank the
pilot for saving his life.
(b) The writer was shocked after hearing the woman’s word because she told him that there was
no other aeroplane flying that night as she had seen on the radar.
(c) Strange.
(d) ‘Tonight’ is an adverb.
FROM THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK
Read the following extracts carefully and answer the questions that follow.
Question 1.
Writing in a diary is a really strange experience for someone like me. Not only because I have
never written anything before, but also because it seems to me that later on neither I nor anyone
else will be interested in the musing of a thirteen year old school girl. Oh well, it doesn’t matter. I
feel like writing and I have an even greater need to get all kind of things off my chest.
‘Paper has more patience than people.’ I thought of this saying on one of those days when I was
feeling a little depressed and was sitting at home with my chin in my hands, bored and listless,
wondering whether to stay in or go out.
(a) To whom does T refer in the given passage?
(b) ‘Paper has more patience than people’ – Why did Anne Frank say that?
(c) Find a word in the passage that means ‘deep thought’.
(d) Which word in the passage is a synonym of lethargic?
Answer:
(a) ‘I’ refers to Anne Frank in the given passage.
(b) Anne Frank said that ‘Paper has more patience than people’ because one can rely on the
paper to confide his/her secrets and it listens carefully and silendy.
(c) The word is ‘musing’.
(d) The word is ‘listless’.
Question 2.
Let me put it more clearly, since no one will believe that a thirteen-year-old girl is completely
alone in the world. And I’m not. I have loving parents and a sixteen-year-old sister, and there are
about thirty people I can call friends. I have a family, loving aunts and a good home. No, on the
surface I seem to have everything, except my one true friend. All I think about when I’m with
friends is having a good time. I can’t bring myself to talk about anything but ordinary everyday
things. We don’t seem to be able to get any closer, and that’s the problem. Maybe it’s my fault
that we don’t confide in each other. In any case, that’s just how things are, and unfortunately
they’re not liable to change. This is why I’ve started the diary.
(a) Why was Anne Frank disturbed even when she had loving parents, relatives and friends?
(b) Why did Anne decide to write a diary?
(c) Find the word that means the same as ‘unluckily’.
(d) To confide in somebody is to ………
Answer:
(a) Anne Frank was disturbed even after being surrounded by so many people because she didn’t
have any true friend.
(b) Anne decided to write a diary because she could not confide in anyone and felt lonely.
(c) The word is unfortunately.
(d) It means tell somebody your secrets or personal information.
Question 3.
To enhance the image of this long awaited friend in my imagination, I don’t want to jot down the
facts in this diary the way most people would do, but I want the diary to be my friend, and I’m
going to call this friend ‘Kitty’.
Since no one would understand a word of my stories to Kitty if I were to plunge right in, I’d better
provide a brief sketch of my life, much as I dislike doing so. CBSE 2016
(a) Who was the long awaited friend of Anne? Why?
(b) What did she provide in her diary?
(c) Find a word from the extract which means the same as ‘submerge’.
(d) To write down the idea as and when it occurs in mind is ceiled
Answer:
(a) The diary named ‘Kitty’ was the long awaited friend of Anne, because she had no true friend
in her life with whom she could share her feelings and thoughts.
(b) She provided a brief-sketch of her life and her family in her diary.
(c) It is called jotling down.
Question 4.
My father the most adorable father I’ve ever seen, didn’t marry my mother until he was
36 and she was 25. My sister Margot was born in Frankfurt in Germany in 1926.1 was born on
12th June, 1929.1 lived in Frankfurt until I was ’ four. My father emigrated to Holland in 1933.
My mother, Edith Hollander Frank, went with him to Holland in September, while Margot and I
were sent to Aachen to stay with our grandmother.
(a) When and where was Anne Frank bom?
(b) To whom was Anne and her sister Margot stay with in Aachen? Why?
(c) Find out the opposite of ‘immigrated’ used in the passage.
(d) Is there any word in the passage which means ‘to dote on’? If so, write it.
Answer:
(a) Anne Frank was born in Germany on 12th June, 1929.
(b) Anne and her sister Margot stayed with their Grandmother in Aachen as their parents
emigrated to Holland.
(c) The word ‘emigrated’ is the opposite of‘immigrated’.
(d) The word is ‘adore’.
Question 5.
That evening, after I’d finished the rest of my homework, the note about the essay caught my
eye. I began thinking about the subject while chewing the tip of my fountain pen. Anyone could
ramble on and leave big spaces between the words, but the trick was to come up with convincing
arguments to prove the necessity of talking. I thought and thought, and suddenly I had an idea,:
I wrote the three pages Mr. Keesing had assigned me and was satisfied. I argued that talking is a
student’s trait and that I would do my best to keep it under control, but that I would never be
able to cure myself of the habit since my mother talked as much as I did if not more, and that
there’s not much you can do about inherited traits.
(a) What is the main feature of an essay according to Anne?
(b) What did Anne argue in the essay? Why?
(c) What does the idiom ‘caught my eye’ means?
(d) What do you understand by inherited traits?
Answer:
(a) The main feature of an essay is ‘to give convincing arguments’ in support of the necessity to
talk.
(b) Anne argued that talking was a student’s trait and she got it from her mother so nothing
could done about this inherited trait.
(c) ‘Caught my eye’ means ‘to attract attention’.
(d) It means a particular quality of one’s personality which one inherits from parents.
Question 6.
However, during the third lesson he’d finally had enough. ‘Anne Frank, as punishment for
talking in class, write an essay entitled ‘Quack, Quack, Quack, Said Mistress Chatterbox’.” The
class roared. I had to laugh too, though I’d nearly exhausted my ingenuity on the topic of
Chatterboxes. It was time to come up with something else, something original. My friend, Sanne,
who’s good at poetry, offered to help me write the essay from beginning to end in verse and I
jumped for joy. Mr Keesing was trying to play a joke on me with this ridiculous subject, but I’d
make sure the joke was on him.
(a) Why did Mr Keesing her teacher ask her to write another essay?
(b) Why did Anne want to write the essay with the help of her friend Sanne?
(c) Find out the word which means ‘deserving or inviting mockery’.
(d) The word ……. means the ability to invent things and solve problems in a clever and new way.
Answer:
(a) Mr Keesing asked her to write another essay as punishment because she had not stopped
talking in the class.
(b) Anne wanted to write the essay with something original so she sought help from Sanne her
friend, who suggested her to write the essay in verse.
(c) The word ‘ridiculous’ means ‘deserving and inviting mockery’.
(d) The word is ‘ingenuity’.
Question 7.
I finished ray poem, and it was beautiful! It was about a mother duck and a father swan with
three baby ducklings who were bitten to death by the father because they quacked too much.
Luckily, Mr Keesing took the joke the right way. He read the poem to the class, adding his own
comments, and to several other classes as well. Since then I’ve been allowed to talk and haven’t
been assigned any extra homework. On the contrary, Mr Keesing’s always making jokes these
days.
(a) Why did the father duck kill the baby ducklings?
(b) What happened when Mr Keesing read the essay?
(c) Find out the word from the passage which means ‘given’.
(d) ‘On the contrary’ means …………
Answer:
(a) The father duck killed the baby ducklings because they quacked too much.
(b) When Mr Keesing read the essay, he understood the feelings of Anne and allowed her to talk.
He also started to make jokes thereafter.
(c) The word is ‘assigned’.
(d) The word is ‘inversely opposite’.
THE HUNDRED DRESSES
Read the following extracts carefully and answer the questions that follow.
Question 1.
Today, Monday, Wanda Petronski was not in her seat. But nobody, not even Peggy and Maddie,
the girls who started all the fun, noticed her absence. Usually Wanda sat in the seat next to the
last seat in the last row in Room Thirteen. She sat in the corner of the room where the rough
boys who did not make good marks sat, the corner of the room where there was most scuffling of
feet, most roars of laughter when anything funny was said, and most mud and dirt on the floor.
Wanda did not sit there because she was rough and noisy. On the contrary, she was very quiet
and rarely said anything at all. And nobody had ever heard her laugh out loud. Sometimes she
twisted her mouth into a crooked sort of smile, but that was all.
(a) Who didn’t noticed Wanda’s absence?
(b) Why did Wanda Petronski sit in the last row of the class?
(c) Find out the word which means the same as ‘dragging’.
(d) What kind of a girl Wanda was?
Answer:
(a) Wanda’s absence was not noticed by anyone, not even by Peggy and Maddie who used to
tease her everyday after school.
(b) Wanda Petronski sat in the last row of the class because she was very quiet and wanted to
avoid the taunts and trouble by girls in the class.
(c) The word is ‘scuffling’
(d) Wanda was very quiet and serious girl who didn’t involve in the activities with other girls. No
body hadn’t seen her laughing or playing.
Question 2.
But on Wednesday, Peggy and Maddie, who sat down in front with other children who got good
marks and who didn’t track in a whole lot of mud, did notice that Wanda wasn’t there. Peggy was
the most popular girl in school. She was pretty, she had many pretty clothes and her hair was
curly. Maddie was her closest friend. The reason Peggy and Maddie noticed Wanda’s absence was
because Wanda had made them late to school.
(a) What kind of a girl Peggy was?
(b) How did Peggy and Maddie turn up late for school?
(c) Find a word that means the opposite of ‘absence’.
(d) Who noticed Wanda’s absence in the class?
Answer:
(a) Peggy was a pretty and the most popular girl in her school. She was very helpful and very
close to Maddie.
(b) Peggy and Maddie turned up late to school because they waited for Wanda to make fun of her.
(c) The word is ‘presence’.
(d) Peggy and Maddie who sat down in front of other children noticed Wanda’s absence in the
class.
Question 3.
Wanda didn’t have any friends. She came to school alone and went home alone. She always wore
a faded blue dress that didn’t hang right. It was clean, but it looked as though it had never been
ironed properly. She didn’t have any friends, but a lot of girls talked to her. Sometimes, they
surrounded her in the school yard as she stood watching the little girls play hopscotch on the
worn hard ground.
”Wanda,” Peggy would say in a most courteous manner as though she were talking to Miss
Mason. “Wanda,” she’d say, giving one of her friends a nudge, “tell us. How many dresses did you
say you had hanging up in your closet ?” ‘ A ‘ hundred,” Wanda would say. ‘A hundred !”
exclaimed all the little girls incredulously, and the little ones would stop playing hopscotch and
listen.
(a) Did Wanda have any friend? Why did girls surround her?
(b) How did the girls make fun of Wanda?
(c) Find the word which means ‘unwilling to accept’.
(d) What did Wanda Wear always?
Answer:
(a) No, Wanda didn’t have any friends. Girls surrounded her as she watched little girls play
hopscotch on the ground.
(b) The girls made fun of Wanda by asking her questions about the hundred dresses she once
claimed of having.
(c) The word is ‘incredulously’.
(d) Wanda always wore a faded blue dress, though it was clean but it had never been ironed
properly.
Question 4.
Peggy was not really cruel. She protected small children from bullies. And she cried for hours if
she saw an animal mistreated.
If anybody had said to her, “Don’t you think that is a cruel way to treat Wanda ?” She would
have been very surprised. Cruel ? Why did the girl say she had a hundred dresses ? Anybody
could tell that was a lie. Why did she want to lie ? And she wasn’t just an ordinary person, else
why did she have a name like that ? Anyway, they never made her cry.
(a) Peggy was not cruel. Give reason.
(b) Why did Peggy tease Wanda?
(c) Find out the word which means the same as ‘ Ill-treated’.
(d) Did Wanda lie about her hundred dresses?
Answer:
(a) Peggy was not cruel as she protected small children from bullies and cried after seeing an
animal ill-treated.
(b) Peggy teased Wanda because Wanda lied about having a hundred dresses and an unusual
name.
(c) The word is ‘mistreated’.
(d) Wanda did not lie about her hundred dresses as she had hundred drawings of different
dresses and she always talked about them.
Question 5.
Sometimes, when Peggy was asking Wanda those questions in that mocking polite voice, Maddie
felt embarrassed and studied the marbles in the palm of her hand, rolling them around and
saying nothing herself. Not that she felt sorry for Wanda, exactly. She would never have paid any
attention to Wanda if Peggy hadn’t invented the dresses game. But suppose Peggy and all the
others started in on her next ? She wasn’t as poor as Wanda, perhaps, but she was poor. Of
course, she would have more sense than to say she had a hundred dresses. Still she would not
like for them to begin on her. She wished peggy would stop teasing Wanda Petronski.
(a) Why did Maddie feel embarrassed when Peggy teased Wanda?
(b) What did Maddie want Peggy to do?
(c) Find the word which means the same as ‘ashamed or humiliated’.
(d) What is the difference between Maddie and Wanda?
Answer:
(a) Maddie felt embarrassed when Peggy teased Wanda because she herself was poor and did not
want herself at Wanda’s place.
(b) Maddie wanted Peggy to stop teasing Wanda as it was not good to make fun of her name or
about dresses.
(c) The word is ‘embarrassed’.
(d) The difference between Maddie and Wanda is that though Maddie was also poor but not as
poor as Wanda. But Wanda would have more sense than to say she had a hundred dresses.
Question 6.
She wished she had the nerve to write Peggy a note, because she knew she never would have the
courage to speak right out to Peggy, to say, “Hey, Peg, let’s stop asking Wanda how many dresses
she has.” When she finished her arithmetic she did start a note to Peggy. Suddenly she paused
and shuddered. She pictured herself in the school yard, a new target for Peggy and the girls.
Peggy might ask her where she got the dress that she had on, and Maddie would have to say it
was one of Peggy’s old ones that Maddie’s mother had tried to disguise with new trimmings so no
one in Room Thirteen would recognise it.
(a) Why was Maddie afraid of speaking to Peggy to stop teasing Wanda?
(b) Where did Maddie get her dresses from?
(c) Find the word that means ‘decorations’.
(d) What had Maddie’s mother done with the old dresses of Peggy? Why?
Answer:
(a) Maddie was afraid of losing Peggy’s friendship and did not want to be her next target of fun.
(b) Maddie got her dresses from rich families and few of them were of Peggy.
(c) The word is ‘trimming’.
(d) Maddie’s mother had tried to disguise the old dresses of Peggy with new trimmings so no one
in Maddie’s class would recognise them.
Question 7.
As for Wanda, she was just some girl who lived up on Beggings Heights and stood alone in the
school yard. She scarcely ever said anything to anybody. The only time she talked was in the
school yard about her hundred dresses. Maddie remembered her telling about one of her
dresses, pale blue with coloured trimmings.
And she remembered another that was brilliant jungle green with a red sash. “You’d look like a
Christmas tree in that,” the girls had said in pretended admiration. CBSE 2016
(a) Where did Wanda live and what did she talk . about?
(b) How-did Wanda reply to Peggy’s mocking her?
(c) Find out the synonym of ‘hardly’ as used in the passage.
(d) What did Maddie remember about Wanda’s dresses?
Answer:
(a) Wanda lived up on Boggins Heights and she talked about a hundred dresses of different
colours.
(b) Wanda replied to Peggys’s mocking her by drawing sketches of a hundred dresses in the
drawing competition.
(c) The word is ‘scarcely’.
(d) Maddie remembered a few of Wanda’s dresses like a pale blue with coloured trimmings and
another brilliant jungle green with a red sash.
Question 8.
‘As for the girls” she said, although just one or two sketches were submitted by most. One girl
and Room Thirteen should be proud of her-this one girl actually drew one hundred designs all
different and all beautiful. In the opinion of the judges, any one of the drawings is worthy of
winning the prize. I am very happy to say that Wanda Petronski is the winner of the girls’ medal.”
(a) Who does ‘one girl1 refer to in the passage?
(b) What was the result of the drawing competition?
(c) Find out the antonym of the word ‘unreliable’ used in the given passage.
(d) What was the opinion of the judges of the drawing competition about Wanda’s drawing?
Answer:
(a) ‘One girl’ refers to Wanda Petronski in the passage.
(b) Wanda Petronski won the drawing competition by drawing the sketches of hundred beautiful
dresses and each of them was worthy enough to win the competition individually.
(c) The word is ‘worthy’.
(d) In the opinion of the judges, any one of Wanda’s drawings is worthy of winning the prize.
DUST OF SNOW
Read the following extracts and answer the question/complete the sentences that follow
Question 1.
The way a crow
Shook down on me The dust of snow From a hemlock tree Has given my heart A change of mood
And saved some part Of a day I had rued
(a) Where was the crow ?
(b) What did it shake on the poet ?
(c) What does the word, ‘rued’ mean ?
(d) What is the poet’s state of mind ?
Answer:
(a) The crow was on a hemlock tree.
(b) It shook dust of snow on the poet.
(c) The word ‘rued’ means held in regret.
(d) The poet was in a sad, depressive and hopeless mood that time.
(or)
(a)a crow
(b)dust of snow
(c)the poet
Question 2.
The way a crow
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree
(a) Where did the crow sit ?
(b) We can say that the poet was …….
(c) How did the crow change the poet’s mood ?
(d) What fell off from a humlock tree ?
Answer:
(a) The crow sat on a branch of hemlock tree.
(b) …….. in a sad mood.
(c) The crow changed the poet’s mood by shaking down the dust of snow from a hemlock tree.
(d) Dust of snow fell from a hemlock tree.
Question 3.
Has given my heart
A change of mood
And saved some part
Of a day I had rued.
1. (a) Of what change does the poet mention here ?
(b) Whose part of the day has been saved ?
(c) What is the rhyme scheme of the passage ?
(d) Who is the poet ?
OR
2. (a) What had given the poet ‘a change of mood’ ?
(b) What did the poet think of that day ?
(c) What did the crow do to the hemlock tree ?
(d) Name the poet of the poem.
Answer:
1. (a) The poet mentions the change of mood here.
(b) The poet’s part of the day has been saved.
(c) The rhyme scheme of the passage is ab ab.
(d) Robert Frost is the poet.
OR
2. (a) The falling of dust of snow gave the poet ‘a change of mood’.
(b) The poet earlier wasted that day, but later revived the spirit to realize the rest of the day.
(c) The crow shook the hemlock tree.
(d) The poet is ‘Robert Frost’.
FIRE AND ICE
Read the following extracts carefully and answer the questions that follow.
Question 1.
Some say the world will end in fire
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favour fire.
(a) What is the poet’s opinion of the world in these lines?
(b) What is the poet’s opinion about the world?
(c) What is the contradictory opinion of public?
(d) How are ice and fire similar to each other though they have contradictory traits?
Answer:
(a) In the poet’s opinion the world will end in fire.
(b) Aaccording to the poet, the world will end in fire.
(c) The contradictory opinion of public is the debate whether the world will end in fire or ice.
(d) Both ice and fire are similar in the in the sense that both of them would destroy everything in
the world.
Question 2.
But if it had to perish twice I think I know enough of hate To say that for destruction ice Is also
great And would suffice.
(a) What does ‘it’ refers to in the first line?
(b) What do you mean by ‘perish’?
(c) What does ice stand for?
(d) What would be the cause of destruction?
Answer:
(a) ‘It’ refers to the world.
(b) Perish means to die or to be destroyed.
(c) Ice stands for coldness.
(d) Ice or fire would be the cause of destruction.
A TIGER IN THE ZOO
Read the following extracts carefully and answer the questions that follow.
Question 1.
He stalks in his vivid stripes,
The few steps of his cage,
On pads of velvet quiet,
In his quiet rage.
(a) Why the tiger could walk only a few steps?
(b) How does the tiger move in the cage?
(c) What are the two qualities of the animal under reference?
(d) Why is he in quiet rage?
Answer:
(a) The tiger could walk only a few steps because he was locked in a very small cage.
(b) The tiger moves very slowly and quietly in a threatening way.
(c) The tiger has vivid stripes on his body and soft velvet pads.
(d) He is in quiet rage as he is locked and his freedom has been curtailed. Thus, he is unable to
show his anger and ferocity.
Question 2.
He should be lurking in shadow,
Sliding through long grass,
Near the water hole,
Where plump deer pass.
(a) Who is ‘He’ here?
(b) Where should he be lurking?
(c) Where should he be sliding?
(d) Who would pass through the water hole?
Answer:
(a) ‘He’ refers to the tiger.
(b) He should be lurking in the shadows in the forest.
(c) The tiger should be sliding through the long grass in the forest.
(d) A plump deer would pass through the water hole.
Question 3.
He should be snarling around houses At the jungle’s edge,
Baring his white fangs, his claws,
Terrorising the village!
(a) What does the poet try to suggest through these lines?
(b) How does the tiger scare the people?
(c) Why does ‘he’ snarl?
(d) How does ‘he’ show his presence?
Answer:
(a) The poet is trying to suggest that the tiger should be allowed to live in his natural habitat.
(b) The tiger scares the people by growling at them and showing his teeth and claws.
(c) ‘He’ snarls to show his anger and helplessness.
(d) ‘He’ shows his presence by baring his white teeth and claws.
Question 4.
But he’s locked in a concrete cell,
His strength behind bars,
Stalking the length of his cage,
Ignoring visitors.
(a) What does the phrase ‘his strength behind the bar’ suggests?
(b) Why does the tiger ignore the visitors?
(c) What is the tiger doing in the cage?
(d) What does the expression ‘stalking the length of the cage’ imply?
Answer:
(a) It means that he is helpless as he is locked in a cage.
(b) The tiger ignores the visitors because he considers them devoid of feelings as none of them
tries to help him out of the prison.
(c) The tiger is moving slowly and quietly along the length of the cage.
(d) It implies walking to and fro in helplessness.
Question 5.
He hears the last voice at night,
The patrolling cars,
And stares With his brilliant eyes
At the brilliant stars.
(a) What kind of voices does the tiger hear?
(b) Where does the tiger look at in the night?
(c) What do you mean by ‘patrolling’?
(d) What is the effect of the repeated use of the word ‘brilliant’?
Answer:
(a) The tiger hears the voice coming from the patrolling cars at night.
(b) The tiger looks at the brilliant stars shining in the sky at the night.
(c) ‘Patrolling’ means to go around an area at regular times to check that it is safe.
(d) The repeated use of brilliant shows the contrast. The brilliant stars are free while the brilliant
eyes are inside the cage.
THE BALL
Read the following extracts carefully and answer the questions that follow.
Question 1.
What is the boy now, who has lost his ball, What, what is he to do? I saw it go Merrily bouncing,
down the street, and then Merrily over – there it is in the water! No use to say – ‘O there are other
balls’:
(a) What has happened to the boy?
(b) Why does the poet say ‘No use to say – ‘O there are other balls’?
(c) Which word means ‘happily’?
(d) Where did the ball go?
Answer:
(a) The boy was very sad as he had lost his ball.
(b) The poet says so as the loss of the ball is of a major consequence to the boy.
(c) Merrily means happily.
(d) The ball went to the water.
Question 2.
An ultimate shaking grief fixes the boy As he stands rigid, trembling, staring down All his young
days into the harbour where His ball went. I would not intrude on him, A dlime, another ball, is
worthless.
(a) Where had the boy’s ball gone?
(b) How has the loss affected the boy?
(c) Why was ‘he’ trembling, staring down?
(d) What does the poet mean by ‘first responsibility’?
Answer:
(a) The boy’s ball went into the dark waters of the harbour.
(b) The boy is very much troubled at the loss of his ball. He stands still, trembling and staring at
his ball.
(c) He was trembling, staring down as he had lost his ball.
(d) By ‘First responsibility’, he, means to look after his things properly.
Question 3.
……………Now
He senses first responsibility
In a world of possessions. People will take
Balls, balls will be lost always, little boy.
And no one buys a ball back. Money is external.
(a) What does the boy understand?
(b) What does the word ‘balls’ signify?
(c) What is meant by the word ‘possessions’?
(d) What does “In a world of possessions mean?”
Answer:
(a) The boy learns to grow up and understands his first responsibility.
(b) ‘Balls’ signify the boys’ innocence and happy young days.
(c) ‘Possessions’ means something that is owned or possessed.
(d) It means that everybody loves to possess things or materials in their names.
Question 4.
He is learning, well behind his desperate eyes,
The epistemology of loss, how to stand up
Knowing what every man must one day know
And most know many days, how to stand up.
(a) What is the boy learning?
(b) Why are boy’s eyes desperate?
(c) What do you mean by ‘epistemology of loss’?
(d) What every man needs to know one day?
Answer:
(a) The boy is learning to cope up with the loss.
(b) Boy’s eyes looks desperate as he is sad to see his ball gone forever.
(c) ‘Epistemology of loss’ means to understand the nature of loss.
(d) Every man needs to know one day that loss may occur to him and he would have to bear it
up.
A TRIUMPH OF SURGERY
Read the following extracts carefully and answer the questions that follow.
Question 1.
‘And did you cut down on the sweet things as I told you?’
(a) What sweet things are being referred to in the extract?
(b) Why does the speaker enquire if the sweet things have been cut down?
(c) What is the meaning of the phrase ‘cut down’?
(d) What is the opposite of ‘sweet’?
Answer:
(a) The sweet things mentioned in the extract are cream cakes and chocolates.
(b) The speaker enquires if the sweet things have been cut down because these were spoiling
Tricki’s health and he needed to be put on a strict diet.
(c) The phrase ‘cut down’ means ‘to reduce the quantity of something’.
(d) ‘Sour’ is its opposite.
Question 2.
I tried to sound severe: “Now ! really mean this. If you don’t cut his food right down and give him
more exercise he is going to be really ill. You must harden your heart and keep him on a very
strict diet”.
(a) Why did the speaker try to sound severe?
(b) For whom was the advice given and why?
(c) Find the word in the extract which is a synonym of the word ‘serious’.
(d) What is the antonym of ‘hardened’?
Answer:
(a) The speaker tried to sound severe to make Mrs Pumphrey take his advice seriously and act on
it.
(b) The advice was giverf’for Tricki because he had become obese and listless. He was unwell and
the speaker wanted him to be on a strict diet.
(c) The word is ‘severe’.
(d) Its antonym is ‘softened’.
Question 3.
As I moved off, Mrs Pumphrey, with a despairing cry, threw an armful of the little coats through
the window. I looked in the mirror before I turned the corner of the drive; everybody was in tears.
(a) Where was the speaker going and with whom?
(b) Why was everybody in tears? ‘
(c) Find the word in the extract which is an antonym of the word ‘cheerful’.
(d) What is the opposite of ‘before’?
Answer:
(a) The speaker was going to the hospital with Tricki.
(b) Everybody was in tears because Tricki was being hospitalised as he was ill. Everyone was
worried about his health.
(c) The word is ‘despairing’.
(d) ‘After’ is its opposite.
Question 4.
“Poor old lad”, I said. “You haven’t a kick in you but I think I know a cure for you”.
(a) Why does the speaker say “poor old lad”.
(b) What cure did the speaker know?
(c) What is the meaning of ‘a kick’ in the extract?
(d) Write a synonym of ‘cure1.
Answer:
(a) The speaker addresses Tricki as a poor old lad because he is unwell and listless.
(b) The speaker knew that the cure for Tricki’s illness is to put him on a strict diet.
(c) The phrase means ‘any alertness’.
(d) ‘Heal’ is a synonym of‘cure’.
THE THIEF’S STORY
Read the following extracts carefully and answer the questions that follow.
Question 1.
“You look a bit of a wrestler yourself”. I said A little flattery helps in making friends.
(a) Who was the speaker? Who was he trying to flatter?
(b) Why did the speaker want to be friends with the listener?
(c) Find the antonym of ‘criticism’ in the extract.
(d) What is the opposite of ‘friends’?
Answer:
(a) Hari Singh was the speaker and he was trying to flatter Anil.
(b) The speaker wanted to be friends with the listener because he wanted to rob him after gaining
his trust.
(c) The antonym is ‘flattery’.
(d) ‘Enemies’ is its opposite.
Question 2.
Well, it’s time I did some real work, I told myself; I’m out of practice.
(a) What ‘real work’ is the speaker talking about?
(b) Why does the speaker say ‘I’m out of practice’?
(c) Give a synonym of ‘practice’.
(d) What part of speech is the word ‘real’ in the extract?
Answer:
(a) The ‘real work’ in the extract refers to stealing.
(b) The speaker says so because he is a thief and he has not robbed anyone recently.
(c) Here, habit is a synonym of ‘practice’.
(d) It is an adjective
Question 3.
When the train had gone, I found myself standing alone on the deserted platform. I had no idea
where to spend the night. I had no friends.
(a) Why was the speaker standing alone on the platform?
(b) Why did he not have any friends?
(c) Which word in the extract is an antonym of the word ‘crowded’?
(d) What does ‘deserted’ mean?
Answer:
(a) The speaker was standing alone on the platform because a train had just left.
(b) The speaker did not have any friends because he thought that friends were more trouble than
help.
(c) The word is ‘deserted’.
(d) It means empty.
Question 4.
He knew. But neither his lips nor his eyes showed anything.
(a) Who is ‘he’ in the extract? What did he know?
(b) Why did he not show anything?
(c) Which word in the extract means the same as ‘reveal’.
(d) What is the antonym of ‘showed’?
Answer:
(a) ‘He’ refers to Anil in the extract. He knew about the theft of his money.
(b) Anil did not show anything because he was understanding and Hari’s return gave him the
hope of a change in him.
(c) ‘Showed’ means the same as ‘reveal’.
(d) ‘Hide’ is its antonym.
FOOTPRINTS WITHOUT FEET
Read the following extracts carefully and answer the questions that follow.
Question 1.
As they gazed, a remarkable sight met their eyes. A fresh footmark appeared from nowhere!
Further footprints followed, one after another, descending the steps and progressing down the
street.
(a) Who are ‘they’ in the above extract?
(b) Who is making these footprints?
(c) Find the word from the extract that means the same as ‘continuing’.
(d) What is the opposite of ‘remarkable’?
Answer:
(a) ‘They’ in the above extract are two boys on a street in London.
(b) The scientist Griffin, who has become invisible, is making these footprints.
(c) The word is ‘progressing’.
(d) Its opposite is ‘ordinary’.
Question 2.
The air was bitterly cold and he could not do without clothes. Instead of walking about the
streets he decided to slip into a big London store for warmth.
(a) Who is ‘he’ in the above extract?
(b) Why was the air bitterly cold?
(c) Find a word from the extract that means the same as ‘quietly enter’
(d) What is the opposite of ‘warmth’?
Answer:
(a) ‘He’ in the above extract is Griffin, the invisible scientist.
(b) The air was bitterly cold because the season was mid-winter.
(c) The word is ‘slip’.
(d) Its opposite is ‘chill’.
Question 3.
They naturally gave chase. In the end he was able to escape only by quickly taking off his newly
found clothes. So once more he found himself invisible but naked in the chill January air.
(a) Who are ‘they’ and ‘he’ referred to in the above extract?
(b) Why has the author used the phrase ‘once more’?
(c) Find a word from the extract that means the same as ‘run away’.
(d) What is the opposite of ‘invisible’?
Answer:
(a) ‘They’ are the shop assistants and ‘he’ is the invisible scientist, Griffin.
(b) The author has used the phrase ‘once more’ because Griffin was naked before he had entered
the large store, from where he had taken the ‘newly found’ clothes.
(c) The word is ‘escape’.
(d) Its opposite is ‘visible’.
Question 4.
Suspicion grew even stronger when he suddenly produced some ready cash, though he had
admitted not long before that he had no money.
(a) Who is ‘he’ in the above extract?
(b) What was ‘he’ suspected for?
(c) Find a word / phrase from the extract that means the same as ‘money’.
(d) Give a synonym of ‘suddenly’.
Answer:
(a) ‘He’ in the above extract is Griffin, the invisible scientist.
(b) ‘He’ was suspected for having a role in the burglary at the clergyman’s home.
(c) The phrase is ‘ready cash’.
(d) Its synonym is ‘immediately’.