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12. Poem – No Men are Foreign – Worksheet Solutions

October 22, 2025 by khushikhanera

Short Answer Questions

Q.1. What is the motive of the poet about the poem?

The motive of the poet is that we should refrain from war and not destroy people of other nations based on religion, culture, race or colour or for land as all are human and have descended from the same ancestors.

Q.2. Why does the poet say that under the uniform the same body lies?

The poet says that under the uniform the same body lies. He wants to express that different countries may have their soldiers in different uniforms, but human body is the same that wears it.

Q.3. What is the poet trying to convey through this poem?

Through this poem the poet is trying to convey that we belong to the same human race and thus have common ancestors. We all have been bestowed with similar bodies and limbs and therefore should not wage a war with others.

Q.4. What was the mood of the poet when he wrote this poem?

The mood of the poet was full of gloom and sadness when he wrote this poem because he saw the ravages and destruction caused by war.

Q.5. Why does the poet say, ‘it is ourselves that we shall dispossess, betray, condemn’?

The poet says, ‘it is ourselves that we shall dispossess, betray, condemn’ for he wants to convey that by destroying people of other countries we are not only harming them but harming ourselves too.

Q.6. What is the attitude of the poet towards human race as a whole?

The attitude of the poet towards human race is very positive. He doesn’t want war among nations for a piece of land or based on religion.

Q.7. The poem is all about ‘Xenophobia’. Does the poet like the idea of the people to create their societies propagating xenophobia or jingoism?

‘Xenophobia’ is the fear and distrust of that which is perceived to be foreign or strange. Xenophobia is a political term and not a recognized medical phobia. It may develop from the perception that other race, culture or religion or country is trying to destroy your identity. Xenophobia can also be exhibited in the form of an “uncritical praise of another culture” in which a culture is recognized “an unreal, labelled and mysterious quality”. The terms xenophobia and racism are sometimes confused and used interchangeably because people who share a national origin may also belong to the same race. Due to this, xenophobia is usually distinguished by opposition to foreign culture.

Q.8. What is the central idea of the poem?

The central idea of the poem is that all people are equal, have descended from the same ancestors and have been bestowed with same body, limbs and mind. The earth is a single entity, but we have divided it into different continents, nations either based on the religion or culture. The poet says we wage wars to acquire a piece of land that belongs to other country but what we do, we destroy not only our neighbor, we destroy our people as well. The destruction caused by war is like a long winter in which the vary people who wage war are at the receiving end.

Q.9. What is the perception of the poet?

From the first stanza we come to know that the poet is against all the borders among the countries and he expressed his wish to remove it. According to him if there will be no border no country will be consider as a foreign country. Everyone will be free to move around. He wanted to state that all people are belonging from a single human race and all the soldiers are our brothers. We all one children of the “Mother Earth”.

Q.10. What are the similarities between them and us?

Here ‘Them’ refers to the foreigners. We always discriminate them and fight with them thought we know that we all belong from a single human race. We as a human being, all enjoy the every beauty of nature. That means for God we all are same. Again we all do farming when there is no war, we starve because of the war, our hands are same and we can put same effort to work hard. So here the poet wanted to convey the message of universal brotherhood.

Multiple Choice Questions

Q1: What is the main theme of the poem?

Love and War
Unity and Brotherhood
Nature and Humanity
Struggle and Victory

Ans:Q1: b

Q2: What do the author’s words suggest about human life?

It is filled with hatred
It is a struggle for power
It is universal and interconnected
It is meant for individual gain

Ans:Q2: c

Q3: What do the lines “Our hells of fire and dust outrage the innocence Of air that is everywhere our own” imply?

Human actions impact the environment negatively
Humanity is inherently destructive
Wars create a polluted atmosphere
People are indifferent to nature

Ans:Q3: a

Q4: What should individuals remember according to the text?

To always prioritize their own country
That all men are foreign
To hate their brothers
To recognize common humanity

Ans:Q4: d

Q5: What is the consequence of taking arms against each other as per the poem?

Victory and glory
Unity and peace
Ruin and desolation
Freedom and prosperity

Ans:Q5: cFill in the Blanks

Q1: The land our brothers walk upon is earth like this, in which we all shall lie. They, too, aware of sun and air and water, are fed by peaceful harvests, by war’s long winter __________.

Ans:Q1: starved

Q2: Their hands are ours, and in their lines we read a labour not different from our __________.

Ans:Q2: own

Q3: Remember they have eyes like ours that wake or __________, and strength that can be won by love.

Ans:Q3: sleep

Q4: In every land is common life that all can __________ and understand.

Ans:Q4: recognise

Q5: Let us remember, whenever we are told to hate our brothers, it is ourselves that we shall __________, betray, condemn.

Ans:Q5: dispossessTrue or False

Q1: All countries are strange and all men are foreign.

Ans:Q1: False

Q2: Human actions do not impact the environment according to the poem.

Ans:Q2: False

Q3: Taking arms against each other defiles the human earth.

Ans:Q3: True

Q4: The author suggests that hatred towards our brothers is justified.

Ans:Q4: False

Q5: Unity and brotherhood are not important values to uphold.

Ans:Q5: False

Match the FollowingColumn AColumn BNo men are foreignStrength that can be won by loveThe land our brothers walk uponPeaceful harvestsHuman earth that we defileEarth like this War’s long winter starvedOur hells of fire and dustRemember they have eyes like oursUnity and Brotherhood

Answers:

Column A – Column B
No men are foreign – Unity and Brotherhood
The land our brothers walk upon – Earth like this
Human earth that we defile – Our hells of fire and dust
War’s long winter starved – Peaceful harvests
Remember they have eyes like ours – Strength that can be won by love

Reference to Context

Q1: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
Remember, no men are strange, no countries foreign
Beneath all uniforms, a single body breathes
Like ours: the land our brothers walk upon
Is earth like this, in which we all shall lie.
(a) Who does the poet address in the poem? Name the poetic device used in line 1.
Ans: The poet is addressing the readers in the poem. The poetic device used here is Apostrophe.

(b) What does the word “uniform” mean?
Ans: The word “uniform” refers to the distinctive clothing worn by members of the same organization or body or by children attending certain schools.

(c) What breathes beneath all uniforms?
Ans: A single body breathes beneath all uniforms. This means beneath superficial differences, there is a similarity.

(d) What is the irony in uniform?
Ans: Uniform implies a dress, costume or identification code that is similar to a group or organisation. But because every nation has a different uniform, the world remains divided rather than united.

Q2: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
Remember, no men are strange, no countries foreign
Beneath all uniforms, a single body breathes
Like ours: the land our brothers walk upon
Is earth like this, in which we all shall lie.
(a) Why does the poet feel ‘no men are foreign’?
Ans: The poet feels that no human beings are strange or different as beneath a different exterior all human beings breathe just like any other person.

(b) Who are referred to as brothers?
Ans: All human beings are brothers, irrespective of their superficial differences.

(c) What two things are common to all people as referred to in lines three and four of the extract?
Ans: This is because all walk on the same land and will be buried in the same earth after death.

d) ‘In which we shall all lie.’ When will this happen?
Ans: We shall lie under the soil, in our grave, after our death.

Q3: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
They, too, aware of sun and air and water,
Are fed by peaceful harvests, by war’s long winter starv’d.
Their hands are ours, and in their lines we read
A labour not different from our own.
(a) Whom does ‘they’ refer to?
Ans: They refers to those people who hail from countries different from ours.

(b) What is the significance of the word “too”?
Ans: The word too is significant because it emphasizes that “they” or people who are said to be our enemies are just like us in their need of sun, air and water.

(c) What does the poet mean by ‘peaceful harvests’?
Ans: Peaceful harvests are the crops grown in abundance during times of peace.

(d) What is the message of the poem?
Ans: The message of the poem is that no men are strangers in this world because all people on earth are connected through their common humanity. We share a number of similarities even with our supposed enemies.

Q4: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
They, too, aware of sun and air and water,
Are fed by peaceful harvests, by war’s long winter starv ’d.
Their hands are ours, and in their lines we read
A labour not different from our own.
(a) What are the common elements in the universe that are shared by all?
Ans: All of us share the common elements of sun, air and water.

(b) What happens to people during wartime?
Ans: Wars lead to deprivation causing famines, starvation and deaths.

(c) Explain “Their hands are ours.” What can we see in ‘their’ hands?
Ans: Our hands, and the hands of our so-called enemies are similar. Our hands show the same signs of hard work and struggle.

(d) “In their lines we read.” What do we read in their lines?
Ans: In the lines on their face and body we can read that though they belong to another land, they have worked hard throughout their lives, just like us.

Q5: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
Remember they have eyes like ours that wake
Or sleep, and strength that can be won
By love. In every land is common life
That all can recognise and understand.
(a) How does the author show that men from other countries have the same basic requirements as his own countrymen?
Ans: Men from other countries have the same requirements as his own countrymen by saying that they enjoy the same sunlight, breathe the same air and drink the same water.

(b) In what respect are their eyes compared to ours?
Ans: Their eyes are compared to us in that they too wake and sleep, just as we do.

(c) Whose strength is referred to in the extract?
Ans: The poet is referring to the strength of people who are from another country.

(d) Explain how strength can be won by love?
Ans: Their strength can be won by love because everybody responds to love and appreciates the feeling of brotherhood.

Q6: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
Remember they have eyes like ours that wake
Or sleep, and strength that can be won
By love. In every land is common life
That all can recognise and understand.
(a) Name three basic requirements the author feels that men from other countries have which are the same as his own countrymen.
Ans: The author feels that men from other countries enjoy the same sunlight, breathe the same air and drink the same water. Not only this, they also work hard to earn a living.

(b) What is it that can be recognised and understood?
Ans: It can be recognised and understood that life is common everywhere.

(c) Explain: In every land is common life That all can recognise and understand.
Ans: People living in another land are just like us. They too understand the concept and feeling of universal brotherhood.

(d) What is the poet’s message in this stanza?
Ans: Every population of every nation in this world recognizes the similarity in the life of people and that physical strength that can be won by love.

Q7: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
Let us remember, whenever we are told
To hate our brothers, it is ourselves
That we shall dispossess, betray, condemn.
Remember, we who take arms against each other
(a) Who are our brothers?
Ans: People from countries other than ours are our brothers.

(b) Why do we hate our brothers?
Ans: We are told by some selfish people to hate the others.

(c) The poet implies that one picks up arms for three reasons. What are they?
Ans: We pick up arms to take away what someone owns, to cheat or betray our brothers, or to condemn them.

(d) What happens when we hate our brothers?
Ans: When we hate our brothers, in effect we rob, cheat and condemn our own selves.

Q8: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
Let us remember, whenever we are told
To hate our brothers, it is ourselves
That we shall dispossess, betray, condemn.
Remember, we who take arms against each other
(a) Who is the narrator of the poem? To whom is the poem addressed?
Ans: The poem appears to have an omniscient narrator and is addressed to all of mankind.

(b) Who tells us to hate our brothers?
Ans: Our leaders tell us to hate our brothers who belong to another country or a different religious, social or political group.

(d) Should we believe those who tell us to hate our brothers? Why/why not?
Ans: We should not become puppets in the hands of those who incite us to hatred. If we fight our brothers, we condemn ourselves too.

Q9: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
It is the human earth that we defile.
Our hells of fire and dust outrage the innocence
Of air that is everywhere our own,
Remember, no men are foreign, and no countries strange.
(a) How do we defile earth?
Ans: We defile the human earth by dividing our earth into countries and by developing enmity against another group of people.

(b) What you mean by the innocence of the air?
Ans: Air is essentially clean and pure so is it innocent.

(c) How does air become defiled?
Ans: We fight wars and carry on other such activities that raise dust and emit smoke. As a result, the air gets defiled.

(d) State briefly the theme of the poem.
Ans: The theme of the poem is one of universal brotherhood, internationalism and the renunciation of war.

Q10: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
It is the human earth that we defile.
Our hells of fire and dust outrage the innocence
Of air that is everywhere our own,
Remember, no men are foreign, and no countries strange.
(a) What do you understand by ‘human earth?’
Ans: Human earth refers to the earth on which human beings live and that is full of human feelings and human values of love and brotherhood.

(b) Explain: hells of fire and dust?
Ans: The hells of fire and dust are the fire and dust caused by wars between countries.

(d) How does the poet bring out the idea that men are not strangers to one another?
Ans: The poet specifies that just like us they wake and sleep and respond to love. Even if we look different on the exterior we all can recognise and understand the universal language of love and brotherhood.

11. My Childhood – Worksheet Solutions

October 22, 2025 by khushikhanera

Multiple Choice Questions

Q1: Who influenced Prof. Kalam?
(a) His father
(b) His friends
(c) His society people
(d) None of these
Ans: (a)

Q2: When did Kalam become India’s 11th President? (My Childhood)
(a) 2003
(b) 2000
(c) 2001
(d) 2002
Ans: (d)

Q3: By whom and when did Kalam second time face discrimination and humiliation on the basis of religion?
(a) By a teacher when he was in elementary school
(b) By Sivasubramania’s wife, when he was invited to their home for a meal
(c) By the priest, during the Sita Rama Kalyanam ceremony
(d) By students, when he went to higher studies
Ans: (b)
Sol: When Sivasubramania Iyer invited Kalam for a meal at his home, his wife denied serving a Muslim in a brahmin’s kitchen.

Q4: What did Kalam think and say about his parents?
(a) Wise
(b) They were tall
(c) Handsome
(b) All of these
Ans: (d)

Q5: Where was A.P.J. Abdul Kalam born?
(a) Madurai
(b) Bangalore
(c) Chennai
(d) Rameswaram
Ans: (d)
Sol: Kalam was born in 1931 in Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu.

Q6: Who was Kalam’s close friend?
(a) None of these
(b)His father
(c)Samsuddin
(d) Ramanadha Sastri
Ans: (d)

Q7: Which word in the lesson means unnecessary?
(a) Inessential
(b) Inconvenience
(c) None of these
(d) Essential
Ans: (a)

Q8: In which standard was Abdul when the new teacher with a conservative mind came to his class?
(a) 5th standard
(b) 6th standard
(c) 7th standard
(d) 4th standard
Ans:(a)

Q9: Which seeds did Kalam collect during the Second World War?
(a) Guava seeds
(b) Flax seeds
(c) Mango seeds
(d) Tamarind seeds
Ans: (d)

Q10: Who said this statement, “Kalam, I want you to develop so that you are on par with the highly educated people of the big cities”?
(a) Sivasubramania Iyer
(b) Pakshi Lakshman Sastry
(c) Jainulabdeen
(d) Samsuddin
Ans:(a)
Sol: Sivasubramania Iyer, the science teacher of Kalam, told Kalam.

Short Answer Questions

Q1: Kalam’s childhood was a secure one, both materially and emotionally. Illustrate.
Ans: APJ Abdul Kalam called his childhood a secure one because he had loving and caring parents who gave love and guidance to their children and took care of their emotional and physical needs. They provided their children with all necessities, in terms of food, medicine or clothing.

Q2: What kind of person was Kalam’s father?
Ans: Abdul Kalam’s father, Jainulabdeen, was a tall and handsome man. Although he did not have much of a formal education, he was progressive and valued education. He was an austere man and didn’t have much wealth; however, he was a generous man and provided both material and emotional security to his family. He was a very practical man with a vast store of wisdom and never obstructed the progressive ways of his children.

Q3: How was Kalam’s appearance different from that of his parents?
Ans: Kalam did not take after his tall and handsome parents. He was a rather short boy with average looks. Unlike his parents, who had quite striking features, his appearance was undistinguished.

Q4: How did the Second World War give Abdul Kalam the opportunity to earn his first wages?
Ans: When the stoppage of trains at Rameswaram was cancelled because of World War II, Kalam’s cousin, Samsuddin, who distributed newspapers in Rameswaram, asked him for help in collecting newspaper bundles which were thrown from the moving train. This helped Abdul Kalam earn his first wages.

Q5: Had Kalam earned any money before that? In what way?
Ans: When the Second World War broke out in 1939, there was a sudden demand for tamarind seeds in the market. Kalam collected these seeds and sold them to earn an anna a day, which was a big amount for a small boy like him in those days.

Long Answer Questions
Q1: What incident took place at the Rameswaram Elementary School when a new teacher came to the class?
Ans: Kalam, who was a Muslim, used to wear a cap, and his friend, Ramanadha Sastry, the son of the head priest at the Rameswaram temple, wore a sacred thread which marked him to be a Brahmin. When the new teacher came, he could not stomach a Hindu priest’s son sitting with a Muslim boy. In accordance with social ranking, as the new teacher saw it, Abdul Kalam was asked to go and sit on the back bench.

Both boys felt very sad. Ramanadha Sastry looked utterly downcast, and as Kalam shifted to his seat in the last row, he saw tears in his eyes. Both the kids narrated the incident to their parents. Lakshmana Sastry summoned the teacher and reprimanded him for spreading the poison of social inequality and communal intolerance in the minds of innocent children. The teacher was asked to either apologise or quit the school and the island. Not only did the teacher regret his behaviour, but the strong sense of conviction Lakshmana Sastry conveyed ultimately reformed him.

Q2: When Sivasubramania told Kalam, “Once you decide to change the system, such problems have to be confronted”. What system was he referring to? What are “such problems”? What values did he want to teach Kalam?
Ans: Abdul Kalam’s science teacher, Sivasubramania Iyer, was a rebel by nature. He was against the prevalent system of segregation of social groups. He wanted to break these social barriers so that people from varying backgrounds could mingle easily. When he invited Abdul Kalam to his home, his wife, in keeping with the prevailing system, refused to serve Kalam, a Muslim, food in her kitchen.

But, Iyer not only served him food himself but also invited him next week again. He told Abdul Kalam that when one decides to go against the age-old social barriers, one has to face many problems. He proved that if one is determined to face problems and change the system, one succeeds. He also tried to teach him that sometimes it is good to rebel. We should fight for the right reasons and to achieve higher goals.

Q3: How did Abdul Kalam earn his first wages? How did he feel at that time? Explain.
Ans: Abdul Kalam’s cousin, Samsuddin, helped him earn his first wages. He used to collect newspapers from the station and distribute them in Rameswaram. It was the time of the Second World War. Initially, his area, being isolated, was completely unaffected by the War. But, soon, the Indian forces also joined the Allied forces. A state of emergency was declared. The first casualty of the emergency was the suspension of the train halt at Rameswaram.
It affected Samsuddin’s business adversely. Now, the bundles of newspapers had to be thrown from the moving train on the Rameswaram Road between Rameswaram and Dhanuskodi. Samsuddin wanted a helping hand who could catch the bundles thrown from the moving train. Abdul Kalam was engaged for this job by him. Thus, he earned his wages for the first time. Abdul Kalam felt a great sense of pride when he earned his first wages.

Q4: What do you learn about APJ? Abdul Kalam’s family from the lesson “My Childhood”?
Ans: Abdul Kalam tells us that his family was a middle-class Tamil Muslim family from Rameshwaram. His parents were good, kind and wise people who gave their children a childhood that was emotionally and materially secure. His father, Jainulabdeen, was not well-educated, wasn’t rich, but was a generous, wise, simple man. He was austere and used to avoid all inessential comforts and luxuries. However, all necessities were provided for, in terms of food, medicine or clothes.

His mother Ashiamma was a generous lady, and used to feed unlimited numbers of people. The family respected all religions and took part in Hindu festivals. During the annual Shri Sita Rama Kalyanam ceremony, Kalam’s family used to arrange boats with a special platform for carrying idols of the Lord from the temple to the marriage site, situated in the middle of the pond called Rama Tirtha, which was near their house. Events from the Ramayana and from the life of the Prophet were the bedtime stories Kalam’s mother and grandmother would tell the children in the family. The parents always showered their love on their children and never forced their views on them.

Q5: Narrate the incident of the new teacher’s behaviour in the classroom. Was his action appropriate? What values did the new teacher learn after that incident?
Ans: When Abdul Kalam was in the fifth standard, a new teacher, who had a conservative and narrow outlook, came to teach them. He saw Abdul Kalam sitting in the front row with Ramanadha Sastry. He identified Kalam as a Muslim as he used to wear a cap, which marked him as one and Ramanadha Sastry, who wore the sacred thread as a Brahmin. The teacher could not digest a Muslim boy sitting with a Brahmin boy, that too the son of a priest. By their social ranking, as he saw it, he asked Kalam to go and sit on the back bench.

Abdul Kalam and Ramanadha Sastry both felt very sad. His action was not at all appropriate, as all human beings are equal. After this incident, Ramanadha Sastry’s father, Lakshmana Sastry, called the teacher and taught him the lesson that one must have respect for all religions and work for communal harmony. He told the teacher that he should not spread the poison of social inequality and communal intolerance in the minds of innocent children. He bluntly asked the teacher to either apologise or quit the school and the island. His strong sense of conviction ultimately reformed this young teacher.

Reference to Context

Q1: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
I was born into a middle-class Tamil family in the island town of Rameswaram in the erstwhile Madras State. My father, Jainulabdeen, had neither much formal education nor much wealth; despite these disadvantages, he possessed great innate wisdom and a true generosity of spirit. He had an ideal helpmate in my mother, Ashiamma.
(a) Where was Abdul Kalam born?
Ans: Abdul Kalam was born in the island town of Rameswaram, which fell in the erstwhile Madras State.

(b) What qualities did Abdul Kalam’s father possess?
Ans: His father was a wise and generous man.

(c) In what ways was Ashiamma an ideal helpmate for her husband?
Ans: Ashiamma was a generous person who fed a large number of people every day.

(d) What characteristics does he say he inherited from his parents?
Ans: He inherited honesty and self-discipline from his father. From his mother, he inherited a sense of kindness and faith.

Q2: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
I was one of many children – a short boy with rather undistinguished looks, born to tall and handsome parents. We lived in our ancestral house, made of limestone and bricks, on the Mosque Street in Rameshwaram. My austere father used to avoid all inessential comforts and luxuries. However, all necessities were provided for, in terms of food, medicine or clothes. In fact, I would say mine was a very secure childhood, both materially and emotionally.
(a) How was Kalam different from his parents in looks?
Ans: While Kalam’s parents were tall, handsome people, he was a short boy with rather ordinary looks.

(b) What does Kalam tell us about his home?
Ans: Kalam’s family lived in their ancestral house, made of limestone and bricks, on the Mosque Street in Rameshwaram.

(d) What kind of childhood did Kalam have?
Ans: Kalam had a comfortable and secure childhood.

Q3: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
In fact, I would say mine was a very secure childhood, both materially and emotionally.
(a) In what way was Kalam’s childhood ‘secure’?
Ans: Kalam was provided with all the necessities in terms of food, medicine and clothes. Apart from it, his parents loved him a lot. and took good care of him.

(b) What does Kalam mean by ‘material security’?
Ans: By material security, Kalam means all the necessities of life that one needs while growing up that can be provided with money.

(c) What is meant by ‘emotional security’?
Ans: ‘Emotional security’ is the love and care that one needs to flourish and thrive.

(d) How did his parents provide Kalam with material and emotional security?
Ans: Kalam’s parents provided him with material security by ensuring that all necessities in terms of food, medicine or clothes were provided for and emotional security by giving him a loving and secure childhood.

Q4: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
I used to collect the seeds and sell them to a provision shop on Mosque Street.
(a) Which seeds did the narrator collect?
Ans: Kalam collected tamarind seeds.

(b) Why did he collect these seeds?
Ans: These seeds were collected by Kalam as they were in great demand in the market during the Second World War and could be sold easily for a good sum of money.

(c) What did he do with the collected seeds?
Ans: Kalam would sell off the collected seeds to a provision shop on Mosque Street.

(d) What light does the extract throw on the narrator?
Ans: The extract shows that the narrator, Kalam, was very enterprising and hard-working. His faith in the dignity of labour prompted him to collect the seeds and sell them off.

Q5: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
The first casualty came in the form of the suspension of the train halt at Rameswaram station. The newspaper had now to be bundled and thrown out from the moving train on the Rameswaram road between Rameswaram and Dhanuskodi. That forced my cousin Samsuddin, who distributed the newspapers in Rameswaram, to look for a helping hand and catch the bundles and as if naturally, I filled the slot.
(a) What does he mean by first casualty?
Ans: The first blow that fell on Rameswaram, which had been unaffected by the war so far, was the suspension of the train stop there.

(b) Who was Samsuddin? What did he do?
Ans: Samsuddin was Abdul Kalam’s cousin. He used to distribute newspapers in Rameswaram.

(c) Why did the cousin need a helping hand? How did he help Kalam earn a salary?
Ans: As the train did not halt at Rameswaram, bundles were thrown off a moving train on the Rameswaram Road between Rameswaram and Dhanuskodi and had to be caught. Samsuddin needed a helping hand to catch the bundles, and he employed Kalam for the job.

(d) How did Kalam feel later about his job?
Ans: Kalam felt a sense of pride for earning his own money for the first time.

Q6: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
During the annual Shri Sita Rama Kalyanam Ceremony, our family used to arrange boats with a special platform for carrying idols of the Lord from the temple to the marriage site situated in the middle of the pond called Rama Tirtha, which was near our house.
(a) What was the annual event held in Rameswaram?
Ans: The annual event held in Rameswaram was the Shri Sita Rama Kalyanam ceremony, or the wedding ceremony of Sita and Rama.

(b) Where did the boats carry the idols of the Lord?
Ans: The idols were carried from the temple to the marriage site, which was in the middle of the Rama Tirtha pond.

(c) Who provided the boats for ferrying the idols of Rama and Sita to the marriage site?
Ans: Abdul Kalam’s family arranged for the boats required to ferry the idols.

(d) What light does this throw on the Rameswaram society?
Ans: This highlights the secular nature of society and the natural Hindu Muslim cooperation in most parts of India. They were aware of their different identities, but they were living harmoniously as people do in any normal society.

Q7: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
I inherited honesty and self-discipline from my father; from my mother, I inherited faith in goodness and deep kindness, and so did my three brothers and sister. I had three close friends in my childhood – Ramanadha Sastry, Aravindan and Sivaprakashan. All these boys were from orthodox Hindu Brahmin families. As children, none of us ever felt any difference amongst ourselves because of our religious differences and upbringing.
(a) How does the author describe his father?
Ans: The author describes his father as an austere man who looked after all the needs of his family.

(b) In what way did Kalam’s father show his self-discipline?
Ans: Abdul Kalam’s father was an austere man who kept away from all inessential comforts and luxuries.

(c) What was the difference between the writer and his friends?
Ans: The other three boys were from orthodox Brahmin families, whereas the writer was a Muslim.

(d) How did the difference affect the friendship between the boys?
Ans: The boys did not feel any difference between themselves, and it did not affect their friendship in any way.

Q8: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
One day, when I was in the fifth standard at Rameswaram Elementary School, a new teacher came to our class. I used to wear a cap which marked me as Muslim, and I always sat in the front row next to Ramanadha Sastry, who wore a sacred thread. The new teacher could not stomach a Hindu priest’s son sitting with a Muslim boy. In accordance with our social ranking, as the new teacher saw it, I was asked to go and sit on the back bench.
(a) Name the school where Kalam studied.
Ans: Kalam studied at Rameswaram Elementary School in Rameswaram.

(b) Which social groups existed in Rameswaram?
Ans: Kalam has mentioned Hindus and Muslims as two distinct social groups living in Rameshwaram.

(c) How were these groups easily identified?
Ans: These groups had their different dress codes and rituals. For example, Kalam used to wear a cap while his friend Ramanadham used to wear the sacred thread.

(d) What did the teacher ask Kalam to do?
Ans: He did not want Kalam, a Muslim, sitting with a Hindu priest’s son, and so he told him to go and sit on the back bench.

Q9: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
I felt very sad, and so did Ramanadha Sastry. He looked utterly downcast as I shifted to my seat in the last row.
(a) How did the teacher know that Kalam was a Muslim?
Ans: The teacher realised Kalam was a Muslim because he wore the cap worn by Muslims.

(b) Why did the narrator feel sad?
Ans: The narrator felt sad because his new teacher did not let him sit with his Hindu friend in the front row of the class, but sent him to sit at the back of the class.

(c) Who looked “utterly downcast”? Why?
Ans: It was Ramanadha Sastry, Kalam’s close friend, who looked utterly downcast at being separated from his friend.

(d) Why was Kalam’s seat shifted?
Ans: The new teacher believed in certain notions of social ranking. He could not bear to see a Muslim boy sitting along with the son of a Hindu priest. So, he shifted Kalam’s seat to the last row.

Q10: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
After school, we went home and told our respective parents about the incident. Lakshmana Sastry summoned the teacher and in our presence, told the teacher that he should not spread the poison of social inequality and communal Intolerance in the minds of innocent children. He bluntly asked the teacher to either apologise or quit the school and the island. Not only did the teacher regret his behaviour, but the strong sense of conviction Lakshmana Sastry conveyed ultimately reformed this young teacher.
(a) What incident is the narrator talking about?
Ans: The narrator is talking about the time when he was in the fifth standard, a new teacher asked him not to sit in the front row along with the high caste Brahmin boys.

(b) Who was Lakshmana Sastry? What did he accuse the teacher of?
Ans: Lakshmana Sastry was the father of Kalam’s friend Ramanadha Sastry and the high priest of the Rameswaram temple. He accused the teacher of spreading the poison of social inequality and communal intolerance in the minds of innocent children.

(c) What brought about a change in the teacher?
Ans: The strong disapproval of the teacher’s behaviour and his sense of conviction that Lakshmana Sastry conveyed to the teacher brought about a change in the teacher.

(d) What kind of society did the speaker live in?
Ans: The speaker lived in a society that was orthodox, but at the same time was truly secular.

Q11: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
Sivasubramania Iyer was not perturbed, nor did he get angry with his wife, but instead, served me with his own hands and sat down beside me to eat his meal.
(a) Who was Sivasubramania Iyer?
Ans: Sivasubramania Iyer was Kalam’s science teacher.

(b) What was it that could have perturbed Sivasubramania Iyer?
Ans: Sivasubramania Iyer’s conservative wife had refused to serve Kalam, a Muslim. Since Sivasubramania Iyer had invited Kalam to eat with him, this could have perturbed him.

(c) Why did Sivasubramania Iyer not get angry with his wife?
Ans: Sivasubramania Iyer wanted to change an existing system. He was prepared for the problems he was sure to encounter. He did not get angry with his wife because he knew she believed in the existing system.

(d) Why did Sivasubramania sit down with Kalam to eat his meal?
Ans: Sivasubramania wished to make his wife realise that, irrespective of their religions, all human beings are equal and they all deserve to be treated as we would like to be treated by them.

Q12: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
His wife watched us from behind the kitchen door. I wondered whether she had observed any difference in the way I ate rice, drank water or cleaned the floor after the meal. When I was leaving his house, Sivasubramania Iyer invited me to join him for dinner again the next weekend.
(a) Whose wife is being referred to in Line 1?
Ans: The narrator refers to the wife of his Science teacher, Sivasubramania Iyer.

(b) Why did she watch them from behind the kitchen door?
Ans: The teacher’s wife believed in the segregation of different sections of society. She did not want Kalam, a Muslim, to enter her kitchen and to eat food there. As a result, she hid behind the kitchen door and observed everything.

(c) Why did Sivasubramania invite Kalam again the next weekend?
Ans: He invited Kalam again the next weekend because he wanted to bring about a change in the conservative attitude of his wife

(d) What was the narrator’s reaction to the teacher’s invitation?
Ans: The narrator was reluctant to accept the teacher’s invitation because he realised the teacher’s wife did not wish to serve him food in her kitchen.

Q13: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
Sivasubramania Iyer invited me to join him for dinner again the next weekend. Observing my hesitation, he told me not to get upset, saying, “Once you decide to change the system, such problems have to be confronted. ” When I visited his house the next week, Sivasubramania Iyer’s wife took me inside her kitchen and served me food with her own hands.
(a) Why was the writer reluctant to join his teacher for dinner?
Ans: The teacher’s wife was opposed to the idea of a Muslim eating in her kitchen. She had refused to serve him the previous time. That made Kalam reluctant to dine with his teacher.

(b) What “system” was he talking about?
Ans: He is talking of breaking social barriers of religious and caste divide between the people.

(c) What was the effect of this on Sivasubramania’s wife?
Ans: This time, she let Kalam into the kitchen and served him herself.

(d) What do you learn about Sivasubramania’s character from this episode?
Ans: The extract shows that Sivasubramania was a very progressive and broad-minded person who treated everybody as equal and who seriously wanted to bring about a change in society.

Q14: Then the Second World War was over and India’s freedom was imminent “Indians build their own India ”, declared Gandhiji. The whole country was filled with unprecedented optimism. I asked my father’s permission to leave Rameshwaram and study at the district headquarters in Ramanathapuram
(a) What did the Indians expect after the Second World War was over?
Ans: Indians expected India would soon get independence after the war.

(b) What did Gandhiji declare, and what did he mean?
Ans: Gandhiji declared Indians would have to build their own India. He meant each citizen would have to contribute in her/his way in the task of nation-building.

(c) Why was the whole country optimistic?
Ans: The country was optimistic about getting independence from British Rule. Everyone dreamt of a free India.

(d) Where did Kalam decide to go and why?
Ans: Kalam decided to go to the district headquarters in Ramanathapuram to study further.

Q15: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
He told me as if thinking aloud, “Abul! I know you have to go away to grow. Does the seagull not fly across the Sun, alone and without a nest? ”
(a) Who is ‘he’ in the above lines?
Ans: He in the above lines is Kalam’s father, Jainulabdeen.

(b) Why did ‘he’ say so to the listener?
Ans: He says these words to Abdul as he wants to encourage his son to go to the district headquarters in Ramanathapuram to study further.

(c) What do you learn about Kalam’s feelings from the speaker’s words?
Ans: The speaker’s words show that Abdul Kalam was a little apprehensive of going away to study alone.

(d) What do you learn about the speaker from the above lines?
Ans: The speaker was very keen that his son get a good education and was very encouraging. He was very wise and didn’t believe in obstructing his children’s progress. He was of the view that children ought to be allowed to live life according to their own wishes.

Q16: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
“Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself. ”
(a) Name the writer who wrote these lines.
Ans: These lines are originally written by Khalil Gibran.

(b) Who quotes these words and to whom?
Ans: These words are quoted by Abdul Kalam’s father, Jainulabdeen, to Ashiamma, Kalam’s mother.

(c) Why does he speak these words?
Ans: After finishing his elementary education, when Kalam sought his father’s permission to leave Rameswaram and study at the district headquarters in Ramanathapuram, his father said these words to Kalam’s mother, who was a bit reluctant to send her young son away.

(d) What does he mean by ‘Sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself?
Ans: Kahlil Gibran says one’s children are not one’s own. It is Life that expresses through them. Parents are merely the soil from which they take birth.

10. Poem – A legend of Northland – Worksheet Solutions

October 22, 2025 by khushikhanera

Multiple Choice Questions

Q.1. A legend of the Northland, which is a song narrating a story in short stanzas is also called ________.
(a) Song
(b) Poem
(c) Short story
(d)Ballad

Correct Answer is Option (d)
A song narrating a story in short stanzas is called ballad.

Q.2. What did the woman do when Saint Peter asked for a cake?
(a) She started making the smallest cake
(b) She refused to give him cake
(c) She gave the largest cake from the bakery
(d) She gave him some fruits

Correct Answer is Option (a)
She didn’t want to give him a large cake so she made a small cake for him.

Q.3. Identify the literary device repetition into the given stanza:
Then she took tiny scrap of dough,
And rolled and rolled it flat;
And baked it thin as a wafer
But she couldn’t part with that.
(a)Then she took
(b) Baked it thin
(c) Part with that
(d) Rolled and rolled

Correct Answer is Option (d)
Rolled and Rolled has the repetition of the term rolled.

Q.4. Who was Saint Peter?
(a)God itself
(b) A begger
(c)Disciple of Christ
(d)A traveller

Correct Answer is Option (c)
Saint Peter was a disciple of Jesus Christ and preaching all over the world.

Q.5. What did Saint Peter ask for from the little woman?
(a)A single cake
(b) Something to eat
(c)A loaf of bread
(d) A dozen cakes

Correct Answer is Option (a)

Q.6. Which cake was given to Saint Peter finally?
(a)Second cake
(b)No one
(c)First cake
(d) Third cake

Correct Answer is Option (b)
After baking three small cakes she thought that they were still too large to give anyone. So she put them on the shelf.

Q.7. The animal which is used to pull the sledges in Northland:
(a)Polar bear
(b) Bull
(c) Reindeer
(d)Sheep

Correct Answer is Option (c)

Q.8. Why did not woman give a cake to Saint Peter?
(a)Every cake was looking too large to give anyone
(b)No cake was tasty
(c)Saint Peter refused to take cake
(d)Every cake was looking too small

Correct Answer is Option (a)
She thought that her cakes seemed too small when she ate one of them herself but they were looking too large to give away. So she put them on the shelf.

Q.9. When do people go for sledging?
(a)All of these
(b) During vacations
(c) In summers
(d) When snow falls

Correct Answer is Option (d)

Q.10. The vehicle, which is used to carry things and passengers over the snow in Northland:
(a)Bus
(b) Cart
(c)Sledge
(d)Train

Correct Answer is Option (c)

Reference to Context

Q1: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
Away, away in the Northland,
Where the hours of the day are few,
And the nights are so long in winter
That they cannot sleep them through;
(a) Why is the word ‘away’ repeated twice?
Ans: The word away has been repeated to create a sense of distance

(b) Which place is discussed in this stanza?
Ans: Northland, or the cold polar region of the North, including Greenland, northern Europe and Siberia are being discussed here.

(d) Why can the people not sleep through the night?
Ans: The winter nights are long and cold.

Q2: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
Where they harness the swift reindeer
To the sledges, when it snows;
And the children look like bear’s cubs
In their funny, furry clothes:
(a) What does ‘Where’ refer to?
Ans: Where refers to Northland.

(b) Where are the reindeer harnessed? What does ‘swift reindeer’ convey?
Ans: The reindeer are harnessed to the sledges. The phrase ‘swift reindeer’ conveys that the reindeer are very fast when they pull the sledges on the snow.

(c) Why do children look like bear cubs?
Ans: Because of the cold, children are made to wear heavy woollen clothes that cover them up fully and make them look like bear cubs.

(d) Mention two characteristics of the place.
Ans: The place is very cold; the days are shorter than the nights; people cannot sleep through the night.

Q3: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
They tell them a curious story—
I don’t believe ’tis true;
And yet you may learn a lesson
If I tell the tale to you.
(a) What is the ‘curious story’ that the people tell?
Ans:The curious story is a legend of an old greedy lady who angered St. Peter and he cursed the lady for her greed.

(b) Who does not believe in the story?
Ans: The poet does not believe the story to be true.

(d) What lesson does it give?
Ans: The tale teaches us a lesson that greed is a vice. One should not be greedy like the old lady who was cursed by St. Peter.

Q4: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
Once, when the good Saint Peter
Lived in the world below,
And walked about it, preaching,
Just as he did, you know
(a) Which line shows that St. Peter is not alive today?
Ans: ‘Once, when the good Saint Peter lived in the world below’ shows that St. Peter is not alive today

(b) Who was St. Peter?
Ans: St. Peter was an apostle of Jesus Christ. His mission was to spread the teachings of Jesus Christ.

(d) What did St Peter do when he ‘Lived in the world below’?
Ans: He went about the world preaching the message of God.

Q5: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
He came to the door of a cottage,
In travelling round the earth,
Where a little woman was making cakes,
And baking them on the hearth;
(a) Who does “he” refer to in the first line?
Ans: He refers to Saint Peter.

(b) What was the little woman doing?
Ans: The woman was baking cakes.

(c) What request did “he” make to the woman? Why?
Ans: Saint Peter asked the woman for a cake because he was weak with hunger.

(d) Why did Saint Peter curse the woman?
Ans: Saint Peter cursed the woman because she was highly stingy and mean and could not spare even a small cake from her large store for a weary traveller.

Q6: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
And being faint with fasting,
For the day was almost done,
He asked her, from her store of cakes,
To give him a single one.
(a) Why was St Peter about to faint?
Ans: Saint Peter was tired and hungry, and so ready to faint.

(b) What had Saint Peter been doing?
Ans: Saint Peter had been travelling, spreading the message of God.

(d) What did he ask the woman for?
Ans: Saint Peter asked the woman for a cake from her large store.

Q7: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
So she made a very little cake,
But as it baking lay,
She looked at it, and thought it seemed
Too large to give away.
(a) Why did she bake a small cake?
Ans: The woman baked a small cake for giving to the saint

(b) What did she think about it as she saw it being baked?
Ans: She thought that the cake was too big to be given away in charity.

(d) How was she punished for her greed?
Ans: Saint Peter turned her into a woodpecker.

Q8: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
Therefore she kneaded another,
And still a smaller one;
But it looked, when she turned it over,
As large as the first had done.
(a) Who does ‘she’ refer to?
Ans: ‘She’ refers to the old little woman in the cottage.

(b) Who had come to her door? Why?
Ans: Saint Peter had come to her door. He was hungry and wanted something to eat.

(d) What quality of the woman do her actions reveal?
Ans: She is miserly and selfish.

Q9: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
Then she took a tiny scrap of dough,
And rolled and rolled it flat;
And baked it thin as a wafer —
But she couldn’t part with that.
(a) Who had asked the woman for a cake? Why?
Ans: Saint Peter had asked the woman for a cake. He had been fasting the whole ay and was weak with hunger.

(b) Why did the old lady take a tiny scrap of dough?
Ans: The old lady was a greedy woman. She wanted to give St. Peter, the smallest cake she could make.

(c) Why did she make the thin cake?
Ans: She wanted to save her dough. She wanted to give him a very small cake. So, she made a cake as thin as a water.

(d) What did Saint Peter do?
Ans: Saint Peter cursed the woman and turned her into a woodpecker.

Q10: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
For she said, “My cakes that seem too small
When I eat of them myself
Are yet too large to give away. ”
So she put them on the shelf.
(a) Who is the speaker in these lines?
Ans: The woman is the speaker in these lines.

(b) When do the cakes seem too small?
Ans: The cakes seemed too small foe eating them herself.

(c) What kind of cakes did the woman make?
Ans: The woman made cakes that were smaller and smaller, till the last one was as thin as a wafer.

(d) What did the woman do with her cakes? Why?
Ans: The woman put the cakes away because she felt that they were to big to be given away in charity.

Q11: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
Then good Saint Peter grew angry,
For he was hungry and faint;
And surely such a woman
Was enough to provoke a saint.
(a) Who was Saint Peter?
Ans: Saint Peter was one of the apostles of Jesus Christ.

(b) Who was Saint Peter angry with? Why?
Ans: Saint Peter was angry with the woman because of her greed and selfishness.

(c) How had the woman provoked the Saint?
Ans: The woman had provoked Saint Peter by not giving him any cake from her plentiful store.

(d) What did Saint Peter do?
Ans: Saint Peter cursed the woman and turned her into a woodpecker who would have to bore for her food.

Q12: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
And he said, “You are far too selfish
To dwell in a human form,
To have both food and shelter,
Andfire to keep you warm.
(a) Who is ‘he’? Who is he speaking to?
Ans: He refers to Saint Peter. He is talking to the woman in the cottage.

(b) What did the saint say about the woman?
Ans: He said she was too selfish to live in human form.

(c) Why was he angry with her?
Ans: She had refused to give him anything to eat from her plentiful store, when he was faint with hunger.

(d) What benefits did he want her to forego?
Ans: He wanted her to forego the basic benefits of food, shelter and a fire to keep her warm.

Q13: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
Now, you shall build as the birds do,
And shall get your scanty food
By boring, and boring, and boring,
All day in the hard, dry wood. ”
(a) What did St Peter turn the old woman into?
Ans: Saint Peter turned the woman into a bird, a woodpecker.

(b) Why did he curse her?
Ans: Saint Peter was angry with her because of her miserliness.

(d) How would she get her food?
Ans: She would get her food by boring into the hard wood.

Q14: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
Then up she went through the chimney,
Never speaking a word,
And out of the top flew a woodpecker,
For she was changed to a bird.
(a) Who is ‘she’? How did she go up?
Ans: “She’ refers to the woman. She went up through the chimney.

(b) Who changed her into a bird?
Ans: Saint Peter had changed her into a bird by cursing her.

(c) Why did she change into a woodpecker?
Ans: As the woman passed through the chimney and came out through the top, her clothes were burned and had become black but the scarlet cap on her head remained unchanged.

(d) Where did the woman live?
Ans: She lived in a country in the Earth’s north polar region, such as Greenland, the northern regions of Russia, or the Scandinavian countries.

Q15: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
She had a scarlet cap on her head,
And that was left the same;
But all the rest of her clothes were burned
Black as a coal in the flame.
(a) What did Saint Peter ask the old lady for?
Ans: Saint Peter asked the old lady for one of her baked cakes to satisfy his hunger.

(b) What was the lady’s reaction?
Ans: The lady tried to bake a small cake for the Saint, but did not give him even that.

(c) Why did Saint Peter feel the woman should leave her human form?
Ans: She was too selfish to live in human form and enjoy food, shelter and warmth.

(d) How does the woodpecker get its food?
Ans: The woodpecker gets its food by boring holes into trees.

Q16: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
And every country schoolboy
Has seen her in the wood,
Where she lives in the trees till this very day,
Boring and boring for food.
(a) Where can the woman be seen now?
Ans: She can be seen in the forest

(b) What is she doing?
Ans: She can be seen boring into the trees for food

(d) Who was Saint Peter?
Ans: Saint Peter was an apostle of Christ, who went about preaching the message of God.

09. The Snake and the Mirror – Worksheet Solutions

October 22, 2025 by khushikhanera

Multiple Choice Questions

Q1: While looking at the mirror, the doctor smiled, and he found his smile
(a) Ugly
(b) Wide
(c) Attractive
(d) Unattractive
Ans:(c)

Q2: The doctor described the snake as the one
(a) That had bitten the thief
(b) Thick and ugly
(c) Taken with its own beauty
(d) Very poisonous
Ans:(c)

Q3: According to the doctor, the thief had a sense of
(a) Good clothes
(b) Logic
(c) Cleanliness
(d)None of the above
Ans:(c)

Q4: Why did the doctor have very few things to carry?
(a) A thief had stolen most of the things
(b) The room was too small to keep a lot of things
(c) He was too poor to have many things
(d) Because the storm destroyed most of the things
Ans: (a)

Q5: What did the doctor do immediately after reaching his friend’s house?
(a) Narrated the incident of the snake
(b) Took medicines
(c)Drank a glass of water
(d) Smeared oil all over his body and took a bath
Ans: (d)

Q6: How did the doctor’s wife actually look?
(a) Thin
(b) Short
(c) Fat
(d) None of the above
Ans:(a)

Q7: After the snake moved towards the mirror, the doctor was
(a) A paralysed man
(b) A crying man
(c)A man of flesh and blood
(d) A stone in the flesh
Ans:(c)

Q8: From the doctor’s arm, the snake slithered into his
(a) Back
(b) Head
(c) Lap
(d) Leg
Ans:(c)

Q9: The snake looked at the mirror. Seeing that, the doctor wondered
(a) If it’s going to smile
(b)If it’s going to make a noise
(c) If it’s going to bite him
(d) If the snake was admiring its own beauty
Ans:(d)

Q10: While sitting wrapped around by a snake, the doctor felt
(a) The presence of devils
(b)The presence of rats
(c) The presence of the ghost
(d)The presence of God
Ans:(d)

Very Short Answer Questions

Q1: What kind of snake did the doctor say it was?
Ans: The doctor said it was a cobra, but he didn’t know whether it was a male or female snake.

Q2: What kind of house in which the doctor live in?
Ans: The doctor lived in a rented house. It was not electrified. He had an army of rats who were living with him in the room.

Q3: Where did the snake fall from the gable?
Ans: The snake fell from the gable and landed on the floor with a thud. The doctor was not moved as he was used to such sounds.

Q9: Somebody asked, “Doctor, is your wife very fat?”
Ans: Somebody asked the doctor if his wife was fat.

Q10: “Are there any other funny stories related to cobras?” The young wife enquired.
Ans: The young wife enquired if there were any other funny stories related to cobras.

Short Answer Questions
Q1: Where did the snake slither on the doctor?
Ans: The snake moved from the floor, climbed the chair and slithered onto the doctor’s back. It finally settled on the doctor’s arm below the elbow and coiled itself there with its hood barely four inches away from his face.

Q2: Describe the house in which the doctor lived when the snake came?
Ans: The house in which the doctor lived, when the snake came, was a rented house. It was not electrified. It was a small room on the outer side. I opened the two windows in the room. It was an outer room with one wall facing the open yard. It had a tiled roof with long supporting gables that rested on the beam over the wall. There was no ceiling. There was a regular traffic of rats to and from the beam.

Q3: What was the doctor thinking about the creator of the universe when the snake had coiled around his arm?
Ans: When the snake coiled itself on the doctor’s arm, the doctor remembered the creator of the world and the universe. He thought that he might say something that God didn’t like, and what would happen. He then tried in his imagination to write in bright letters, the words ‘O God’ in front of his little heart. He was thinking, if the snake bit him, he didn’t have even medicine in his house, as he was a poor doctor and had just started practice. He smiled feebly. He thought that probably God appreciated the smile, and the snake unwound itself and slithered through his lap to the top of the table in front of the mirror.

Q4: Where was the snake when the doctor ran out of his house?
Ans: The snake was in the room when the doctor ran out of his house. It was sitting in front of the mirror on the table. When the snake had wound itself on the doctor’s arm, it saw its reflection in the mirror and seemed to it like its image.

Q5: Why did the doctor have to stay in an unelectrified house?
Ans: The doctor had to stay in an unelectrified house, since he had just started his practice and was poor; he couldn’t afford anything better and his means were meagre.

Reference to Context

Q1: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
I had my meal at the restaurant and returned to my room. I heard a noise from above as I opened the door. The sound was a familiar one.
(a) Who does ‘I’ refer to in this extract?
Ans: In this extract, ‘I’ refers to the homeopathic doctor who narrates his encounter with a snake.

(b) At what time did ‘I’ return to his room? Where did he return from?
Ans: The doctor returned to his room at ten o’clock at night after having a meal at a restaurant.

(d) What type of noise was it?
Ans: It was a familiar noise like that made by the rats that lived in his room as they moved about.

Q2: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
The sound was a familiar one. One could say that the rats and I shared the room. I took out my box of matches and lighted the kerosene lamp on the table.
(a) What sound did the narrator hear as he entered the room?
Ans: The narrator heard a sound as if of the scampering of rats as he entered the room.

(b) Why does the narrator say that it was a familiar sound?
Ans: The narrator says that it was a familiar sound because there were many rats in his room, and their constant squeaking or scampering about had become familiar.

(c) How many times did he hear it?
Ans: He heard the sound thrice. (He heard it as he opened the door, he heard it again as he sat combing his hair this way and that, and he heard it for the third time when he decided to smile more.)

(d) When and why did the noise stop?
Ans: The sound stopped suddenly as the narrator, after pacing about the room, sat down in his chair. Probably, the rats had seen the snake.

Q3: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
It had a tiled roof with long supporting gables that rested on the beam over the wall. There was no ceiling. There was a regular traffic of rats to and off.
(a) What did the narrator do after entering the room?
Ans: The narrator lit the kerosene lamp and then made his bed.

(b) Why could the narrator not sleep?
Ans: The narrator could not sleep because there was a regular traffic of rats to and from the beam and the gables. Moreover, it was warm in the room.

(d) Why did he return to his room?
Ans: There was no wind blowing outside either.

Q4: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
I went back into the room and sat down on the chair. I opened the box beneath the table and took out a book, the Materia Medica. I opened it at the table on which stood the lamp and a large mirror; a small comb lay beside the mirror.
(a) Where was he before going back into the room? Why had he gone out of the room?
Ans: The narrator had gone out to the veranda before coming back into the room. He had gone out for some fresh air.

(b) Why did he take a book from the box?
Ans: The narrator could not sleep because it was hot and still, and there was no electricity in his room. So, he took out the book to pass some time reading it.

(c) What objects stood on the table?
Ans: A kerosene lamp and a large mirror stood on the table. A small comb lay beside the mirror.

(d) What did the speaker do after this?
Ans: After this, the speaker looked into the mirror that stood on the table and contemplated his looks.

Q5: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
One feels tempted to look into a mirror when it is near one. I took a look. In those days I was a great admirer of beauty and I believed in making myself look handsome. I was unmarried and I was a doctor. I felt I had to make my presence felt. I picked up the comb and ran it through my hair and adjusted the parting so that it looked straight and neat.
(a) Why did the narrator look into the mirror?
Ans: The narrator was tempted to look into the mirror because it was there in front of him.

(b) Why did he want to make himself look handsome?
Ans: The narrator, who admired beauty in everyone, wanted to make himself look handsome.

(d) What two important decisions did the narrator take to improve his appearance?
Ans: The narrator decided to improve his appearance by shaving daily and growing a thin moustache. He also decided to smile his attractive smile more often.

Q6: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
I was unmarried and I was a doctor. I felt I had to make my presence felt. I picked up the comb and ran it through my hair and adjusted the parting so that it looked straight and neat.
(a) Explain “I had to make my presence felt.”
Ans: The narrator decided that he had to create an impact on people by improving upon his appearance or personality.

(b) Why did the narrator feel he had to make his presence felt?
Ans: The narrator felt he was a doctor, a profession that is much respected in society, and was a bachelor. Therefore, he had to make an impact on society.

(c) What did the narrator do to make his presence felt?
Ans: In order to make his presence felt, he combed his hair carefully and adjusted the parting.

(d) What do you learn about the narrator from this extract?
Ans: The narrator was arrogant because of his profession and vain about his looks.

Q7: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
I made an important decision—I would shave, daily and grow a thin moustache to look more handsome. I was after all a bachelor, and a doctor! I looked into the mirror and smiled. It was an attractive smile. I made another earth- shaking decision.
(a) Where is the narrator? What is he doing?
Ans: The narrator is in his room admiring himself in the mirror.

(b) What discovery did he make about himself?
Ans: The narrator discovered that he was handsome and had an attractive smile.

(c) What two important decisions did he take? Why?
Ans: He decided to shave daily and grow a thin moustache to look more handsome and to smile his attractive smile more often. He took these decisions to improve his presence.

(d) What is the narrator’s tone in these lines?
Ans: The narrator’s tone is vain, but he is also laughing at himself, as he calls the decisions “earth-shaking”.

Q8: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
I got up, paced up and down the room. Then another lovely thought struck me. I would marry.
(a) Where did the narrator get up from? Why?
Ans: The narrator, the homeopathic doctor, got up from his chair in his room. He wanted to think about improving his presence in society.

(b) Which lovely thought struck him?
Ans: The lovely thought that struck him was that he should get married.

(d) What prompted him to make this choice?
Ans: He would get married to a woman doctor who had plenty of money and a good medical practice as he did not have much money. She had to be fat so that if he made a silly mistake and needed to run away, she should not be able to run after him and catch him.

Q9: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
There was no time to do any such thing. The snake slithered along my shoulder and coiled around my left arm above the elbow.
(a) What alerted the narrator to the snake’s presence?
Ans: The narrator was alerted to the snake’s presence by the sudden silence from the rats above. Also, he heard a dull thud as if a rubber tube had fallen to the ground.

(b) What does “any such thing” refer to?
Ans: The speaker did not have time to save himself from the snake by jumping away or crying out as it had coiled around his left arm above the elbow.

(c) What did the snake do after crawling over the narrator’s shoulder?
Ans: The snake coiled itself tightly around the narrator’s left arm and spread its hood close to his face.

(d) How did the narrator react to the snake’s presence?
Ans: The narrator sat motionless as if turned to stone. He could not move or cry out when the snake coiled itself around his arm.

Q10: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
I didn ’t jump. I didn ‘t tremble. I didn ’t cry out. There was no time to do any such thing. The snake slithered along my shoulder and coiled around my left arm above the elbow. The hood was spread out and its head was hardly three or four inches from my face!
It would not be correct to say merely that I sat there holding my breath I was turned to stone.
(a) Why did the author not jump, tremble and cry?
Ans: The author did not jump, tremble and cry because a snake had fallen on his shoulders. He was both too frightened to move and didn’t want to do anything to provoke the snake.

(b) What did the narrator do as the snake coiled itself round his arm?
Ans: As the narrator coiled itself around his arm, the narrator sat still, turned to stone.

(c) Did the snake bite the speaker? What distracted it?
Ans: No, the snake did not bite the speaker. A sight of its reflection in the mirror distracted the snake.

(d) What were the narrator’s thoughts as he looked at the snake?
Ans: In this moment of fear of death, he realised the presence of God. God had punished him for being too proud and arrogant.

Q11: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
At my slightest movement the snake would strike me! Death lurked four inches away. Suppose it struck, what was the medicine I had to take? There were no medicines in the room. I was but a poor, foolish and stupid doctor. I forgot my danger and smiled feebly at myself
(a) What does Death lurked four inches away imply?
Ans: The snake was three or four inches away from the writer’s head with its hood spread out. Since it was a cobra, its bite would be fatal.

(b) Why did the doctor call himself a poor and stupid doctor?
Ans: The doctor felt poor because he was facing death and stupid because he realised that, though he was a doctor, he still did not have medicines for an emergency like this.

(c) What danger does he refer to?
Ans: The doctor refers to the danger posed by a deadly snake that had wrapped itself on his arm and was slowly crushing it with force.

(d) Why did he smile feebly at himself?
Ans: The doctor smiled feebly at himself because smiles at his foolishness and helplessness, because just a short while ago he had been arrogantly boasting of being a doctor and a bachelor, but now he was helplessly staring at death.

Q12: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
The snake unwound itself from my arm and slowly slithered into my lap. From there it crept onto the table and moved towards the mirror. Perhaps it wanted to enjoy its reflection at closer quarters.
(a) Where was the narrator at the time?
Ans: The narrator was sitting in his room, admiring his looks and thinking of ways to improve them.

(b) What did the snake do as it landed on the narrator’s chair?
Ans: It slithered down his shoulder, coiled itself around his arm and spread its hood few inches from his face.

(c) Where did the snake go after uncoiling from the writer’s arm?
Ans: The snake slid across the narrator’s lap onto the table.

(d) Why did the snake move towards the mirror?
Ans: The snake moved towards the mirror to have a closer look at itself.

Q13: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
I felt then the great presence of the creator of this world and this universe. God was there. Suppose I said something and he did not like it.
(a) When did the narrator feel the presence of the creator?
Ans: The narrator felt the presence of the creator when he was faced with death in the form of the snake.

(b) Why does the narrator feel he may have displeased God?
Ans: He felt God may have punished him for being too proud and arrogant. He realised that he was but a mere human, a poor man, nothing to boast about.

(c) What did the narrator do then?
Ans: He prayed to God – in his imagination, he tried to write words, ‘O God’ in bright letters outside his heart.

(d) What was the result of his realisation?
Ans: The moment he accepted his true worth, God appeared pleased, and the snake of its own free will left him and sat on the table in front of the mirror.

Q14: There was some pain in my left arm. It was as if a thick leaden rod—no, a rod made of molten fire—was slowly but powerfully crushing my arm. The arm was beginning to be drained of all strength. What could I do?
(a) Why did the narrator feel a pain in his arm?
Ans: The snake was coiled around his arm and was crushing his arm.

(b) Where had the snake come from?
Ans: The snake had fallen from the ceiling of the house.

(c) What had alerted the narrator to the snake’s presence at first? What had been his first reaction?
Ans: The narrator was first alerted to the snake’s presence by a dull thud. He had disregarded it at first as being nothing to worry about.

(d) Why did the narrator sit still in the chair?
Ans: The narrator sat still on the chair because at his slightest movement, the snake would have struck him.

Q15: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
It seemed as if God appreciated that. The snake turned its head. It looked into the mirror and saw its reflection. I do not claim that it was the first snake that had ever looked into a mirror. But it was certain that the snake was looking into the mirror. Was it admiring its own beauty? Was it trying to make an important decision about growing a moustache or using eye shadow and mascara or wearing a vermilion spot on its forehead?
(a) What was it that God appreciated?
Ans: God appreciated the narrator getting the realisation that he had been arrogant and vain, and his sincere remembering of God.

(b) What did the snake do as it landed on the narrator’s chair?
Ans: The snake wriggled over the back of the chair and landed on his shoulders. It coiled round his left arm above the elbow and spread out its hood, hardly three inches from his face.

(d) Why did the narrator call it the “first snake”?
Ans: The narrator calls it the “first snake” because this was the first snake he had seen that enjoyed looking into the mirror.

Q16: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
I was no mere image cut in granite. I was suddenly a man of flesh and blood. Still holding my breath I got up from the chair. I quietly went through the veranda. From there I leapt into the yard and ran for all I was worth.

(a) What does the narrator mean when he says “I was no mere image cut in granite”?
Ans: The narrator no longer sat completely still, unable to move as if he were an image that had been carved in stone.

(b) Why had he been sitting turned to stone?
Ans: A snake had coiled itself around his arm and had spread its hood near his face.

(d) What did the narrator do?
Ans: He left his room and ran off as fast as could.

Q17: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
I was no mere image cut in granite. I was suddenly a man of flesh and blood. Still holding my breath I got up from the chair. I quietly went through the veranda. From there, I leapt into the yard and ran for all I was worth.
(a) When had the narrator felt like an “image cut in granite”?
Ans: He felt that he was an ‘image cut in granite’ when he found the snake coiled strongly round his forearm with its hood spread out barely three or four inches away from his face. He was gripped in fear, and he could neither move nor breathe properly.

(b) What is the meaning of ‘a man of flesh and blood’?
Ans: ‘A man of flesh and blood’ means a living person with human feelings, and with the strength to move.

(c) What made the narrator suddenly turn into ‘a man of flesh and blood’?
Ans: When the snake let go of its hold on his arm, the doctor came out of the state of shock which had made him numb like a stone. He regained his senses and faculties.

(d) What did the narrator do as soon as he turned into ‘a man of flesh and blood’?
Ans: When the doctor got over his numbing shock, he got up from his chair, quietly went through the veranda, leapt into the yard and ran as fast as he could.

Q18: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
The doctor replied, “I ran and ran till I reached a friend’s house. Immediately I smeared oil all over myself and took a bath. I changed into fresh clothes.
(a) Why did the doctor run?
Ans: The doctor ran because the snake that landed on his shoulder had slithered off, and he wanted to escape the snake.

(b) Where did the narrator spend the night?
Ans: The narrator spent the night with his friend at his house.

(c) Why did the doctor smear oil all over his body?
Ans: The doctor smeared oil all over his body because he wanted to erase the venom of the Snake that had landed on his shoulder.

(d) What did he do the next morning?
Ans: The next morning, he took his friends and went back to his room to check whether the snake was still there.

Q19: The next morning at about eight-thirty I took my friend and one or two others to my room to move my things from there. But we found we had little to carry.
(a) What does the narrator mean by the phrase “the next morning”?
Ans: The narrator is referring to the morning after the evening when he had the frightening experience with the snake that coiled itself around his arm.

(b) Which friend is being referred to?
Ans: The friend with whom the narrator had spent the night after escaping his house and the snake there.

(c) Why did the narrator want to remove his things?
Ans: The narrator wanted to remove his things as he wanted to leave his house because of the fear of the snake.

(d) Why was there little to carry?
Ans: There was little to carry because thieves had stolen most of his things in the night.

Q20: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
“No, ” the doctor said. “God willed otherwise. My life companion is a thin reedy person with the gift of a sprinter. ”
(a) Explain “God willed it otherwise”.
Ans: It was God’s will that the narrator’s wishes would not be fulfilled.

(b) What qualities did the narrator want in his wife?
Ans: The narrator wanted to get married to a woman doctor who was rich and fat.

(c) Why did he want those qualities?
Ans: The narrator had a meagre practice, so he wanted a rich wife with a good practice. He wanted a fat wife as he felt that if he made a silly mistake and needed to run away, she should not be able to run after him and catch him..

(d) What kind of person did he marry?
Ans: The woman he married was a thin and slender person who could run like a sprinter.

08. Poem – The Lake Isle of Innisfree – Worksheet Solutions

October 22, 2025 by khushikhanera

Multiple Choice Questions

Q1: What does the poet hear night and day in the core of his heart?
(a) The sound of the lake water lapping against the shore of Innisfree.
(b) The cries of his children telling him to come back home.
(c) The cries of his countrymen to fight for his country
(d) The cries of birds and animals to come and live with them in the forest.
Ans: (a)

Q2: What beautiful sight will he get to see there?
(a)The glimmer of midnight stars.
(b) The linnets flying about in the evening.
(c) The purple glow of the noon.
(d) All the above.
Ans: (d)

Q3: What does the poet hope to get there?
(a) Peace.
(b) Wealth.
(c) Friends.
(d)Name and fame.
Ans: (a)

Q4: Where does the poet want to go?
(a) To London.
(b) To Paris.
(c) To Innisfree.
(d)To Switzerland.
Ans: (c)

Q5: Name the poet of The Lake Isle of Innisfree’.
(a) James Kirkup.
(b) Robert Frost.
(c) W.B. Yeats.
(d) Phoebe Cary.
Ans: (c)

Q6: Select the name of the poet of the poem ‘The Lake Isle of Innisfree’.
(a) Robert Frost
(b) Subramania Bharati
(c) Coates Kinney
(d) W.B. Yeats
Ans: (d)

Q7: What does the poet hear at Innisfree Island?
(a)the sound of raindrops
(b) the noise of the wind
(c) the lapping low sounds of the
(d) none of these three options lake water
Ans: (c)

Q8: What does the poet see in Innisfree land?
(a) glimmering midnight
(b) purple noon
(c) the evening full of linnet’s wings
(d) all the options are correct
Ans: (d)

Q9: Where will the poet have peace?
(a) in his home
(b) in heaven
(c) in Innisfree land
(d) in a lake
Ans: (c)

Q10: What thing will the poet not do on the Innisfree land?
(a) build a restaurant
(b) build a small cabin
(c) plant nine bean rows
(d) build a hive for the honeybee
Ans: (a)

Very Short Answer Questions

Q1: Read the following passages and answer the questions:
Ans: Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee;
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.
(i) What kind of garden does he want to have?
Ans: He wants to have a garden of beans with nine rows.

(ii) Why does he want to build a hive?
Ans: He wants to build a cabin of clay and wattle and a hive for honey-bees.

(iii) What is a glade?
Ans: A glade is an open space surrounded by woods.

(iv) What does he want to do there?
Ans: He wants to build a hive for honey bees.

Q2: What is the poet going to build in Innisfree and why?
Ans: The poet is going to build a cabin made of clay and wallet and a hive for honey-bee and a garden of nine bean in Innisfree. He wants to live there alone peacefully.

Q3: What kind of house does the poet want to build?
Ans: The poet wants to build a small house like a cabin made of clay and wattle and settle there.

Q4: How the poet wants to spend his time in Innisfree?
Ans: In Innisfree, the poet wants to spend his time listening to the songs of honey-bee and crickets.

Q5: Where was the poet at the time of penning the poem?
Ans: The poet was in the city or town at the time of penning the poem. At the end of the poem he stated that ‘While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey’. He has been dreaming of his childhood fascination to go and settle at an island in lake Innisfree and settle there. He cherished to build a cabin made of clay and wattle and a hive for the honey-bee. He wished to listen to the splash of water striking on the banks and hear the melodious songs of crickets. He longed to hear the loud buzz of the honey-bee in the glade. Though he is unable to go there but the splash of water and dream of being at Innisfree linger on in his heart.

Q6; Read the following passages and answer the questions:
Ans: I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made:
(i) Who is I in the first line?
Ans: ‘I’ is the speaker or the poet in the first line.

(ii) What’s his resolve?
Ans: His resolve is to go to Innisfree.

(iii) What is he going to build there?
Ans: He is going to build a cabin made of clay and wattles.

(iv) What are wattles?
Ans: Wattles are a fabrication of poles interwoven with slender branches, withes, or reeds and used especially formerly in buildings.

Q7: What is the intension of the poet?
Ans: The intension of the poet is to build a cabin there and stay alone peacefully.

Q8: Why does the poet want to live alone?
Ans: The poet wants to live alone because he doesn’t like the mad rush of the town and live a peaceful life on an isolated island with bees and crickets.

Q9: The poet in the last two lines presents a different picture. What is it?
Ans:The poet in the last two lines presents a different picture, when he tries to express that he is still in the town on a pavement next to the road and feels the splash of water of lake in his heart.

Q10: Why does the poet want to go to Innisfree and what he intends to do there?
Ans:The poet wants to go to Innisfree to spend his time in peace and tranquility of serene place which has a garden of nine bean. He also wants to build a cabin made of clay and wattle surrounded by the garden. He also wants to make a hive for honey-bee. He describes the place as beautiful with moonlight spreading silver splash and purple glow of the sun during noon. He intends to do live there in peace listening to the honey-bee and the songs of the crickets. He also wants to listen to splash of the water on the shores of the lake.

Short Answer Questions

Q1: Describe the Lake Isle of Innisfree as seen through the eyes of the poet.
Ans: The Lake Isle of Innisfree is an island that is incredibly peaceful. The island is also a place of great natural beauty. Yeats describes many different aspects of its appeal, from the various birds and insects to the striking light at different times of day. This is a landscape that has not been damaged or diminished by human interference.

Q2: What kind of life does the poet William Butler Yeats imagine in his poem “The Lake Isle of Innisfree”?
Ans: Yeats imagines Innisfree as an idyllic place of peace and solitude. He imagines living in a “small cabin” of “clay and wattles” where he will support himself on beans he plants and honey from his beehive, and he will “live alone in the bee-loud glade.” There is also a sense that the “peace” he will find there is connected to its natural beauty.

Q3: How does the poet describe the lake’s waves?
Ans: The poet says that the lake’s waves hit its shore and create a low sound. The sound, different from the sounds of the city, gives him great pleasure. He hears it in his heart and enjoys it. It also gives him solace and comfort as he realises he can visualise the island in his heart in the city.

Q4: Why does the speaker in the poem “The Lake Isle of Innisfree” desire to spend his time alone in his cabin?
Ans: The speaker longs for a quiet place where he can live in peace and in harmony with nature. He envisions a simple life in a cottage surrounded by a garden instead of the dull “pavement” of the city. In his mind, he hears the gentle “lapping” of the water against its shore, the bee loud glade instead of the noise of city traffic. And he will be self-sufficient, growing his own food.

Q5: What words does the poet use to describe how calmness and tranquillity will come to him at Innsifree?
Ans: The poet declares that he will get up and go to Innisfree, where he will build a small cabin “of clay and wattles made.” There, he will have nine bean-rows and a beehive and live alone in the glade loud with the sound of bees. He says that he will have peace there, for peace drops from “the veils of morning to where the cricket sings.”

Long Answer Questions

Q1: How does Yeats create the atmosphere of the island and its sights and sounds in “The Lake Isle of Innisfree”? Refer closely to the use of language in the first two stanzas.
Ans: The speaker begins by declaring that he will rise and go to Innisfree, a small island in the middle of Lough Gill, located in County Slogh. There the speaker will construct a cabin of mud and intertwined twigs or branches. He will lead a life of peace and quiet solitude, keeping busy with his garden of beans and a beehive.
The speaker reiterates that he will find calm in the dripping morning dew and singing crickets in the morning light, and this calm will continue throughout the day, when the sky glows purple in the noon and he hears the beating or finches’ wings in the evening, and finally, when the sky shimmers in the light of the stars at midnight.

Q2: Explain the contrast between the last four lines of “The Lake Isle of Innisfree” and the rest of the poem.
Ans:In the opening lines of the poem, the poet’s tone is dreamy and hopeful as the poet declares his intention of going to Innisfree. This is mainly achieved by the use of the future tense and the speaker’s desire to “arise and go now” to Innisfree. The speaker is sure he will live happily, will build his own home and grow and harvest his own food.

Innisfree takes on a magical character in the second stanza. The buzzing of the bees has, quietened and has been replaced by the gentler noise of crickets, the air is filled with birds in flight, and night and day have reversed their roles: “midnight’s all a glimmer and noon a purple glow.” It is also a place where peace is slow in coming but arrives nonetheless.

The reader is, however, aware that the speaker is not where he wishes to be, yet. The longing becomes more intense in the final stanza when the speaker says he hears the call to go to Innisfree “always night and day” and is even more determined to go to Innisfree. There is a sharp tone shift in the final two lines created by use of present tense “I stand” and “I hear”.

The soothing tone and mood is abruptly cut off and replaced by cold reality and the imagery of the street – to “roadway” and “pavements grey”. The speaker would rather not be where he is in that moment and his tone is sombre. But this mood does not last, as the speaker shifts to the present tense showing that though he stands on the “grey” pavement, he can access Innisfree in his own heart at any time.

Q3: Briefly describe the major theme of the poem ‘The Lake Isle of Innisfree”, Nature vs City life.
Ans: A major theme in “The Lake Isle of Innisfree”, is nature versus the somber monotony of city life. Civilization, as represented by London, is monotonous and wearisome. On the other hand, Innisfree is magical with its He is not at peace, because peace is there only at Innisfree. Further, his use of “pavements gray” tells us that the urban environment in which he finds himself is exactly the opposite of the natural world he desires to return to.

On the other hand, Innisfree, which represents Nature, is magical in its appearance. The sounds one hears are the buzzing of bees, the flapping of the linnets’ wings, the singing of crickets and the lapping of the lake water aginst the shores. The sky is magical too. The dew drops from the sky in the morning light, the noon sky glows purple and the stars shimmer at midnight.

Q4: Why does the poet want to go Innisfree?
Ans:The speaker is standing on the pavement in London. He is surrounded by the sombre monotony of “grey” roadway and pavement and the sound of traffic. In that moment, perhaps fed up of the hubbub of the city life, the speaker decides to go to Innisfree. There, the speaker will construct a cabin of mud and intertwined twigs. In a life of quiet solitude, the speaker will keep busy with his garden of beans and a beehive. The speaker reiterates that he will find calm in the easy pace of dripping dew and singing crickets in the morning light, and this calm will continue throughout the day, the purple glow of the afternoon, and the beating of finches’ wings in the evening and shimmering of stars in the sky at midnight.

Q5: In W.B. Yeats’s poem, “The Lake Isle of Innisfree,” what indications does the speaker give of his present environment?
Ans: The first line of the poem makes it clear that the speaker is not at Innisfree. In this line, he expresses his wish to go there. Given his peaceful, idealistic description of Innisfree as a magical place that he would want to escape to, we might surmise that his current environment is quite different. If he longs so badly to escape to such a place, perhaps his current environment is bland, boring, oppressive.
He will have peace at Innisfree in the lap of Nature, implying he does not have peace where he is at present. He also brings out the sombre, monotony of the “grey” London pavements and the sound of traffic, by contrasting them with the sounds of bees, birds and crickets and the colours of the sky.

Reference to Context

Q1: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.
(a) Who does T refer to in the stanza?
Ans: I is the speaker/ the poet William Butler Yeats

(b) Where is he at the present moment?
Ans: He is walking down a road in London.

(c) Where does he want to go?
Ans: He wants to go to the lake island of Innisfree, a place where he had spent a lot of time as a boy.

(d) What does he wish to do there?
Ans: He wishes to build a small hut of clay and wattles. He will sow nine rows of beans and keep a hive for the honeybee.

Q2: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.
(a) Name the poetic device used in the first line.
Ans: Allusion: The poet’s declaration ‘’I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree” echoes the words of the prodigal son in the Bible when he says, ‘’I will arise and go to my father.”

(b) What does the word ‘there’ in the above lines refer to?
Ans: ‘There’ in the above lines refer to Lake Isle of Innisfree.

(c) Why does the poet wish to do go to Innisfree?
Ans: The poet wishes to live in the lap of Nature, away from the hubbub of the city.

(d) What does the stanza suggest about the poet?
Ans: The poet loves to live in the lap of nature.

Q3: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow.
And evenings full of the linnet’s wings.
(a) What is the poet going there to find?
Ans: The poet hopes to find peace in Innisfree.

(b) Explain: What do you think “for peace comes dropping slow/ Dropping from the veils of the morning”?
Ans: The given lines indicate that peace of mind can be slowly acquired from the natural surroundings. It is peace that comes slowly, falling like morning mist from the sky and slowly fades away until it is night.

(c) How has noon been described in the stanza?
Ans: Noon has been described as a purple glow. Here, a purple glow in the sky gives noon a magical quality. The poet could also be referring to the sight of purple flowers of heather in the afternoon

(d) What is a ‘Linnet’?
Ans: A mainly brown and grey finch with a reddish breast and forehead.

Q4: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow.
And evenings full of the linnet’s wings.
(a) Where is the poet at the moment?
Ans: He is standing on a pavement in London, imagining he is at Innisfree.

(b) What did the poet see in the morning?
Ans: The poet saw dewdrops which seemed to be dropping from the skies and which brought peace.

(d) How does peace come in the morning?
Ans: The peace comes dropping in the form of dewdrops in the morning when the sun rises from behind the curtains of mist. It gives immense pleasure to the poet.

Q5: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear the lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart’s core.
(a) What is the poet’s tone as he repeats “I will arise and go now”?
Ans: The poet is determined to go back to Innisfree.

(b) What does the poet hear?
Ans: The hears the lake water lapping with low sounds against the shore.

(c) What do you learn about the poet in this stanza?
Ans: The poet loves nature and is determined to return to live with nature.

(d) How does the poet contrast London and Innisfree?
Ans: The poet contrasts the colours of nature with the grey of the London streets.

Q6: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear the lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart’s core.
(a) Explain the line “lake water lapping with low sounds”.
Ans: The poet hears the quiet sound of lake’s waves as they gently break on the shore.

(b) Bring out the internal rhyme used in the above lines.
Ans: While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey

(c) Why does the poet want to go to Lake Isle of Innisfree?
Ans: The poet is unhappy with the life in the city. He wants to lead a peaceful life in the lap of nature. He wants to go to Innisfree because it is natural place full of beauty.

(d) Why is the poet looking for peace in Innisfree?
Ans: The poet is living in London at the moment. He does not find peace in the city.

07. A Truly Beautiful Mind – Worksheet Solutions

October 22, 2025 by khushikhanera

Multiple Choice Questions

Q.1. What did the school headmaster say about Einstein?
(a) None of these
(b) He is great
(c) He can’t be a success at anything
(d)He would be a genius

Correct Answer is Option (c)

Q.2. What did the newspapers proclaim Einstein’s work?
(a)A scientific revolution
(b) An unscientific revolution
(c)A cinematic revolution
(d)An economic revolution

Correct Answer is Option (a)
The newspaper’s proclaimed Einstein’s work as a scientific revolution.

Q.3. What kind of prose do you think, A Truly Beautiful Mind can be categorised as?
(a) Novel
(b)Biographical text
(c) Autobiographical text
(d)Short story

Correct Answer is Option (b)
The prose titled A Truly Beautiful Mind is a biographical text on Albert Einstein.

Q.4. By what age did Einstein not learn to speak?
(a)Five and half years
(b)Three and half years
(c) Two and half years
(d)Four and half years

Correct Answer is Option (c)

Q.5. A Truly Beautiful Mind, what did Albert’s playmates call him?
(a) Boring Brat
(b)Brother Brown
(c) Brother Boring
(d) Big Brother

Correct Answer is Option (c)
Albert had no idea as to what he should do with the other children. He was like a boring child for his playmates so they named him “Brother Boring”.

Q.6. Why did Einstein write a public missive to the UN?
(a) He wanted to propose his theory in the UN.
(b) He wanted the membership of the UN.
(c)He was in favour of the world government.
(d)He was moved by world destruction.

Correct Answer is Option (c)
Einstein wrote a public missive to the United Nations and proposed the formation of a world government.

Q.7. Why did Einstein leave the school?
(a)For good
(b) He had clashed with the teachers
(c)All of these
(d)He didn’t like discipline and order in the school

Correct Answer is Option (c)

Q.8. Who was Einstein’s second wife?
(a)Mileva Maric
(b)Maja
(c)Einstein’s cousin Elsa
(d)He did not marry a second time

Correct Answer is Option (c)
The marriage with Mileva had proved fail and they got divorced in the year 1919. Einstein married his cousin Elsa in the same year.

Q.9. When was Albert Einstein born as per the date given in the text, A Truly Beautiful Mind
(a) 14th March 1859
(b)14th March 1879
(c)14th March 1889
(d) 14th March 1869

Correct Answer is Option (b)
Albert Einstein was born on 14th March 1879 in the German city of Ulm.

Q.10. To which the American President did Einstein write a letter about the destructive powers of such atomic bombs?
(a) Abraham Lincoln
(b)Theodore Roosevelt
(c) Franklin Pierce
(d)Franklin D. Roosevelt

Correct Answer is Option (d)
At the urging of a colleague, Einstein wrote a letter to the American President Franklin D. Roosevelt explaining to him the destructive power of the atomic bombs on 2nd August 1939.

Reference to Context

Q1: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
At the age of two-and-a-half, Einstein still wasn ’t talking. When he finally did learn to speak, he uttered everything twice. Einstein did not know what to do with other children, and his playmates called him “Brother Boring
(a) What did Einstein’s mother think of him when he was a baby? Why?
Ans: Einstein’s mother thought of him as a freak because to her, his head seemed much too large.

(b) Why does the writer point out that Einstein wasn’t talking till the age of two-and-a-half?
Ans: The writer points out that Einstein wasn’t talking till the age of two-and-a-half to clarify that his growth parameters were slower as compared to other children of his age.

(c) How did Einstein speak when he finally started talking?
Ans: When Einstein finally started talking, he used to utter everything twice.

(d) Why was Einstein called “Brother Boring” by his playmates?
Ans: Einstein’s playmates called him “Brother Boring” because he was an introvert and did not interact with other children.

Q2: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
A headmaster once told his father that what Einstein chose as a profession would not matter, because “he will never make a success at anything ” Einstein began learning to play the violin at the age of six, because his mother wanted him to. He later became a gifted amateur violinist, maintaining this skill throughout his life.
(a) What was the headmaster’s opinion about Einstein?
Ans: The headmaster’s opinion about Einstein was that he would never be successful in his life.

(b) Why did Einstein leave the school in Munich?
Ans: Einstein left the school in Munich for good because he hated the school’s regimentation.

(d) What kind of a violin player was Einstein?
Ans: He was a gifted violin player.

Q3: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
But Albert Einstein was not a bad pupil. He went to high school in Munich, where Einstein’s family had moved when he was 15 months old, and scored good marks in almost every subject.
(a) What had Einstein’s Headmaster said about him?
Ans: The headmaster had told his father that Einstein would never make a success at anything.

(b) What were Einstein’s achievements at school?
Ans: Albert Einstein was not a bad pupil and he scored good marks in almost every subject.

(d) What kind of a school did Einstein wish to join?
Ans: Einstein wanted to join a school which was more liberal and flexible.

Q4: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
Einstein hated the school’s regimentation and often clashed with his teachers. At the age of 15, Einstein felt so stifled there that he left the school for good.
(a) Why did Einstein clash with his teachers?
Ans: The strict regimentation in the school demanded unquestioning acceptance of the teachers’ words. Hence he often clashed with his teachers

(b) When did Einstein leave his school in Munich and why?
Ans: Einstein left his school in Munich when he was fifteen years of age because he felt completely suffocated by the rigid atmosphere there.

(c) Where did Einstein go after leaving his school in Munich?
Ans: Einstein went to the German-speaking part of Switzerland, in a more liberal city than Munich.

(d) What does this tell you about Einstein?
Ans: Einstein had an independent and inquisitive mind and he did not like unquestioning obedience.

Q5: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
Einstein was highly gifted in mathematics and interested in physics, and after finishing school, he decided to study at a university in Zurich. But science wasn ’t the only thing that appealed to the dashing young man with the walrus moustache.
(a) Where did Einstein want to continue his education? Why?
Ans: Einstein wanted to continue his education in German-speaking Switzerland because he felt this would be more liberal than Munich.

(b) What were his favourite subjects?
Ans: His favourite subjects were Mathematics and Physics.

(c) Explain: But science wasn’t the only thing that appealed to the dashing young man.
Ans: Einstein also felt a special interest in a fellow student, Mileva Marie, whom he found to be a “clever. creature” and whom he married later.

(d) Why did he see Mileva as an ally?
Ans: Einstein found in Mileva an ally because she disapproved of the “philistines” or the people who did not like art, literature or music.

Q6: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
He worked as a teaching assistant, gave private lessons and finally secured a job in 1902 as a technical expert in the patent office in Bern. While he was supposed to be assessing other people’s inventions, Einstein was actually developing his own ideas in secret.
(a) How did Einstein earn a living before securing a job?
Ans: Before securing a job. Einstein gave private lessons and worked as a teaching assistant.

(b) When did Einstein secure a job? What was the nature of this job?
Ans: Einstein secured a job in 1902. This job was in a patent office and Einstein worked here as a technical assistant. In this job he was supposed to assess the inventions of other people.

(c) Why did Einstein develop his ideas in secret?
Ans: Einstein’s job required him to assess the inventions of other people. Therefore, he had to develop his ideas in secret.

(d) Where did he store his inventions? What did he call it?
Ans: He stored his inventions in his desk drawer at work which he called the “bureau of theoretical physics.”

Q7: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
One of the famous papers of 1905 was Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity, according to which time and distance are not absolute.
(a) Explain the term “absolute”
Ans: The term “absolute” refers to something that is true, right, or the same in all situations and not depending on anything else.

(b) What according to Einstein are not absolute?
Ans: According to Einstein time and distance are not absolute.

(c) What is described by the formula E=mc²?
Ans: The relationship between mass and energy is described by this formula. In this formula, ‘E’ stands for energy, ‘m’ for mass and ‘c’ for speed of light in a vacuum.

(d) How did this formula establish Einstein as a scientific genius?
Ans: This formula, having been proved to be accurate, had become the most famous formula of the world and therefore, Einstein’s reputation as a scientific genius was established.

Q8: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
While Einstein was solving the most difficult problems in physics, his private life was unravelling. Albert had wanted to marry Mileva right after finishing his studies, but his mother was against it. She thought Mileva, who was three years older than her son, was too old for him. She was also bothered by Mileva’s intelligence. “She is a book like you, ” his mother said. Einstein put the wedding off.
(a) Where was Mileva from? Why did she join Zurich University?
Ans: Mileva was a Serb who had joined Zurich University because it was one of the few places in Europe where women could get degrees.

(b) Why did Einstein’s mother oppose his marriage with Mileva?
Ans: Mileva was three years older than him and very intelligent.

(d) When did Einstein get married to Mileva?
Ans: He got married to Mileva in 1903.

Q9: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
The pair finally got married in January 1903, and had two sons. But a few years later, the marriage faltered.
(a) Name the couple being talked about?
Ans: The couple being talked about is Albert Einstein and Mileva Marie.

(b) What happened to their marriage?
Ans: With the passage of time, their marriage became weak and failed.

(c) Why did their marriage falter?
Ans: Their marriage faltered because Mileva, who was losing her intellectual ambition, was becoming an unhappy housewife and the couple were constantly fighting.

(d) Whom did Einstein marry later?
Ans: Einstein later married his cousin, Elsa.

Q10: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
Many of them had fled from Fascism, just as Einstein had, and now they were afraid the Nazis could build and use an atomic bomb.
(a) What does the word ‘fascism’ mean?
Ans: Fascism refers to a political system based on a very powerful leader, state control, and being extremely proud of country and race, and in which political opposition is not allowed.

(b) Who does ‘they’ refer to in the above lines?
Ans: In the above lines ‘they’ refers to the American Physicists who had escaped from dictatorship in their parent countries.

(c) When and where had many of them fled from? Why?
Ans: Many of them had fled to America when the Nazis came to power in Germany. They had to flee their country, because they feared suppression of their liberal ideas by the dictatorial Nazis.

(d) What were they afraid of and why?
Ans: They were afraid that the discovery of nuclear fission could be developed by Germany to build and use an atomic bomb which could be misused to cause massive destruction.

Q11: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
Einstein was deeply shaken by the extent of the destruction. This time he wrote a public missive to the United Nations In it he proposed the formation of a world government. Unlike the letter to Roosevelt, this one made no impact.
(a) What ‘destruction’ shook Einstein?
Ans: When the atom bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It caused heavy destruction. Einstein was moved because of the extent of damage to life and environment.

(b) What did Einstein write and to whom?
Ans: Einstein wrote to the United Nations proposing the formation of a world government.

(c) Who was Roosevelt? Why had Einstein written to him?
Ans: Franklin Roosevelt was the President of USA. Einstein wrote a letter to Roosevelt in which he warned him by saying, ‘a single bomb of this type might very well destroy the whole part with some of the surrounding territory’, i.e., a letter warning him about the damage the bomb blast could cause.

(d) How had Roosevelt responded?
Ans: Taking heed of Einstein’s warning, the Americans developed the atomic bomb in a secret project of their own, and dropped it on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.

Q12: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
Unlike the letter to Roosevelt, this one made no impact. But over the next decade, Einstein got ever more involved in politics – agitating for an end to the arms buildup and using his popularity to campaign for peace and democracy.
(a) What does ‘this one’ refer to?
Ans: ‘This one’ refers to Einstein’s letter to the United Nations.

(b) Who had written a letter to Roosevelt and why?
Ans: Einstein had written a letter to President Roosevelt to warn him against the atom bomb that Germany could make on the principle of nuclear fission.

(c) What had Einstein written in ‘this one’?
Ans: The letter written by Einstein to the United Nations spoke about the need for forming a world government to counter destructive acts like the use of atom bombs.

(d) Why did Einstein get more involved in politics?
Ans: Einstein got more involved in politics because he was a supporter of world peace and harmony and in this manner he launched an agitation to end arms buildup and campaigned for peace and democracy.

06. Poem – Rain on the Roof – Worksheet Solutions

October 22, 2025 by khushikhanera

Multiple Choice Questions

Q.1. Find the word from the poem Rain on the Roof which means a repeated part of a song or a poem.
(a) Refrain
(b)Fancies
(c) Shingles
(d) Patter

Ans: (a)
The refrain is referred to as a repeated line(s) of a poem or a song. In this poem, the poet refers to the repeated sound of the rain on the roof of his cottage as the refrain.

Q.2. What is the favourite activity of the poet during the rainy season?
(a) Eating snacks
(b) Lie on the bed and listen to the pitter-patter sound of the rain
(c)Roaming on the roof
(d) Listening to the music

Ans: (b)

Q.3. What does the poet attach the darkness with?
(a)Pleasant
(b)Sadness
(c) Soothing
(d)Joyful mood

Ans: (b)

Q.4. Which figure of speech has been used in the phrase darling dreamers?
(a) Anaphora
(b)Antithesis
(c)Anticlimax
(d) Alliteration

Ans: (d)
The sound of the consonant has been repeated at the beginning of two consecutive words darling dreamers which stands as an example of Alliteration.

Q.5. Where is the rain making a noise?
(a) In the lanes
(b) On the roof
(c)In the garden
(d)In the room

Ans: (b)

Q.6. Which figure of speech has been used in the phrase starry spheres?
(a) Antithesis
(b)Apostrophe
(c) Alliteration
(d)Anaphora

Ans: (c)
The repetition of the same sound at the beginning of consecutive words or nearly consecutive words is known as Alliteration.

Q.7. Whose memory comes to the poet when he listens to the rain?
(a)The memory of his dear friend
(b)The memory of his mother
(c)The memory of his beloved
(d)The memory of his father

Ans: (b)
The memory of the poet’s mother comes to him as they have been separated long ago by her death.

Q.8. What does cottage-chamber mean?
(a) A separate building next to the cottage
(b)All of these
(c)Type of bed
(d)A room in the cottage

Ans: (d)

Q.9. What tinkles on the shingles?
(a)Raindrops
(b) Silver bangles
(c)Brass-bells
(d) Hailstones

Ans: (a)

Q.10. Select the correct meaning of refrain.
(a) The noise of the rain
(b) Stop making noise
(c) Sound of piano music
(d) Making refined efforts

Ans: (a)

Very Short Answer Questions

Q1: What do the humid shadows refer to?
Ans: The humid shadows refer to the dark clouds.

Q2: What does the poet like to do when it rains?
Ans: When it rains the poet like to keep lying in his cosy bed and enjoy listening to the patter of soft raindrops.

Q3: What makes an echo in the poet’s heart?
Ans:The sound of raindrops on the roof makes an echo in the poet’s heart.

Q4: Where do the raindrop patter?
Ans: The raindrops patter on the shingles of the roof.

Q5: Is the poet, Coates Kinney, a child now?
Ans: No, he is not a child now.

Short Answer Questions

Q1: How old do you think the poet is? Justify your answer.
Ans: The poet is a young man. He remembers his mother looking down at him and his siblings, who are sleeping in their room, long ago. The poet’s mother also is no longer alive as he says she lives on in his memories.

Q2: ‘And the melancholy darkness gently weeps in rainy tears.’ Explain the phrase ‘melancholy darkness’. What does it do?
Ans:“Melancholy darkness” refers to the dark rain bearing clouds. The poet imagines that the clouds covering the sky are gloomy and depressed because they are heavy and grey. The poet further imagines that the clouds are weeping and their tears are falling down as rain drops.

Q3: What does the poet like to do when it rains?
Ans:The poet likes to lie in his room in his cottage, snug in bed with his head on a pillow when it rains. It gives him the greatest pleasure.

Q4: What are the poet’s feelings as the rain falls on the shingles?
Ans:As the rain falls on the shingles, its tinkling sound creates an echo in the poet’s heart. As he listens to the patter of the raindrops on the roof, his gloom is lifted and his heart is filled with a thousand fantasies and fond memories of his mother.

Q5: “And a thousand dreamy fancies into busy heart.” When do the ‘thousand dreamy fancies’ begin in the poet’s heart?
Ans:When the poet is in his cottage and lies in his cosy bed listening to the soft music of rain on the roof, his mind is flooded with various thoughts and imaginations. The soothing sound of the gentle rain on the shingles fires his imagination

Long Answer Questions

Q1: How does the rain affect the poet? Describe.
Ans: Though at first the sight of the gathering dark clouds fills the poet’s mind with dismay and unhappiness, the gentle patter of the rain falling on his roof soon soothes him. The poet liees in his cosy bed, his head on his pillow and listens to the patter of the raindrops on the shingles. The gentle sound ills him with bliss. A thousand fantasies fill his mind. He is filled with nostalgia as he remembers his mother. He recalls how his mother had looked at him and his sleeping siblings with fondness as they lay in their beds. Hence, the rain is a bliss for the poet.

Q2: In what way are the poems The Road Not Taken and Rain on the Roof evocative of the past?
Ans: In both the poems The Road Not Taken and Rain on the Roof there is a certain nostalgia for events long gone by. In The Road Not Taken, Robert Frost talks with regret about a decision taken long ago to take a certain path in the woods. He had thought of taking the second path sometime in the future. Though he knew, even at that time, that the chances of his returning that way were slim. So his tone is one of regret.
On the other hand, the poet in Rain on the Roof is first filled with melancholy and gloom at the sight of the gathering clouds. However, the gentle patter of the rain soothes him and fills his mind with fond memories of his mother smiling down at him. Thus Kinney’s feelings of unhappiness vanish and he is at peace.

Q3: How does the poet describe the falling rain in the poem ‘Rain on the Roof?
Ans: The poet first describes the falling rain as the tears of clouds. The dark rain bearing clouds appear gloomy and depressed to him. Therefore, they are weeping. Their tears fall to earth as gentle rain. However, as he listens to the patter of rain on the shingles, it provides him immense pleasure. The poet loves to hear the melodious sound of nature. He listens to the patter of soft rain on the wooden roof and is lost in fantasies.
He considers it a rare happiness to listen to the patter of the rain on the roof. Rain brings to his mind memories . of long gone days when he was a child, and he lay sleeping in his room along with his siblings, as his mother gazed down at them with love.

Q4: What happens when the poet listens to the patter of the rain? Do you think that rain is a narrative tool in the poet’s life?
Ans: The raindrops play music on the roof and create a tinkling sound on the shingles. To the poet this music is blissful. At the beginning of the poem there is certain tinge of sadness, and the poet talks of “melancholy darkness/ Gently weeps in rainy tears’. However, as he lies in his cosy bed, a feeling of bliss washes over him. Every raindrop on the tiles of the roof creates a rhythm with the poet’s heartbeat.

The poet tries to focus on listening to the pitter-patter on the roof whereas his mind weaves the recollections of fond memories of yester years. Rain bears a subtle link with all aspects of life. It serves as a powerful narrative tool in the poet’s life as it evokes fantasies and nostalgia in the poet. He recalls his mother in a poignant manner.

Reference to Context Questions

Q1: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
When the humid shadows hover
Over all the starry spheres
And the melancholy darkness
Gently weeps in rainy tears,
What a bliss to press the pillow
Of a cottage-chamber bed
And lie listening to the patter
Of the soft rain overhead!
(a) What does the phrase “humid shadows” refer to?
Ans: “Humid shadows” refer to the dark clouds that cause rain.

(b) What are “starry spheres”?
Ans: The stars that shine in the sky at night are called starry spheres.

(c) Why does the poet call the darkness melancholy?
Ans: The night is dark and gloomy. Perhaps the poet is also in a despondent mood. Where is the poet at the moment?

Q2: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
The poet is in his bed in his cottage.
When the humid shadows hover
Over all the starry spheres
And the melancholy darkness
Gently weeps in rainy tears,
What a bliss to press the pillow
Of a cottage-chamber bed
And lie listening to the patter
Of the soft rain overhead!
(a) Who weeps in the form of rainy tears?
Ans: The dark rain-bearing clouds weep tears of rain in their sadness.

(b) Which line shows that the poet is happy when it rains?
Ans: What a bliss to press the pillow shows his happiness.

(c) What memories does the rain bring to the poet’s mind?
Ans: The poet remembers his mother looking down at her sleeping children before going to her room. Name the poetic device used in the above lines.

Q3: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
Alliteration: Over all the starry spheres
What a bliss to press the pillow
And lie listening to the patter
Every tinkle on the shingles
Has an echo in the heart;
And a thousand dreamy fancies
Into busy being start,
And a thousand recollections
Weave their air-threads into woof,
As I listen to the patter
Of the rain upon the roof
(a) What echoes in the poet’s heart?
Ans: The patter of soft rain on the roof echoes in the heart of the poet.

(b) Explain: a thousand dreamy fancies into busy being start.
Ans: This phrase refers to the various imaginary thoughts and fantasies that are aroused in the poet’s mind.

(c) What starts ‘a thousand dreamy fancies’?
Ans: The tinkling sound of the raindrops on the roof starts a thousand dreamy fancies.

(d) What is a refrain? Find lines from the poem that form its refrain.
Ans: A refrain is the repetition of lines or whole phrases in a poem, usually at the end of a stanza. It creates a musical effect and lends unity to a piece.
Example:
As I listen to the patter
Of the rain upon the roof.

Q4: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
Every tinkle on the shingles
Has an echo in the heart;
And a thousand dreamy fancies
Into busy being start,
And a thousand recollections
Weave their air-threads into woof
As I listen to the patter
Of the rain upon the roof
(a) Explain ‘shingles’. What is tinkling on the shingles?
Ans: Shingles are thin rectangular tiles, especially made of wood, that are laid with others in overlapping rows to form the roof. Rain is making a sharp sound as it hits the tiles.

(b) What finds an echo in the poet’s heart?
Ans: The tinkle of rain on the shingles finds an echo in the poet’s heart.

(c) Who is a busy being? What happens to his mind?
Ans: The ‘busy being’ refers to the poet. His mind is flooded with fantasies and memories.

(d) Explain: “A thousand recollections weave their air-threads into woof’.
Ans: While weaving a fabric, the threads that run lengthwise are called warp and the threads that run across are known as woof. The poet means that numerous memories intermingle to form a beautiful picture that the poet recollects.’

Q5: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
Now in memory comes my mother,
As she used in years agone,
To regard the darling dreamers
Ere she left them till the dawn:
O! Ifeel her fond look on me
As I list to this refrain
Which is played upon the shingles
By the patter of the rain.
(a) Whom does the poet remember?
Ans: The poet remembers his mother.

(b) Who are the darling dreamers?
Ans: The darling dreamers are the poet and his siblings who are fast asleep.

(d) What does he feel? Is his mother alive?
Ans: The poet remembers his mother who died many years ago with longing.

Q6: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
Now in memory comes my mother,
As she used in years agone,
To regard the darling dreamers
Ere she left them till the dawn:
O! Ifeel her fond look on me
As I list to this refrain
Which is played upon the
shingles By the patter of the rain.
(a) What is the poet doing at the moment?
Ans: The poet is lying in his bed listening to the sound of the rain,

(b) What is the memory that comes to the poet?
Ans: The poet remembers his mother standing next to their bed and gazing at her children fondly.

(c) What are the poet’s feelings for his family?
Ans: The poet loves his family. He calls his sleeping siblings “darling dreamers” and he remembers his mother very fondly.

(d) Name a poetic device used in the last line.
Ans: Onomatopoeia : Patter of rain

05. The Little Girl – Worksheet Solutions

October 22, 2025 by khushikhanera

Multiple Choice Questions

Q1. Why do you think Katherine Mansfield titled her story like The Little Girl?
(a) Because the story talks about the little girl and her feelings
(b) Because the story has a little girl in it
(c) Because The Little Girl seems to be an attractive and interesting title for a story
(d) Because Katherine Mansfield liked the little girl in the story
Ans: (a)
Sol: The story gives us an insight to a little girl’s mind beautifully explaining the thoughts and the emotions that these little children go through or might experience in certain circumstances and how they gradually begin to understand life in their own little way. Therefore, the title is appropriate for this story.

Q2. Kezia was beaten up with a ruler by her father because
(a) she went to an ice cream parlour
(b) she failed in her exam
(c) she disagreed to sleep alone
(d) she has torn down the papers of her father’s speech
Ans: (d)

Q3. Kezia saw these children playing
(a) football
(b) badminton
(c) hide and seek
(d) tag
Ans: (d)

Q4. How many children did the Macdonalds have in the text titled The Little Girl?
(a) Five
(b) Six
(c) Four
(d) Three
Ans: (a)
Sol: The Macdonalds had five children. Among them was the baby Mao, two little girls and two boys who played with their father in the evening.

Q5. Why did Kezia tear the papers?
(a) To clean her room
(b) To play
(c) All of these
(d) To fill the cushion
Ans: (d)

Q6. In the text The Little Girl, whom did Kezia find standing at her bedside with a candle when she woke up in the dark due to her nightmare?
(a) The cook, Alice
(b) Her Grannie
(c) Her Father
(d) Her Mother
Ans: (c)
Sol: Kezia often had nightmares and sleeping alone in the dark made it scarier for her. She woke up shivering and found her father standing beside the bed with a candle in his hand.

Q7: The father who lived next door to Kezia’s would
(a) make barbeque
(b) play and laugh
(c) water his plants
(d) speak angrily
Ans: (b)

Q8: Why was Kezia afraid of her father?
(a) Once he beat her for tearing his papers
(b) She thought that he was a hard-hearted man
(c) He used to speak rudely to her and always found faults in her
(d) All of these
Ans: (d)

Q9: Which family lived in the neighbourhood of Katherine?
(a) The Smiths
(b) The Wilson Family
(c) The Johnsons
(d) The Macdonald Family
Ans: (d)
Sol: The Macdonald family was Kezia’s next-door neighbour.

Q.10. What would Kezia find her mother doing on Sunday afternoons in the drawing-room?
(a) Nothing
(b) Reading
(c) Busy in her work
(d) Talking to her father
Ans: (b)

Short Answer Questions

Q1: Why was Kezia scared of her father?
Ans: Kezia’s father was a busy man and had little time for the little girl. Being a very disciplined man, he was strict with Kezia as well and she would at times get harsh words of scolding and physical punishment from him. He never displated any soft feelings for his little daughter nor did he play with her like Mr Macdonald. All he did was giving her a perfunctory kiss rather than a loving one. Moreover, he was a large man, and his size, too, terrified the little girl. So scared was Kezia of him that she felt relieved when he was gone from home

Q2: What was Kezia’s father’s routine before going to office and after coming back in the evening?
Ans: Before going to office, Kezia’s father would come to her room, give her a perfunctory kiss and leave for work. He would return in the evening and in a loud voice ask for his tea, the papers and his slippers to be brought into the drawing-room. He would wait for Kezia to help him take off his shoes and exchange a few words with Kezia.

Q3: Why did Kezia go slowly towards the drawing-room when mother asked her to come downstairs?
Ans: Kezia was afraid of her dominating father. He always scolded her for one thing or the other and did not display any soft feelings or affection for his little daughter. So frightened was she of him that she went very slowly towards the drawing-room when she was asked to come downstairs to take off his shoes.

Q4: Why did Kezia stutter while speaking to Father?
Ans: Kezia’s father’s had a loud and domineering personality and he frequently frequent rebuked her for her behaviour and appearance. His constant criticism and scolding shook her self-confidence. Moreover, his large size frightened her. Though Kezia tried her best to please him, she found herself tongue-tied while talking to him. This made her stutter in his presence.

Q5: Why was Father often irritated with Kezia?
Ans: Kezia was very scared of her father. She stuttered when he spoke to her. Also, the terrified expression on her face irritated him. In his presence she wore an expression of wretchedness. He felt that with such an expression, she seemed as if she were on the verge of suicide.

Long Answer Questions

Q1: Do you think the Kezia deserved the beating she got for her mistake? What light does this incident throw on her father’s character?
Ans: Kezia earned her father’s wrath for tearing his speech for the Port Authority to stuff a pin-cushion she was making for him as a birthday present. When Father discovered that Kezia was the culprit, he punished her by beating her little pink palms with a ruler to teach her not to touch what did not belong to her.
I think it was too harsh a punishment for an innocent mistake of a fond daughter who was making a gift for her father. Undoubtedly, the papers were extremely important for him and their loss must have caused him a lot of inconvenience but he should have heard out Kezia’s explanation, and understood and appreciated Kezia’s intentions. A firm but gentle reprimand would have sufficed to teach the sensitive Kezia not to touch things that did not belong to her. This incident shows that Father was a very insensitive and harsh man who demanded a very high standard of discipline from his daughter and did not tolerate any disobedience.

Q2: Briefly comment on Kezia’s relationship with her grandmother?
Ans: The little girl is extremely close to her loving and sympathetic grandmother. Failing to get any expression of affection from her parents, especially her father, Kezia turns to her grandmother for the emotional support and comfort that she needs. She turns to her to fulfill her need for love and protection.
Grandmother too showers love upon the little girl. She keeps trying to help the girl build her bridges with her parents. She advises Kezia to talk to her parents when they would be more relaxed as they sat in the drawing¬room on a Sunday afternoon. Again, she suggests to Kezia suggests that she should make a pin-cushion for her father as a present for his birthday. When Father beats Kezia, it is grandmother who tries first to reason with her son and then consoles and comforts Kezia by covering her with her shawl and allowing the child to cling to her soft body.
We also learn that, at night, when Kezia is scared by the dark or by her nightmares, it is for her grandmother that the little girl calls out, and it is grandmother who takes her into her own bed. Hence, her love and support make Kezia look upto her for everything.

Q3: What impression do you form of Kezia’s mother?
Ans: Kezia’s mother is very unapproachable, aloof figure, quite unlike a loving mother a young girl desires and needs. Perhaps her ill-health and her strict and domineering husbands demands leave her with very little room to pay the desired attention to her daughter. Her relationship with her daughter is distant. She treats the little girl in accordance with her husband’s expectations. She orders her to take off her father’s shoes and put them outside as this would indicate obedience. On Sunday afternoons, she spends her time engrossed in her reading, rather than talking to her daughter.
When Kezia innocently tears her father’s papers, she drags her downstairs to face Father’s wrath. She does not try to reason with Father when he reprimands and beats the little girl. She neither defends nor protects her in any way. She does not even go to assuage her traumatised daughter’s physical and emotional hurt. Little wonder then that Kezia turns to her grandmother to fulfill her need for motherly care and affection.

Q4: Kezia decides that there are “different kinds of fathers.” Comment on Kezia’s remark in the light of her relationship with her father and that of the Macdonald children with their father?
Ans: Kezia’s father was a busy man. He was so lost in his business that he had no time for his family. Being a very strict disciplinarian, he was strict with Kezia as well. He did not display any soft feelings for his little daughter through word or deed. All he did was give her a perfunctory kiss rather than a loving one as he left for work each morning. His presence at home frightened Kezia and she was relieved when he was gone. Kezia was unable to speak without stuttering in her father’s presence. Yet, despite all this, Kezia’s father had a loving heart as Kezia discovered when she had her nightmare and she was alone with him.

At once, Father came and took her to his room, made her lie with him and comforted her. He asked her to rub her feet against his legs for warmth. This showed the little girl her father truly loved her and it brought her close to her father. Mr Macdonald, Kezia’s next door neighbour, had five children and Kezia would often see them playing in their garden. One day, when Kezia looked through the gap in the fence she saw the Macdonalds playing ‘tag’.

It was evening, and Mr Macdonald had just returned from work but unlike her father, he looked happy to be playing with his children. He had baby Mao was on his shoulders, and the two girls were hanging on to his coat pockets. The party ran around the flower beds, shaking with laughter. Mr. Macdonald’s sons turned the hose on him and he tried to catch them laughing all the time.

This happy scene made Kezia conclude that there were different sorts of fathers. Mr Macdonald was so different from her own father. He was not at all strict, was always happy and thoroughly enjoyed the company of his children. In contrast, her own father was often in an angry mood and remained much too busy in his work. She dreaded him and avoided his company as much as she could. Whenever she was with him, she would stautter and look silly, like “a brown owl”. His strict discipline and his domineering nature made Kezia wonder what God made fathers for.

Q5: How does Kezia begin to see her father as a human being who needs her sympathy?
Ans: Kezia was scared of her father as he looked like a giant. Every morning he came to her room and gave her a perfunctory kiss before leaving for work, but even that contact with him left her feeling uneasy. She was relieved when her father left home for work. Kezia’s father often mocked or rebuked her and once he even beat her for tearing some of his important papers. So great was her fear of him that she stuttered while answering him.
However, a nightmare one night made Kezia discover the tender, caring and loving side of her father. One night when she was alone at home with her father, and she cried out in fear, he came at once to her room, lifted her in his arms and took her to his room. He comforted her and tucked her up nicely and slept next to her. He asked her to rub her feet against his legs for warmth. This incident brought her close to her father.
She felt sorry for him as he had to work so hard that he had no time to play with her. She even realized that her father loved her but didn’t have the art of expressing it. Thus, her attitude towards her father changed and became more understanding and sympathetic.

Reference Based Questions

Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.

Q1: To the little girl he was a figure to be feared and avoided. Every morning before going to work he came into her room and gave her a casual kiss, to which she responded with “Goodbye, Father And oh, there was a glad sense of relief when she heard the noise of the carriage growing fainter and fainter down the long road!

(a) Who does ‘he’ refer to in this extract?
Ans: He refers to the father of the little girl, Kezia.

(b) What kind of a person was Kezia’s father?
Ans: He was a strict disciplinarian with a harsh exterior.

(c) What were the feelings of the little girl towards him?
Ans: The little girl was afraid of him and tried to avoid him.

(d) How did she feel when her father left for office?
Ans: She heaved a sigh of relief after he left for his office.

Q2: To the little girl he was a figure to be feared and avoided. Every morning before going to work he came into her room and gave her a casual kiss, to which she responded with “Goodbye, Father”. And oh, there was a glad sense of relief when she heard the noise of the carriage growing fainter and fainter down the long road!

(a) Who is the little girl?
Ans: The little girl is Kezia.

(b) Who were the people in Kezia’s family?
Ans: Kezia’s family consisted of her father, mother, grandmother and herself.

(c) What did ‘he’ do before going to work every morning?
Ans: Before going to work every morning, he came to Kezia’s room and casually kissed her.

(d) What does this gesture show about him?
Ans: This gesture shows that he loved her girl but was not very expressive in his affection

Q3: She never stuttered with other people – had quite given it up – but only with Father, because then she was trying so hard to say the words properly.
(a) Who is ‘she’ in this extract?
Ans: ‘She’ is Kezia, the little girl who was afraid of her father.

(b) What had she “quite given up”?
Ans: She had quite given up the occasional stuttering in front of other people.

(c) How did ‘she’ speak in the presence of her father?
Ans: In the presence of her father, Kezia stuttered while speaking and displayed lack of confidence.

(d) Why did ‘she’ stutter in her father’s presence?
Ans: Kezia was afraid of her father and hesitated to speak to him, also whenever she had to speak to him, she would stutter because then she was trying so hard to say the words properly.

Q4: ‘‘What’s the matter? What are you looking so wretched about? Mother, I wish you taught this child not to appear on the brink of suicide … Here, Kezia, carry my teacup back to the table carefully. ” He was so big – his hands and his neck, especially his mouth when he yawned. Thinking about him alone was like thinking about a giant.

(a) Who is the speaker in these lines?
Ans: The speaker is Kezia’s father.

(b) Where are they at the moment? What time is it?
Ans: They are in the drawing room. It is evening and Father has just returned from work.

(c) How does Kezia look in her father’s presence? Why?
Ans: Kezia looks miserable and gloomy in his presence because she is scared of him.

(d) Why was she scared of her father?
Ans: She was scared of him because he was a large, loud man and he often reprimanded her.

Q5: Slowly the girl would slip down the stairs, more slowly still across the hall, and push open the drawing – room door.
(a) What time of the day is it?
Ans: It is evening and Father is back from work.

(b) Where is the little girl going?
Ans: The little girl is going to the drawing room, where her father is sitting.

(c) Why is she going there?
Ans: She is going there to help him take off his shoes.

(d) Why does she go slowly?
Ans: She goes slowly because she is afraid of her father and is reluctant to go in his presence.

Q6: He was so big – his hands and his neck, especially his mouth when he yawned. Thinking about him alone was like thinking about a giant.
(a) Who is ‘he’ in the above extract?
Ans: In this extract, ‘he’ refers to the father of Kezia, who was a very strict disciplinarian.

(b) Why does the speaker find him so big?
Ans: The speaker is his little daughter, Kezia, who is very scared of him. Hence she finds a really big and giant-like with big hands, neck and mouth.

(c) Why does the speaker think of him as a giant?
Ans: The speaker, Kezia, thought of him as a giant because to a small girl like her, his big body structure was as frightening as that of a giant of children’s stories.

(d) When did his mouth especially appear big?
Ans: His mouth especially appeared big when he opened it wide while yawning.

Q7: On Sunday afternoons Grandmother sent her down to the drawing-room to have a “nice talk with Father and Mother”. But the little girl always found Mother reading and Father stretched out on the sofa, his handkerchief on his face, his feet on one of the best cushions, sleeping soundly and snoring.
(a) Where did Grandmother send ‘her’? Why?
Ans: Grandmother would send her to the drawing room to talk to her parents.

(b) What would ‘her’ parents be doing?
Ans: Her mother would be reading and her father would be sleeping.

(c) What do you learn about Mother from this passage?
Ans: Mother is unconcerned and not very loving as she would ignore Kezia and continue to read.

(d) What would Father say to the little girl when he got up?
Ans: When he got up Father would ask why Kezia was looking at him like a brown owl.

Q8: One day, when she was kept indoors with a cold, her grandmother told her that father’s birthday was next week, and suggested she should make him a pin-cushion for a gift out of a beautiful piece of yellow silk.
(a) Who had a cold? What was the result of the cold?
Ans: Kezia had a cold and so she could not go out, but had to stay indoors.

(b) What was the occasion next week?
Ans: It was Kezia’s father’s birthday next week.

(d) What did Kezia use for stuffing the pin-cushion?
Ans: Kezia used some papers she found on a bed-table in her parents’ bedroom for stuffing the pin-cushion. Unfortunately, the papers were an important speech written by her father.

Q9: “Mother, go up to her room and fetch down the damned thing – see that the child’s put to bed this instant. ”
(a) Who speaks these lines and to whom?
Ans: Kezia’s father speaks these lines to his mother.

(b) What is the mood of the speaker in these lines?
Ans: The speaker, Kezia’s father, is very angry while speaking.

(c) What does the speaker refer to as the ‘damned thing’?
Ans: The ‘damned thing’ referred to by the speaker, Kezia’s father, is the pin-cushion Kezia had made for him.

(d) Who is the ‘child’ here? Why does the speaker wish the child to be put to bed immediately?
Ans: The ‘child’ here is Kezia. Her father, the speaker, wishes her to be put to bed immediately because he is furious at the damage caused by her. He wants to punish her for tearing up his papers.

Q10: “Sit up, ” he ordered, “and hold out your hands. You must be taught once and for all not to touch what does not belong to you. ”
(a) Who is the speaker? Who is he talking to?
Ans: Kezia’s father is talking to Kezia.

(b) Where are they at the moment?
Ans: They are in Kezia’s bedroom where she had been sent for tearing up her father’s papers.

(c) Why does the speaker want the listener to hold out her hands?
Ans: Kezia’s father wanted her to hold out her hands so that he could punish her by hitting her on the palms

(d) What do you learn about the speaker from these lines?
Ans: He is a strict disciplinarian and is punishing his little daughter for tearing up his important papers. He is also unforgiving.

Q11: “But it was for your b-b-birthday. ”
Down came the ruler on her little, pink palms.
(a) Who speaks these words? To whom?
Ans: Kezia speaks these words to her father.

(b) Where are they at the moment?
Ans: They are in Kezia’s bedroom at the moment.

(c) Why does she speak these words?
Ans: She speaks these words to try and explain to her father why she had cut up the papers.

(d) Who brought down ‘the ruler on her little, pink palms’? Why?
Ans: Kezia’s father brought down the ruler on her palms to punish her for touching his papers without permission.

Q12: “Here’s a clean hanky, darling. Blow your nose. Go to sleep, pet; you ’ll forget all about it in the morning. I tried to explain to Father but he was too upset to listen tonight. ”

(a) Why does the speaker offer the listener a clean hanky?
Ans: Grandmother, the speaker, offers a clean hanky because Kezia had been crying after she was punished by her father for tearing up his important papers. She needed a clean hanky to blow her running nose.

(b) What did the speaker want the listener to forget?
Ans: Grandmother, the speaker, wanted Kezia, the listener to forget about the beating that she had got from her Father.

(c) Why did she want the listener to forget it?
Ans: She wanted her to forget it because the punishment was not given to hurt but to make her understand that things belonging to others must not be touched.

(d) What do you think had the speaker tried to explain to Father?
Ans: Grandmother, the speaker, tried to explain to Father that Kezia had not destroyed the papers intentionally and that she had been trying to complete his surprise birthday gift.

Q13: But the child never forgot. Next time she saw him, she quickly put both hands behind her back and a red colour flew into her cheeks.
(a) What did the child never forget?
Ans: The child, Kezia, never forgot how her father had punished her and hit her.

(b) Why did she put her hands behind her back?
Ans: Father had hit her on her palms with a ruler. She remembered the pain, and was afraid of being punished again.

(c) What had she done to get punished by her father?
Ans: She had tom up his important speech in order to stuff the pin-cushion she was making as a surprise gift for him.

(d) What did she wish her father to be?
Ans: She wished for her father to be more like Mr Macdonald

Q14: Looking through a gap in the fence the little girl saw them playing ‘tag ’ in the evening. The father with the baby, Mao, on his shoulders, two little girls hanging on to his coat pockets ran round and round the flower¬beds, shaking with laughter. Once she saw the boys turn the hose on him-and he tried to catch them laughing all the time.

(a) Who is ‘them’?
Ans: ‘Them’ refers to Kezia’s neighbours, Mr Macdonald and his five children.

(b) What is the little girl doing at the moment?
Ans: The little girl is looking at her neighbours, the Macdonald’s through a gap in the fence. The family are playing together.

(c) How is the relationship of the children with their father different from the little girl’s with hers?
Ans: Unlike Kezia, the Macdonald children were not at all afraid of their father. In fact they were all playing and laughing together.

(d) What did she wish as she saw the family?
Ans: As she the children laughing and playing with their father, the little girl wished for her father to be like Mr Macdonald.

Q15: “What’ll 1 do if I have a nightmare? ” she asked. “I often have nightmares and then Grannie takes me into her bed—I can’t stay in the dark- gets ‘whispery ’…”.
(a) Who is the speaker in these lines? Who is being addressed?
Ans: In these lines, the speaker is Kezia, the little girl and she is addressing Alice, the cook.

(b) What happens when the speaker has nightmares?
Ans: When Kezia has nightmares, she is comforted by her grandmother who takes the little girl into her bed

(d) Who was beside her bed when she woke shivering that night?
Ans: Kezia’s father came to her when she had her nightmare and cried out in her sleep. He took her to his bed with him.

Q16: Oh, a butcher – a knife – I want Grannie. ” He blew out the candle, bent down and caught up the child in his arms, carrying her along the passage to the big bedroom. A newspaper was on the bed – a half-smoked cigar was near his reading-lamp. He put away the paper, threw the cigar into the fireplace, then carefully tucked up the child. He lay down beside her.

(a) Who wanted Granny? Why?
Ans: Kezia wanted Granny because whenever she had a nightmare Granny would soothe her and take her into her bed with her.

(b) Who blew out the candle? Why?
Ans: Father blew out the candle because he wanted to carry Kezia to his room.

(d) What does her father’s behaviour in the passage show?
Ans: He was a loving and caring father.

Q17: Then the dark did not matter; she lay still.
(a) When did the dark not matter? Why?
Ans: The dark did not matter because Kezia’s father had brought her to his bed. She felt safe now.

(b) Why had she been afraid in the dark?
Ans: She was afraid of the dark because of her nightmare.

(c) What nightmare did she have?
Ans: Kezia dreamt of a butcher with a knife and a rope, who came nearer and nearer, smiling a dreadful smile, while she could not move, could only stand still, crying out in fear.

(d) What did her father do? What does her father’s behaviour show?
Ans: Her father got her to his bed and tucked her in nicely next to himself. This shows he was a loving, caring father.

Q18: He was harder than Grandmother, but it was a nice hardness. And every day he had to work and was too tired to be a Mr Macdonald… She had torn up all his beautiful writing … She stirred suddenly and sighed.

(a) Who was harder than Grandmother?
Ans: Kezia’s father was harder than her grandmother.

(b) Explain “harder than Grandmother”.
Ans: Her father was more strict and firm than her grandmother was.

(c) Who was Mr Macdonald? Why could “he” not be like him?
Ans: Mr Macdonald was Kezia’s neighbour. He had five children and Kezia had seen him laughing and playing with his children. “He” could not be like mr Macdonald as was a hard working man and was too tired to play with her.

(d) Why did she sigh?
Ans: She sighed in understanding and happiness. She had understood her father and his love for her. She was no longer afraid of him.

Q19: “Oh, ” said the little girl, “my head’s on your heart. I can hear it going. What a big heart you’ve got, Father dear. ”

(a) Where is the little girl at this time? Why?
Ans: The little girl is in bed with her father. He had picked her up and got her here after she had cried out because of her nightmare.

(b) Where has she put her head? Why?
Ans: Kezia has put her head on the big heart of her father. She has done so because she is free from her fears and is happy to discover the tender and loving side of her otherwise strict father.

(c) What can the little girl hear?
Ans: Kezia can hear the heartbeat of her father. She has realised that her father loves her.

(d) How does the little girl feel at this time?
Ans: Kezia is no longer afraid of her father. In fact, she feels happy and safe at this time.

04. Poem – Wind – Worksheet Solutions

October 22, 2025 by khushikhanera

Multiple Choice Questions

Q1: The poem Wind was originally written in which language?
(a) Kannada
(b) Malayalam
(c) Telugu
(d) Tamil
Ans:(d)
The poem had been originally written in Tamil by poet Subramania Bharati and later translated by A.K.Ramanujan.

Q2: The wind has been compared to
(a) god
(b)flood
(c)earthquake
(d)fire
Ans:(a)

Q3: What does the poet want the wind to do?
(a)All of these
(b) Don’t scatter the papers
(c)Don’t throw down the books
(d)Don’t break the shutters of windows
Ans:(a)

Q4:Who breaks the shutters of the window? (Wind)
(a)Wind
(b) Children
(c)A naughty boy
(d) A boy
Ans:(a)

Q5: What is the message of the poem Wind?
(a) Make strong windows
(b) Stop the wind
(c)All of these
(d)Be firm and strong
Ans:(d)

Q6: Which figure of speech has been used in the following line from the poem Wind?
‘Wind comes softly’
(a)Irony
(b)Simile
(c)Oxymoron
(d) Personification

Ans:(d)
The phenomenon of wind has been given a human attribute.

Q7: To whom does the poet make a request and address?
(a) Wind
(b)The people
(c) His children
(d) All of these
Ans:(a)

Q8: What does the word winnows in the poem mean?
(a) None of these
(b) Sorts grains
(c) Blows strongly
(d) Cleams grains
Ans:(c)

Q9: Name the poet of the poem “Wind”.
(a) J.K Krishna Murti
(b) Subramania Bharati
(c) Mahadevi Verma
(d) Ruskin Bond
Ans: (b)
The poem “Wind” was composed by Subramania Bharati.

Q10: Who is negatively affected by the wind?
(a)None of these
(b) Strong people
(c)Both weaklings and strong people
(d)Weaklings
Ans:(d)

Short Answer Questions

Q1: Why does the poet ask the wind to blow softly?
Ans: The poet asks wind to blow softly because he knows that a strong wind will causes a lot of damage to structures that are not very strong. It will break the shutters of windows, throw the books from the shelves, and tear their pages and bring rain.

Q2: What is winnowing? What, according to the poet, does the wind god winnow?
Ans: Winnowing refers to blowing away or removing the chaff from grain before it can be used as food. It thus implies segregating people or things by judging their quality. The poet says that the wind god separates the weak from the strong like the chaff from grain.

Q3: What harm does wind do when it blows hard?
Ans: When a strong wind blows, it destroys everything. It breaks the shutters of the windows, scatters the papers, throws the books off the shelves, and tears the pages of the books.

Q4: What does ‘crumbling’ suggest in the poem ‘Wind’?
Ans: The word ‘crumbling’ in the poem ‘Wind’ suggests fragile or frail. He feels that wind separates the frail
or
derelict houses, doors, rafters, wood, and weak bodies, lives, and hearts from those that are strong and crushes them all.

Q5: What should we do to make friends with the winds?
Ans: The wind makes fun of weak things. Thus, wind teaches us to be strong and determined, as a time friend should. We should make ourselves physically and mentally strong to overcome the troubles and turmoil we may face in life.

Long Answer Questions

Q1: What advice does the poet offer the people? Write your answer in the context of the poem, ‘Wind’.
Ans: According to the poet, the wind is very powerful. It can break the shutters of the windows, scatter the papers, throw the books down from the shelves and tear their pages. When it blows violently, it brings the clouds. It mocks at the weak and destroys their homes. But the poet is not dismayed. He realises thinks that when the people build strong houses, they can challenge the wind. The poet suggests that we should face the challenges and hardships with courage, grit and firm determination. The wind is a symbol of problems and obstacles which are to be dealt without fear.

Q2: What challenges are posed by wind in the life of the poet and the common man?
Ans: According to the poet, wind disrupts our everyday life. Wind, and accompanying rain, are forces of nature that are perceived as the tempest forces which create impediments in a man’s life. Just as our problems which can arise from nowhere, wind can hit us at any time of our life It mocks the weak and the frail. For frail people, literally and metaphorically, wind creates barriers. Winds do not let a frail body or a frail mind survive but on the other hand If you are strong, you have the power and the will to survive and fight back, wind can never be a threat to your being.

Reference to Context

Q1: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
There, look what you did-you threw them all down
You tore the pages of the books.
You brought rain again.
You are very clever at poking fun at weaklings

(a) Who are these lines addressed to? What is the figure of speech?
Ans: These lines are addressed to the wind; personification

(b) What kind of destruction does wind cause when it blows hard?
Ans: When wind blows hard, it destroys everything. It breaks the shutters, scatters the papers, throws the books, and tears the pages of the books.

(c) What word is repeated and why?
Ans: You is repeated as the poet accuses the wind of wreaking chaos

(d) What does the wind symbolise?
Ans: Wind symbolises the challenges and hardships we face in life.

Q2: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
Wind, come softly.
Don’t break the shutters of the windows.
Don’t scatter the papers.
Don’t throw down the books on the shelf.

(a) Who is the poet addressing in the above lines?
Ans: The poet is addressing the wind in the above lines.

(b) How does the poet want the wind to blow?
Ans: The poet wants the wind to blow gently without causing destruction

(c) What has the wind done to the books?
Ans: Wind has thrown the books down from the shelves/tearing their pages.

(d)Name the poetic device used in the above lines.
Ans:
Apostrophe: Wind, come softly.
Anaphora: Don’t break the shutters of the windows.
Don’t scatter the papers.
Don’t throw down the books on the shelf.

Q3: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
There, look what you did – you threw them all down.
You tore the pages of the books.
You brought rain again.

(a) What is the poet’s tone in the above lines?
Ans: The poet remonstrates with the wind. He accuses the wind of making a mess.

(b) What has the wind done?
Ans: Wind has thrown down his books from the shelves and has tom them.

(c)What has wind brought with it?
Ans: Wind has brought rain with it.

(d) Name a poetic device used in the lines above.
Ans: Personification: The poet addresses the wind like a mischief maker.

Q4: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
You ’re very clever at poking fun at weaklings.
Frail crumbling houses, crumbling doors, crumbling rafters,
Crumbling wood, crumbling bodies, crumbling lives,
Crumbling hearts—
the wind god winnows and crushes them all.

(a) Who is very clever? What is it clever at?
Ans: The wind is very clever. It makes fun of weaklings.

(b) How does wind make fun of weaklings?
Ans: Wind makes fun of the weak by making them crumble.

(d) What should we do to make friends with the wind?
Ans: To make friends with wind we need to build strong homes with firm doors. We should also make ourselves physically and mentally strong by building strong, firm bodies and having steadfast hearts.

Q5: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
He won’t do what you tell him.
So, come, let’s build strong homes,
Let’s joint the doors firmly.
Practise to firm the body.
Make the heart steadfast.

(a) Who is referred to as ‘He’ in the above lines?
Ans: He in the above lines refers to the wind.

(b) What is he being told to do?
Ans: He is being told to blow softly and not break the shutters of the windows, scatter the papers or throw down the books from the shelves.

(c) What advice does the poet give the reader?
Ans: The poet asks people to build strong houses and firm doors and keep our bodies and hearts strong unyielding.

(d) What does wind do to the strong?
Ans: Wind befriends those who are strong.

Q6: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
Do this, and the wind will be friends with us.
The wind blows out weak fires.
He makes strong fires roar and flourish.
His friendship is good.
We praise him every day.

(a) What does the poet mean when he says ‘do this’?
Ans: By saying do this the poet says we must build strong houses and have firm doors. We must be strong in mind and body.

(b) How does wind affect fires?
Ans: Wind blows out weak fires, but it makes strong fires burn more fiercely.

(c) Who is referred to as ‘He’? Why does the poet say ‘his friendship is good’?
Ans: He refers to wind. The poet says so because friendship gives us strength and makes us flourish.

(d) What message do we get from the poem?
Ans: We grow stronger when we face challenges in life with courage and confidence.

03. The Sound of Music – Worksheet Solutions

October 22, 2025 by khushikhanera

Multiple Choice Questions

Q1: Where was the Shehnai played traditionally?
(a) In wedding ceremonies
(b) In temples
(c) Auspicious ceremonies
(d) All of these
Ans: (d)

Q2: Who banned pungi from the royal residence?
(a) Jahangir
(b) Emperor Akbar
(c) Shah Jahan
(d) Emperor Aurangzeb
Ans: (d)
Emperor Aurangzeb banned the playing of a musical instrument called pungi in the royal residence because of its shrill and unpleasant sound.

Q3: Name India’s highest civilian award that Ustad Bismillah Khan was awarded in the year 2001.
(a) The Padmashri
(b) The Padma Bhushan
(c) The Bharat Ratna
(d) The Padma Vibhushan
Ans: (c)
Ustad Bismillah Khan was awarded the Bharat Ratna regarded to be India’s highest civilian award in the year 2001.

Q4: From whom did Bismillah Khan learn shehnai?
(a) Akbar Ali
(b) Ali Bux
(c) Ghulam Ali
(d) Ali Ahmed
Ans: (b)
Bismillah Khan learnt from his maternal uncle Ali Bux who lived in Benaras.

Q5: What does the title of the text The Sound of Music denote?
(a) The sound of a particular instrument
(b) The sound of a song
(c) The life in music
(d) The sound of various musical instruments

Ans: (c)
The chapter is divided into two parts portray the development of two well-known, revered personalities within the world of music in the West as well as in the East, whose life developed and revolved solely around music which taught them the meaning of life.

Q6: When did Evelyn feel everything so dark in life?
(a) When she was advised to go to a deaf school
(b) When she performed poorly at the examination
(c) When she failed in her music audition
(d) When she was advised to use hearing aids and go to the deaf school
Ans: (d)

Q7: The instrument of shehnai was brought to the ________ stage in the history of Indian music by Ustad Bismillah Khan.
(a) classical
(b) western
(c) folk
(d) popular music
Ans: (a)
The shehnai was played only in temples and weddings in the Northern parts of India until Ustad Bismillah Khan extended it to the field of classical music, therefore giving it a space in the history of music in India.

Q8: What was the source of inspiration for Bismillah?
(a) Royal Palaces
(b) Red Fort
(c) Ganga Ghats
(d) None of these
Ans: (c)

Q9: When did Bismillah get his first big break as a Shehnai performer?
(a) 1945
(b) In 1938, when All India Radio came into existence
(c) 1987
(d) 1989
Ans: (b)

Q10: Who was Ali Bux?
(a) Bismillah’s grandfather
(b) Bismillah’s maternal uncle
(c) Bismillah’s friend
(d) Bismillah’s father
Ans: (b)

Short Answer Questions

Q1: How old was Evelyn when she went to the Royal Academy of Music? Why was she nervous on her way to the academy?
Ans: Evelyn was only seventeen years of age when she was selected to the Royal Academy of Music, London. She had come straight from a farmland in Scotland, she had not experienced much of the world. In addition, she was profoundly deaf and was going to a big institute like The Royal Academy of Music. Her nervousness was the result of her young age, her lack of exposure and her hearing disability.

Q2: Why was Evelyn Glennie going to face a bigger challenge at the prestigious Royal Academy of Music in London?
Ans: Evelyn Glennie was passionate about music, and would not let anything stand in her way, but studying music at the prestigious Royal Academy of Music in London was a challenge for her for two reasons: in the first place she was deaf and in the second, she was brought up on a Scottish farm. It was a challenge for a deaf village girl to compete with other singers who had perfect hearing.

Q3: Who advised Evelyn’s parents to take her to a specialist? Why?
Ans: Evelyn managed to hide her growing deafness from students and teachers for some time. However, by the time she was eleven years old, her performance in school deteriorated and her marks began to fall. It was then that the headmistress advised her parents to consul a specialist.

Q4: “Everything suddenly looked black”. Why did Evelyn feel this way?
Ans: When Evelyn was advised to use hearing aids and join a school for the deaf, she felt that her future was bleak and dark. She was depressed, as she felt she would not be able to lead a normal life nor pursue her interest in music.

Q5: How did Evelyn’s teachers respond when she expressed her desire to play a xylophone?
Ans: Evelyn had always loved music and despite her deafness, she expressed a desire to play the xylophone when she saw another girl playing it. However her teachers felt that she would not be able to play it because of her impaired hearing and they discouraged her from doing so.

Long Answer Questions

Q1: “If you work hard and know where you are going, you’ll get there,” remarks Evelyn Glennie. What does it reveal about her character?
Ans: Evelyn’s firm determination, her hard work and her focus on her goal are well revealed in her statement. These values of her character have enabled her to successfully overcome her handicap of deafness. Though she developed hearing impairment at the young age of eight, and became profoundly deaf by the age of twelve, she has never let it become a stumbling block in her way to success.

Firmly determined to pursue music and to lead a normal life, Evelyn did not let her disability stand in her way. The encouragement and training provided by percussionist Ron Forbes paved the way for her advancement and she stuck to the path with unshakeable self-confidence. It was this confidence and faith in herself that made her dare to audition for the Royal Academy of Music, London where she received the top most awards.

Evelyn is very hard working. She has worked hard, in fact much harder than the other classical musicians to bring percussion to the front stage in orchestra. She believes that no goal is unachievable for those who work hard and are focussed on the goal. With her earnest efforts, she moved from orchestra to solo performances and eventually became an internationally renowned percussionist owing to her command over a large number of instruments. Her courage and confidence to rise above her disability has made her a soprce of inspiration for all.

Q2: Evelyn is an inspiration to all. Justify.
Ans: Despite her disability, Evelyn rose to great heights as a musician. When talking of music, she explains, “It pours in through every part of my body. It tingles in the skin, my cheekbones and even in my hair.” When she plays the xylophone, she can sense the sound passing up the stick into her fingertips. By leaning against the drums, she can feel the resonances flowing into her body. On a wooden platform, she removes her shoes so that the vibrations pass through her bare feet and up her legs.

Not surprisingly, Evelyn delights her audiences. In 1991 she was presented with the Royal Philharmonic Society’s prestigious Soloist of the Year Award. Says master percussionist James Blades, “God may have taken her hearing but he has given her back something extraordinary. What we hear, she feels — far more deeply than any of us. That is why she expresses music so beautifully.”

Evelyn confesses that she is something of a workaholic. “I’ve just got to work … often harder than classical musicians. But the rewards are enormous.” Apart from the regular concerts, Evelyn also gives free concerts in prisons and hospitals. She also gives high priority to classes for young musicians. Ann Richlin of the Beethoven Fund for Deaf Children says, “She is a shining inspiration for deaf children. They see that there is nowhere that they cannot go.”

Evelyn Glennie has already accomplished more than most people twice her age. She has brought percussion to the front of the orchestra, and demonstrated that it can be very moving. She has given inspiration to those who are handicapped, people who look to her and say, ‘If she can do it, I can.’ And, not the least, she has given enormous pleasure to millions.

Q3: Evelyn did not succumb to her disability. Comment.
Ans: Evelyn Glennie was always interested in music. In fact, her mother realised she was having problems with her hearing when at the age of eight years Evelyn was to give a piano recital and she didn’t hear her name being called. By the age of twelve, Evelyn had lost her hearing. However, she did not let this stand in the way of her pursuing her passion music.

Though she was advised to wear a hearing aid and to attend a special school for the deaf, Evelyn did not give up. Despite facing discouragement from her teachers, she wanted to lead a normal life and play xylophone. However, Ron Forbes, a great percussionist, trained her to listen to the musical sounds and vibrations not through ears, but through other parts of her body.

He created two drums with different sounds to make her hear the higher beats from the upper part of her body and the lower beats from below her waist. The experiment was so effective that Evelyn opened her mind and body to the fine sounds of music. Evelyn now believes that music penetrates into her through every part – through her skin, cheekbones and even her hair.

When she plays xylophone, she feels that the sounds move from the stick into the tips of her fingers. When the drums are played, she can feel the resonant sounds pouring into her body. She takes off her foot wears on a wooden stage and the vibrations of the instruments pass from her bare feet into her legs. Thus, Evelyn has sensitized the different parts of her body to the different sounds of music.

Q4: Evelyn is very down-to-earth and does not succumb to hero worship. Comment.
Ans: Evelyn Glennie did not let her loss of hearing get her down. She was determined to make a career in music, and with the help of percussionist Ron Forbes, she trained herself to feel music through every part of her body. She never looked back from that point onwards. She toured the United Kingdom with a youth orchestra and by the time she was sixteen, she had decided to make music her life. She auditioned for the Royal Academy of Music and scored one of the highest marks in the history of the academy.

She gradually moved from orchestral work to solo performances. At the end of her three-year course, she had captured most of the top awards. And for all this, Evelyn doesn’t accept any hint of heroic achievement. “If you work hard and know where you are going, you’ll get there.” And she got right to the top, the world’s most sought-after multi-percussionist with a mastery of some thousand instruments, and hectic international schedule.

Reference Based Questions

Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.

Q1: It was her first day at the prestigious Royal Academy of Music in London and daunting enough for any teenager fresh from a Scottish farm. But this aspiring musician faced a bigger challenge than most.

(a) Who is referred to as the ‘aspiring musician’?
Ans: Evelyn Glennie is referred to as the aspiring musician.

(b) How old was this ‘aspiring musician’ when she went to the Royal Academy of Music?
Ans: She was seventeen years old when she went to the Royal Academy of Music in London.

(c) What was likely to ‘daunt any teenager’?
Ans: The first day in a great and renowned institute like The Royal Academy of Music, London was likely to daunt any teenager.

(d) Why did she face “a bigger challenge than most”?
Ans: She faced a ‘bigger challenge’ than most as she was profoundly deaf and was yet joining a music academy.

Q2: Evelyn Glennie’s loss of hearing had been gradual. Her mother remembers noticing something was wrong when the eight-year-old Evelyn was waiting to play the piano.
“They called her name and she didn’t move. I suddenly realised she hadn’t heard,” says Isabel Glennie.

(a) Who is Isabel Glennie?
Ans: Isabel Glennie is Evelyn Glennie’s mother.

(b) Why did Evelyn Glennie not move to play the piano?
Ans: Evelyn did not move because she had not heard her name being called.

(d) How did Evelyn lose her hearing?
Ans: Evelyn’s hearing impairment happened as a result of gradual nerve damage.

Q3: They were advised that she should be fitted with hearing aids and sent to a school for the deaf.
(a) Who are ‘they’? By whom were they advised?
Ans: ‘They’ are the parents of Evelyn Glennie. They were advised by the specialist to whom Evelyn’s parents had taken her for a check-up.

(b) Who is ‘she’?
Ans: ‘She’ is Evelyn Glennie.

(c) What was the course of action recommended for her?
Ans: It was recommended that she should be provided with hearing aids in order to be able to hear and that she be sent to a school for the deaf.

(d) How had her mother realised that Evelyn was having problems with her hearing?
Ans: Evelyn’s mother realised she was having problems with her hearing when Evelyn did not go for her piano recital when her name was called.

Q4: But Evelyn was not going to give up. She was determined to lead a normal life and pursue her interest in music. One day, she noticed a girl playing a xylophone and decided that she wanted to play it too. Most of the teachers discouraged her, but percussionist Ron Forbes spotted her potential.

(a) Why was Evelyn not going to give up?
Ans: She was not going to give up because of her interest in music. Music was her passion.

(b) What did she want to do?
Ans: She wanted to learn to play the xylophone.

(c) Why did her teachers not encourage her?
Ans: They did not encourage her because they felt it was impossible for a deaf girl to pursue her career in music.

(d) Who encouraged her? What did he say?
Ans: Ron Forbes, who saw her potential and capabilities, encouraged her. He suggested she ‘hear’ with the whole of her body.

Q5: She never looked back from that point onwards. She toured the United Kingdom with a youth orchestra, and by the time she was sixteen, she had decided to make music her life.

(a) Who is ‘she’?
Ans: She refers to Evelyn Glennie.

(b) What does ‘that point’ refer to?
Ans: ‘That point’ refers to the time when Evelyn learnt to listen to music by feeling the vibrations through her body.

(d) What was her age when she decided to make music her life?
Ans: She was just sixteen when she decided to make music her life.

Q6: She gradually moved from orchestral work to solo performances. At the end of her three-year course, she had captured most of the top awards.

(a) How did Evelyn advance in her career?
Ans: Initially Evelyn performed in a group of orchestra. Gradually, she started giving solo performances.

(b) Where did she pursue her three-year course?
Ans: She pursued her three-year course in the most prestigious institute of music in England, The Royal Academy for Music, London.

(c) What were her achievements at the end of her course?
Ans: At the end of her course, she had bagged the biggest awards in her field.

(d) What made her achievements so great?
Ans: The fact that she had won the awards despite her hearing disability made her achievements so great.

Q7: And for all this, Evelyn won’t accept any hint of heroic achievement. “If you work hard and know where you are going, you’ll get there.”

(a) What does ‘all this’ refer to?
Ans: “All this” refers to the fact that by the end of her three-year course at the Royal Academy she had captured most of the top awards.

(b) Why is it a heroic achievement?
Ans: It is a heroic achievement as she has achieved success in music despite being profoundly deaf.

(c) To what does Evelyn give credit for her achievement?
Ans: Evelyn gives credit for her achievements to her focus on her aims and her hard work.

(d) What quality of Evelyn’s character is reflected in this?
Ans: This shows Evelyn is a humble and down-to-earth person.

Q8: In our two-hour discussion she never missed a word. “Men with bushy beards give me trouble,” she laughed. “It is not just watching the lips, it’s the whole face, especially the eyes.”

(a) Who is ‘she’? Why is it strange that she never missed a word?
Ans: She refers to Evelyn Glennie. She is profoundly deaf yet she heard each word.

(b) How does she hear the words?
Ans: She hears the words by reading lips and by studying the whole face and eyes of the speaker.

(d) Which are the languages that she speaks?
Ans: She has managed to learn French and master basic Japanese.

Q9: As for music, she explains, “It pours in through every part of my body. It tingles in the skin, my cheekbones and even in my hair.” When she plays the xylophone, she can sense the sound passing up the stick into her fingertips. By leaning against the drums, she can feel the resonances flowing into her body.

(a) Who is the speaker in the first line?
Ans: In the first line, the speaker is Evelyn Glennie, the famous multi-percussionist.

(b) What is it that pours in through every part of her body?
Ans: Music and its vibrations pour in through every part of her body.

(c) How was she able to hear sounds and vibrations?
Ans: She was able to hear sounds and vibrations by sensing them through her body and her mind. Being deaf, she could not hear with her ears so she had trained and sensitized her body and mind.

(d) How did Ron Forbes help her to continue with music?
Ans: Percussionist Ron Forbes tuned two large drums to different notes. He asked her not to listen to them through her ears but to try and sense the sound in some other manner.

Q10: “I’ve just got to work… Often harder than classical musicians. But the rewards are enormous.” Apart from the regular concerts, Evelyn also gives free concerts in prisons and hospitals. She also gives high priority to classes for young musicians. Ann Richlin of the Beethoven Fund for Deaf Children says, “She is a shining inspiration for deaf children. They see that there is nowhere that they cannot go.”

(a) Evelyn works harder than classical musicians. What does it imply?
Ans: Classical music needs a lot of practice. However, Evelyn works even harder than the others.

(b) For whom does Evelyn perform for free?
Ans: Evelyn gives free concerts in prisons and hospitals.

(d) What quality of Evelyn’s character is shown by her actions?
Ans: Evelyn is committed to music. She is also compassionate and generous towards those in need.