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Delve into the extraordinary world of “A Truly Beautiful Mind Class 9 Extra Questions with Answers,” a captivating story that celebrates the power of the human intellect and the indomitable spirit. If you’re curious to explore the depths of this inspiring narrative, you’re in for a treat! We’ve carefully curated a collection of extra questions that will enhance your understanding of the story and ignite your imagination. Read this also Extra Questions for Class 9 English with Answers.

A Truly Beautiful Mind Extra Questions and Answers Short Answer Type

Question 1.
What did Einstein’s mother think him to be? Why?
Answer:
Einstein’s mother thought him to be a ‘freak’ or someone with an unusual physical abnormality or behavioural problem. She thought of him as a freak because his head seemed too large to her. This made him look different from the other children of his age.

Question 2.
Einstein showed no early signs of his genius one day. Comment.
Answer:
As a child, Einstein had a large head and did not start to speak till he was two-and-a-half years old. Even when he did start speaking he uttered everything twice. He did not interact well with other children, and always played alone. All this showed the absence of genius.

Question 3.
What did Einstein’s playmates call hm? Why?
Answer:
Einstein’s playmates called him ‘Brother Boring’ as he could not mix up with other children. Neither did he find their games interesting nor did he know how to interact with other children. Also, he did not talk till he was two-and-a-half years old, and even then he repeated each word twice. This made his company boring to his playmates.

Question 4.
What kind of toys attracted the attention of Einstein when he was a child? Why?
Answer:
As a child Einstein was attracted only by mechanical toys. It showed his scientific temperament since mechanical toys work on some kind of scientific principles.

Question 5.
What did Einstein say about his newly born sister? Why?
Answer:
Einstein always played alone with his mechanical toys. He did not have any playmates as the other children found him boring. When his sister, Maja, was born, he looked at his newborn sister and asked “Fine, but where are her wheels?”

Question 6.
What did the headmaster think about Einstein?
Answer:
The headmaster did not think much of Einstein. He once told his father that whatever profession he chose for Einstein, he would never make a success in his life. He thought that Einstein was incapable of achieving anything in life.

Question 7.
Which musical instrument did Einstein begin to learn? Why?
Answer:
Einstein began to learn playing the violin at the young age of six because his mother wanted him to. He kept this interest alive throughout his life and became a gifted amateur violinist.

Question 8.
How did Einstein fare in high school?
Answer:
Although as a young child Einstein was very slow, still while studying in Munich, he showed great progress in almost all the subjects and scored very good marks in almost all the subjects. He had special interest in Maths and Physics. Later on, he became a great scientist.

Question 9.
Why did Albert Einstein leave school in Munich?
Answer:
Albert Einstein left his school in Munich because he was not happy with the education system and he felt stifled by the strict regimentation of the school. He felt the environment suppressed his inquisitive scientific mind and had frequent clashes with his teachers. He felt suffocated and had to leave school.

Question 10.
Why did Einstein hate school?
Answer:
He hated school and the strict regimentation because of its extreme sense of discipline. He felt suffocated in this atmosphere. He often clashed with his teachers.

Question 11.
After leaving his school in Munich, where did Einstein continue his education?
Answer:
Einstein shifted to the German-speaking part of Switzerland to continue his education after leaving his school in Munich midway. This new place was more liberal than Munich and Einstein’s curious and free temperament got a favourable environment over here.

Question 12.
Who was Mileva Marie? Where did Einstein meet her?
Answer:
Mileva Marie was a Serbian student who had come to Zurich University to study because was one of the few universities in Europe where women could get degrees. Einstein met at the University. He found her to be a clever girl. She also shared similar interests in art, literature and music and he developed special interest in her. Later they got married.

Question 13.
Why did Albert Einstein see an ally in Mileva Marie?
Answer:
Einstein saw in Mileva Marie, a fellow student at the Zurich University, an ally against the “Philistines”— those people in his family and at the university who did not like art, literature or music with whom he was constantly at odds. In addition, she was intelligent and he found her to be a “clever creature”.

Question 14.
How was Einstein’s private life unravelling after he finished his studies?
Answer:
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 and found her to be “a book”. Einstein put the wedding off.

Question 15.
Why did Einstein’s mother not want him to marry Mileva?
Answer:
There were two reasons for Einstein’s mother not wanting him to marry Mileva. Firstly, the girl was three years older than Einstein and secondly, in his mother’s opinion, she was much too intelligent—‘a book’just like him.

Question 16.
What did Einstein call his desk drawer at the patent office? Why?
Answer:
Einstein called his desk drawer at the patent office the “bureau of theoretical physics” because he constantly developed new ideas and kept all the papers related to his ideas in the desk in his office in Bern where he was working as a technical expert in the patent office and assessed other peoples’ inventions.

Question 17.
Why did Einstein’s marriage with Mileva not survive long?
Answer:
Although Einstein and Mileva had been in love, their marriage did not survive long because Mileva gradually lost her intellectual ambition. She became a frustrated housewife. There were frequent fights between the couple which resulted in their ultimate divorce in 1919.

Question 18.
Who was Elsa? How did she come into Einstein’s life?
Answer:
Elsa was Einstein’s cousin. He married her within a year of his divorce from Mileva.

Question 19.
“Einstein’s new personal chapter coincided with his rise to world fame”. What new personal chapter in Einstein’s life is the author talking about here? How did he rise to fame?
Answer:
The new personal chapter in Einstein’s life was his marriage to his cousin Eisa in the year 1919 immediately after his divorce from Mileva. This chapter coincided with his rise to world fame when his paper on General Theory of Relativity, published in 1915, was found to be accurate due to the proof that came through the eclipse of the sun in 1919.

Question 20.
What is Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity?
Answer:
According to Einstein’s special theory of relativity, time and distance are not absolute. From this followed the world’s most famous formula which describes the relationship between mass and energy i.e., E = me2.

Question 21.
When and for what did Einstein gain international fame?
Answer:
Einstein gained international fame when his paper on General Theory of Relativity was found to be accurate in 1919. The calculations made by Einstein in advance about the deflection of light in the solar gravitational field during the eclipse were proven true in line with his theory. This theory was treated as “a scientific revolution.”

Question 22.
How was Einstein honoured for his achievements?
Answer:
Honours came pouring in for Einstein after his theories proved him to be a scientist with exceptional abilities. He was awarded the prestigious Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921. Honours and invitations were conferred on him from all over the world. The newspapers too applauded his genius.

Question 23.
Why did Einstein leave Germany and emigrate to America?
Answer:
Einstein had always loved his freedom and disliked any kind of regimentation, in his personal life or in public. When the Nazi government, with its fascist views, came to power in 1933, he found them very suppressive and autocratic. Therefore, Einstein left German and emigrated to America.

Question 24.
“The discovery of nuclear fission in Berlin had American physicists in an uproar”. Why?
Answer:
The American physicists were disturbed by the discovery of nuclear fission in Berlin because they knew its destructive power. They were afraid that German would make an atom bomb and use it for destructive purposes.

Question 25.
When and why did Einstein write a letter to Franklin Roosevelt?
Answer:
Einstein wrote a letter to Franklin Roosevelt when the Nazis in Germany discovered Nuclear fission. He, and other American physicists were afraid nuclear fission, if used for destructive purposes would cause immense damage. So, Einstein wrote a letter to President Franklin Roosevelt, warning him of the imminent threat.

Question 26.
What was the effect of Einstein’s letter on Roosevelt?
Answer:
The warning sounded by Einstein in his letter to Franklin Roosevelt about the danger of a possible atom bomb made by Germans had an immediate effect on the Americans. They at once swung into action and secretly developed an atom bomb of their own. They then dropped the bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Question 27.
How did Einstein react to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
Answer:
Einstein was shocked at the extent of destruction caused by the bombing. He wrote a long letter to the United Nations and suggested that there should be a World Government.

Question 28.
Why does the world remember Einstein as a world citizen?
Answer:
The world remembers Einstein as a world citizen as he was deeply hurt by the mass destruction in Japan. He wrote to the United Nations for a world government and campaigned for peace and democracy in the world. He worked for humanity across countries and for the formation of a world government.

Question 29.
What did Einstein campaign for after he got involved in politics?
Answer:
After getting involved in politics, Einstein made sincere efforts for world peace and harmony. He campaigned against the race for armaments and supported the cause of a world government and for peace and democracy.

A Truly Beautiful Mind Extra Questions and Answers Long Answer Type

Question 1.
In what ways was Albert Einstein was an unusual child. How? He was different from others in many ways. Do you think that those who think differently succeed in their life like Einstein? Comment.
Answer:
Albert Einstein was an unusual child. He did not have any indication of his greatness. He had a larger than usual head. His mother thought him to be a freak. He was a late talker, and when he started to speak, he said everything twice. According to historian, Otto Neugebauer, the young Albert broke his silence at the supper table one night to say, “The soup is too hot.” Greatly relieved, his parents asked why he had never said a word before.

Albert replied, “Because up to now everything was in order.” He liked to play by himself and did not enjoy the company of his playmates, who, in turn, called him ‘Brother Boring’. He had special interest in mechanical toys. At school, his headmaster thought that he was a useless fellow and would never succeed in his life. But he proved all the speculations wrong.

Question 2.
Write a short note on Einstein’s education from school to university. Did he show signs of genius intose early years?
Answer:
As a young boy, Einstein did not show any signs of genius. In fact, his headmaster had a very poor opinion about him and he even informed Einstein’s father that his son would never amount to much in life as he wouldn’t make a success in any career that he chose. However, as he grew up and joined a school in Munich, he showed appreciable progress in studies scoring good marks in almost all the subjects.

But the strict discipline of the school was not to his liking. As a result, he had frequent clashes with his teachers. Being a person of liberal ideas, he felt so suffocated that he ultimately left that school for good. He chose to complete his studies in a school in Switzerland where the environment was more liberal as compared to Munich. Highly gifted in mathematics and having a great interest in Physics, Einstein joined the university in Zurich after completing school and from here he graduated in 1900.

Question 3.
Einstein succeeded in his professional life but failed miserably in his personal life. Why could Einstein not balance his family and professional life?
Answer:
At the university in Zurich, Einstein met Mileva Marie. Einstein saw in Mileva Marie, a fellow student at the Zurich University, an ally against the “Philistines”- those people in his family and at the university who did not like art, literature or music with whom he was constantly at odds. In addition, she was intelligent and he found her to be a “clever creature”. Both fell in love and decided to marry. They married a few years later, in 1903, as his mother had at first opposed his marriage to Mileva.

In 1905, Einstein he published his paper on special theory of relativity, followed by the world famous equation
E = me². In 1915, he published his paper on General Theory of Relativity, which gave an absolutely new definition to concept of gravity This theory made him a famous figure, In 1919, during the solar eclipse, his theory came out to be accurate and revolutionized physics.

While Einstein was solving the most difficult problems in physics, his private life was running into problems. Mileva’s intellectual ambition was disappearing. They became an unhappy couple as they fought continuously. Finally, they got divorced in 1919. Albert Einstein succeeded in his professional life but did not have a happy married life. However, the same year Einstein married his cousin, Elsa.

Question 4.
What was Einstein’s contribution to the knowledge of science? Which values in his character made him a ‘global citizen’?
Answer:
Albert Einstein worked on his ideas about relativity and in 1905, he published his ‘Special Theory of Relativity’, according to which time and distance are not absolute. His theory about the relationship between mass and energy was developed into the famous formula E = me², and this equation made him a renowned scientist.

Einstein earned international acclaim with the publication of his General Theory of Relativity which enabled him to calculate in advance the extent of the deflection of light from fixed stars as it passed through the gravitational field of the sun. The theory was declared as “a scientific revolution” by the newspapers. For his contribution to the development of science, Einstein was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921.

After this, a number of honours were bestowed upon him. He was against arms build-up. He advocated, peace and democracy in the world. He did not want that his invention should be misused. He thought of humanity, of world peace and democracy. All these values in his character made him a global citizen.

Question 5.
Einstein wrote two letters – to President Roosevelt and to the United Nations. Did his letters have the desired impact? Justify your answer.
Answer:
In 1939, Einstein wrote a letter to the American President, Franklin D. Roosevelt warning him that the atomic bomb if made and used by Germany, could not only destroy the whole port on which it could be dropped, but also the territory surrounding it. The impact of the letter was immediate as the Americans at once developed their own atomic bombs in a secret project. These bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan in 1945, and as anticipated by Einstein, these bombs caused terrible destruction.

The large scale damage caused by the bombing of Japan perturbed Einstein so much that he wrote a letter to the United Nations. In this letter he proposed that there should be a world government. This would put an end to the enmity between nations and hence stop wars. This letter did not have any impact.

A Truly Beautiful Mind Extra Questions and Answers Reference to Context

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

Question 1.
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?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
When Einstein finally started talking, he used to utter everything twice.

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

Question 2.
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?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
Einstein left the school in Munich for good because he hated the school’s regimentation.

(c) Why did Einstein learn to play violin?
Answer:
Einstein learnt to play the violin to fulfil the desire of his mother.

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

Question 3.
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?
Answer:
The headmaster had told his father that Einstein would never make a success at anything.

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

(c) Where did Einstein attend high school?
Answer:
Einstein attended High School in Munich.

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

Question 4.
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?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
Einstein went to the German-speaking part of Switzerland, in a more liberal city than Munich.

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

Question 5.
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?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
His favourite subjects were Mathematics and Physics.

(c) Explain: But science wasn’t the only thing that appealed to the dashing young man.
Answer:
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?
Answer:
Einstein found in Mileva an ally because she disapproved of the “philistines” or the people who did not like art, literature or music.

Question 6.
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?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
He stored his inventions in his desk drawer at work which he called the “bureau of theoretical physics.”

Question 7.
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”
Answer:
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?
Answer:
According to Einstein time and distance are not absolute.

(c) What is described by the formula E=mc2?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
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.

Question 8.
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?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
Mileva was three years older than him and very intelligent.

(c) Why did Einstein put the wedding off?
Answer:
Einstein put his wedding off because his mother was against the marriage.

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

Question 9.
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?
Answer:
The couple being talked about is Albert Einstein and Mileva Marie.

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

(c) Why did their marriage falter?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
Einstein later married his cousin, Elsa.

Question 10.
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?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
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.

Question 11.
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?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
Einstein wrote to the United Nations proposing the formation of a world government.

(c) Who was Roosevelt? Why had Einstein written to him?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
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.

Question 12.
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?
Answer:
‘This one’ refers to Einstein’s letter to the United Nations.

(b) Who had written a letter to Roosevelt and why?
Answer:
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’?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
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.

NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English

• The Fun They Had Question Answer
• The Sound of Music Question Answer
• The Little Girl Question Answer
• A Truly Beautiful Mind Question Answer
• The Snake and the Mirror Question Answer
• My Childhood Question Answer
• Packing Question Answer
• Reach for the Top Question Answer
• The Bond of Love Question Answer
• Kathmandu Question Answer
• If I Were You Question Answer

Are you ready to embark on a journey of efficient organization and smart travel planning? Packing, a seemingly mun  dane aspect of any trip, can make all the difference between a smooth, hassle-free adventure and a chaotic experience. In this article, we’ll Explain Packing Class 9 Extra Questions with Answers. Read this also Extra Questions for Class 9 English with Answers.

Packing Extra Questions and Answers Short Answer Type

Question 1.
How many characters are there in the narrative? Name them.
Answer:
Jerome, George and Harris are the three human characters in the narrative. Jerome is the narrator of the story. Their pet dog, Montmorency too is an important character, who participates as enthusiastically in the packing as his masters.

Question 2.
Why did the narrator have to pack for the journey?
Answer:
As soon as the narrator offered to pack for the journey, his two friends, George and Harris accepted the offer with readiness and sat back to let him do it all. He had expected his friends would work under his guidance and directions rather than doing the task himself.

Question 3.
Why did the narrator volunteer to do the packing?
Answer:
Jerome, the narrator, prided himself in his packing skills. He wanted to show off his skills to his friends so he volunteered to do the packing. However, he had expected that his friends would work under his guidance and directions. He expected that under his guidance even poor packers like Harris and George could accomplish this task with great efficiency.

Question 4.
The narrator took pride in his packing skills. Comment.
Answer:
The narrator felt that packing was one of those things that he felt he knew more about than any other person living. This made him develop a sense of superiority about his ability as the best packer and he took pride in his packing skills. However, he was disorganised and bungling. First, he forgot to pack the boots and had to reopen the bag. Then, his frantic search for his toothbrush resulted in a complete mess. Later, he had to reopen the bag to take out his spectacles.

Question 5.
How did George and Harris react to Jerome’s offer to do the packing? Did Jerome like their reaction?
Answer:
George and Harris, who were rather lazy, agreed readily to Jerome’s offer to do the packing because both – took it as an opportunity to sit back and relax while someone else did the work. George sprawled over the easy-chair while Harris cocked his legs on the table. Jerome did not at all like this reaction because he had actually wanted to supervise and instruct them on how to do the packing instead of doing it himself.

Question 6.
What did Harris and George do while Jerome was packing the bag? How did Jerome react to their behaviour?
Answer:
When Jerome told George and Harris to leave the job of packing to him, they accepted his suggestion at once. They settled themselves comfortably, George on the easy-chair and Harris with his legs on the table and watched Jerome packing the bag all by himself. As they watched, they smoked and found faults with Jerome’s packing and also made fun of him. They made him reopen the packing by inquiring about items he had forgotten to pack. All this irritated Jerome.

Question 7.
When he offered to pack Jerome’s real intention was not to do the packing himself. Elaborate.
Answer:
Jerome’s real intention was not to pack himself but to make his friends George and Harris work under his directions and supervision. He would guide and direct and, pushing them aside every now and then, showing them the right way of packing things in – really teaching them, as you might say.

Question 8.
What kind of a man did the narrator once live with?
Answer:
The narrator lived with a man once who used to annoy him. He would loll on the sofa and watch the narrator doing things by the hour together. He said it did him real good to look on at the narrator, messing about.

Question 9.
“I lived with a man once who used to make me mad that way.” How did he do that?
Answer:
The man, with whom the narrator once stayed drove him mad by lolling on the sofa and watching him constantly as he went about messing the tasks at hand. The man said he really enjoyed that sight and felt good.

Question 10.
‘Now, I’m not like that.’ What does the narrator intend to convey by this statement?
Answer:
By this statement, the narrator intends to convey his dislike for sitting idle and watching someone else work hard, like the man he lived with did. He prefers to walk around and supervise work in his natural energetic way. However, this actually means that he, too, was not interested in toiling but liked to boss over others.

Question 11.
What did Harris ask the narrator after the bag was shut and strapped? Why do you think he waited till then to ask?
Answer:
After the bag had been shut and strapped by the narrator, Harris asked him whether he wasn’t going to pack the boots. He waited till the completion of packing to say this because he either thought the narrator knew about them and would pack them as he wanted to, or more likely, he wanted to irritate the narrator and have fun at his expense.

Question 12.
What “horrible idea” occurred to Jerome a little later?
Answer:
After packing everything in the bag for the second time, the horrible idea that occurred to Jerome was that he had packed his toothbrush in the bag. He realised that he would need his toothbrush the next morning. So, he reopened his bag and turned everything out but he could not find it.

Question 13.
Where did Jerome finally find the toothbrush?
Answer:
Jerome finally found the toothbrush inside a boot that he had packed in the bag. He found it after having taken out all the items he had packed and searching thoroughly for the toothbrush leading to a terrible mess.

Question 14.
Why does the narrator say that the packing of his toothbrush drives him to a point of madness?
Answer:
The narrator says that the packing of his toothbrush drives him to a point of madness because he either packs it even before he has brushed his teeth or doesn’t pack it at all. In both the cases, he has to unpack everything to locate his brush. It drove him to a point of madness because he always had to undo his packing to check if he had packed it and then unpack once again, to use it. It was always left out and he had to search for it at the last moment and carry it wrapped up in his pocket-handkerchief.

Question 15.
Why did Jerome have to reopen the packed bag again and again?
Answer:
Jerome had to reopen the packed bag because he kept forgetting things. First, he forgot to pack his boots and then couldn’t remember having packed his toothbrush. After having spent a lot of time unpacking and packing, he packed his spectacles and spectacles in by mistake and had to reopen the bag yet again.

Question 16.
How many times did the narrator have to reopen the bag? Why?
Answer:
The narrator had to reopen his bag at least three times. First, he forgot to pack his boots. Then he was not sure if he had packed his toothbrush and had to reopen the bag to take it out as he needed it in the morning. Then he had to open it once again to take out his spectacles.

Question 17.
Why did it take the narrator longer than he had expected to pack the bag?
Answer:
It took the narrator much longer to pack the bag than he had expected because he was disorganised anf forgetful. First, he forgot to pack the boots and had to reopen the bag. Then, in his frantic search for his toothbrush he had to turn everything out and then repack the bag. Later, he had to reopen the bag to take out his spectacles. Thus, the packing of the bag took longer than expected.

Question 18.
Why did George and Harris offer to pack the hamper?
Answer:
George and Harris offered to pack the hamper because Jerome had already taken a lot of time packing the bag. It was late night and they were now left with less than twelve hours to leave.

Question 19.
Do you think George and Harris were experts at packing? Give reasons for your answer.
Answer:
No, George and Harris do not seem to have been experts, because they started by breaking a cup, and continued by squashing a tomato under the bottle of jam. They packed the pies at the bottom and thus squashed them, spilt salt over everything and as for the butter, they stepped on it, sat on it and put it all over themselves and the room.

Question 20.
Why did George and Harris have to pick out the tomato with a teaspoon?
Answer:
While packing the hamper, Harris packed a strawberry jam on top of a tomato and squashed it. So, they had to pick out the tomato with a teaspoon which was a messy and time-consuming task.

Question 21.
Who was better at packing – Jerome or George and Harris? Give reasons for your choice.
Answer:
George and Harris were, in fact, much worse than Jerome as they set about packing. They fumbled and blundered many times while packing the hamper. They broke a cup at the outset and then squashed a tomato which had to be scrapped off with a spoon and stepped on the butter. They jumbled up the items to be packed and crushed softer things like pies under heavy objects.

Question 22.
Who was Montmorency and how did he contribute to the packing?
Answer:
Montmorency was the pet dog of the narrator and his two friends. He made a complete nuisance of himself. He sat down on things which had to be packed, pushed his nose into Harris or George’s hand whenever they reached out for anything, put his leg into the jam, played with a teaspoon and pretended the lemons were rats. He chased the lemons inside the hamper till he ‘killed’ three of them, before he was hit by Harris with a frying pan.

Question 23.
What was the ‘highest aim and object’ of Montmorency, according to the narrator?
Answer:
According to the narrator, Montmorency’s highest aim and object was to get in people’s way and make them stumble over him. He aspired to get cursed by everyone and liked things to be thrown at him for his unbearable interference.

Question 24.
How did Harris and George fare at packing the hamper?
Answer:
Harris and George fared miserably at packing, the hamper. Salt flew all over while they packed. They put the things to be packed in the most disorganised manner. They damaged a lot of items by breaking, crushing or stepping on them.

Question 25.
The narrator says he was better than Harris and George in packing? Do you agree with him? Why/ why not?
Answer:
According to the narrator, he was the best packer in the world while George and Harris were the worst. I agree with him when he says he is better in packing as he packs the bag neatly and seriously while his friends pack the hampers carelessly while laughing, playing, fighting and breaking things.

Question 26.
Why did Harris tell Jerome that he encouraged the antics of Montmorency? What was Jerome’s defence?
Answer:
Harris blamed Jerome for encouraging Montmorency because Jerome did not prove effective in shooing away the dog. Jerome’s defence was that an ill-trained dog like Montmorency did not need any encouragement to misbehave. Indiscipline came naturally to him.

Question 27.
‘I never saw two men do more with one-and two pence worth of butter…’. Why did the narrator say so?
Answer:
Harris and George had a tough time packing the butter. First, George trod on it and it stuck to his slipper and had to be scrapped off. Then they tried to keep it in the kettle where it wouldn’t go in, and what was in wouldn’t come out. After they scraped it out at last, they put it down on a chair, and Harris sat on it, and it stuck to him, and they went looking for it all over the room. They searched for it for a long time and then they kept it in the teapot.

Question 28.
Why did the narrator place a bathtub beside George while he was sleeping?
Answer:
George went off to sleep when the narrator and Harris were still arguing over the time they wanted him to wake them up in the morning. To ensure that he would wake up fully, they placed the bath where he could tumble into on getting out in the morning.

Packing Extra Questions and Answers Long Answer Type

Question 1.
Who offered to pick the bag for the trip? Was he happy at his own offer
Answer:
The author and his friends decided to go on a holiday. The author, who saw himself as an expert in packing. “I rather pride myself on my packing. Packing is one of those many things that I feel I know more about than any other person living.” He told his friends, George and Harris that he would do the packing.

They readily agreed to his suggestion. George sat in an easy chair, while Harris put his legs on a table. The author had not intended this. He was unhappy with himself for having offered to pack. He had thought that Harris and George would pack and he would supervise them, teaching them how to do things better. When he worked and his friends relaxed, he was greatly irritated.

Question 2.
Briefly describe Jerome’s attempt at packing.
Answer:
Right in the beginning Jerome volunteered to pack, because, according to him, he was especially good at it and George and Harris agreed readily. What Jerome of course had meant was that he would supervise the packing while they packed. They of course meant he’d pack while they watched from lounging positions. Jerome packed all their personal belongings, from boots to toothbrushes. When he had finished, Harris pointed out whether he wanted to leave the boots out.

Once the boots were packed, Jerome realised he needed his toothbrush out for the morning, so the entire bag had to be unpacked and the toothbrush searched. It was found in a boot. The bag was again repacked when Jerome discovered he had packed his spectacles in. Once again, the bag was unpacked to take out the spectacles and then repacked. After going through several unpleasant rounds of unpack, repack, unpack, repack, the job was done, with only the soap (possibly) having been forgotten.

Question 3.
How did George and Harris fare with the packing of the hamper?
Answer:
After Jerome’s display of expert packing, George and Harris thought that, they’d better pack the foods and supplies. They had the “big hamper” to pack with these items. They started by breaking a cup, then squashing tomatoes with the jam. Then they packed the pies and “smashed the pies in” with heavy things on top. They spilled salt everywhere then, in turns, stepped on the butter, tried to cram it into the kettle, sat on the butter, hunted for the now missing butter (until George got a back view of Harris), and finally shoved it into the teapot.

Montmorency played his role during the packing incident by assuming his cold nose was what Harris’s and George’s hands were reaching for. He sat on the very item that was to be packed next, upset the spoons, put his leg into the jam and attacked the lemons in the hamper. Once the hamper was packed and closed, Harris sat on the lid of the hamper, and said he hoped nothing . “would be found broken,” to which George replied that “if anything was broken it was broken.”

Question 4.
Of the three, Jerome, George and Harris, who do you think is the best or the worst packer? Support your answer with details from the text.
Answer:
According to me, Jerome is the best in packing. Although Jerome, George and Harris are equally disorganised as packers, Jerome is not as clumsy as his two friends, Harris and George. While Jerome takes a lot of time to pack the bag, George and Harris damage a lot of things while packing the hamper. Jerome, who considers himself a skilled packer, is able to arrange the items to be packed in the bag neatly and in order.

However, there is a lot of delay because he first forgets to pack his boots and then forgets having packed his toothbrush. After unpacking twice, he again packs in his spectacles absentmindedly. On the other hand, both Harris and George messed up everything. They began by breaking a cup.

Then, Harris packed the strawberry jam on top of a tomato and squashed it. George stepped on the butter, then Harris sat on it. They spread salt all over the place. Of course, Montmorency constantly got in their way and made things worse. Once the hamper was packed and closed, Harris sat on the lid of the hamper, and said he hoped nothing “would be found broken,” to which George replied that “if anything was broken it was broken.” Thus, we can easily conclude that though Jerome and George and Harris bungled equally. However, Jerome did not cause as much breakage or chaos as George and Harris.

Question 5.
How did the butter episode in the story cause nuisance?
Answer:
The butter episode in the story caused a lot of nuisance as it brought out the bungling clumsiness of George and Harris. First of all, George stepped on the butter and it stuck to his slipper. After George had got it off his slipper, he and Harris tried to put it in the kettle. It wouldn’t go in, and what was in wouldn’t come out. They d narrator id scrape it out at last, and put it down on a chair. Then Harris sat on it, and it stuck to him, and they went looking for it all over the room.

“I’ll take my oath I put it down on that chair,” said George, staring at the empty seat. George finally noticed it behind Harris’s back from where it was removed and put inside the teapot. Hence, the butter episode created a lot of nuisance and became the funniest episode in the story.

Question 6.
Do you find this story funny? What are the humorous elements in it?
Answer:
The story is very funny with dry and slapstick humour. The chaos and confusion created by all the characters is very amusing. The gap between the self-assessment of Jerome, George and Harris and their actual capabilities is highly entertaining. Montmorency’s contribution to humour is no less significant.

Jerome’s sense of pride about his packing skills and the manner in which he packs the bag is very funny. He claims, “I rather pride myself on my packing. Packing is one of those many things that I feel I know more about than any other person living.” While Jerome expected to use the opportunity for bossing over his friends, of “pushing them aside every now and then with, “Oh, you!” “Here, let me do it.” “There you are, simple enough!” — really teaching them, as you might say.” They make him toil instead, lounging about and offering helpful suggestions. Jerome’s forgetfulness and the subsequent unpacking of the bag many times over is quite amusing.

The butter episode, in particular, generates a lot of laughter. First of all, George stepps on the butter and it sticks to his slipper. After George has got it off his slipper, he and Harris try to unsuccessfully put it in the kettle. They put it down on a chair and then Harris sits on it, and it sticks to him, and they go looking for it all over the room. George finally noticed it behind Harris’s back from where it is removed. Montmorency, the dog, too adds to the humour with his habit of getting in the way of things. His indiscipline and inquisitiveness earns him curses but he still manages to put his leg in the jam and chase lemons like rats till he is hit by Harris with a frying pan. All these instances lend humour to the story.

Question 7.
When did the “horrible idea” occur to Jerome? Why was it a “horrible idea”?
Answer:
The “horrible idea” that occurred to Jerome as soon as he had finished packing in his boots was whether he had packed in his toothbrush or not. He often forgot to pack his toothbrush, or, would pack it at night before using it in the morning. This would haunt him so much that at night he would dream that he had not packed the toothbrush. He would wake up in a cold sweat, get out of bed and hunt for it and pack it without using it in the morning, which meant that he would have to unpack it again.

And whenever he was looking for it, it would be the last thing to come out of the bag. After using it he would again forget to pack it and at the last moment would have to rush upstairs to fetch it. As a result he would carry it to the railway station, wrapped up in his pocket-handkerchief. Thus, the toothbrush was a constant source of horrible nightmares for Jerome.

Packing Extra Questions and Answers Reference to Context

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

Question 1.
I rather pride myself on my packing. Packing is one of those many things that I feel I know more about than any other person living. (It surprises me myself sometimes, how many such things there are.)

(a) Who is the speaker?
Answer:
The speaker is the narrator, Jerome.

(b) How many characters are there in the narrative?
Answer:
There are four characters in this narrative – the narrator, Jerome, his two friends, George and Harris, and their dog, Montmorency.

(c) Why was “I” going to pack?
Answer:
The narrator and his friends, George and Harris were going on a trip on the Thames. They needed to pack for it.

(d) What do you learn about the speaker from the above lines.
Answer:
The speaker is rather boastful and arrogant.

Question 2.
Their taking it in the way they did irritated me. There is nothing does irritate me more than seeing other _people sitting about doing nothing when I’m working.

(a) Who is the speaker here and whom is he talking about?
Answer:
The speaker here is Jerome, the narrator of the story. He is talking about his friends, George and Harris.

(b) What does the speaker mean by ‘it’?
Answer:
By ‘it’, the speaker means the response of his friends to his suggestion for packing. Both of them at once left the entire task to him and stretched themselves comfortably while he struggled alone.

(c) What is it that most irritates the speaker?
Answer:
The speaker is irritated the most when other people sit idle while he is working.

(d) What work did the speaker have to do?
Answer:
The speaker, Jerome, had to pack the bag for the trip that the three friends had to go on the next morning.

Question 3.
Now, I’m not like that. I can’t sit still and see another man slaving and working. I want to get up and superintend, and walk round with my hands in my pockets, and tell him what to do. It is my energetic nature. I can’t help it.

(a) What does the narrator refer to when he says ‘that’?
Answer:
The narrator had lived with a man who I lived with a man once who would loll on the sofa and watch him doing things by the hour together.

(b) How is the narrator do when he sees someone working?
Answer:
The narrator likes to superintend the one who is working and tell the person what to do.

(c) What does this tell you about the narrator?
Answer:
The narrator considers himself an expert and would much rather supervise work, offering helpful suggestions rather than work himself.

(d) What is the narrator’s tone in the extract?
Answer:
The narrator’s tone is dry and ridiculing about himself.

Question 4.
However, I did not say anything but started the packing. It seemed a longer job than I had thought it was going to be.

(a) Why did the narrator (Jerome) volunteer to do the packing?
Answer:
The narrator, Jerome, thought that he was the best packer in the world. He was proud of his ability and wanted to show it. So, he volunteered to do the packing for his friends.

(b) What had been his intention?
Answer:
The speaker had expected his friends – George and Harris – would do the packing under his supervision and direction.

(c) How did George and Harris react to this? Did Jerome like their reaction?
Answer:
Jerome offered to pack with an intention to superintend his friends. But George and Harris thought that Jerome would do the entire job while they sat idle. It irritated the narrator.

(d) Why did the job take longer than he had expected?
Answer:
The job took longer than expected as Jerome had to pack the bag for all three of them. In addition, he had to unpack and repack it over and over again to put in things he had left out or he thought he might not have packed.

Question 5.
“Ain ’tyou going to put the boots in? ” said Harris. And I looked round, andfound I had forgotten them.
That’s just like Harris. He couldn’t have said a word until I’d got the bag shut and strapped, of course. And George laughed-one of those irritating, senseless laughs of his. They do make me so wild.

(a) What made narrator “so wild”?
Answer:
Harris did not tell him about the boots till he had shut the bag and strapped it. George laughed at the narrator as he had forgotten to pack his boots before strapping the bag.

(b) When did Harris tell the narrator about the boots?
Answer:
Harris told the narrator about the boots after he had finished packing the bag and strapped it.

(c) Why did George laugh? How did it affect the narrator?
Answer:
George laughed at the narrator who had boasted about his skill in packing but had forgotten to pack the boots and would have to open the bag again. George’s laugh annoyed the narrator.

(d) What did the narrator have to do then?
Answer:
He would need to unpack the bag and fit his boots in.

Question 6.
My toothbrush is a thing that haunts me when I’m travelling, and makes’my life a misery. I dream that I haven’t packed it, and wake up in a cold perspiration, and get out of bed and hunt for it. And, in the morning, I pack it before I have used it, and have to unpack again to get it, and it is always the last thing I turn out of the bag; and then I repack andforget it, and have to rush upstairs for it at the last moment and carry it to the railway station, wrapped up in my pocket-handkerchief.

(a) Why does the narrator’s toothbrush haunt him when he is travelling?
Answer:
He is haunted by the idea that he has forgotten to pack his toothbrush.

(b) What does the narrator dream of? Why does he hunt for it?
Answer:
The narrator dreams he hasn’t packed his toothbrush. He gets up to look for it and pack it.

(c) Why does he have to unpack in the morning?
Answer:
He has to unpack it in the morning to use it.

(d) How does he end up carrying his toothbrush?
Answer:
He ends up forgetting to repack it, and then at the last minute carrying it wrapped in his pocket handkerchief.

Question 7.
Of course, I had to turn every mortal thing out now, and, of course, I could not find it. I rummaged the things up into much the same state that they must have been before the world was created, and when chaos reigned. Of course, Ifound George’s and Harris’s eighteen times over, but I couldn ’t find my own. I put the things back one by one, and held everything up and shook it. Then I found it inside a boot. I repacked once more.

(a) What was the author looking for?
Answer:
The author was looking for his toothbrush.

(b) Why was the author looking for ‘it’?
Answer:
The author did not want to pack his toothbrush in the bag just then but in the morning after he had used it.

(c) What did the author do as he searched for ‘it’?
Answer:
He reopened his bag to search for his toothbrush. He had to get everything out but did not find his toothbrush.

(d) Where did he find ‘it’?
Answer:
He found his toothbrush in one of his boots.

Question 8.
When I had finished, George asked if the soap was in. I said I didn ’t care a hang whether the soap was in or whether it wasn’t; and I slammed the bag shut and strapped it, andfound that I had packed my spectacles in it, and had to re-open it. It got shut up finally at 10.05 p.m., and then there remained the hampers to do.

(a) What had the narrator finished?
Answer:
The narrator had finished packing the bag finally.

(b) What two things that the narrator pack in the bag which he wanted out to use before leaving?
Answer:
The narrator wanted to use his spectacles and toothbrush before he left, but he found he had packed them and had to reopen his bag.

(c) When was the bag finally packed?
Answer:
The bag was finally packed by 10:05 pm.

(d) What did George and Harris start on then?
Answer:
George and Harris started packing the hampers.

Question 9.
Harris said that we should be wanting to start in less than twelve hours ’ time and thought that he and George had better do the rest; and I agreed and sat down, and they had a go.

(a) What was ‘the rest’ that Harris and George offered to do?
Answer:
‘The rest’ refers to the packing that remained after the bag had been packed. Jerome had packed the bag and now the hampers were left.

(b) Why did Harris and George offer to do ‘the rest’?
Answer:
Harris and George had seen Jerome’s clumsiness while packing the bag. So, they offered to take care of the rest of the packing, lest the task too long and their departure got delayed. ‘

(c) Why did Harris particularly mention that they had less than twelve hours’ time to start?
Answer:
Harris mentioned ‘less than twelve hours’ time as he felt that Jerome had taken so much time to pack the bag and that twelve hours might not be sufficient for him to complete rest of the packing.

(d) Why did the narrator agree to the proposal?
Answer:
He agreed to the proposal as he knew well how incompetent his friends were. He wanted to see them fumble as they went about packing the hamper.

Question10.
I made no comment; I only waited. With the exception of George, Harris is the worst packer in this world; and I looked at the piles ofplates and cups, and kettles, and bottles, and jars, and pies, and stoves, and cakes, and tomatoes, etc., and felt that the thing would soon become exciting.

(a) What was the narrator waiting for?
Answer:
The narrator was waiting for his friends to fumble and falter while packing the hamper.

(b) How does the narrator show there was an unending collection of articles to be packed?
Answer:
By using the word ‘and’ eight times in the passage the narrator wants to impress upon the reader that there was a never-ending collection of articles that had to be packed in the hampers.

(c) What does the word ‘thing’ here refer to? How would it become exciting for the speaker?
Answer:
The ‘thing’ here means the simple task of packing the hampers. The task would become exciting for the speaker due to the clumsiness of his friends George and Harris.

(d) What was the first accident George and Harris had as they started packing?
Answer:
The first accident George and Harris had as they started packing was that they broke a cup.

Question 11.
They did scrape it out at last, and put it down on a chair, and Harris sat on it, and it stuck to him, and they went looking for it all over the room.

(a) What does ‘it’ refer to?
Answer:
‘It’ refers to the butter.

(b) What had happened to ‘it’ earlier?
Answer:
George had trodden on it and the butter had stuck to his slipper.

(c) Why did they have to scrape ‘it’?
Answer:
They had to scrape the butter because they were neither able put it into the kettle nor pull it out. Left with no alternative they had to scrape it.

(d) Why did they go about looking for ‘it’ all over the room?
Answer:
When Harris sat on the butter, it had stuck to his back. However, both of them were unaware of this, and they looked for it all over.

Question 12.
If he can squirm in anywhere where he particularly is not wanted, and be a perfect nuisance, and make people mad, and have things thrown at his head, then he feels his day has not been wasted.

(a) Whom does ‘he’ stand for in these lines?
Answer:
In these lines, ‘he’ stands for Montmorency, the pet dog of the three friends George, Harris and Jerome.

(b) In what ways did he become a perfect nuisance?
Answer:
Montmorency became a perfect nuisance by finding his way to the spot where he would not be wanted at all.

(c) How would ‘he’ annoy people?
Answer:
Montmorency would irritate everyone immensely so much so that his activities would make people lose their heads and they would hurl things at his head to shoo him away.

(d) When did ‘he’ feel that his day was not wasted?
Answer:
Montmorency felt that his day was not wasted when he was allowed to irritate people and make them lose their temper by his annoying actions.

Question 13.
He came and sat down on things, just when they wanted to be packed; and he laboured under the fixed belief that, whenever Harris or George reached out their hand for anything, it was his cold damp nose that they wanted. He put his leg into the jam, and he worried the teaspoons, and he pretended that the lemons were rats, and got into the hamper and killed three of them before Harris could land him with the frying-pan.

(a) What is Montmorency’s ambition in life according to the author?
Answer:
According to the author, Montmorency’s ambition is to interfere with others and then get abused by them.

(b) What were the things ‘he’ sat on?
Answer:
He sat on the things George and Harris were packing in the hampers.

(c) Where did he put his leg?
Answer:
He put his leg in the jam.

(d) How did he play with the lemons?
Answer:
He pretended the lemons were rats and destroyed three of them.

Question 14.
Harris said I encouraged him. I didn ’t encourage him. A dog like that doesn ’t want any encouragement.

(a) What sort of encouragement is Harris referring to?
Answer:
Harris believes that Jerome encourages Montmorency to get in people’s way and be a perfect nuisance. He feels that it is Jerome who is responsible for the dog’s irritating behaviour.

(b) How did he annoy the packers?
Answer:
He sat on things, stepped into the jam, chased the lemons and whenever Harris or George reached out their hand for anything, he put his cold damp nose into their hand.

(c) What does the phrase “a dog like that” mean?
Answer:
A dog like that means a dog who has habits that are bound to annoy people.

(d) What impression do you form about ‘him’ from this extract?
Answer:
This extract suggests that Montmorency was a dog that had an inborn urge to trouble the people and make them lose their temper. He didn’t need anybody’s support to behave in such an annoying manner.

NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English

• The Fun They Had Question Answer
• The Sound of Music Question Answer
• The Little Girl Question Answer
• A Truly Beautiful Mind Question Answer
• The Snake and the Mirror Question Answer
• My Childhood Question Answer
• Packing Question Answer
• Reach for the Top Question Answer
• The Bond of Love Question Answer
• Kathmandu Question Answer
• If I Were You Question Answer

Step into the poignant world of “The Little Girl Class 9 Extra Questions with Answers,” a touching short story that tugs at the heartstrings and leaves a lasting impact. If you’re eager to explore the depths of this emotional narrative, you’ve come to the right place! We’ve meticulously curated a set of extra questions that will enrich your understanding of the story and evoke introspection. Read this also Extra Questions for Class 9 English with Answers.

The Little Girl Extra Questions and Answers Short Answer Type

Question 1.
Why was Kezia scared of her father?
Answer:
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.

Question 2.
Who were the people in Kezia’s family?
Answer:
There were four people in Kezia’s family – her father who was very strict, her mother who was stem and aloof, her soft-hearted and loving grandmother and little Kezia herself.

Question 3.
What was Kezia’s father’s routine before going to office and after coming back in the evening?
Answer:
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.

Question 4.
What was Kezia’s routine when Father returned from office?
Answer:
When Father returned home from office, mother would tell Kezia to come downstairs and take off her father’s shoes. She would also be told to take the shoes outside. Father would ask her a couple of questions and she would stutter out her replies. He would order her to put his teacup back on the table and then she would make good her escape from his presence.

Question 5.
What was Father’s and Kezia’s morning routine?
Answer:
Before going to his office, Kezia’s father would come to Kezia’s room and give her a perfunctory kiss. She would respond with “Goodbye, Father”. Since she was afraid of him, she always felt relieved after his departure.

Question 6.
Why did Kezia go slowly towards the drawing-room when mother asked her to come downstairs?
Answer:
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.

Question 7.
Why was Father often irritated with Kezia?
Answer:
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.

Question 8.
What was unusual about Kezia’ stuttering?
Answer:
Kezia was able to speak without stuttering to everyone in the household but her father. In her father’s formidable presence she could barely speak and she stuttered as she attempted to speak to him.

Question 9.
Why did Kezia stutter while speaking to Father?
Answer:
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.

Question 10.
Why did Kezia feel that her father was like a giant?
Answer:
Kezia felt that her father was like a giant because he had very big hands and neck. His mouth seemed big especially when he yawned. He had a loud voice and would often call out orders. In addition, his stem and cold behaviour made the little girl think of him as a giant.

Question 11.
Why did Kezia avoid her father?
Answer:
Kezia avoided her father because she was afraid of him. She saw him as a harsh, emotionless person who never spoke to his daughter alfectionately. He reprimanded Kezia for making mistakes. Kezia stammered in front of her father since he was a very huge and giant-like figure lacking in the warmth of a father.

Question 12.
In what ways did Kezia’s grandmother encourage her to get to know her parents better?
Answer:
Kezia’s grandmother wanted that the little girl to bond with her parents. Therefore, every Sunday afternoon she would encourage Kezia to go downstairs to the drawing-room, have a nice conversation with them, and get to know them better. She also suggested Kezia make a pin-cushion out of a beautiful piece of yellow silk as a gift for her father’s birthday.

Question 13.
What was Kezia’s father’s routine on Sundays?
Answer:
On Sundays, Kezia’s father did not go for work. He would relax in the afternoon. He would stretch out on the sofa in their drawing-room, put handkerchief on his face, feet on the best cushion and sleep snoring soundly. All this while, her mother would be absorbed in reading.

Question 14.
On Sunday afternoons Grandmother sent Kezia down to the drawing-room? What happened when she went there?
Answer:
When on a Sunday afternoon the little girl went to the drawing-room, she 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. Kezia would sit on a stool and gravely watch her father until he woke up and stretched to ask the time. Then, he would look at her and tell her not to stare at him as it made her look like a brown owl.

Question 15.
What did Grandmother ask Kezia to make and why?
Answer:
Grandmother wanted Kezia to bond with her father and to bring them both close to each other. She tried various ways to achieve this end. Once, she asked Kezia to make a pin-cushion out of a beautiful piece of yellow silk as a birthday present for Father. She wanted the little girl to present this pin-cushion as a surprise gift and make her father happy.

Question 16.
In what ways did Kezia’s grandmother encourage her to get to know her father better?
Answer:
Kezia’s grandmother was a mature and understanding woman who realised her granddaughter was afraid of her father. To improve matters better between them she encouraged her to get to know her father better by sending her to the drawing room to talk to her parents on Sundays. She also suggested Kezia to make a pin¬cushion out of a beautiful piece of yellow silk as a gift for her father’s birthday.

Question 17.
What did Kezia make as a birthday gift for her father? How did she prepare it?
Answer:
Kezia made a pin-cushion as a birthday gift for her father out of the beautiful piece of yellow silk that her Grandmother had given her. She laboriously stitched its three sides with a double cotton and stuffed it with papers that she took from the bed-table in her mother’s room. Finally, she sewed up the fourth side and the gift was ready.

Question 18.
That night there was a hue and cry in the house. What night was that? Why was there an uproar?
Answer:
The night Kezia finished making the pin-cushion for her father, there was an uproar in the house. Father could not find his great speech for the Port Authority. Rooms were searched; servants questioned. Finally Mother came into Kezia’s room and, on questioning her, found out Kezia had mistakenly tom the papers and stuffed them in the pin-cushion that was to be a surprise gift for her father on his birthday. The hue and cry at night was for those missing papers.

Question 19.
“Father’s great speech for the Port Authority Iliad been lost.’ What had happened to father’s speech?
Answer:
Father’s speech had been tom to pieces by the little girl, Kezia. She was making a pin-cushion as a gift for her father, to give him on his birthday. As she was not able to find anything to stuff the cushion with, she tore the speech and stuffed it into her cushion.

Question 20.
Who dragged Kezia down to the dining-room at night? Why?
Answer:
Kezia’s father was extremely angry as he had been looking for his important Port Authority speech and he could not find the papers. Her mother dragged her down to the dining-room at night and took her to her father when she came to know that Kezia had tom the papers that had his great speech for the Port Authority.

Question 21.
Why did Father come to Kezia’s room with a ruler? What do you learn about him from the incident?
Answer:
Father was a strict disciplinarian who believed in the use of physical punishment to correct children. He came to Kezia’s room with a ruler because he wanted to punish her and teach her not to touch what did not belong to her. This also shows that he was a firm, unforgiving person.

Question 22.
Kezia’s efforts to please her father resulted in displeasing him very much. How did this happen?
Answer:
On grandmother’s suggestion, Kezia would go to the drawing-room to have a “nice talk with Father and Mother” and sit on a stool waiting for him to wake up and talk to her. He would wake up and look at her staring apprehensively at him. He would be irritated by her scared look and call her a brown owl. On another occasion, on her grandmother’s suggestion, she decided to make a pin-cushion as a birthday gift for her father hoping that it would please him. But instead he was furious because she had inadvertently tom the papers of his Port Authority speech and used them as a stuffing in the pin-cushion.

Question 23.
Do you think Kezia was wrong in tearing her father’s papers? What does it show about her character?
Answer:
Kezia tore up certain papers she found on the bed-side table in her mother’s bedroom. Unfortunately, the papers were an important speech her father had written for the Port Authority. Undoubtedly, Kezia was wrong in having taken his papers without his permission and in tearing them up, even though she had done so with the best of intentions. The incident only shows that she was too innocent and immature to know the wrong she was doing. All she wanted was to please her father with a birthday gift.

Question 24.
Why was Kezia punished by her Father? Was he right in doing so?
Answer:
Kezia wanted to give her father a birthday present she had made for him herself. She decided to make a pin-cushion for him. She stitched it out of piece of yellow silk and stuffed it with some papers that were his speech for the Port Authority. Her father punished her for taking something that did not belong to her without permission. He was not right in punishing her as he did. He should have understoodd her feelings and explained to her the error of her ways.

Question 25.
How did Father punish Kezia? What was the impact of the punishment?
Answer:
Father punished Kezia by hitting her hard on her little, pink palms with a ruler. The impact of this punishment was so strong the Kezia could never forget it. Next time when she saw him, she at once hid her hands behind her back and her cheeks flushed with fear.

Question 26.
How and why did Grandmother comfort Kezia after her father hit her with a ruler?
Answer:
Hours after Kezia’s father hit her with a ruler, her grandmother wrapped the little girl in a shawl and rocked her in the rocking-chair, with the child clinging to her soft body. She gave her a clean hanky to blow her nose and tried to put her to sleep comforting her with loving words.

Question 27.
Kezia asks her grandmother, “What did God make fathers for?” What does she mean by this?
Answer:
Kezia questioned why God made fathers because she was very hurt and traumatised by her father’s behaviour and the punishment he meted out to her. She felt that he had been too harsh and unforgiving with her.

Question 28.
Grandmother tells Kezia, “I tried to explain to Father but he was too upset to listen tonight.” Why does she say that?
Answer:
Kezia’s grandmother wanted Kezia to bond with her parents and always tried to bridge the gap between her and her parents, especially her father. She told Kezia that her father was too upset that night to listen to her because she did not want the little girl to nurture any grudge against her father.

Question 29.
Do you think that Kezia’ father didn’t love her?
Answer:
I think Kezia’s father loved his daughter. Underneath his frightening and strict exterior, beat a father’s loving heart. If at he appeared too strict or lacking in understanding or compassion, it was probably because he was too tired or engrossed in his work, or wanted his daughter to be well-brought up.

Question 30.
Who were Kezia’s neighbours? What did she observe about them?
Answer:
The Macdonalds were Kezia’s neighbours. She saw that Mr Macdonald played with his children. He laughed when they turned the hose on him and ran about the flower-beds with his young son, Mao, on his shoulders and his two little daughters hanging on to his coat pockets.

Question 31.
Who was Mr. Macdonald?
Answer:
Mr MacDonald was Kezia’s neighbour. He loved his five children and played ‘tag’ with them. The father with the baby, Mao, on his shoulders, would run round and round the flower-beds, shaking with laughter, the two little girls hanging on to his coat pockets. Once Kezia saw the boys turn the hose on him—and he tried to catch them laughing all the time.

Question 32.
Kezia felt that Mr Macdonald was a better father as compared to her own father. Why?
Answer:
Kezia observed that Mr Macdonald was a good-humoured cheerful fellow who enjoyed the company of his children and played with them, laughing even when they drenched him with the hose. Contrary to this, her own father was a strict disciplinarian and quite aloof. He did not express any affection or show any leniency towards Kezia, despite her young age.

Question 33.
Why did Kezia like Mr Macdonald?
Answer:
The Macdonalds who lived next door were an exuberant, playful family. Looking through the vegetable garden-wall, Kezia saw the five Macdonald children playing with their father, turning a hose at him and the father tickling the children. When compared with her frightening father who never played with her, Kezia saw the extent of love between father and his children. This made her like Mr MacDonald.

Question 34.
Why was Kezia left alone in the house with the cook Alice?
Answer:
One day Kezia’s mother had suddenly taken ill and had to be hospitalized. Grannie, too, went along to look after her in the hospital. Kezia was left at home with Alice, their cook till her father returned from work.

Question 35.
Why was Kezia afraid to sleep alone?
Answer:
That night, when Alice was putting Kezia to bed, the little girl suddenly felt afraid as she had to sleep alone. She was scared of the dark and often had nightmares at night. Normally, whenever she had a nightmare, Grandmother would take her into her bed but tonight she was not there at home.

Question 36.
What kind of dreams did Kezia usually have?
Answer:
Usually, Kezia had horrible nightmares. In her nightmares, she saw a butcher with a knife and a rope coming closer and closer to her with a dreadful smile while she stood still, unable to move, overpowered by fear.

Question 37.
How did Father comfort the little girl, Kezia, when she got scared in her sleep?
Answer:
When Kezia cried out in her sleep in fear, her father came to her room, lifted her in his arms, took her to his bed and made her sleep close to him. He allowed her to warm her feet against his legs. She felt secure and protected as she snuggled up to him.

Question 38.
When and how did Kezia’s feelings for her father undergo a change?
Answer:
Kezia’s feelings of fear for her father underwent a change when her father came to her rescue when she had a nightmare. He gently carried her to his room, carefully tucked her up and slept beside her. Kezia felt reassured and safe and snuggled up to him. That is when she realised that her father was not a hard-hearted giant but a large-hearted loving father who got extremely tired by the end of the day.

Question 39.
What kind of a person was Kezia’s father?
Answer:
Kezia’s father was a hardworking man, but he was short tempered. He was a strict disciplinarian too. It was only when Kezia’s mother was hospitalized, that ahe realized that her father loved her but didn’t have the art of expressing his love.

The Little Girl Extra Questions and Answers Long Answer Type

Question 1.
Write a short note on the relationship between Kezia and her father
Answer:
Initially, the relationship between Kezia and her father was formal and restrained. As a strict disciplinarian and the head of the family Father asserted his authority over everyone, including his little girl. Every morning, before going to office, he perfunctorily kissed her and she as formally said, “Goodbye, Father.”

She was made to take off his shoes and put them outside when he returned from office in the evening. He often scolded her for her sad looks and for stuttering. He even punished her when she unknowingly tore his important papers. He did not give her even one chance to explain herself and failed to see her loving intention behind the mistake. As a result, Kezia feared her father and stayed out of his way.

However, their relationship underwent a drastic change towards the end of the story. Father displayed his love and concern for his daughter when he and Kezia were alone and she was scared by her nightmare. He carried her in his arms to his room, tucked her comfortably in his bed, lay down close to her and provided to her the assurance and security that children seek from parents. This protective, caring and considerate side of her father helped her understand him. She realised that he had a big heart which was full of love for her.

Question 2.
Do you think the Kezia deserved the beating she got for her mistake? What light does this incident throw on her father’s character?
Answer:
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.

Question 3.
Briefly comment on Kezia’s relationship with her grandmother?
Answer:
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.

Question 4.
What impression do you form of Kezia’s mother?
Answer:
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.

Question 5.
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?
Answer:
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.

Question 6.
How does Kezia begin to see her father as a human being who needs her sympathy?
Answer:
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.

Question 7.
Why did Kezia’s father punish her? Was he right in doing so?
Answer:
Kezia wanted to give a present to her father for his birthday. She decided to make a pin -cushion for him. She took a beautiful piece of yellow silk and stitched it on three sides. Now, she needed something to fill it. She went into her parents’ room. There, she found some sheets of fine paper lying on the table. She tore them up into pieces and used them to stuff them into pin cushion. Then she sewed up its fourth side.

What she didn’t know was that the papers were her father’s important speech for the Port Authority. When her father came to know about Kezia’s misdeed, he became very angry. He took a ruler and beat her. He was not right in punishing her. He should have realized that she was innocent. Her intention was good. He should have explained to’ her the error of taking someone’s things without permission and warned her gently but firmly.

Question 8.
What were the circumstances that forced Kezia to change her opinion about her father?
Answer:
When Kezia’s mother was hospitalized, her grandmother went to stay with her. Kezia was’alone at home with her father. As Alice, the cook, put Kezia to bed at night, the child was terrified of the dark and of being alone. She was afraid of the nightmares which she usually saw. On other occasions she was comforted by her grandmother, but tonight Grannie wasn’t there.

That night, Kezia again had the horrible dream and she woke up shivering and crying for her grandma. However, her father stood beside her bed with a candle in his hand. He gently took her in his arms and carried her to his room. He tucked her nicely in his bed and made her sleep close to him. She felt secure with him near her. That was when she realized that her father was busy with work and 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.

Question 9.
Kezia’s efforts to please her father resulted in displeasing him. Elaborate.
Answer:
Kezia was very scared of her father and stuttered while answering his casual queries because she was trying so hard to say the words properly. This annoyed him and he rebuked her for looking wretched and on the brink of suicide. When she was sent to talk to him on Sunday afternoons, she always found her mother absorbed in reading and father sleeping on the sofa in their drawing-room. She would sit on a stool and wait for him to wake up.

He would then mockingly call her “a brown owl.” Once she unknowingly destroyed some of his important papers while stuffing a pin-cushion which she wanted to present to him on his birthday. This made him very angry and he beat her up badly. Therefore, Kezia’s efforts to please her father often resulted in displeasing him very much.

The Little Girl Extra Questions and Answers Reference to Context

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

Question 1.
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?
Answer:
He refers to the father of the little girl, Kezia.

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

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

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

Question 2.
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?
Answer:
The little girl is Kezia.

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

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

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

Question 3.
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?
Answer:
‘She’ is Kezia, the little girl who was afraid of her father.

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

(c) How did ‘she’ speak in the presence of her father?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
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.

Question 4.
‘‘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?
Answer:
The speaker is Kezia’s father.

(b) Where are they at the moment? What time is it?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
Kezia looks miserable and gloomy in his presence because she is scared of him.

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

Question 5.
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?
Answer:
It is evening and Father is back from work.

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

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

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

Question 6.
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?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
His mouth especially appeared big when he opened it wide while yawning.

Question 7.
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?
Answer:
Grandmother would send her to the drawing room to talk to her parents.

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

(c) What do you learn about Mother from this passage?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
When he got up Father would ask why Kezia was looking at him like a brown owl.

Question 8.
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?
Answer:
Kezia had a cold and so she could not go out, but had to stay indoors.

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

(c) What did her grandmother want her to do?
Answer:
Grandmother wanted Kezia to make a gift for her father, a pin-cushion.

(d) What did Kezia use for stuffing the pin-cushion?
Answer:
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.

Question 9.
“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?
Answer:
Kezia’s father speaks these lines to his mother.

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

(c) What does the speaker refer to as the ‘damned thing’?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
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.

Question 10.
“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?
Answer:
Kezia’s father is talking to Kezia.

(b) Where are they at the moment?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
He is a strict disciplinarian and is punishing his little daughter for tearing up his important papers. He is also unforgiving.

Question 11.
“But it was for your b-b-birthday. ”
Down came the ruler on her little, pink palms.

(a) Who speaks these words? To whom?
Answer:
Kezia speaks these words to her father.

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

(c) Why does she speak these words?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
Kezia’s father brought down the ruler on her palms to punish her for touching his papers without permission.

Question 12.
“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?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
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.

Question 13.
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?
Answer:
The child, Kezia, never forgot how her father had punished her and hit her.

(b) Why did she put her hands behind her back?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
She wished for her father to be more like Mr Macdonald

Question 14.
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’?
Answer:
‘Them’ refers to Kezia’s neighbours, Mr Macdonald and his five children.

(b) What is the little girl doing at the moment?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
As she the children laughing and playing with their father, the little girl wished for her father to be like Mr Macdonald.

Question 15.
“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?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
When Kezia has nightmares, she is comforted by her grandmother who takes the little girl into her bed

(c) Where was Grannie right now?
Answer:
Kezia’s Grannie was at the hospital with Kezia’s mother who is unwell.

(d) Who was beside her bed when she woke shivering that night?
Answer:
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.

Question 16.
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?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
Father blew out the candle because he wanted to carry Kezia to his room.

(c) Where was the butcher?
Answer:
The butcher was in Kezia’s nightmare.

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

Question 17.
Then the dark did not matter; she lay still.

(a) When did the dark not matter? Why?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
She was afraid of the dark because of her nightmare.

(c) What nightmare did she have?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
Her father got her to his bed and tucked her in nicely next to himself. This shows he was a loving, caring father.

Question 18.
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?
Answer:
Kezia’s father was harder than her grandmother.

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

(c) Who was Mr Macdonald? Why could “he” not be like him?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
She sighed in understanding and happiness. She had understood her father and his love for her. She was no longer afraid of him.

Question 19.
“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?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
Kezia is no longer afraid of her father. In fact, she feels happy and safe at this time.

NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English

• The Fun They Had Question Answer
• The Sound of Music Question Answer
• The Little Girl Question Answer
• A Truly Beautiful Mind Question Answer
• The Snake and the Mirror Question Answer
• My Childhood Question Answer
• Packing Question Answer
• Reach for the Top Question Answer
• The Bond of Love Question Answer
• Kathmandu Question Answer
• If I Were You Question Answer

The Fun They Had Class 9 Extra Questions with Answers, you will find a diverse range of extra questions covering various aspects of the narrative. From character motivations and technological advancements to the story’s underlying themes, these thoughtfully crafted questions will stimulate your mind and leave you with a deeper appreciation for Asimov’s storytelling prowess. Read this also Extra Questions for Class 9 English with Answers.

The Fun They Had Class 9 Extra Questions with Answers

Question 1.
Who are Margie and Tommy? How old are they?
Answer:
Margie and Tommy are students from the year 2157. Tommy is a thirteen-year-old boy and Margie is an eleven-year-old girl. Both are neighbours and good friends who like to spend time together like children of their age usually do.

Question 2.
What did Margie write in her diary?
Answer:
On 17 May 2157 Margie recorded in her diary about the discovery of a “real” book by Tommy. It was a very old book printed on paper and had yellow and crinkly pages, unlike the telebooks of the twenty-second century.

Question 3.
Where had Tommy found the book? How was it different from the books Margie and Tommy were used to?
Answer:
Tommy found a real book in the attic of his house. The book was at least two hundred years old so pages had turned yellow and crinkly. It was a different from the books Margie and Tommy were used to because they had teiebooks to read from while the book Tommy found was printed on paper.

Question 4.
Had Margie ever seen a real book before? Did she know about such books?
Answer:
No, Margie had never seen a book before till she saw the one Tommy found in the attic of his house. She had only heard about books from her grandfather who himself had not seen any. He too had heard about a printed book from his own grandfather.

Question 5.
What things about the book did Margie and Tommy find strange?
Answer:
Margie and Tommy read telebooks where words moved on a screen. Books were stored in a machine that could store a million books on it and still be good for plenty more. So they found it strange that the words in the printed book remained fixed unlike the moving ones on their television screen.

Question 6.
“What a waste!” What is Tommy referring to as a ‘waste’? Is it really a waste? Why/Why not?
Answer:
Tommy thought the paper book he found in his attic with words that were printed and did not move was a waste. Once a book had been read, it became useless and must be thrown away because it had the same content.

Yes: Printed books are a waste as telebooks are more accessible. They can be stored in a television and read again and again. They occupy very little space as compared to the printed books and need not be discarded once they have been read. In addition, paper books consume resources like trees from which paper is made and water that is consumed in the process of making paper.

No: Printed books are not a waste as they can be read by many people over and over again and can be preserved for future generations. Moreover, the data in a telebook can be lost or stolen, but in a printed book, the data printed on a page remains for ever.

Question 7.
What do you think a telebook is?
Answer:
A telebook is a book made available in text on a television screen. Many books can be stored and read in this manner. (The telebook is the author’s imagined version of an e-book as this story was written in 1951, long before their advent.)

Question 8.
Did Margie like the printed book? Why/Why not?
Answer:
Margie was really excited to see the ‘real’ book Tommy found as it was unlike the telebooks the two were used to reading. It was such a novelty that she recorded the discovery in her diary. As she turned the yellow and crinkly pages of the book with Tommy, she found it quite fascinating, unlike Tommy who found it a waste. In fact, she was really reluctant to stop reading the book and go to study. She wanted to read the book again after school.

Question 9.
Where was Margie’s school? Did she have any classmates?
Answer:
Margie’s school was a room next to her bedroom in her house. No, she did not have any classmates as her school was a customised school, set up exclusively for her according to her level and needs.

Question 10.
What kind of teachers did Margie and Tommy have? How were they different from teachers in the book?
Answer:
Margie and Tommy had mechanical teachers, which were large and black and ugly, with a big screen on which all the lessons were shown and the questions were asked. There was a slot where they had to put homework and test papers and the mechanical teacher calculated the marks in no time. Margie and Tommy’s teachers were different from the teachers in the book as the teachers in the book were men and not mechanical teachers.

Question 11.
Why had Margie started hating her school?
Answer:
Margie never liked school. But lately she had come to hate it more than ever because of her poor performance in geography. The mechanical teacher had been giving her test after test in the subject and she had been doing worse and worse.

Question 12.
How were Margie and Tommy assessed in their subjects?
Answer:
Margie and Tommy were given assignments by their mechanical teachers. They wrote their answers in a punch code they were trained in. Then they inserted their special answer sheets in the slot in the mechanical teacher. The teacher corrected their assignments and calculated their marks in no time.

Question 13.
What did Margie hate the most about her school?
Answer:
The part that Margie hated most about her school was the slot where she had to put homework and test papers. She always had to write them in a punch code that she was made to leam at the age of six. The mechanical teacher calculated her marks in no time leaving no time for Margie to relax after submitting the assigned tasks.

Question 14.
Write a brief note on Margie’s school routine.
Answer:
Although Margie was taught by a large black television screen installed in a room next to her bedroom, Margie followed a strict routine and had regular days and hours for school. She studied from Monday to Friday at the same time every day as her mother thought that young girls learnt things better if they studied them at regular hours.

Question 15.
Margie’s mother was very particular about her studies. Justify with evidence from the story.
Answer:
Margie’s mother was very particular about her studies and made sure that Margie attended her tele-school regularly and at fixed times as she felt little girls learned better if they learned at regular hours. She took a keen interest in Margie’s performance and when she felt she was not doing too well in a particular subject, she called the County Inspector to have a look at the mechanical teacher.

Question 16.
Who was the County Inspector? What did he do to improve Margie’s performance?
Answer:
The County Inspector was a technical expert who identified and rectified errors in the functioning of the mechanical teachers. When the County Inspector examined the working of Margie’s mechanical teacher, he found that the geography sector had been geared too quick. He slowed it up to an average 10-years level. He found the overall pattern of Margie quite satisfactory.

Question 17.
Write a brief note on the County Inspector.
Answer:
The County Inspector was a round little man with a red face and a whole box of tools with dials and wires. He was certainly a kind-hearted man and he put Margie at ease by giving her an apple and telling her mother that if Margie was not performing well, it was not her fault, but the fault of the mechanical teacher. He aligned the speed of the geography sector keeping in mind the level of the girl. Before leaving, he patted Margie on the head and expressed satisfaction at her performance.

Question 18.
Why was Margie not doing well in geography? What did the County Inspector do to help her?
Answer:
Margie was not doing well in geography. In fact, her performance was getting worse day by day. Her mother sent for the County Inspector to look into the problem. He told Mrs Jones that the geography sector in Margie’s mechanical teacher was geared up a little too quick for her and that he had slowed it up to the level of an average ten-year-old.

Question 19.
Why did Margie get disappointed after the geography sector of her teacher was set right?
Answer:
Margie’s mechanical teacher had been giving her test after test in geography and her mother had asked the County Inspector to look into it. Margie had hoped that her mechanical teacher would be taken away for some time as Tommy’s had been when it had malfunctioned. But she was disappointed when the County Inspector set the mechanical teacher right there and then.

Question 20.
What had once happened to Tommy’s teacher?
Answer:
Once, Tommy’s mechanical teacher had developed a fault and its history sector had blanked out absolutely. The teacher had to be taken away for repairs and it had taken almost a month to put it in order.

Question 21.
What does Tommy tell Margie about the old kind of school?
Answer:
Tommy describes the old school as a special building where all the children went to study together. Students of the same age-group were taught the same things which by human teachers. These teachers taught various things to boys and girls, gave them homework and also asked them questions.

Question 22.
What was Margie’s reaction when Tommy told her that twentieth-century schools had human teachers?
Answer:
When Margie heard Tommy mention that children were taught by human teachers in the times gone by, she could not believe the truth of Tommy’s statement. She believed that a human teacher could not match the mechanical teacher in intelligence and knowledge. This was because she had been taught by a mechanical teacher and had never seen any human teacher.

Question 23.
Why could Margie and Tommy finish reading the book Tommy found?
Answer:
When Margie and Tommy were reading the book Tommy had found in his attic, Margie’s mother interrupted them and told Margie to go to her schoolroom to study. She even suggested Tommy too went to attend school.

Question 24.
What did the teacher teach Margie when she went to her school?
Answer:
When Margie went to school the mechanical teacher taught an arithmetic lesson on the addition of proper fractions. It taught her how to add the fractions xh and 1/4.

Question 25.
Why was Margie not able to concentrate on the Arithmetic lesson?
Answer:
Margie could not concentrate on the arithmetic lesson because her mind was pre-occupied with the thoughts about the school that Tommy had just described her. She was fascinated by the fact that in olden days all the kids from the whole neighbourhood came, laughing and shouting in the schoolyard, sitting together in the schoolroom, going home together at the end of the day. They learned the same things, so they could help one another with the homework and talk about it.

Question 26.
Why did Margie think that children in olden days had fun while studying in school?
Answer:
Margie attended a tele-school, which was just a machine in the room next to her bedroom and she studied alone unlike the students of the schools in the bygone times. She found her present school much too mechanical, boring, monotonous and demanding, and she hated it. She felt that learning was more fun in those days because hundreds of children had the opportunity of congregating and studying together with the help of human teachers and printed books. Schools were large buildings where students learned the same things, so they could help one another with the homework and talk about it.

The Fun They Had Extra Questions and Answers Long Answer Type
Question 1.
How did Margie and Tommy react to the book Tommy found in his attic? Why?
Answer:
Margie and Tommy were neighbours and friends. They lived in 2157, in an age of technology when going to school meant sitting in a room by oneself, being taught by a mechanical teacher that was adjusted to fit the learner’s mind and reading from a telebook with moving words.

Then on the Then one da7 May 2157, Tommy found an old paper book wit yellow and crinkled pages fn the attic of his house. He shared the exciting news with his friend Margie and together they are wonderstruck, for they had before that never seen or heard about a book that had no screen but only fixed text on pages.

The book was quite different from the tele-books they were used to. As Margie and Tommy read the book, they were amazed by its contents. They discovered that hundreds of years ago schools were huge buildings where hundreds of children went to study and where children of the same age studied together and carried out the same activities and tasks. They were taught by real human teachers with the help of real books.

Question 2.
Describe the old school as described in the book? How did it influence Margie?
Answer:
The book which Tommy found was about school. However, it was not the kind of school Margie and Tommy were used to, but the old kind of schools that were there hundreds and hundreds of years ago. School was a special building and all the kids went there. Children went to these schools to study and were taught by a ‘regular’ teacher, a man who told the boys and girls things and gave them homework and asked them questions.

At school, all children of the same age studied together and carried out the same activities and tasks. Margie thought about the old kind of school. She was thinking about all the kids from the whole neighbourhood came, laughing and shouting in the schoolyard, sitting together in the schoolroom, going home together at the end of the day. They learned the same things, so they could help one another with the homework and talk about it. Margie thought about the old school system and how much fun the children must have had, learning and spending time together.

Question 3.
Write a short note on the school system in “The Fun They Had”.
Answer:
Margie and Tommy are young school going children in the year 2157. Schools and teachers in the twenty- second century are entirely different from the ones in present day. Margie and Tommy’s school is not in a separate special building but a room in their respective houses where the television or the mechanical teacher is placed. Each student has to sit and study alone with the help of mechanical teacher, a large and black and ugly machine, with a big screen on which all the lessons are shown and the questions are asked.

The ‘teacher’ assigns tests to the students and assesses their progress. The speed of the different subject sectors is fixed according to the age level of each student. There is a special slot in the tele-teacher where students have to insert their homework or tests. If the mechanical teacher develops any fault, there are engineers to repair it.

Sometimes the fault may be a major one and it takes long to repair it, as was the case when Tommy’s history teacher developed a snag and it took a month to repair it. Thus, the mechanical teachers and schoolrooms of Margie and Tommy are fully computerised and are completely different from the present day schools.

Question 4.
Do you agree that schools today are better than the schools in the story ‘The Fun They Had’. Give reasons for your choice.
Answer:
Yes: In the story The Fun They Had writer Isaac Asimov talks about the schools of the future. In this future, school is a room in the house where each child is taught by a mechanical teacher and there are telebooks on television screens.

After reading the story, I think that we pupils in the present should be satisfied. I agree an individual teacher for each child can work better and more intensively with the pupil and when the parents set the school time a child can have flexible school hours. If the school(room) is at home, the children do not have to walk or drive so far and this saves time and money.

But on the other hand, we lose an opportunity for social contacts. The most important advantage we have today is we have contact with other kids, in the breaks we can talk to each other and we have fun with them. Pupils solve problems together – very important for the later life and the development of a child. And a human teacher is definitely a better educator than a machine because he knows the problems of humans and children. A machine will never be able to feel like a human. Moreover, a human teacher can provide valuable guidance and values that a mechanical teacher cannot.

No: The Fun They Had by Isaac Asimov is a science-fiction story schooling in the twenty-second century. Margie, an eleven-year-old girl, and Tommy, who is thirteen, live in the year 2157, where school means learning from a machine teacher at home. Both kids have never seen a printed book, because they read telebooks.

The author shows us how school could be in two hundred years, when everything is managed by computers and other technology. In his story, in spite of the advances in technology, the two children are still like kids today. Isaac Assimov shows very clearly the typical behaviour of an eleven-year-old girl and a thirteen-year- old boy, so in his story their characters are not influenced by the technical advancement.

An advantage of a mechanical teacher is that the mechanical teacher can be geared to the mental level of the student. Thus, it becomes easier for the child to understand the lessons. Different styles of learning of students can be addressed using mechanical teacher and technology. Mechanical teachers can analyze the specific mistakes that students make and give instant feedback which would prove helpful for the students.

Question 5.
Do you think Asimov is warning us about the dangers of too much computerisation?
Answer:
In his short story “The Fun They Had” Isaac Asimov depicts the school system in 2157 which is based on technical advancement. Thirteen-year-old Tommy and eleven-year-old girl Margie both study with a computer teacher at home. While the individual teaching can train the personal talents and it is a perfect way to give every child knowledge and information baed on the child’s capacity, but there are some disadvantages, too.

Pupils do not learn like a computer. Learning has to be fun, otherwise the probability of forgetting is higher. Another disadvantage is that there are no social relationships like at school today. Learning with friends at school can be a motivation. Students improve their communication skills and their behaviour in a group. A mechanical teacher cannot give moral values to the children.

I think Asimov is trying to warn us that the school system which is being followed in 2157 is a good way of giving children knowledge and information for jobs, but it is not good at giving ability for interpersonal relationships. In my opinion the disadvantages are more serious than the advantages and I feel this is a warning given by Isaac Asimov that this kind of schooling may not, in fact, be an ideal option for students.

The Fun They Had Extra Questions and Answers Reference to Context
Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.

Question 1.
“Today Tommy found a real book! ”
It was a very old book. Margie’s grandfather once said that when he was a little boy his grandfather told him that there was a time when all stories were printed on paper.

(a) Who are Margie and Tommy?
Answer:
Tommy is a thirteen-year-old boy and Margie an eleven-year-old girl who live in the twenty second century.

(b) Where had Tommy found the book?
Answer:
Tommy had found the book in the attic of his house.

(c) What is meant by “real book”?
Answer:
The book is “real” as it is printed on paper rather than a telebook.

(d) How had Margie heard of such a book?
Answer:
Margie’s grandfather had told her that he had heard from his grandfather about a time when all stories were printed on paper.

Question 2.
It was a very old book. Margie’s grandfather once said that when he was a little boy his grandfather told him that there was a time when all stories were printed on paper. They turned the pages, which were yellow and crinkly, and it was awfully funny to read words that stood still instead of moving the way they were supposed to-on a screen, you know.

(a) Why were the pages of the book yellow?
Answer:
The pages of the book were yellow because the book was quite old.

(b) What kind of books did Margie and Tommy read?
Answer:
Margie and Tommy read telebooks

(c) What do you think a telebook is?
Answer:
A book that is not printed on paper, but one that can be read on a screen. Words move on the screen for the students to read.

(d) Why did Tommy find the book a “waste”?
Answer:
Unlike their telebooks, the words on the page stayed the same and did not change. He felt when one was through with the book, one would just throw it away.

Question 3.
They turned the pages, which were yellow and crinkly, and it was awfully funny to read words that stood still instead of moving the way they were supposed to-on a screen, you know.

(a) Who are ‘they’ in this extract?
Answer:
‘They’ are Margie and Tommy, the young children who are reading the book.

(b) Which book had yellow and crinkly pages?
Answer:
The book that Tommy found in the attic of his house had yellow and crinkly pages.

(c) What do the yellow and crinkly pages reveal about the book?
Answer:
The yellow and crinkly pages reveal that it was a very old book and had not been lying in the attic for a long time.

(d) What did ‘they’ find funny? Why?
Answer:
The children found the fixed and still words in the book funny because they were used to reading electronic books on the television screen in which the words kept moving.

Question 4.
“I wouldn’t throw it away. ”

(a) Who says these words?
Answer:
Tommy, a thirteen-year-old boy says these words.

(b) What does ‘it’ refer to?
Answer:
‘It’ refers to the television screen of the computer on which Tommy reads books. It has a million books . and space for a lot more.

(c) What is it being compared with, by the speaker?
Answer:
‘It’ is being compared with the paper book that Tommy had found in the attic of his house.

(d) Why would the speaker not throw it away?
Answer:
The speaker, Tommy, wouldn’t throw the television screen on which he read books away because it had a million books on it and it could be used many times.

Question 5.
“What’s it about? ”
“School. ”
Margie was scornful. “School? What’s there to write about school? I hate school. ”

(a) What does ‘it’ refer to?
Answer:
‘It’ refers to the book Tommy found in his attic.

(b) Why was Margie scornful about the book?
Answer:
Margie was scornful about the book as it was about school. She hated her school and felt school would not be an interesting enough topic to read about.

(c) Why did Margie not like school?
Answer:
Margie had never liked her school, but now she hated her mechanical teacher so she disliked school even more.

(d) Why did Margie hate her mechanical teacher?
Answer:
The mechanical teacher had been giving her test after test in geography and she had been doing worse and worse.

Question 6.
He was a round little man with a red face and a whole box of tools with dials and wires. He smiled at Margie and gave her an apple, then took the teacher apart.

(a) Who is ‘he’?
Answer:
He is the County Inspector.

(b) Why had he been called?
Answer:
Margie’s mother, Mrs Jones, had called him because Margie’s mechanical teacher had been giving her test after test in geography and she had been doing worse and worse. She wanted the County Inspector to fix the teacher.

(c) Why did he give Margie an apple?
Answer:
He smiled at Margie and gave her an apple to reassure her.

(d) How did he fix the teacher?
Answer:
The County Inspector found that the teacher’s the geography sector was geared a little too quick. He slowed it up to an average ten-year level.

Question 7.
He said to her mother, “It’s not the little girl’s fault, Mrs Jones. I think the geography sector was geared a little too quick. Those things happen sometimes. ”

(a) Who is ‘he’ and which ‘little girl’ is he talking about?
Answer:
He is the County Inspector. He is talking about Margie.

(b) What, according to him, is not the girl’s fault?
Answer:
According to him, the girl’s continuous poor performances in Geography tests was not her fault.

(c) What was wrong with the geography sector of the mechanical teacher?
Answer:
He finds that the pace of the geography sector has been a bit too fast for the girl’s level.

(d) What does the County Inspector do to correct the fault?
Answer:
The County Inspector took apart the mechanical teacher and slowed it up to an average ten-year level.

Question 8.
“Actually, the overall pattern of her progress is quite satisfactory. ” And he patted Margie’s head again. Margie was disappointed. She had been hoping they would take the teacher away altogether.

(a) Who is the speaker? Whose progress is being talked about?
Answer:
The speaker is the County Inspector. He is talking about Margie’s progress.

(b) Why was Margie disappointed?
Answer:
Margie was disappointed as her teacher was not taken away as she wished for.

(c) Whose teacher had been taken away? Why?
Answer:
Tommy’s teacher had been taken away for nearly a month because the history sector had blanked out completely.

(d) What subjects did Margie and Tommy learn?
Answer:
Margie and Tommy learnt geography, history and arithmetic.

Question 9.
Tommy looked at her with very superior eyes. “Because it’s not our kind of school, stupid. This is the old kind of school that they had hundreds and hundreds of years ago. ” He added loftily.

(a) What does Tommy mean by “our kind of school”?
Answer:
They study in classrooms in their own homes with mechanical teachers.

(b) Why did Tommy call Margie stupid?
Answer:
Tommy called Malgie stupid because she was ignorant about schools of the past.

(c) Whom does ‘they’ here refer to?
Answer:
‘They’ here refers to the students of centuries ago who were mentioned in the book.

(d) How was ‘their’ school different?
Answer:
Their school was a special building that they went to and they learned the same thing if they were the same age. They had a person as a teacher who taught the whole class.

Question 10.
“Sure they had a teacher, butit wasn ’t a regular teacher. It was a man. ”

(a) Who speaks these words and about what?
Answer:
Tommy speaks these words about the schools in the olden times.

(b) Who does ‘they’ refer to in these lines?
Answer:
‘They’ refers to the students from the schools of the olden times.

(c) What does ‘regular’ mean here?
Answer:
Here ‘regular’ means a mechanised teacher like the ones Margie and Tommy had.

(d) What is ‘regular’ contrasted with?
Answer:
‘Regular’ is contrasted with the teachers from the olden days who were real men and not programmed machines.

Question 11.
“A man? How could a man be a teacher? ”
“Well, he just told the boys and girls things and gave them homework and asked them questions. ”

(a) Who feels a man cannot be a teacher? Why?
Answer:
Margie feels a man cannot be a teacher as a man is not smart enough. Moreover, she was used to being taught by a mechanical teacher.

(b) What does ‘he’ refer to here?
Answer:
‘He’ refers to a man, a human teacher of the twentieth century.

c) What job did ‘he’ do?
Answer:
His job was to teach boys and girls and give them work to do at home and ask them questions.

d) Where had the speaker got this information?
Answer:
The speaker, Tommy, had found this information in the old book that he had found in the attic of his house.

Question 12.
Tommy screamed with laughter. “You don’t know much, Margie. The teachers didn ’t live in the house. They had a special building and all the kids went there. ”

(a) Why did Tommy scream with laughter?
Answer:
Tommy screamed with laughter at the ignorance of Margie who thought that in old times the human teacher lived in the house of a student and taught him there.

(b) What did Margie not know? Why?
Answer:
Margie did not know about the functioning of the schools of olden times because she lived in the year 2157 when education had been made fully computerized.

(c) What ‘special building’ does the speaker refer to?
Answer:
By ‘special building’ Tommy means the buildings that housed schools in olden times.

(d) How is the special building a unique place for Margie and Tommy?
Answer:
Margie and Tommy are the students of the year 2157. They are taught at home by mechanical teachers. Their television screen is their school. Therefore, a special building for teaching children is a unique thing for them.

Question 13.
Margie went into the school room. It was right next to her bedroom and the mechanical teacher was on and waiting for her. It was always on at the same time every day except Saturday and Sunday because her mother said little girls learned better if they learned at regular hours.

(a) What was ‘it’? Where was ‘it’?
Answer:
‘It’ in these lines is Margie’s schoolroom. It was next to her bedroom.

(b) Why was ‘it’ next to ‘her’ bedroom?
Answer:
It was next to her bedroom because in the twenty-second century students were taught through a customized education system under where students were taught at home by mechanical teachers.

(c) Why was the mechanical teacher on and waiting for her?
Answer:
The mechanical teacher was on and waiting for her because it was a programmed machine that worked . as per a fixed time-plan and Margie’s mother wanted her to follow a fixed time plan.

(d) Why did Margie not like the mechanical teacher?
Answer:
Margie did not like the mechanical teacher because it was very boring and demanding. She had to sit in front of it regularly at fixed hours.

Question 14.
Margie did so with a sigh. She was thinking about the old schools they had when her grandfather’s grandfather was a little boy. All the kids from the whole neighbourhoods came, laughing and shouting in the schoolyard, sitting together in the school room going home together at the end of the day. They learned the same things, so that they could help one another with the home work and talk about it.

(a) What did Margie do with a sigh?
Answer:
Margie put her homework into the slot of her mechanical teacher with a sigh.

(b) Which school is Margie thinking about in the above lines?
Answer:
Margie was thinking about the old schools of centuries ago as written about in the book Tommy had found.

(c) Where was Margie’s school? Did she have any classmates?
Answer:
Margie’s school was in her home itself. It was right next to her bedroom. No, she did not have any classmates.

(d) How is the school under reference different from the present ones?
Answer:
The present schools were located in the student’s house, where a mechanical teacher taught the student as per the child’s individual capacity. The schools under reference had a separate building where all children of a certain age were taught together by human teachers.

NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English

• The Fun They Had Question Answer
• The Sound of Music Question Answer
• The Little Girl Question Answer
• A Truly Beautiful Mind Question Answer
• The Snake and the Mirror Question Answer
• My Childhood Question Answer
• Packing Question Answer
• Reach for the Top Question Answer
• The Bond of Love Question Answer
• Kathmandu Question Answer
• If I Were You Question Answer

In this article, we present a collection of delve into the depths of “The Sound of Music Class 9 Extra Questions with Answers.” From character analysis and musical themes to the historical context and production insights, these thoughtfully crafted questions will add a new dimension to your appreciation of this iconic masterpiece. Read this also Extra Questions for Class 9 English with Answers.

The Sound of Music Extra Questions and Answers Short Answer Type

Question 1.
What were Evelyn’s feelings as she stood on the platform waiting for the London underground?
Answer:
As she stood on the platform Evelyn felt both nervous and excited because she was waiting for a train in London to take her to her dream destination – to join the prestigious Royal Academy for Music. She was apprehensive as she was a young, seventeen-year-old from Scotland going to join such a prestigious music institute. Moreover, she was profoundly deaf and despite her disability, she had made it to the Music Academy.

Question 2.
How old was Evelyn when she went to the Royal Academy of Music? Why was she nervous on her way to the academy?

Answer:
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.

Question 3.
Why was Evelyn “nervous yet excited” as she waited for the train?
Answer:
While leaving for the Royal Academy of Music, Evelyn was excited despite her nervousness as going to the Royal Academy of Music, London was a dream come true for her. She was going to join a three-year course in an institute she had dreamed of joining. It excited her to think that despite her hearing impairment she had made her way to such a prestigious institute.

Question 4.
Why was Evelyn Glennie going to face a bigger challenge at the prestigious Royal Academy of Music in London?
Answer:
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.

Question 5.
When and how was Evelyn’s hearing problem noticed?
Answer:
Evelyn was only eight-year-old when her hearing problem was noticed by her mother when she was eight years old and she did not respond to a call for a performance on piano. However, her loss of hearing was gradual and her deafness was confirmed at the age of eleven when her poor academic performance forced her parents to consult a specialist.

Question 6.
Who advised Evelyn’s parents to take her to a specialist? Why?
Answer:
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.

Question 7.
When was Evelyn’s deafness confirmed? What advice was given to her?
Answer:
Evelyn’s deafness was gradual. By the time she was eleven, her marks had deteriorated. Her teachers advised her parents to take her to a specialist. The specialist discovered that her hearing was badly impaired because of gradual nerve damage. He advised her parents that she should be fitted with hearing aids and sent to a school for the deaf.

Question 8.
“Everything suddenly looked black”. Why did Evelyn feel this way?
Answer:
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.

Question 9.
How did Evelyn Glennie respond to the discovery of her deafness?
Answer:
On learning about her deafness due to gradual nerve damage, Evelyn Glennie, felt at first that her future was dark and bleak. However, instead of giving up, she decided to lead a normal life like other children and pursue her dream of learning music.

Question 10.
How did Evelyn’s teachers respond when she expressed her desire to play a xylophone?
Answer:
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.

Question 11.
Most of the teachers discouraged her but percussionist Ron Forbes spotted her potential. How did he respond to it?
Answer:
When her teachers discouraged her from pursuing a career in music, Ron Forbes, the percussionist, encouraged and helped Evelyn to continue with music. He noticed her potential and decided to help her develop it. He told Evelyn to train different parts of her body to sense musical notes. He tuned two drums with different notes to make her sense the higher ones from the upper part of her body and the lower ones from her waist down.

Question 12.
“I had learnt to open my mind and body to sounds and vibrations,” says Evelyn. How did she do this?
Answer:
Guided by Ron Forbes, Evelyn leamt to listen through different parts of her body other than her ears. Her mind and body became sensitized to notice and differentiate various sounds and vibrations of music. Her body compensated for the loss of hearing with her awakened and sharpened senses in other parts of her body.

Question 13.
What kind of recognition did Evelyn get at the Royal Academy of Music?
Answer:
When Evelyn was seventeen, she joined the Royal Academy of Music. She scored the highest marks in the history of the academy. She was one of the most brilliant students of the academy and won many top awards during her three-year course.

Question 14.
Why did Evelyn say, “Men with bushy beards give me trouble”?
Answer:
Evelyn could understand what others were saying by reading the movement of lips and by watching faces and eyes. It was difficult for her to read the movement of lips of the men with bushy beards in order to grasp what they were saying. She jokingly remarked that men with bushy beards gave her trouble.

Question 15.
Which qualities of character enabled Evelyn to achieve unprecedented success in life?
Answer:
Unfaltering determination and hard work enabled Evelyn to move ahead in life. Instead of yielding to her handicap, she decided to overcome it and lead the life of a normal person. She was devoted to music and her sincere efforts helped her achieve unprecedented success.

Question 16.
She never looked back from that point onwards. Explain.
Answer:
Evelyn learnt to feel the vibrations and sensations in every part of her body, she leant to open her body and mind to the sounds and vibrations. These tingled in her skin, her cheekbones and even in hair. After that, she never looked back, because from that time on she was very successful in her chosen career.

Question 17.
How did Evelyn get admission in the Royal Academy of Music, London?
Answer:
Evelyn gave audition for admission to Royal Academy of Music, London. Her score in the audition was one of the highest in the history of the academy. Therefore, she got selected for a three-year course.

Question 18.
Evelyn continued to work hard at the Royal Academy of Music. Do you agree?
Answer:
At the Royal Academy of Music, London, Evelyn began as one of the performers in orchestra. But gradually she moved on to give solo performances. At the end of her three-year course, she had bagged the biggest awards in the Academy. This shows Evelyn did not rest on her laurels but continued to work hard.

Question 19.
What did James Blades say about Evelyn’s music?
Answer:
James Blades remarked that God may have taken away her sense of hearing but He has given her something extraordinary. What we hear, she feels, far more deeply than any of us. She is a talented musician who expresses music so beautifully.

Question 20.
How is Evelyn a source of inspiration to people who are in any way disabled?
Answer:
Evelyn’s achievements, gained through determination and hard work, are an example for other handicapped people. They gain confidence from her example and believe that they too can achieve them goals in life by overcoming their challenges and disabilities with firm determination.

Question 21.
How does Evelyn regard her own success?
Answer:
Evelyn is extremely modest and does not consider her achievements to be heroic deeds. She feels that if one is focussed on the goal and puts in hard work, one is sure to succeed. She says, “If you work hard and know where you are going, you’ll get there.”

Question 22.
Name the various places and causes for which Evelyn performs.
Answer:
Evelyn performs in concerts internationally. In addition, she also gives concerts free of charge in prisons and hospitals. In addition, she holds classes for young musicians.

Question 23.
What is Evelyn’s contribution to percussion?
Answer:
Evelyn has contributed to percussion by securing for it a front place in orchestra. She has shown how the music of the percussion instruments is deeply moving and touches the hearts and emotions of people.

Question 24.
What are Evelyn’s main achievements?
Answer:
Evelyn has brought percussion to the front of the orchestra. She has given inspiration to those who are handicapped. Besides this, she has brought great pleasure to millions.

The Sound of Music Extra Questions and Answers Long Answer Type

Question 1.
Evelyn did not succumb to her disability. Comment.
Answer:
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.

Question 2.
“If you work hard and know where you are going, you’ll get there,” remarks Evelyn Glennie. What does it reveal about her character?
Answer:
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.

Question 3.
Evelyn is very down-to-earth and does not succumb to hero worship. Comment.
Answer:
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.

Question 4.
Evelyn is an inspiration to all. Justify.
Answer:
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.

The Sound of Music Extra Questions and Answers Reference to Context

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

Question 1.
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’?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
She was seventeen years old when she went to the Royal Academy of Music in London.

(c) What was likely to ‘daunt any teenager’?
Answer:
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 “a bigger challenge than most”?
Answer:
She faced a ‘bigger challenge’ than most as she was profoundly deaf and was yet joining a music academy.

Question 2.
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?
Answer:
Isabel Glennie is Evelyn Glennie’s mother.

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

(c) When was her deafness first noticed?
Answer:
Evelyn’s deafness was first noticed when she was eight years old.

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

Question 3.
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?
Answer:
‘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’?
Answer:
‘She’ is Evelyn Glennie.

(c) What was the course of action recommended for her?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
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.

Question 4.
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) Evelyn was not going to give up. Why was she not going to give up?
Answer:
She was not going to give up because of her interest in music. Music was her passion.

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

(c) Why did her teachers not encourage her?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
Ron Forbes, who saw her potential and capabilities, encouraged her. He suggested she ‘hear’ with the whole of her body.

Question 5.
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’?
Answer:
She refers to Evelyn Glennie.

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

(c) Where did she go with a youth orchestra?
Answer:
She toured United Kingdom with a youth orchestra.

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

Question 6.
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?
Answer:
Initially Evelyn performed in a group of orchestra. Gradually, she started giving solo performances.

(b) Where did she pursue her three-year course?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
At the end of her course, she had bagged the biggest awards in her field.

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

Question 7.
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?
Answer:
“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?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
This shows Evelyn is a humble and down-to-earth person.

Question 8.
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?
Answer:
She refers to Evelyn Glennie. She is profoundly deaf yet she heard each word.

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

(c) Why do men with bushy beards give her trouble?
Answer:
She is unable to read their lips and their face.

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

Question 9.
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?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
Music and its vibrations pour in through every part of her body.

(c) How was she able to hear sounds and vibrations?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
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.

Question 10.
“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?
Answer:
Classical music needs a lot of practice. However, Evelyn works even harder than the others.

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

(c) “ … there is nowhere that they cannot go.” Who are they here?
Answer:
They are deaf children.

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

The Shehnai of Bismillah Khan

The Sound of Music Extra Questions and Answers Short Answer Type

Question 1.
Why did Aurangzeb ban the playing of the pungi?
Answer:
Aurangzeb banned the playing of musical instrument pungi because it had a loud, shrill, and unpleasant sound. He prohibited its play in the royal court.

Question 2.
Why did the pungi become a generic name for “reeded noisemakers”?
Answer:
The pungi was made from a reed and it produced noisy, unpleasant sounds. It became a generic name for “reeded noisemakers”.

Question 3.
How is a shehnai different from a pungi?
Answer:
Shehnai has a better tonal quality than pungi. It is a natural hollow stem pipe with holes on its body and is longer and broader than the pungi. When some of the holes are closed and opened while it is played on, soft and melodious sounds are produced instead of the loud, jarring sound of a pungi. Thus, shehnai is, in a way, an improvement upon the pungi.

Question 4.
How was the pungi revived?
Answer:
After Aurangzeb had banned the playing of the pungi in the royal residence, a barber who belonged to a family of professional musicians revived it by taking a wider and longer hollow stem and making seven holes in it. The opening and closing of these holes in the improved pungi produced soft and sweet sounds.

Question 5.
How did the improved and modified pungi get its new name?
Answer:
It is believed that the barber (nai) who improved the pungi, played his improved and modified instrument in the chamber of the emperor {shah). From the combination of the two words shah and nai, the new instrument got is new name shehnai.

Question 6.
Where was the shehnai played traditionally? Why?
Answer:
The music of the shehnai was melodious and soft. It was made a part of the naubat or or traditional ensemble of nine instruments found at royal courts. Soon, it came to be believed that it was auspicious. Therefore, it came to be played in the holy temples and on the happy auspicious occasions of weddings.

Question 7.
Although the shehnai was played in temples and at weddings. How did Bismillah Khan change this?
Answer:
The shehnai was traditionally played in royal courts, temples and weddings. Ustaad Bismillah Khan, an undisputed shehnai maestro, brought the instrument onto the classical stage by adding new raagas and modifying old ones.

Question 8.
Where and how did Bismillah Khan begin his career in music?
Answer:
Bismillah Khan began his career in music at the age of five by singing the Bhojpuri Chaita in the Bihariji temple regularly in his native town Dumraon in Bihar. At the end of the song the local Maharaja would give him a big laddu weighing 1.25 kg as a prize.

Question 9.
How did Bismillah Khan inherit music from his paternal and maternal ancestors?
Answer:
Bismillah Khan hailed from a family of musicians in Bihar. His paternal grandfather Rasool Bux Khan was a shehnai player in the royal court of the king of Bhojpur. His father Paigambar Bux and many paternal and maternal uncles were also shehnai vaadaks. In fact, Bismillah Khan was apprenticed with his maternal uncle Ali Bux to learn how to play the shehnai.

Question 10.
Write a short note on Ali Bux.
Answer:
Ali Bux was the maternal uncle of Bismillah Khan. He was a great shehnai player and was employed to play the shehnai in the Vishnu temple of Benaras. In fact, at a very young age Bismillah was apprenticed to his uncle. Bismillah Khan started accompanying him and got lessons in playing the shehnai from him. The young boy would sit for hours listening to his uncle and later practise throughout the day. As such he and may be regarded as his mentor and trainer.

Question 11.
What significance did the Ganga have in Bismillah Khan’s life?
Answer:
The young Bismillah Khan often sat on the banks of the Ganga to practice his music there in solitude. The flowing waters of Ganga inspired him to improvise and invent raagas which were earlier considered beyond the range of the shehnai. In fact, when much later, his student invited him to head a shehnai school in the USA, Khansaab asked him if he would be able to transport River Ganga as well, implying thereby that he could not live without the Ganga.

Question 12.
When and how did Bismillah Khan get his big break?
Answer:
Bismillah Khan got his big break in 1938. All India Radio opened in Lucknow and Bismillah Khan played shehnai on radio. He soon became an often-heard player on radio. He became the first Indian to greet the nation with his shehnai from the Red Fort on 15 August, 1947.

Question 13.
Where did Bismillah Khan play the shehnai on 15 August 1947? Why was the event historic?
Answer:
On 15 August 1947, Bismillah Khan played the Raag Kaafi on his shehnai from the Red Fort prior to the speech of Pandit Nehru. The event was historical because it was on the occasion of the declaration of India’s Independence from British Rule. On that day, Bismillah Khan was the first Indian to greet the nation and he poured his heart out while playing the melodious raaga on his shehnai.

Question 14.
What honours and awards were bestowed upon Ustad Bismillah Khan in foreign countries?
Answer:
His first trip abroad was to Afghanistan where King Zahir Shah, taken in by the maestro, gifted him priceless Persian carpets and other souvenirs. In fact, an auditorium in Teheran was named after him —Tahar Mosiquee Ustaad Bismillah Khan. The King of Afghanistan was also fascinated with Bismillah’s music. He was the first Indian to be invited to perform at the prestigious Lincoln Centre Hall in the United States of America. He also took part in the World Exposition in Montreal, in the Cannes Art Festival and in the Osaka Trade Fair.

Question 15.
How did the film director Vijay Bhatt honour Bismillah Khan?
Answer:
The film director, Vijay Bhatt, once heard the shehnai recital of Bismillah Khan in a festival. He was so fascinated by the performance that he decided to name his next film after the instrument and called it Gunj Uthi Shehnai. The film also had a song that was composed by Bismillah Khan.

Question 16.
Why did Bismillah Khan leave the glamour of the film world and return to Benaras? What does this tell you about him?
Answer:
Bismillah Khan returned to Benares after providing music for two films – Vijay Bhatt’s Gunj Uthi Shehnai and Vikram Srinivas’s Kannada venture, Sanadhi Apanna. This was because he disliked the artificiality and glamour of the film world. He said, “I just can’t come to terms with the artificiality and glamour of the film world.” This incident indicates that truthfulness and simplicity of Bismillah Khan’s character.

Question 17.
How did India honour and reward the great musician, Bismillah Khan?
Answer:
India honoured Bismillah Khan by conferring on him the greatest national awards – the Padmashri, the Padma Bhushan, and the Padma Vibhushan. He was also awarded the Bharat Ratna in 2001, the highest civilian award in India.

Question 18.
What advice did Bismillah Khan give Indian youth?
Answer:
Bismillah Khan had a great regard for Indian music and the rich heritage of Hindustani music. He wanted that children must not cut off their bond from this grand tradition which was fascinating even for the people of the west. He advised Indians to teach their children music, as it was Hindustan’s richest tradition.

Question 19.
What offer did Bismillah Khan’s student make to him? What was his reply?
Answer:
Bismillah Khan’s student, who himself was settled in the USA, wanted that the great maestro to head a shehnai school in the UAS. He promised that he would create the ambience of Benaras by erecting the temples like those in India. Bismillah Khan refused the proposition because he would not live away from Hindustan, specifically, from Benaras, the River Ganga and Dumraon.

Question 20.
How does Bismillah Khan embody India’s rich cultural and secular tradition?
Answer:
Indian culture has always displayed a liberal attitude to all communities and religions. The society and its cultural heritage is a blend of various religious and ethnic groups. Bismillah Khan’s life perfectly represents this blend. Although he was a devout muslim, he began his singing career by singing Chiaf in Bihariji temple and practicing shehnai in Vishnu temple and Mangala Maiya temple of Varanasi. He practised the shehnai on the banks of the Ganga and played it in the Kashi Vishwanath temple every morning.

Question 21.
Find at least two instances in the text which tell you that Bismillah Khan loves India and Benaras.
Answer:
The first instance is when he turned down his student’s offer to start a shehnai school in USA. The second instance is when Khansaab was asked by Shekhar Gupta about moving to Pakistan during the partition, he said that he would never leave Benaras.

The Sound of Music Extra Questions and Answers Long Answer Type

Question 1.
Why did Emperor Aurangzeb ban the playing of the pungi and how was it improved?
Answer:
Emperor Aurangzeb banned the playing of the pungi in the royal residence because it had a shrill and unpleasant sound. But a barber belonging to a professional family of musicians was able to improve it. He chose a reed pipe with a natural hollow stem that was longer and broader than the one used for the pungi. He made seven holes on the body of the pipe. He played the instrument in the royal chambers of Emperor Aurangzeb.

Everyone was impressed by the new instrument and the shehnai was made a part of the naubat or traditional ensemble of nine instruments found at royal courts. Its sweet and melodious notes caused it to be played only in temples and weddings and other auspicious occasions. Since it was first played in the Shah’s chambers and was played by a nai (barber), the instrument was named the shehnai.

Question 2.
How was Bismillah Khan associated with the film world?
Answer:
Film director Vijay Bhatt heard Bismillah Khan at a festival. He was so impressed by Bismillah Khan that he named a film after the shehnai – Gunj Uthi Shehnai. The film was a huge hit and one of Bismillah Khan’s compositions Dil ka khilona hai toot gaya turned out to be very popular. In spite of his great success in the film world, Bismillah Khan’s experience in the film world was limited to two films – Vijay Bhatt’s ‘Gunj Uthi Shehnai’ and Vikram Srinivas’s ‘Sanadhi Apanna’. Bismillah Khan, however, made it clear that he could not come to terms with the artificiality and glamour of the film world and returned to Benaras.

Question 3.
Write a note on the life and achievements of Bismillah Khan as a ‘shehnai vaadak’. What values of life do you derive from his story?
Answer:
Bismillah Khan’s journey as a shehnai maestro embodies the moral values of dedication, simplicity and patriotism. It started at the young age of three and continued up to the age of ninety. The journey ranged from playing the instrument in the temples to getting international fame.

Hailing from a family of musicians, Bismillah Khan inherited an interest in the shehnai. At a young age of three, he started accompanying his maternal Uncle Ali Bux to the Vishnu temple in Benaras and learnt a lot from him. He would sing scriptures like the Bhojpuri ‘chaita Bismillah Khan got an important break when he started playing for the All India Radio, Lucknow in 1938.

His music was so admired that he was invited to play at the historic moment of Indian independence on 15 August, 1947. In recognition of his talent, he was conferred upon with the greatest awards of India – the Padmashri, the Padma Bhushan, and the Padma Vibhushan. He was awarded the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award in India, in 2001. Bismillah Khan ventured into the film world but abandoned it after he found it to be too artificial and glamorous. On the international level, he mesmerized the King of Afghanistan with his shehnai music.

He was the only Indian to be invited to play shehnai in the Lincoln Central Hall, USA. He also played in international events like the World Exposition, Montreal, the Cannes Art Festival and the Osaka Trade Fair. As a token of appreciation, the Teheran government has named an auditorium after Bismillah Khan. Bismillah Khan had a deep devotion to his motherland and was proud of its heritage of music. Hence, he declined the offer to settle down in foreign countries. The journey of his life teaches the values of dedication to one’s talent and persistent efforts to reach the greatest heights of excellence.

Question 4.
What important lesson does the life of Evelyn Glennie and Bismillah Khan teach us?
Answer:
Evelyn Glennie and Bismillah Khan, the two eminent music maestros, through their achievements, have proved to the world that the values of determination, hard work and unwavering efforts are always rewarded. Evelyn Glennie became an internationally admired multi-percussionist only because of her untiring work which helped her rise above her handicap.

Instead of yielding to her deafness, she worked hard to sensitise her body to sense the vibrations and sounds of music through different parts of her body and never looked back. With her persistent efforts, she made it to the Royal Academy of Music, London and bagged the most prestigious awards. Her sincere devotion to her art has given percussion a new place on the international stage.

Bismillah Khan, like Evelyn, was dedicated to his art and attained greatest heights as a shehnai player. He, too worked diligently and transformed the shehnai into a classical instrument. He added enormously to what he had inherited by widening the range of the shehnai. He invented many new raagas.

Starting with playing in the temples of Benaras and on the banks of Ganga, he achieved international acclaim. His hard work enabled him to win the most prestigious awards in India and in the world. Thus, the lives of both Evelyn Glennie and Bismillah Khan are perfect examples of how dedicated efforts and persistent hard work lead to grand achievements.

The Sound of Music Extra Questions and Answers Reference to Context

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

Question 1.
Emperor Aurangzeb banned the playing of a musical instrument called pungi in the royal residence for it had a shrill unpleasant sound. Pungi became the generic name for dreaded noisemakers. Few had thought that it would one day be revived. A barber of a family of professional musicians, who had access to the royal palace, decided to improve the tonal quality of the pungi.

(a) Why did the Emperor Aurangzeb ban the pungi?
Answer:
He banned the pungi because it had a shrill and unpleasant sound

(b) How was the pungi revived?
Answer:
The pungi was revived after its tonal quality was improved.

(c) Who revived the pungi?
Answer:
It was revived by a barber who belonged to a family of musicians.

(d) What was its new name? Why?
Answer:
The pungi s new name was shehnai. It was played in the Shah’s (Emperor’s) chambers by a nai (barber).

Question 2.
Few had thought that it would one day be revived. A barber of a family ofprofessional musicians, who had access to the royal palace, decided to improve the tonal quality of the pungi.

(a) What does ‘it’ refer to?
Answer:
It refers to a reeded musical instrument called the pungi.

(b) Why did ‘it’ need to be revived?
Answer:
The Mughal emperor Aurangzeb had banned the pungi as he found its sound to be shrill and unpleasant. Therefore, it needed to be revived.

(c) Why did the barber have an interest in ‘it’?
Answer:
The barber hailed from a family of professional musicians. That is why he had interest in the reeded musical instrument, the pungi.

(d) Did he succeed in improving ‘it’? If yes, how?
Answer:
Yes, he succeeded in improving the tonal quality of the pungi. He took a reed or a pipe with natural hollow stem which was wider and longer than the pungi. He made seven holes in it. When he played on it, closing and opening some of these holes, it produced soft and melodious music.

Question 3.
As the story goes, since it was first played in the Shah’s chambers and was played by a nai (barber), the instrument was named the shehnai.

(a) What does ‘it’ refer to?
Answer:
‘It’ refers to the shehnai – a musical instrument, made with a hollow stem with seven holes in it.

(b) What is the significance of the instrument being played in the royal court?
Answer:
The pungi had been banned by the emperor Aurangzeb in the royal residence. Therefore, concerts of the shehnai in the royal court made it a significant instrument.

(c) How is a shehnai different from a pungi ?
Answer:
A shehnai is a pipe with a natural hollow that is longer and broader than a pungi. It has seven holes on the body of the pipe.

(d) Where was the instrument traditionally played?
Answer:
The instrument was traditionally played in temples and at weddings.

Question 4.
Till recently it was used only in temples and weddings. The credit for bringing this instrument onto the classical stage goes to Ustad Bismillah Khan.

(a) Which instrument is being referred to as ‘it’ in the extract?
Answer:
The instrument being referred to as ‘it’ in the extract is the shehnai.

(b) When and where was ‘it’ generally played? Why?
Answer:
The sounds of shehnai were so melodious that they were considered to be auspicious. Therefore, it was played in temples and weddings.

(c) What was the naubat? Where was it played?
Answer:
Naubat was the name given to the traditional ensemble of nine instruments found at royal courts. The shehnai was part of these nine instruments.

(d) How did Bismillah Khan bring the shehnai to the classical stage?
Answer:
Bismillah Khan did a great service to shehnai as it came to be regarded as an instrument of classical music because of the new melodies produced by him.

Question 5.
As a five-year old, Bismillah Khan played gilli-danda near a pond in the ancient estate of Dumraon in Bihar. He would regularly go to the nearby Bihariji temple to sing the Bhojpuri Chaita, at the end of which he would earn a big laddu weighing 1.25 kg, a prize given by the local Maharaja.

(a) Where did Bismillah Khan grow up?
Answer:
Bismillah Khan grew up in Dumraon in Bihar.

(b) How did Bismillah Khan spend his childhood?
Answer:
Bismillah Khan spent his childhood playing gilli-danda and singing in the temple.

(c) Why did Bismillah Khan go to the nearby Bihariji temple daily?
Answer:
He used to visit the temple daily to sing the Bhojpuri Chaita for which he was given a big laddu by the local maharaja.

(d) Which musical instrument did Bismillah Khan play? From whom did he learn it?
Answer:
Bismillah Khan played the shehnai. He learnt to play it from his maternal uncle, Ali Bux.

Question 6.
For years to come the temple of Balaji and Mangala Maiya and the banks of the Ganga became the young apprentice’s favourite haunts where he could practise in solitude. The flowing waters of the Ganga inspired him to improvise and invent raagas that were earlier considered to be beyond the range of the shehnai.

(a) Who does “the young apprentice” refer to?
Answer:
“The young apprentice” refers to Bismillah Khan.

(b) Why is he referred to as the young apprentice?
Answer:
An apprentice is one someone who has agreed to work for a skilled person for a particular period of time and often for low payment, in order to leam that person’s skills. He is referred to as the young apprentice because from a very young age he had been getting lessons in playing the shehnai from his Uncle, Ali Bux.

(c) What kind of impact did the waters of the Ganga have on ‘him ‘?
Answer:
The waters of the Ganga inspired him to improvise the old raagas and invent new ones for the shehnai.

(d) How did he widen the range of the shehnai?
Answer:
There were certain raagas or musical notations which were considered to be outside the range of the shehnai. He modified those raagas and invented and played new ones on the shehnai and made its range wider.

Question 7.
When India gained Independence on August 15, 1947, Bismillah Khan became the first Indian to greet the nation with his Shehnai. He poured his heart out into Raag Kafi from the Red Fort to an audience which included Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, who later gave his famous Tryst with Destiny speech.

(a) Who was the first Indian to greet the nation?
Answer:
Bismillah Khan was the first Indian to greet the nation with his Shehnai on 15th August 1947.

(b) What was the occasion? Which raaga did he play on the occasion?
Answer:
He played Raag Kafi just before Jawaharlal Nehru’s speech declaring India’s independence.

(c) Why was he chosen to play on the occasion?
Answer:
He was chosen to play on the occasion as he played upon the shehnai, the music of which is considered auspicious in India.

(d) Explain the expression: “He poured his heart out.”
Answer:
The expression implies that the music played on the shehnai came from the depths of the heart of Bismillah Khan who, as a true patriot, was excited at the declaration of the independence of India.

Question 8.
Despite this huge success in the celluloid world, Bismillah Khan’s ventures in film music were limited to two: Vijay Bhatt’s Gunj Uthi Shehnai and Vikram Srinivas’s Kannada venture, Sanadhi Apanna. “Ijust can’t come to terms with the artificiality and glamour of the film world, ” he says with emphasis.

(a) What is meant by celluloid world? Why is it so called?
Answer:
The term celluloid world refers to the film world because celluloid is a name for film used in shooting movies. Because of its use in making films, this term came to stand for movies in general.

(b) What did Bismillah Khan do in the celluloid world?
Answer:
Bismillah Khan provided music for two films.

(c) Which two characteristics of the film world did he dislike?
Answer:
He disliked the artificiality and glamour of the film world.

(d) What do you leam about his character from this incident?
Answer:
It indicates that truthfulness and simplicity were two significant traits of Bismillah Khan’s character.

Question 9.
A student of his once wanted him to head a shehnai school in the U.S.A., and the student promised to recreate the atmosphere of Benaras by replicating the temples there.

(a) Why did Bismillah Khan’s student want of him?
Answer:
Bismillah Khan’s student wanted him to shift to USA and head a shehnai school there.

(b) What did he promise to do?
Answer:
He promised to recreate the atmosphere of Benaras in the USA by building similar temples as the ones in Benaras there.

(c) What was Bismillah Khan’s reply?
Answer:
Bismillah Khan refused to accept the offer as he did not wish to leave the Ganga.

(d) What do you leam about him from this?
Answer:
It reveals that Bismillah Khan was a true patriot, who passionately loved the Ganga and never wanted to live away from it.

Disaster triage nursing nclex questions

NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English

• The Fun They Had Question Answer
• The Sound of Music Question Answer
• The Little Girl Question Answer
• A Truly Beautiful Mind Question Answer
• The Snake and the Mirror Question Answer
• My Childhood Question Answer
• Packing Question Answer
• Reach for the Top Question Answer
• The Bond of Love Question Answer
• Kathmandu Question Answer
• If I Were You Question Answer

Dive into the gripping and inspiring true story of “Weathering the Storm in Ersama Extra Questions and Answers Class 9,” a tale of resilience, courage, and the indomitable human spirit in the face of adversity. In this blog post, we will unravel the harrowing narrative of survival and strength, and explore the profound insights it offers. Read this also Extra Questions for Class 9 English with Answers.

Online Education for Weathering the Storm in Ersama Extra Questions and Answers Class 9 English Moments

Weathering the Storm in Ersama Extra Questions and Answers Short Answer Type

Question 1.
Why had Prashant gone to Ersama? What happened there?
Answer:
He had gone to Ersama to spend a day with a friend. He was caught in a terrible cyclonic storm, the likes of which he had never been a witness to.

Question 2.
Describe the storm that hit Ersama on the 27th of October, 1999?
Answer:
It was a dark and menacing storm which had a terrific wind velocity of 350kms/hr. It was accompanied by heavy and incessant rain flooding the whole area.

Question 3.
How long did the cyclone last? How did Prashant and his friend’s family spend the stormy night?
Answer:
The cyclone continued for almost thirty six hours. They spent the night sitting on the roof of the house in the open, because water had filled into the house.

Question 4.
How was his friend’s family luckier than the rest of the villagers?
Answer:
His friend’s family had a strong house made of brick and mortar which was able to withstand the fury of the wind, even though coconut trees had fallen onto the roof, damaging it. However, these trees provided the family with food till they were rescued.

Question 5.
Describe the scene that met Prashant’s horrified eyes in the morning at Ersama?
Answer:
It was a devastating sight. A raging, deadly brown sheet of water covered everything as far as the eye could see. Only a few fractured cement houses still stood. Bloated human corpses and animal carcasses floated in every direction.

Question 6.
How long did Prashant stay at his friend’s house? What were the thoughts that kept disturbing him?
Answer:
He stayed at his friend’s house for two more days. The only thought that kept disturbing him was whether his family had survived the calamity or if he was going to lose his loved ones once again.

Question 7.
Why did the two days seem like two years to Prashant?
Answer:
As he sat on the rooftop of his friend’s damaged house, unable to venture back home through the rain and flooded roads, he felt helpless and worried about his family back in his village. He was so keen to return to them that the two days seemed like two years to him.

Question 8.
What made Prashant venture out from the safety of his friend’s house in the dangerous situation?
Answer:
Prashant was worried that his family may have been swept away in his village, and he was determined to find out what had happened to them without any further delay.

Question 9.
How did Prashant prepare himself for the long trek home?
Answer:
He took a sturdy stick and then started on his eighteen kilometre long expedition back to his village, wading through the swollen flood waters.

Question 10.
What were the dangers faced by Prashant on his way back to his village? How did he face them?
Answer:
The whole path back to his village was under water. He used his stick to determine the shallow parts that he could walk on. At places, he had to wade through waist deep water.

Question 11.
What did Prashant see on his way back home?
Answer:
He saw a number of dead bodies of humans and animals floating in the flood water. He also saw that several villages had been entirely destroyed, where not even a single house remained standing.

Question 12.
Why did Prashant’s heart sink on reaching his village?
Answer:
His heart sank on seeing the extent of damage that his village had sustained. He saw only the remains of the roof of his house in place of the house. Some of the family belongings were caught in the nearby branches of trees. His family was nowhere to be seen.

Question 13.
Where did Prashant go to look for his family? Who did he spot first?
Answer:
Prashant went to the Red Cross shelter to look for his family. He spotted his grandmother first.

Question 14.
Why did his grandmother rush towards Prashant?
Answer:
She rushed towards him out of joy at seeing him alive. She considered it a miracle that he was safe and sound and had been restored to the family.

Question 15.
Who were the family members that Prashant found at the shelter?
Answer:
He found his grandmother, his brother, sister, his uncles and aunts at the shelter.

Question 16.
What was the extent of damage caused by the storm in Prashant’s village?
Answer:
Eighty six lives had been lost in the village, and ninety six houses had been washed away in the village.

Question 17.
Why did Prashant decide to step in and lead the villagers?
Answer:
Prashant realised that the people at the shelter were being engulfed by a deathly grief and there wasn’t enough food for the survivors. He also realised that someone had to show the people a way out of the situation and gain control over their feelings and emotions.

Question 18.
What was the first successful mission organised by the group of villagers under Prashant’s leadership?
Answer:
The first mission was to pressurise the village merchant to part with his rice so that the hungry villagers could be fed.

Question 19.
After feeding the survivors, what was the next task organised and fulfilled by Prashant?
Answer:
He organised a team of volunteers to clean the shelter of filth, urine, vomit and floating carcasses, and to take care of the wounds nad fractures of the many who had been injured.

Question 20.
What was the event that took place on the fourth day at the camp?
Answer:
On this day, a military helicopter flew over the shelter and dropped some food parcels on the ground close to the shelter.

Question 21.
Why did Prashant ask the children to lie on the sand with utensils on their stomachs?
Answer:
He did this so that the helicopter pilots would see them and drop down the food packets for them.

Question 22.
How did Prashant help the orphaned children?
Answer:
He brought them together and put up a polythene sheet shelter for them. Women were mobilised to look after them while the men got food and materials to build the shelter.

Question 23.
How did Prashant help the women to overcome their grief?
Answer:
He did this by persuading them to start working in the food-for-work programme started by an NGO.

Question 24.
Why was Prashant not keen to send the orphans and widows to government institutions?
Answer:
He was against this idea as he felt that in such institutions, children would grow up without love, and widows would suffer from stigma and loneliness.

Question 25.
How did Prashant’s wounded spirit heal?
Answer:
It healed because he was so busy making sure that the victims were taken care of by various government agencies and NGOs that he had no time to worry about his own loss and pain.

Weathering the Storm in Ersama Extra Questions and Answers Long Answer Type

Question 1.
What havoc had the super cyclone wrecked in the lives of the people of Orissa?
Answer:
The super cyclone caused great damage and destruction, leaving hundreds of men, women, children and animals dead or injured. It blew away houses, brought down trees and wiped out entire villages. The whole area was submerged in water. Family members were separated and it left behind many orphans and widows. In addition, people had to go without food for days together.

Question 2.
How has Prashant, a teenager, been able to help the people of his village?
Answer:
Prashant took over the responsibility of leading the village. He was instrumental in organising the survivors into groups to cook, clean, and rebuild the village from scratch. He supervised the building of shelters and made sure that people who were wounded and injured received adequate medical help.

He also made sure that the orphans and widows were not packed off to impersonal foster care at government institutions, but resettled them in their own community, in new foster families made up of widows taking care of the orphans. He also organised cricket matches and other sports events to bring some joy into the lives of the children and persuaded the women to work in the food-for-work programme started by an NGO.

Question 3.
How did the people of the community help one another? What role did the women of Kalikuda play during these days?
Answer:
First of all, they worked as a team under the leadership of Prashant. They helped him in pressurising the local merchant to part with rice to feed the survivors. They cooked food by collecting branches from fallen trees. They cleaned the shelter of filth, urine, vomit and floating carcasses and took care of the people with wounds and injuries. They also helped to create new foster families made up of childless widows and children without adult care. The women also worked with an NGO in their food-for-work programme.

Question 4.
Why did Prashant and the other volunteers resist the plan to set up institutions for orphans and widows? What alternatives did they consider?
Answer:
Prashant and the other volunteers were aware of the stigma attached to being sent to the government institutions, and the loneliness that the widows would have to suffer there. Similarly, the orphans would have to live a life away from their roots, at the mercy of people who would not be sensitive to their emotional needs. To solve this problem, they came up with the brilliant idea of creating foster families where the childless widows would care for the orphaned children, thereby fulfilling their mutual emotional needs.

Question 5.
Do you think Prashant is a good leader? Do you think young people can get together to help people during natural calamities?
Answer:
Undoubtedly, Prashant is a born leader, which he proves by helping the people of Kalikuda village. He helps them to literally rise from the debris of a super cyclonic storm that had almost wiped out the whole village. He leads by example, selflessly identifying the most urgent needs and working to fulfil them. In the process, he puts aside his own grief and suffering, in trying to find relief and help for the other survivors.

He gauges the falling spirits of the village people and gets them to work manually to remove the debris, rebuild structures, and ensure that the people get something to eat. In a bid to help his people, he even forgets about his own loss, pain and grief. He finds a brilliant solution for the care of those left widowed or orphaned, by creating foster families with childless widows looking after orphaned children. From his example, we can see that it is possible for young people to work together and make a huge difference to the entire community in situations like natural calamities.

NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English

• The Lost Child Question Answer
• The Adventures of Toto Question Answer
• Iswaran the Storyteller Question Answer
• In the Kingdom of Fools Question Answer
• The Happy Prince Question Answer
• Weathering the Storm in Ersama Question Answer
• The Last Leaf Question Answer
• A House is not a Home Question Answer
• The Accidental Tourist Question Answer
• The Beggar Question Answer

Do you fondly reminisce about the carefree days of your childhood? Those golden moments filled with laughter, innocence, and boundless imagination. “My Childhood Class 9 Extra Questions with Answers” takes us on a nostalgic trip down memory lane, where we explore the cherished experiences that shape us into the individuals we are today. In this article, we will unravel the heartwarming anecdotes and valuable life lessons from this delightful piece of literature. Read this also Extra Questions for Class 9 English with Answers.

My Childhood Extra Questions and Answers Short Answer Type

Question 1.
What were the qualities that Abdul Kalam admired in his parents?
Answer:
Kalam’s parents were noble and generous people. Though his father was an austere man, he provided his family with all necessities, in terms of food, medicine or clothes. He admired his father’s honesty and self-discipline and his mother’s faith in goodness and kindness. He admired his parents for respecting all religions.

Question 2.
Kalam’s childhood was a secure one both materially and emotionally. Illustrate.
Answer:
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 clothes.

Question 3.
How does Kalam show his father was a simple man?
Answer:
Kalam’s father was a simple self-disciplined man. He neither had formal education nor much wealth and he avoided all inessential comforts and luxuries.

Question 4.
What kind of a person was Kalam’s father?
Answer:
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.

Question 5.
How does Abdul Kalam describe his mother?
Answer:
Kalam’s mother, Ashiamma, was tall, good looking and very attached to her children. She was an ideal helpmate to her husband. She was a gentle and kind lady with faith in goodness and deep kindness. Like her husband, she was very generous and fed a number of outsiders daily. Kalam inherited the values of kindness and generosity from her. Kalam inherited the values of kindness and generosity from her.

Question 6.
How was Kalam’s appearance different from that of his parents?
Answer:
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.

Question 7.
Briefly describe Abdul Kalam’s ancestral house.
Answer:
Abdul Kalam’s ancestral house was situated on the Mosque Street in Rameswaram. It had been built in the middle of nineteenth century and was a fairly large, pucca house made of limestone and brick.

Question 8.
How did the Second World War give Abdul Kalam the opportunity to earn his first wages?
Answer:
When stoppage of trains was cancelled at Rameshwaram 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.

Question 9.
What are Kalam’s views about his first jobs?
Answer:
As a young boy, Kalam earned his first wage by helping his cousin, Samsuddin, collect papers thrown from a moving train for distribution. Half a century later, Kalam would still feel the surge of pride in earning his own money for the first time.

Question 10.
Had Kalam earned any money before that? In what way?
Answer:
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.

Question 11.
Right from his childhood Kalam was very enterprising. Comment.
Answer:
Kalam was an enterprising child who used to make full use of the opportunities that came his way. During the war, when there occurred a great demand for tamarind seeds in the market, he used to collect these seeds and sell them off to a provision store near his home and earn an anna a day. Thus, he was able to earn some money for himself. Later, he collected newspapers for his cousin, Samsuddin, and earned his first wages. These incidents show that he was very enterprising.

Question 12.
What was Dinamani? Justify your views.
Answer:
Dinamani seems to be the name of a newspaper. Kalam mentions that he gathered information about the World War from his brother-in-law Jallaluddin. Later he tried to trace these stories in the headlines of Dinamani. Since news stories can be read in newspapers, and Headline is the heading at the top of a news item in a newspaper, Dinamani must be a newspaper.

Question 13.
What characteristics does Kalam say he inherited from his parents?
Answer:
Kalam inherited honesty and self-discipline from his father and faith in goodness and deep kindness from his mother.

Question 14.
Who were Kalam’s school friends? What did they become later?
Answer:
Kalam’s three close childhood friends were Ramanadha Sastry, Aravindan and Sivaprakasan. All three of them settled well in life. Ramanadha inherited priesthood of Rameswaram temple from his father, Aravindan took up the business of arranging transport for visiting pilgrims and Sivaprakasan became a catering contractor for the Southern Railways.

Question 15.
“On the whole, the small society of Rameswaram was very rigid in terms of the segregation of different social groups,” says the author. Which social groups does he mention? Were these groups easily identifiable?
Answer:
Dr. Kalam mentions two social groups of Rameshwaram—orthodox Brahmins and Muslims.
Yes, these groups were easily identifiable by the way they dressed. Kalam wore a cap which marked him as a Muslim, while Ramanadha Sastry wore a sacred thread which marked him a Hindu.

Question 16.
Despite their differences, the social groups shared friendships and experiences. Elaborate.
Answer:
The social groups shared friendships and experiences and lived in harmony. Kalam’s mother and grandmother often told the children of his family bedtime stories about the events from the Ramayana and from the life of the prophet. During the Shri Sita Rama Kalyanam ceremony, his family used to arrange boats with a special platform for carrying idols of the Lord from the temple to the marriage site. When Ramanadha Sastry’s father heard that the new teacher tried to segregate pupils on the basis of religious divisions, he called the teacher and advised him to revert his decision or quit. Kalam’s Science teacher, Shivasubramania Iyer, invited Kalam to have meal with him. This way he changed his conservative wife’s mindset.

Question 17.
There were sharp differences that existed in the minds of some people belonging to these social groups. Illustrate.
Answer:
Although most people lived together in harmony with each other, there were some people who were very aware of the differences among them and rigidly enforced them. These included the young teacher who joined the Rameshwaram Elementary School and taught Kalam’s class, the fifth standard. He tried to separate the Hindu Brahman boy, Ramanadha Sastry and Abdul Kalam, who was a Muslim. Kalam’s science teacher’s conservative wife also refused to serve Kalam in her kitchen. However, others in society, made them see the error of their ways and harmony was maintained.

Question 18.
What did Kalam’s family do during the annual Shri Sita Rama Kalyanam ceremony?
Answer:
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 Kalam’s house.

Question 19.
Who asked Kalam to sit on the back bench of his class? Why?
Answer:
A new teacher at the Rameswaram Elementary School could not tolerate that Kalam, a Muslim, sat with Ramanadha Sastry, a Hindu wearing the sacred thread. This was contrary to the teacher’s notion of social ranking. So, he ordered Kalam to sit on the back bench.

Question 20.
Do you think the teacher at Rameswaram Elementary School deserved the treatment meted out to him by Lakshmana Sastry?
Answer:
Yes, the teacher deserved the treatment meted out to him by Lakshmana Sastry. He was spreading the poison of social inequality and communal intolerance in the minds of innocent children. Spreading such divisive tendencies is a serious crime If a teacher indulges in such an damaging act he deserves no sympathy.

Question 21.
“I felt very sad and so did Ramanadha Sastry”. What made Kalam and his friend feel sad?
Answer:
Kalam and his friend Ramanadha Sastry were good friends and sat together in class. They felt very sad when the new teacher ordered Kalam to go and sit on the back bench of the class. Ramanadha was absolutely downcast and as Kalam shifted his seat to the last row, there were tears in his eyes. Kalam could never forget these tears all his life.

Question 22.
What did Ramanadha Sastry’s father do when his son told him that the new teacher had sent Kalam to the last seat?
Answer:
Ramanadha’s father, Lakshmana Sastry was deeply distressed to leam that the new school teacher had shifted Kalam to the last bench. He did not approve of this segregation in society. He summoned the teacher and told him not to spread the poison of social inequality and communal intolerance in young minds. He bluntly told him to either apologise or leave the school. The teacher not only regretted his action but also reformed himself.

Question 23.
What was the difference in the attitudes of the science teacher and his wife towards A.P.J. Abdul Kalam?
Answer:
Though the Science teacher was a Brahmin, he broke the social barriers, and mixed with people belonging to a different religion and community. He invited Abdul home and served him his meal and even sat and ate with him. On the contrary, his wife, at first, was conservative and refused to serve Abdul in her kitchen. However, by the next time, she was also transformed and served Abdul Kalam herself.

Question 24.
Sivasubramania Iyer was “something of a rebel”. Elaborate.
Answer:
Sivasubramania Iyer was Kalam’s science teacher. Though he was a brahmin, he was something of a rebel. A man of liberal views, he wanted to change the society that was rigid in terms of segregation of different social groups. He invited Kalam to his home for a meal. His wife, an orthodox Brahmin, refused to serve food to a Muslim boy in her so called ritually pure kitchen. Iyer served him with his own hands and sat down beside him to eat his meal. He convinced his wife to rise above these narrow barriers and thus was successful in changing the conservative attitude of his wife.

Question 25.
Why did Sivasubramania’s wife refuse to serve food to Kalam in her kitchen?
Answer:
Sivasubramania Iyer’s wife was an orthodox and conservative Brahmin. She believed the sanctity of her kitchen would be defiled if she served meals there to someone who belonged to a different faith. So, she refused to serve food to a Muslim boy in her kitchen.

Question 26.
How did Sivasubramania react to his wife’s behaviour when she refused to serve Kalam (a Muslim boy) in her kitchen?
Answer:
Sivasubramania probably expected such behaviour from his conservative wife. So, without getting angry or perturbed, he served Kalam with his own hands and sat beside him to eat his meal.

Question 27.
Why did Sivasubramania invite Kalam for dinner again the next weekend?
Answer:
The young Kalam was upset by Sivasubramania Iyer’s wife’s refusal to serve him food in her kitchen. This, coupled with the desire to transform his wife, probably prompted Sivasubramania to make amends to Kalam. So he invited Kalam to dinner again the following weekend. He also told Kalam, “Once you decide to change the system, such problems have to be confronted.”

Question 28.
What thoughts crossed Kalam’s mind when he was having food at Sivasubramania’s house for the first time?
Answer:
Kalam noticed that Sivasubramania’s conservative wife was watching him from behind the kitchen door while he was having food. At this time he wondered whether she observed any difference in the way a Muslim ate rice, drank water or cleaned the floor after the meal.

Question 29.
What influence did his teacher Sivasubramania Iyer have on the young Kalam?
Answer:
Sivasubramania Iyer taught Kalam to confront prejudice. He told him that if he wanted to bring about a change, such problems needed to be confronted. Sivasubramania Iyer, the science teacher, was a Brahmin. When he invited Kalam for dinner, his orthodox wife thought Kalam’s presence would make it impure and refused to serve him. Sivasubramania Iyer served him with his own hands, and invited him again. This not only changed his wife’s attitude, it also had a profound influence on young Kalam.

Question 30.
Narrate two incidents – one to show how differences can be created, and another how they can be resolved.
Answer:
The first incident to show how differences can be created is that when the new young teacher found a Muslim student sitting beside a Hindu student. He asked Kalam to sit in the last row.
The other incident shows how differences can be resolved. The author’s science teacher, Sivasubramania Iyer, though a tried to bridge these differences.

Question 31.
What does Abdul tell about his days during the World War?
Answer:
Abdul Kalam was only eight years old when the World War broke out in 1939. Although at first, Rameswaram, being isolated, was completely unaffected by the War, but soon India was forced to join the Allied Forces and something like a state of emergency was declared. His brother-in-law Jallaluddin used to tell him stories about the Second World War. He read these stories in the newspaper too. He also started earning at a young age. The War brought a sudden demand for tamarind seeds and Kalam used to collect the seeds and sell them to a provision shop on Mosque Street for an anna a day. He also began working for his cousin, Samsuddin, who distributed newspapers.

Question 32.
How did the Indians feel when the nation’s Independence was in full sight?
Answer:
Indians were filled with unprecedented optimism when the Second World War ended. India’s independence seemed imminent. Gandhiji declared that Indians would build their own India.

Question 33.
Why did Abdul Kaiam want to leave Rameswaram?
Answer:
Kalam wanted to leave Rameswaram because the place did not offer any options for higher education. It just had an elementary school. An ambitious Kalam who was keen to study further wished to go to the district headquarters at Ramanathapuram that had many educational facilities.

Question 34.
Why did Kalam’s father allow Kalam to leave Rameswaram and go to Ramanathapuram?
Answer:
Though not educated himself, Kalam’s pragmatic father understood the significance of education. He did not want to stand in the way of his children’s growth in any way. Since Rameswaram had nothing more than an elementary school, his father willingly allowed Kalam to go to Ramanathapuram to pursue higher studies and persuaded his wife to do the same.

Question 35.
What did Kalam’s father say when Kalam sought his permission to leave Rameswaram and go to Ramanathapuram?
Answer:
When Kalam sought his father’s permission to leave Rameswaram and go to Ramanathapuram to study, Kalam’s father told him that he trusted his son’s decision to grow. He gave him the example of young seagulls who leave their parents’ nest to learn to fly. So, must the children be allowed to leave home and gain knowledge in the big world outside.

Question 36.
What did Kalam’s father mean to say when he quoted Khalil Gibran? Why do you think he spoke these words?
Answer:
Kalam’s father meant that every human being must be given the opportunity to build his life as per his wishes and parents should not hinder this effort. He spoke these words to convince Kalam’s mother that her son’s decision to leave home was right. She should allow him happily to shape his life according to his own ideas.

My Childhood Extra Questions and Answers Long Answer Type

Question 1.
What do you learn about APJ. Abdul Kalam’s family from the lesson “My Childhood”?
Answer:
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 much educated, wasn’t rich but was generous, wise, simple man but 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.

Question 2.
What incident took place at the Rameswaram Elementary School when a new teacher came to the class?
Answer:
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 the 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.

Question 3.
Narrate the incident of new teacher’s behaviour in the classroom. Was his action appropriate? What values did the new teacher learn after that incident?
Answer:
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. In accordance with 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.

Question 4.
How did Abdul Kalam earn his first wages? How did he feel at that time? Explain.
Answer:
Abdul Kalam’s cousin, Samsuddin, helped him earn his first wages. He used to collect newspapers from the station and distribute in Rameswaram. It was the time of the Second World War. Initially his area, being isolated, was completely unaffected by this 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 train halt at Rameswaram.

It affected Samsuddin’s business adversely. Now, the bundles of newspapers had to be thrown from the moving train 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.

Question 5.
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?
Answer:
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 right reasons and to achieve higher goals.

Question 6.
How was the Science teacher Sivasubramani Iyer, though an orthodox Brahmin with a very conservative wife, an important influence in Abdul Kalam’s life? Give incidents to support your answer.
Answer:
The Science teacher, Sivasubramania Iyer wanted Kalam to be very highly educated as he recognized his intelligence. He used to spend hours with the young boy and would express his desire that Kalam develops his abilities so that he was on par with the highly educated people of the big cities. He also, wanted to break the social barriers between the Hindus and the Muslims. One day, he invited him over for a meal.

His orthodox wife was totally horrified at the idea of a Muslim boy dining in her ritually pure kitchen. He did not heed anything said by his very conservative wife. He rather served Kalam food with his own hands. He also sat with him and dined together with him. Not only that, he invited him over again for another meal the coming weekend. Thus, this shows that he was an important influence on Abdul Kalam even though Kalam was a Muslim and he himself was an orthodox Brahmin.

Question 7.
What influence did Abdul Kalam’s teachers have on him?
Answer:
Teachers play a very important role in the lives of their students. Abdul Kalam’s life, too, was influenced in a major way by some experiences that he had during his school days. These episodes were instrumental in shaping his character and later on his career. Once, when he was in the fifth standard, a new teacher came to his class. A man with a conservative and narrow outlook, he could not digest a Muslim boy sitting with a Brahmin boy, that too the son of a priest. In accordance with their social ranking as he saw it, he asked Kalam to go and sit on the back bench.

This was a heart-breaking experience for Kalam. This poison of social inequality and communal intolerance could have demoralized the young Kalam if his friend’s father, Lakshmana Sastry had not intervened. He ensured that the teacher not only regretted his action but also reformed himself.

Another very important influence in his life was Sivasubramania Iyer, his Science teacher. He wanted Kalam to be very highly educated as he recognized his intelligence. He used to spend hours with the young boy and would express his desire that Kalam develops his abilities so that he was on par with the highly educated people of the big cities. He also, wanted to break the social barriers between the Hindus and the Muslims. He invited him over for a meal and when his orthodox wife refused to serve food to a Muslim boy in her ritually pure kitchen he served Kalam food with his own hands.

He also sat with him and dined together with him. Not only that, he invited him over again for another meal the coming weekend. He advised Kalam, “Once you decide to change the system, such problems have to be confronted”. These two experiences shaped Kalam’s outlook as they made him realise the importance of confronting problems and fighting divisive forces.

Question 8.
Why did the narrator’s father say, “Does the seagull not fly across the sun, alone and without a nest”?
Answer:
When Abdul Kalam asked his father for permission to leave Rameswaram and study at the district headquarters in Ramanathapuram, his father did not get upset, nor did he try to stop him. On the contrary, he encouraged his son to leave Rameshwaram and to spread his wings and go to make his own way. He took example of young seagulls who leave their parents’ nest to leam to fly. His words have very a very important lesson.

Unlike human beings, most of the animals teach their young ones the skills of survival and allow them to fend for themselves after a certain age. This makes them more independent and courageous. For human also after a certain age certain degree of responsibility and independence is always helpful in making a perfect adult. Kalam’s father realised his son wanted to go away to grow.

He was a wise man and was aware of the need of an individual to grow and achieve his/ her full potential. He knew that life is not easy. His son would have to make tremendous efforts to face the hardships of life. The sons and Daughters must live their own lives.

My Childhood Extra Questions and Answers Reference to Context

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

Question 1.
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?
Answer:
Abdul Kalam was bom in the island town of Rameswaram which fell in the erstwhile Madras State.

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

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

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

Question 2.
I was one of many children – a short boy with rather undistinguished looks, born to tall and handsome parents. We lived in or 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 a mine was a very secure childhood, both materially and emotionally.

(a) How was Kalam different from his parents in looks?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
Kalam’s family lived in their ancestral house, made of limestone and bricks, on the Mosque Street in Rameshwaram.

(c) How do we know that Kalam’s father was austere?
Answer:
Kalam’s. father shunned all inessential comforts and luxuries.

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

Question 3.
In fact, I would say mine was a very secure childhood, both materially and emotionally.

(a) In what way was Kalam’s childhood ‘secure’?
Answer:
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’?
Answer:
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’?
Answer:
‘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?
Answer:
Kalam’s parents provided him with material security by seeing all necessities in terms of food, medicine or clothes were provided for and emotional security by giving him a loving and secure childhood.

Question 4.
I used to collect the seeds and sell them to a provision shop on Mosque Street.

(a) Which seeds did the narrator collect?
Answer:
Kalam collected tamarind seeds.

(b) Why did he collect these seeds?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
Kalam would sell off the collected seeds to a provision shop on Mosque Street.

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

Question 5.
The first casualty came in the form of suspension of 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 Ifilled the slot.

(a) What does he mean by first casualty?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
Kalam felt a sense of pride for earning his own money for the first time.

Question 6.
During the annual Shri Sita Rama Kalyanam Ceremony, our family used to arrange boats with a special platform for carrying idols of the Lordfrom 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?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
The idols were carried from the temple to the marriage site that 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?
Answer:
Abdul Kalam’s family arranged for the boats required to ferry the idols.

(d) What light does this throw on the Rameswaram society?
Answer:
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.

Question 7.
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?
Answer:
The author describes his father as an austere man, who looked after all needs of his family.

(b) In what way did Kalam’s father show his self-discipline?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
The boys did not feel any difference between themselves and it did not affect their friendship in any way.

Question 8.
One day when I was in fifth standard at Rameswaram Elementary School, a new teacher came to our class. I used to wear a cap which marked me 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.
Answer:
Kalam studied at Rameswaram Elementary School in Rameswaram.

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

(c) How were these groups easily identified?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
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.

Question 9.
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?
Answer:
The teacher realised Kalam was a Muslim because he wore the cap worn by Muslims.

(b) Why did the narrator feel sad?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
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.

Question 10.
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 teache/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?
Answer:
The narrator is talking about the time when he was in 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?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
The speaker lived in a society that was orthodox, but at the same time was truly secular.

Question 11.
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?
Answer:
Sivasubramania Iyer was Kalam’s science teacher.

(b) What was it that could have perturbed Sivasubramania Iyer?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
Sivasubramania wished to make his wife realize 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.

Question 12.
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?
Answer:
The narrator refers to the wife of his Science teacher, Sivasubramania Iyer.

(b) Why did she watch them from behind the kitchen door?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
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.

Question 13.
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 they 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?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
This time she let Kalam into the kitchen and served him herself.

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

Question 14.
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?
Answer:
Indians expected India would soon get independence after the war.

(b) What did Gandhiji declare and what did he mean?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
The country was optimistic of getting independence from British Rule. Everyone dreamt of a free India.

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

Question 15.
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?
Answer:
He in the above lines is Kalam’s father, Jainulabdeen.

(b) Why did ‘he’ say so to the listener?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
The speaker was very keen his son got 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.

Question 16.
“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.
Answer:
These lines are originally written by Khalil Gibran.

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

(c) Why does he speak these words?
Answer:
After finishing his elementary education, when Kalam sought his father’s permission to leave Rameswaram and study at 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?
Answer:
Kahlil Gibran says one’s children are not one’s own. It is Life that expresses through them. Parents are merely the soil from whence they take birth.

NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English

• The Fun They Had Question Answer
• The Sound of Music Question Answer
• The Little Girl Question Answer
• A Truly Beautiful Mind Question Answer
• The Snake and the Mirror Question Answer
• My Childhood Question Answer
• Packing Question Answer
• Reach for the Top Question Answer
• The Bond of Love Question Answer
• Kathmandu Question Answer
• If I Were You Question Answer

As we embark on this poetic adventure, we’ll be accompanied by the insights of experienced educators and literary connoisseurs who will provide valuable perspectives on the poem’s themes and significance. So, whether you’re a poetry enthusiast or simply curious about the power of words, Rain on the Roof Extra Questions and Answers Class 9 English Beehive promises to be an enriching and enlightening journey. Read this also Extra Questions for Class 9 English with Answers.

Rain on the Roof Extra Questions and Answers Class 9 English Beehive

Rain on the Roof Extra Questions and Answers Short Answer Type

Question 1.
What is the setting of the poem?
Answer:
The poet is lying comfortably snug in his bed with his head pressed against the pillow, in a room in his cottage listening to the patter of the soft rain as it falls on the shingles of the roof.

Question 2.
How old do you think the poet is? Justify your answer.
Answer:
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.

Question 3.
How does the sky look before the rain falls?
Answer:
Before the rain falls, the weather turns humid and great dark clouds gather in the sky. They cover the stars and spread darkness. The poet feels these dark clouds are gloomy and melancholic. To the poet the darkness spells despondence and gloom as the clouds – humid shadows – weep gentle tears that fall as rain.

Question 4.
‘And the melancholy darkness gently weeps in rainy tears.’ Explain the phrase ‘melancholy darkness’. What does it do?
Answer:
“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.

Question 5.
What is a ‘bliss’ for the poet in the poem ‘Rain on the Roof?
Answer:
The poet thinks it is blissful to lie in his cozy bed with his head on the pillow and listen to the sound of rain falling on the shingles of the roof. He enjoys the music of nature which arouses fantasies and memories in his mind.

Question 6.
What does the poet like to do when it rains?
Answer:
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.

Question 7.
What feelings does the falling rain arouse in the poet in the poem ‘Rain on the Roof?
Answer:
The poet first describes the falling rain as the tears of the dark, gloomy clouds. However, as he lies snug in his bed, listening to the patter of rain on the shingles, the sound provides him immense pleasure and he is lost in fantasies and memories.

Question 8.
What are the poet’s feelings as the rain falls on the shingles?
Answer:
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.

Question 9.
When do the ‘thousand dreamy fancies’ begin to weave in the poet’s mind? What are these fancies?
Answer:
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. These fancies or imaginary thoughts and ideas spin threads of bright fanciful colours in his mind.

Question 10.
“And a thousand dreamy fancies into busy heart.” When do the ‘thousand dreamy fancies’ begin in the poet’s heart?
Answer:
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.

Question 11.
‘Now in memory comes my mother.’ When does the poet remember his mother? What does it show about him?
Answer:
As the poet lies in his bed in his room in the cottage, listening to the sound of The poet loved his mother. He remembered her when he lied on his cozy bed to enjoy the sound of rain. It appears to him as if she was fondly looking at him.

Question 12.
‘As I list to this refrain.’ Which kind of refrain is the poet referring to?
Answer:
The poem is lying in his cosy bed in his cottage listening to the sound of rain falling incessantly on the roof of his cottage. Here, refrain refers to the continuous patter of the rain falling on the shingles of his roof.

Question 13.
What feeling does every tinkle on the shingle create for the poet?
Answer:
Every raindrop falling on the tiles of tile roof creates a rhythm with the poet’s heartbeat. This evokes thousands of dreams making his thoughts busy. While he focuses on the listening to the pitter- patter on the roof, his mind starts weaving recollections of fond memories of yesteryears.

Question 14.
Do you think the poet is praising the healing power of rain in the poem ‘Rain on the Roof?
Answer:
As the poet lies in his bed, looking at the dark clouds gather, he first is filled with feelings of gloom and unhappiness. He feels the clouds are weeping and the rain is tears of these gloomy clouds. However, as he lies snug in bed, listening to the sound of rain, his gloom is lifted and his mind is filled with fantasies and fond memories. This rain and its sound resurrect the fondest memory of the poet—that of his mother—in his mind. As the rain continues, the poet tries to recollect all that caused him pain, yet at the same time lifted his spirits.The rain has thus brought comfort to him.

Question 15.
Do you think the poet enjoys the rain?
Answer:
At first when the clouds gather and rain starts, the poet is filled with dismay and gloom at the gathering darkness. His mood is somber. However, the patter of the raindrops on the shingles soon soothes him and his mind is filled with imaginings and fond memories of his mother.

Question 16.
What is the central idea of the poem ‘Rain on the Roof?
Answer:
The central idea of the poem ‘Rain on the Roof’ is that nature brings solace to the mind. The poet derives immense happiness from lying in bed listening to the sound of rain falling on the roof of his cottage. He is lost in dreams as many fancies and memories crowd his mind.

Rain on the Roof Extra Questions and Answers Long Answer Type

Question 1.
How does the poet describe the falling rain in the poem ‘Rain on the Roof?
Answer:
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.

Question 2.
How does the rain affect the poet? Describe.
Answer:
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.

Question 3.
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?
Answer:
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.

Question 4.
In what way are the poems The Road Not Taken and Rain on the Roof evocative of the past?
Answer:
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.

Rain on the Roof Extra Questions and Answers Reference to Context

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

Question 1.
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?
Answer:
“Humid shadows” refer to the dark clouds that cause rain.

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

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

Question 2.
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?
Answer:
The dark rain-bearing clouds weep tears of rain in their sadness.

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

(c) What memories does the rain bring to the poet’s mind?
Answer:
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.

Question 3.
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?
Answer:
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.
Answer:
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’?
Answer:
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.
Answer:
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.

Question 4.
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?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
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’.
Answer:
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.’

Question 5.
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?
Answer:
The poet remembers his mother.

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

(c) How did the poet’s mother gaze at the dreamers?
Answer:
The poet’s mother gazes her sleeping children with fondness.

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

Question 6.
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?
Answer:
The poet is lying in his bed listening to the sound of the rain,

(b) What is the memory that comes to the poet?
Answer:
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?
Answer:
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.
Answer:
Onomatopoeia : Patter of rain

NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English

• The Road not taken Question Answer
• Wind Question Answer
• Rain on the Roof Question Answer
• The Lake Isle of Innisfree Question Answer
• A Legend of the Northland Question Answer
• No Men are Foreign Question Answer
• The Duck and the Kangaroo Question Answer
• On Killing a Tree Question Answer
• The Snake Trying Question Answer
• A Slumber did my Spirit Seal Question Answer

In a nutshell, “Iswaran the Storyteller Extra Questions and Answers Class 9” transports us to a quaint village where Iswaran’s mesmerizing storytelling skills captivate the entire community. Through his vivid narratives, he takes listeners on extraordinary adventures, introducing them to a world of fantasy and wonder. However, beneath his charismatic facade lies a poignant tale of love, loss, and the complexities of human relationships. Read this also Extra Questions for Class 9 English with Answers.

Iswaran the Storyteller Extra Questions and Answers Class 9 English Moments

Iswaran the Storyteller Extra Questions and Answers Short Answer Type

Question 1.
In what way is Iswaran an asset to Mahendra?
Answer:
He is an asset because he not only cooks delicious meals for Mahendra, but also follows him around uncomplainingly to his various postings. He washes his clothes, tidies up his shed and entertained him with stories and anecdotes on varied subjects.

Question 2.
How does Iswaran describe the uprooted tree on the highway?
Answer:
He describes it as an enormous bushy beast lying sprawled across the road.

Question 3.
How does Iswaran narrate the story of the tusker? Does it appear to be plausible?
Answer:
He narrates the story with a lot of drama and excitement, jumping about and stamping his feet in imitation of the mad elephant.
[The second part of the question is subjective, and either option is acceptable.]
If Yes: Yes, the story seems plausible because there are vulnerable points in the body that can be used to control a wild animal if one has knowledge of them.
If No: No, it seems to be a typical exaggerated story that Iswaran was fond of telling.

Question 4.
Why does the author say that Iswaran seemed to more than make up for the absence of a TV in Mahendra’s living quarters?
Answer:
Iswaran’s stories were so dramatic and enthralling that Mahendra was completely captivated by them. As these stories were an everyday affair, he never missed the presence of a TV in his living quarters.

Question 5.
Mahendra calls ghosts or spirits a figment of the imagination. What happens to him on a full moon night?
Answer:
Earlier, Mahendra would always look out of the window to admire the landscape on full moon nights. However, after hearing the ghost story, he avoided looking out of his window altogether in such nights.

Question 6.
Can you think of any other ending for the story?
Answer:
Instead of giving in to his fear, Mahendra could have decided to check on the ‘ghost’, and found out that it was Iswaran who had been acting as a ghost to justify his story.

Question 7.
What work did Mahendra do?
Answer:
Mahendra was a junior supervisor in a firm that supplied supervisors on hire at various construction sites, factories, bridges, dams, etc. His work was to keep an eye on the activities at these sites.

Question 8.
Do you think Mahendra was a fussy man? Give reasons for your answer.
Answer:
No, Mahendra wasn’t a fussy man, because it is written that his needs were simple and he was able to adjust to all kinds of odd conditions whether living in a tent in a stone quarry, or an ill-equipped circuit house.

Question 9.
Why has Iswaran been called an asset? Who was he an asset to?
Answer:
Iswaran has been called an asset to his master, Mahendra, because he took care of all his master’s needs, from cooking and cleaning, to washing his clothes. He also could cook the most delicious meals in the most desolate places where resources were difficult to get. Also, he entertained his master with wonderful stories and anecdotes at meal times.

Question 10.
How did Iswaran spend his day after his master left for work?
Answer:
Iswaran would tidy up the shed, wash the clothes, have a leisurely bath while muttering his prayers. After lunch, he .would read for a while before dozing off to sleep.

Question 11.
Do you think his choice of literature had anything to do with his storytelling abilities? Give reasons for your answer.
Answer:
Yes, in my opinion the fact that his favourite crime thrillers in Tamil were filled with imaginative descriptions and narrative flourishes added to his narration, as he would try to work in suspense and a surprising ending into the account.

Question 12.
Why according to Iswaran, had the tusker escaped from the timber yard?
Answer:
According to Iswaran the tusker had escaped from the timber yard because it had gone mad.

Question 13.
Why did Iswaran decide that the tusker had gone mad?
Answer:
Iswaran decided that the tusker had gone mad because it began to roam around, stamping on bushes, tearing up wild creepers and breaking branches at will.

Question 14.
How had Iswaran controlled the elephant?
Answer:
He did so by hitting him hard on the third toenail, which had temporarily paralysed its nervous system. He called it the Japanese art of karate or ju-jitsu.

Question 15.
What were the types of stories that Iswaran liked to recount? Why did Mahendra like them so much?
Answer:
He recounted stories packed with adventure, horror and suspense, and Mahendra enjoyed them because of the way in which they were told.

Question 16.
Why did Iswaran prepare a special dinner one night?
Answer:
He did so because according to him it was the auspicious day on which traditionally delicacies were prepared to feed the spirits of one’s ancestors.

Question 17.
How had Iswaran stumbled upon the fact that the entire factory area that they were occupying had been a burial ground?
Answer:
He had seen a human skull lying on the path and came across a number of skulls and bones in that area. He claimed that he had also seen ghosts at night.

Question 18.
Do you think Mahendra was fearful of ghosts? Give reasons for your answer.
Answer:
Yes, Mahendra seems to be fearful of ghosts for several reasons. Firstly, he shivered in response to Iswaran’s description of the woman ghost, and then started feeling a sense of unease at night. He kept peering into the darkness outside the window to make sure there was no movement of dark shapes. He also lost his fascination for looking out at the milky-white landscape on moonlit nights.

Question 19.
What made Mahendra look out of his window even though he had started avoiding doing so?
Answer:
The low, guttural moaning sound coming from just outside his window woke him up from his sleep, and as the sound became louder he could not resist the temptation of looking out of the window.

Question 20.
What did Mahendra see outside his window one dark night when he was woken up by a moaning sound? How did it affect him?
Answer:
He saw a dark, cloudy form clutching a bundle. He broke into a cold sweat and fell back on his pillow, panting. However, on reasoning with himself, he calmed himself and concluded that it had probably been some kind of auto-suggestion or a trick played by his subconscious mind.

Question 21.
How did Iswaran remind Mahendra of the supernatural experience he had had the previous night?
Answer:
He told Mahendra that he had seen the ghost the previous night, when he had come running after hearing the moaning coming from his master’s room.

Question 22.
How did Mahendra react to his ghostly misadventure?
Answer:
He handed in his papers at the office and resolved to leave the haunted place the very next day.

Question 23.
How did Mahendra react to Iswaran’s comment about the factory being built on a burial ground?
Answer:
Mahendra shivered with fear, called him crazy and scolded him for talking nonsense.

Question 24.
Why was Mahendra surprised at Iswaran’s behaviour the morning after he had scolded him?
Answer:
Mahendra was surprised to see that instead of sulking, Iswaran was his usual cheerful self, and did not show any sign of anger or resentment at having been scolded the previous night.

Question 25.
Do you think Iswaran had started the supernatural drama outside Mahendra’s window? Give reasons for your answer. [Subjective answer]
Answer:
Yes, it appears to have been staged, because he probably wanted to teach Mahendra a lesson for having scolded him for making up the story about the woman and the ghosts the previous night.
No, he couldn’t have staged it because had seen skulls and bones in the area and had found out that it had been a burial ground in the past. He truly believed in these facts, and would not stage such a drama since he actually believed in the ghosts.

Iswaran the Storyteller Extra Questions and Answers Long Answer Type

Question 1.
Do you think the title ‘Iswaran the Storyteller’ is appropriate?
Answer:
Yes, I feel the title is appropriate for the story as the story revolves around the anecdotes and stories told by the mainhero or protagonist of the story, Iswaran. Iswaran works for his master Mahendra, a bachelor who is a junior supervisor working in remote construction sites. The only source of entertainment for him is the stories that Iswaran tells him every day at dinnertime.

Not only are his stories exciting, thrilling and dramatic—heavily influenced by the Tamil thrillers Iswaran loves to read—his method of presenting his stories is also unique. He expresses himself with a lot of drama and often leaves the listener wanting more at crucial moments, thereby increasing their interest in the story. Even recounting simple, everyday occurrences like seeing a fallen tree on the road is an occasion for him to create stories where the tree is described as a fallen animal.

Question 2.
Describe the incident with the tusker. What does it reveal about Iswaran’s character?
Answer:
The story about the tusker was one of the real life incidents that Iswaran recounted to entertain his master. According to Iswaran, the tusker had escaped from the timber yard where he worked, and began roaming around stomping on bushes, breaking branches and tearing up creepers. Upon reaching town, it had broken down fences, smashed all the fruit stalls, mud pots and clothes. People ran helter-skelter in panic, when finally it entered the school ground where children were playing. All the children ran into the classrooms and shut the door tightly.

The elephant pulled out the football goalpost, tore down the volleyball net and kicked and flattened the drum kept for water, before uprooting the shrubs growing around the ground. There was no one to be seen on the roads, when young Iswaran jumped up, grabbed a cane from one ofthis teachers and ran down to face the rampaging elephant. The elephant looked at the approaching boy, lifted its trunk and trumpeted loudly.

At that moment, the boy moved forward and mustering all his force, whacked him on its third toenail. The beast looked stunned for a moment, shivered from head to foot and then collapsed. This story revealed Iswaran’s talent as a storyteller and the fanfare and drama with which he recounted his stories. It also reveals that Iswaran was fond of embellishing his stories.

Question 3.
Iswaran was a fantastic storyteller. Comment.
Answer:
Iswaran was definitely a fantastic storyteller and knew how to engage the complete attention and interest of his listeners. He knew how to make even an ordinary event like a fallen tree sound exciting by describing it as if it was an enormous bushy beast lying sprawled across the road. Moreover, he could weave endless stories and anecdotes on varied subjects. His vivid descriptions were greatly influenced by the Tamil thrillers that he liked to read. Even when narrating the most trivial incident, he would try to work in an element of suspense and a surprise ending.

At the most interesting points of the story, he would often stop, leaving the tale unfinished and thereby increasing the listener’s interest. Finally, he would take his own time to conclude the story, In fact, his vivid description of the supernatural was so realistic that it forced his master Mahendra to resign and move away from the place that he came to believe was haunted.

Question 4.
Discuss the character of Mahendra.
Answer:
He was a bachelor who earned his living as a junior supervisor working at construction sites. He worked for a firm that supplied supervisors to remote sites. He was a simple man with simple tastes, and did not even feel the need to own a TV, even though he spent most of his time in remote areas far from sources of entertainment. He was very adjusting and accommodating, and could live wherever he was posted, whether in a tent or a dilapidated building. He was a kind and caring master, and his servant Iswaran was happy to follow him around wherever he was posted.

Mahendra seems to have enjoyed listening to stories, and would spend his evenings listening to the tales recounted by Iswaran. He was somewhat naive and gullible, and believed the stories Iswaran recounted. In fact, Iswaran’s stories about ghosts and spirits had such an effect on him that he even resigned from his job because he believed the area was haunted. He was convinced that he had seen the spirit of a woman with a foetus that Iswaran had told him about in one of his tales.

Question 5.
Describe the supernatural story recounted by Iswaran. What was its effect on Mahendra?
Answer:
Iswaran related a story about the supernatural on the day when, according to tradition, the spirits of one’s ancestors had to be fed. He started by informing his master Mahendra that the entire factory area had once been a burial ground. He added that he had seen a human skull lying on the path, and had come across a number of skulls and bones.

He further narrated how he had seen ghosts sometimes at night, and he described one particular ghost, an ugly creature with matted hair, shrivelled face like a skeleton, holding a foetus in its arms. Mahendra had shivered at the descriptions and had interrupted him sharply, calling him crazy and emphasising that ghosts did not exist. He insisted that ghosts were a figment of his imagination and that he was talking nonsense.

NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English

• The Lost Child Question Answer
• The Adventures of Toto Question Answer
• Iswaran the Storyteller Question Answer
• In the Kingdom of Fools Question Answer
• The Happy Prince Question Answer
• Weathering the Storm in Ersama Question Answer
• The Last Leaf Question Answer
• A House is not a Home Question Answer
• The Accidental Tourist Question Answer
• The Beggar Question Answer

To encapsulate the poem, “The Duck and the Kangaroo Extra Questions and Answers Class 9” charm readers with its endearing characters and light-hearted narrative. The duck’s earnest desire and the kangaroo’s initial reluctance draw us into a delightful exchange of words, ultimately leading to a heartening resolution. As we delve into the poem’s deeper layers, we uncover a world of wisdom that celebrates individuality and the importance of helping one another, no matter how different we may be. Read this also Extra Questions for Class 9 English with Answers.

The Duck and the Kangaroo Extra Questions and Answers Class 9 English Beehive

The Duck and the Kangaroo Extra Questions and Answers Short Answer Type

Question 1.
Where did the Duck live and what did he long for?
Answer:
The Duck lived in a pond which he considered nasty as he was bored of his life there. He wanted to leave that place and see the world beyond.

Question 2.
Where did the Duck want to go? What did he request the Kangaroo to do?
Answer:
The Duck wanted to see the world away from the pond he lived in. He thought that he would visit the ‘Dee’ and the ‘Jelly Bo Lee’. He requested the Kangaroo to let him ride on his back as he hopped away.

Question 3.
Why did the Duck want to take a ride on the Kangaroo’s back?
Answer:
The Duck felt bored with his life in the pond. So, he wanted to see the whole world. He wanted to travel to places like Dee and Jelly Bo Lee. But he did not have that capability. So he wanted to take the Kangaroo’s help as he could hop far and wide.

Question 4.
What did the Duck promise the Kangaroo?
Answer:
The Duck promised the Kangaroo that if he took him for a ride on his back, he would sit quietly the whole day and only say Quack.

Question 5.
How did the Kangaroo respond to the Duck’s request?
Answer:
The Kangaroo said that he would have to ponder over his request. He first objected to the Duck’s wet and cold feet because he feared they would give him rheumatism. Later, he agreed to his request. In fact, he thought that it might bring him good luck. So he accepted the Duck’s request to give him a ride on his back.

Question 6.
What did the Duck do to overcome the Kangaroo’s objection?
Answer:
The Duck bought four pairs of worsted socks which fit his web-feet neatly. Moreover, he promised to wear a cloak and to smoke a cigar to keep out the cold. He did it to overcome the Kangaroo’s objection to his cold feet

Question 7.
How did the Duck and the Kangaroo go round the world?
Answer:
The Duck sat at the end of the Kangaroo’s tail. He sat still and spoke nothing. The Kangaroo hopped and leapt. They went round the world three times. They enjoyed their journey and were very happy.

Question 8.
The Kangaroo does not want to catch ‘rheumatism’. Why it is spelt differently. Why is it in two parts? Why does the second part begin with a capital letter?
Answer:
The word ‘rheumatism’ is spelled differently and is in two parts so that it can rhyme with ‘kangaroo’ in the following line. As a result of splitting the word into two and changing its spelling, ‘roo’ rhymes with ‘kangaroo’. The second part ‘Matiz’ begins with a capital letter because it is the first word of the line. In a poem, every line begins with a capital letter even if it is in continuation with the previous line. Hence, this has been done in order to enhance the poetic effect of the lines.

Question 9.
What do you learn about the Duck from the poem?
Answer:
The Duck is adventurous. He is bored in his pond and wants to travel and see far-off places. He is considerate and promises not to disturb the Kangaroo with his chatter, but sit quietly on the Kangaroo’s back. He is resourceful, and when the Kangaroo objects to his wet and cold feet, he buys worsted socks and a cloak to keep warm. The Duck is envious of the Kangaroo’s ability to hop off and see the world.

Question 10.
What do you learn about the Kangaroo from the poem?
Answer:
The Kangaroo is a true friend. He agreed to take the Duck for a ride on his back, provided he did something about his cold and wet feet. He takes his friend around the world three times.

The Duck and the Kangaroo Extra Questions and Answers Long Answer Type

Question 1.
Briefly narrate the story of the Duck and the Kangaroo.
Answer:
The Duck and the Kangaroo, both were very good friends. The Duck lived in a pond and was bored with his life. He wished to travel far and wide and see places like Dee and Jelly Bo Lee. So, he requested the Kangaroo to allow him to ride on his back and travel with him. The Kangaroo agreed to the Duck’s entreaty, but at the same time put a condition. He felt the duck’s feet were unpleasantly wet and cold and may cause with rheumatism.

The Duck assured his friend he had the remedy for the problem. He had already bought four pairs of woollen socks and a cloak to cover himself. He said he would also smoke a cigar for warmth. In this way both the Duck and the Kangaroo journey and went around the world thrice.

The Duck and the Kangaroo Extra Questions and Answers Reference to Context

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

Question 1.
Said the Duck to the Kangaroo,
“Good gracious! how you hop!
Over the fields and the water too,
As if you never would stop!
My life is a bore in this nasty pond,
And I long to go out in the world beyond!
I wish I could hop like you! ”
Said the Duck to the Kangaroo.

(a) What are the Duck’s feelings as she sees the Kangaroo hop?
Answer:
The Duck is struck with wonder to see the Kangaroo hop. She is also envious of his ability to hop around without stopping because he is stuck in his nasty pond.

(b) How did the Duck express her wonder at the way the Kangaroo hopped?
Answer:
The Duck exclaimed with surprise at the way the Kangaroo hopped “Good gracious! how you hop!”

(c) What did the duck wish for?
Answer:
The duck wished to hop like the Kangaroo.

(d) What does the Duck want the Kangaroo to do for him?
Answer:
The Duck wants the Kangaroo to take him for a ride on his back.

Question 2.
“Please give me a ride on your back! ”
Said the Duck to the Kangaroo.
“I would sit quite still, and say nothing but ‘Quack
The whole of the long day through!
And we’d go to the Dee, and the Jelly Bo Lee,
Over the land, and over the sea;
Please take me a ride! O do! ”
Said the Duck to the Kangaroo.

(a) What does the Duck want the Kangaroo to do?
Answer:
The Duck wants the Kangaroo to take him away from his nasty pond and give him a ride on his back.

(b) What promise does the Duck make to the Kangaroo?
Answer:
The Duck promises to sit still and quiet.

(c) What are Dee and Jelly Bo Lee?
Answer:
These are probably imaginary distant places.

(d) What does line three in the stanza show?
Answer:
The duck is in the habit of talking too much and the Kangaroo does not like it.

Question 3.
Said the Kangaroo to the Duck,
“This requires some little reflection;
Perhaps on the whole it might bring me luck,
And there seems but one objection,
Which is, if you ’ll let me speak so bold,
Your feet are unpleasantly wet and cold, .
And would probably give me the roo- Matiz! ” said the Kangaroo.

(a) What does the word “This” in Line 2 refer to?
Answer:
This refers to the Duck’s request for a ride on the Kangaroo’s back.

(b) What did the Kangaroo mean by the word ‘reflection’?
Answer:
Reflection here means serious thought.

(c) What was expected to bring luck?
Answer:
The Kangaroo’s travels with the Duck would bring him luck.

(d) What was the Kangaroo’s objection?
Answer:
The Kangaroo’s objection was that the Duck’s feet were unpleasantly wet and cold and would give him rheumatism.

Question 4.
Said the Duck, “As I sat on the rocks,
I have thought over that completely,
And I bought four pairs of worsted socks
Which fit my web-feet neatly.
And to keep out the cold I’ve bought a cloak,
And every day a cigar I’ll smoke,
All to follow my own dear true Love of a Kangaroo! ”

(a) Why does the Duck want to go for a ride? Where?
Answer:
The Duck is bored his little pond. He wants to go for a ride on the Kangaroo’s back to see distant places like the Dee and the Jelly Bo Lee.

(b) What will the Duck do to make the Kangaroo feel comfortable over land and sea?
Answer:
The Duck will sit quietly on the Kangaroo’s back and say nothing but Quack the whole day.

(c) What did the Duck buy? Why?
Answer:
The Duck bought four pairs of woollen socks to keep his feet web.

(d) What will the Duck smoke every day?
Answer:
The Duck will smoke a cigar everyday.

Question 5.
Said the Kangaroo, “I’m ready!
All in the moonlight pale;
But to balance me well, dear
Duck, sit steady!
And quite at the end of my tail! ”
So away they went with a hop and a bound,
And they hopped the whole world three times round;
And who so happy — O who,
As the Duck and the Kangaroo?

(a) What was the Kangaroo ready for?
Answer:
The Kangaroo was ready to take the Duck for a ride on his back.

(b) Where did the Kangaroo tell the Duck to sit?
Answer:
The Kangaroo told the Duck to sit at the end of his tail to maintain his balance.

(c) Where did the two friends go?
Answer:
The two friends went around the world three times.

(d) Why were they happy?
Answer:
The Duck and the Kangaroo were happy to be travelling together.

NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English

• The Road not taken Question Answer
• Wind Question Answer
• Rain on the Roof Question Answer
• The Lake Isle of Innisfree Question Answer
• A Legend of the Northland Question Answer
• No Men are Foreign Question Answer
• The Duck and the Kangaroo Question Answer
• On Killing a Tree Question Answer
• The Snake Trying Question Answer
• A Slumber did my Spirit Seal Question Answer

Have you ever wondered how it would feel to step into someone else’s shoes and experience life from their perspective? Well, that’s exactly what we’re going to explore in this article – “If I Were You Class 9 Extra Questions and Answers.” As we delve into this intriguing topic, we’ll gain insights into various scenarios and decisions that we might approach differently if we were in someone else’s position. So, fasten your seatbelts, because this is going to be a thought-provoking journey into the minds of others. Read this also Extra Questions for Class 9 English with Answers.

If I Were You Class 9 Extra Questions and Answers Short Answer Type

Question 1.
Briefly describe Gerrard’s appearance.
Answer:
Gerrard is a man of medium height and wears horn-rimmed glasses. When the play opens, he is dressed in a lounge suit and a great coat. He talks in a cultured voice and his demeanour is confident.

Question 2.
Who was the Intruder in Gerrard’s house? Why did he break into his house?
Answer:
The Intruder, who broke into Gerrard’s house, was a criminal. He had murdered a cop and was being chased by the police. He broke into Gerrard’s house with the intention of murdering him and taking on his identity to evade the police.

Question 3.
How did Gerrard behave on seeing a gun-toting stranger in his cottage?
Answer:
Gerrard kept his cool and remained absolutely unruffled when he saw the gun-totting stranger in his cottage. There was neither any panic nor any ring of tension in his voice. He remained his normal self and talked to him casually.

Question 4.
Why does the Intruder intend to kill Gerrard?
Answer:
The Intruder is a criminal who is being chased by the police for having murdered a cop. As per his plan, the Intruder intends to kill Gerrard in order to take on his identity and escape capture by the police. In this way, he can lead a peaceful life without living in constant fear of arrest and punishment.

Question 5.
Why does the Intruder not kill Gerrard immediately?
Answer:
The Intruder does not kill Gerrard immediately because he first wants to get all the necessary information from him. Without this information, his plan to take on Gerrard’s identity will not succeed.

Question 6.
What impression do you form of the Intruder as he comes in? Give examples to illustrate.
Answer:
The Intruder is similar in build to Gerrard enters from the right silently – revolver in hand. He is flashily dressed in an overcoat and a soft hat. He seems to be a dangerous person as he is carrying a pistol and threatens Gerrard. He claims to have killed a cop. He is mean, heartless and crafty, for he plans to kill Gerrard and assume his identity in order to escape the police. He is over-confident because he claims that Gerrard is no match for him.

Question 7.
“You’ll soon stop being smart.” Why did Intruder think that Gerrard was being smart?
Answer:
The Intruder thought that Gerrard was being ‘smart’ or clever and facetious because he did not show any fear at the sight of an armed man enter his house and threaten him. To the contrary, he was giving the Intruder smart answers to his questions.

Question 8.
How did the Intruder threaten Gerrard?
Answer:
The Intruder threatened Gerrard by saying that he would soon stop being smart. He would make Gerrard crawl.

Question 9.
“I want to know a few things, see.” What sort of information did the Intruder want from Gerrard?
Answer:
The Intruder wanted personal details from Gerrard like whether he lived alone, what his Christian name was, whether he had a car and whether people visited him. All this information was necessary for the execution of his plan to dodge the police by killing Gerrard and taking on his identity.

Question 10.
Why did the Intruder say, “They can’t hang me twice?”
Answer:
The Intruder said this because he was already wanted for having murdered a cop. If he managed to kill Gerrard, as per his plan, and was later arrested, it would not matter as the punishment for this murder, too, would be a hanging. They could not hang him for the two murders twice.

Question 11.
How did Gerrard convince the Intruder that he was also wanted by the police?
Answer:
When Gerrard came to know about the Intruder’s plan, he kept his cool. He cooked a story to outwit him. He said he is also a murderer who was in hiding and that is why he was a mystery man who never met anyone including the tradespeople. So, if the Intruder took on his identify, he would not gain anything. He would anyway be accused of murder.

Question 12.
Why has the Intruder chosen Gerrard as the man whose identify he wants to take?
Answer:
Gerrard is of the same height and build as the Intruder. There is some similarity in their Appearance. Moreover, Gerard was something of a mystery man who lived alone in the house and very few people visited him. He phoned in his orders, did not meet any tradespeople, and had irregular hours and habits, going away suddenly and coming back just the same. So, the Intruder thought if he killed Gerrard and took on his identity, he would not get caught. He would gain his freedom and would be free to go places. He could live without the fear of cops.

Question 13.
What did Gerrard tell the Intruder about his childhood and his present life? Was he telling the truth? Why/Why not?
Answer:
Gerrard told the Intruder that as a child, he was stolen by the gypsies and now in his thirties he was all alone in life. He was not telling the truth; he was just being funny as he wished to make it clear that he was not afraid of a gun-totting criminal. In fact, Gerrard had already started concocting stories about himself.

Question 14.
What made Gerrard ask the Intruder, “Are you an American”?
Answer:
Gerrard asked the Intruder if he were an American as he had told him to ‘Put those paws up! ’ and had called him a ‘wise guy’. ‘Paws’ for hands and ‘guy’ for a man are colloquial American expressions. Hence, the usage of these words by the Intruder made Gerrard ask him this question.

Question 15.
The Intruder announced, “I’m going to kill you”. Was Gerrard nervous? How would you describe Gerrard’s reactions?
Answer:
Confident of his presence of mind and his ability to keep his cool in a difficult situation, Gerrard remained unruffled on being threatened by the Intruder. He remained so calm and nonchalant that the Intruder was irritated. His sense of humour also enraged the Intruder. Thus, Gerrard reacted in a calm and composed way.

Question 16.
Where did Gerrard live? Why was it a suitable place for the Intruder’s plan?
Answer:
Gerrard lived in a lonely cottage in a secluded place in the wilds of Essex. With hardly any population around, it was easy for one to commit a crime without getting detected. In addition, the place was visited by only a few people. Therefore, it was suitable for the Intruder to carry out his plan successfully over here.

Question 17.
The Intruder calls himself ‘a poor hunted rat’. Why does he do so?
Answer:
The Intruder describes himself as ‘a poor hunted rat’ because he is being chased by the police for having killed a cop and he has to keep dodging them to escape punishment. He feels he is like a rat being chased by a cat.

Question 18.
Why has the criminal been called an Intruder all through the play
Answer:
An Intruder is a who enters a place without permission in order to commit a crime. The Intruder is called an Intruder throughout the play as he has forced his way into Gerrard’s cottage, with criminal intent. He has come to murder Gerrard and to steal his identity.

Question 19.
Bring out the contrast between the Intruder and Gerrard.
Answer:
The Intruder is flashy, coarse, crude, boastful and an irritable egoist. He is overconfident and thinks that he is very smart. On the other hand, Gerrard is pleasant, cool-headed, cultured, witty and very intelligent. Despite . all this he is a modest and humble person. Although Gerrard does not brag, he proves to be much smarter and more intelligent than the Intruder and is able to outwit him.

Question 20.
Why did very few people come to Gerrard’s house? Who were the few people who visited him?
Answer:
A playwright, Gerrard needed his solitude and congenial surroundings. So, he lived all alone in a secluded place. His theatrical performances made his schedule irregular and he would go away suddenly and come back just the same. Moreover, very few people came to his house. He was visited only by his regular suppliers like the baker, the greengrocer and the milkman, but he did not meet them.

Question 21.
Gerrard tells the Intruder “A mystery I propose to explain.” What is the mystery that he proposes to explain?
Answer:
The Intruder has just told Gerrard that the people in Aylesbury refer to him as a “mystery man”. Gerrard proposes to explain the mystery about his mysterious life, his sudden comings and goings, his irregular routine, and his refusal to see the tradesmen. Gerrard has already concocted a story attributing his strange behaviour to his being a criminal wanted in many, cases of crime.

Question 22.
“This is your big surprise”. Who says these words in the play? What and where? What is the surprise?
Answer:
Gerrard says these words when the Intruder asks him to clarify how he could still be hanged after assuming Vincent Charles Gerrard’s identity. This is a surprise for the Intruder who never suspected Gerrard of being a criminal. According to his information, Gerrard seemed to be the perfect person who could be easily eliminated and then impersonated. However, Gerrard has just turned the tables on him by claiming to be a criminal on the run.

Question 23.
Why and how did Gerrard persuade the Intruder to get into the cupboard?
Answer:
Gerrard concocted a story about his own criminal background. He gave the Intruder the impression that the police were looking for him and he expected a telephone call from a friend, posted as a lookout, informing him of the police’s arrival. So when the telephone rang, he hurried the Intruder into the cupboard and told him that it was connected to the garage which was an escape route.

Question 24.
How does Gerrard propose to use the Intruder’s episode?
Answer:
Being a playwright, Gerrard is amused at being able to turn the tables on the Intruder. He finds the episode of outwitting a criminal by a clever but an innocent man amusing enough to use it as a plot for his next play.

Question 25.
Gerrard describes this encounter with the Intruder as ‘an amusing spot of bother’? What light does this attitude reflect on Gerrard?
Answer:
Any other person in Gerrard’s place would have been paralysed with fear when faced with a gun-totting stranger who has entered one’s house to kill him and steal his identity. But Gerrard finds it ‘a amusing spot of bother’ as his cool and unflappable approach makes him handle the situation comfortably and outwit the Intruder with ease.

Question 26.
What is Gerrard’s profession? Quote the parts of the play that support your answer.
Answer:
Gerrard is associated with theatre as a writer, producer and director. He also supplies props and make-up materials to other theatre agencies. The following facts reveal his profession clearly.

He tells the Intruder that his actions are ‘melodramatic’ but not ‘very original’.
He welcomes the Intruder as a ‘sympathetic audience’.
He comments on the Intruder’s ‘inflection of voice’.
He tells someone over the phone that he cannot deliver the props in time.
He also tells that person that he had ‘an amusing spot of bother’ which he might put into his next play.
Question 27.
Why was Gerrard’s schedule so irregular?
Answer:
Having a theatrical background, Gerrard devoted time to writing, producing and directing the plays. He also supplied other theatre companies with props and make-up items. Therefore, his schedule was irregular as it had to suit the requirements at the theatres.

Question 28.
Gerrard said, ‘You have been so modest’. Was Gerrard being ironical or truthful?
Answer:
Gerrard’s remark ‘you have been so modest’ was ironical. The Intruder had been boasting of his intelligence and smartness. Hence, Gerrard ironically commented on his modesty and asked him to say something about himself.

Question 29.
What information has the Intruder gathered about Gerrard?
Answer:
The Intruder only knows Gerrard by his last name. He has learnt that, he is the owner of the house in the wilds of Essex. Also, he is a kind of mystery man, who keeps to himself and does not meet anyone. Not many people know about him or visit him.

Question 30.
How did Gerrard fool the Intruder with his false story?
Answer:
Gerrard told the Intruder that he, too, was a criminal on the run. One of his recent crimes had gone wrong and one of his men had been caught. The things which should had been burnt had been found. So, due to that he expected trouble that night. That’s why, he wanted to clear off at the earliest.

Question 31.
How did Gerard lock the Intruder in the cupboard?
Answer:
Having convinced the Intruder that he himself was being wanted by cops and that police could any time break into his home, Gerrard advised the Intruder to escape in his car. When he saw that the Intruder was ready to come with him in his car, Gerrard opened the door of his cupboard and, as the Intruder stepped into the cupboard thinking it was an exit door, Gerrard gave him a push and locked the door from outside.

Question 32.
What precautions did Gerrard take while calling the police?
Answer:
Gerrard was smarter than the Intruder. Having locked the Intruder inside the cupboard, he knocked the revolver out of his hand. To make sure that the Intruder would not break out of the cupboard, Gerrard went to the phone, where he stood with the gun pointed at the cupboard door.

If I Were You Class 9 Extra Questions and Answers Long Answer Type

Question 1.
Why was Gerrard packing a bag at the beginning of the play? How did it help him to outwit and trap the Intruder?
Answer:
Gerrard was packing a bag in the beginning of the play as he had to deliver some props to some theatrical company for rehearsal. When the Intruder broke into his cottage and threatened to kill him and steal his identity, Gerrard did not lose his cool. He spontaneously concocted a story that he himself was a criminal and was trying to dodge the police. This story was supported by the aura of mystery that surrounded him, his reclusive lifestyle, the bag he had been packing, the disguise outfit, false moustaches etc.

All this misled the Intruder into believing that Gerrard was speaking the truth. He did not doubt Gerrard any longer and unsuspectingly got ready to escape along with him. When Gerrard indicates the door that leads straight to the garage, the Intruder walks into a trap. Hence, the bag played an important role in convincing the Intruder that Gerrard, too, was a criminal like him and was preparing to flee when he broke into his cottage.

Question 2.
Bring out Gerrard’s intelligence, presence of mind and sense of humour. How did these traits help him outwit the Intruder?
Answer:
An intelligent and level-headed person, Gerrard did not show even the slightest of nervousness at the sight of the gun-totting criminal enter his house and threaten to kill him. He knew that his wit and presence of mind would not only help him to manage the crisis but would also contribute towards unnerving the Intruder, and getting the better of him. Keeping the atmosphere light and lively with his sense of humour and funny remarks, Gerrard surprised the Intruder, who had expected him to be afraid.

Once he found out the Intruder was wanted for murder and had been on the run, and thus living in fear, he instantly cooked up a story about his own criminal background. Convincing the Intruder that police would arrive any minute to nab him, he impressed upon the Intruder that they would have to escape immediately. Cleverly, he made him peep into the cupboard saying that it was an escape route.

The moment the Intruder leaned forward to inspect it, Gerrard pushed him into the cupboard and knocked the revolver out of his hand. He closed and locked the door. Thus, his intelligence, sense of humour, and presence of mind turned the tables on the Intruder.

Question 3.
Why did the Intruder find Gerrard’s cooked up story of criminal background convincing?
Answer:
In the beginning, the Intruder suspected every move made by Gerrard. He snubbed him when Gerrard tried to begin a conversation regarding the Intruder’s identity and curtly told him to answer only what was asked. However, he was gullible enough to unsuspiciously walk into Gerrard’s trap because the latter did not lose his cool, and employed his presence of mind to cook up the story that he, too, was wanted by the police.

Actually, Gerrard supported his claim of being a criminal by showing the Intruder his bag, and his disguise outfits and false moustaches etc. The Intruder did not know about the theatrical background of Gerrard and he found his story convincing. He believed that Gerrard was actually trying to evade the police. Hence, the unsuspecting Intruder walked into Gerrard’s trap. This indicates that although he claimed to be the smartest person around, he was in fact not very intelligent. He was outwitted by a smart Gerrard who foiled his plan.

If I Were You Class 9 Extra Questions and Answers Reference to Context

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

Question 1.
Why, this is a surprise, Mr— er—

(a) Who speaks these words and to whom?
Answer:
Vincent Gerrard speaks these words to the Intruder.

(b) Where are they at the time?
Answer:
They are in Gerrard’s cottage, in his sitting room, at the time. The Intruder, who is carrying a revolver has just entered Gerrard’s cottage.

(c) What is the speaker’s tone at the time?
Answer:
The speaker is speaking in a very pleasant tone.

(d) What does this tell you about the speaker?
Answer:
The speaker is a level-headed person. He should have been afraid of the Intruder who was holding a gun, but he was talking in a normal, pleasant manner.

Question 2.
I’m glad you ’re pleased to see me. I don’t think you ’ll be pleased for long. Put those paws up!

(a) Who is speaking these lines and to whom? Where is the conversation taking place?
Answer:
The Intruder is speaking to Gerrard. The conversation is taking place in Gerrard’s lonely cottage situated in the wilds of Essex.

(b) Why is ‘the speaker’ so sure that ‘his listener’ won’t be pleased for long?
Answer:
The speaker is sure that his listener, Gerrard, will not be pleased for long because the speaker plans to kill him and steal his identity.

(c) What does ‘paws’ mean here? Why does the Intruder use the expression?
Answer:
‘Paws’ here stands for ‘hands’. The Intruder wants to convey to Gerrard that he is an American gangster.

(d) Why is the speaker asking the listener ‘to put those paws up’?
Answer:
The Intruder asks Gerrard to put his ‘paws up’ to threaten and intimidate him. He wants to ensure that Gerrard is not able to use his hands for self-defence.

Question 3.
Thanks a lot. You ’ll soon stop being smart. I’ll make you crawl. I want td know a few things, see.

(a) Who is the speaker? Why is he thanking the listener?
Answer:
The Intruder is the speaker here. He is thanking the listener, Gerrard, as the latter had helped him while he was fumbling for a word and Gerrard had suggested the word ‘nonchalant’.

(b) Why does the speaker think that the listener is trying to be smart?
Answer:
The Intruder feels that Gerrard is trying to be smart because instead of displaying any signs of fear, he acts casual and helps the Intruder complete his sentence when the former fails to find the right word.

(c) Why does the speaker expect the listener to soon stop being smart?
Answer:
The speaker feels that Gerrard will be frightened out of his wits the moment he discloses his intention of killing him and will then forget all the witty retorts that he had been making till then.

(d) What does the speaker mean by ‘I’ll make you crawl’?
Answer:
The speaker means that he would bring the listener down on his knees and make him beg for mercy.

Question 4.
At last a sympathetic audience!

(a) Who speaks these words? To whom?
Answer:
Gerrard, the protagonist of the play, speaks these words. He is speaking to the Intruder.

(b) Why does he say it?
Answer:
He wants to throw the Intruder off course by showing him that he does not feel threatened by his presence.

(c) Is he sarcastic or serious?
Answer:
He is certainly sarcastic because he knows that the Intruder wants to gather information about him only to misuse it and he plans to give incorrect information.

(d) Why does the listener wish to know the story of the speaker’s life?
Answer:
The listener is a criminal who resembles Gerrard and wishes to impersonate him. So he wants to know more about him.

Question 5.
I’m sorry. I thought you were telling me, not asking me. A question of inflection; your voice is unfamiliar.

(a) Who is the speaker and who does he speak to?
Answer:
The speaker is Gerrard. He is speaking to the Intruder.

(b) What had the listener asked the speaker?
Answer:
The listener had asked the speaker if he lived in the cottage all by himself.

(c) What does ‘inflection’ mean here? What logic does the speaker give for misinterpreting the inflection of his voice?
Answer:
‘Inflection’ here means ‘tone of voice’. Gerrard says that since the Intruder’s voice was unfamiliar, he couldn’t know whether he was asking a question or telling something.

(d) What do these lines tell us about the speaker?
Answer:
These lines show that the speaker is a very cool-headed man who can think of many ways to elude a question.

Question 6.
That, ’s a lie. You ’re not dealing with a fool. I’m as smart as you and smarter, and I know you run a car. Better be careful, wise guy!

(a) Who is the speaker? Which Tie’ is he talking about?
Answer:
The Intruder is the speaker here. He is talking about the Tie’ that Gerrard told him about not running a car.

(b) Why did the speaker think he was smarter than the listener?
Answer:
The Intruder considered himself smarter because to succeed in his plan of taking on Gerrard’s identity, he had already gathered as much information about Gerrard as he could from the local people.

(c) Why did he warn the listener to be careful?
Answer:
The Intruder wanted to make it clear that Gerrard could not be fool him by telling a lie.

(d) What does the extract reveal about the Intruder?
Answer:
The extract reveals that the Intruder is over-confident about his abilities and that he also under-estimates Gerrard, who is not afraid of him.

Question 7.
You seem to have taken a considerable amount of trouble. Since you know so much about me, won’t you say something about yourself? You have been so modest.

(a) Who speaks these words and to whom?
Answer:
Gerrard speaks these words to the Intruder.

(b) What is his tone when he speaks these words?
Answer:
He is being sarcastic at the time.

(c) Why does he want to know more about the Intruder?
Answer:
He wants to find out more about the Intruder to see if he can get the better of him. He also wants to keep him talking till he receives his telephone call.

(d) What light does this throw on the speaker’s character?
Answer:
The speaker is a quick-thinking person, who does not give way to fear but is looking for a way out of the situation he finds himself in.

Question 8.
I could tell you plenty. You think you ’re smart, but I’m the top of the class round here. I’ve got brains and I use them. That’s how I’ve got where have.

(a) Who speaks these words to whom and in what context?
Answer:
These words are spoken by the Intruder to Gerrard. He utters these words when Gerrard asks him to tell him something about himself

(b) Why does the speaker say “I could tell you plenty”?
Answer:
The Intruder says so because he is over-confident and thinks that he is smart enough to get the better of Gerrard.

(c) What does he mean by ‘the top of the class round here’?
Answer:
The Intruder means to say that no one else is as smart as he is and thatbGerrard, too, is no match for him.

(d) What is his tone at the moment?
Answer:
There is a ring of pride in his words and his ego makes him over-estimate himself and his abilities.

Question 9.
My speciality’s jewel robbery. Your car will do me a treat. It’s certainly a dandy bus.

(a) What does the speaker do? Why does he call it his ‘speciality’?
Answer:
The speaker is a criminal who robs jewellery. He calls it his speciality because robbing jewellery was a pursuit or skill to which he had devoted much time and effort and in which he was an expert.

(b) What does he call ‘a dandy bus’? What does he mean?
Answer:
He calls Gerrard’s car a dandy bus. He means to say that it is a splendid or outstanding car. It will be useful for him and will suit his purpose very well.

(c) What do his words tell you about the speaker?
Answer:
The speaker has made his plans carefully and has found out information about the listener.

(d) What does the speaker intend to do?
Answer:
The speaker uses his brains by planning and committing crimes without getting caught by the police. He now intends to kill Gerrard and assume his identity to escape the law further.

Question 10.
I’m not taking it for fun. I’ve been hunted long enough. I’m wanted for murder already, and they can’t hang me twice.

(a) What ‘step’ is the speaker talking about taking? Why is he taking it?
Answer:
The speaker is talking about taking the ‘step’ of murdering Gerrard. He claims that he is not taking the step for fun but because of his need to escape the police.

(b) By whom has the speaker been hunted? Why?
Answer:
The speaker has been hunted by the police because he is a criminal. He killed a policeman when something went wrong with the job that he did in the town quite a while ago, but since then he is dodging the police.

(c) Why does he say “they can’t hang me twice”?
Answer:
The Intruder has just told Gerrard that he had murdered one man, and that he would not shy away from murdering him too. This is because the police could not hang him twice for two murders.

(d) What light do these lines reflect on the speaker’s state of mind?
The lines reveal that the Intruder does not have any conscience to prick him. He is in a desperate situation now as he fears the punishment he is likely to get if captured.

Question 11.
I’ve got freedom to gain. As for myself I’m a poor hunted rat. As Vincent Charles Gerrard I’m free to go places and do nothing. I can eat well and sleep and without having to be ready to beat it at the sight of a cop.

(a) Why is the speaker a ‘hunted rat’?
Answer:
The Intruder is being chased by the police for having killed a policeman. The fear of being arrested by the police keeps him on the run and he feels that his condition is as miserable as that of a rat being chased.

(b) Why has he chosen to take on Gerrard’s identity?
Answer:
He has chosen to take on Gerrard’s identity because the have a similar height and build and because Gerrard, being a loner, does not meet many people who may catch him out.

(c) Why does the speaker have to run at the sight of a cop?
Answer:
Having killed a cop, the Intruder lives in constant fear of being caught by the police. So, he has to run at the sight of a cop in order to avoid being caught.

(d) What advantage will the speaker have once he impersonates Gerrard?
Answer:
As Gerrard the Intruder will be able to dodge the police. This way he will be able to live in peace and without any fear of the cops.

Question 12.
It brought me to Aylesbury. That’s where I saw you in the car. Two other people saw you and started to talk.
I listened. It looks like you ’re a bit queer — kind of a mystery man.

(a) What is ‘it’? Where did it bring him?
Answer:
‘It’ here refers to the speaker’s dodging the police. While escaping the police he reached Aylesbury.

(b) What did the speaker overhear about the listener? From whom?
Answer:
He overheard two men discuss Gerrard. They referred to him as being strange and a mystery man about whom nothing much was known.

(c) What made the two men conclude that the listener was a mystery man?
Answer:
The two men concluded Gerrard was a mystery man because they did not know much about him. He kept to himself and ordered his supplies on the phone. He did not meet even the tradespeople who delivered the orders. He sometimes went away suddenly and came back just the same.

(d) How did this suit the Intruder’s purpose?
Answer:
This suited the Intruder’s purpose as no one knew Gerrard well enough to recognise him if the Intruder took on his identity. Also, the Intruder would be able to come and go suddenly as Gerrard did.

Question 13.
Don’t be a fool. If you shoot, you ’ll hang for sure. If not as yourself then as Vincent Charles Gerrard.

(a) Why did the speaker say that the listener will be hanged?
Answer:
The speaker said that even if he shot him and took on the speaker’s identity, the listener would be hanged as Gerrard because he was wanted by the police.

(b) What surprise did the speaker give to the listener?
Answer:
Gerrard surprised the Intruder by telling him that he was also a criminal and wanted for murder.

(c) What proof does the speaker give the listener about his being a criminal?
Answer:
Gerrard told the Intruder that he did not meet any trades people and was a bit of a mystery man here today and gone tomorrow because he was a criminal on the run.

(d) What do you think was the speaker’s tone as he spoke to the listener?
Answer:
The speaker’s tone was serious and confidential. The listener was taken in by the speaker.

Question 14.
This is your big surprise. I said you wouldn’t kill me and I was right. Why do you think I am here today and gone tomorrow, never see tradespeople? You say my habits would suit you. You are a crook. Do you think I am a Sunday-school teacher?

(a) What was the big surprise given by the speaker?
Answer:
Gerrard told that the Intruder that he too lived under the threat of being arrested as he too was involved in crime. The Intruder was naturally surprised at this revelation since he was not aware about this aspect of his victim.

(b) What was the speaker right about? Why was he right?
Answer:
Gerrard, the speaker here, was right about the statement that he had made earlier that the Intruder wouldn’t kill him. He was right because the Intruder intended to kill an ordinary person and impersonate him to evade the police. But Gerrard turned out to be a criminal like him. So, killing and impersonating a criminal would not serve the Intruder’s purpose,

(c) Explain the phrase Sunday school teacher? What does the speaker imply by his words?
Answer:
A Sunday school teacher is not just an instructor but is also the responsibility for the spiritual welfare of the students. As such, the Sunday school teacher is an important member of the church and one of high moral standing. By saying he is not a Sunday school teacher, the speaker implies he is a crook.

(d) What light does it throw on the character of the speaker and the listener?
Answer:
The speaker is a quick-thinking cool-headed person, who has retained his presence of mind and lays a trap for the Intruder. He is able to convince the listener. On the other hand, the listener is a gullible person and is taken in by Gerrard’s words.

Question 15.
“I said it with bullets and got away ”.

(a) Who says this?
Answer:
Gerrard, the protagonist of the play ‘If I Were You’, says this.

(b) What does it mean?
Answer:
Gerrard means that he committed a murder with a gun for his escape because things had gone wrong.

(c) Is it the truth? What is the speaker’s reason for saying this?
Answer:
No, it is not the truth. The speaker has concocted a story to befool the Intruder. He shows himself to be a wanted criminal on run from the police so that the Intruder should give up his plan of killing him and taking up his identity.

(d) How was he in imminent danger from the police?
Answer:
One of his men had been caught by the police with some documents.

Question 16.
I have got a man posted on the main road. He’ll ring up if he sees the police, but I don’t want to leave… (telephone bell rings,) Come on! They ’re after us. Through here straight to the garage.

(a) Whose call had Gerrard been expecting?
Answer:
Gerrard had told the person he was speaking to in the beginning to tell someone to call him at once. So, he had been expecting that call.

(b) Whose call had told the Intruder he was expecting?
Answer:
He told the Intruder he was expecting trouble, and had posted a man on the look out who would tell him if the police were coming.

(c) What did he show the Intruder to convince him that he was going to run away?
Answer:
He showed him the packed bag and disguise outfit; false moustaches and what not to show he was ready . to run away.

(d) What is his tone like as he says these words?
Answer:
He says these words in a tone of urgency.

Question 17.
For God’s sake clear that muddled head of yours and let’s go. Come with me in the car. I can use you. If you find it’s a frame, you’ve got me in a car, and you still have your gun.

(a) What does the speaker call the listener’s head “muddled”?
Answer:
The Intruder, who has come to Gerrard’s house to kill him and steal his identity, is told by Gerrard that he, too, is a criminal on the run. The Intruder is thus looking confused.

(b) Where does the speaker invite the other person?
Answer:
The speaker Gerrard is inviting the other person to accompany him in the car and help him escape

(c) What assurance does he give the listener?
Answer:
He tells the Intruder that he has the gun so he can over-power him whenever he feels he has been trapped.

(d) What is in the speaker’s mind?
Answer:
The speaker wants to get the Intruder into a trap where he can hand him over to the police.

NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English

• The Fun They Had Question Answer
• The Sound of Music Question Answer
• The Little Girl Question Answer
• A Truly Beautiful Mind Question Answer
• The Snake and the Mirror Question Answer
• My Childhood Question Answer
• Packing Question Answer
• Reach for the Top Question Answer
• The Bond of Love Question Answer
• Kathmandu Question Answer
• If I Were You Question Answer