Madhyamik Question Bank AIMS PAGE 396
Aims 396 Reading Comprehension (Seen)
1. Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
The funny part used to be that people always pitied us when the time came for us to return. They said we must be so lonesome over there, with no other children near us. Of course, Claude and I would have liked to have someone to play with us. It is hard to run pirate caves and things like that with only two. But we used to quarrel a good deal with the mainland children in winter. So it was perhaps just as well that there were none of them on the Big Half Moon. Claude and I never quarrelled.
To be sure, Father did not seem to have any relations except us. This used to puzzle Claude and me. Everybody on the mainland had relations. Why hadn't we? Was it because we lived on our island? We thought it would be so jolly to have an uncle and aunt and some cousins. Once we asked Father about it, but he looked so sorrowful that we wished we hadn't. He said it was all his fault. Claude and I didn't understand what he meant.
**A. Write the correct alternative by ticking (√):**
(i) The narrator would go to the mainland in-
(a) spring
(b) autumn
(c) winter
(d) summer
**Ans:** (c) winter
(ii) The attitude of the people in the mainland towards the narrator was one of-
(a) sympathy
(b) indifference
(c) selfishness
(d) cruelty
**Ans:** (a) sympathy
(iii) Pirate caves is a game better played with-
(a) 2 players
(b) more than 2
(c) 4 players
(d) players of any number
**Ans:** (b) more than 2
(iv) To the narrator having no relations was-
(a) a wonder
(b) painful
(c) irksome
(d) pleasing
**Ans:** (a) a wonder
(v) Narrator's father looked sorrowful because he had-
(a) fault
(b) no relations
(c) no brother
(d) little income
**Ans:** (a) fault
**B. Complete the following sentences with information from the text:**
(i) What used to puzzle the narrator was that ___.
**Ans:** Father did not seem to have any relations except them.
(ii) To have some cousins ___.
**Ans:** would be so jolly.
(iii) Claude and the narrator ___.
**Ans:** never quarrelled.
**C. Answer the following question:**
(i) Why did people pity them?
**Ans:** People pitied them because they thought the narrator and Claude must be very lonesome on the island with no other children near them.
**Reading comprehension (Unseen)**
2. Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
When I was at college I used to spend my summer vacation in Dehra at my grandmother's place. I would leave the plains early in May and return late in July. Deoli was a small station about 30 miles from Dehra; it marked the beginning of the heavy jungles of the Indian Terai.
The train would reach Deoli at about 5 in the morning. The station would dimly be lit with electric bulbs and oil-lamps, and the jungle across the railway tracks would just be visible in the faint light of dawn. Deoli had only one platform, an office for the station master, and a waiting room. The platform boasted a tea stall, a fruit vendor, and a few stray dogs; not much else because the train stopped there for only 10 minutes before rushing on into the forests.
**A. Tick (✔) the correct alternative:**
(i) "Terai" is a-
(a) forest
(b) train
(c) station
(d) shop
**Ans:** (a) forest
(ii) Deoli is a-
(a) rail station
(b) train
(c) heavy jungle
(d) forest
**Ans:** (a) rail station
(ii) The trains stopped at Deoli for-
(a) 5 minutes
(b) 2 minutes
(c) 4 minutes
(d) 10 minutes
**Ans:** (d) 10 minutes
**B. Write True or False in the box:**
(i) Deoli is a busy station.
**Ans:** False
(ii) Deoli has two tea stalls.
**Ans:** False
**C. Answer the following questions:**
(i) Describe Deoli.
**Ans:** Deoli is a small station with only one platform, an office for the station master, and a waiting room. It has a tea stall, a fruit vendor, and a few stray dogs.
(ii) How far was Deoli from Dehra?
**Ans:** Deoli was about 30 miles from Dehra.
(iii) How did Deoli look at 5 in the morning?
**Ans:** At 5 in the morning, Deoli was dimly lit with electric bulbs and oil-lamps, and the jungle across the railway tracks was just visible in the faint light of dawn.
**D. Find out the meaning of the following words from the passage:**
(i)Dense
**Ans:** heavy
(ii) A certain period of holidays
**Ans:** Vacation
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**SECTION-B**
**Grammar and Vocabulary**
3. **A. Write the correct alternatives to fill in the blanks:**
(i) At dawn I ____ (was/is/had been) walking in a nearby field. Then suddenly I ____ (see/saw/had seen) a venomous snake there. On ____ (see/sees/seeing) the snake, I ran away in fear.
**Ans:** was, saw, seeing
**B. Fill in with Articles and prepositions:**
(i) Mr. Siva-sankar was standing ____ the front verandah of his house, brooding ____ ____ servant problem.
**Ans:** in, over, the
**C. Do as directed:**
(i) He said to me, "Let me go in." (Change into Indirect speech)
**Ans:** He asked me to let him go in.
(ii) Have you put it in your pocket? (Voice change)
**Ans:** Has it been put in your pocket by you?
**D. Replace the underlined words with correct phrasal verbs from the list:**
(i) Charity begins at home.
**Ans:** Charity **sets in** at home.
(ii) The color white represents peace.
**Ans:** The color white **stands for** peace.
[List: take after, set in, stand for, set about]
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