CBSE Class 9

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The Snake and the Mirror Extra Questions and Answers Class 9 English Beehive

The Snake and the Mirror Extra Questions and Answers Short Answer Type

Question 1.
Who narrated his encounter with a snake? To whom? Why did he narrate the incident?
Answer:
The narrator of the incident was a homeopathic doctor. One day, when the narrator and some others were discussing snakes, the doctor was reminded of his own encounter with a snake and he narrated the incident.

Question 2.
When and where did the incident with the snake take place?
Answer:
The incident took place in the narrator’s room after he had taken his meal in a restaurant and had returned to his room at about ten o’clock in the night.

Question 3.
Why did the narrator have to light the kerosene lamp on reaching his room?
Answer:
The narrator had to light the kerosene lamp because it was ten o’clock and it was very dark. The room did not have electricity and the narrator had limited money and could not afford a better place.

Question 4.
Describe the narrator’s room?
Answer:
The narrator lived in a small, poorly furnished rented room infested with rats. It was an outer room, its one wall facing the open yard. The room had two windows and its tiles were supported by gables that rested on the beam over the wall. There was no ceiling. The room was not electrified. Outside the room there was a veranda. The room was meagrely furnished; among the few pieces of furniture, there was his bed, a chair, a table with his medical books, usual accessories, a kerosene lamp and a mirror on it.

Question 5.
What circumstances prompted the doctor to live in a small, poor house?
Answer:
The doctor had just started his practice and his earnings were meagre. Therefore, he lived in a small, poor house because he could not afford to rent a better and more comfortable accommodation. Besides, he was not married at that time so he could manage in a small rented room until the time he got married.

Question 6.
The doctor was not a man with many material possessions. Elaborate.
Answer:
The doctor had just started his practice. Therefore, his earnings were meagre. He lived in a small rented room, which was not electrified. He had only sixty rupees in his bag. Apart from a few shirts and dhotis, he had one solitary black coat. His room was full of rats.

Question 7.
Why was the narrator awake despite the lateness of the hour?
Answer:
It was about ten o’clock on a hot summer night when the narrator reached his room. He made his bed and lay down on it, but he could not sleep due to the heat. He got up and went out to the veranda for a little air, but there was no wind. So, he went back into the room and sat down on the chair.

Question 8.
What did the doctor do after coming back inside?
Answer:
The doctor sat on the chair and, opening the box beneath the table, took out a book, the Materia Medica. He opened the book at the table on which stood the lamp and a large mirror. At once he was tempted to look into the mirror and he set about making himself look handsome.

Question 9.
“The sound was a familiar one.” What sound did the narrator hear? What did he think it was? How many times did he hear it? When and why did the sounds stop?
Answer:
The narrator heard the familiar sound of movement of some animals on the beam. He thought that the sound was in fear being made by the scampering of rats as always. He heard the sound thrice. After the third time, the sound stopped. This was probably because of the appearance of the snake and the disappearance of the rats

Question 10.
What were the narrator’s feelings as he looked into the mirror?
Answer:
At that time the narrator, who was unmarried and a doctor, was a great admirer of beauty and he believed in making himself look handsome. He felt he had to make his presence felt by improving his appearance. He began to comb his hair, adjusting the parting so that it looked straight and neat in order to appear more handsome.

Question 11.
As he looked at himself in the mirror, which two ‘important’ and ‘earth-shaking’ decisions did the doctor make?
Answer:
The doctor made two important decisions while looking at himself in the mirror. The first decision, an ‘important’ one, was that he would shave daily and grow a thin moustache to look more handsome. The second decision the doctor made was an ‘earth-shaking’ one. It was that he had an attractive smile and that he should keep that attractive smile on his face to look more handsome.

Question 12.
What kind of a woman did the doctor decide to marry? Why?
Answer:
The doctor, who had just started his medical practice, decided to marry a doctor with a lot of money and great medical practice. He also wanted her to be fat, so that in case he made a silly mistake and needed to run away she should not be able to run after him and catch him.

Question 13.
How did the snake land on the doctor’s chair?
Answer:
The snake fell from the roof of the house with a thud. In no time it wriggled over the back of the narrator’s chair and landed on him. The snake slithered along his shoulder and coiled around his left arm above the elbow. To make matters worse, the snake spread its hood out and its head was hardly three or four inches from his face.

Question 14.
What was the narrator’s reaction to the sight of the snake?
Answer:
The narrator was frightened at the sight of the snake slithering down his shoulder and coiling itself around his arm. He could not breathe for a while. He was frightened, yet he didn’t jump, didn’t tremble, didn’t cry out as he did not wish to make any sudden movement that would provoke the snake.

Question 15.
How did the narrator show presence of mind when he faced with the snake?
Answer:
When the doctor found a snake on his shoulder, he did not jump, tremble or cry out. He held his breath and became as still as a stone. He knew that the snake would get provoked and strike him if he made any movement since the hood of the snake was only four inches away from his face.

Question 16.
How did the doctor feel when the snake coiled itself around his arm?
Answer:
When the snake coiled itself around the arm of the doctor, he felt some pain as if his arm was being crushed strongly with a rod made of molten fire. His arm lost all strength and felt very weak.

Question 17.
What did the writer think of when the snake was coiled around his arm?
Answer:
The doctor felt like a foolish and weak person when the snake was coiled around his arm. There was a distinct possibility of the snake biting him and the doctor thought of the various medicines he had in his room and cast his mind about to think if any medicine was good enough to save him if the snake did bite him. He felt that God had punished him for being so proud and arrogant. The vanity and pride he had moments ago had vanished. He felt helpless and frightened and smiled feebly at his stupidity and ill-luck.

Question 18.
What made the doctor say “Death lurked four inches away”?
Answer:
The snake was coiled around the doctor’s left arm and its hood was spread and just three or four inches from the doctor’s head. He sat motionless as a statue, his body inactive but his mind thinking of a way out anxiously. He knew very well that the snake would get provoked and bite him at the slightest movement and that the bite would well be fatal. This is what made him utter these words,

Question 19.
How did the snake change the writer’s opinion about himself?
Answer:
The writer was proud of being a doctor and a handsome one at that. To boot, he was a bachelor. He was rather vain and arrogant. Coming face-to-face with the snake made him humble. He thought he was only a poor and stupid doctor who should not be proud of his profession.

Question 20.
What thoughts crossed the doctor’s mind when he saw the snake looking into the mirror?
Answer:
When the doctor saw the snake looking into the mirror, he thought that perhaps it too was admiring its beauty or was trying to make some important, actually frivolous decisions like growing a moustache, or, if it were a female snake, using eye shadow and mascara or wearing a vermilion spot on its forehead.

Question 21.
Why did the snake leave the doctor’s arm?
Answer:
The snake left the doctor’s arm because it saw its reflection in the mirror and was fascinated by it. Perhaps it wanted to enjoy its own reflection by having a closer look.

Question 22.
How was the doctor freed of the hold of the snake?
Answer:
The snake happened to look at its reflection in the mirror on the table. It uncoiled itself from the arm of the doctor, slipped into his lap and then crawled towards the mirror. Perhaps, it too got fascinated by its looks like the doctor had a while ago.

Question 23.
What did the doctor do as the snake sat in front of the mirror?
Answer:
When the snake slithered from the narrator’s arm into his lap, crept onto the table and then moved towards the mirror, the narrator at once availed of the opportunity. He changed from a man cut in granite to a man of flesh and blood. Still holding his breath, so as not to disturb the snake, he got up from the chair and quietly went out through the door into the veranda. From there he leapt into the yard and ran for all he was worth to his friend’s house to save his life.

Question 24.
What did the doctor do when the snake was absorbed in looking at the mirror?
Answer:
As the snake was absorbed in looking at the mirror, the doctor and holding his breath, rose from the chair and quietly slipped out of the room. From there he passed through the veranda and the yard and ran as fast as he could to the house of a friend.

Question 25.
What did the doctor do as soon as he reached his friend’s house? Why?
Answer:
Immediately after reaching his friend’s house, the doctor applied oil to his entire body, took a- bath and put on fresh clothes. He did so because the snake had slithered over his back, shoulder and arm. He wanted to get rid of his creepy feeling and any possible ill-effects of a snake’s touch.

Question 26.
Why does the doctor remark that the snake was “taken with its own beauty”?
Answer:
The doctor remarks that the snake was “taken with its own beauty” because it kept looking-into the mirror just like the doctor had done earlier, the snake sat in front of the mirror looking into it. This led him to conclude that the snake was admiring itself as he had done.

Question 27.
What was the similarity between the doctor and the snake?
Answer:
There was a similarity between the doctor and the snake. Both of them admired of their own beauty. The doctor sat on the chair to read his book but forgot everything as he looked into the mirror and admired himself. He was oblivious to his surroundings and realised the presence of the snake too late. The snake too spotted the mirror, and slithered off to look at its reflection. He, too, was so enamoured with its own looks that it forgot reason why it was there, probably hungry and chasing some rats.

Question 28.
Why did the doctor decide to leave the room?
Answer:
The doctor was already unhappy with the poor condition of his room that did not have electricity and was infested with rats. On top of it all his encounter with the snake, that could have nearly killed him, made him decide to leave the room.

Question 29.
What did the doctor and his friends find when they went to remove things from the room?
Answer:
The doctor and his friends found that there was nothing in the room except for a dirty vest. All the other things had been stolen away by some thief.

Question 30.
Did the doctor marry a fat woman as he had wished?
Answer:
No, the doctor did not marry a fat woman. On the contrary, his wife was a thin and lean person who could run very fast like a sprinter.

Question 31.
What did the thief leave behind? What does the narrator feel about it?
Answer:
The thief had left behind his dirty vest. The vest was so dirty that even the thief did not feel like taking it. The narrator found it insulting because it appeared as the thief wanted to tell the narrator that he had a better sense of cleanliness than the doctor himself.

The Snake and the Mirror Extra Questions and Answers Long Answer Type

Question 1.
What kind of room was the doctor living in and why did he decide to leave that room?
Answer:
The doctor was living in was a small, uncomfortable room that was actually an outer room with one wall facing the open yard and two windows. The room was not electrified and he had to depend on a kerosene lamp for lighting. The roof was tiled and had long supporting gables which rested on a beam over the wall. The room did not have any ceiling and it was infested with rats that kept squeaking all the time.

Since his medical practice was yet not well-established, the doctor did not earn much and could not afford a better place. He was not happy with this poor accommodation but it was all he could afford on his meagre earnings. However, it was only after his encounter with the snake that he decided to leave it. The frightening experience left him shaken and he decided not to live in the room any longer.

Question 2.
What kind of a person was the doctor? What kind of a person did he want to be?
Answer:
The doctor had just started his practice. His earnings were, therefore, meagre. He lived in a small rented room, which was not electrified. He had only sixty rupees in his bag. Apart from a few shirts and dhotis, he had one solitary black coat. He lived alone in a house that was full of rats.

On the other hand, the doctor laid great emphasis on the fact that he was unmarried and a doctor. He was a great admirer of beauty and he believed in making himself handsome. He was pleased with his appearance. He decided to shave daily and grow a thin moustache to look more handsome. He also decided to smile more as it improved his appearance.

Question 3.
What kind of woman did the doctor want to marry? Whom did he get married to?
Answer:
The doctor took pride in his handsome looks and the fact that he was a doctor and a bachelor. He had just started his practice and had very little money, wanted to marry a woman doctor who had plenty of money and . a good medical practice. He wanted a fat wife so that whenever he would make a silly mistake and run away from his wife, she would not be able to run behind him or catch him. The woman he married was quite unlike the one he wanted to marry. She was a thin and slender person who could run like a sprinter.

Question 4.
Describe the doctor’s feelings when the snake coiled round his arm.
Answer:
The doctor was petrified when the snake landed on his shoulder. He didn’t jump, tremble or cry out. He sat there holding his breath, turned to stone. He thought his end was near, so he remembered the Almighty and prayed to God for his safety. However, he retained his presence of mind as well as his sense of humour. He forgot his danger and smiled feebly at himself. From admiring himself and vainly thinking of ways of making himself appear more handsome and arrogantly declaring he was a doctor and a bachelor, the doctor thought of himself as “a poor, foolish and stupid doctor.”

He did not have even the medicine to save himself in case he was bitten by the snake. As he sat there, with Death lurking four inches away, the narrator did not panic. With great patience he sat still, on the lookout for an opportunity to escape and as soon as the snake unwound itself from his arm, the doctor got up from the chair and went out quietly, and ran away to his friend’s house.

Question 5.
“I was but a poor, foolish and stupid doctor.” Justify.
Answer:
Initially, the doctor had a very high opinion of himself regarding both his appearance and profession. He laid great emphasis on the fact that he was unmarried and a doctor. As an admirer of beauty, he was conscious of his looks and wanted to look even more handsome. He admired himself in the mirror and combed his hair this way and that and decided to grow a moustache and smile more to look more attractive.

But an encounter with a snake – a cobra – cured him of his pride. When the snake wriggled over his shoulder and coiled itself around his arm, the doctor lost all arrogance and was reminded of the existence of God. Face to face with death, he realised what a weak and foolish man he had been. When he recalled that there were no medicines in his room to cure him of a snake-bite, he regarded himself to be a stupid and helpless person. Thus, the encounter with the snake transformed the doctor from a vain and foolish person into a humble and God-fearing man.

Question 6.
What are the similarities between the behaviour of the doctor and of the snake?
Answer:
Both the doctor and the snake display narcissistic tendencies. Both of them were enamoured by their reflections in the mirror and stared at them as if enamoured. When he looked in the mirror, the doctor was full of appreciation for his good looks. He was a great admirer of beauty and believed in making himself look handsome. He took a close look at his face and decided that he would shave daily and grow a thin moustache to look even more handsome. Then, he looked into the mirror and smiled. He decided to keep smiling as he considered his smile very attractive. As he gazed at himself in the mirror, he was oblivious of his surroundings. He heard the noise of the rats cease, he heard the snake drop to the ground with a dull thud, but he paid no heed and found himself face to face with death.

In the same manner, the snake gazed in the mirror, oblivious of his surroundings. This makes the doctor think , that perhaps it, too, was admiring its beauty or was trying to make some ‘important’ decisions just like him. Perhaps it was a male snake thinking about growing a moustache or a female one deciding to use eye shadow and mascara or wear a vermilion spot on its forehead. Just like the doctor’s obsession with his looks landed him in trouble, the snake too seemed to be “taken with its beauty.” It released its victim to have a better look at itself in the mirror.

Question 7.
This story about a frightening incident is narrated in a humorous way. What makes it humorous?
Answer:
The story presents a contrast between dreams and reality. This contrast has been depicted in a humorous manner. The doctor had meagre earnings as he had just started his practice. He lived in a small rented room, which was not electrified. He had only sixty rupees in his bag, a few shirts and dhotis, and one solitary black coat. His house was full of rats. However, his dreams and ambitions were in contrast to this. He was a great admirer of beauty and he believed in making himself handsome. He laid great emphasis on the fact that he was unmarried and a doctor. Pleased with his appearance, he decided to improve his appearance by shaving daily, growing a thin moustache and always keep smiling.The doctor had thought about the kind of person he would want to marry.

He wanted to marry a woman doctor who had plenty of money and a good medical practice because he did not have any of those. He wanted a fat wife so that whenever he made a silly mistake, he could escape his wife by running away from her. However, the woman he married was thin and could run like a sprinter. When the doctor looked into the mirror, he was full of appreciation for his good looks. He also arrogantly declared that he was a doctor and a bachelor.

However, later when the snake was coiled around his arm, he turned into a stone. He realized that if the snake struck him, then he did not even have any medicines in his room for the same. That was when he thought that he was a poor, foolish, and stupid doctor. This contrast between reality and dreams lends humour to the story.

Question 8.
“I looked into the mirror and smiled”, says the doctor. A little later he says, “I forgot my danger and smiled feebly at myself’. What is the doctor’s opinion about himself when he smiles first and then later? In what way do his thoughts change in between, and why?
Answer:
The doctor rated his looks quite high and smiled at his image when he looked at himself in the large mirror on his table. He was narcissistic and the first time he looked in the mirror and smiled, his opinion about himself was marked by self-adulation. He arrogantly declared he was a doctor and a bachelor. He was vain enough to believe that he was handsome and needed to stay well-groomed. He decided to shave daily, grow a moustache and smile more often.

However, these thoughts changed by the second time he smiles at himself in the mirror. This time the smile was feeble as he smiled at himself. On this occasion, his opinion about himself was marked by humility. By then he had realised that he had been vain, foolish and stupid. His encounter with the deadly snake had exposed his shortcomings to him. In spite of being a doctor he did not have any medicines in his room even for an emergency like a snake-bite. His good looks became immaterial when he came face to face with death and the only thoughts that came to his mind then were about God. The feeble smile indicated his acceptance of the folly and vanity that had so far governed his life.

The Snake and the Mirror Extra Questions and Answers Reference to Context

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

Question 1.
I had my meal at the restaurant and returned to my room. I heard a noise from above as I opened the door. The sound was a familiar one.

(a) Who does ‘I’ refer to in this extract?
Answer:
In this extract, ‘I’ refers to the homeopathic doctor who narrates his encounter with a snake.

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

(c) When did ‘I’ hear a noise?
Answer:
The doctor heard a noise when he entered his room.

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

Question 2.
The sound was a familiar one. One could say that the rats and I shared the room. I took out my box of matches and lighted the kerosene lamp on the table.

(a) What sound did the narrator hear as he entered the room?
Answer:
The narrator heard a sound as if of the scampering of rats as he entered the room.

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

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

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

Question 3.
It had a tiled roof with long supporting gables that rested on the beam over the wall. There was no ceiling. There was a regular traffic of rats to and off.

(a) What did the narrator do after entering the room?
Answer:
The narrator lit the kerosene lamp and then made his bed.

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

(c) Where did he go and why?
Answer:
He went out to the veranda for a little air.

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

Question 4.
I went back into the room and sat down on the chair. I opened the box beneath the table and took out a book, the Materia Medica. I opened it at the table on which stood the lamp and a large mirror; a small comb lay beside the mirror.

(a) Where was he before going back into the room? Why had he gone out of the room?
Answer:
The narrator had gone out to the veranda before coming back into the room. He had gone out for some fresh air.

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

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

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

Question 5.
One feels tempted to look into a mirror when it is near one. I took a look. In those days I was a great admirer of beauty and I believed in making myself look handsome. I was unmarried and I was a doctor. I felt I had to make my presence felt. I picked up the comb and ran it through my hair and adjusted the parting so that it looked straight and neat.

(a) Why did the narrator look into the mirror?
Answer:
The narrator was tempted to look into the mirror because it was there in front of him.

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

(c) What did the narrator do to make his presence felt?
Answer:
He combed his hair and adjusted the parting.

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

Question 6.
I was unmarried and I was a doctor. I felt I had to make my presence felt. I picked up the comb and ran it through my hair and adjusted the parting so that it looked straight and neat. .

(a) Explain “I had to make my presence felt.”
Answer:
The narrator decided that he had to create an impact on people by improving upon his appearance or personality.

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

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

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

Question 7.
I made an important decision—I would shave, daily and grow a thin moustache to look more handsome. I was after all a bachelor, and a doctor! I looked into the mirror and smiled. It was an attractive smile. I made another earth- shaking decision.

(a) Where is the narrator? What is he doing?
Answer:
The narrator is in his room admiring himself in the mirror.

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

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

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

Question 8.
I got up, paced up and down the room. Then another lovely thought struck me. I would marry.

(a) Where did the narrator get up from? Why?
Answer:
The narrator, the homeopathic doctor, got up from his chair in his room. He wanted to think about improving his presence in society.

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

(c) What sort of lady did he wish to marry?
Answer:
He wished to marry a rich, fat lady-doctor.

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

Question 9.
There was no time to do any such thing. The snake slithered along my shoulder and coiled around my left arm above the elbow.

(a) What alerted the narrator to the snake’s presence?
Answer:
The narrator was alerted to the snake’s presence by the sudden silence from the rats above. Also he heard a dull thud as if a rubber tube had fallen to the ground.

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

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

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

Question 10.
I didn ’t jump. I didn ‘t tremble. I didn ’t cry out. There was no time to do any such thing. The snake slithered along my shoulder and coiled around my left arm above the elbow. The hood was spread out and its head was hardly three or four inches from my face!
It would not be correct to say merely that I sat there holding my breath I was turned to stone.

(a) Why did the author not jump, tremble and cry?
Answer:
The author did not jump, tremble and cry because a snake had fallen on his shoulders. He was both too frightened to move and didn’t want to do anything to provoke the snake.

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

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

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

Question 11.
At my slightest movement the snake would strike me! Death lurked four inches away. Suppose it struck, what was the medicine I had to take? There were no medicines in the room. I was but a poor, foolish and stupid doctor. I forgot my danger and smiled feebly at myself

(a) What does Death lurked four inches away imply?
Answer:
The snake was three or four inches away from the writer’s head with its hood spread out. Since it was a – cobra, its bite would be fatal.

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

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

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

Question 12.
The snake unwound itself from my arm and slowly slithered into my lap. From there it crept onto the table and moved towards the mirror. Perhaps it wanted to enjoy its reflection at closer quarters.

(a) Where was the narrator at the time?
Answer:
The narrator was sitting in his room, admiring his looks and thinking of ways of improving his looks.

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

(c) Where did the snake do after uncoiling from the writer’s arm?
Answer:
The snake slid across the narrator’s lap on to the table.

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

Question 13.
I felt then the great presence of the creator of this world and this universe. God was there. Suppose I said something and he did not like it.

(a) When did the narrator feel the presence of the creator?
Answer:
The narrator felt the presence of the creator when he was faced with death in the form of the snake.

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

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

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

Question 14.
There was some pain in my left arm. It was as if a thick leaden rod—no, a rod made of molten fire—was slowly but powerfully crushing my arm. The arm was beginning to be drained of all strength. What could Ido?

(a) Why did the narrator feel a pain in his arm?
Answer:
The snake was coiled around his arm and was crushing his arm.

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

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

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

Question 15.
It seemed as if God appreciated that. The snake turned its head. It looked into the mirror and saw its reflection. I do not claim that it was the first snake that had ever looked into a mirror. But it was certain that the snake was looking into the mirror. Was it admiring its own beauty? Was it trying to make an important decision about growing a moustache or using eye shadow and mascara or wearing a vermilion spot on its forehead?

(a) What was it that God appreciated?
Answer:
God appreciated the narrator getting the realisation that he had been arrogant and vain and his sincere remembering of God.

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

(c) Where did the snake move its head?
Answer:
The snake moved its head towards the mirror.

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

Question 16.
I was no mere image cut in granite. I was suddenly a man of flesh and blood. Still holding my breath I got up from the chair. I quietly went through the veranda. From there 1 leapt into the yard and ran for all I was worth.

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

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

(c) Where had the snake gone?
Answer:
The snake had slithered over to sit in front of the mirror.

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

Question 17.
I was no mere image cut in granite. I was suddenly a man of flesh and blood. Still holding my breath I got up from the chair. I quietly went through the veranda. From there 1 leapt into the yard and ran for all I was worth.

(a) When had the narrator felt like an “image cut in granite”?
Answer:
He felt that he was an ‘image cut in granite’ when he found the snake coiled strongly round his forearm with its hood spread out barely three or four inches away from his face. He was gripped in fear and he could neither move nor breathe properly.

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

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

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

Question 18.
The doctor replied, “I ran and ran till I reached a friend’s house. Immediately I smeared oil all over myself and took a bath. I changed into fresh clothes.

(a) Why did the doctor run?
Answer:
The doctor ran because the snake that landed on his shoulder had slithered off and he wanted to escape the snake.

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

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

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

Question 19.
The next morning at about eight-thirty I took my friend and one or two others to my room to move my things from there. But we found we had little to carry.

(a) What does the narrator mean by the phrase “the next morning”?
Answer:
The narrator is referring to the morning after the evening when he had the frightening experience with the snake that coiled itself around his arm.

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

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

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

Question 20.
“No, ” the doctor said. “God willed otherwise. My life companion is a thin reedy person with the gift of a sprinter. ”
(a) Explain “God willed it otherwise”.
Answer:
It was God’s will that the narrator’s wishes would not be fulfilled.

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

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

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

Here we are providing A Truly Beautiful Mind Extra Questions and Answers Class 9 English Beehive, Extra Questions for Class 9 English was designed by subject expert teachers.

A Truly Beautiful Mind Extra Questions and Answers Class 9 English Beehive

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.

Here we are providing The Little Girl Extra Questions and Answers Class 9 English Beehive, Extra Questions for Class 9 English was designed by subject expert teachers.

The Little Girl Extra Questions and Answers Class 9 English Beehive

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.

Here we are providing The Sound of Music Extra Questions and Answers Class 9 English Beehive, Extra Questions for Class 9 English was designed by subject expert teachers.

The Sound of Music Extra Questions and Answers Class 9 English Beehive

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.

Here we are providing The Fun They Had Extra Questions and Answers Class 9 English Beehive, Extra Questions for Class 9 English was designed by subject expert teachers.

The Fun They Had Extra Questions and Answers Class 9 English Beehive

The Fun They Had Extra Questions and Answers Short Answer Type

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.