English Literature - Chapter Questions

& Answers
Chapter 1: The Fun They Had

Read the extract and answer the following questions:

1. "What a waste. When you're through with the book, you just throw it away, I guess. Our
television screen must have had a million books on it and it's good for plenty more."

• (i) Who is the speaker of these lines?

Answer: (b) Tommy

• (ii) Why did Tommy call the old book 'a waste'?

Answer: Because after reading, you cannot use the book again. The words stay the same.

• (iii) What was the old book about?

Answer: (c) Schools

• (iv) The antonym of 'less' as given in the extract is

Answer: (b) Plenty

Chapter 2: Evelyn Glennie Listens to Sound Without Hearing

Read the extract and answer the following questions:

• (i) What did Evelyn want to play?

Answer: She wanted to play the xylophone.

• (ii) What did she notice one day?

Answer: (e) A girl playing the Xylophone

• (iii) Who was Ron Forbes?

Answer: (b) A percussionist

• (iv) What did Ron Forbes do?

Answer: (b) He spotted her potential and encouraged her.

• (v) Whom does 'she' refer to?

Answer: Evelyn Glennie

Answer the following questions in 30 words:

1. 1. What were Evelyn's feelings while leaving for Royal Academy of Music? Why?

Answer: Evelyn felt nervous but excited. She was only sixteen and going to a big music
academy alone. She was determined to follow her passion for music.

2. 2. What kind of books were available in Margie’s grandfather’s grandfather’s time?

Answer: They used real books with pages made of paper. You could hold them in your
hands and turn the pages.

3. 3. How does Tommy describe the teachers in old schools?

Answer: Tommy says teachers were real people. They taught students in a building called
school and explained lessons face to face.

4. 4. Draw a comparison between telebooks and real books from Tommy’s view.

Answer: Tommy finds real books better. They have still words on paper, not moving text.
You can touch and turn the pages.

5. 5. Margie remarks "How could a man be a teacher?" What makes her say so?

Answer: Margie was used to mechanical teachers. She found it strange that a human could
teach and correct homework.

Answer the following questions in 60 words:

6. 6. What do you think is the future of school and books?

Answer: In the future, learning may happen through screens and robots. Books might be
digital. But real schools and printed books are still important for social learning and better
understanding. Both will exist.

7. 7. Why did everything suddenly look black to Evelyn?

Answer: Evelyn felt everything turned dark when she discovered she was losing her hearing
at the age of eight. She was shocked and scared about her future in music.

8. 8. What confession does Evelyn make about herself?

Answer: Evelyn confesses that she tried to hide her deafness from teachers and friends. She
didn’t want to be treated differently or lose her chance to learn music.

9. 9. Despite her fame and accomplishments Evelyn Glennie doesn't accept any hint of her
heroic achievement. Give your views on modesty.
Answer: Humility helps us stay grounded and focused. Evelyn never shows off her success.
She respects others and keeps learning. Being modest makes a person more respected and
loved.

Chapter 3: The Shehnai of Bismillah Khan

Read the extract and answer the following questions:

• (i) Whom did Bismillah Khan accompany?

Answer: (b) Ali Bux

• (ii) Who was Ali Bux?

Answer: Ali Bux was Bismillah Khan’s uncle and a shehnai player at the Vishnu temple in
Benaras.

• (iii) What did Bismillah Khan like most about Ali Bux?

Answer: He loved listening to Ali Bux play the shehnai. He would sit for hours, enjoying the
music and later started learning from him.
English Literature Questions and
Answers
The Sound of Music
(iv) Where was Ali Bux employed to play the shehnai?
→ (d) All of these

(v) The synonym of "captivated" is

→ (c) Fascinated

2. What led to the banning of the musical instrument Pungi from Aurangzeb's court?
→ Pungi was banned in Aurangzeb’s court because it made a loud and unpleasant sound. It
was not considered suitable for royal music.

The Road Not Taken

1. Extract Questions:

(i) How many roads were there before the poet?

→ Two roads

(ii) What is the mood of the poet?

→ (d) All of these (Thoughtful, regretful, and pensive)

(iii) “...long I stood.” What did the speaker do while standing?

→ (c) He was in dilemma about which road to take.

(iv) Who is the poet of "The Road Not Taken"?

→ Robert Frost

(v) The rhyme scheme of the stanza is

→ (c) ab ab a

2. Second Stanza Extract:

(i) What doubt does the poet have?

→ (a) If he would ever come back on the same path and walk on the road he left for another
day.

(ii) Why were the roads in equal stage that morning?

→ (b) Because no one had trodden on either of these roads.
(iii) Who does 'both' refer to?
→ 'Both' refers to the two roads in the forest.

(iv) Name the poem from which this extract is taken.

→ (d) The Road Not Taken

(v) Rhyme scheme of this stanza:

→ (c) ab ab a

Short Questions (30 words each)

3. What was the poet’s opinion about both the roads?
→ The poet felt both roads were equally fair and covered with leaves. Neither of them was
walked on, so he found it hard to choose.

4. Was the poet satisfied with his choice?

→ The poet had mixed feelings. He chose a different path, and though he wondered what the
other road might have led to, he accepted his choice.

5. What is the message of the poem?

→ The poem teaches us that choices shape our life. We should think wisely before deciding,
as we may not get a second chance.

The Sound of Music – More Questions

3. What did his disciple request Khan Saab? What was Khansaab's reply?
→ His disciple requested Khan Saab to move to the USA. Khan Saab refused and said he
could never leave his country, India.

4. Where did Ustaad Bismillah Khan give his first international performance? What was the
reaction?
→ He gave his first international performance in Afghanistan. The king praised him and
gifted him rare carpets and souvenirs.

Long Answer (60 words)

5. Give instances from the life of Ustaad Bismillah Khan that demonstrate his love for Indian
classical music and India.
→ Ustaad Bismillah Khan devoted his life to shehnai and Indian classical music. He turned
down offers to settle abroad because he loved India. Even after getting international fame,
he chose to live in Varanasi. His heart was attached to the Ganga, temples, and culture of
India.

6. Describe the significance of good decisions in life.

→ Good decisions shape our future. A right choice at the right time brings success and
peace. Wrong decisions may lead to regret. So, we must think carefully before choosing our
path in life.
Poetry and Prose Extract Questions
Poem: Wind
1. What does the wind do to the fires?
→ (d) Both (a) and (b)
(It makes the strong fire grow and flourish and blows out weak fires.)

2. Whose friendship is being talked about in the above extract?

→ (c) Friendship of people with the wind

3. What poetic device is used in the line 'He makes the strong fires roar and flourish'?
→ Personification

4. This extract is taken from the poem:

→ (a) Wind

5. Who does 'he' refer to in the first line?

→ 'He' refers to the wind.

6. What does the poet ask people to do?

→ (d) All of these
(To build strong houses, join the doors firmly, and make their hearts and bodies strong.)

7. When we make ourselves strong the wind:

→ (c) will become friends with us

8. Who won’t do what is told him to do?

→ The wind

9. Who is the writer of the poem 'Wind'?

→ (c) Subramania Bharati

Short Questions (30 words)

3. 'We praise him every day'. Explain.
→ The poet says that we praise the wind every day for its power and strength because it
helps those who are strong and destroys the weak.

4. Who all are disturbed by the wind?

→ Weak houses, weak doors, weak people, and weak hearts are disturbed by the wind
according to the poet.

Long Question (60 words)

5. What does the poem 'Wind' teach us?
→ The poem 'Wind' teaches us to be mentally and physically strong to face the challenges in
life. If we are strong, we can stand against troubles, just like strong fires that the wind
makes stronger.

Prose: The Lost Child

1. What was the reaction of the men, women and children?
→ (c) They were shrieking and crying with dizzy laughter.

2. What request did the child make to his parents?

→ (c) He wanted to go on the roundabout.

3. Who were riding on the roundabout?

→ Men, women, and children were riding on the roundabout.

4. What was the child watching?

→ The child was watching the roundabout riders intently.

5. Find a word from the passage which means the same as 'howled/screeched'.
→ (b) Shrieked

Short Questions (30 words)

2. What did the little boy witness when he came across the snake-charmer?
→ He saw a snake-charmer playing music with a flute while the snake swayed. The boy was
fascinated but didn't ask for it, remembering his parents’ instructions.

3. What was different about the approach of denying things to the child by his father and
mother at the fair?
→ The father was strict and cold in refusal, while the mother gently tried to distract the boy
from asking for things.

4. What prevented the parents from reaching the fair?

→ The crowd was large and busy. While watching different stalls, the parents got distracted
and walked ahead, unknowingly leaving their child behind.

Long Question (60 words)

5. Draw a comparison between the child's behaviour before and after he lost his parents.
→ Before losing his parents, the child was excited and curious, wanting toys, sweets, and
rides. After he lost them, he became scared, silent, and sad. He no longer desired anything
from the fair and only wanted his parents back.
The Adventures of Toto – Questions and Answers

Extract-Based Questions:
1. "Grandfather and I put him away in a little closet opening into my bedroom wall, where
he was tied securely or so we thought to a peg fastened into the wall."

(i) Who is 'him' in this extract?

(b) Toto, the monkey)

(ii) Where was 'he' put away?

He was put away in a little closet in the narrator’s bedroom wall.

(iii) Who put 'him' away?

(d) Both (b) and (c) — Grandfather and the narrator.

(iv) In which manner was 'he' put away?

He was tied securely to a peg in the wall inside the closet.

(v) Name the chapter.

(a) The Adventures of Toto

Short Answer Questions (30 words):

2. Did Toto really have three hands? How?
No, Toto didn’t have three hands. But he used his tail like a third hand. He could hold things
and hang from trees with it.

3. What all animals were there in grandfather’s mini zoo?

Grandfather's zoo had a tortoise, a pair of rabbits, a squirrel, a goat, and Toto the monkey.

4. Toto didn’t seem to like grandmother very much. Why do you think that is?
Toto sensed that Grandmother didn’t like him, so he avoided her. Also, he was naughty and
did not like people who didn’t pamper him.

5. What made grandfather angry at the Saharanpur station?

The ticket collector charged extra for Toto as an animal, even though he was hidden in a
bag. This made Grandfather angry.

Long Answer Question (60 words):

6. Do you think grandfather did the right thing by returning Toto to the Tonga-driver? Why
or why not? What do you think is now going to happen to Toto?
Yes, Grandfather did the right thing. Toto was too naughty and caused damage. It was hard
to keep him at home. Now, Toto might live happily with the Tonga-driver, where he could
enjoy more freedom.