SECTION D - Literature 45
Q. 12. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow. Write the answers in your answer sheet in one or two lines only. Remember to number the answers correctly. 5
The house—the only one in the entire valley—sat on the crest of a low hill. From this height one could see the river and the fi eld of ripe corn dotted with the fl owers that always promised a good harvest. The only thing the earth needed was a downpour or at least a shower. Throughout the morning Lencho—who knew his fi elds intimately—had done nothing else but see the sky towards the north-east.
“Now we’re going to get some water, woman.”
The woman who was preparing supper, replied, “Yes, God willing.”
(a) Where was the house situated? 1
(b) Which two things could one see from this height? 2
(c) Why did he see towards the north-east? 1
(d) Which word in the passage means the same as “heavy fall of rain’? 1
Ans. (a) The house was situated in a valley, on the crest of a low hill.
(b) From this height one could see the river and the fi eld of ripe corn dotted with fl owers.
(c) Lencho saw towards the north-east sky, in the hope of a downpour.
(d) The word ‘downpour’ in the passage means the same as ‘heavy fall of rain’.
Q. 13. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow. Write the answers in your answer sheet in one or two lines only. Remember to number the answers correctly. 5
Early in the New Year of 1956 I travelled to Southern Iraq. By then it had crossed my mind that I should like to keep an otter instead of a dog, and that Camusfearna, ringed by water a stone’s throw from its door, would be an eminently suitable spot for this experiment. When I casually mentioned this to a friend, he as casually replied that I had better get one in the Tigris marshes, for there they were as common as mosquitoes, and were often tamed by the Arabs.
(a) Where was Maxwell living when he thought of keeping a pet? 1
(b) What pet did he think of keeping? 1
(c) Where could Maxwell easily get his pet and why? 2
(d) Which phrase in the passage means the same as ‘at a short distance’? 1
Ans. (a) Maxwell was living in Southern Iraq when he thought of keeping a pet.
(b) He thought of keeping an otter as a pet.
(c) Maxwell could easily get his pet in the Tigris marshes as they were commonly available there, often tamed by the Arabs.
(d) The phrase ‘a stone’s throw’ means the same as ‘at a short distance’.
