Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow… - Vidyadip

Question

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.
If we were not so single-minded
about keeping our lives moving,
and for once could do nothing
perhaps a huge silence
might interrupt this sadness
of never understanding ourselves
and of threatening ourselves with
death.

1.‘We’ in the first line refers to.......................

2. Why does the poet want us to ‘do nothing’ for once?

3. What could the ‘huge silence’ signify?
a) melancholy
b) understanding
c) discomfort
d) flexibility

4. What good can the huge silence do to us?
a) Attaining wealth
b) Becoming famous
c) Achieving inner peace to overcome sadness
d) Create a silent world

5. Choose the option that best describes these statements, with reference to the poem.
Statement I – The poem ‘Keeping Quiet‘ calls for change as much in the individual as human society at
large.
Statement II – The poem ‘Keeping Quiet‘ implies that individual change will lead to bigger societal
change.
Statement III – Neruda believes that when people come together as a community, they will be able to
bring a transformation in each person.
a) Statement I is True, Statement II is False, and Statement III cannot be inferred.
b) Statement I and II cannot be inferred, Statement III is True.
c) Statement I is True, Statements II and III cannot be inferred.
d) Statement I cannot be inferred, Statement II cannot be inferred, Statement III is False.

6.The antonym of the word “interrupt” is __________________

✓

Answer

1.‘We’ refers to the human beings, who selfishly think about their own progress.
2.The poet wants us to ‘do nothing’ for once so that our mind can be at peace and we are able to introspect and analyse our actions.
3. b
4. c
5. a
6. Continuation/ continuity III. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.

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Similar questions

It would be an exotic moment
without rush, without engines,
we would all be together
in a sudden strangeness.

Answer the following.

(1) What does ‘it’ signify in the first line?

(i) the surroundings

(ii) total stillness

(iii) being in the nature’s lap

(iv) all of the above

(2) If there is no rush, no sound of engines—what does the poet expect will happen?

(ii) less crowd on roads

(iii) more happy and silent moments

(iv) all the above

(3) The poet envisages an exotic moment of stillness which would be without ____________ .

(4) There would descend a sudden ____________ when we all get together.

(5) When there will be no engines or rush, what kind of moment would that make?

(6) How will everyone feel at the exotic moment?

"Sometimes I feel myself I can hardly bear The thought of so much childish
longing in vain,
The sadness that lurks near the open window there,
That waits all day in almost open prayer
For the squeal of brakes, the sound of a stopping car,"

(i)What can't the poet tolerate?
a. The farmers dashed hopes
b. The travellers not stopping at the stand
c. The poor condition of village d. Attitude of the rich people

(ii) Complete the following analogy correctly. lurk: creep :: : futile

(iii) Answer in ONE word.
When the poet says that 'squeal of brakes', he means the car to_________.

(iv) What is the prayer of the villager sitting at open window?
a. A generous traveller to stop at the stand
b. To sell something
c. A good amount to dwindle their distress
d. All of these

(v) On the basis of the extract, choose the correct option with reference to (1) and (2) given below.

(1) The villagers pray for the vehicles to hear a car stop by.
(2) These shed owners want to sell their products.

a. (1) is true but (2) is false.
b. (2) is true but (1) is false.
c. (2) is the reason for (1).
d. Both (1) and (2) cannot be inferred from the extract.

(vi) Identify the phrase from the extract, that suggests the following: The rural folk dreamt of a better life with help from the city dwellers which was like a kiddish desire.

…I looked again at her, wan, pale
as a late winter’s moon and felt that old
familiar ache, my childhood’s fear.
but all I said was, see you soon,
Amma,
all I did was smile and smile and smile...

Answer the following.

(1) The parting words of the poet suggest passion. (True/False)

(2) The poet smiled in order to conceal a childhood ____________ .

(3) The ‘familiar ache’ had been haunting the poet since her ____________ .

(4) What familiar thing did the poet feel?

(5) What does the poem revolve around?

(i) Kamala Das’s feelings for her mother

(ii) her own insecurities

(iii) advancing old age and the expected end

(iv) poetess’s journe

(6) What was the poet’s childhood fear?

(i) losing her mother

(ii) losing her sibling

(iii) shifting from one school to another

(iv) losing a friend

The stunted, unlucky heir
Of twisted bones, reciting a father’s gnarled disease,
His lesson, from his desk. At back of the dim class
One unnoted, sweet and young. His eyes live in a dream,
Of squirrel’s game, in tree room, other than this.

Answer the following.
(1) Who is the stunted unlucky heir being referred to here?

(2) What is the meaning of ‘reciting a father’s gnarled disease’?

(i) reciting something about the disease

(ii) the disease got as inheritance from his father

(iii) feeling dejected about the misfortune

(iv) thinking about the father

(3) What kind of looks are these children representing?

(4) His eyes live in a dream. What is the boy dreaming about?

(i) of an outdoor life filled with better times

(ii) about going out for a picnic

(iii) about flying in an airplane

(iv) about watching a comedy show

(5) A sweet and young child sat ____________ at the back.

(6) The child was dreaming of a ____________ game.

Driving from my parent’s

home to Cochin last Friday

morning, I saw my mother

doze, open mouthed, her face

ashen like that

of a corpse and realised with

that she was as old as she

looked but soon

put that thought away, and

looked out at Young

Trees sprinting, the merry children spilling

out of their homes, ...

Answer the following.

(1) The poet put aside the thought of being with her mother. (True/False)

(2) The young trees seemed to be ____________ .

(3) The merry children were ____________ out of their homes.

(4) Name of the poet who has penned the above lines is

(i) Sarojini Naidu

(ii) Kamala Das

(iii) Lily Chakrobarty

(iv) none of the above

(5) The mother’s ashen face has been compared to a

(6) What does the youth symbolize?

Unless, governor, inspector, visitor,
This map becomes their window and these windows
That shut upon their lives like catacombs.
Break O break open till they break the town

Answer the following.

(1) The ‘governor, visitor, inspector’ are?

(i) corporate officials

(ii) powerful and influential people

(iii) politicians

(iv) ordinary peopl

(2) What have the windows done in the lives of these children?

(i) blocked the light

(ii) blocked their growth

(iii) shut these children from exposure to the outside world

(iv) both (ii) and (iii)

(3) ‘Catacombs’ means the same as

(ii) hangings on the wall

(iii) underground cemeteries

(iv) none of the above

(4) What is the poet asking them to break o break open?

(5) The windows of the classroom have been compared to ____________ .

(6) ________________ in the classroom is an outlet to the world beyond.

Now we will count to twelve
and we will all keep still.
For once on the face of the Earth
let’s not speak in any language,
let’s stop for one second,
and not move our arms so much.

Answer the following.

(1) What is the significance of the number ‘twelve’ in the poem?

(i) emphasizing the importance of time

(ii) a reminder of the clock

(iii) giving time frame in seconds to make us realize the importance of being silent

(iv) no significance, just a number

(2) Why is the poet asking people not to speak?

(3) “Not move our arms” refers to

(i) keep your arms folded

(ii) remain inactive

(iii) stand silently

(iv) sitting still and not using any weapons too

(4) The poet wants us not to ____________ in any language.

(5) We should not move our ____________ for one second.

(6) Neftali Recardo Reyes Basoalto is the poet of the poem “Keeping Quiet”. He wrote under the pen name

Therefore, on every morrow, are we wreathing
A flowery band to bind us to the earth,
Spite of despondence, of the inhuman dearth
Of noble natures, of the gloomy days,
Of all the unhealthy and darkened ways
Made for our searching:

Answer the following.

(1) In spite of despondence, a flowery ____________ binds us to the earth.

(2) There is a ____________ of noble natures on Earth.

(3) What are we doing every morning?

(4) Which word from the given options doesn’t mean despondence?

(5) On account of what do the humans suffer?

(i) due to their inhuman acts

(ii) sickness and diseases

(iii) lack of morals

(iv) both (i) and (iii)

(6) The meaning of gloomy is the same as

(i) sad and dull

(iv) uninteresting

Those who prepare green wars,
wars with gas, wars with fire,
victory with no survivors,
would put on clean clothes
and walk about with their
brothers…
Answer the following.

(a) ‘Green wars’ stand for_________.

(b) The poet is deliberating upon which type of wars

(i) nuclear warfare

(ii) surgical strikes

(iii) hand to hand combat

(iv) green wars, wars with gas, wars with fire

(c) Pick the correct rhyme scheme used in the poem.

(ii) blank verse

(iii) haiku form

(iv) enclosed rhyme

(d) They would be walking around with their brothers. Where would they be walking?

(i) along side a river

(iii) in the shade

(iv) in the market area

(e) Who would wear clean clothes in case there was a silence on the war front?

(f) With whom would these ex-warriors walk?

Those who prepare green wars,
wars with gas, wars with fire,
victory with no survivors,
would put on clean clothes
and walk about with their
brothers…

Answer the following.

(1) Who would wear clean clothes in case there was a silence on the war front?

(2) With whom would these ex-warriors walk?

(3) ‘Green wars’ stand for___________.

(4) The poet is deliberating upon which type of wars?

(i) nuclear warfare

(ii) surgical strikes

(iii) hand to hand combat

(iv) green wars, wars with gas, wars with fire

(5) Pick the correct rhyme scheme used in the poem.

(ii) blank verse

(iii) haiku form

(iv) enclosed rhyme

(6) They would be walking around with their brothers. Where would they be walking?

(i) along side a river

(iii) in the shade

(iv) in the market area