Sample QuestionsUnit - 8 : A Short Monsoon Diary questions
One sample from each question group in this chapter. Select any group above to see the full set with answer keys.
We haven’t seen the sun for eight or nine days.
A woman is chopping up sticks.
The rains have heralded the arrival of some seasonal visitors.
A school boy asked me to describe the hill-station.
The mist affords a certain privacy.
The writer spends his time by $......$
- A
- B
watching lush hillsides from the window.
- C
- ✓
Both $(A)$ and $(C)$
Answer: D.
View full solution →The writer cannot go out because of ...
- A
- B
- C
being damp and soggy everywhere.
- ✓
Both $(A)$ and $(C)$
Answer: D.
View full solution →The synonymous word for a number of' in the extract is
Answer: A.
View full solution →Because of the continuous rain at night ...
- A
- B
the writer goes to sleep.
- C
the writer is greatly frightened.
- ✓
Both $(A)$ and $(B)$
Answer: D.
View full solution →How do the minivets plan to fly away unnoticed ?
- A
Hiding themselves in a leafy tree.
- ✓
Making their brightness dull.
- C
We. Not making any noise.
- D
Flying away in dark at night.
Answer: B.
View full solution →January $26$
Winter Rains in the Hills In the hushed silence of the house when I am quite alone, and my friend, who was here has gone, it is very lonely, very quiet, as I sit in a liquid silence, a silence within, surrounded by the rhythm of rain, the steady drift of water on leaves, on lemons, on roof, drumming on drenched dahlias and window panes, while the mist holds the house in a dark caress.
As I pause near a window, the rain stops. And starts again. And the trees, no longer green but grey, menace me with their loneliness.
March $23$
Late March. End of winter.
The blackest cloud I've ever seen squatted over Mussoorie, and then it hailed marbles for half an hour. Nothing like a hailstorm to clear the sky. Even as I write, I see a rainbow forming.
Questions :
$(1)$ Where is the writer now$?$ What is he doing$?$
$(2)$ What is the writer surrounded by $?$
$(3)$ What does the writer see through his window$?$ Describe his feelings.
$(4)$ Describe the hailstorm.
View full solution →August $3$
The rain stops. The clouds begin to break up, the sun strikes the hill on my left. A woman is chopping up sticks. I hear the tinkle of cowbells. In the oak tree, a crow shakes the raindrops from his feathers and caws disconsolately. Water drips from a leaking drainpipe. And suddenly, clean and pure, the song of the whistling thrush emerges like a dark sweet secret from the depths of the ravine.
August $12$
Endless rain, and a permanent mist. We haven't seen the sun for eight or nine days. Everything damp and soggy. Nowhere to go. Pace the room, look out of the window at a few bobbing umbrellas. At least it isn't cold rain. The hillsides are lush as late-monsoon flowers begin to appear - wild balsam, dahlias, begonias and ground orchids.
Questions:
$(1)$ What is the crow in the oak doing after the rain stops$?$
$(2)$ From where does the song of a thrush come $?$
$(3)$ Why hasn't there been the sun for eight or nine days$?$
$(4)$ Describe the scene outside the room.
View full solution →The rains have heralded the arrival of some seasonal visitors several thousand leeches. a leopard, and Yesterday afternoon the leopard lifted a dog from near the servants' quarter below the school. In the evening it attacked one of Bijju's cows but fled at the approach of Bijju's mother, who came screaming imprecations.
As for the leeches, I shall soon get used to a little bloodletting everyday.
Other new arrivals are the scarlet minivets (the females are yellow), flitting silently among the leaves like brilliant jewels. No matter how leafy the trees, these brightly coloured birds cannot conceal themselves, although, by remaining absolutely silent, they sometimes contrive to go unnoticed. Along come a pair of drongos, unnecessarily aggressive, chasing the minivets away.
Questions:
$(1)$ Who were the seasonal visitors$?$ Why are they called so$?$
$(2)$ How were Bijju's cows saved$ ?$
$(3)$ What will the writer get soon used to$?$
$(4)$ Why do minivets sometimes contrive to go unnoticed$?$
View full solution →Write in detail on : "The monsoon rain and the winter rain': Comparisons and Contrasts
What is the significance of cobra lily in relation to the monsoon season? its beginning and end ?
Mention a few things that can happen when there is endless rain days together.
Where do the snakes and rodents take shelter ? WHY?
When does the monsoon season begin and when does it end? How do you prepare to face the monsoon ?
Winter rain starts in September.
Chuchundars are lucky according to the children's grandmother.
The seeds of cobra lily turning red signify the beginning of heavy rain.
Flitting scarlet minivets looked like brilliant jewels.
Bijju's cows could not be saved in spite of his mother's curses.
All night the rain $………….1……………$ (drum) on the corrugated tin roof. There $………..2…………….$ (be) no storm, no thunder, just the steady swish of a tropical downpour. It helps me $………….3……………$ (lie) awake; at the same time, it doesn’t keep me from $…………..4……………$ (sleep).
View full solution →The blackest cloud I …………1…………. ever $…………….1………..$ (see) squatted over Mussoorie, and then it $…………2…………$ (hall) marbles for half an horn. Nothing like a hailstorm $…………3……….. $(clear) the sky. Even as I write, I see a rainbow $………..4……………$ (form).
View full solution →(tropical, steady, drumming, awake, corrugated, thunder) All night the rain has been …………….$1$…………… on the ……………$2$………….. tin roof. There has been no storm, no ………………$3$………… , just the ………….$4$………….. swish of a ……………$5$…………….. downpour. It helps me to lie ………….$6$…………… ; at the same time, it doesn’t keep me from sleeping.
View full solution →(climbing, blankets, silent, melancholy, mist, conceal) The first day of monsoon ……………..$1$……………. . And it’s strange how all the birds fall ……………$2$…………… as the mist comes …………..$3$………….. up the hill. Perhaps that’s what makes the mist so …………..$4$………….. ; not only does it …………….$5$………….. the hills, it ……………$6$………… them in silence too.
View full solution →The blackest cloud squatted over the city.
(showered over, flew over, settled down over)
The bright light suffused the leaves with a golden glow.
(saturated with, deprived with, made wet with)
He’s my brother, so I support him all the way.
(completely, closely, thoughtlessly)
You must keep the child from her mother until the mother is infection-free.
(hold away from, keep in touch, keep alert about)
Harry walked through the kitchen and $1$ snapped up two cookies on the way. (stole, ate up, grasped quickly)
View full solution →In $………….1……………..$ hushed silence of the house $…………….2…………..$ I am quite alone, $………….3……………. $my friend, who was here has gone, it is very lonely, very quiet, $……………4……………..$ I sit in a liquid silence, a silence $…………..5………….$ surrounded $…………….6…………..$ the rhythm of rain.
View full solution →It is a good sound to read $…………..1……………$ -the rain outside, $………….2…………..$ quiet within – and, $……………..3…………$ tin roofs are given $………….4…………$ springing unaccountable leaks, there is $………….5……………$ feeling of being untouched by, and $…………..6…………….$ in touch with, the rain.
View full solution →It is very lonely, very quiet.
(Turn into Exclamatory.)
The seeds of the cobra lily are turning red, signifying that the rains are coming to end. (Turn into Simple.)
Water drips from a leaking drainpipe.
(Turn into Complex.)
It doesn’t keep me from sleeping.
(Turn into Affirmative.)
They sometimes contrive to go unnoticed.
(Use ‘without’.)
Prometheus: Zeus must be very angry l with me.
Epimetheus: I know, you promised not to .steal the fire, and you did.
Prometheus: Mortals needed it. Fire is useful for them.
Epimetheus: Yes, but we must be very careful.
The nephews said, “Sir, the bird’s education has been completed.”
“Does it hop?” the Raja enquired.
“Never!” said the nephews.
“Does it fly?”
“No.”