ENGLISH Choose From The Given Options. {Unit} [Second Exam] [2 Marks]

As hills started to push up once more from the rocky wilderness, we passed solitary drokbas tending their flocks. Sometimes men, sometimes women, these well-wrapped figures would pause and stare at our car, occasionally waving as we passed. When the track took us close to their animals, the sheep would take evasive action, veering away from the speeding vehicle.

We passed nomads’ dark tents pitched in splendid isolation, usually with a huge black dog, a Tibetan mastiff, standing guard. These beasts would cock their great big heads when they became aware of our approach and fix us in their sights. As we continued to draw closer, they would explode into action, speeding directly towards us, like a bullet from a gun and nearly as fast.

These shaggy monsters, blacker, than the darkest night, usually wore bright red collars and barked furiously with massive jaws. They were completely fearless of our vehicle, shooting straight into our path, causing Tsetan to brake and swerve. The dog would make chase for a hundred metres or so before easing off, having seen us off the property. It wasn’t difficult to understand why ferocious Tibetan mastiffs became popular in China’s imperial courts as hunting dogs, brought along the Silk Road in ancient times as tribute from Tibet.

Questions:
Q.1. The sheep would take evasive action’ means ………….
A. ‘The sheep bleated.’ B. ‘The sheep moved away from the place.’
C. ‘The sheep started grazing.’ D. ‘The sheep followed one another.’

Q.2. ‘These beasts would cock their great big heads’ means ……………
A. They bent down their heads. B. They raised their big heads for attacking.
C. They bleated raising their heads. D. Both ‘A’ and ‘B’

My headache soon cleared as we careered down the other side of the pass. It was two o’clock by the time we stopped for lunch. We ate hot noodles inside a long canvas tent, part of a workcamp erected beside a dry salt lake. The plateau is pockmarked with salt flats and brackish lakes, vestiges of the Tethys Ocean which bordered Tibet before the great continental collision that lifted it skyward. This one was a hive of activity, men with pickaxes and shovels trudging back and forth in their long sheepskin coats and salt-encrusted boots. All wore sunglasses against the glare as a steady stream of blue trucks emerged from the blindingly white lake laden with piles of salt.

By late afternoon we had reached the small town of Hor, back on the main east-west highway that followed the old trade route from Lhasa to Kashmir. Daniel, who was returning to Lhasa, found a ride in a truck so Tsetan and I bade him farewell outside a tyre-repair shop. We had suffered two punctures in quick succession on the drive down from the salt lake and Tsetan was eager to have them fixed since they left him with no spares. Besides, the second tyre he’d changed had been replaced by one that was as smooth as my bald head.

Questions:
Q.1. In this extract, the word ‘vestiges’ indicates …………….
A. ‘symbols.’ B. ‘relics.’
C. ‘highland.’ D. ‘wastage.’

Q.2. All men wore sunglasses to ………………..
A. watch distant places.
B. watch piles of salt.
C. protect their eyes against the glare emerging from ithe blindingly white lake.
D. watch a steady stream of blue trucks.

When the time came for me to tell him what brought me to Darchen, his eyes lit up. “We could be a team,” he said excitedly. “Two academics who have escaped from the library.” Perhaps my positive thinking strategy was working after all.

My initial relief at meeting Norbu, who was also staying in the guesthouse, was tempered by the realisation that he was almost as ill-equipped as I was for the pilgrimage. He kept telling me how fat he was and how hard it was going to be. “Very high up,” he kept reminding me, “so tiresome to walk.” He wasn’t really a practising Buddhist, it transpired, but he had enthusiasm and he was, of course, Tibetan.

Although I’d originally envisaged making the trek in the company of devout believers, on reflection I decided that perhaps Norbu would turn out to be the ideal companion. He suggested we hire some yaks to carry our luggage, which I interpreted as a good sign, and he had no intention of prostrating himself all round the mountain. “Not possible,” he cried, collapsing across the table in hysterical laughter. It wasn’t his style, and anyway his tummy was too big.

Questions:
Q.1. The meaning of the phrase ‘his eyes lit up’ is ………………
A. ‘he was surprised.’ B. ‘he got excited.’
C. ‘he was shocked.’ D. ‘he became serious.’

Q.2. The meaning of the word ‘transpired’ is …………….
A. ‘was disclosed.’ B. ‘was forgotten.’
C. ‘was decided.’ D. ‘was ignored.’