VIBGYOR High

First Term Examination

2018 – 2019
ENGLISH LITERATURE
ANSWER KEY
Grade: VI Max. Marks: 80

Date: 18/09/18 Time Allowed: 2 hours

INSTRUCTIONS:

 Answers to this paper must be written on the paper provided separately.

 You will not be allowed to write during the first 15 minutes.
 This time is to be spent in reading the question paper.
 The time given at the head of this paper is the time allowed for writing the
answers.
 The intended marks for the questions or parts of questions are given
alongside the questions in brackets [ ].
 Attempt any FIVE questions in all. Note that Q5 has internal option.
_______________________________________________________________________________

SECTION A
(POETRY)

Question 1: Read the extract given below and answer the following questions: [16]

Ay, they heard his foot upon the stirrup,

And the sound of iron on stone;
And how the silence surged softly backward;
When the plunging hoofs were gone

a. Name the poem and the poet from which the above extract is taken. How do the
listeners respond to the traveller?
The name of the poem is ‘Listeners’ and the poet is Walter De La Mare. In
spite of the traveller knocking at the door, the listeners did not stir. [3]
b. What is the ‘sound of iron on stone’ mean? [3]
The animal's iron horseshoes make a distinct sound against the stone.
c. Describe the house and surroundings.

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 The house is located in a forest where there are ferns on the ground. The
house has a turret, which is a small round tower that may or may not
contain a spiralling staircase. Spooky haunted house.
Personal Response. Accept all relevant answers. [3]
d. What image do these lines conjure in your mind? [3]
Finally, the property features some kind of stone walkway or driveway
outside, because as the traveller leaves on horseback, the animal's iron
horseshoes make a distinct sound against the stone
e. Put yourself in the traveller’s shoes. How would you feel in that house? Explain
why.
Personal response [4]

Question 2: Read the extract given below and answer the following questions: [16]
MATILDA told such Dreadful Lies,
It made one Gasp and Stretch one’s Eyes;
Her Aunt, who, from her Earliest Youth,
Had kept a Strict Regard for Truth,
Attempted to Believe Matilda:
The effort very nearly killed her,
And would have done so, had not She
Discovered this Infirmity.

a. What was Matilda’s infirmity? Give two adjectives that you could use to describe
Matilda. [3]
Matilda’s infirmity was her habit of lying.
Lying, untruthful, deceptive or any other appropriate adjectives.
b. What did Matilda’s aunt feel about the habit of lying? Explain.
Matilda’s aunt was truthful. She had high regard for truth.
c. What was the dreadful lie told by Matilda and describe the outcome? [3]
Matilda made a prank call to the fire brigade saying that her house was on fire.
One day when she was alone at home a real fire breaks down. People did not
believe Matilda when she shouted to tell them about the real fire. [3]
d. What advice would you give to Matilda? [3]
Personal response
e. How do you think the fire fighters felt when they found out that there was no fire?
Was their reaction justified? Elaborate. [4]
Personal response

Question 3: Read the extract given below and answer the following questions: [16]
Behind him lay the gray Azores,
Behind the Gates of Hercules;
Before him not the ghost of shores,
Before him only shoreless seas.

a. Whom does “him” refer to in the first line? What does the author mean by ‘shoreless
seas’? Identify the figure of speech ‘My men grew mutinous’.

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 Christopher Columbus is “him” in the first line. Sea where land is not in view
for miles and miles. Alliteration. [3]
b. Why are the mate and crew scared? Choose one word to describe the mate and
crew?
They feared that the ship was lost and was heading into unknown waters. [2]
The mate and crew – scared, timid, nervous (any one ) [1]
c. Why do the crew grow mutinous day by day? [3]
They have been sailing since long and are slowly losing their will to proceed
since the shore seems nowhere in sight.
d. What is the theme of the poem? [3]
The theme of the poem is Perseverance. Columbus was a brave and persistent
explorer who had an immense will power and perseverance. He succeeds
because he is persistent even when his crew wants to turn back.
e. Does the Admiral remind you of any characters from books or movies? Why? [4]
Personal response

SECTION B
(PROSE)
Question 4: Read the extract given below and answer the following questions: [16]

It was so old that Red’s father couldn’t tell Red when it had been built. It didn’t have a crack
or a rough spot in it. Red said, “Can you keep a secret?” “Sure, Red. What kind of a
secret?” “ Just a secret. Maybe I’ll tell you and maybe I won’t. I don’t know yet.” Red broke
a long, supple stem from a fern they pass, methodically stripped it of its leaflets and swung
what was left whip-fashion.

a. Why do you think Slim and Red were out so early in the morning? [3]
Red wanted to share a secret with Slim and show him the creatures that he
had caught and caged to use them in the circus
b. What is the secret that Red wants to share with Slim? [3]
Red wanted to show him the creatures that he had caught and caged, so as to
use them in the circus
c. Describe the setting. [3]
Cool country side, grass with dew drops, low hills, early morning time and the
sun rising.
d. What would you like to be when you grow up? [3]
Personal response
e. Write a character sketch of Red. [4]

The points that need to be covered are:

• Physical appearance of the character. [1]
• Character’s background. [1]
• Character’s thoughts and actions. [1]

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 • Reader’s opinion. [1]

Question 5: Read the extract given below and answer the following questions: [16]
She knew they thought they coin large enough to buy the world with. She knew they
thought they remembered warmness, like a blushing in the face, in the body, in the arms
and legs and trembling hands. But then they always awoke to the tatting drum, the endless
shaking down of clear bead necklaces upon the root, the walk, the gardens, the forests and
their dreams were gone.

a. Who is the ‘she’ mentioned in the extract above. Why is she different from the
others?
a) ‘She’ is mentioned for Margot who is a nine year old girl. She is different
from others because in that classroom she is the only one from planet Earth whereas
other children had been living on planet Venus since many years. So, Margot stood
apart from those children who could ever remember a time where there wasn’t rain,
rain and rain.

b. Where did they live and what was the weather like on that planet? [3]
b) They lived on planet Venus, and they were the children of the rocket men and
women who had come to a raining world to set up civilization and live out their lives.
On that planet, there had not been a single day when there wasn’t rain. It was seven
years ago, when the sun came out for an hour and showed its face to the world. A
thousand forests had been crushed under the rain and grown up a thousand times to
be crushed again. And this was the way of life on the planet Venus.

c. Why are the other children unable to remember the sun? [3]
The other children are unable to remember the sun as they could never remember a
time on that planet when there wasn’t rain, rain and rain. It was seven years ago,
when the sun came out just for an hour so they couldn’t recall.
d. Classify the following examples as Simile or Metaphor: [3]
d) (i) I think the sun is a flower that blooms for just one hour. Metaphor
(ii) The children pressed to each other like so many roses. Simile
(iii) Her heart is like a flower. Simile

e. What was the reaction of the children after seeing the sun? What would the other
children tell Margot after she stepped out of the closet? [4]
e) After seeing the sun the children ran among the trees, they slipped and fell, they
pushed each other, they played hide-and-seek and tag, but most of all they squinted
at the sun until the tears ran down their faces; they put their hand upto that
yellowness and that amazing blueness and they breathed of the fresh air and
listened to the silence to the silence which suspended them in a blessed sea of no
sound and no motion.
Personal response . [3]
OR
"Hey, everyone, let’s put her in a closet before the teacher comes!" "No," said Margot,
falling back. They surged about her, caught her up and bore her, protesting, and then

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pleading, and then crying, back into a tunnel, a room, a closet, where they slammed and
locked the door.
a. What was going to happen on that particular day? Why was everyone discussing
about the sun? [3]
a) After seven years of heavy rains, it was finally the time when the sun was going to
rise on planet Venus for an hour. These were the children of rocket men and women
who had come to a raining world to set up a civilization on planet Venus. They were
discussing whether the sun will actually be seen on that particular day or not and
whether the scientists knew about it or not.

b. Why did the other children shut Margot in a closet? [3]

b) The other children shut Margot in a closet because she had come from planet
Earth only five years ago, and she remembered how the sun was and how the sky
was when she was four. This was also because she wouldn’t play any games with
them or sing any songs along with them in the class. There was a talk that her father
and mother were taking her back to Earth next year. And so the children hated her
for all these reasons.

c. What happened next? [3]

c) After the children locked Margot in the closet, they went out and back down the
tunnel. The rain had stopped and the sun came out. It was the colour of flaming
bronze and it was very large. And the jungle burned with sunlight as the children,
released from their spell, rushed out yelling into the spring time.

d. Write a brief character sketch of Margot. [3]

d) The points that need to be covered are:
• Physical appearance of the character.
• Character’s background.
• Character’s thoughts and actions.
• Reader’s opinion.
e. Imagine what might have happened when Margot stepped out of the closet.
What would she have said or done? [4]
e) Personal response

Question 6: Read the extract given below and answer the following questions: [16]

First time experiencing locomotion! They had screened the trap with a lot of foliage, so
that I might not see the bullocks or the driver; they had some irrational fear that if I saw
them, I might want to eat them up.
a. Name the lesson from which the excerpt has been taken. Who are ‘they’’ ïn the story?
‘A Tiger for Malgudi’ written by R K Narayan. They are humans. [3]
b. What does the tiger mean when he says that he was experiencing locomotion for the
first time?
He has been trapped by humans and is travelling on a vehicle. [3]
c. What was the irrational fear that the tiger is talking about? Why is he calling the fear as
‘irrational’? [3]
The tiger is talking about the people who are irrationally scared of him without
realising that he is in a cage and cannot harm them.

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d. What does ‘screened’ mean? Make sentence using the word ‘foliage’. [3]
Hidden/ Covered.
Personal response.
e. What kind of life did the tiger lead? Which habit did he get into once he was in human
company? [4]
The tiger was used to the grand silence and the vastness of the jungle before he
was caught. He felt cramped and restricted in the cage.
He got into the habit of being noisy both audibly and in his mind, constantly
talking just like the humans do.