4

ENGLISH
2023-24 Summer of The
Beautiful White Horse
Soumi

1. Read the extracts given below and answer the following questions by choosing the
correct option.

A. One day back there in the good old days when I was nine and the world was full of every
imaginable kind of magnificence, and life was still a delightful and mysterious dream, my
cousin Mourad, who was considered crazy by everybody who knew him except me, came
to my house at four in the morning and woke me up tapping on the window of my room.
Aram, he said. I jumped out of bed and looked out of the window. I couldn’t believe what
I saw. It wasn’t morning yet, but it was summer and with daybreak not many minutes
around the corner of the world it was light enough for me to know I wasn’t dreaming. My
cousin Mourad was sitting on a beautiful white horse. I stuck my head out of the window
and rubbed my eyes.

i. Why does the narrator call his childhood ‘good old days’?

a) Because life was full of imagination.

b) Because life was a delight.

c) Because there were no worries of life.

d) All of the above

ii. Why did the narrator rub his eyes?

a) Because he couldn’t believe what he saw.

b) Because he was feeling sleepy.

c) Because his eyes were itching.

d) Because he had been crying all night.

iii. The opening lines of the extract depict ………….

a) the beauty of white horse

b) the beauty of life

 c) the beauty of childhood

d) the beauty of summer morning

iv. ‘Mourad, who was considered crazy’ is an example of

a) a belief

b) an opinion

c) a myth

d) a fallacy

B. This was the wonderful part. In the second place, we were poor. This was the part that
wouldn’t permit me to believe what I saw. We were poor. We had no money. Our whole
tribe was poverty stricken. Every branch of the Garoghlanian family was living in the
most amazing and comical poverty in the world. Nobody could understand where we
every got money enough to keep us with food in our bellies, not even the old men of the
family.

(i) ‘This was a wonderful part.’ Here ‘this’ refers to

a) his cousin Mourad sneaking in his house

b) his desire to own a horse getting fulfilled

c) his cousin Mourad with a horse

d) his desire to ride a horse getting fulfilled

(ii) Why could’t the narrator believe what he saw?

a) Because no one in their family owned a horse

b) Because no one in the family could afford a horse

c) Because no one from their family would steal a horse

d) Because no one knew about the horse

(iii) When the narrators of the given lines says that ‘Garoghlanian family was living in
the most amazing and comical poverty in the world’ his tone is

a) Sarcastic

b) Suspicious

c) Humorous
 d) Serious

2. Choose the correct option to answer the following questions ( MOTS and HOTS)

I. What did Aram think about Mourad’s action of riding a stolen horse?

(A) Delighted (B) Frightened (C) Both A and B (D) None of these

II. Which among the following was NOT the trait of Garoghlanian tribe?

(i) Honesty (ii) Greed (iii) Believed in right and wrong (iv) Stealing (v) Deception

(A) (i), (ii), (v)

(B) (i), (iii), (iv)

(C) (i), (ii), (iii)

(D) (ii), (iv), (v)

III. Q. 14. Find the statement which is NOT true about uncle Khosrove.

(A) Uncle Khosrove was short-tempered.

(B) Uncle Khosrove was a short man with black hair.

(C) Uncle Khosrove had the largest moustache in the San Joaquin Valley.

(D) Uncle Khosrove was an irritable man

(iv) Choose the correct option with reference to the two statements given below.
Statement 1 The author finds the beliefs of his tribe to be ridiculous.
Statement 2 His firm belief in his honesty does not let him believe that Mourad had
stolen a horse.
(a) Statement 1 is true but Statement 2 is false.
(b) Statement 1 is false but Statement 2 is true.
(c) Both Statement 1 and Statement 2 cannot be inferred.
(d) Both Statement 1 and Statement 2 can be inferred

(v)Choose the option that applies correctly to the two statements given below.
Assertion- Uncle Khosrove was preoccupied with the loss of his homeland.
Reason- Uncle Khosrove also believed that the land where they lived used to belong to
them. (a) Assertion can be inferred but the Reason cannot be inferred.
(b) Assertion cannot be inferred but the Reason can be inferred.
(c) Both Assertion and Reason can be inferred.
(d) Both Assertion and Reason cannot be inferred.
3. Answer the following questions based on your understanding of the text.

A. What was common between Mourad and Aram? In what respect did they differ from
each other?

B. Why was the sight of Mourad’s horse both delightful and frightening for Aram?

C. Why did the narrator say that the spirit of his tribe was being capricious and vagrant?

4. Answer the following questions based on your understanding the text.

A. Aram justified the act of stealing the horse as he didn’t considerate to be stealing. In
fact he was Mourad’s partner in crime. What would you have done in such situation?

B. “ We are nothing but a set of values.” Discuss the statement with reference to the story,
‘The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse.’