LITERATURE IN ENGLISH

BIRCHES
I. Choose the correct option after each question:
1. Who has written the poem, Birches?
a. Matthew Arnold
b. Thomas Hardy
c. Robert Frost
d. Carol Ann Duffy

2. What are birches?

a. Plants
b. Bushes
c. Trees
d. Birds

3. In the poem, what does the speaker like to think causes the branches to bend?
a. The wind blowing
b. A boy swinging on them
c. The rain
d. The weight of ice from an ice storm

4. In actuality, what causes the branches to bend?

a. The weight of ice from an ice storm
b. A boy swinging on them
c. Thunderstorm
d. The sun’s warm rays

5. As the sun rises, what falls from the birches?

a. Snow
b. Dew
c. Water
d. Leaves

6. Who is the speaker in the poem?

a. A young girl
b. A man reflecting upon his boyhood
c. A cow
d. A little boy

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7. Identify the figure of speech in the line, “they click upon themselves.”
a. Personification
b. Metaphor
c. Onomatopoeia
d. Simile

8. How do the pieces of ice on the ground appear to the poet?

a. Rain drops
b. Pearls
c. Broken glass
d. None of the options

9. Which word from the poem means ‘coarse fern’?

a. Bracken
b. Arching
c. Birches
d. Arching

10. What are the arched trunks with the trailing leaves compared to?
a. Like the pain one takes to fill a cup
b. Like the inner dome of heaven had fallen
c. Like girls on hands and knees drying their hair in the sun
d. Like a young boy learning to play baseball

11. “But I was going to say when Truth broke in, With all her matter of fact about the ice storm.”
Identify the figure of speech in this line.
a. Onomatopoeia
b. Metaphor
c. Alliteration
d. Personification

12. What game does the young boy love to play?

a. Baseball
b. Football
c. Whatever he could find to entertain himself
d. Fetching cows

13. With what care does the boy climb the birch tree?
a. With the precision of one climbing a steep mountain
b. With the same care one uses to dry hair in the sun
c. With the same care one might use when slowly filling a cup to the brim
d. With the same care one uses to fetch cows

14. What does the speaker dream of going back to be?

a. A baseball player
b. A space traveller
c. A young boy
d. A swinger of birches

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15. Under what circumstances does the speaker want to escape from earth?
a. When he becomes overwhelmed by responsibilities of life
b. When he sees a birch tree
c. When he misses his childhood days
d. When he sees girls drying their hair

16. For how long would the speaker want to get away from earth?
a. For some months
b. For a while
c. Till reality sets in
d. Till fate wills otherwise

17. Why does the speaker say, “May no fate wilfully misunderstand me”?
a. He doesn’t want fate to leave him in the woods
b. He doesn’t want to climb the birch tree
c. He is afraid of life’s responsibilities
d. He is afraid of fate granting him death

18. As per the speaker, which place seems to be the right one for love
a. Rural England
b. Woods
c. Earth
d. Space

19. What does the act of swinging birches symbolise?

a. The jump from one birch tree to another
b. The alternation between reality and imagination
c. The nostalgia of days gone by
d. The reality of life

II. Read the lines given below and answer the questions that follow by choosing the correct
option after each:

He learned all there was

To learn about not launching out too soon
And so not carrying the tree away
Clear to the ground. He always kept his poise
To the top branches, climbing carefully
With the same pains you use to fill a cup
Up to the brim, and even above the brim.

(i) Who is the “he” being referred to in the given lines?

a. Robert Frost
b. A young boy
c. A middle aged man
d. The poet’s friend

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(ii) Why did “he” spend time in climbing birch trees?
a. He did not know how to play baseball
b. He wanted to pluck fruits
c. He was far away from town and could play alone
d. He was practising for a game

(iii) Which of the following words in the poem means ‘balance’?

a. Trailing
b. Arching
c. Poise
d. Launching

(iv) “He learned all there was to learn” suggests that:

a. swinging of birches is a fun activity.
b. he was forced by his father to swing from one birch tree to another.
c. he did not have formal schooling.
d. he was willing to explore a world of possibilities.

III. Fill in the blanks by choosing the most appropriate answer:

(i) In the poem, the earth symbolises ___________________.

a. a world of fantasy
b. an ideal world
c. a world of responsibilities
d. a world of dreams

(ii) Loaded with ice a _________________ morning.

a. sunny winter
b. cool winter
c. hot summer
d. hot

(iii) The figure of speech in the line, “And life is too much like a pathless wood” is
____________.
a. metaphor
b. simile
c. personification
d. alliteration

(iv) And climb black branches up a _____________ trunk.

a. hard
b. dark brown
c. withered
d. snow-white

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