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CBSE Class 9 English Language and Literature

Moments Chapter-8 A House is Not a Home
Test Paper-01

Read The Passage and Answer the following Questions:

Passage - 01

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1. My first year of high school felt awkward. After leaving junior high at the head of my
class with all the seniority the upper grade levels could afford me, it felt strange starting
over as a freshman.

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The school was twice as big as my old school, and to make matters worse, my closest

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friends were sent to a different high school. I felt very isolated. I missed my old teachers
so much that I would go back and visit them.
a. Why was the narrator feeling awkward?
b. Why did the narrator feel strange?
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c. Why was the author sent to a new school?
d. How would his old teachers encourage him?
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Passage - 02

2. My mother. then ran out of the house carrying a small metal box full of important
documents. She dropped the case on the lawn and, in a crazed state, ran back into the
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house. I knew what she was after. My father had died when I was young, and I was
certain that she was not going to let his pictures and letters go up in flames. They were
the only things that she had to remember him by. Still I screamed at her, “Mom! No!”
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a. What happened to the author’s house?

b. Why did the author love his cat so much?
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c. Why did his mother run out of the house?

d. What things did she want to save from the fire?

Short Answer type Question (30 – 40 words)

3. What did the author and his mother do on seeing the fire?
4. Why did his mother rush back to the house?
5. The author felt isolated and sad in his new school. Why?

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 6. What did the author notice when he was sitting in the dining room?
7. How did his old teachers encourage and advice the narrator?
8. What did the author get from his new schoolmates?

Long Answer type Questions (100 -150 words)

9. Describe the reaction of the author and his mother on seeing the fire?

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10. How did the author’s friends help him in rebuilding his life?

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 CBSE Class 9 English Language and Literature
Moments Chapter-8 A House is Not a Home
Test Paper-01

Answers

1. a. The narrator was feeling awkward as it was his first day in high school and he was

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alone.
b. He was feeling strange because he was new at the high school and was unsure of what
would happen there.

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c. He was sent to a new high school as he had completed his junior school.
d. His old teachers encouraged him to participate in school activities and make new

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friends there.

2. a. The author’s house caught fire and everything was destroyed.

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b. He had rescued the cat when it was a kitten and brought it home. Gradually he got
attached to the cat.
c. His mother ran out of the house carrying a metal box which had some important
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documents. She wanted to save the important things from the fire.
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d. She wanted to save the letters and pictures of her husband who had died. She had
only those things as a memory.
3. On seeing the fire, both of them got worried and rushed here and there. The author
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requested the neighbors to call the firemen. His mother rushed into the house and tried
to save the important documents and letters and pictures of her husband, who had died.
4. She had already carried a metal box which had all the important documents. But she
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rushed back again to save the memories of her late husband from getting destroyed in
the fire.
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5. The author felt sad and isolated in high school because all his friends from junior school
had moved to some other schools and he was all alone and was unsure of what would
happen there.
6. The author, while doing his homework, noticed the smoke pouring in through the seams
of the ceiling. Soon the room was filled with smoke. He along with his mother rushed out
to save their lives.
7. The narrator was still haunted by the memories of his old school. He missed his friends

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 and old teachers badly. The teachers would encourage and advise him to adjust
according to the environment and make new friends at high school.
8. Everyone in the new high school got to know about the fire incident that happened with
the narrator. His schoolmates helped him in every possible way . They provided him
books, bag, food and clothes.
9. One day while doing his homework, the author noticed smoke coming out of his house.
The whole house was filled with smoke because of fire. He and his mother rushed out.

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The fire spread quickly. He requested the neighbors to call the firemen. His mother went
inside the house and came out with a metal box that had their important documents in it.
She threw the box there and rushed back again. The author was terrified on seeing this.

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But he also knew that his mother had gone inside to save the memories of his father who

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had died when he was very young. The author tried to run after his mother but the
fireman stopped him from doing so. Another fireman brought his mother out of the
house safely. Both of them got worried on seeing their house on fire because they had lost
everything.
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10. The author’s friends played a vital role in rebuilding his life which was destroyed
because his house caught fire. The author had already lost his father when he was very
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young. His mother looked after him. They lost everything in that fire. The author joined a
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new high school but did not feel good there as he missed his old friends and teachers. He
kept visiting his old teachers who, in return, would encourage him to be active in his new
school. After the fire incident, when he went to school, he found everybody behaving
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strangely. But to his surprise, his schoolmates had arranged every necessary item that he
needed. They had come to know about his situation so they wanted to help him in every
possible way. The author felt happy again and lost his feelings of isolation and insecurity
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and was happy once again.

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 CBSE Class 9 English Language and Literature
Moments Chapter-8 A House is Not a Home
Test Paper-02

Read The Passage and Answer the following Questions:

Passage - 01

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1. Five hours later, the fire was finally out. Our house was almost completely burned down.
But then it struck me ... I hadn’t seen my cat. Where was my cat? Much to my horror, I
realized that she was nowhere to be found. Then all at once it hit me - the new school, the

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fire, my cat — I broke down in tears and cried and cried. I was suffering loss, big time.

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a. Why did the fireman stop the author?
b. What was the author feeling when he hugged her mother?
c. Where did the cat go?
d. Why did he break down in tears?
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Passage - 02
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2. The next day, Monday, I went to school. When the fire broke out, I was still wearing the
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dress I had worn to church that morning but I had no shoes! I had kicked them off when I
was doing my homework. They became yet another casualty of the fire. So I had to
borrow some tennis shoes from my aunt. Why couldn’t I just stay home from school? My
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mother wouldn’t hear of it, but I was totally embarrassed by everything. The clothes I
was wearing looked weird, I had no books or homework, and my backpack was gone.
a. Where did the author and his mother go that night?
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b. Why was he not ready to leave that place?

c. Why was he still in the church clothes?
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d. Why did the author feel embarrassed?

Short Answer type Question (30 – 40 words)

3. How did the narrator react when he discovered that his cat was missing?
4. Why did the author keep visiting the remains of his house?
5. What did the author get from his new schoolmates?
6. Why did the narrator feel awkward during the first year of his new high school?

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 7. What was ‘yet another causality of the fire’?
8. Why did the narrator walk around the school like a ‘zombie’?

Long Answer type Questions (100 -150 words)

9. How did a ‘wonderful’ woman bring happiness back in the life of the author?
10. How apt is the title ‘A House is not a Home’? Explain.

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 CBSE Class 9 English Language and Literature
Moments Chapter-8 A House is Not a Home
Test Paper-02

Answers

1. a. The fireman stopped the author as he was trying to run after his mother towards the

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house which was engulfed in fire.
b. When he hugged his mother, all his hatred vanished at the thought of losing her.
c. The fire created a chaos. Everybody was running here and there to save whatever

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they could. The cat got frightened and ran away to some safe place.
d. The author broke down on seeing the condition of his house. He had lost almost

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everything in that fire.
2. a. They both went to the author’s grandparent’s house that night.
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b. The author was not ready to leave that place because he had lost everything in that
fire. Even his cat was missing.
c. He was wearing the clothes that he had worn to the church that day when the fire
broke out.It all happened suddenly and he lost everything in the fire.
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d. The author felt embarrassed because his clothes looked shabby and he was wearing
the shoes that he had borrowed from his aunt.
3. The fire was finally controlled after five hours. The house was completely destroyed. In
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this chaos, the narrator didn’t realize that his loving cat was missing from there. He
broke down in tears and did not want to leave without knowing whether his cat was alive
or dead.
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4. He kept visiting the house when it was being cleared of the debris. He was still hopeful to
find his missing cat there. He thought she might return there someday. He could not
accept the fact that he had lost his loving cat.
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5. The new schoolmates gave many things to the author. They had a lot of sympathy for him
when they came to know that he had lost his house in fire. They all contributed and
collected school supplies, clothes and other necessary items for him.
6. The narrator felt awkward during the first year of high school. He was the head of his
class at the junior school. The new school was twice the bigger than his old school. His
closest friends had moved to another school. He missed them and his teachers there.

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 7. The next day after the fire, the narrator was to go to the school. He realized that he had
no shoes as they also got burnt with the house. It looked that the shoes were ‘yet another
causality of the fire’. So he had to borrow shoes from his aunt.
8. The author walked around the new school like a zombie. Everything seemed surreal. He
was not sure of what would happen there. He felt very insecure. He was disturbed
because he had lost his home, he had lost his cat also and he was missing his old friends
and teachers.

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9. The author loved his cat very much.He lost it when his house caught fire. He tried to find
his cat everywhere but failed. After a month had passed, one day, a woman came to him
with his cat. He could not believe his eyes. He grabbed his cat and started jumping. This

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wonderful woman somehow found the author and handed over the cat to him. On seeing

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the collar and the phone number written on it, she realized that the cat was loved and
missed. She was a good lady and could feel the pain of the owner of the cat. The author
called her wonderful as getting the cat back was no less than a wonder for him.
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10. Human relationships are based on love. The title itself indicates it clearly that a house is
not a home without love. The author had to face difficult situations in his life. His father
died when he was very young. His mother took care of him alone. He led a very simple
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life with his friends and teachers. But when he changes from junior to high school, all his
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friends move to other schools. He could not adjust in the new environment. He felt
isolated. Later his house caught fire and he lost almost everything including his cat. He
was no more interested in spending a happy life. He was not happy in his new home but
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when was reunited with his cat, made new friends in high school and things started to
fall in place, he was a happy boy once again and this made his house a home again.
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 CBSE Class 9 English Language and Literature
Moments Chapter-8 A House is Not a Home
Test Paper-03

Read The Passage and Answer the following Questions:

Passage - 01

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1. That week the rubble that used to be our house was being cleared off the lot. Even though
we had rented an apartment nearby, I would go over to watch them clear away debris,
hoping that my cat was somewhere to be found. She was gone. I kept thinking about her

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as that vulnerable little kitten. In the early morning when I would disturb her and get out

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of bed, she would tag along after me, climb up my robe and crawl into my pocket to fall
asleep. I was missing her terribly.\
a. Why did they rent an apartment?
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b. Why was the author shocked to see what remained of his home?
c. Why did they have to borrow money from their grandparents?
d. Whom did the author miss so terribly?
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Passage - 02

2. The next day at school, people were acting even more strange than usual. I was getting
ready for gym class at my locker. People were milling around me, asking me to hurry up.
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I thought it strange, but in the light of the past few weeks, nothing would surprise me. It
almost seemed that they were trying to shove me into the gym — then I saw why.
a. Why did the author find his schoolmates behavior a little weird?
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b. Why did he feel embarrassed?

c. Where did the schoolmates take the author to?
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d. Why were the people acting strange?

Short Answer type Question (30 – 40 words)

3. “Does this belong to you?” Who said these words and why?
4. Why did all the arguments and hatred that the author held towards his mother vanish?
5. Why did the author visit his old school teachers?
6. “Was I destined to be an outcast and a geek all my life?” - Why did the author think so?

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 7. Why did the fireman stop the author from going after his mother?
8. After the house was destroyed in fire, where did the author and his mother go?

Long Answer type Questions (100 -150 words)

9. “My cat was back and so was I”. What does the author want to convey through these
lines?

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10. How did his schoolmates revive his hope of bringing back his life?

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 CBSE Class 9 English Language and Literature
Moments Chapter-8 A House is Not a Home
Test Paper-03

Answers

1. a. As they had lost their house in fire, they needed a place to live. So they rented an

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apartment nearby so that they can reconstruct their house.
b. The author was shocked to see what remained after the fire because they had lost
almost everything in that fire.

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c. The fire destroyed everything. They had to borrow money from his grandparents buy
some basic essentials.

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d. The author terribly missed his old school friends and teachers.
2. a. The author found their behavior a little weird because they all had gathered around
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him and seemed as if they wanted to do something to him.
b. He looked shabby in his clothes and was wearing shoes that he had borrowed from
his aunt. All this made him feel embarrassed.
c. The schoolmates took author to the gym in the school where they had arranged some
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necessary items for him, which he had lost in the fire.

d. They were acting strange because they were milling around the author and were
asking him to hurry up.
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3. The author had lost his cat. He missed it very much. One day someone came from behind
and said ’Does this belong to you? ’ He could not believe his eyes. He saw a woman
standing behind him holding his favorite cat in her hands.
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4. When the author’s mother went inside the burning house, he was terrified to see that. But
the fireman rescued her. He hugged her and all the hatred vanished at the thought of
losing her.
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5. He missed them badly when he moved to his new high school. All his old friends and
teachers were left behind. He visited them time and again to overcome his insecurities
that he was having in the new environment.
6. The author had such feelings because of his current situation. The clothes that he wore
looked weird. He had borrowed shoes from his aunt. He had no books, not even a
bagpack.The more he tried to fit in, the worse it got. It looked as if he was destined to be

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 an outcast and a geek all his life.
7. The whole house was on fire. The author’s mother rushed back to collect whatever she
could lay her hands on. The author got afraid on seeing his mother run into the burning
house. He tried to run after her but the fireman stopped him from doing so.
8. The author and his mother saw their house convert into debris in front of their eyes.
They had lost almost everything in the fire. They had no place to live now. So they had to
go to the author’s grandparent’s house.

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9. The author felt that life without love and affection is useless. He was depressed because
of so many adverse situations in his life. He had already lost his father when he was very
young. His mother had to take care of him all alone. He was leading a very simple life. He

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had completed his junior school and moved to a new high school. But was unable to

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adjust in the new environment. He missed his friends and teachers from junior school.
He felt isolated. Then a fire in his house led to the situation being worst. They lost almost
everything in that fire. He lost his cat also. With all such circumstances around him, he
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lost interest in life and felt depressed. At the end, as he got reunited with his cat, and
gradually the things at school also started improving, he revived the hope that things will
start changing.
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10. The author had lost his house and belongings in the fire. Almost everything was burnt in
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that fire. Their clothes, money, book everything. During that time only, the author had
moved to a new high school. He was alone in that school because his friends from junior
school had shifted to another school. He badly missed his old friends and teachers. So
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much that he visited them time and again. His old teachers encouraged him to make new
friends. But he felt very insecure and isolated. He had lost all his hope in life. He had lost
his cat also. He would roam aimlessly in his new school. His schoolmates also came to
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know about his loss. They all contribute and gathered basic necessity items like clothes,
books, food for him and helped him in every possible way. This gesture from his
schoolmates helped him revive his hope in life.
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 CBSE Class 9 English Language and Literature
Moments Chapter-8 A House is Not a Home
Test Paper-04

Read The Passage and Answer the following Questions:

Passage - 01

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1. A month later, I was at my house watching them rebuild it. But this time it was different
— I wasn’t alone. I was with two of my new friends from school. It took a fire for me to
stop focusing on my feelings of insecurity and open up to all the wonderful people

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around me. Now I was sitting there watching my house being rebuilt when I realized my

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life was doing the same thing.
a. What was the author watching?
b. Who accompanied him?
c. Why did he take a sigh of relief?
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d. What was happening to his life now?

Passage - 02
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2. Apparently, my cat had been so freaked by the fire that she ran over a mile away. Her
collar had our phone number on it, but our phones had been destroyed and
disconnected. This wonderful woman took her in and worked hard to find out whose cat
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it was. Somehow, she knew this cat was loved and sorely missed.
a. Why did the cat run away?
b. Who helped the author to get back his cat?
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c. How did the woman bring back the cat?

d. Why was there a sense of gratitude in the author’s thoughts?
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Short Answer type Question (30 – 40 words)

3. How was the author’s day when he went to school after the incident?
4. What all things his family lost in the fire?
5. Why did everything seem surreal to the author?
6. Why did he visit the burnt house when it was being cleared of the rubble?
7. Why did the author had a feeling that everybody at the school would make fun of him?

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 8. How did his schoolmates help the author to gather his life once again?

Long Answer type Questions (100 -150 words)

9. At the end of the story, how did the author’s understanding of life and people change?
10. Describe the role played by the author’s friends in rebuilding his life.

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 CBSE Class 9 English Language and Literature
Moments Chapter-8 A House is Not a Home
Test Paper-04

Answers

1. a. The author was watching his house being rebuilt.

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b. Two of his new friends from high school accompanied the author.
c. The genuine outpouring of concern from his schoolmates made him think that
everything is going to be alright now. So he took a sigh of relief.

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d. After all the things getting into place once again, his life was getting better.
2. a. The cat got frightened when it saw the fire and ran away.

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b. A woman who had found the cat with a collar and a number written on it brought it
back to the author.
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c. The woman saw a number written on the cat’s collar. She knew that it was
somebody’s cat. So she somehow managed to find out its owner.
d. He felt gratitude for his life, his new friends, and the kindness of a stranger and the
loud purr of his beloved cat.
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3. The day after the fire incident when the author went to his new school, he was
completely lost. He could not understand what would happen with him there. He was
depressed and missed his cat, his old friends and teachers.
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4. The family lost almost everything in that fire. Their clothes, money, the furniture in the
house. The author lost his books, his bag pack and his shoes also. The author lost his cat
that he loved so much.
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5. Everything felt surreal to the author. He wasn’t sure what was going to happen. All the
security he had known, from his old school, his friends, his house and his cat had all been
ripped away.
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6. He visited the burnt house when it was being cleared of the rubble in the hope that his
cat was somewhere to be found. She was gone. He kept thinking about her as that
vulnerable little kitten.
7. The author had a feeling that everybody would make fun of him because everything was
just disturbed. The clothes he was wearing looked weird, he had no books or homework,
and even his backpack was gone. He was wearing shoes borrowed from his aunt.

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 8. When he went to the school the next day, he felt everybody was behaving strangely. They
all gathered around him and hurried him to a gym in the school. He was surprised to see
that his schoolmates had contributed and gathered necessary supplies for him.
9. The author’s life had completely changed after the fire incident. The author was a
teenager now and had all sorts of changes in his life. He moved to a new high school
where he met new people. But due to the circumstances that were happening in his life,
he had lost all his hope .He felt that that was the end of good things. He missed his home

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that was destroyed in the fire, his cat was lost, and he missed his old school friends and
teachers. Everything had just gone wrong. But when everyone in high school, including
the teachers, was aware of his plight. They surprised him with all kinds of stuff. They had

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taken up a collection and bought him school supplies, notebooks, all kinds of different

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clothes. Their genuine outpouring of concern really touched him and his understanding
towards life changed once again.
10. The author’s friends and new schoolmates played a vital role in rebuilding his faith in
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life. He was a fatherless boy. His mother looked after him. He had a cat with him and he
loved her very much. When his caught fire, he lost everything in it. He went to new high
school but did not feel good there too. He kept visiting his old school friends and teachers.
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His life had become dull. He had lost all hopes to live. But after the fire incident when he
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went to the school the next day, everything seemed a bit strange to him. All his
schoolmates gathered around him and asked him to hurry up and accompany them to the
gym. They provided him with all necessary things. They also invited him to their homes.
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They helped in sorting his life again and this helped him rebuild his life.
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