SHORT
ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
‘FLAMINGO’
Q. What was Franz expected to be prepared
for school that day?
Ans. Franz was expected to be prepared on the
topic of ‘participles’ for school that day. But
he did not know even the first word about them. So he was under great dread of being scolded by his teacher, M. Hamel.
Q. What did Franz notice that was unusual
about the school that day?
Ans. Franz noticed that it was all so still,
calm and quiet like Sunday school while on other days there used to be a great hustle and bustle which could be
heard out in the street. The opening
and closing of the desks, lesson repeated in unison very loud. But on that day the school looked so strange.
Q. Why
was there a crowd in front of the bulletin board set up at the town hall?
Ans. It was set up for all kinds of information
and news for the public. For the last two years, the people received all the bad news from there like the news of
the lost battles and the orders
of commanding officer etc. When Franz was passing the Town Hall, he saw a large crowd in front of the bulletin board
reading the news which stated that the German would be taught in the districts of Alsace and Lorraine.
Q. How did the teacher describe the French
language?
Or
What was the advice of M. Hamel
about the importance of the French language?
Ans. M. Hamel was very dedicated teacher of
French language. While teaching his last lesson, he touched upon many aspects
of French. He called it the most clear and logical language in the world. He urged all to guard it
and never to forget it. In case they hold fast in their language, they had the key to their prison.
Q. How did M. Hamel teach his last lesson
in the class?
Ans. It was the last day of M. Hamel in school.
He was in his fine dress. The villagers had come
there to pay their last respects. M. Hamel taught his lesson on French so
decently that the students
realized that French is an easy language. At last, he became emotional. He could not speak and dismissed the
school by writing “Viva La France” on the blackboard.
Q. Who is Saheb? What is he looking for in
the garbage dumps and where has he come from?
Ans. Saheb is a rag-picker of Seemapuri. The
writer encounters him every morning scrounging
for gold in the garbage dumps in her neighbourhood. He hails from Dhaka and he had migrated from Bangladesh in 1971.
His house and fields had been destroyed by a storm.
Q. Why do these children remain barefoot?
Ans. Throughout the country the author has seen
many barefoot rag pickers. On asking them
about not wearing chappals, they give many
excuses. One says that his mother has not brought
them down from the shelf. Another points out that he will throw them if she brings. The third one replies that it is an
excuse. It is not the lack of money.
Q. What is the condition of the children
working in the glass factory/furnaces of Firozabad?
Ans. More than 20,000 children are illegally
working in glass blowing factories in Firozabad.
They work around furnaces in high temperatures to weld glasses. They work in dingy cells without light and air.
Their eyes are adjusted to the dark than to the
light outside. Many of them become victims of losing their eye-sight before
they become adults. They work
all day long.
Q. Who is Mukesh? What is his dream?
Ans. Mukesh belongs to the family of bangle
makers in Firozabad where each family is engaged
in bangle making. They live in half built huts. Mukesh says, ‘I will be a motor
mechanic. I will learn to drive a car’.
Thus he wants to be his own master.
Q. ‘Garbage to them is gold’. Why does the
author say so about the rag-pickers?
Ans. More than 10,000 rag-pickers of Seemapuri
live in squatters. For them garbage is gold and
it is wrapped in wonder. Sometimes a child can find a silver coin or more in a
heap of garbage. For the elders it is
a means of survival.
Q. What is the ‘misadventure’ that William
Douglas speaks about?
Ans. One day William Douglas was sitting alone
on side of the Y.M.C.A. pool. He was waiting
for the others to come so that he could start swimming. By chance there came a big boy. He asked, “Hi skinny! How’d
you like to be ducked?” He picked and tossed and
threw him into the deep end of the pool. He speaks about this misadventure, which caused a lot of trouble to him.
Q. How did the drowning experience affect
Douglas?
Ans William Douglas feared water and whenever
he went back to the pool, terror seized him.
He avoided water as far as he could. When he tried to enter water, the stark
fear would seize him. His legs
became paralysed and icy terror would grab his heart.
Q. How did Douglas overcome his fear of
water?
Ans. Douglas was a man of courage, strong
determination. He realized that fear of water has
become his sworn enemy. It was following him everywhere. He decided to get rid of it. Under the guidance of an expert
instructor he learnt swimming and became confident
to face this terror. He dived into the Warm Lake, swam across to the other shore and back. In this way he conquered
his old terror.
Q. What does the mother of Douglas say
about the Y.M.C.A. pool?
Ans. Douglas wanted to learn swimming. His
mother had advised him against his visit to the
Yakima river since it was treacherous in nature. She considered Y.M.C.A. pool
as the safest place because it
was two or three feet at the shallow end and nine feet at the deeper end.
Q. How did the instructor make Douglas a
perfect swimmer?
Ans. The instructor gave Douglas a practice for
five days in a week. In the beginning he put
a belt around him and it was attached to the rope. The rope went through a
pulley that ran on an overhead
cable. Each time his old fear returned. It went on for three months. Then he taught him to put his face
under water and exhale. He taught him to raise
his nose and inhale. Thus, piece by piece the instructor built him a swimmer.
Q. What idea suddenly struck in the mind of
the rattrap peddler?
Ans. One day the peddler was moving along the
road suddenly an idea struck in his mind. He
viewed that the whole world was a big rattrap to trap the people in. It
offered, riches, joys, shelter, food, heat and clothing like the
rattrap offered cheese and pork to tempt the rats.
The world existed only to set baits for the people. Anyone who was tempted to
touch the bait, the rattrap was closed
in on him.
Q. Who was Crofter and how did he welcome
the peddler?
Ans. The Crofter was an old man, who lived alone
in his house. One dark evening the peddler knocked at Crofter’s door to
ask for food and shelter. The crofter was a very hospitable person and offered him supper and bed
to sleep. He also amused him with the game
of ‘mjolis’ before going to bed. He
told the fact that he earned thirty kronor by selling the milk of his cow.
Q. How did the peddler rob the crofter?
Ans. The Crofter was living alone in his house.
So, he needed someone to talk in his loneliness.
That time the peddler reached his house. He welcomed him. The crofter had taken out and stuffed back thirty kronors
in the presence of the peddler. Next morning,
both left the house. After half an hour, the peddler returned, smashed the window pane and stole thirty kronors from the pouch and hung it on its usual
place.
Q. Why did the peddler accept Edla’s
invitation?
Ans. Earlier the ironmaster had tried his best
to invite the peddler to his house for Christmas.
He wanted his company but the peddler declined his offer. So the ironmaster sent his daughter to invite him as
she had better power of persuasion. She looked
at the peddler compassionately. Her friendly manners aroused confidence in him. So he accepted her invitation.
Q. The ironmaster threatened to call the
Sherriff. How did the peddler defend himself?
Ans. The peddler defended himself by appealing that
he was a poor man. He said that the whole
world is nothing but a big rattrap. All the good things that are offered to him were just baits. The baits were
set out to drag a poor man into trouble. In case, the Sherriff came and locked him up, the day was not far when the
ironmaster would himself be trapped.
Q. Why
is Rajkumar Shukla described as being ‘resolute’?
Ans. Rajkumar Shukla is described as being
‘resolute’ because he was fully determined to take
Gandhiji to Bihar. Being an illiterate and poor share-copper from Champaran, he had come to apprise and complain
Gandhiji about the injustice of the land lord system. He accompanied Gandhiji everywhere. Gandhiji
was very much impressed by his tenacity and
fixed a time for Calcutta. Months passed in waiting, Shukla was sitting on his haunches at the fixed place in Calcutta,
till Gandhiji was free. Finally, both boarded a train to Patna.
Q. Why do you think the servants thought
Gandhi to be another peasant?
Ans. Gandhiji and Rajkumar Shukla both reached
the city of Patna. He led Gandhiji to the house
of Rajendra Prasad. He was out of town. His servants knew Shukla as a poor sharecropper from Champaran who troubled
Prasad to take up the cause of indigo. Gandhi
went there with Shukla for the first time. So they took him to be another peasant.
Q. Why did Gandhi have to chide the lawyers
of Muzzafarpur?
Or
Why did Gandhi conclude that the
lawyers should stop going to the courts?
Ans. During his stay at Muzzafarpur Lawyers told
about the cases of poor peasants. They told
about their cases and the size of fee. Gandhi chided them for collecting big
fees from the sharecroppers. He
suggested them to stop going to the law courts. He pointed out that the peasants were poor and fear-stricken.
It was urgent to make them free from
fear.
Q. How did the development of German
synthetic indigo become a source of great trouble
in Champaran?
Ans. The British planters learnt of the
synthetic indigo being prepared in Germany. It was cheaper than the natural indigo. Being not so profitable the
landlords wanted to free the
peasants from the fifteen percent agreement. For this they demanded
compensation. Some signed willingly.
Those who opposed engaged lawyers and the planters hired thugs. The illegal and deceitful collection of money
started the trouble.
Q. How did we know that ordinary people too
contributed to the freedom movement?
Ans. The success of the battle of Champaran,
paved the path of the Indians to participate in the freedom movement. Women gave up their homely comforts and
worked with their leaders. There were
mass movements like freedom struggle, salt movement, Quit India Movement and Satyagraha. The ordinary
people joined at the beck and call of Gandhiji.
Q. Why
did the magistrate release Gandhiji?
Ans Gandhiji pleaded guilty of disobedience.
The peasants held a demonstration around the
court. The Government was confused and the officials were powerless. The peasants were mounting pressure on the
government. So, the magistrate released Gandhiji
without bail.
Q. Why did Gandhiji say, “The battle of Champaran
is won”?
Ans The lawyers had decided to go home, if Gandhiji
went to prison. But Gandhiji asked them
what would become of the injustice to the sharecroppers. The lawyers thought over it and decided that they too would follow
Gandhiji. This was the time that Gandhiji
said that the battle of Champaran was won.
Q. Why did Gandhiji agree to the settlement
of twenty-five percent refund to the peasants?
Ans. Gandhiji had demanded fifty percent refund
from the landlords. The landlords offered only
twenty-five per cent. Gandhiji agreed to the settlement of twenty-five per cent
because according to Gandhiji money was
not important. He had made the Britishers bow
down before the Indian peasants.
Q. How did Indigo sharecropping come to an
end in Champaran?
Ans. Indigo sharecropping came to an end in
Champaran as Germany had developed synthetic Indigo.
Sharecropping was no longer profitable for the British planters. They had to surrender their prestige and money to
the peasants. So, they gave up their estates which came back to the peasants.
Q. Why was Gandhiji summoned to appear in
court?
Ans. Gandhiji went to see a badly treated peasant.
He was served with a notice from the Superintendent
of Police to quit Champaran. Gandhiji received the notice and wrote on it that he would never quit Champaran. As a
result, he was summoned to appear in the
court.
Q. What was the condition of the peasants
before Gandhiji’s arrival in Champaran?
Ans. The peasants were compelled to plant fifteen
per cent of their land with indigo crop and surrender
the entire harvest as rent. When Germany developed synthetic indigo they were asked to give compensation for making
them free from fifteen per cent indigo plantation.
Those who disobeyed were beaten by the hired criminals.
Q. What was the conflict of Gandhiji?
Ans. Gandhiji’s conflict was of discharging the
duties. On one hand, he did not want to set a
bad example by breaking the law. On the other hand he was to listen to the
voice of his conscience and
serve the human beings.
Q. How did Gandhiji regulate the crowd
around the courthouse?
Ans. The officials were powerless as they could
not control the crowd outside the courthouse.
Gandhiji regulated the crowd in a polite and friendly manner.
Q. On the news ‘Sophie met Danny Casey’ how
did their father react?
Ans. Sophie’s father looked at Sophie with
sadness on his face, he did not believe it. He called
it another of her wild stories and looked at her with hatred. He warned her
that those days she would put herself
into a lot of troubles because of her talks and changed the topic to discuss about football and footballers.
Q. Why was Sophie jealous of Geoff’s
silence?
Ans. Sophie’s brother Geoff was an apprentice
mechanic. He was almost grown up yet he hardly
spoke anything of his own. Words were prized out of his mouth like stones from the ground. She could only suspect
areas of his life which she wanted to hear from
him. So she was jealous of his silence. She took him to be out there in the
world, when he was not speaking.
Q. What did Sophie imagine about her
meeting with Danny Casey?
Ans. Sophie told that she met Danny Casey at the
Royce’s window. She was looking at the clothes
there. He came and stood beside her. She spoke to him first and asked if he was Danny Casey. He confirmed, she asked for
an autograph but neither had paper nor
a pen. They talked a bit. He assured for the autograph next week if she cared.
Q. Why did not Sophie want Jansie to know
about her story with Danny?
Ans. Sophie had requested her brother Geoff not
to tell anything about her meeting with Casey.
When Jansie asked Sophie about her meeting with Danny, Sophie was much amazed. She cursed Geoff for it because
Jansie was ‘nosey’ and would spread the facts everywhere in the neighbourhood. In
case her father knew about it, there would be a great row which her mother did not like. She requested Jansie to
keep it a secret.
Q. Do you think Sophie had really met Danny
Casey?
Ans. No, Sophie had never met Danny Casey in
reality. She was a dreamer. The story of her
meeting Danny Casey was one of the wild stories by her .It was totally a concocted story.
Q. In what way was Jansie different from
Sophie in ‘Going Places’?
Ans. Sophie was a dreamer. She had dreamed of
becoming an actress, a fashion designer, a manager
or the owner of a boutique. Her dreams were impractical as she belonged to a poor middle class family. Jansie, on
the hand, is a realist. She knows that she and her
friend are earmarked for a biscuit factory. She is sensible and wise.
Q. What kind of world did Sophie dream of?
Ans. Sophie dreamed of a world full of name and
fame. There was no limit to her dreams. She
wanted to buy a boutique shop. She had other options to be a fashion designer,
an actress or a manager. She
even dreams of having met with Danny Casey, a great football player.
Q. How can you say that Jansie is the voice
of reason in the story ‘Going Places’?
Ans. Jansie is really the voice of reason in the
story. It is she who warns Sophie not to dream of
big things in her life. She asks her to be practical. She reminds her of the poor condition of her house. It is
all because of her wisdom that she knows her limits as a member of middle class family and
never tries to cross them. Sophie is disappointed at the end only because she does not listen to
Jansie.
Q. Why didn’t Sophie want Jansie to know
about her story with Danny Casey?
Ans. Sophie knew that Jansie was very
inquisitive. She would ask so many questions from Sophie about her meeting with Danny Casey and the truth might
come out during their conversation that Sophie was telling a lie.
Moreover, she feared that Jansie would spread it in the whole neighbourhood. That is why; Sophie did not want that Jansie should
come to know about it.
Q. How did Sophie come to know that her dad
was not at home? Why was she glad to know
it?
Ans. Sophie came to know that her father not at
home when she passed by the pub. She saw
her father’s bicycle propped against the wall of the pub. She was glad because she would not have to see her father when she
reached home disappointed.
Q. What sort of personality does Sophie’s
brother have?
Ans. Geoff is a reserved sort of person. He is a
motor mechanic under training. He is a hard worker. He is a great fan of Danny
Casey. He has the coloured photographs of the Irish Footballer on his bedroom wall. Sophie wants to share her secrets
with him.
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