Question

Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:

One day I found the pond occupied by several buffaloes. Their keeper, a boy a little older than me, was swimming about in the middle. Instead of climbing out on the bank, he would pull himself up on the back of one of his buffaloes, stretch his naked brown body out on the animal’s glistening hide, and start singing to himself. When he saw me staring at him from across the pond, he smiled, showing gleaming white teeth in a dark face. He invited me to join him in a swim. I told him I couldn’t swim, and he offered to teach me. His name was Ramu, and he promised to give me swimming lessons every afternoon, and so it was during the afternoons — especially summer afternoons when everyone was asleep — that we usually met. Before long I was able to swim across the pond to sit with Ramu astride a contented buffalo. Sometimes I would slip into the water. Emerging in shades of green and khaki, I would sneak into the house through the bathroom and bathe under the tap before getting into my clothes. One afternoon Ramu and I found a small tortoise in the mud, sitting over a hole in which it had laid several eggs. I presented the tortoise to Grandfather. He had a weakness for tortoises, and was pleased with this addition to his menagerie, giving it a large tub of water all to itself, with an island of rocks in the middle. If one of the dogs bothered it too much, it would draw its head and legs into its shell and defy all its attempts at rough play. Ramu came from a family of bonded labourers and had received no schooling. But he was well-versed in folklore and knew a great deal about birds and animals. “Many birds are sacred,” said Ramu, as we watched a blue jay swoop down from a peepul tree and carry off a grasshopper. Both Ramu and Grandfather were of the opinion that we should be more gentle with birds and animals and should not kill so many of them. “It is also important that we respect them, said Grandfather. We must acknowledge their rights. Birds and animals are finding it more difficult to survive, because we are trying to destroy both them and their forests.” Ramu and I spent long summer afternoons at the pond. I still remember him with affection, though we never saw each other again after I left Dehra.

1. For each word given below choose the correct meaning (as used in the passage) from the options provided: [2]
   1. hide (line 4)
      1. blanket
      2. fur
      3. undisclosed
      4. skin
   2. contented (line 12)
      1. cheerful
      2. lazy
      3. satisfied
      4. container
2. Which word in the passage is the opposite of ‘easy’? [1]
   1. sneak
   2. difficult
   3. labourer
   4. survive
3. Answer the following questions briefly in your own words.
   1. What did Ramu like to do once he had climbed on the back of a buffalo? [2]
   2. What offer did Ramu make to the narrator? [2]
   3. Why do you think the narrator would bathe before entering the house? [2]
   4. Who was the large tub of water for? [1]
   5. How would the tortoise protect itself from the dogs? [2]
4. Despite the lack of schooling what did Ramu know? How, according to Ramu and Grandfather, should we treat birds and animals? Answer in not more than fifty words. [8]

Answer 1

1. 1. d. skin
   2. c. satisfied
2. b. difficult
3. 1. Ramu enjoyed stretching his naked brown body out on the animal's shiny hide/back and humming to himself.
   2. He volunteered to teach the narrator to swim and provide swimming sessions every afternoon.
   3. To escape getting chastised for swimming in the village pond or when everyone was asleep, they may have had to sneak inside the home through the bathroom and bathe under the faucet to clean themselves.
   4. The storyteller delivered the tortoise to his grandfather.
   5. It would retreat into its shell and resist rough play from other canines.
4. Ramu came from a family of bonded labourers and had received no schooling. However, he was well-versed in folklore and knew a great deal about birds and animals, including many sacred birds. We should be more gentle with birds and animals and should not kill so many of them. It is also important that we respect them and acknowledge their rights. Birds and animals are finding it more difficult to survive because we are trying to destroy both them and their forests.