Gujarat Board GSEB Class 9 English Textbook Solutions Reading Comprehension Unseen Passages Questions and Answers, Notes Pdf.
GSEB Class 9 English Reading Comprehension Unseen Passages
Read the following passages carefully and answer the questions given below them:
Question 1.
Saturday morning came, all the summer world was bright and fresh, and full of life. There was a song in every heart and cheerfulness in every face. Tom appeared with a bucket of whitewash and a long-handled brush. He looked at the fence and what he saw took away all gladness from his heart.
Thirty yards of board fence nine feet high! Singing, he dipped his brush; passed it along the topmost plank; repeated the operation; did it again compared the small whitewashed space with the vast area of Aunt Polly’s unwhite-washed fence, and sat down discouraged.
He began to think of the fun he had planned for this day and his sorrow multiplied. Soon the free boys would be coming, tripping along all sorts of interesting expeditions and they would make fun of him for having to work. The thought burned him like fire.
Questions :
(1) How was the Saturday morning?
(2) What was the work assigned to Tom?
(3) Why did Tom feel discouraged?
(4) Write two sentences from the passage that expresses Tom’s feeling of sadness.
Answer:
1. It was a summer morning. It was bright and fresh, quite rejuvenating. Everybody seemed quite cheerful and happy at heart.
2. Tom was assigned the work of whitewashing the fence.
3. The sight of the vast area of Aunt Polly’s unwhite-washed fence, and the fact that he would have to paint it discouraged Tom.
4.
- What he saw, took away all gladness from his heart,
- His sorrow multiplied.
Question 2.
My beautiful watch had run eighteen months without losing or gaining and without s breaking any part of its machinery or stopping.
I had come to believe it unfailing in its judgement about the time of day; but at last, one night I let it run down. I grieved about it as if it were a recognized messenger and forerunner of disaster. But soon, I cheered up, set the watch by guess and commanded my anxieties to depart. Next day I stepped into the chief jeweller’s to set it by the exact time and l the head of the establishment took it out of my hand and proceeded to set it for me.
Then he said, “She is four minutes slow – regulator wants pushing up.” I tried to stop him, tried to make him understand that the watch kept perfect time. But, no, all this human cabbage could see s was that the watch was four minutes slow and? the regulator must be pushed up a little and so, while I danced around him in anguish and begged him to let the watch alone, he calmly and cruelly did the shameful deed.
Questions:
(1) How had the writer’s watch run for eighteen months?
(2) What, according to the jeweller, was wrong with the watch?
(3) Who was responsible for the running down of the watch? How?
(4) What are the feelings of the writer towards the watch? How do we come to know this?
Answer:
(1) The writer’s watch had showed exact time. It had never gone fast or run slow all those eighteen months. No part of its machinery had broken so far, nor had it stopped any time.
(2) According to the jeweller, the regulator of the watch needed pushing up.
(3) The writer himself was responsible for the watch’s running down. He considered the watch as his unfailing friend. He was supposed to wind the watch every night and he did so for eighteen months. One day, however, he forgot and the watch ran down.
(4) The writer considered his watch beautiful and trustworthy. Without fail, every night he wound up the watch for eighteen months. He was possessive of his watch. Hence, he could not stand the chief jeweller interfering with the internal machinery of the watch.
Question 3.
In Kerala, houses are not needed for warmth, but rather for protection from the heavy rains and the sun. Except for the bigger townhouses, most of the houses have walls of dried mud with wooden rafters, for there is plenty of wood available. The roofs are sloping to carry off the rain, and they overhang the walls so as to give shade. They are thatched with coconut leaves. Most of the houses have a veranda, also thatched. No chimneys are needed, for the cooking is usually done in a corner of the veranda on a hearth made of bricks and mud.
Inside, the floor is hard, shiny mud, or in the better houses, highly polished, coloured lime or cement, which is clean and cool. On the floor there are grass mats, often beautifully made. In the village houses there are no chairs or tables, for most village people in South India prefer to sit on the cool floor.
The only pieces of furniture may be cupboards, often with finely carved doors. There are no beds, for people sleep on the floor on grass mats or on mattresses padded with cotton. Each person has a sheet and pillow, which, in the daytime, is rolled up with the mattress and put away.
Questions :
(1) How are the walls and roofs of the houses in Kerala?
(2) Why is there no need for chimneys in the house?
(3) Which materials are used for the different parts of the houses in the villages of Kerala?
(4) What things do the people of Kerala do to keep themselves cool?
Answer:
(1) Except for bigger townhouses, most of the houses have walls of dried mud with wooden rafters. The roofs are sloping to carry off the rain, and they overhang the walls so as to give shade.
(2) There is no need for chimneys in the house because the cooking is usually done in a corner of the veranda, on a hearth made of mud and bricks.
(3) walls: dried mud with wooden rafters; roofs: thatch of coconut leaves; veranda: thatch of coconut leaves; hearth: bricks and mud; floor: hard, shiny mud, or in the better houses, highly polished, coloured lime or cement.
(4) The people construct sloping roofs that overhang the walls so as to give shade. In the better houses, the floors are made of highly polished, coloured lime or cement, which is clean and cool. People sleep on the floor on grass mats or mattresses padded with cotton in order to keep themselves cool.
Question 4.
Stephen and Joseph Montgolfier were paper-makers. Both the brothers had been interested in flying for years. One night in 1782, Joseph noticed something strange. He was sitting in his living room in front of the fire in a grate. He had put some pieces of paper to burn there. All of a sudden, he noticed some small pieces being carried upward into the chimney. This gave him an idea, which he shared with his brother.
Soon afterwards the brothers made an experiment. They lit a fire under a silk bag, which was open at the bottom. At once the bag rose to the ceiling. After this, Stephen and Joseph made many more experiments, both indoors and out in the open. At last they built a huge balloon made of linen and paper.
On June 5th, 1783, they sent the balloon up into the air in the village of Annonay where they lived. The first man to sit in a gas balloon and go up into the air was Vincent Lunardi, an Italian living in England. On September 15th, 1784, he took off in a hydrogen balloon from a field in London, taking with him a pigeon, a cat and a dog.
Questions :
(1) How did Joseph Montgolfier get the idea of making a balloon?
(2) What do we learn about the Montgolfier brothers from this passage?
(3) Who was the first man to go up in a gas balloon? Describe his trip.
(4) Write from the passage one word for :
(a) a metal structure that holds coal or wood in a fireplace and
(b) strong cloth that is woven from the fibres of the flax plant.
Answer:
(1) One day Joseph was sitting in his living room in front of the fire in a grate. He had put some pieces of paper to burn there. All of a sudden, he noticed some small pieces being carried upward into the chimney. This he shared with his brother and later the idea got materialised in a balloon.
(2) We learn that the Montgolfier brothers were paper-makers. Both were keenly interested in flying. Both were very observant, and both conducted many experiments that led to the invention of the gas balloon.
(3) The first man to go up into the air in a gas balloon was Vincent Lunardi, an Italian living in England. On September 15th, 1784, he took off in a hydrogen balloon from a field in London, taking with him a pigeon, a cat and a dog.
(4)
(a) grate and
(b) linen.
Question 5.
Tansen was a famous singer at the court of Akbar. Once Akbar and Tansen went to meet Sant Haridas. Akbar was dressed, not as the Emperor, but as an ordinary man, an humble lover of music. He only wanted to hear Sant Haridas sing.
Sant Haridas had been Tansen’s music teacher and he lived the austere life of a hermit. ? When Tansen and the Emperor reached his hut, he was busy with his daily chores. When they asked him to sing, he smiled, but said firmly,? “I am long past the age for singing.” Even S his favourite pupil could not persuade him to change his mind.
But Tansen knew how to get around him. ? He offered to sing before his guru and he S deliberately made a mistake. “That is not the right note, Tansen,” cried his teacher, amazed. ? “What has happened to you ?” Tansen purposely made the same mistake again. Exasperated, Sant Haridas took the tanpura from Tansen’s hands and sang the right note. ? Then he went on to the next and the next.
His melodious voice flowed across the forest, like the first glimmer of dawn and the fragrance of jasmine. Both Akbar and Tansen listened to him, hypnotised. The Emperor had not known that s music could sound like this! He had certainly s never heard anything like it before.
Questions :
(1) What does this passage tell us about Akbar?
(2) How did Tansen cleverly trick his teacher into singing?
(3) How was the effect of Haridas’s singing?
(4) Write from the passage one word for :
(a) very pleasant to listen to and
(b) a light that shines weakly.
Answer:
(1) This passage tells us that Akbar was greatly devoted to good music. He went s to visit Sant Haridas only to hear him sing. He was willing to dress up as an ordinary man in? order to hear a master singing. Such was his s love for music.
(2) Tansen offered to sing before his guru and he deliberately made a mistake. The teacher; was amazed that Tansen could not sing the s right note. Tansen purposely made the same l mistake again. Exasperated, Sant Haridas took the tanpura from Tansen’s hands and sang the right note. Then he went on to the next and the next. Thus, did Tansen cleverly trick his s teacher into singing.
(3) When Haridas sang, his melodious voice s flowed across the forest, like the first glimmer of dawn and the fragrance of jasmine. Both Akbar ? and Tansen were hypnotised listening to him.
(4)
(a) melodious and
(b) glimmer.
Question 6.
At the corner of a big public park, there was a Banyan tree. In one of the branches of the tree, there lived a family of crows. Mr and Mrs Crow had two sons, named Kaloo and Shyam. One day, the two brothers flew far from their nest in search of food and lost their way. At last, they stopped by a compound wall. They ? were very tired and thirsty.
They spotted an earthen pot inside the compound. Down they sailed and perched on the rim of the pot. They peeped into the pot, but there was very little water in it. Kaloo had! heard the story of the crow and the pot of water. He brought small pebbles in his beak, one by one, and dropped them into the pot.
He thought that the water level would rise and; he would get water to drink. Shyam, however, S was cleverer than Kaloo. He flew down to the s bottom of the pot and with his beak made a hole there. The water started flowing out. He put his beak to the hole and drank his fill. Poor s Kaloo, sitting on the rim of the pot, could not < understand why the water level became less,? instead of rising.
Questions :
(1) How did Shyam get enough water to drink?
(2) Write from the passage :
(a) one word that means ‘the outer curved edge (of the pot) I and
(b) one phrase that means ‘trying to find something.
(3) How can you say that Shyam was cleverer than Kaloo?
(4) What story about the crow and the pot of water must Kaloo have heard?
Answer:
(1) Shyam flew down to the bottom of the pot and with his beak made a hole there. The water started flowing out. He put his beak to the hole and drank his fill.
(2)
(a) rim and
(b) in search of.
(3) Both Kaloo and Shyam were thirsty and at the water pot. Kaloo brought pebbles and dropped them into the pot to make the water level come up. But before the level came up, Shyam made a hole at the bottom of the pot with his beak and managed to drink water coming out of the hole. Thus, Shyam proved himself cleverer than Kaloo.
(4) Kaloo must have heard the story of a crow who dropped pebbles, one by one, into a pot of water until the level of water rose to the rim and it was able to drink its fill.
Question 7.
It was a day of examination for the princes of Hastinapura. Their wise teacher Dronacharya was testing their skill at shooting arrows. He had a clay bird placed on the highest branch of a tree. The pupils were supposed to shoot at the eye of the bird.
One by one the princes came forward. Their teacher asked each one the same question, “What do you see ?” Each of them replied, “Gurudev, I can see the bird, the tree, my brothers and you.” Drona did not allow them to shoot and asked them to stand aside.
When it was Arjuna’s turn, Drona asked him the same question. He answered, “I can see the bird’s eye.” “Then, shoot at once,” ordered Drona. Arjuna’s arrow flew from the bow and pierced the left eye of the bird. Drona remarked, “Arjuna always manages to get his target because he sees only what he aims to shoot.”
Questions :
(1) What test did Dronacharya give the students?
(2) Why were the other princes not allowed to shoot at the eye of the bird?
(3) Why did Drona order Arjuna to shoot at once?
(4) Write from the passage :
(a) one phrase that means ‘to step sideways to let someone else do something and
(b) two words that are the opposite of ‘asked’.
Answer:
(1) Dronacharya had a clay bird placed on the highest branch of a tree. The students were supposed to shoot at the eye of the bird.
(2) Dronacharya would allow the one who could sharply focus on the eye of the bird and nothing else. All other princes except Arjun were defocused. They saw everything around the bird, so they were not allowed to shoot at the bird by Dronacharya.
(3) Drona ordered Arjuna to shoot at once because Arjuna answered the question “What do you see ?” rightly. He said that he saw the eye of the bird, which was what he was supposed to shoot. Drona knew by his answer that he was indeed ready to shoot well and get his target.
(4)
(a) stand aside and
(b) answered, replied.
Question 8.
Every afternoon on their way home from school, the children used to go and play in the Giant’s garden. It was a lovely garden with soft green grass. Here and there over the grass stood beautiful flowers like stars, and there were twelve peach-trees that in the springtime broke out into delicate blossoms of pink and pearl, and in the autumn bore rich fruit. The birds sat on the trees and sang so sweetly that the children used to stop their games in order to listen to them. “How happy we are here!” they cried to each other.
One day the Giant came back. He had been to visit his friend the Cornish ogre and had stayed with him for seven years. After the seven years were over he had said all that he had to say, for his conversation was limited, and he determined to return to his own castle. When he arrived he saw the children playing in the garden. “What are you doing here ?” he cried in a very gruff voice and the children ran away.
“My own garden is my own garden,” said the Giant; “any one can understand that, and I will allow nobody to play in it but myself.” So he built a high wall all around it, and put up a noticeboard:
TRESPASSERS WILL BE PROSECUTED
He was a very selfish Giant.
Questions :
(1) Why were the children happy in the garden?
(2) Why was the Giant away from his castle for seven years?
(3) How did the Giant keep the children out of his garden?
(4) Why, do you think, did the children run away?
Answer:
(1) The children were happy in the garden because they could play in the garden amongst the pretty flowers. The birds sat on the trees and sang so sweetly that the children used to stop their games in order to listen to them. All this made them very happy.
(2) The Giant had been to visit his friend the Cornish ogre and had stayed there with him for all those seven years.
(3) The Giant shouted at the children and said that the garden belonged to him and he would allow nobody to play in it but himself. Then he built a high wall all around it and put up a noticeboard: TRESPASSERS WILL BE PROSECUTED.
(4) The children must have been startled to see the Giant. His gruff voice and rude words must have made them run away.
Question 9.
The cyclonic storm that crossed the coast near Kakinada in East Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh, soon after midnight, caused much havoc. It is reported to have claimed over 217 lives and left a trail of destruction in its wake. Official sources told this newspaper that 178 people had been killed in East Godavari district, which bore the brunt of the ‘Zero Seven B’ storm that hit the area at a wind speed of 130- 160 kmph.
Sixty agricultural labourers were crossing the Godavari from Yelekalanka to Kotipally, It was then that the cyclone hit them. Winds like powerful battering rams raged across. The boats in which the farmworkers were travelling were tossed about like toys in a bathtub. Needless to say, none survived. Man had no defence against this giant angry storm. On the coast, about 150 were reportedly killed as houses and walls collapsed and trees were uprooted.
Questions :
(1) Which region of Andhra Pradesh was affected by the cyclone?
(2) What are the boats in the storm compared to?
(3) How did people on the coast lose their lives?
(4) Pick out the phrases meaning :
(a) to suffer the worst part of an unpleasant situation,
(b) Spread across some regions with great intensity and destructive force.
Answer:
(1) The East Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh was affected by the cyclone.
(2) The boats in the storm are compared to toys in a bathtub.
(3) People on the coast lost their lives when walls and houses collapsed and trees were uprooted by the fierce storm.
(4) The phrases are :
(a) bear the brunt of
(b) raged across.
Question 10.
There were sudden fierce dark clouds in the sky blowing across as if the wind god himself were chasing them. I could smell moisture in the earth and knew it was raining somewhere. Hariya busily scrambled amongst the mud and stones and wrapped all our tools and vessels in one large cloth.
When packed it looked like a swollen pillow that he expertly loaded onto his head. “Let’s go, master,” he said. “The air doesn’t smell good to me. Looks like thunder and storms. We’d better be home before they strike.”? I nodded and pulled at the rope attached? to the neck of our bullock. “If it rains,” I was S thinking, “the fields are not ploughed, and the mud will become sticky.” “Hariya,” I said, “Did you and Mauliya milk the cow this morning ?” “Oh, yes,” said Hariya.
“We woke up before l dawn. You were snoring away and got up just s in time for tea. You had a tiring day yesterday” “Yes,” I admitted. I could still feel my; shoulders aching with the effort spent in building the mud bunds all around the field.
I was grateful to the Reddy boys who had come to help me in the work. Alone I would never have s been able to put up the mud embankment all around the field in just one day. “At least that is done, and I ought to be grateful,” I thought to myself. “Even if it rains, they will protect S the good soil of the farmland.”
Questions :
(1) Where was Hariya? Why did he want to leave the place soon?
(2) What work did Hariya and Mauliya do that morning?
(3) Why was the writer tired?
(4) Which works done by a farmer are mentioned in this extract?
Answer:
(1) Hariya was in his field. He smelt moisture in the earth and knew that very soon there would be thunder and storms. So he wanted to leave the field before they struck.
(2) Hariya and Mauliya milked the cow that morning.
(3) The writer was tired of working with the Reddy boys the previous day, putting up mud? embankment all around the field.
(4) The works done by a farmer mentioned in this extract are – ploughing the field, milking the cow and putting up a mud embankment around the field.