We have Provided the NCERT/CBSE Solutions chapter-wise for Class 10 English First Flight Prose Chapter 9 Madam Rides the Bus with Answers by expert subject teacher for latest syllabus and examination. Students also can take a free NCERT Solutions of Madam Rides the Bus. Each question has right answer Solved by Expert Teacher.
NCERT Solutions Class 10 English First Flight Prose
Oral Comprehension Check
Q1. What was Valli’s favourite pastime?
Answer: Valli’s favourite pastime was to stand in the front doorway of her house and watch the happenings on the street. It was so because she had no playmates of her own age around there. Moreover, the street outside was full of hustle and bustle and offered her new experiences.
Q2. What was a source of unending joy for Valli? What was her strongest desire?
Answer: A source of unending joy for Valli was the sight of the bus that travelled between her village and the nearest town, filled with a new set of passengers each time it passed through her street. Her strongest desire was to ride on that bus.
Q3. What did Valli find out about the bus journey? How did she find out these details?
Answer: Valli found out that the town was six miles from her village. The fare was thirty paise one way. The trip to the town took forty-five minutes. On reaching the town, if she stayed in her seat and paid another thirty paise, she could return home on the same bus. She found out these details by listening carefully to the conversations between her neighbors and the people who regularly used the bus. She also gained information by asking them a few questions.
Q4. What do you think Valli was planning to do?
Answer: Valli was planning to travel on the bus and go to the town and return home on the same bus. She heard the onward journey fare was thirty paise that took forty five minutes approximately to reach the town. In this way, she planned that she would stay in her seat and pay another thirty paise for the return trip. This meant that she could take the one-o’clock afternoon bus, reach the town at 1.45 P.M. and return home by 2.45 P.M.
Oral Comprehension Check
Q1. Why does the conductor call Valli ‘madam’?
Answer: The conductor called the young child as ‘Madam’ because Valli told him that she was not a child.
Q2. Why does Valli stand up on the seat? What does she see now?
Answer: Valli wanted to look outside the bus. She found her view blocked by the canvas blind that covered the lower part of the window. In order to have a better view she stood up on the seat and peered over the blind. She saw a canal, palm trees, grassland, mountains, green fields and the sky.
Q3. What does Valli tell the elderly man when he calls her a child?
Answer: When the elderly man called her a child, Valli told him that there was nobody on the bus who was a child. She had paid her fare of thirty paise like everyone else.
Q4. Why didn’t Valli want to make friends with the elderly woman?
Answer: Valli did not want to make friends with the elderly woman. It was because she looked ‘repulsive’ and smelled foul.
Oral Comprehension Check
Q1. How did Valli save up money for her first journey? Was it easy for her?
Answer: Valli was a young girl and was very curious about things around her. The bus was the most fascinating thing she saw on the streets and wanted to travel by it one day. She saved every coin that she was given, and she controlled her urge of buying candies, toys, and joyrides. It was difficult for her but her desire to travel in a bus outweighed all these desires.
Q2. What did Valli see on her way that made her laugh?
Answer: Valli saw that a young cow was running very fast in the middle of the road, right in front of the bus. The bus slowed down and the driver sounded his horn loudly again and again. But the animal became frightened and started galloping faster. This made Valli laugh.
Q3. Why didn’t she get off the bus at the bus station?
Answer: She did not get off the bus at the bus station because she had to go back on that same bus. She took out another thirty paise from her pocket and handed the coins to the conductor. She just wanted to ride on the bus.
Q4. Why didn’t Valli want to go to the stall and have a drink? What does this tell you about her?
Answer: Valli did not want to go to the stall and have a drink because she did not have any money for that. Even when the conductor offered her a cold drink free of charge, she refused firmly and said that she only wanted her ticket. This shows that Valli had a strong will power and self pride. Possibly, she did not want to take anything for free, particularly from a stranger.
Thinking About the Text
Q1. What was Valli’s deepest desire? Find the words and phrases in the story that tell you this.
Answer: Valli’s deepest desire was to take a ride on the bus that she saw everyday from her house. The words and phrases in the story that depict her desire are ‘an overwhelming desire’, ‘source of unending joy’, ‘stare wistfully’, and ‘kindle in her longings, dreams and hopes’.
Q2. How did Valli plan her bus ride? What did she find out about the bus, and how did she save up the fare?
Answer: Valli picked up various small details about the bus journey by listening to the conversations between the bus users and asking a few questions here and there. She found out about the 30 paise bus fare from a well-dressed man, She also came to know that the journey took 45 minutes one way. She chose afternoon time for her journey when her mother took a nap every day. Thus, she very carefully planned her bus ride
Q3. What kind of a person is Valli? To answer this question, pick out the following sentences from the text and fill in the blanks. The words you fill in are the clues to your answer.
(i) “Stop the bus! Stop the bus!” And a tiny hand was raised ————-
(ii) “Yes, I ———-go to town,” said Valli, still standing outside the bus.
(iii) “There’s nobody here————,” she said haughtily. “I’ve paid my thirty paise like everyone else.”
(iv) “Never mind,” she said, “I can ————-. You don’t have to help me. ”I’m not a child, I tell you,” she said, ———–.
(v) “You needn’t bother about me. I ————–,” Valli said, turning her face toward the window and staring out.
(vi) Then she turned to the conductor and said, “Well, sir, I hope————–.”
Answer:
(i) commandingly
(ii) I simply have to
(iii) who’s a child,
(iv) get on by myself, irritably
(v) I can take care of myself
(vi) to see you again
Q4. Why does the conductor refer to Valli as ‘madam’?
Answer: When the conductor stretched out his hand to help her get on the bus, Valli said commandingly that she could get on by herself, and that she did not require his help. She did not act like a child, but as a grown-up girl and therefore, the conductor called her ‘madam’. When the elderly man called her a child and asked her to sit down on her seat, she replied that nobody was a child on the bus. She kept stressing on the fact that she had paid her fare like everybody else and therefore, she should not be treated differently.
Q5. Find the lines in the text which tell you that Valli was enjoying her ride on the bus.
Answer: The lines mentioned below tell that Valli was enjoying her ride on the bus:-
(i) ” Valli devoured everything with her eyes.”
(ii) “On one side there was the canal and, beyond it, palm trees, grassland, distant mountains, and the blue, blue sky. On the other side was a deep ditch and then acres and acres of green fields — green, green, green, as far as the eye could see. Oh, it was all so wonderful!”
(iii) Sometimes the bus seemed on the point of gobbling up another vehicle that was coming towards them or a pedestrian crossing the road. But lo! somehow it passed on smoothly, leaving all obstacles safely behind.
(iv) “Suddenly Valli clapped her hands with glee. A young cow, tail high in the air, was running very fast, right in the middle of the road, right in front of the bus.”
(v) “Somehow this was very funny to Valli. She laughed and laughed until there were tears in her eyes.
Q6. Why does Valli refuse to look out of the window on her way back?
Answer: Valli refuses to look out of the window on her way back because she witnessed a horrible sight. She saw a young cow lying dead by the roadside. It was the same cow that was running in front of their bus, during her trip to the town. She felt sad and the memory of the dead cow haunted her and she refused to look out of the window.
Q7. What does Valli mean when she says, “I was just agreeing with what you said about things happening without our knowledge.”
Answer: When Valli’s mother casually mentioned that there are certain things that happen around them without their knowledge, Valli instantly agreed to her mother’s words and said, “I was just agreeing with what you said about things happening without our knowledge.” She was happy about her adventurous bus trip to the town which she had taken without the knowledge of her parents.
Q8. The author describes the things that Valli sees from an eight-year-old’s point of view. Can you find evidence from the text for this statement?
Answer: Yes, for example when the author says, ‘she was fascinated by the bus’ and ‘watching the bus fill with a new set of people each time was a source of unending joy for her’. When the author describes the bus, he stresses on the colour and look of the new bus ‘like silver’ because a child is attracted towards colour. ‘The seats were soft and luxurious’. The description that the author gives when Valli looked outside are also typical of a 8 year old. ‘The blue sky’ and ‘acres and acres of green field’, show the enthusiasm a child. A cow running in front of the bus fascinated the child whereas the sight of dead cow brought tears in her eyes and she refused to look outside the window on her return journey. This’also describes the behaviour of an 8 year old child aptly.
Speaking
This story has a lot of people talking in it. The conductor jokes and laughs with Valli, some passengers try to show their concern for her, and her mother and her aunt spend time chatting.
Read the conversations carefully. Then think of similar people, or similar situations that you have experienced. Mimic a person or persons who spoke to you, saying what they said, along with your replies.
Answer: Do Yourself
Writing
Write a page — about three paragraphs — on one of the following topics
Q1. Have you ever planned something entirely on your own, without taking grownups into your confidence? What did you plan, and how? Did you carry out your plan?
Answer: Do Yourself
Q2. Have you made a journey that was unforgettable in some way? What made it memorable?
Answer: Do Yourself
Q3. Are you concerned about traffic and road safety? What are your concerns? How would you make road travel safer and more enjoyable?
Answer: Do Yourself
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