We have Provided the NCERT/CBSE Solutions chapter-wise for Class 10 English First Flight Prose Chapter 8 Mijbil the Otter with Answers by expert subject teacher for latest syllabus and examination. Students also can take a free NCERT Solutions of Mijbil the Otter. Each question has right answer Solved by Expert Teacher.
NCERT Solutions Class 10 English First Flight Prose
Oral Comprehension Check
Q1. What ‘experiment’ did Maxwell think Camusfearna would be suitable for?
Answer: When the author’s pet died, he thought of keeping an otter instead of a dog. This was his experiment. He also thought that Camusfearna would be suitable for keeping an otter as it loves the presence of water around it.
Q2. Why does he go to Basra? How long does he wait there, and why?
Answer: He went to Basra, to the Consultate-General, to collect and answer his mail from Europe. There, he found that his friend’s mail had arrived, but his had not. He sent a message to England. When nothing happened even after three days, he tried placing a call to England. On the first day the line was out of order , on the second day, the exchange was closed for a religious holiday. On the third day, there was another breakdown. He arranged to meet his friend, who had left, in a week’s time. His mail finally arrived five days later.
Q3. How does he get the otter? Does he like it? Pick out the words that tell you this.
Answer: When he received his mail, he carried it to his bedroom to read. There, he saw two Arabs and beside them was a sack that twisted from time to time. They handed him a note from his friend saying that he had sent him an otter.
Yes, he likes it. We know this because he uses the term ‘otter fixation’ to refer to his feeling towards the otter. He felt that this ‘otter fixation’ or this strong attachment towards otters was something that was shared by most other people who had ever owned one.
Q4. Why was the otter named ‘Maxwell’s otter’?
Answer: An otter was typically called by zoologists as “Lutrogale Perspicillata Maxwelli”, so it was called Maxwell’s otter in short.
Q5. Tick the right answer. In the beginning, the otter was
- aloof and indifferent
- friendly
- hostile
Answer: In the beginning, the otter was aloof and indifferent.
Q6. What happened when Maxwell took Mijbil to the bathroom? What did it do two days after that?
Answer: When Maxwell took Mijbil to the bathroom, it went wild with joy in the water, plunging and rolling in it, shooting up and down the length of the bathtub under water. Two days later, Mijbil escaped from the author’s bedroom and went to the bathroom on its own.
Oral Comprehension Check
Q1. How was Mij to be transported to England?
Answer: Mijbil was packed in a box as the airlines had directed the author. As British airlines did not allow pets on board the author had to book a ticket on a different airline from Iraq to Paris and then Paris to London.
Q2. What did Mij do to the box?
Answer: The box was lined with metal sheet. Mij didn’t find it comfortable to be there so tried to escape. In its attempt to escape Mij tore into the metal lining of the box. As a result it hurt itself and started bleeding.
Q3. Why did Maxwell put the otter back in the box? How do you think he felt when he did this?
Answer: Maxwell put the otter back in the box. It was because the airline would not fly him without the box. He felt tense. It was because it was just ten minutes until the time of the flight. Secondly, airport was five miles apart.
Q4. Why does Maxwell say the airhostess was “the very queen of her kind”?
Answer: Maxwell says this because the air hostess was kind and helpful. He tells her about the incident that happened with the box. She suggests that he put his pet on his knees. He feels immense admiration towards her after this because she understands the pain of the otter and himself.
Q5. What happened when the box was opened?
Answer: As soon as the box was opened, Mij disappeared from the box speedily down the aircraft. He terrified people in the plane. They started shrieking and screaming. Maxwell ran after him so that he could catch hold of him but he ended up getting his face covered in curry. The airhostess asked him to go back to his seat and assured him that she would find Mij and bring it to him. Soon, he heard Mij chittering from under his legs. It bounded on to his knee and began to nuzzle his face and neck.
Oral Comprehension Check
Q1. What game had Mij invented?
Answer: Mij invented a game with a ping-pong ball, which kept him engrossed for up to half an hour at a time. Maxwell had a suitcase that had become damaged, such that the lid, when closed, remained at a slope from one end to the other. Mij discovered that if the ball was placed on the high end, it would run down the length of the suitcase. It would dash around to the other end to surprise the ball. Then, it would grab it and trot off with it to the high end once more.
Q2. What are ‘compulsive habits’? What does Maxwell say are the compulsive habits of
(i) school children
(ii) Mij?
Answer: Compulsive habits are usually strange act or behavior which a person does without clear reason.
(i) On their way to and from school, children make it a habit to place their feet exactly on the center of each paving block.
(ii) Similarly, Mij had made it a habit to jump on to the school wall and go galloping all along its length of thirty yards.
Q3. What group of animals do otters belong to?
Answer: Otters belong to a relatively small group of animals known as Mustellines. The other animals of this group are badger, mongoose, weasel, stoat, mink and others.
Q4. What guesses did the Londoners make about what Mij was?
Answer: Londoners made some really wild and funny guesses ranging from other mustellines to ‘a baby seal’, a squirrel, a walrus, a hippo, a beaver, a bear cub, a leopard and a brontosaur.
Thinking About the Text
Q1. What things does Mij do which tell you that he is an intelligent, friendly and fun-loving animal who needs love?
Answer: Mij invented his own game out of ping-pong ball and a worn down suitcase. He loved water, and once he understood that on opening the tap water came out of it, he would get into the tub and played with water.
He had gradually formed a special attachment with Maxwell. It giyw desperate when Maxwell left it in a box and wanted to come out as soon as possible.
Q2. What are some of the things we come to know about otters from this text?
Answer: Otters belong to a comparatively small group of animals called Mustellines, shared by the badger, mongoose, weasel, stoat, mink and others. Maxwell’s otter was of a race previously unknown to science and was at length named by zoologists Lutrogale perspicillata maxwelli or Maxwell’s otter. They are found in large numbers in marshes. They are often tamed by the Arabs. It is characteristic of otters that every drop of water must be extended and spread about the place; a bowl must at once be overturned, or, if it would not be overturned, be sat in and splashed in until it overflowed. For them, water must be kept on the move. Otters love playing various games, especially with a ball.
Q3. Why is Mij’s species now known to the world as Maxwell’s otter?
Answer: Mij’s species is now known to the world as Maxwell’s otter. It is because before Maxwell’s otter not much worth the name was known to science. In fact, Mijbil’s race was not known to anyone before Maxwell had his Mij.
Q4. Maxwell in the story speaks for the otter, Mij. He tells us what the otter feels and thinks on different occasions. Given below are some things the otter does. Complete the column on the right to say what Maxwell says about what Mij feels and thinks.
| What Mij does | How Mij feels or thinks |
| plunges, rolls in the water and makes the water splosh and splash | |
| Screws the tap in the wrong way | |
| Nuzzles Maxwell’s face and neck in the aeroplane |
Answer:
| What Mij does | How Mij feels or thinks |
| plunges, rolls in the water and makes the water splosh and splash | Went wild with joy |
| Screws the tap in the wrong way | Irritated and disappointed at the tap’s failure to cooperate |
| Nuzzles Maxwell’s face and neck in the aeroplane | a distressed chitter of recognition and welcome |
Q5. Read the story and find the sentences where Maxwell describes his pet otter. Then choose and arrange your sentences to illustrate those statements below that you think are true. Maxwell’s description
(i) makes Mij seem almost human, like a small boy.
(ii) shows that he is often irritated with what Mij does.
(iii) shows that he is often surprised by what Mij does.
(iv) of Mij’s antics is comical.
(v) shows that he observes the antics of Mij very carefully.
(vi) shows that he thinks Mij is a very ordinary otter.
(vii) shows that he thinks the otter is very unusual.
Answer:
(i) True – He spent the majority of his time playing.
(ii) False
(iii) True – I stood there in awe as he cranked the tap far enough to generate a trickle of water in far less than a minute, then increased the flow to full flow after a few moments.
(iv) False
(v) True – On the way home, a bag I had brought to Iraq had been broken, and the top, when closed, stayed at a slope from one end to the other. Mij realised that if he put the ball on the top of the luggage, it would roll down the length of it. He’d dash around to the opposite end to ambush its arrival, hide from it while crouched, then jump up and catch it off guard, grab it, and trot away with it. It’s not surprising, I guess, that the ordinary Londoner doesn’t recognise it.
(vi) False
(vii) True – It’s not surprising that the typical Londoner doesn’t recognise an otter, but the wide range of answers as to what kind of animal this is surprised me. Mij was far from an otter.
Thinking About Language
QI. Describing a Repeated Action in the Past
From the table below, make as many correct sentences as you can using would and/or used to, as appropriate. (Hint : First decide whether the words in italics show an action, or a state or situation, in the past.) Then add two or three sentences of your own to it.
| Emperor Akbar | be fond of musical evenings. | |
| Every evening we | would | take long walks on the beach. |
| Fifty years ago, very few people | own cars. | |
| Till the 1980s, Shanghai | used to | have very dirty streets. |
| My uncle | spend his holidays by the sea. |
Answer:
(i) Emperor Akbar used to be fond of musical evenings.
(ii) Every evening we would take long walks on the beach.
(iii) Fifty years ago, very few people used to own cars.
(iv) Till the 1980s, Shanghai used to have very dirty streets.
(v) My uncle would spend his holidays by the sea.
(vi) My uncle used to be fond of musical evenings.
(vii) My uncle would take long walks on the beach.
II. Noun Modifiers
Q1. Look at these examples from the text, and say whether the modifiers (in italics) are nouns, proper nouns, or adjective plus noun.
(i) An otter fixation (iv) The London streets
(ii) The iron railings (v) soft velvet fur
(iii) The Tigris marshes (vi) A four-footed soccer player
Answer:
(i) Noun
(ii) Noun
(iii) Proper noun
(iv) Proper noun
(v) Adjective plus noun
(vi) Adjective plus noun
Q2. Given below are some nouns, and a set of modifiers (in the box). Combine the nouns and modifiers to make as many appropriate phrases as you can. (Hint: The nouns and modifiers are all from the texts in this book.)
temple girls triangle dresses
person thoughts boys roar
gifts scream farewell expression
time subject landscape handkerchief
crossing flight chatterbox profession
physique coffee view celebration
college rough hundred stone ordinary
love uncomfortable white slang slack
bare railroad termendous family marriage
plump invigorating panoramic heartbreaking birthday
incorrigible ridiculous loud first three
Answer: Temple − white temple, stone temple, first temple
Person − incorrigible person, ridiculous person
Gifts − hundred gifts, ordinary gifts, birthday gifts
Time − college time, rough time, first time
Crossing − railroad crossing, first crossing
Physique − plump physique, ordinary physique
Three girls − first three girls, incorrigible three girls
Thoughts − incorrigible thoughts, uncomfortable thoughts, ridiculous thoughts, heartbreaking thoughts, first thoughts, ordinary thoughts
Scream − tremendous scream, loud scream
Subject − college subject, ordinary subject
Flight − rough flight, first flight
Coffee − invigorating coffee, ordinary coffee
Triangle − love triangle
Boys − college boys, incorrigible boys, rough boys, hundred boys
Farewell − college farewell, heartbreaking farewell
Landscape − bare landscape, rough landscape, white landscape
Chatterbox − incorrigible chatterbox
View − tremendous view, panoramic view, ordinary view
Dresses − hundred dresses, ordinary dresses, birthday dresses, marriage dresses
Roar − tremendous roar, loud roar
Expression − bare expression, slang expression, slack expression
Handkerchief − white handkerchief, ordinary handkerchief
Profession − family profession, first profession, ordinary profession
Celebration − tremendous celebration, family celebration, birthday celebration
III.1. Match the words on the left with a word on the right. Some words on the left can go with more than one word on the right.
(i) a portion of – blood
(ii) a pool of – cotton
(iii) flakes of – stones
(iv) a huge heap of – gold
(v) a gust of – fried fish
(vi) little drops of – snow
(vii) a piece of – water
(viii) a pot of – wind
Answer:
(i) a portion of – fried fish
(ii) a pool of – blood
(iii) flakes of – snow
(iv) a huge heap of – stones
(v) a gust of – wind
(vi) little drops of – water
(vii) a piece of – cotton
(viii) a pot of – gold
Q2. Use a bit of/a piece of/a bunch of/a cloud of/a lump of with the italicized nouns in the following sentences. The first has been done for you as an example.
(i) My teacher gave me some advice. My teacher gave me a bit of advice.
(ii) Can you give me some clay, please.
(iii) The information you gave was very useful.
(iv) Because of these factories, smoke hangs over the city.
(v) Two stones rubbed together can produce sparks of fire.
(vi) He gave me some flowers on my birthday. __
Answer: (i) My teacher gave me some advice. My teacher gave me a bit of advice.
(ii) Can you give me some clay, please. Can you give me a lump of clay, please.
(iii) The information you gave was very useful. The piece of information you gave was very useful.
(iv) Because of these factories, smoke hangs over the city. Because of these factories, a cloud of smoke hangs over the city.
(v) Two stones rubbed together can produce sparks of fire. Two pieces of stones rubbed together can produce sparks of fire.
(vi) He gave me some flowers on my birthday. He gave me a bunch of flowers on my birthday.
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