CBSE 10th Term-2 2022 : English (First Flight) Important Short Answer Type Questions (3 Marks)

Check important short answer type questions to prepare for CBSE Class 10th English Term 2 Exam 2022. The set of questions provided here is best to prepare the 3 marks questions from all chapters of Class 10 English. These questions have been prepared by the examination experts. Students can easily read all questions in revise them to score maximum marks in their English exam.

Chapter

Glimpses of India

1.”Even today any person with a jackfruit -like physical appearance is easily compared to a baker.” Explain.

Answer: Bakers had a plump physique which meant they were happy and prosperous and hence, even today any person with a jackfruit like physical appearance is compared to a baker.

2.’Baking was indeed ,a profitable profession.’ Justify the statement with reference to the extract ‘A Baker from Goa’.

Answer: Baking was indeed, a profitable profession in the old days. The baker and his family never starved. He, his family and his servants always looked happy and prosperous. Their plump physique was an open testimony to this.

3. How does the writer know about the arrival of the baker? Why are they anxiously waiting for him?

Answer: The children would know about his arrival from the ‘jhang, jhang’ sound of his bamboo stick. They would run to meet and greet him. They tried to surround the basket, but were pushed aside till the bread was delivered to the maid. Then, they were allowed to choose their bread bangles.

4. What did the baker mean to the narrator during his childhood? How many times did he pay a visit?

Answer: The baker or pader was an important person in the author’s life. He was treated like a friend. He used to come twice a day, once in the morning to sell the bread and then while returning after emptying his basket. The author used to run to meet him in order to take the bread - bangles. He chatted and gossiped with him.

5. Why did the young children in Goa not wash their mouth ?

Answer: When the children got bread bangles from the baker in the morning, they wanted to eat those without waiting to brush their teeth or washing their mouths properly. They argued that the tiger never brushed his teeth. Hot tea could wash and clean up everything very nicely.

Chapter

Madam Rides the Bus

1. Give examples from the text to show that Valli was a meticulous planner.

Answer: The passage provides evidence that Valli was a keen observer as well as a meticulous planner. Her desire to experience a bus ride was realized by systematic and organised planning. She had collected all the useful information by observing and planning and making discreet inquiries about the time of the bus, the duration of the journey as well as the fare. She was focussed and saved every penny to finance her trip and finally accomplished it by efficient execution of her plans.

2. How can you say that the conductor was a good-natured jolly fellow? Support your answer with examples.

Answer: The conductor of the bus was a good natured fellow, with pleasant manners. He was concerned that such a small girl was travelling to town alone and took care that she was comfortably seated. When Valli objected to being treated as a child, he took it in good spirit and jokingly addressed her ‘Madam’. His behaviour, thus, reflects the congeniality of his nature.

3. What details did Valli pick up about the bus journey? How did she pick up these details?

Answer: The details that Valli picked up was the distance that the bus travelled, the duration and fare. She gathered this information by hearing the conversation of others and by asking a discreet question or two.

4. Give reasons why Valli found the elderly woman on the bus, repulsive.

Answer: The first reason is that the appearance of the woman was repulsive. The second reason being the bad smell is coming out of her mouth due to betel nuts. These are the reasons as to why Valli found the elderly woman repulsive.

5. What was Valli’s favourite pastime?

Answer : Valli’s favourite pastime was standing in the front doorway of her house and looking at the street outside.

6. Why did Valli listen to the conversations? What did she get from them?

Answer : Valli carefully listened to the conversations between her neighbours and people who had travelled on the bus or who regularly used it. She asked some casual questions also. In this way, she learnt about small details about the journey. She came to know that the town was six miles away from her village.

7. How did Valli board the bus? Why did she say, ‘I can get on by myself’?

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'.

8. How did Valli react when the conductor called her “a very grown-up madam?”

Answer : The bus conductor teased Valli by calling her ‘a very grown-up madam’. Valli reacted sharply saying that she was not a madam. She reminded him that he had not yet given her ticket. The conductor mimicked her tone and said, ‘I’ll remember.’ Everyone laughed and gradually Valli too joined in the laughter.

9. What careful and painstaking elaborate plans did Valli have to make for her first journey and how did she save the money for it?

Answer: Valli had to make careful and painstaking plans for her first bus journey. Saving sixty paise for both ways fare was not an easy job. She saved thriftily every stray coin that came in her way. She had to give up the temptation of buying peppermints, toys, and balloons and stifle her desire to ride on the merry-go-round.

10. Why did Valli laugh until there were tears in her eyes?

Answer: Valli saw a young cow running very fast in the middle of the road. It was right in front of the bus. The bus slowed down to a crawl. The driver sounded the horn loudly again and again. But the more he honked, the more frightened the animal became and galloped right in front of the bus. Valli laughed until there were tears in her eyes.

11. Why didn’t Valli get off the bus when the bus stopped at the town?

Answer: Valli’s destination, the nearest town from her village, had come. Everyone got off except Valli. The conductor reminded that her destination had come and she should get off the bus. Valli told that she was going back on the same bus. She handed thirty more coins to the conductor and asked for the ticket. She just felt like having a bus ride again.

12. Why didn’t Valli accept a free drink from the bus conductor? What does this act show about her character?

Answer: The bus conductor asked Valli to let him bring her a cold drink. She replied that she didn’t have enough money for that. He should just give him her ticket. The conductor offered to give it totally free. She said firmly, ‘Please, no.’ This shows how proud and self-respecting Valli was.

13. What dampened Valli’s enthusiasm during the return journey?

Answer: During her return journey, Valli saw a young cow lying dead by the side of the road. She was the same lovable and beautiful cow that she saw only a little while ago. Now, it looked so horrible and frightening as it lay there. There was a fixed stare in her lifeless eyes and she was smeared with blood. The sight dampened her enthusiasm and she stopped looking outside.

14. How can you say Valli’s bus ride remained a secret from her mother and aunt?

Answer: When Valli entered her house, she found her mother awake and talking to one of her aunts. Her aunt was a real chatterbox. She asked where she had been so far. Valli’s mother spoke casually. She didn’t expect a reply. Both these ladies could know nothing about Valli’s pleasure ride on the bus.

15. Why did Valli smile to herself? Did her mother and aunt have any chance of knowing the secret of her smile?

Answer. Valli agreed with her mother that many things were happening outside of the world without their knowledge. Ironically, the two ladies didn’t know anything about Valli’s bus journey. They didn’t know that 'just a chit of a girl’ had done such a great feat. Valli smiled to herself. There was no chance of her secret being exposed.

16. What did Valli see out of the window on her first journey?

Answer: Valli enjoyed the nature’s beauty out of the bus window. She saw the bus going along the bank of a canal with the palm trees and mountains in the background and the blue sky. On the other side, she saw a deep ditch and large green fields spread across acres. She saw other vehicles, a young cow running in front of the bus.

17. 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 go on a bus ride. The words and phrases in the story that tell this are 'overwhelming desire', 'stare wistfully', and 'kindle in her longings', 'dreams' and 'hopes', 'wish became stronger and stronger'.

Chapter

The Sermon at Benares

1.How is the city of Benares important??

Answer: Benares is a sacred city of the Hindus as the river Ganga flows through it. Gautama Buddha preached his first sermon at the city of Benares. It was about accepting death as an inseparable part of life and not grieving unduly over it.

2. What is the moral of the lesson,’ The Sermon at Benares’?

Answer: The moral of the lesson is that one should understand that human beings are mortal and no one can escape death. People must understand that thinking about bound situations will increase one’s stress and lead to sorrow. So, our primary focus should be on neglecting sorrows and focusing on things that make us happy.

3.What were the sights that moved and shocked Gautama?

Answer: Prince Gautama had been deliberately shielded from all the sufferings of the world. One day he chanced upon a sick man, then an aged man and then a funeral procession. Finally, he saw a monk begging for alms. These sights moved him. He went out into the world to seek the solution of all these sufferings. He wanted to seek enlightenment.

4.What did the Buddha preach to the people?

Answer: Buddha said that death is common to all mortals. You cannot avoid it. No amount of Weeping and lamenting can bring back a dead. So wise men don’t grieve. Weeping and lamenting rather spoil one’s health. To overcome sorrow, become free of sorrow.

5. According to Kisa Gotami what is the greatest grief of life?

Answer: According to Kisa Gotami, the greatest grief in life is the death of one’s loved ones and one’s inability to stop them from dying. She had tried in vain to revive her son. Finding her so miserable the Buddha thought of a way to teach her to stop grieving. She eventually understood the lesson that Buddha wanted to convey- death should be accepted as it is inevitable.

6. How did Kisa Gotami realise that life and death is a process?

Answer: Kisa Gotami went from house to house to bring a handful of mustard seeds but was unable to find one house where nobody died. She sat down by the roadside and saw the lights of city flickering and extinguishing. Thus she realised that the human life is similar to the lights.

7.How did the Buddha teach Kisa Gautami the truth of life and death?

Answer: Kisa Gotami had lost her son. The Buddha told her to bring mustard seeds from the house where there had been no deaths. When she could not fulfil this condition she understood that death is the ultimate truth. All creatures that are born must die one day. This is what Buddha wanted her to understand. Finally the grieving mother accepted the death of her beloved son.

8.How did Siddhartha Gautama get enlightenment? Why did he name the peepal tree as the Bodhi tree?

Answer: Gautama wanted a final solution for the sufferings and pains that afflicted the people of the world. He wandered for seven years for seeking enlightenment. Finally, he sat down under a peepal tree. He vowed to stay there until enlightenment came. Enlightened after seven days, he renamed the peepal tree. It was named as the Bodhi Tree or Tree of Wisdom.

9. What did Buddha say about death and suffering ?

Answer: After enlightenment, Buddha started to spread his teachings about life, truth and the likes of it. He told that death and suffering are the part and parcel of life. None can avoid this truth. Whoever has born, will die one day. In the hour of grief, one must remain calm and composed so that grief doesn't overcome one. Only wise accept the truth. People should not get distressed with pain, suffering and death.

10. Can grieving and lamentation avoid death and decay in this world? What did the Buddha say in this regard?

Answer: This world is afflicted with death and decay. Therefore, the wise don’t grieve. No one will ever get peace of mind by weeping or grieving. Weeping or grieving only makes a person sick and pale. Only the person who has overcome all sorrows will be free from sorrow. He will then be blessed.

Chapter

The Proposal

1. Who are Lomov and Chubukov and how are they related to each other ?

Answer: Lomov and Chubukov are landlords. They are neighbours too. According to lomov, he has been coming to Chubukov for help. Chubukov has helped him even earlier. There seems to be a dispute over the ownership of Oxen Meadows. Each one claims that the land belongs to him. Lomov is interested in marrying Chubukov’s daughter Natalya and considers her a suitable match for him.

2. Justify the title of the play, ’The Proposal’?

Answer: The title of the play “The Proposal” is apt. The title justifies the main theme- the marriage of Natalya and Lomov. No doubt, both Lomov and Natalya want to be life partners. However, unnecessary quarrels over Oxen Meadows and their dogs Squeezer and Guess temporarily spoil their game. The message is very clear. The main issue must not be clouded and lost sight of by indulging in unnecessary and avoidable quarrels.

3. What do you learn about Natalya from the play, The Proposal?

Answer: Natalya is the only daughter of the landowner Chubukov. She was very possessive about her land and was very determined not to part with it. She was a short-tempered lady who used to quarrel with everyone very often. She always pinpointed the amount of help she had offered to her neighbours. Though well educated, she did not use her education wisely and thoughtfully.

4. Describe the first fight between Lomov and Natalya.

Answer: Although Lomov had come to Chubukov’s house to propose his daughter Natalya, he started fighting with her over a small piece of land. This land adjoined her land and his Oxen Meadows touched her Birch woods. Natalya told Lomov that Oxen Meadows belonged to her, but Lomov claimed that the Oxen Meadows are his. Lomov tried to convince Natalya by telling her that his aunt’s grandmother gave the meadows for the temporary and free use to Chubukov’s grandfather’s peasants. They did not demand money for it for a long time, so the Chubukov’s misunderstood that the meadows belonged to them. While Chubukov insisted that yelling could not prove anything because everyone knows that meadows belonged to Chubukov’s since last three hundred years. Both threatened each other.

5. “The way Chubukov, Natalya and Lomov fought over pretty issues is against the behaviour and mannerisms of good neighbours.” Comment. What would you have done to resolve this issue if you were in place of Chubukov?

Answer: Lomov and Chubukovs were neighbours. Lomov came to Chubukov’s house to propose Natalya. But instead of proposing, they started fighting over petty issues like Oxen meadows and quality of dogs. This is not the quality of good neighbours. Neighbours should live like friends. There should be a positive relationship between the two neighbours. There should be understanding and patience among neighbours, The fight between Lomov and Chubukovs could have been avoided, if handled carefully. The issue of meadows could be solved calmly peacefully by a good conversation. There must have been some documents showing the ownership of the meadows or both parties could be convinced by making them understand that if they got married, the meadows will belong to both of them. Similarly, the issues of dog could be solved by discussing the positive features of the dogs instead of counting the negative points of each other’s dogs.