NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English First Flight Chapter 8 Mijbil The Otter
NCERT Solutions for CBSE Class 10 English First Flight Chapter 8 Mijbil The Otter are provided here. This story is written by Gavin Maxwell and includes many questions that are important for exams. We have solved all the NCERT questions of the lesson with a detailed explanation that help students to complete their assignments & homework. We have provided NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English First Flight Chapter 8 Mijbil The Otter in PDF format so that you can download them for offline use.
Class 10 English First Flight Chapter 8 NCERT Questions and Answers
Oral Comprehension Check (Page No. 106)
Question 1. What ‘experiment’ did Maxwell think Camusfearna would be suitable for?
Answer: Maxwell thought that he would keep an otter instead of a dog. Camusfearna, ringed by water a very short distance from its door, would be an eminently suitable spot for the experiment.
Question 2. Why does he go to Basra? How long does he wait there, and why?
Answer: He went to Basra, to the Consulate-General, to collect and answer his mail from Europe. He had had to wait there for five days. To start with, his mail didn’t reach on time. Then he tried to make a telephone call. This incident is of those days when one had to book an international call 24 hrs in advance. The telephone line was not working properly on the first day. Next day, it was some public holiday, so it was not working. Finally, after a torturous wait of five days, his mail arrived.
Question 3. How does he get the otter? Does he like it? Pick out the words that tell you this.
Answer: His friend bought the otter for him and sent it to the place where he was staying. The author liked it. This is seen in “The second night Mijbil came on to my bed in the small hours and remained asleep in the crook of my knees….” “ I made a body-belt for him…”.
Question 4. Why was the otter named ‘Maxwell’s otter’?
Answer: The otter was named by zoologists as Lutrogale Perspicillata Maxwelli. Hence, it was called Maxwell’s otter in short.
Question 5. 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.
Question 6: 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 for half an hour. It was plunging and rolling in it, shooting up and down the length of the bathtub under water, and making enough slosh and splash for a hippo.
Two days after that, it escaped from his bedroom. By the time he got there, Mijbil was up on the end of the bathtub and fumbling at the chromium taps with its paws. In less than a minute, it had turned the tap far enough to produce some water and after a moment, achieved the full flow.
Oral Comprehension Check (Page No. 108)
Question 1. How was Mijbil 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.
Question 2. What did Mij do to the box?
Answer: The box was lined with a metal sheet, but Mij wasn’t feeling comfortable inside the box and tried to escape from it. In his attempt to escape, Mijbil tore into the metal lining of the box, hurt himself and started bleeding.
Question 3. Why did Maxwell put the otter back in the box? How do you think he felt when he did this?
Answer: As there was no other way to carry Mij to London, Maxwell put in the box again. He must have felt pity on the way the otter hurt himself. Moreover, he must be worried as well.
Question 4. Why does Maxwell say the airhostess was “the very queen of her kind”?
Answer: The airhostess was very sympathetic after listening to Maxwell’s story. She understood how he might be feeling and then gave him permission to take the otter out of the box. Due to all this, Maxwell referred her as “the very queen of her kind”.
Question 5. What happened when the box was opened?
Answer: When the box was opened, Mij went out of the box. He disappeared at a high speed down the aircraft. There were cries all around. A woman stood up on her seat screaming that there was a rat. He saw Mij’s tail disappearing beneath the legs of an Indian passenger. He dived for it but missed. The air-hostess suggested him to be seated and that she would find the otter. After a while, Mij returned to him. It climbed on his knees and began to rub its nose, his face and neck.
Oral Comprehension Check (Page No. 110)
Question 1. What game had Mij invented?
Answer: Mij invented a game of playing with the ball in a unique way. One of the author’s suitcase was damaged and had a slope on the top part. Mij would put the ball on the high end and run to catch it as it slided to the lower end.
Question 2. 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 behaviour which a person does without clear reason. For example a cricket player may put on his right shoes first as he believes it would bring him good luck or a kid jumping over a fence, instead of going through the passage way. Usually compulsive behaviour of children are full of childhood mischief and those of adults are of incorrigible type.
(i) As per this story, children must place their feet squarely on the centre of each paving block; must touch every seventh upright of the iron railings, or pass to the outside of every second lamp post.
(ii) Mijbil while on its way to home would jump over the boundary wall railing and run at full speed throughout its length.
Question 3. What group of animals do otters belong to?
Answer: Otters belong to a comparatively small group of animals called Mustellines. The other animals of this group are badger, mongoose, weasel, stoat, mink and others.
Question 4. What guesses did the Londoners make about what Mij was?
Answer: According to Maxwell, the average Londoner does not recognise otter. The Londoners who saw Mij made different guesses about who Mij was. They guessed, among other things, that it was a baby seal, a squirrel, a walrus, a hippo, a beaver, a bear cub, a leopard and a brontosaur.
Thinking about the Text
Question 1. What things does Mij do which tell you that he is an intelligent, friendly and fun-loving animal who needs love?
Answer: Mij was an intelligent animal. It invented it own game out of the ping-pong balls. It screwed the tap till water began to flow and then it would play and splash in the water. Though it was aloof and indifferent in the beginning, it soon became very friendly. It formed a special attachment with Maxwell. It responded when Maxwell called out his name. It grew desperate when Maxwell left it in a box and it got hurt while trying to come out of it. After Maxwell took it out, it clung to his feet. It was a fun-loving animal. It enjoyed playing all kinds of games. It would play with a selection of toys, ping-pong balls, marbles, rubber fruit, and a terrapin shell. It required love and affection from Maxwell and it got that readily.
Question 2. What are some of the things we come to know about otters from this text?
Answer: Otters belong to a relatively small group of animals called Mustellines that is shared by badger, mongoose, weasel, stoat, mink and others. They are mostly found in large numbers in marshy areas. Arabs tame them as pets. Otters love to play with water and splash in it. Maxwell’s otter was of an unknown race to science and was at length named by zoologists as Lutrogale Perspicillata Maxwelli, hence, it is also known as Maxwell’s otter in short. We also came to know that otters are intelligent and fun-loving animals who invent and love to play their own games and have a friendly nature towards human beings.
Question 3. Why is Mij’s species now known to the world as Maxwell’s otter?
Answer: Maxwell’s otter was of a race previously unknown to science and was at length named by zoologists Lutrogale Perspicillata Maxwelli, hence, it is known as Maxwell’s otter in short.
Question 4. 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 | He thinks it is a hippo and is very happy. |
| Screws the tap in the wrong way | He chitters with irritation and disappointment. |
| Nuzzles Maxwell’s face and neck in the aeroplane | He feels much comfort and content after its distressed chitter. |
Question 5. 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
(ii) False
(iii) True
(iv) True
(v) True
(vi) False
(vii) True
Thinking about Language (Page 111-114)
Question I: 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.
Answer: 1. Emperor Akbar used to be fond of musical evenings.
2. Every evening we used to take long walks on the beach.
3. Fifty years ago, very few people used to own cars.
4. Till the 1980s, Shanghai used to have very dirty streets.
5. My uncle used to spend his holidays by the sea.
6. My uncle used to be fond of musical evenings.
7. My uncle used to take long walks on the beach.
Question II: Noun Modifiers
1. 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
(ii) The iron railings
(iii) The Tigris marshes
(iv) The London streets
(v) soft velvet fur
(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
2. 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 | tremendous | family | marriage |
| plump | invigorating | panoramic | heartbreaking | birthday |
| incorrigible | ridiculous | loud | first | three |
Answer:
| Temple | White temple, Stone temple |
| Gifts | Ordinary gift, birthday gift. |
| Time | First time, family time, college time, rough time |
| Crossing | Railroad crossing, first crossing |
| Physique | Plump physique, ordinary physique |
| Girls | Plump girls, college girls |
| Thoughts | Uncomfortable thoughts, ridiculous thoughts, ordinary thoughts, good thoughts, invigorating thoughts, heartbreaking |
| Scream | Loud scream, heartbreaking scream |
| Subject | Ordinary subject, college subject |
| Flight | First flight, ordinary flight, rough flight, uncomfortable flight |
| Coffee | Black coffee, ordinary coffee, invigorating coffee |
| Farewell | College farewell, heartbreaking farewell |
| Landscape | Rough landscape, bare landscape |
| Chatterbox | Incorrigible chatterbox, ridiculous chatterbox |
| View | Panoramic view, ordinary view, tremendous view |
| Dresses | Ordinary dresses, birthday dresses, marriage dresses, hundred dresses |
| Handkerchief | White handkerchief, clean handkerchief, ordinary handkerchief |
| Profession | Family profession, first profession, ordinary profession |
| Celebration | Birthday celebration, tremendous celebration, family celebration |
| Roar | Loud roar, tremendous roar |
Question 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 |
2. Use a bit of/a piece of/a bunch of/a cloud of/a lump of with the italicised 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 a bit of advice.
(ii) Can you give me a lump of clay please?
(iii) The piece of information you gave was very useful.
(iv) Because of, these factories, a cloud of smoke hangs over the city.
(v) Two pieces of stone rubbed together can produce sparks of fire.
(vi) He gave me a bunch of flowers on my birthday.