1. When I was at college I used to spend my summer vacations in Dehra at my grandmother's
place. I would leave the plains early in May and return late in July. Deoli was a small
station about thirty miles from Dehra, it marked the beginning of the heavy jungles of the
Indian Terai.
2. The train would reach Deoli at about five in the morning, when the station would be dimly
lit with electric bulbs and oil-lamps, and the jungle across the railway tracks would just be
visible in the faint light of dawn. Deoli had only one platform, an office for the station-
master and a few stray dogs; not much else, because the train stopped there for only ten
minutes before rushing on into the forests.
3. Why it stopped at Deoli, I don't know. Nothing ever happened there. Nobody got off the
train and nobody got in. I used to wonder what happened in Deoli, behind the station walls.
I always felt sorry for that lonely little platform, and for the place that nobody wanted to
visit. I decided that one day I would get off the train at Deoli, and spend the day there, just
to please the town.
4. I was eighteen, visiting my grandmother, and the night train stopped at Deoli. A girl came
down the platform, selling baskets. It was a cold morning and the girl had a shawl thrown
across her shoulder. Her feet were bare and her clothes were old, but she was a young girl,
walking gracefully and with dignity.
5. When she came to my window she stopped she saw that I was looking at her intently, but
at first she pretend not to see. She had a pale skin, set of shiny black hair and dark troubled
eyes. She stood by my window for sometime and neither of us said anything. But when she
moved on I found myself leaving my seat and going to the carriage door. she noticed me
at the door and stood waiting on the platform looking the other way. I walked across to
the tea stall a kettle was boiling over a small fire but the owner of the tea stall was busy
serving tea somewhere on the train.
6. The girl followed me behind the stall. "Do you want to buy a basket?" she asked they are
very strong made of the finest cane" "no" I said "I don't want a basket". We stood looking
at each other for what seemed a very long time and then she said "are you sure you don't
want a basket? "alright give me one" I said and I took the one on the top and gave her a
rupee hardly daring to touch her fingers.
grandmother's place
1. The author's summer vacation used to be special as he spent it at his
(friend's home / grandmother's place)
2. The girl carried with her some
3.The author felt pity on the girl. True/False
4. The author was attracted to the girl because of her
5. The most appropriate sub-heading to Para 2 of the passage is
a) Author's decision to get off at Deoli
b) Author's description of Deoli
Answers
Answer:
1. When I was at college I used to spend my summer vacations in Dehra at my grandmother's
place. I would leave the plains early in May and return late in July. Deoli was a small
station about thirty miles from Dehra, it marked the beginning of the heavy jungles of the
Indian Terai.
2. The train would reach Deoli at about five in the morning, when the station would be dimly
lit with electric bulbs and oil-lamps, and the jungle across the railway tracks would just be
visible in the faint light of dawn. Deoli had only one platform, an office for the station-
master and a few stray dogs; not much else, because the train stopped there for only ten
minutes before rushing on into the forests.
3. Why it stopped at Deoli, I don't know. Nothing ever happened there. Nobody got off the
train and nobody got in. I used to wonder what happened in Deoli, behind the station walls.
I always felt sorry for that lonely little platform, and for the place that nobody wanted to
visit. I decided that one day I would get off the train at Deoli, and spend the day there, just
to please the town.
4. I was eighteen, visiting my grandmother, and the night train stopped at Deoli. A girl came
down the platform, selling baskets. It was a cold morning and the girl had a shawl thrown
across her shoulder. Her feet were bare and her clothes were old, but she was a young girl,
walking gracefully and with dignity.
5. When she came to my window she stopped she saw that I was looking at her intently, but
at first she pretend not to see. She had a pale skin, set of shiny black hair and dark troubled
eyes. She stood by my window for sometime and neither of us said anything. But when she
moved on I found myself leaving my seat and going to the carriage door. she noticed me
at the door and stood waiting on the platform looking the other way. I walked across to
the tea stall a kettle was boiling over a small fire but the owner of the tea stall was busy
serving tea somewhere on the train.
6. The girl followed me behind the stall. "Do you want to buy a basket?" she asked they are
very strong made of the finest cane" "no" I said "I don't want a basket". We stood looking
at each other for what seemed a very long time and then she said "are you sure you don't
want a basket? "alright give me one" I said and I took the one on the top and gave her a
rupee hardly daring to touch her fingers.
grandmother's place
1. The author's summer vacation used to be special as he spent it at his
(friend's home / grandmother's place)
2. The girl carried with her some
3.The author felt pity on the girl. True/False
4. The author was attracted to the girl because of her
5. The most appropriate sub-heading to Para 2 of the passage is
a) Author's decision to get off at Deoli
b) Author's description of Deoli