Read the following passage carefully, and then answer the questions that follow, using as far as possible your own words:
If he didn't hurry it would soon be dark. And his father would be waiting for the bait. First of all he had said to his mother that he wouldn't go to the ebb. The mood had come on him to be very stubborn. It was a shame that he should have to go to the ebb, with the other boys playing football. The injustice of it had hit him strongly. His father had said nothing. But if he didn't go then his father would have had to. And by two or three in the morning his father would have to be aboard. It must be terribly cold in the dark out on that sea; out on that sea in the small hours of a sleepy morning, or on a morning of hard frost, with mist coming off the water like ghosts' breath. The loneliness of the bouldered beach suddenly caught him in an odd way. A small shiver went over his back. The dark undulating water rose from him to a horizon so far away that it was vague and lost. What a size it was! It could heave up and drown the whole world. Its waters would go rushing and drowning. He glimpsed the rushing water as a turbulent whiteness released out of thunderous sluices. "But you can't," he half-smiled, a little fearfully, glancing about him. A short distance away, right on the sea's edge, he saw one of the boulders move. His heart came into his throat. Yet half his mind knew that it could only be some other lonely human being in the ebb. And presently he saw the back bob up for a moment again. Yes, it was a man. Seeking among the boulders there like some queer animal! He looked about him carefully. There was no one else. There were just the two of them in the ebb. Here they were on this dark beach, with nobody else. A strange air of remoteness touched him. It was as though they shared this gloomy shore, beyond the world's rim, between them. There was a secret importance in it. He stooped and began filling his bag with mussels, picking big ones in a manly way. The water was now merely cool to his burning hands.
a) Give the meanings of each of the following words or expressions, as used in the passage. One word answers or short phrases only will be accepted.
(i) in an odd way (line 11).
(ii) glimpsed (line 15)
(iii) gloomy (line 25).
(b) Answer the following questions:
(i) Where does this incident (referred to in the passage) take place?
(ii) What has the boy come to do there?
(iii) Why, do you think, is the mist coming off the water, "like the ghosts' breath"?
(iv) What stages do the boy's feelings go through in the first paragraph?
(v) What features of the sea (besides its size) impress the boy in the following lines:"What a size thunderous sluices." (lines 13-16)?
(vi) What changes do we notice in the boy's feelings about the other human being on the beach?
Answers
Answer: - a) (i) In an odd way - In a strange way.
(ii) Glimpsed - Looked briefly and scared.
(iii) Gloomy - Dark sight.
b) (i) This incident took place in the ebb or a beach.
(ii) The boy came to help his father with the other boys playing football.
(iii) Mist is caused due to condensation, and it appears in the air near the earth surface, so it is in the form of gas. Therefore, the sound of the mist coming off the water sounds like a ghosts' breath.
(iv) In the first paragraph, the boy went through different feelings, like sadness, stubborn, fearful, etc.
(v) The rushing water as a turbulent whiteness released out of thunderous sluices, the boulders, some queer animal move impressed the boy in the following line - "What a size thunderous sluice."
(vi) It creates feeling of awakens, peace and joy the beach boys catch a wave you are sitting on the top of the world.
Detailed answer: -
- The given paragraph is about a boy who is in the beach to fill his bag with mussels.
- At first, he did not want to go but then he knew that his father needs to go abroad and so he then decided to help him.
- During the full journey of the story, the boy went through many different feelings.
To know more about the topic, visit the below links: -
https://brainly.in/question/4313119
https://brainly.in/question/19705300
#SPJ1