Read the passage given below. (1x10=10) Travel is a bug that was in me when I was born, probably inherited from my father. In 24 years of travelling widely through India. I have been most fascinated by those little islands that dot the Bay of Bengal off the East coast of India. Yes, I am talking about the Andaman Islands.Andamans somehow seemed almost sinister, with images of being haunted, bleak and scary, until my parents actually returned from a trip to Port Blair and told us about these serene islands. We immediately awaited the first opportunity to take a break and check them out. Finally, the D-Day came and we were all ready. We boarded the aircraft and, to our surprise, found that there were several empty seats. On enquiry, we learnt that all supplies to the Andamans including newspapers and meat go from the mainland, and so there is always more cargo and less people. Port Blair airport is a small, old airport that was constructed in 1947. On my way to the hotel, I noticed that there are none of the usual auto-rickshaws that noisily wend their way through most Indian towns. There was only one traffic signal in the entire town and the roads were more up and down than level. This was all surprising for a person like me who has lived in the coastal towns of Chennai and Mumbai. The colour of the sea was an unpolluted blue, a colour that I had not seen in any of the beaches in India. It was calm and beautiful. I was thrilled with the fact that we were going to spend 10 entire days there. All we had to do was sit in the open restaurant, look at the sea, enjoy the cool breeze and feel good. The Andaman Islands are a group of several islands, so most of our sightseeing was by boats. There are a total of more than 356 islands there. Even the oldest boatman, Rathnam, had seen only 200 of them. I figured that 10 days was surely not enough to get a full picture of this place, so I started to store every single sight, every sound and every smell. The sound and light show at the jail sent a shiver down my spine. (This trip was before the movie ‘Kalapani’ was released). The realization that those who fought for our independence had lived, struggled, suffered and even died here, left an impact. Questions (i) One thing that left a major impact on the author was_____. (a) the serenity of the place (b) the wholesome experience (c) vastness of the islands (d) the realization that freedom fighters had lived, struggled and died here. (ii) Pick the option that is NOT TRUE as per the passage. 1. The narrator liked travelling. 2. There were no empty seats in the aircraft. 3. The Port Blair Airport is small. 4. The Andaman Islands are a group of Islands. (a) 1 and 2 (b) Only 2 (c) 3 and 4 (d) Only 4 (iii) What was the author’s initial impression about the Andaman Islands? (a) They were beautiful serene. (b) They were uninhabitable. (c) They were sinister, haunted and scary. (d) They were difficult to explore. (iv) The airport at Port Blair was built in ______. (a) 1947 (b) 1847 (c) 1948 (d)1940
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Answer:
Read the passage given below. (1x10=10) Travel is a bug that was in me when I was born, probably inherited from my father. In 24 years of travelling widely through India. I have been most fascinated by those little islands that dot the Bay of Bengal off the East coast of India. Yes, I am talking about the Andaman Islands.Andamans somehow seemed almost sinister, with images of being haunted, bleak and scary, until my parents actually returned from a trip to Port Blair and told us about these serene islands. We immediately awaited the first opportunity to take a break and check them out. Finally, the D-Day came and we were all ready. We boarded the aircraft and, to our surprise, found that there were several empty seats. On enquiry, we learnt that all supplies to the Andamans including newspapers and meat go from the mainland, and so there is always more cargo and less people. Port Blair airport is a small, old airport that was constructed in 1947. On my way to the hotel, I noticed that there are none of the usual auto-rickshaws that noisily wend their way through most Indian towns. There was only one traffic signal in the entire town and the roads were more up and down than level. This was all surprising for a person like me who has lived in the coastal towns of Chennai and Mumbai. The colour of the sea was an unpolluted blue, a colour that I had not seen in any of the beaches in India. It was calm and beautiful. I was thrilled with the fact that we were going to spend 10 entire days there. All we had to do was sit in the open restaurant, look at the sea, enjoy the cool breeze and feel good. The Andaman Islands are a group of several islands, so most of our sightseeing was by boats. There are a total of more than 356 islands there. Even the oldest boatman, Rathnam, had seen only 200 of them. I figured that 10 days was surely not enough to get a full picture of this place, so I started to store every single sight, every sound and every smell. The sound and light show at the jail sent a shiver down my spine. (This trip was before the movie ‘Kalapani’ was released). The realization that those who fought for our independence had lived, struggled, suffered and even died here, left an impact. Questions (i) One thing that left a major impact on the author was_____. (a) the serenity of the place (b) the wholesome experience (c) vastness of the islands (d) the realization that freedom fighters had lived, struggled and died here. (ii) Pick the option that is NOT TRUE as per the passage. 1. The narrator liked travelling. 2. There were no empty seats in the aircraft. 3. The Port Blair Airport is small. 4. The Andaman Islands are a group of Islands. (a) 1 and 2 (b) Only 2 (c) 3 and 4 (d) Only 4 (iii) What was the author’s initial impression about the Andaman Islands? (a) They were beautiful serene. (b) They were uninhabitable. (c) They were sinister, haunted and scary. (d) They were difficult to explore. (iv) The airport at Port Blair was built in ______. (a) 1947 (b) 1847 (c) 1948 (d)1940