Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow :
1. We sit in the last row, bumped about but free of stares. The bus rolls out of the dull crossroads of the city, and we are soon in open countryside, with fields of sunflowers as far as the eye can see, their heads all facing us. Where there is no water, the land reverts to desert. While still on level ground, we see in the distance the tall range of the Mount Bogda, abrupt like a shining prism laid horizontally on the desert surface. It is over 5,000 metres high, and the peaks are under permanent snow, in powerful contrast to the flat desert all around. Heaven Lake lies part of the way up this range, about 2,000 metres above sea-level, at the foot of one of the higher snow-peaks.
2. As the bus climbs, the sky, brilliant before, grows overcast. I have brought nothing warm to wear: it is all down at the hotel in Urumqi. Rain begins to fall. The man behind me is eating overpoweringly smelly goats‖ cheese. The bus window leaks inhospitably but reveals a beautiful view. We have passed quickly from desert through arable land to pasture, and the ground is now green with grass, the slopes dark with pine. A few cattle drink at a clear stream flowing past moss-covered stones; it is a Constable landscape. The stream changes into a white torrent, and as we climb higher I wish more and more that I had brought with me something warmer than the pair of shorts that have served me so well in the desert. The stream (which, we are told, rises in Heaven Lake) disappears, and we continue our slow ascent. About noon, we arrive at Heaven Lake, and look for a place to stay at the foot, which is the resort area. We get a room in a small cottage, and I am happy to note that there are thick quilts on the beds.
3.Standing outside the cottage we survey our surroundings. Heaven Lake is long, sardine-shaped and fed by snowmelt from a stream at its head. The lake is an intense blue, surrounded on all sides by green mountainwalls, dotted with distant sheep. At the head of the lake, beyond the delta of the inflowing stream, is a massive snow-capped peak which dominates the vista; it is part of a series of peaks that culminate, a little out of view, in Mount Bogda itself.
4 For those who live in the resort, there is a small mess-hall by the shore. We eat here sometimes, and sometimes buy food from the vendors outside, who sell kabab and naan until the last buses leave. The kababs, cooked on skewers over charcoal braziers, are particularly good; highly spiced and well-done. Horse’s milk is available too from the local Kazakh herdsmen, but I decline this. I am so affected by the cold that Mr. Cao, the relaxed young man who runs the mess, lends me a spare pair of trousers, several sizes too large but more than comfortable. Once I am warm again, I feel a pre-dinner spurt of energy— dinner will be long in coming — and I ask him whether the lake is good for swimming in "
5. Swimming? Mr. Cao says. ――You aren’t thinking of swimming, are you ?‖
6. I thought I might, I confess. ――What’s the water like?
7. He doesn’t answer me immediately, turning instead to examine some receipts with exaggerated interest. Mr. Cao, with great off-handedness, addresses the air. ――People are often drowned here, he says. After a pause, he continues. ――When was the last one? This question is directed at the cook, who is preparing a tray of mantou (squat, white steamed bread rolls), and who now appears, wiping his doughy hand across his forehead. ――Was it the Beijing athlete? asks Mr. Cao.
On the basis of your understanding of the above passage complete the statements given below with the help of the options that follow :
(a) One benefit of sitting in the last row of the bus was that
(i) the narrator enjoyed the bumps.
(ii) no one stared at him.
(iii) he could see the sunflowers.
(iv) he avoided the dullness of the city.
(b) The narrator was travelling to
(i) Mount Bogda.
(ii) Heaven Lake.
(iii) a 2,000-metre high snow-peak.
(iv) Urumqi.
(c) On reaching the destination the narrator felt relieved because
(i) he had got away from the desert.
(ii) a difficult journey had come to an end.
(iii) he could watch the snow-peak.
(iv) there were thick quilts on the beds.
(d) Mount Bogda is compared to
(i) a horizontal desert surface.
(ii) a shining prism.
(iii) a Constable landscape.
(iv) the overcast sky.
Answer the questions given below briefly :
(e) Which two things in the bus made the narrator feel uncomfortable ?
(f) What made the scene look like a Constable landscape ?
(g) What did he regret as the bus climbed higher ?
(h)Why did the narrator like to buy food from outside ?
(i) What is ironic about the pair of trousers lent by Mr. Cao ?
(j)Why did Mr. Cao not like the narrator to swim in the lake ?
(k) Find words from the passage which mean the same as the following :
(i) sellers (Para 4)
(ii) increased (Para 7)
Answers
The correct answers are -
(a) (ii) no one stared at him
The narrator states in the very first paragraph of the passage that they sit in the last row of the bus that was safe from the people's looks.
(b) (ii) Heaven Lake
The destination of the narrator is the Heaven Lake that is about 2000 metres above sea level.
(c) (iv) The thick quilts on the beds
Heavens Lake was irresistibly cold and the writer had put nothing warm to wear. So when he noticed the thick quilts on the beds he felt relieved
(d) (ii) a shining prism
When riding in a truck, the narrator distantly saw Mount Bodga's high range as a reflective mirror spread horizontally on the top of the desert.
(e) The two things that made the narrator uncomfortable were -
The overpowering smell of the goat cheese the man sitting next to him was eating and the leaking window bus as it was raining.
(f) As the bus moved through desert to pasture land, he saw a pair of cattle drinks streaming through moss-covered stones in a transparent lake. The dream made the scene look like a constable countryside
(g) The narrator wishes he had put something nice to wear when they scaled the mountain higher. All of his clothes, other than a pair of shorts were at the hotel down in Urunqi
(h) Sometimes the narrator buys food from outsellers who sell kebabs and naan. He likes to buy these because the kebabs, which were cooked on skewers over charcoal braziers, were particularly good and very spicy.
(i) The irony is that although the trousers were large size, still they made the narrator comfortable and gave warmth in the chilling cold.
(j) Many people, including the Beijing athlete had drowned in the lake, hence Mr. Cao did not like the idea of the narrator swimming.
(k) (i) Vendors
(iii) Exaggerated
Answer:
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