Question

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 newspaper 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 autorickshaws that noisily wend their way through most
Indian towns. There was only one traffic signal in the entire town and the roads were more ups-and-
downs 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 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 realisation that those
who fought for our Independence had lived, struggled, suffered and even died here left an impact.
(a) On the basis of your reading of the above passage, answer the following questions by choosing the
correct option.
(1x5=5)
(i) What kind of a passage is this?
(a) Fiction
(b) Travelogue
(C) Persuasive
(d) Biography
(ii) Why was the author interested in taking a trip to Andaman Islands?
(a) It had a haunted, bleak and scary image.
(b) As his parents had recently taken a trip there.
(c) He loved travelling.
(d) He was largely fascinated by what his parents told him about the islands.
(iii) Why was the author surprised when he reached Port Blair?
(a) The airport was very small.
(b) There was only one traffic signal in the entire town.
(c) Living in a busy city, he had never expected such a town.
(d) None of the above.
i What is the meaning of the nhrase 'sent a shiver down my spine'?​

Answer 1

Answer:

i) Travelogue. iii)The airport was very small