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 upsand-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, Rathnarn, 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. (1×6=6)

(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 not 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 big. (b) There was no traffic signal in the entire town. (c) Living in a busy city, he had never expected such a town. (d) None of the above. (iv) What is the meaning of the phrase 'sent a shiver down my spine'?

(a) Feel very frightened

(b) Feel very excited

(c) Feel very relaxed

(d) None of these

(v) The synonyms of 'sinister' in the second paragraph is …
(c) benign

(d) good

(vi) 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 realisation that freedom fighters had lived, struggled and died there

(vii) Why were there several empty seats in the aircraft?

a) all the supplies go from the mainland

b) due to scarcity

C) it cannot carry heavy loads

d) None of these

(viii) How did the author describe the beaches?

a) outstanding

b) calm and beautiful

c) untidy

d) none

(ix) The word ………… in para 1 means 'provisions' . (x) The word in the passage which is an antonym of 'contaminated' is…… (para 2)
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Answer 1

Answer:

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