Q1. [5]
That was twenty-four hours ago. Since then nobody had come near him. The day before, all day long, he had watched his parents flying about with his brothers and sister, perfecting them in the art of flight, teaching them how to skim the waves and how to dive for fish. He had, in fact, seen his elder brother catch his first herring and devour it, standing on a rock, while his parents circled around raising a proud cackle and all the morning the whole family had walked about on the big plateau midway down the opposite cliff taunting him for his cowardice.
Read the given extract and answer the questions.
- (i) Fill in the blank with the correct word from the bracket : The use of the phrase 'proud cackle' adds to a sense of ________ (noise/pride) in the extract. [1]
- (ii) How do the parents teach their young to be independent ? [1]
- (iii) Describe the contrasting reactions of the parents to their children giving reasons. [2]
- (iv) The word 'devour' in the above extract most nearly means [1]
- (A) scared
- (B) gobbled
- (C) preserved
- (D) cooled
Previously asked in CBSE board exam
2025 2/5/1 Q6(a)
Generated by claude-sonnet-4-6 · 2026-06-15 07:18 · grounding stimulus+chapter
Model Answer
(i) The use of the phrase 'proud cackle' adds to a sense of pride in the extract.
(ii) The parents teach their young to be independent by flying about with them, perfecting them in the art of flight, and teaching them how to skim the waves and dive for fish.
(iii) Towards the young ones who flew, the parents were proud and encouraging — they circled around raising a proud cackle when the elder brother caught his first herring. However, towards the young seagull who refused to fly, the entire family was scornful and taunting, mocking him for his cowardice. This contrast shows that the parents celebrated courage and achievement while using ridicule to push the hesitant one into action.
(iv) (B) gobbled
Source: His First Flight, Extract
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Explanation
- (i) 'Proud cackle' clearly conveys the parents' pride, not mere noise — so 'pride' is correct.
- (ii) Pull the answer directly from the extract: "perfecting them in the art of flight, teaching them how to skim the waves and how to dive for fish."
- (iii) For 2 marks, you must show both sides of the contrast with reasons — proud/encouraging vs. taunting/scornful. One side alone fetches only 1 mark.
- (iv) 'Devour' means to eat greedily/rapidly — 'gobbled' is the closest synonym. Memorise this as a vocabulary word from the lesson.
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