Q1. [5]
Inside the clouds, everything was suddenly black. It was impossible to see anything outside the aeroplane. The old aeroplane jumped and twisted in the air. I looked at the compass. I couldn't believe my eyes the compass was turning round and round and round. It was dead. It would not work. The other instruments were suddenly dead, too. I tried the radio. "Paris Control? Paris Control ? Can you hear me?" There was no answer. The radio was dead too. I had no radio, no compass, and I could not see where I was. I was lost in the storm.
Read the extract given below and attempt the questions that follow :
- (i) As soon as the pilot was inside the cloud…………… [1]
- (a) his ears got blocked.
- (b) he choked with fear.
- (c) his vision was obstructed.
- (d) he was jumping up and down.
- (ii) The devices in the aeroplane were ……………. [1]
- (a) malfunctioning.
- (b) broken completely.
- (c) giving wrong readings.
- (d) stopped responding completely.
- (iii) The Paris air control did not reply to the pilot's call because …………………… [1]
- (iv) Select the option that correctly captures the application of the word 'twisted' as used in the extract. [1]
- (a) Ragini twisted Raghav's wrist.
- (b) Ragini twisted the story to suit the occasion.
- (c) Ragini did not appreciate Raghav's twisted bent of mind.
- (d) Ragini matched the swimmer as he twisted twice in the air before diving into the water.
- (v) Fill in the blank with ONE WORD only :
The narrator's ………………. comes through clearly when he sees the compass turning round and round. [1]
Previously asked in CBSE board exam
2023 2/4/1 Q6(A)
Generated by claude-sonnet-4-6 · 2026-06-15 07:20 · grounding stimulus+chapter
Model Answer
(i) (c) his vision was obstructed.
(ii) (d) stopped responding completely.
(iii) The Paris air control did not reply because the radio in the pilot's aeroplane had stopped working completely — it was dead. Therefore, his distress call could not be received or answered.
(iv) (d) Ragini watched the swimmer as he twisted twice in the air before diving into the water.
(v) The narrator's disbelief/shock comes through clearly when he sees the compass turning round and round.
Source: Two Stories about Flying — The Black Aeroplane
---
Explanation
- (i) The extract says "everything was suddenly black" and "it was impossible to see anything" — vision was blocked, not hearing or choking.
- (ii) The instruments did not malfunction or give wrong readings — they went completely dead (stopped responding entirely), so (d) is correct.
- (iii) This is a 1-mark short-answer: one clear reason is enough — the radio was dead on the pilot's end, so no signal could reach Paris Control.
- (iv) "Twisted" here means a physical turning/rotating movement in the air — option (d) matches this literal, physical sense exactly.
- (v) The phrase "I couldn't believe my eyes" signals disbelief or shock — either word is acceptable to examiners.
If a question refers to an image, map, graph or diagram that is not shown here, open the Study Guide single page app, go to
Library and find the actual CBSE question paper. The original papers are also available on the CBSE website:
cbse.gov.in.