Short and Long Answer Questions: Feathered Friend | English Poorvi Class 8 - New NCERT PDF Download

Short Answer Questions 

Q1. Why was Sven well-suited for space work?
Ans: Sven Olsen was a wiry little man, like most early spacemen, and met the strict weight requirements. He was also one of the best construction men, skilled in handling girders in free fall and fitting them precisely. His small build and expertise made him ideal for the tricky tasks in space.

Q2. Why was Claribel an ideal choice for a pet in space?
Ans: Claribel, the canary, was small, weighed almost nothing, and required very little food. Unlike most animals, she wasn’t troubled by the absence of gravity and quickly adapted to flying in zero-G. Her size and adaptability made her a perfect pet for the space station.

Q3. How did Claribel become a shared companion on the station?
Ans: At first, Sven kept her a secret. But soon, her songs and antics won everyone’s hearts. She entertained the crew, and they all began caring for her. In time, she became the general pet of the whole station rather than just Sven’s.

Q4. Describe the incident when Claribel fainted.
Ans: One morning, Sven found Claribel unconscious. The crew thought she had died, but oxygen revived her briefly. She keeled over again, which confused them, until the narrator realized the problem wasn’t with Claribel but with the station’s air supply.

Q5. How did the narrator connect Claribel’s fainting to the air problem?
Ans: The narrator remembered that miners once carried canaries to detect poisonous gas underground. Claribel’s collapse reminded him of this. He quickly realized that the air inside the station was unsafe, leading to the discovery of the purifier malfunction.

Q7. What went wrong with the space station’s safety system?
Ans: During an eclipse by Earth’s shadow, part of the air purifier froze. The single alarm meant to detect the problem failed, and the backup system wasn’t connected. As a result, the crew was unaware of the danger until Claribel fainted.

Long Answer Questions 

Q1. Describe Claribel’s arrival and adjustment to life in the space station.
Ans: Claribel, a small yellow canary, was secretly smuggled aboard by Sven Olsen. She revealed her presence with her melodious whistles, surprising the narrator. Unlike most animals, she quickly adapted to the absence of gravity, learning to float and perform graceful movements. Though Sven claimed he brought her out of scientific curiosity, Claribel soon became everyone’s pet. The crew loved her cheerful songs, and she was cleverly hidden during VIP visits. Her light weight, tiny food requirements, and playful nature made her an ideal companion in space.

Q2. Narrate the incident in which Claribel saved the spacemen’s lives.
Ans: One morning, Claribel was found unconscious in Sven’s hand. The crew tried reviving her with oxygen, and though she briefly recovered, she collapsed again. This puzzled everyone until the narrator recalled how miners once used canaries to detect toxic gases. He realized the real danger was not to Claribel alone but to the entire crew—the air supply was failing. Investigation revealed that the purifier had frozen during an eclipse, and the alarm system had failed. Claribel’s fainting served as a lifesaving warning, alerting the men to the crisis in time.

Q3. What is the central message of Feathered Friend?
Ans: The story highlights that despite all the sophistication of science and technology, simple natural solutions can sometimes be more reliable. The space station had half a million dollars’ worth of equipment, yet it failed to detect the air purifier malfunction. A small canary, costing almost nothing, managed to save the entire crew. Arthur C. Clarke suggests that human survival does not depend solely on machines but also on nature’s simple creatures. The story teaches us humility and reminds us not to ignore the value of small, seemingly insignificant beings.