The Snake and the Mirror Class 9 Worksheet English Chapter 1

Multiple Choice Questions

Q1: While looking at the mirror, the doctor smiled, and he found his smile
(a) Ugly
(b) Wide
(c) Attractive
(d) Unattractive

Q2: The doctor described the snake as the one
(a) That had bitten the thief
(b) Thick and ugly
(c) Taken with its own beauty
(d) Very poisonous

Q3: According to the doctor, the thief had a sense of
(a) Good clothes
(b) Logic
(c) Cleanliness
(d) None of the above

Q4: Why did the doctor have very little things to carry?
(a) Some thief had stolen most of the things
(b) The room was too small to keep a lot of things
(c) He was too poor to have many things
(d) Because the storm destroyed most of the things

Q5: What did the doctor do immediately after reaching his friend’s house?
(a) Narrated the incident of the snake
(b) Took medicines
(c) Drank a glass of water
(d) Smeared oil all over his body and took a bath

Q6: How did the doctor’s wife actually look like?
(a) Thin
(b) Short
(c) Fat
(d) None of the above

Q7: After the snake moved towards the mirror, the doctor was
(a) A paralyzed man
(b) A crying man
(c) A man of flesh and blood
(d) A stone in a flesh

Q8: From the doctor’s arm, the snake slithered into his
(a) Back
(b) Head
(c) Lap
(d) Leg

Q9: The snake looked at the mirror. Seeing that, the doctor wondered
(a) If it’s going to smile
(b) If it’s going to make a noise
(c) If it’s going to bite him
(d) If the snake was admiring its own beauty

Q10: While sitting wrapped around by a snake, the doctor felt
(a) The presence of devils
(b) The presence of rats
(c) The presence of the ghost
(d) The presence of God

Very Short Answer Questions

Q1: What kind of snake did the doctor say was?
Q2: What was the kind of house in which the doctor lived?
Q3: Where did the snake fall from the gable?
Q4: Somebody asked, “Doctor, is your wife very fat?”
Q5: “Are there any other funny stories related to cobras?” The young wife enquired.

Short Answer Questions 

Q1: Where did the snake slither on the doctor?
Q2: Describe the house in which the doctor lived when the snake came?
Q3: What was the thinking of the doctor about the creator of universe when the snake had coiled around his arm?
Q4: Where was the snake when the doctor ran out of his house?
Q5: Why did the doctor have to stay in an unelectrified house?

Reference to Context

Q1: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
I had my meal at the restaurant and returned to my room. I heard a noise from above as I opened the door. The sound was a familiar one.
(a) Who does ‘I’ refer to in this extract?
(b) At what time did ‘I’ return to his room? Where did he return from?
(c) When did ‘I’ hear a noise?
(d) What type of noise was it?

Q2: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
The sound was a familiar one. One could say that the rats and I shared the room. I took out my box of matches and lighted the kerosene lamp on the table.
(a) What sound did the narrator hear as he entered the room?
(b) Why does the narrator say that it was a familiar sound?
(c) How many times did he hear it?
(d) When and why did the noise stop?

Q3: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
It had a tiled roof with long supporting gables that rested on the beam over the wall. There was no ceiling. There was a regular traffic of rats to and off.
(a) What did the narrator do after entering the room?
(b) Why could the narrator not sleep?
(c) Where did he go and why?
(d) Why did he return to his room?

Q4: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
I went back into the room and sat down on the chair. I opened the box beneath the table and took out a book, the Materia Medica. I opened it at the table on which stood the lamp and a large mirror; a small comb lay beside the mirror.
(a) Where was he before going back into the room? Why had he gone out of the room?
(b) Why did he take out a book from the box?
(c) What objects stood on the table?
(d) What did the speaker do after this?

Q5: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
One feels tempted to look into a mirror when it is near one. I took a look. In those days I was a great admirer of beauty and I believed in making myself look handsome. I was unmarried and I was a doctor. I felt I had to make my presence felt. I picked up the comb and ran it through my hair and adjusted the parting so that it looked straight and neat.
(a) Why did the narrator look into the mirror?
(b) Why did he want to make himself look handsome?
(c) What did the narrator do to make his presence felt?
(d) What two important decisions did the narrator take to improve his appearance?

Q6: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
I was unmarried and I was a doctor. I felt I had to make my presence felt. I picked up the comb and ran it through my hair and adjusted the parting so that it looked straight and neat. .
(a) Explain “I had to make my presence felt.”
(b) Why did the narrator feel he had to make his presence felt?
(c) What did the narrator do to make his presence felt?
(d) What do you learn about the narrator from this extract?

Q7: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
I made an important decision—I would shave, daily and grow a thin moustache to look more handsome. I was after all a bachelor, and a doctor! I looked into the mirror and smiled. It was an attractive smile. I made another earth- shaking decision.
(a) Where is the narrator? What is he doing?
(b) What discovery did he make about himself?
(c) What two important decisions did he take? Why?
(d) What is the narrator’s tone in these lines?

Q8: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
I got up, paced up and down the room. Then another lovely thought struck me. I would marry.
(a) Where did the narrator get up from? Why?
(b) Which lovely thought struck him?
(c) What sort of lady did he wish to marry?
(d) What prompted him to make this choice?

Q9: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
There was no time to do any such thing. The snake slithered along my shoulder and coiled around my left arm above the elbow.
(a) What alerted the narrator to the snake’s presence?
(b) What does “any such thing” refer to?
(c) What did the snake do after crawling over the narrator’s shoulder?
(d) How did the narrator react to the snake’s presence?

Q10: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
I didn ’t jump. I didn ‘t tremble. I didn ’t cry out. There was no time to do any such thing. The snake slithered along my shoulder and coiled around my left arm above the elbow. The hood was spread out and its head was hardly three or four inches from my face!
It would not be correct to say merely that I sat there holding my breath I was turned to stone.
(a) Why did the author not jump, tremble and cry?
(b) What did the narrator do as the snake coiled itself round his arm?
(c) Did the snake bite the speaker? What distracted it?
(d) What were the narrator’s thoughts as he looked at the snake?

Q11: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
At my slightest movement the snake would strike me! Death lurked four inches away. Suppose it struck, what was the medicine I had to take? There were no medicines in the room. I was but a poor, foolish and stupid doctor. I forgot my danger and smiled feebly at myself
(a) What does Death lurked four inches away imply?
(b) Why did the doctor call himself a poor and stupid doctor?
(c) What danger does he refer to?
(d) Why did he smile feebly at himself?

Q12: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
The snake unwound itself from my arm and slowly slithered into my lap. From there it crept onto the table and moved towards the mirror. Perhaps it wanted to enjoy its reflection at closer quarters.
(a) Where was the narrator at the time?
(b) What did the snake do as it landed on the narrator’s chair?
(c) Where did the snake do after uncoiling from the writer’s arm?
(d) Why did the snake move towards the mirror?

Q13: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
I felt then the great presence of the creator of this world and this universe. God was there. Suppose I said something and he did not like it.
(a) When did the narrator feel the presence of the creator?
(b) Why does the narrator feel he may have displeased God?
(c) What did the narrator do then?
(d) What was the result of his realisation?

Q14: There was some pain in my left arm. It was as if a thick leaden rod—no, a rod made of molten fire—was slowly but powerfully crushing my arm. The arm was beginning to be drained of all strength. What could Ido?
(a) Why did the narrator feel a pain in his arm?
(b) Where had the snake come from?
(c) What had alerted the narrator to the snake’s presence at first? What had been his first reaction?
(d) Why did the narrator sit still on the chair?

Q15: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
It seemed as if God appreciated that. The snake turned its head. It looked into the mirror and saw its reflection. I do not claim that it was the first snake that had ever looked into a mirror. But it was certain that the snake was looking into the mirror. Was it admiring its own beauty? Was it trying to make an important decision about growing a moustache or using eye shadow and mascara or wearing a vermilion spot on its forehead?
(a) What was it that God appreciated?
(b) What did the snake do as it landed on the narrator’s chair?
(c) Where did the snake move its head?
(d) Why did the narrator call it the “first snake”?

Q16: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
I was no mere image cut in granite. I was suddenly a man of flesh and blood. Still holding my breath I got up from the chair. I quietly went through the veranda. From there 1 leapt into the yard and ran for all I was worth.

(a) What does the narrator mean when he says “I was no mere image cut in granite”?
(b) Why had he been sitting turned to stone?
(c) Where had the snake gone?
(d) What did the narrator do?

Q17: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
I was no mere image cut in granite. I was suddenly a man of flesh and blood. Still holding my breath I got up from the chair. I quietly went through the veranda. From there 1 leapt into the yard and ran for all I was worth.
(a) When had the narrator felt like an “image cut in granite”?
(b) What is the meaning of ‘a man of flesh and blood’?
(c) What made the narrator suddenly turn into ‘a man of flesh and blood’?
(d) What did the narrator do as soon as he turned into ‘a man of flesh and blood’?

Q18: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
The doctor replied, “I ran and ran till I reached a friend’s house. Immediately I smeared oil all over myself and took a bath. I changed into fresh clothes.
(a) Why did the doctor run?
(b) Where did the narrator spend the night?
(c) Why did the doctor smear oil all over his body?
(d) What did he do the next morning?

Q19: The next morning at about eight-thirty I took my friend and one or two others to my room to move my things from there. But we found we had little to carry.
(a) What does the narrator mean by the phrase “the next morning”?
(b) Which friend is being referred to?
(c) Why did narrator want to remove his things?
(d) Why was there little to carry?

Q20: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
“No, ” the doctor said. “God willed otherwise. My life companion is a thin reedy person with the gift of a sprinter. ”
(a) Explain “God willed it otherwise”.
(b) What qualities had the narrator wanted in his wife?
(c) Why had he wanted those qualities?
(d) What kind of a person did he marry?
Answer: The woman he married was a thin and slender person who could run like a sprinter.

The solutions of the worksheet "Worksheet Solutions: The Snake and the Mirror"