Factual Passage Worksheet Solutions: The Little Girl | Class 11 English Grammar PDF Download

Read the following passage carefully:

1. To the little girl he was a figure to be feared and avoided. Every morning before going to work he came into her room and gave her a casual kiss to which she responded with “Goodbye, Father.” And oh, there was a glad sense of relief when she heard the noise of carriage growing fainter and fainter down the long road!
   “Well, Kezia, have you been a good girl today?”
   “I d-d-don’t know, Father.”
   “You d-d-don’t know? If you stutter like that Mother will have to take you to the doctor?”
2. She never strutted with other people—had quite given it up—but only with Father, because then she was trying so hard to say the words properly. “What’s the matter? What are you looking so wretched about? Mother, I wish you taught this child not to appear on the brink of suicide…Here, Kezia, carry my teacup back to the table carefully.”
3. He was so big—his hands and his neck, especially his mouth when he yawned. Thinking about him alone was like thinking about a giant.
4. On Sunday afternoons grandmother sent her down to the drawing-room to have a “nice talk with father and mother”. But the little girl always found mother reading and father stretched out on the sofa, his handkerchief on his face, his feet on one of the best cushions, sleeping soundly and snoring.
   She sat on a stool, gravely watched him until he woke and stretched, and asked the time—then looked at her. “Don’t stare so, Kezia. You look like a little brown owl.”
   One day, when she was kept indoors with a cold, the grandmother told her that father’s birthday was next week, and suggested she should make him a pin-cushion for a gift out of a beautiful piece of yellow silk.
5. Labouriously with a double cotton, the little girl stitched three sides. But what to fill it with? That was the question. The grandmother was out in the garden and she wandered into mother’s bedroom to look for ‘scraps’. On the bedtable she discovered a great many sheets of fine paper, gathered them up, tore them into tiny pieces, and stuffed her ease, then served up the fourth side.
   That night there was hue and cry in the house. Father’s great speech for the Port Authority had been lost. Rooms were searched—servants questioned.
   Finally mother came into Kezia’s room.
   “Oh! Yes,” she said, “I tore them up for my surprise.”
   “What!” screamed mother. “Come straight down to the dining-room this instant.”
6. And she was dragged down to where father was pacing to and fro, hands behind his back. “Well?” he said sharply.
   Mother explained.
   He stopped and stared at the child.
   “Did you do that?

A. Answer the following questions by choosing the most appropriate option:

Q.1. Kezia strutted only with her father because________
(a) her father loved her too much
(b) she loved him too much
(c) she tried hard to say the words properly
(d) she tried to speak fluently.

Ans: (c)
Explanation: The passage states that Kezia only stuttered with her father because she was trying hard to say the words properly.

Q.2. Her grandmother asked her to make a pin-cushion because________
(a) her father needed a pin-cushion
(b) her father’s birthday was coming up next week
(c) she was good at making things
(d) she could display it to her friends

Ans: (b)
Explanation: The passage mentions that Kezia's grandmother told her that her father's birthday was next week and suggested that she make him a pin-cushion as a gift.

Q.3. The word ‘stutter’ in para 4 means________
(a) to walk proudly and confidently
(b) to support by a thin piece of wood or metal
(c) to move or start with difficulty
(d) to speak haltingly

Ans: (d)
Explanation: The word "stutter" in the passage refers to speaking with difficulty, so the correct meaning is to speak haltingly.

Q.4. On hearing the noise of carriage growing fainter, Kezia felt relieved because________
(a) she dreaded the horses
(b) she was afraid of the coachman
(c) she did not like cluttering sound
(d) she feared her father and avoided him

Ans: (d)
Explanation: The passage indicates that Kezia felt a sense of relief when she heard the noise of the carriage growing fainter because her father was a figure to be feared and avoided.

Q.5. To the little girl, her father appeared to be a giant because________
(a) he had a very big body
(b) he had big legs
(c) he had a very wide mouth
(d) he had big arms

Ans: (a)
Explanation: The passage describes the father as being big, with big hands, neck, and mouth when he yawned. This suggests that he had a very big body, making him appear like a giant to Kezia.

Q.6. Her father was angry because________
(a) Kezia’s mother had not given him evening tea
(b) the grandmother had disturbed him while he was writing
(c) his great speech for the Port Authority had been lost
(d) his invitation card for the annual meeting had been misplaced

Ans: (c)
Explanation: The passage mentions that there was hue and cry in the house because the father's great speech for the Port Authority had been lost. Therefore, the correct answer is that he was angry because his speech had been lost.

B. Answer the following questions in brief:

Q.7. Why did she not have a nice talk with her parents when her grandmother sent her down to drawing room?

The passage states that when Kezia was sent to the drawing-room for a "nice talk with father and mother" on Sunday afternoons, she found her mother reading and her father sleeping soundly and snoring. Therefore, she did not have a nice talk with her parents because her father was sleeping.

Q.8. Why was her father angry?

Her father was angry because his great speech for the Port Authority had been lost, causing a commotion in the house.

Q.9. Why did father appear to be a giant to Kezia?

The passage describes the father as being big, with big hands, neck, and mouth when he yawned. This physical size and the little girl's perspective make her father appear like a giant to Kezia.

Q.10. Why did grandmother ask her to make a pin cushion?

The passage mentions that the grandmother told Kezia that her father's birthday was next week and suggested that she make him a pin-cushion as a gift. The reason for this is not explicitly stated in the passage, but it can be inferred that the grandmother wanted Kezia to make a handmade gift for her father's birthday.