MCQ's (with Solutions) - Snake

Read the following extracts and choose the best option :

1. "I come down the steps with my pitcher
 And must wait, must stand and wait, for he was at
 the trough before me."

(i) The poet was there at the water trough

(a) to see the snake

(b) to fill his pitcher

(c) to sit under the carob tree

(d) to enjoy being outside

(ii) The poet decides to wait because

(a) he liked to watch the snake

(b) he was afraid of it

(c) he wished to kill it from behind

(d) he had come there after the snake

(iii) The words are repeated in the second line to

(a) remind the reader

(b) remind the snake

(c) to highlight the importance of coming first

(d) to look courteous

Answer : 

(i) (b)

(ii) (d)

(iii) (c)

2. "He sipped with his straight mouth
 Softly drank through his straight gums, into his
 slack body"

(i) The snake drank water "softly" as

(a) the water looked soft

(b) he drank slowly

(c) his manner of drinking water was unhurried

(d) he drank in a lazy manner

(ii) The snake's body is 'slack' because

(a) he has come from inside the earth

(b) he is lazy

(c) the manner in which he stretches looks lazy

(d) he is very relaxed

(iii) The poet's observation of the snake proves that

(a) he loves the snake

(b) he is protective about him

(c) he is a keen observer

(d) the snake sparks his interest

Answer :

(i) (c)

(ii) (c)

(iii) (d)

3. "Being earth-brown, earth-golden
 from the burning bowels of the earth"

(i) The snake is earth brown because

(a) he has come from the inside depth of the earth

(b) the fallen dust on him makes him look earthy

(c) he is lying on the earth so he looks earth brown

(d) The shadow of the tree is falling on him

(ii) The snake has come from

(a) the fissure in the wall

(b) under the hole of the water trough

(c) near the Mount Etna

(d) behind the wall

(iii) The bowels of the earth are burning because

(a) the place is near Mount Etna

(b) It is the month of July

(c) It is in Sicily

(d) all the above

Answer : 

(i) (a)

(ii) (a)

(iii) (d)

4. "The voice of my education said to me
 He must be killed
 For in Sicily the black, black snakes are innocent,
 the gold are venomous" [C.B.S.E. 2012 (T-2)]

(i) The voice of education means

(a) knowledge after education

(b) confidence that one acquires after education

(c) social views

(d) voice of your interest

(ii) Black snakes are innocent means

(a) they do not bite

(b) they are not poisonous

(c) they are afraid of men

(d) They run away at sight

(iii) The gold are venomous means

(a) they are poisonous

(b) they attack

(c) they are golden in colour

(d) they are not brown in colour

 Answer : 

(i) (c)

(ii) (b)

(iii) (a)

5. "How glad I was that he had come like a guest
 quiet, to drink at my water trough
 And depart peaceful, pacified, and thankless"

(i) The snake had come to the poet's house as a

(a) intruder

(b) stranger

(c) danger

(d) guest

(ii) The poet wanted the snake to be 'pacified' that he should be

(a) attacked

(b) driven away

(c) satisfied after drinking water

(d) grateful

(iii) Thankless means

(a) the snake should be obliged

(b) the snake is bad-mannered

(c) the snake doesn't know how to thank

(d) the snake has no need to thank for water, as it is natural resource

Answer : 

(i) (d)

(ii) (c)

(iii) (d)

6. "And flickered his tongue like a forked night on
 the air, so black
 Seeming to lick his lips
 And looked around like a god"

(i) The poetic device in the above stanza is (like a god)

(a) Metaphor

(b) Simile
(c) Personification

(d) Alliteration

(ii) The snake appeared to lick his lips because

(a) he is still thirsty

(b) it is his habit

(c) he has enjoyed drinking water

(d) he does it after seeing the poet

(iii) The snake looks like god because

(a) he is huge

(b) his manner is very majestic and royal like god

(c) he looks powerful

(d) he considers life and death like a god

Answer : 

(i) (b)

(ii) (c)

(iii) (b)

7. But suddenly that part of him that was left behind
 convulsed in undignified haste
 Writhed like lightning, was gone

(i) The departure of the snake was

(a) quick

(b) noisy

(c) not majestic

(d) clumsy

(ii) "writhed like lightning" is a

(a) Simile

(b) Onomatopoeia
(c) Metaphor

(d) Imagery

(iii) The snake disappeared quickly because

(a) it was afraid

(b) it was hit
(c) it was sleepy

(d) it wanted to go home

Answer : 

(i) (a)

(ii) (a)

(iii) (a)

8. And I thought of the albatross
 And I wished he would come back, my snake

(i) The reference to the albatross is because

(a) both the snake and the albatross are black
(b) the poet is fond of Coleridge
(c) both the albatross and the snake were going to be killed for no reason
(d) the comparison is incidental

(ii) The poet wants the snake to come back because

(a) he liked him

(b) he felt hurt that the snake vanished so quickly

(c) he wanted to give him more water to drink

(d) he felt guilty of hurting him

(iii) The word which the poet uses to describe his action

(a) cowardice
(b) pettiness
(c) meanness
(d) guilty

Answer : 

(i) (c)

(ii) (d)

(iii) (b)

9. "For he seemed to me again like a king,
 Like a king in exile, uncrowned in the underworld,
 Now due to be crowned again
 And so, I missed my chance with one of the lords
 of life. [C.B.S.E. 2012 (T-2)]

(i) Which literary device does the poet use in the first line?

(a) Alliteration

(b) Simile

(c) Metaphor

(d) Refrain

(ii) The snake appears to the poet like

(a) a king in exile

(b) a king

(c) a god

(d) uncrowned in the world

(iii) "One of the lords of life" refers to

(a) The king

(b) The poet

(c) The God

(d) The snake

Answer : 

(i) (c)

(ii) (a)

(iii) (d)

10. A snake came to my water through
 On a hot, hot day, and I in Pyjamas for the heat,
 To drink there.
 In the deep, strange-scented shade of the great
 dark carob-tree.. [C.B.S.E. 2012 (T-2)]

(i) The poet came to the water trough to

(a) bathe

(b) take water

(c) enjoy the scent of carob tree

(d) to see the snake

(ii) What made the snake come to the poet's water trough?

(a) to cool itself

(b) to quench the thirst

(c) to chase the frog

(d) to go to its hole

(iii) The poet had to wait for his turn because

(a) he was afraid of the snake

(b) he was second and must wait

(c) the snake was already there

(d) he wanted to give priority to the snake

Answer : 

(i) (b)

(ii) (b)

(iii) (b)