MCQ's (with Solutions) - The Solitary Reaper | English Class 9 PDF Download

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS

Read the following extracts and choose the correct option :

1. Alone she cuts and binds the grain,
 And sings a melancholy strain ;
 O listen! for the Vale profound
 Is overflowing with the sound.

(a) Identify ‘she’ from the above stanza.
(i) A traveller
(ii) The Poe
(iii) Solitary Reaper
(iv) None of the above

(b) How does the poet know that the song is melancholy when he cannot understand the words?

(i) From the girl’s expression
(ii) From the words of the song
(iii) From the tune
(iv) From her dress

(c) What effect does the girl’s song have over the surroundings?

(i) Has no effect
(ii) All people desert the valley
(iii) The valley echoes with the song
(iv) The valley is indifferent

Ans : 
(a) (iii)
(b) (iii)
(c) (iii)

2. A voice so thrilling ne’er was heard
 In spring-time from the cuckoo bird,
 Breaking the silence of the seas
 Among the farthest Hebrides.

(a) What is cuckoo bird famous for?
(i) Cheerfulness
(ii) Thrill
(iii) Driving away tiredness
(iv) Welcoming the spring

(b) How does the Solitary Reaper’s song score over the song of the cuckoo?
(i) It is more far-reaching
(ii) It echoes more
(iii) It is more musical and fresh
(iv) It does not have any effect

(c) Hebrides means :
(i) a group of trees
(ii) far off valleys
(iii) sea
(iv) a group of islands off near Scotland

Ans :
(a) (iv)
(b) (i)
(c) (iv)

3. Will no one tell me what she sings?
 Perhaps the plaintive numbers flow
 For old, unhappy, far-off things,
 And battles long ago.

(a) Explain the use of ‘perhaps’ in the second line.
(i) The poet is not sure
(ii) He is double-minded
(iii) He is indifferent
(iv) None of these

(b) ‘Flow’, – what quality of the solitary reaper song is expressed here?
(i) It's fluidity
(ii) It's evocativeness
(iii) Its spontaneity
(iv) It's music

(c) What is the poet’s guess?
(i) The theme is of spring
(ii) Of happiness and forgotten things
(iii) Of battles and sad events in the past
(iv) Of stories

Ans :
(a) (i)
(b) (iii)
(c) (iii)

4. Or is it some more humble lay,
 Familiar matter of today?
 Some natural sorrow, loss or pain,
 That has been, maybe again.

(a) ‘It’ in the first line refers to
(i) the valley
(ii) the song
(iii) the solitary reaper
(iv) her dress

(b) Explain ‘humble lay’.
(i) A song about ordinary events
(ii) A song about extraordinary things
(iii) A song about modest things
(iv) A song about rich people

(c) What does the poet wish to convey by saying  ‘that has been and maybe again’?
(i) A natural loss, and pain
(ii) A natural event
(iii) Natural sorrow which can occur again
(iv) Both (i) and (iii)

Ans : 
(a) (ii)
(b) (i)
(c) (iii)

5. Whatever the theme, the maiden sang
 As if her song could have no ending;
 I saw her singing at her work
 And o’er the sickle bending

(a) What other activities is the maiden doing besides singing?
(i) She is ploughing
(ii) binding the corn
(iii) cutting grass
(iv) none of the above

(b) What makes the maiden’s song extraordinary?
(i) It's musicality
(ii) It's eternal nature
(iii) It's theme
(iv) Her voice

(c) What effect does the song have over the poet?
(i) Mesmerising
(ii) Impressive
(iii) Invigorating
(iv) No effect

Ans : 
(a) (ii)
(b) (ii)
(c) (i)

6. I listened, motionless and still
 And, as I mounted up the hill,
 The music in my heart I bore,
 Long after it was heard no more.

(a) Where does the poet go?
(i) Down the valleys
(ii) Doesn’t go anywhere
(iii) Climbed up the mountain
(iv) Nowhere

 (b) How did the song affect the poet?
(i) It impressed him
(ii) Served as an inspiration
(iii) Left a permanent mark on his heart
(iv) Had no effect

(c) What does the poet want to convey by “long after it was heard no more”?
(i) Music is entertaining
(ii) Music is eternal and can give pleasure even when you do not hear it
(iii) Sad music is always remembered
(iv) The universal and permanent impression of the music.

Ans :
(a) (iii)
(b) (iii)
(c) (iv)

7. Alone she cuts and binds the grain,
 And sings a melancholy strain ;
 O listen! for the Vale profound
 Is overflowing with the sound.
 [CBSE 2010 (Term I)]

(a) ‘melancholy strain’ in the second line refers to :
(i) Sad song
(iii) Happy song
(ii) Thrilling song
(iv) Sweet song

(b) Identify the figure of speech in the above lines :
(i) Personification
(ii) Metaphor
(iii) Imagery
(iv) Alliteration

(c) The last two lines mean :
(i) Her voice is resounding in the valley
(ii) She is singing at a high pitch
(iii) Her voice is reaching outside the valley
(iv) She is asking everyone to listen to her

Ans. (a) (i)
(b) (iii)
(c) (i)

8. No nightingale did ever chant
 More welcome notes to weary bands
 Of Travellers in some shady haunt
 Among Arabian Sands
 A voice so thrilling never was heard
 In spring – time from the cuckoo – bird
 Breaking the silence of the seas
 Among the farthest Hebrides
 [CBSE 2010 (Term I)]

(a) According to the poet, nightingales sing :
(i) to welcome the travellers
(ii) to please themselves
(iii) to welcome the tired travellers
(iv) to get relief from their own pains

(b) The nightingales sing :
(i) in spring season in the desert of Arabia
(ii) in autumn season in deserts
(iii) in spring season in deserts of Thar
(iv) in spring season in deserts of Egypt

(c) The effect of the voice of the cuckoo bird is :
(i) that it refreshes the tired travellers
(ii) that it is spread everywhere
(iii) that it seems to welcome travellers
(iv) breaks the seas’ silence

Ans.
(a) (iii)
(b) (i)
(c) (iv)