Chapter 10 of 18
NCERT Solutions
Mijbil the Otter
Madhya Pradesh Board · Class 10 · English
NCERT Solutions for Mijbil the Otter — Madhya Pradesh Board Class 10 English.
56 questions34 flashcards5 concepts
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Activity
1Do you have a pet? If you do, you perhaps know that a pet is a serious responsibility. Read in the box below what the SPCA — the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals — has to say about how to care for a pet.Show solution
उत्तर व्यक्तिगत अनुभव पर आधारित है।
यदि आपका पालतू जानवर है, तो आप लिख सकते हैं कि पालतू रखना एक बड़ी जिम्मेदारी है। उसकी देखभाल के लिए भोजन, साफ़ पानी, व्यायाम, टीकाकरण, साफ़-सफाई, और प्रेम की ज़रूरत होती है।
यदि आपका पालतू जानवर है, तो आप लिख सकते हैं कि पालतू रखना एक बड़ी जिम्मेदारी है। उसकी देखभाल के लिए भोजन, साफ़ पानी, व्यायाम, टीकाकरण, साफ़-सफाई, और प्रेम की ज़रूरत होती है।
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2Imagine someone has gifted you a pet. With your partner's help, make a list of the things you need to know about the pet in order to take good care of it. One has been done for you.Show solution
जानवर की देखभाल के लिए आपको यह जानना चाहिए:
(i) उसका भोजन क्या है।
(ii) उसे कितने पानी की ज़रूरत है।
(iii) उसे कहाँ रखा जाना चाहिए।
(iv) उसे कैसे साफ़ रखा जाए / उसकी देखभाल कैसे की जाए।
(v) उसे कितना व्यायाम और स्नेह चाहिए।
(i) उसका भोजन क्या है।
(ii) उसे कितने पानी की ज़रूरत है।
(iii) उसे कहाँ रखा जाना चाहिए।
(iv) उसे कैसे साफ़ रखा जाए / उसकी देखभाल कैसे की जाए।
(v) उसे कितना व्यायाम और स्नेह चाहिए।
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3Otters are found in large numbers in the marshes (i.e. wet areas near lakes, rivers or seas) near Basra, a town in Iraq. Imagine you wanted to bring an otter from Iraq to London, as a pet. What special arrangements would you need to make for your pet otter? You would need to find a place with lots of water, for example. What other points should you think about? The information about Iraq and London given below may help you.Show solution
यदि इराक से लंदन में एक ऊदबिलाव लाना हो, तो उसके लिए कुछ विशेष व्यवस्था करनी होगी:
- बहुत पानी वाला स्थान चाहिए, क्योंकि ऊदबिलाव को पानी बहुत पसंद है।
- उसके रहने के लिए सुरक्षित और आरामदायक जगह चाहिए।
- उसे मछली जैसा भोजन चाहिए।
- उसे गर्म और ठंडे मौसम से बचाने की व्यवस्था करनी होगी, क्योंकि इराक और लंदन की जलवायु अलग है।
- यात्रा के समय उसके लिए मज़बूत डिब्बा और देखभाल की व्यवस्था करनी होगी।
- उसे खेलने और घूमने की जगह भी चाहिए।
- बहुत पानी वाला स्थान चाहिए, क्योंकि ऊदबिलाव को पानी बहुत पसंद है।
- उसके रहने के लिए सुरक्षित और आरामदायक जगह चाहिए।
- उसे मछली जैसा भोजन चाहिए।
- उसे गर्म और ठंडे मौसम से बचाने की व्यवस्था करनी होगी, क्योंकि इराक और लंदन की जलवायु अलग है।
- यात्रा के समय उसके लिए मज़बूत डिब्बा और देखभाल की व्यवस्था करनी होगी।
- उसे खेलने और घूमने की जगह भी चाहिए।
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Oral Comprehension Check
1What 'experiment' did Maxwell think Camusfearna would be suitable for?Show solution
Maxwell thought Camusfearna would be suitable for keeping an otter instead of a dog. He says that it was ringed by water and therefore a fitting place for the experiment.
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2Why does he go to Basra? How long does he wait there, and why?Show solution
He goes to Basra because he is travelling to Southern Iraq and, after thinking of keeping an otter, he is advised to get one from the Tigris marshes, where otters were common. He waits there for about five days because his mail did not arrive at once: he cabled to England, tried to telephone, and kept waiting while there were delays and breakdowns in communication. Finally, his mail arrived after five days.
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3How does he get the otter? Does he like it? Pick out the words that tell you this.Show solution
He gets the otter when two Arabs bring a sack to his room and hand him a note from his friend: “Here is your otter...”
At first he does not like it much; the words show that Mij is “aloof and indifferent” and later “a thraldom to otters” / “otter fixation” begins. The otter first appears as mud armour, more like a dragon than a pet, so Maxwell is more fascinated than pleased at the start.
At first he does not like it much; the words show that Mij is “aloof and indifferent” and later “a thraldom to otters” / “otter fixation” begins. The otter first appears as mud armour, more like a dragon than a pet, so Maxwell is more fascinated than pleased at the start.
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4Why was the otter named 'Maxwell's otter'?Show solution
Mijbil was called “Maxwell’s otter” because zoologists found that he belonged to a race previously unknown to science and christened it _Lutrogale perspicillata maxwelli_, after Maxwell.
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5Tick the right answer. In the beginning, the otter wasShow solution
In the beginning, the otter was aloof and indifferent. The text says he was “neither hostile nor friendly; he was simply aloof and indifferent.”
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6What happened when Maxwell took Mijbil to the bathroom? What did it do two days after that?Show solution
When Maxwell took Mijbil to the bathroom, the otter went wild with joy in the water. He plunged and rolled, shot up and down the bathtub underwater, and made a great deal of splashing and sloshing.
Two days later, Mij escaped into the bathroom again and was found fiddling with the chromium taps. In less than a minute, he turned the tap enough to produce a trickle of water, and then managed the full flow.
Two days later, Mij escaped into the bathroom again and was found fiddling with the chromium taps. In less than a minute, he turned the tap enough to produce a trickle of water, and then managed the full flow.
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Oral Comprehension Check
1How was Mij to be transported to England?Show solution
The airline insisted that Mij be packed into a box not more than eighteen inches square, to be carried on the floor at Maxwell’s feet.
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2What did Mij do to the box?Show solution
Mij tore the lining of the box to shreds. The text says Maxwell found that Mij had “torn the lining of the box to shreds.”
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3Why did Maxwell put the otter back in the box? How do you think he felt when he did this?Show solution
Maxwell put the otter back in the box because the airline required him to do so and there were only ten minutes left before the flight, with the airport five miles away. He had to hurry to avoid missing the plane.
He must have felt anxious, worried, and rushed, because Mij was miserable and blood-spattered and the situation was urgent.
He must have felt anxious, worried, and rushed, because Mij was miserable and blood-spattered and the situation was urgent.
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4Why does Maxwell say the airhostess was “the very queen of her kind”?Show solution
Maxwell says the airhostess was “the very queen of her kind” because she was extremely kind, helpful, understanding, and calm. She listened to him, suggested he might keep Mij on his knee, and handled the situation with grace even after Mij ran loose in the aircraft.
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5What happened when the box was opened?Show solution
When the box was opened, Mij shot out in a flash, disappeared down the aircraft, caused squawks and shrieks, and made a woman scream “A rat! A rat!” Later, he came back and bounded onto Maxwell’s knee, nuzzling his face and neck.
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Oral Comprehension Check
1What game had Mij invented?Show solution
Mij invented a game in which he placed a ping-pong ball on the high end of a sloping suitcase lid, let it roll down, and then dashed to the other end to ambush it, pick it up, and send it back again.
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2What are 'compulsive habits'? What does Maxwell say are the compulsive habits ofShow solution
Compulsive habits are habits that are impossible to control.
Maxwell says:
- School children have the habit of placing their feet squarely on the centre of each paving block, touching every seventh upright of the iron railings, or passing to the outside of every second lamp post.
- Mij had the habit of tugging him to the wall on the way home, jumping on it, and galloping the full length of it.
Maxwell says:
- School children have the habit of placing their feet squarely on the centre of each paving block, touching every seventh upright of the iron railings, or passing to the outside of every second lamp post.
- Mij had the habit of tugging him to the wall on the way home, jumping on it, and galloping the full length of it.
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3What group of animals do otters belong to?Show solution
Otters belong to a comparatively small group of animals called Mustellines.
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4What guesses did the Londoners make about what Mij was?
Thinking about the Text
1What things does Mij do which tell you that he is an intelligent, friendly and fun-loving animal who needs love?
2What are some of the things we come to know about otters from this text?
3Why is Mij's species now known to the world as Maxwell's otter?
4Maxwell in the story speaks for the otter, Mij. He tells us what the otter feels and thinks on different occasions. Given below are some things the otter does. Complete the column on the right to say what Maxwell says about what Mij feels and thinks.
5Read the story and find the sentences where Maxwell describes his pet otter. Then choose and arrange your sentences to illustrate those statements below that you think are true.
Thinking about Language
ITo talk about something that happened regularly in the past, but does not happen any longer, we use *would* or *used to*. Both *would* and *used to* can describe repeated actions in the past.
1Look at these examples from the text, and say whether the modifiers (in italics) are nouns, proper nouns, or adjective plus noun.
2Given below are some nouns, and a set of modifiers (in the box). Combine the nouns and modifiers to make as many appropriate phrases as you can. (Hint: The nouns and modifiers are all from the texts in this book.)
IIIRead this sentence:
He shook himself, and I half expected a cloud of dust.
The author uses a cloud of dust to give a picture of a large quantity of dust. Phrases like this indicate a particular quantity of something that is not usually countable. For example: a bit of land, a drop of blood, a pinch of salt, a piece of paper.
He shook himself, and I half expected a cloud of dust.
The author uses a cloud of dust to give a picture of a large quantity of dust. Phrases like this indicate a particular quantity of something that is not usually countable. For example: a bit of land, a drop of blood, a pinch of salt, a piece of paper.
1Match the words on the left with a word on the right. Some words on the left can go with more than one word on the right.
2Use a bit of a piece of a bunch of a cloud of a lump of with the italicised nouns in the following sentences. The first has been done for you as an example.
Thinking about the Poem
1(i) What does Sandburg think the fog is like?
(ii) How does the fog come?
(iii) What does 'it' in the third line refer to?
(iv) Does the poet actually say that the fog is like a cat? Find three things that tell us that the fog is like a cat.
(ii) How does the fog come?
(iii) What does 'it' in the third line refer to?
(iv) Does the poet actually say that the fog is like a cat? Find three things that tell us that the fog is like a cat.
2You know that a metaphor compares two things by transferring a feature of one thing to the other (See Unit 1).
(i) Find metaphors for the following words and complete the table below. Also try to say how they are alike. The first is done for you.
(i) Find metaphors for the following words and complete the table below. Also try to say how they are alike. The first is done for you.
2(ii) Think about a storm. Try to visualise the force of the storm, hear the sound of the storm, feel the power of the storm and the sudden calm that happens afterwards. Write a poem about the storm comparing it with an animal.
3Does this poem have a rhyme scheme? Poetry that does not have an obvious rhythm or rhyme is called 'free verse'.
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What are the important topics in Mijbil the Otter for Madhya Pradesh Board Class 10 English?
Mijbil the Otter covers several key topics that are frequently asked in Madhya Pradesh Board Class 10 board exams. Focus on the core concepts listed on this page and practise related questions to build confidence.
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