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Madam Rides The Bus
Multiple Choice Questions and Answers
1. What do we mean by “slack time of the day” as used in the lesson?
(a) Heavy rush time
(b) Not much rush time
(c) Late evening when it gets dark
(d) None of these
Ans: (b) Not much rush time
2. “Valli would stare wistfully at the people who got on or off the bus.” What is the meaning of wistfully?
(a) fearfully
(b) carefully
(c) willingly
(d) longingly
Ans: (d) longingly
3. How did she pick up small details about the bus journey?
(a) listening to conversations of neighbours
(b) asking a few discreet questions
(c) All of the above
(d) None of the above
Ans: (c) All of the above
4. What did the old man say to Valli that annoyed her?
(a) He shouted at her
(b) he asked why she’s alone
(c) he merely asked her to sit
(d) None of the above
Ans: (c) he merely asked her to sit
5. “Valli found the woman absolutely repulsive”. What do you mean by “repulsive”?
(a) causing strong dislike
(b) showing displeasure
(c) extremely attractive
(d) admirable
Ans: (a) causing strong dislike
6. What would make Valli jealous?
(a) strangers ravelling by bus
(b) hearing stories of her friend’s bus journey
(c) her mother travelling the bus
(d) all of the above
Ans: (b) hearing stories of her friend’s bus journey
7. Why did Valli find the woman repulsive?
(a) she had large piercings in her ears
(b) she wore ugly earrings
(c) she was chewing betel nut which could spill out any moment
(d) all of the above
Ans: (d) all of the above
8. Who is the author of the lesson “Madam rides the Bus”?
(a) Gavin Maxwell
(b) Vallikkannan
(c) Paulo Coehlo
(d) Arup Kumar Dutta
Ans: (b) Vallikkannan
9. Why did Valli stand up?
(a) She wanted to enjoy the ride
(b) she wasn’t able to look outside properly
(c) she liked standing
(d) she was tired of sitting
Ans: (b) she wasn’t able to look outside properly
10. What was Valli’s age?
(a) 7
(b) 8
(c) 9
(d) None of these
Ans: (b) 8
11. How many times did the bus cross her street per hour?
(a) 1
(b) 2
(c) 4
(d) 6
Ans: (b) 2
12. What was her overwhelming desire?
(a) to have friends
(b) to travel by bus
(c) to top the class
(d) None of these
Ans: (b) to travel by bus
13. Why did the old lady ask Valli so many questions?
(a) she was bothered about Valli
(b) she liked Valli
(c) she was poking her nose
(d) she was bored
Ans: (a) she was bothered about Valli
14. What did she have to resist on Village Fair Day to save for the ride?
(a) balloons
(b) merry go round
(c) toys
(d) peppermint
Ans: (b) merry go round
15. What was Valli’s full name?
(a) Vallikkannan
(b) Valliammai
(c) Valliannai
(d) Vallikannam
Ans: (b) Valliammai
16. What was the next challenge once she’d saved enough money?
(a) tell her mom about it
(b) know about the timings
(c) buy a ticket
(d) to sneak out of the house
Ans: (d) to sneak out of the house
17. What made her laugh on her journey?
(a) the sight of a running cow
(b) the old woman’s earrings
(c) the old man
(d) None of the above
Ans: (a) the sight of a running cow
18. What was her favourite pastime?
(a) watching the street outside
(b) playing outside
(c) travelling the bus
(d) reading books
Ans: (a) watching the street outside
19. Why did Valli not get off the bus for sight-seeing?
(a) she was afraid
(b) she didn’t want to
(c) she didn’t have the time
(d) she didn’t like the city
Ans: (a) she was afraid
20. How does the conductor address Valli?
(a) as Valli
(b) as Madam
(c) as kiddo
(d) None of the above
Ans: (b) as Madam
21. What can you tell about the conductor from the text?
(a) he was funny
(b) he was grumpy
(c)he was quiet
(d) all of the above
Ans: (a) he was funny
22. “Valli would stare wistfully at the people who got on or off the bus”. This shows that __________.
(a) Valli was jealous of the passengers
(b) Valli was sad because she desired to travel on the bus
(c) Valli hated the bus and the people who travelled on it
(d) Valli wished that the passengers would take her along on the bus
Ans: (b) Valli was sad because she desired to travel on the bus
23. Which of the following is not a synonyms of “kindle”?
(a) light
(b) ignite
(c) extinguish
(d) spark
Ans: (c) extinguish
24. Which of these words was used by Valli and her friends to show their disapproval even though they did not know its meaning?
(a) “proud”
(b) “selfish”
(c) “mental”
(d) “clever”
Ans: (a) “proud”
25. Along which of the following did the bus travel?
(a) lake
(b) river
(c) sea
(d) canal
Ans: (d) canal
26. “….. And she also asked a few discreet questions here and there.” What is the meaning of discreet?
(a) To be polite to avoid embarrassment
(b) To be careful not to attract attention
(c) To be careful not to offend someone
(d) All of these
Ans: (d) All of these
27. What does it tell you about Valli when she refused to accept the conductor’s treat?
(a) responsible
(b) stubborn
(c) rude
(d) disrespectful
Ans: (a) responsible
28. Who was a “real chatterbox”?
(a) Valli
(b) conductor
(c) her aunt
(d) all of the above
Ans: (c) her aunt
29. What saddened Valli?
(a) the dead cow
(b) car accident
(c) the handicapped passenger
(d) all of the above
Ans: (a) the dead cow
30. What was the old woman in the bus chewing?
(a) Betel nut
(b) gum
(c) chapati
(d) Mint leaves
Ans: (a) Betel nut
31. What was the one way fare from the village to the town?
(a) one rupee
(b) 50 paise
(c) 40 paise
(d) 30 paise
Ans: (d) 30 paise
32. What was the timing of the afternoon nap taken by Valli’s mother?
(a) 1 to 3
(b) 1 to 4
(c) 2 to 4
(d) 2 to 3
Ans: (b) 1 to 4
33. What season was it when Valli took the bus ride?
(a) Summer
(b) Winter
(c) Autumn
(d) Spring
Ans: (d) Spring
34. Which of the following options is NOT true?
(a) Valli was conscious as it was her first journey.
(b) The outside of the bus was painted white and green.
(c) The seats of the bus were comfortable.
(d) There was a clock above the front door.
Ans: (d) There was a clock above the front door.
Very Short Type Questions and Answers (Marks : 1)
1. Who was Valliammai ?
Ans: Valliammai was an eight years old girl. Her nickname was Valli.
2. What was Valli’s favourite pastime?
Ans: Valli’s favourite pastime was standing in the front doorway of her house, watching the happenings in the street outside.
3. What was the source of unending joy for Valli ?
Ans: The sight of the bus that travelled to the town filled each time with a new set of passengers was a source of unending joy for Valli.
4. What was Valli’s tiny wish ?
Ans: Valli’s tiny wish was to ride the bus at least once.
5. What was the English term that Valli used when she became jealous ?
Ans: She used the term Proud, Proud when she became jealous.
6. How did Valli pick up various small details about the bus journey ?
Ans: Valli gathered various small details about the bus journey by listening to the conversation between her neighbours and people who used to travel in the bus.
7. How far was the town from Valli’s village ?
Ans: The town was six miles away from Valli’s village.
8. How much time would the trip to the town take?
Ans: It took only forty five minutes.
9.What was the fare of the bus ?
Ans: The bus fare was thirty paisa from Valli’s village to the town.
10. How much money did Valli save for her first journey?
Ans: Valli saved sixty paisa for her first journey.
11. Why did the conductor address Valli madam ?
Ans: The conductor called Valli Madam because she behaved like an aged and experienced woman .
12. Describe the bus in which Valli was travelling.
Ans: It was a new bus painted a gleaming white in its outside and some green stripes along the sides. Inside the bus , the overhead bars shone like silver. The seats were soft and comfortable.
13. Why did Valli stand up on the seat ?
Ans: Valli’s view was cut off by a canvas blind that covered the lower part of her window. So she stood up on her seat to enjoy the outside view.
14. Why did n’t Valli get off the bus at the bus station ?
Ans: Valli did not get off the bus at the bus station because she was afraid of going outside alone in the town for the first time.
15. What was Valli’s deepest desire ?
Ans: Valli’s deepest desire was to ride on the bus that regularly travelled between her village and the nearest town.
16. What sort of temptation did Valli check ?
Ans: Valli checked the temptation to buy balloons, toys and peppermints. She also checked the temptation to ride on the merry go round at the village fair.
17. What did Valli’s mother do after lunch ?
Ans: After lunch Valli’s mother would nap from about one to four or so .
18. Where was Valli’s first excursion to ?
Ans: Valli’s first excursion was to the nearest town by bus .
19. What made Valli sad ?
Ans: Valli was sad to see the cow dead on the road. The memory of the dead cow dampened her enthusiasm.
20. What was the most fascinating thing for Valli ?
Ans: The most fascinating thing for Valli was the bus that travelled to the nearest town with a new set of passengers.
21. How did Valli save the money ?
Ans: Valli saved the money from her pocket money by not spending on balloons, toys, peppermints etc.
Long Type Questions and Answers (Marks : 2/3)
1. What did Valli long for? What did she do to fulfill her desire?
Ans: Valli was eight years old. She had no playmates of her age. Her favourite pastime was to stand in the front door and watch what was happening outside. A bus ran from her village to the nearest town. She developed a strong desire to ride the bus. Gradually she began to long for the bus ride to see the world outside.
Soon she started to put her desire on action. She collected every detail of the bus journey and thriftily saved the money needed for the purpose. For this she had to resist her temptation to buy peppermints, toys etc. She also finalised the time of her bus journey and one afternoon she boarded the bus to the town.
2. What did Valli see on her way back home? How did she react?
Ans: Valli did not get down from the bus. She made her return journey on the same bus.
On her way back home she began to enjoy the outside scenes as she had done the first time. But suddenly she saw a cow lying dead by the road-side. She asked the conductor if it was the same cow that had run before their bus earlier. The conductor shook his head in agreement and Valli was overcome with sadness. The scene of the dead cow haunted her. She no longer wanted to look out of the window. She sat glued to her seat until the bus reached her village.
3. Describe how Valli reacted to the elderly man and woman in the bus?
Ans: One spring afternoon Valli got into the bus to the town. She wanted to see the scene outside. But the canvas blind of the bus covered the lower part of her window. So, she stood up on her seat. An elderly man addressed her as ‘child’ and asked her to sit lest she should fall. This annoyed Valli. At once she replied that she was not a child and paid the full fare.
Again a woman entered and sat beside her. She was repulsive and asked Valli a few questions. But Valli asked her not to bother for her.
