📝Page 106

Oral Comprehension Check 

Q1. What ‘experiment’ did Maxwell think Camusfearna would be suitable for?
Answer: The experiment Maxwell thought Camusfearna would be suitable for was keeping an otter as a pet instead of a dog.

Q2. Why does he go to Basra? How long does he wait there, and why?
Answer: He goes to Basra to the Consulate-General to collect and answer his mail from Europe. He waits there for five days because his mail had not arrived, and he had difficulty with the communication lines.

Q3. How does he get the otter? Does he like it? Pick out the words that tell you this.
Answer: He gets the otter as a gift from a friend who sends it to him in a sack. Yes, he likes it. The words that tell us this are: “With the opening of that sack began a phase of my life that has not yet ended, and may, for all I know, not end before I do.” He also says he has a “thraldom to otters, an otter fixation.”

Q4. Why was the otter named ‘Maxwell’s otter’?
Answer: The otter was named ‘Maxwell’s otter’ because it was of a race previously unknown to science. Zoologists at length christened it Lutrogale perspicillata maxwelli, or Maxwell’s otter.

Q5. Tick the right answer. In the beginning, the otter was

• aloof and indifferent ✅
• friendly
• hostile

Answer: aloof and indifferent ✅

Q6. What happened when Maxwell took Mijbil to the bathroom? What did it do two days after that?
Answer: When Maxwell took Mijbil to the bathroom, Mijbil went wild with joy in the water, plunging and rolling in it and making enough noise for a hippo. Two days after that, Mijbil escaped from the bedroom, went to the bathroom, and managed to turn the chromium tap far enough to get a trickle of water.

📝Page 108-109

Oral Comprehension Check 

Q1. How was Mij to be transported to England?
Answer: Mij was to be transported to England in a box not more than eighteen inches square, to be carried on the floor at Maxwell’s feet.

Q2. What did Mij do to the box?
Answer: Mij tore the lining of the box to shreds, so much so that blood had trickled and dried from the air holes.

Q3. Why did Maxwell put the otter back in the box? How do you think he felt when he did this?
Answer: Maxwell put the otter back in the box because the flight was just ten minutes away and he had no other option for transporting him. He must have felt terrible and heartbroken to put the miserable, whimpering, and blood-spattered Mij back into the box.

Q4. Why does Maxwell say the airhostess was “the very queen of her kind”?
Answer: Maxwell says the airhostess was “the very queen of her kind” because of her profound kindness and understanding. Instead of getting angry, she was calm, charming, and even suggested that he could have his pet on his knee.

Q5. What happened when the box was opened?
Answer: When the box was opened, Mij was out in a flash. He disappeared at high speed down the aircraft, causing squawks and shrieks from the passengers, one of whom screamed, “A rat! A rat!”

📝Page 110

Oral Comprehension Check

Q1. What game had Mij invented?
Answer: Mij had invented a game with a damaged suitcase. He would place a ping-pong ball on the high end of the sloping lid and would dash to the other end to ambush its arrival.

Q2. What are ‘compulsive habits’? What does Maxwell say are the compulsive habits of (i) school children (ii) Mij?
Answer: Compulsive habits are actions that a person or animal feels they must do, which are impossible to control.
(i) School children: they must place their feet squarely on the centre of each paving block; they must touch every seventh upright of the iron railings, or pass to the outside of every second lamp post.
(ii) Mij: On his way home, he would tug Maxwell to a low wall and gallop the full length of its thirty yards.

Q3. What group of animals do otters belong to?
Answer: Otters belong to a comparatively small group of animals called Mustellines, which also includes the badger, mongoose, weasel, stoat, and mink.

Q4. What guesses did the Londoners make about what Mij was?
Answer: The Londoners made many wild guesses, including a “baby seal,” a “squirrel,” a “walrus,” a “hippo,” a “beaver,” a “bear cub,” a “leopard,” and a “brontosaur.”

Thinking about the Text

Q1. What things does Mij do which tell you that he is an intelligent, friendly and fun-loving animal who needs love?
Answer: Mij is intelligent because he figures out how to open the tap to get water and invents a new game with the suitcase. He is friendly and needs love because he comes to Maxwell’s bed and sleeps in the crook of his knees, and he nuzzles Maxwell’s face and neck in the aeroplane. He is fun-loving because he loves to play with a rubber ball, juggle with marbles, and go wild with joy in the water.

Q2. What are some of the things we come to know about otters from this text?
Answer: From the text, we learn that otters have a race that was previously unknown to science. They are very fond of water and must keep it in motion, as they find static water wasted and provoking. They are very intelligent, can be trained, and are playful. They love to play with small objects like marbles.

Q3. Why is Mij’s species now known to the world as Maxwell’s otter?
Answer: Mij’s species is known as Maxwell’s otter because it was a new species that had not been previously identified by scientists. Maxwell found the first specimen of this type, so it was officially named in his honour by zoologists.

Q4. Maxwell 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.

Q5. Read 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.

(i) makes Mij seem almost human, like a small boy.

• “Maybe the father is not alive but the son still carries on the family profession.”
• “We would climb a bench or the parapet and peep into the basket, somehow.”

(ii) shows that he is often irritated with what Mij does.

• “He had been lucky to turn the tap the right way; on later occasions he would sometimes screw it up still tighter, chittering with irritation and disappointment at the tap’s failure to cooperate.”

(iii) shows that he is often surprised by what Mij does.

• “I watched, amazed; in less than a minute he had turned the tap far enough to produce a trickle of water, and after a moment or two achieved the full flow.”

(iv) of Mij’s antics is comical.

• “He spent hours shuffling a rubber ball round the room like a four-footed soccer player using all four feet to dribble the ball.”
• “‘Is that a walrus, mister?’ reduced me to giggles.”

(v) shows that he observes the antics of Mij very carefully.

• “He would dash around to the other end to ambush its arrival, hide from it, crouching, to spring up and take it by surprise, grab it and trot off with it to the high end once more.”

(vi) shows that he thinks Mij is a very ordinary otter.

• This statement is not true.

(vii) shows that he thinks the otter is very unusual.

• “Mijbil, as I called the otter, was, in fact, of a race previously unknown to science, and was at length christened by zoologists Lutrogale perspicillata maxwelli, or Maxwell’s otter.”

Thinking about Language

I. From the table below, make as many correct sentences as you can using would and/or used to, as appropriate.

• Emperor Akbar used to be fond of musical evenings. (State)
• Every evening we would/used to take long walks on the beach. (Action)
• Fifty years ago, very few people used to own cars. (State/Situation)
• Till the 1980s, Shanghai used to have very dirty streets. (State/Situation)
• My uncle would/used to spend his holidays by the sea. (Action)

My own sentences:

• My grandmother used to tell me stories every night.
• I used to have a bicycle when I was a child.
• We would play cricket every evening in the park.

II. 1. Look at these examples from the text, and say whether the modifiers (in italics) are nouns, proper nouns, or adjective plus noun.
(i) An otter fixation → noun modifier
(ii) The iron railings → noun modifier
(iii) The Tigris marshes → proper noun modifier
(iv) The London streets → proper noun modifier
(v) soft velvet fur → adjective plus noun modifier
(vi) A four-footed soccer player → adjective plus noun modifier

2. Given 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.

• college boys
• rough time
• stone temple
• ordinary person
• love gifts
• uncomfortable thoughts
• white dresses
• slack time
• bare landscape
• railroad crossing
• tremendous roar
• family profession
• marriage gifts
• plump physique
• invigorating coffee
• panoramic view
• heartbreaking scream
• birthday celebration
• incorrigible chatterbox
• ridiculous expression
• loud scream
• first flight
• three hundred girls’ school
• handkerchief
• bare landscape

III. 1. Match the words on the left with a word on the right.
(i) a portion of → fried fish, water
(ii) a pool of → blood, water
(iii) flakes of → snow
(iv) a huge heap of → stones
(v) a gust of → wind
(vi) little drops of → water
(vii) a piece of → gold, fried fish
(viii) a pot of → gold

2. Use a bit of / a piece of / a bunch of / a cloud of / a lump of with the italicised nouns in the following sentences.
(i) My teacher gave me a bit of advice.
(ii) Can you give me a lump of clay, please.
(iii) The information you gave was a bit of useful.
(iv) Because of these factories, a cloud of smoke hangs over the city.
(v) Two stones rubbed together can produce a shower of sparks of fire.
(vi) He gave me a bunch of flowers on my birthday.

Writing

Write a description of a person or an animal (such as a pet) that you know very well and love very much.

Answer:
A description of my pet cat:
My cat, Leo, is a big, fluffy orange ball of fur. He’s not like other cats who are scared and shy. Leo is a very curious and brave animal who loves to explore everything. He loves to nuzzle my face in the morning to wake me up for breakfast. He knows exactly what time it is and will rub against my leg and purr loudly until I get up.

He has a special game where he chases a little red light from a laser pointer. He’ll stalk it and then pounce, getting so disappointed when he can’t catch it. He often sits on the window ledge, watching the birds with a serious, focused expression, as if he’s a tiny, majestic hunter. He seems to feel like a great conqueror of his domain. He’s a comical animal, but he’s also an important part of my life. He’s more than just a pet; he’s a very unusual and intelligent companion.