Q5 of 33 Page 110

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. Maxwell description

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


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


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


(iv) of Mij's antics is comical.


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


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


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

(i)The following instances show that Mij seems almost human, like a small boy.


He plunges and rolls in the water. He shoots up and down the bathtub underwater. He makes enough slosh and splash and turns the water tap enough to produce a trickle of water. He plays and juggles small objects between his paws lying on its back. He nuzzles the author's face and neck.


(iii) Mij turned the tap enough to produce a trickle of water, followed by full flow in less than a minute with the help of his paws.


(v) Mij developed his own game from the damaged suitcase of the author. He discovered that if he would place the ball at the high end, it would slide down to the lower end. He always dashed around from one end of the suitcase to another and would grab the ball and trot it off to the high end again and again.


(vii) He did not believe that the otter is an unusual animal. However, the variety of guesses Londoners made about who Mij was what came as a surprise to the author.


More from this chapter

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3

Why is Mij's species now known to the world as Maxwell's otter?

4

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.



















What Mij does



How Mij feels or think



Plunges, rolls in the water and makes the water splash and splash




Screws the tap in the wrong way




Nuzzles Maxwell’s face and neck in the aeroplane.



1

Describing a Repeated Action in the Past

To 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.


(a) Mij would follow me without a lead and come to me when I called his name.


(b) He would play for hours with a selection of toys.


(c)On his way home... Mij would tug me to this wall.


(d) When I was five years old, I used to follow my brother all over the place.


(e) He used to tease me when mother was not around.


To describe repeated states or situations in the past, however, we use only used to.(We cannot use would for states or situations in the past.) So we do not use would with verbs like be, have, believe, etc. Look at the following sentences.


(a) When we were young, we used to believe there were ghosts in school. (Note: belief shows a state of mind.)


(b) Thirty years ago, more women used to be housewives than now. (Note: be here describes a situation.)


From the table below, make as many correct sentences as you can using would and/ or used to, as appropriate. (Hint: First decide whether the words in italics show an action, or a state or situation, in the past.) Then add two or three sentences of your own to it.





























Emperor Akbar




Be fond of musical evening



Every evening we



would



Take long walks on the beach



Fifty years ago, very few people




Own cars



Till the 1980s, Shanghai



Used to



Have very dirty streets



My uncle




Spend his holidays by the sea


2

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

(ii) The iron railings

(iii) The Tigris marshes

(iv) The London streets

(v) Soft velvet fur

(vi) A four-footed soccer player