Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.

A. The moon was coming up in the east, behind me, and stars were shining in the clear sky above me. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. I was happy to be alone high up above the sleeping countryside.

Questions:

i. Who narrates the above lines?

ii. Which type of weather conditions are being discussed in the above lines?

iii. Explain the term „the sleeping countryside‟?

iv. Why is the narrator happy?

OR

B. At about the age of twenty five, the Prince, thereof shielded from the sufferings of the world, while hunting out glanced upon a sick man, then an aged man, then a funeral procession, and finally a monk begging for alms. These sights so moved him that he at once became a beggar and went out into the world to seek enlightenment concerning the sorrows he had witnessed.

Questions:

i. Whose age has been referred here?

ii. What was the effect of sights on the prince?

iii. How did witnessing sorrow change him?

iv. What does „glance‟ imply in the given lines?

i. ‘Frederick Forsyth’, the narrator is narrating the above lines in the opening lines of ‘Black Aeroplane’, when he was flying his old Aeroplane over France back to England.

ii. The weather was favorable for flying Aeroplane. The position of the moon has been described in the East behind the narrator. The stars were shining in the clear sky. There was no sign of cloudy atmosphere which makes the conditions favorable for the narrator to fly his old Aeroplane.

iii. The time when the narrator narrated this incident was 1.30 in the morning. It is the time when the whole country was sleeping and the narrator was flying his Aeroplane high above the sleeping countryside. So, ‘sleeping countryside’ is being referred to as the peaceful timing when people were sleeping and the narrator was flying high above the people sleeping.

iv. The narrator was very happy because he had dreamed of enjoying his holiday with his family. He was very happy to fly his old Aeroplane alone high above all the people of the country. He further thought that he would be reaching at the time of breakfast and everything was going as he planned. It was an easy flight. These random thoughts made him joyous.

OR

B.

i. The age of Gautama Buddha has been referred here. The extract talked about the beginning of his life as a prince whose name was Siddhartha Gautama.

ii. Once upon a time when the prince was hunting, he looked upon a sick man, an aged man and then he came across the funeral of someone and finally he visualized a monk who was begging for alms. These made him aware of the sufferings of the world and these sights moved him a lot.

iii. After visualizing the above sights, the prince was moved deeply and there comes a time when he himself became a beggar and went throughout the world in search of enlightenment for all the sorrows he had witnessed.

iv. ‘Glance’ means to look at something. While he was out for hunting, he glanced upon the conditions of the sick man, an aged man, he came across a funeral and finally, he glanced upon a monk begging.