This post ‘Mijbil the Otter NCERT Solutions Class 10 English’ provides NCERT solutions for Class 10th English First Flight Chapter 6 Mijbil the Otter. I recommend first read the summary of Mijbil the Otter to understand the questions of this chapter better.
Mijbil the Otter Class 10 Question Answer NCERT
Oral Comprehension Check (Page 84)
Q.1. What ‘experiment’ did Maxwell think Camusfearna would be suitable for?
Ans. Keeping an otter as a pet instead of a dog. Camusfearna was ringed by water only a stone’s throw from its door, so it was an ideal place for this experiment.
Q.2. Why does he go to Basra? How long does he wait there, and why?
Ans. He went to the Consulate-General at Basra to collect and answer his mail from Europe. He had to wait for several days because his mail had not arrived. He cabled England, but nothing happened for three days. His telephone call had to be booked twenty-four hours in advance; on the first day the line was out of order, on the second the exchange was closed for a religious holiday, and on the third there was another breakdown. His mail finally came five days after his friend had left.
Q.3. How does he get the otter? Does he like it? Pick out the words that tell you this.
Ans. His friend arranged it. When Maxwell carried his mail to his bedroom, two Arabs were squatting there with a sack that squirmed, and a note that said, “Here is your otter…” Yes, he loved it at once. The words that show this are: “With the opening of that sack began a phase of my life that has not yet ended”; he calls it a thraldom to otters, an otter fixation.
Q.4. Why was the otter named ‘Maxwell’s otter’?
Ans. Because Mijbil belonged to a race previously unknown to science. Zoologists therefore named it Lutrogale perspicillata maxwelli, or Maxwell’s otter, after the man who brought it to their notice.
Q.5. Tick the right answer. In the beginning, the otter was: aloof and indifferent, hostile, friendly.
Ans. aloof and indifferent. He was neither hostile nor friendly, and slept as far from Maxwell’s bed as possible.
Q.6. What happened when Maxwell took Mijbil to the bathroom? What did it do two days after that?
Ans. In the bathroom, Mij went wild with joy in the water for half an hour, plunging and rolling in it, shooting up and down the length of the bathtub underwater, and making enough slosh and splash for a hippo. Two days later he escaped from the bedroom, ran to the bathroom, and fumbled at the chromium taps with his paws until he turned one on, first a trickle, then the full flow.
Oral Comprehension Check (Page 86)
Q.1. How was Mij to be transported to England?
Ans. By air. The British airline would not carry animals, so Maxwell booked a flight to Paris on another airline and from there to London. That airline insisted that Mij be packed into a box not more than eighteen inches square, to be carried on the floor at his feet.
Q.2. What did Mij do to the box?
Ans. Left alone in it for an hour, Mij tore the lining of the box to shreds. When Maxwell returned, blood had trickled from the airholes and Mij lay inside exhausted and blood-spattered.
Q.3. Why did Maxwell put the otter back in the box? How do you think he felt?
Ans. Because there were only ten minutes left before the flight and the airport was five miles away; he had no other choice. He must have felt miserable and guilty, full of pity for the wounded animal he was forced to shut up again.
Q.4. Why does Maxwell say the air hostess was “the very queen of her kind”?
Ans. Because she was extraordinarily kind and understanding. She kept the parcel of fish in a cool place, listened sympathetically to his story, suggested that he keep the pet on his knee, and when Mij escaped she offered with a charming smile to find the animal and bring it back.
Q.5. What happened when the box was opened?
Ans. Mij was out in a flash and disappeared at high speed down the aircraft. There were squawks and shrieks, and a woman stood up on her seat screaming, “A rat! A rat!” Maxwell dived for Mij’s tail under the legs of a portly white-turbaned Indian, missed, and found his own face covered in curry.
Oral Comprehension Check (Page 88)
Q.1. What game had Mij invented?
Ans. A game with a ping-pong ball and a damaged suitcase whose lid sloped from one end to the other. Mij would place the ball on the high end, let it run down, dash round to the other end to ambush it, crouch and hide, spring up to take it by surprise, then grab it and trot back to the high end again.
Q.2. What are ‘compulsive habits’? What are the compulsive habits of (i) school children (ii) Mij?
Ans. Compulsive habits are habits that are impossible to control.
(i) School children: 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.
(ii) Mij: on his way home but never on his way out, he would tug Maxwell to the low school wall, jump on to it and gallop the full thirty yards of its length, to the great distraction of the pupils and staff inside.
Q.3. What group of animals do otters belong to?
Ans. To a comparatively small group called Mustellines, which also includes the badger, mongoose, weasel, stoat and mink.
Q.4. What guesses did the Londoners make about what Mij was?
Ans. They guessed almost every animal except an otter: a baby seal, a squirrel, a walrus, a hippo, a beaver, a bear cub, a leopard that had changed its spots, and even a ‘brontosaur’. One labourer digging in the street simply stared, spat, glared and growled, “Here, Mister, what is that supposed to be?”
Mijbil the Otter Thinking about the Text Question Answer
Q.1. What things does Mij do which tell you that he is intelligent, friendly and fun-loving, and needs love?
Ans.
- Intelligent: he worked out how to turn the chromium tap on with his paws, and invented his own ball game on the sloping suitcase lid.
- Fun-loving: he dribbled a rubber ball around the room like a four-footed soccer player, threw it with a flick of his neck, and lay on his back juggling marbles up and down his belly without dropping one.
- Friendly and in need of love: he slept in the crook of Maxwell’s knees, followed him without a lead and came when called, and in the aeroplane bounded on to his knee with a chitter of recognition and began to nuzzle his face and neck.
Q.2. What do we come to know about otters from this text?
Ans. Otters are found in large numbers in the Tigris marshes near Basra, where the Arabs often tame them. They belong to the Mustellines. They are mad about water; every drop must be splashed and spread about, and still water is wasted and provoking to them. They are highly playful and intelligent, love juggling objects while lying on their backs, form deep attachments to their owners, and can develop fixed, compulsive habits.
Q.3. Why is Mij’s species now known to the world as Maxwell’s otter?
Ans. Because it was a race previously unknown to science. When Maxwell brought Mij from the Tigris marshes, zoologists studied it and christened it Lutrogale perspicillata maxwelli (Maxwell’s otter) in his honour.
Q.4. Complete the table: what Maxwell says Mij feels and thinks
Ans.
| What Mij does | How Mij feels or thinks |
|---|---|
| plunges, rolls in the water and makes it splosh and splash | He goes wild with joy. For an otter every drop of water must be spread about the place; water must be kept on the move and made to do things, for when it is still it is wasted and provoking. |
| screws the tap in the wrong way | He is irritated and disappointed, and chitters angrily at the tap’s failure to cooperate. |
| nuzzles Maxwell’s face and neck in the aeroplane | He is distressed but overjoyed at finding his master again; his chitter is one of recognition and welcome. |
Q.5. Which statements about Maxwell’s description are true?
Ans. True: (i), (iii), (iv), (v) and (vii).
- (i) Makes Mij seem almost human: he plays like “a four-footed soccer player”, develops habits “like the rituals of children”, and is “miserable”, “exhausted” and “distressed”.
- (iii) He is often surprised by what Mij does: “I watched, amazed” as Mij turned on the tap; and he was “quite unprepared for what followed” on the plane.
- (iv) His description is comical: the woman screaming “A rat! A rat!”, the dive under the portly Indian, and his own face covered in curry.
- (v) He observes Mij very carefully: he notices the exact way Mij juggles marbles, ambushes the ball, and touches the school wall only on the way home.
- (vii) He thinks the otter is unusual: Mij belonged to a race unknown to science, and the sight of him reduced all London to wild guesses.
Not true: (ii) — he is amused, never irritated; and (vi) — he clearly thinks Mij is anything but ordinary.
Mijbil the Otter Thinking about Language
I. Would / used to
- Emperor Akbar used to be fond of musical evenings. (a state)
- Every evening we would / used to take long walks on the beach. (an action)
- Fifty years ago, very few people used to own cars. (a state)
- Till the 1980s, Shanghai used to have very dirty streets. (a state)
- My uncle would / used to spend his holidays by the sea. (an action)
Your own sentences: When I was small, I would play in the rain for hours. My grandmother used to be a school teacher. Every winter we would visit our village.
II.1. Noun modifiers
| Phrase | Type of modifier |
|---|---|
| (i) an otter fixation | noun |
| (ii) the iron railings | noun |
| (iii) the Tigris marshes | proper noun |
| (iv) the London streets | proper noun |
| (v) soft velvet fur | adjective + noun |
| (vi) a four-footed soccer player | adjective + noun |
II.2. Combine the nouns and modifiers
stone temple, ordinary person, marriage gifts, first time, railroad crossing, plump physique, college girls, rough thoughts, loud scream, slang subject, first flight, invigorating coffee, love triangle, college boys, heartbreaking farewell, panoramic landscape, incorrigible chatterbox, panoramic view, white dresses, tremendous roar, uncomfortable expression, white handkerchief, family profession, birthday celebration.
III.1. Match the quantity phrases
| Phrase | Goes with |
|---|---|
| (i) a portion of | fried fish |
| (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 | blood / water |
| (vii) a piece of | cotton / gold |
| (viii) a pot of | gold / water |
III.2. Rewrite the sentences
(i) My teacher gave me a bit of advice. (ii) Can you give me a lump of clay, please. (iii) The piece of information you gave was very useful. (iv) Because of these factories, a cloud of smoke hangs over the city. (v) Two pieces of stone rubbed together can produce sparks of fire. (vi) He gave me a bunch of flowers on my birthday.
Writing: description of a pet you love
Sample: My dog Bruno is a brown mongrel with one ear that never stands up straight. He knows the sound of our gate better than any of us and is at the door before the bell rings. When I come home from school he does not simply wag his tail; his whole body wags. If I sit down to study he pushes his head under my elbow, and I am convinced he does it not because he wants food but because he cannot understand why anyone would look at a book when there is a person to look at instead. He hates baths and sulks in the corner afterwards, refusing to meet my eye, as though I had insulted him personally. But five minutes later he forgets, and comes back to press his wet head against my knee.
