Date : 25-11-2025 STD 9 ENGLISH Total Marks : 19
* Answer the following questions in about five to six sentences each[ S.R] [12]
1. What does the author notice one Sunday afternoon? What is his mother’s
reaction? What does she do?
Ans. : One Sunday afternoon the author smells something strange and notices
smoke pouring in through the seams of the ceiling. The smoke begins to fill the
room so quickly that one could barely see. Examining the way to the front door,
they all ran out into the front yard.
By the time they came outside, the whole roof was engulfed in flames and it was
spreading quickly. The author ran to the neighbours to call the fire department,
while his mother ran back into the house. She returned carrying a small metal box
full of important documents. She dropped the case on the lawn and, in a crazed
state, ran back into the house. She ran back into the house to collect the pictures
and letters of her dead husband. She did so because she did not want to let them
go up in flames. They were the only things that she had to remember him by.
2. Why does the author break down in tears after the fire?
Ans. : The author breaks down in tears after the fire because he could not find the
cat. Besides all the thoughts come to him suddenly, his new school, the fire and
the loss of his cat and he cries and cries.
3. Why is the author deeply embarrassed the next day in school? Which words
show his fear and insecurity?
Ans. : The author is deeply embarrassed the next day in school because when the
fire broke out, he was still wearing the dress he had worn to church that morning
but he had no shoes as he had lost them in the fire. So he had to borrow some
tennis shoes from his aunt. He was totally embarrassed by everything.
The clothes he was wearing looked weird, he had no books or homework, and his
backpack was gone. Words used in the lesson that show his fear and insecurity are
‘outcast’, ‘geek’, ‘curl up and die’ ‘had my life in that backpack’ ‘zombie’, ‘surreal’
and ‘security … ripped away’.
4. The cat and the author are very fond of each other. How has this been shown in
the story? Where was the cat after the fire? Who brings it back and how?
Ans. : The cat and the author are very fond of each other. Whenever the author did
his homework, his red tabby cat always lay on top of all his papers, purring loudly
Page 1
* Answer the following questions in about five to six sentences each[ S.R] [12]
1. What does the author notice one Sunday afternoon? What is his mother’s
reaction? What does she do?
Ans. : One Sunday afternoon the author smells something strange and notices
smoke pouring in through the seams of the ceiling. The smoke begins to fill the
room so quickly that one could barely see. Examining the way to the front door,
they all ran out into the front yard.
By the time they came outside, the whole roof was engulfed in flames and it was
spreading quickly. The author ran to the neighbours to call the fire department,
while his mother ran back into the house. She returned carrying a small metal box
full of important documents. She dropped the case on the lawn and, in a crazed
state, ran back into the house. She ran back into the house to collect the pictures
and letters of her dead husband. She did so because she did not want to let them
go up in flames. They were the only things that she had to remember him by.
2. Why does the author break down in tears after the fire?
Ans. : The author breaks down in tears after the fire because he could not find the
cat. Besides all the thoughts come to him suddenly, his new school, the fire and
the loss of his cat and he cries and cries.
3. Why is the author deeply embarrassed the next day in school? Which words
show his fear and insecurity?
Ans. : The author is deeply embarrassed the next day in school because when the
fire broke out, he was still wearing the dress he had worn to church that morning
but he had no shoes as he had lost them in the fire. So he had to borrow some
tennis shoes from his aunt. He was totally embarrassed by everything.
The clothes he was wearing looked weird, he had no books or homework, and his
backpack was gone. Words used in the lesson that show his fear and insecurity are
‘outcast’, ‘geek’, ‘curl up and die’ ‘had my life in that backpack’ ‘zombie’, ‘surreal’
and ‘security … ripped away’.
4. The cat and the author are very fond of each other. How has this been shown in
the story? Where was the cat after the fire? Who brings it back and how?
Ans. : The cat and the author are very fond of each other. Whenever the author did
his homework, his red tabby cat always lay on top of all his papers, purring loudly
Page 1
