CBSE Class 10 English The Ball Poem MCQs

What is the boy now, who has lost his ball, 
What, what is he to do ? I saw it go
Merrily bouncing, down the street, and then
Merrily over-there it is in the water !

Question : What has the boy lost ?
(a) toy
(b) ball
(c) toy car
(d) bat

Answer :   B

Question : Where did the ball fall into ?
(a) water
(b) pond
(c) river
(d) pit

Answer :   A

Question : For the loss of which thing the boy felt grieved and helpless ?
(a) toy car
(b) video game
(c) bat
(d) ball

Answer :   D

Question : Who is the poet ?
(a) John Berryman
(b) Robin Klein
(c) Walt Whitman
(d) Adreinne Rich

Answer :   A

The epistemology of loss, how to stand up
Knowing what every man must one day know
And most know many days, how to stand up.

Question : The boy has lost .......... .
(a) a ball
(b) a bat
(c) a bag
(d) a bottle

Answer :   A

Question : Find the word from the passage which means same as 'study of knowledge'.
(a) intrude
(b) epistemology
(c) possession
(d) rigid

Answer :   B

Question : According to the poet, every man should know how to overcome the .................... .
(a) profit
(b) difficulties
(c) problems
(d) loss

Answer :   D

Question : The lost of ball has taught the boy the ................... of responsibility.
(a) idea
(b) pain
(c) lesson
(d) sense

Answer :   D

His ball went. I would not intrude on him; 
A dime, another ball, is worthless. Now
He senses first responsibility
In a world of possessions.

Question ; Who is 'I' in the poem ?
(a) a boy
(b) reader
(c) poet
(d) another child

Answer :   C

Question : The poet does not want to interfere as he wants the child to learn to bear the .................... .
(a) loss
(b) load
(c) unhappiness
(d) responsibility

Answer :   A

Question : This will help the child in understanding his ...................... .
(a) responsibility
(b) sharing
(c) duty
(d) assets

Answer :   A

Question : Giving another ball to the child is ........................ .
(a) senseless
(b) worthless
(c) useless
(d) harmless

Answer :   B

Question : An ultimate shaking grief fixes the boy
As he stands rigid, trembling, staring down
All his young days into the harbour where
His ball went. I would not intrude on him;

(a) The poet uses the word ‘ultimate’ to describe the boy’s reaction.
Pick the meaning that DOES NOT display what, ‘ultimate’ means in the context given.
(a) consequent
(b) final
(c) conclusive
(d) fateful

Answer :  C

Question : The boy is very young in this poem. As a mature, balanced grown-up, he might look back and think that his reaction of ‘ultimate shaking grief was
(1) disproportionate to the loss.
(2) pretension to procure a new toy.
(3) according to his exposure and experience then.
(4) a reaction to the failure of retrieving the toy.
(5) justified and similar to what it would be currently.
(a) 5 & 2
(b) 1 & 3
(c) 2 & 4
(d) 3 & 5

Answer :  B

Question : Why does the speaker choose not to intrude? This is so because the poet
(a) knows that it would embarrass the boy in his moment of grief.
(b) feels that it’s important that the boy learn an important life lesson, undisturbed.
(c) realises that he doesn’t have sufficient funds to purchase a new ball for the boy.
(d) experiences a sense of distress himself, by looking at the boy’s condition.

Answer :  B

Question : Choose the option that lists the meaning of ‘harbour’ as used in the extract.
Noun:
(1) a place on the coast where ships may moor in shelter.
(2) a place of refuge.
Verb:
(3) keep (a thought or feeling, typically a negative one) in one’s mind, especially secretly.
(4) shelter or hide (a criminal or wanted person).
(a) Option 1
(b) Option 2
(c) Option 3
(d) Option 4

Answer :  A

Question : What is the boy playing with?
(a) bat
(b) ball
(c) car
(d)  bus

Answer :  B

Question: The poet is talking about a boy, who has lost his ——.
(a) Ball
(b) Book
(c) Bat
(d) Pencil

Answer :  A

Question : Where was the boy staring down?
(a) the sea
(b) the ocean
(c) the harbour
(d) the lake

Answer :  C

Question : Who would not intrude the boy?
(a) The Ball
(b) The Poet
(c) The Gloves
(d) None of the Above

Answer :  B

Question : How does the child react at the loss?
(a) stands rigid
(b) trembles
(c) stares
(d) all of them

Answer :  D

Question : Here the ball symbolizes ——– in the poem.
(a) Hope
(b) Simple toy far play
(c) Dreams
(d) Memories of childhood

Answer :  C

Question : Where does the ball go?
(a) drain
(b) well
(c) house
(d) water

Answer :  D

Question : Why are the boy’s eyes desperate?
(a) Because he has lost his ball.
(b) Because he has lost his money.
(c) Because he has lost his gloves
(d) None of the Above

Answer :  A

Question : Name the literary device used in “Merrily bouncing, down the street, and then Merrily over — there it is in the water!”
(a) Metaphor
(b) Simile
(c) Alliteration
(d) Anaphora

Answer :  D

He senses first responsibility
In a world of possessions. People will take
Balls, balls will be lost always, lit tie boy.
And no one buys a ball back.

Question : ‘He’ here stands for
(a) author
(b) the boy
(c) trainer
(d) Water man

Answer :   B

Question : The poem begins with a question. Based on your reading of the poem, the speaker
(a) wants the boy to answer the question.
(b) expects the passers-by to respond.
(c) is looking for answers in a self-help book.
(d) is thinking to himself.

Answer :   D

Question : ‘His first responsibility’ here refers to
(a) how to make up
(b) how to face loss
(c) how to draw water
(d) how to panic

Answer :   B

Question : Who composed these lines ?
(a) John Berryman
(b) Robert Frost
(c) Carolyn Wells
(d) Leslie Norris

Answer :   A

Question : The word ‘possessions’ means
(a) process
(b) possess
(c) health
(d) wealth

Answer :  D

Question : The poet seems to have indicated the merry bouncing of the ball to
(a) create a sense of rhythm in these lines.
(b) support the happiness of the experience of playing.
(c) contrast with the dejected feeling of the boy.
(d)indicate the cheerful mood of the boy.

Answer :   C

INTRODUCTION—

This poem is written in Blank Verse. This poem is about losing something that you love, and learning to grow up. It is about a little boy, who, for the first time in his young life, is learning what it is like to experience grief at the loss of a much beloved possession – his ball.

SUMMARY—

Once a boy was playing with his ball. It was bouncing in the street up and down. The boy was happily enjoying the game. While bouncing, suddenly it fell into the water and was lost. Without the ball, the boy became full of grief. The poet said and that there were other balls. He could purchase another since it was not a great loss. There was no need to worry. But, the boy had that ball for a long time so he was deeply grieved due to his attachment with it. It was linked to his memories.
The poet thinks that it is of no use to purchase another ball. He must feel his responsibility of the loss.

Explanation of the Poem

1. What is the boy now, who has lost his ball,
What, what is he to do ? I saw it go
Merrily bouncing, down the street, and then
Merrily over — there it is in the water!
No use to say ‘O there are other balls’.
Explanation: The poem is about a little boy. He loses his ball and watches it bouncing down the street into the water. To us, the loss of ball is of minor consequence but to the little boy, it was a valued possession. The ball had been with him for a long time and it was linked to the memories of the days when he played with it.

2. An ultimate shaking grief fixes the boy
As he stands rigid, trembling, staring down
All his young days into the harbour where
His ball went. I would not intrude on him;
A dime, another ball, is worthless.
Explanation: The boy is very much troubled at the loss of his ball and plunges into grief. He stands stiff and trembling while staring at his ball. He is upset as he looks into the gloomy water because it has been with him for a long time. When the ball bounces into the water, all his memories of the childhood days flashes in front of him. Moreover the poet doesn’t offer him money to buy another ball because that would be worthless.

3. Now he senses first responsibility
In a world of possessions.
People will take balls,
balls will be lost always, little boy.
And no one buys a ball back. Money is external.
Explanation: The boy cannot find his ball in the gloomy water. This is when he gets his first sense of responsibility. The poet suggests that from the loss of the ball, the boy is learning what it means to lose something in the world of possessions, where he will lose things, he will buy some more to replace the ones lost, but would never be able to buy back the thing that he had lost. The poet, thus, makes the boy understand about his responsibility as the loss is immaterial. Money is external as it cannot buy memories, nor can it replace the things that we love, the things that really matter.

4. He is learning, well behind his desperate eyes,
The epistemology of loss, how to stand up
Knowing what every man must one day know
And most know many days, how to stand up.
Explanation: The poet suggests that from the loss of the ball, the boy is learning how to stand up in a world of possessions. The boy is learning what it means to lose something. The poet says that knowing that everyman has to stand up after such losses, the boy too will learn how to stand up and leave the losses behind as he would have understood the true meaning and nature of loss. Poetic Devices
Symbolism : The ball is symbol of the boy’s young and innocent days.
Repetition : What, what
Balls, balls
Alliteration : buys a hall hack
Balls, balls
What, What

Extract Based Questions

Read the following extracts and answer the questions/complete the sentences that follow :

Q. 1. What is the boy now, who has lost his ball,
What, what is he to do ? I saw it go
Merrily bouncing, down the street, and then
Merrily over-there it is in the water !

(a) What has the boy lost ?
(i) toy
(ii) ball
(iii) toy car
(iv) bat

Answer : B

(b) Where did the ball fall into ?
(i) water
(ii) pond
(iii) river
(iv) pit

Answer : A

(c) For the loss of which thing the boy felt grieved and helpless ?
(i) toy car
(ii) video game
(iii) bat
(iv) ball

Answer : D

(d) Who is the poet ?
(i) John Berryman
(ii) Robin Klein
(iii) Walt Whitman
(iv) Adreinne Rich

Answer : A

Q. 2. An ultimate shaking grief fixes the boy
As he stands rigid, trembling, staring down.
All his young days in to the harbour where
His ball bent I would not intrude on him,
A dime another ball, is worthless. Now
He senses first responsibility
In a words of possessions.

(a) The boy is in grief because his ball has been .................. .
(i) stolen
(ii) misplaced
(iii) broken
(iv) lost

Answer : D

(b) The boy feels .................. and stands rigid because he is thinking about his days when he was young.
(i) troubled
(ii) happy
(iii) sorry
(iv) helpless

Answer : A

(c) The poet does not offer to give him the new ball because he wants to teach him the value of ................ .
(i) duty
(ii) authority
(iii) responsibility
(iv) money

Answer : C

(d) Who senses his first responsibility in ?
(i) The girl
(ii) The boy
(iii) The poet
(iv) The reader

Answer : B

Ans. (a) (iv) lost
(b) (i) troubled
(c) (iii) responsibility
(d) (ii) The boy

Q. 3. His ball went. I would not intrude on him;
A dime, another ball, is worthless. Now
He senses first responsibility
In a world of possessions.

(a) Who is 'I' in the poem ?
(i) a boy
(ii) reader
(iii) poet
(iv) another child

Answer : C

(b) The poet does not want to interfere as he wants the child to learn to bear the .................... .
(i) loss
(ii) load
(iii) unhappiness
(iv) responsibility

Answer : A

(c) This will help the child in understanding his ...................... .
(i) responsibility
(ii) sharing
(iii) duty
(iv) assets

Answer : A

(d) Giving another ball to the child is ........................ .
(i) senseless
(ii) worthless
(iii) useless
(iv) harmless

Answer : B

Q. 4. I would not intrude on him,
A dime, another ball, is worthless. Now
He sense first responsibility
In a world of possessions.

(a) Who does not want to intrude on him ?
(i) The poet
(ii) The boy
(iii) Boy’s friend
(iv) Boy’s mother

Answer : A

(b) About which sense is mentioned in the lines ?
(i) possessiveness
(ii) responsibility
(iii) knowledge
(iv) sharing

Answer : B

(c) A world of possessions means ....................... .
(i) world of deception
(ii) world of fantasy
(iii) world of materialism
(iv) world of reality

Answer : C

(d) Give antonym of word ‘responsibility’.
(i) freedom
(ii) duty
(iii) irresponsibility
(iv) non responsibility

Answer : C

Q. 5. His ball went. I would not intrude on him;
A dime, another ball, is worthless, now
He senses first responsibility
In a world of possessions.

(a) Whose eyes are desperate ?
(i) The poet’s
(ii) The boy’s
(iii) His friend’s
(iv) None of them

Answer : B

(b) Find the word from the passage which means same as 'interfering into something'.
(i) worthless
(ii) possessions
(iii) intrude
(iv) responsibility

Answer : C

(c) Losing the ball teaches the boy to become ................... .
(i) grown up
(ii) responsible
(iii) mature
(iv) strong

Answer : B

(d) Giving another ball to the boy is .................... .
(i) worthless
(ii) sensible
(iii) correct
(iv) wrong

Answer : A

Q. 6. The epistemology of loss, how to stand up
Knowing what every man must one day know
And most know many days, how to stand up.

(a) The boy has lost .......... .
(i) a ball
(ii) a bat
(iii) a bag
(iv) a bottle

Answer : A

(b) Find the word from the passage which means same as 'study of knowledge'.
(i) intrude
(ii) epistemology
(iii) possession
(iv) rigid

Answer : B

(c) According to the poet, every man should know how to overcome the .................... .
(i) profit
(ii) difficulties
(iii) problems
(iv) loss

Answer : D

(d) The lost of ball has taught the boy the ................... of responsibility.
(i) idea
(ii) pain
(iii) lesson
(iv) sense

Answer : D