CBSE Class 10 English Glimpses of India MCQs

Question : Our elders are often heard reminiscing nostalgically about those good old Portuguese days, the Portuguese and their famous loaves of bread. Those eaters of loaves might have vanished but the makers are still there. We still have amongst us the mixers, the moulders and those who bake the loaves.

Question : What are mixers used for ?
a) Mixing vegetables
b) Mixing water
c) Preparing dough
d) Mixing juices

Answer :  C

Question :  Who are nostalgic about the good old Portuguese and their famous loaves of bread ?
a) The elders
b) The young people
c) The children
d) The ladies

Answer :  A

Question :  What is still popular in Goa ?
a) Cake making
b) Roll making
c) Bread making
d) Pizza making

Answer :  C 

Question :  Which word in the passage means the same as ‘cook’ ?
a) fry
b) boil
c) mix
d) bake

Answer :  D

Question : He would greet the lady of the house with ‘Good Morning’ and then place his basket on the vertical bamboo. 
We kids would be pushed aside with a mild rebuke and the loaves would be delivered to the servant. But we would not give up. We would climb a bench or the parapet and peep into the basket, somehow. I can still recall the typical fragrance of those loaves. Loaves for the elders and bangles for the children. 

Question :  Who rebukes the kids to push them aside to make space and deliver the bread to the servants?
a) The Painter
b) The Milkman
c) The Barber
d) The Baker

Answer :  D

Question :  What is the greeting word in the passage?
a) Good evening
b) Good morning
c) Good night
d) Good afternoon

Answer :  B

Question :  Who would peep into the basket?
a) The lady
b) The children
c) The servant
d) The baker

Answer :  B

Question :  The word in the passage means the same as ‘ to take a quick look’
a) vertical
b) typical
c) peep
d) rebuke

Answer :  C 

Question : The baker usually collected his bills at the end of the month. Monthly accounts used to be recorded on some wall in pencil. Baking was indeed a profitable profession in the old days. The baker and his family never starved. He,his family and his servants always looked happy and prosperous. Their plump physique was an open testimony to this. 

a) Where were the monthly accounts of the baker recorded with a pencil ?
a) in a note-book
b) in a diary
c) on a laptop
d) on a wall

Answer :  D

b) How was the baking profession?
a) Profitable
b) Non-profitable
c) No profit-No loss
d) Poor

Answer :  A

c) Which word in the passage means the same as ‘Proof’ ?
a) profession
b) plump
c) testimony
d) physique

Answer :  C

d) How was the baker’s life ?
a) joyful
b) happy
c) prosperous
d) happy and Prosperous

Answer :  D

Question : Who is the author of "A Baker from Goa"?
a) Arup Kumar Datta
b) Lokesh Abrol
c) Lucio Rodrigues
d) None of the Above

Answer :  C

Question : The chapter ‘Glimpses of the past’ gives the history of our country from ——- to —–.
a) 1757-1777
b) 1757-1857
c) 1857-1957
d) 1807-1857

Answer :  B

Question : What have the tea plantations been compared to?
a) A sea of Tea Bushes
b) A house of Tea Bushes
c) A continent of Tea Bushes
d) None of the Above

Answer :  A

Question : The newly sprouted tea-leaves were being plucked by:
a) paid men labour
b) professionals
c) the group of women
d) the group of shepherd

Answer :  C

Question : The baker was also their ______.
a) friend
b) companion
c) guide
d) all of the above

Answer :  D

Question : ‘Now we have become slaves of foreigners!’ – who are ‘we’ here?
a) Bangladeshis
b) Indian
c) Pakistanis
d) All of them

Answer :  B

Question : Where were the monthly accounts of the baker recorded?
a) In a copy, with a pencil
b) On a wall,with a pencil
c) On a board,with a pencil
d) None of the Above

Answer :  B

Question :  By which year, the British had conquered the whole of India?
a) 1956
b) 1865
c) 1765
d) 1856

Answer :  D

Question : Why was Rajvir excited?
a) because he had spotted coffee garden.
b) because he had spotted tea garden.
c) because he had spotted wheat garden.
d) None of the Above

Answer :  B

Question :  How did the British force the farmers to abandon their fields?
a) By threatening
b) By putting them in to prison
c) By increasing taxes
d) All of these

Answer :  C

Question : Based on this extract, how do you think Rajvir felt while narrating?
a) i) excited ii) agitated
b) i) hysterical ii) nervous
c) i) nervous ii) agitated
d) i) enthusiastic ii) passionate

Answer : D

Question : Pick the idiom that brings out the same meaning of ‘reminiscing’ as used in the passage
a) train of thought.
b) commit something to memory.
c) a trip down memory lane.
d) jog somebody’s memory.

Answer : C

Question : What was Dhekiabari?
a) name of a station
b) tea garden managed by Pranjol’s father
c) tea garden managed by Rajvir’s father
d) name of a hill

Answer : B

Question : The word ‘wooded’ means:
a) covered with forests
b) covered with trees
c) covered with carpets
d) covered with dan

Answer : B

Question : What were sent from village to village to tell the people that their emperor would want their services?
a) Letters
b) Money
c) Chapaties
d) All of these

Answer : C

Question : Which word in the following means the same as ‘sweet smell’?
a) Good morning
b) Loaves
c) Fragrance
d) None of the Above

Answer : C

Question :  What was ruining the society?
a) Superstitions
b) Child marriage
c) Increase in taxes
d) All of these

Answer : A

Question : Coorg is a _________country.
a) tea
b) bread
c) coffee
d) green

Answer :  C

Question :  How old was Kunwar Singh?
a) Seventy five
b) Sixty
c) Eighty-five
d) Eighty

Answer :  D

Question :  Dissatisfaction from —- to —.
a) 1853-1956
b) 1835-1856
c) 1835-1965
d) 1935-1956

Answer :  B

Question : "The climb to the _____hills brings you into a panoramic view of the entire misty landscape of Coorg."
a) Brahmagiri
b) Himalayan
c) Nilgiri
d) Parvati

Answer :  A

Question : What are the activities available in Coorg?
a) River-rafting
b) Canoeing
c) Mountain climbing
d) All of the above

Answer :  D

Question : How is the family profession still carried?
a) By their nephews
b) By their sons
c) By their workers
d) None of the Above

Answer :  B

Question :  ‘He started newspapers but the British stopped them in 1823’ – Who is ‘he’ here
a) Mahatma Gandhi
b) Jawaharlal Nehru
c) Tipu Sultan
d) Ram Mohan Roy

Answer : D

Question :  Who said ‘Mother Ganga! this is my last offering to you!’
a) Tatya Tope
b) Peshwa Nana Saheb
c) Bahadur Shah
d) Kunwar Singh

Answer : D

Question : The tea-bushes were spread as far as:
a) possible
b) the legs could reach
c) the arm could go
d) the eye could see

Answer :  D

Question : "Almost everyone in the compartment was drinking _____ too"
a) Coffee
b) Juice
c) Tea
d) Water

Answer :  C

Question : What did the children long for?
a) Loaves
b) bread bangles
c) banana bread
d) all of the above

Answer :  B

Question : How many times did the baker come everyday?
a) Once
b) Twice
c) Thrice
d) varies daily

Answer :  B

Question : In Europe, tea was drunk as more of a _____ than _____.
a) medicine, beverage
b) beverage, medicine
c) sleep waver, medicine
d) sleep banisher, medicine

Answer :  A

Question :  What was Regulation III given by the British?
a) Low salaries should be paid to Indians
b) Indians should be jailed with trial in a court
c) Indians should be jailed without trial in a court
d) None of them

Answer  C

Question : Where did Rajvir and Pranjol study?
a) Assam
b) Coorg
c) Goa
d) Delhi

Answer :  D

Question : Why do you think Pranjol ‘scoffed’?
a) He was upset with the legend Rajvir shared.
b) He was mocking Rajvir for his lack of knowledge.
c) He was amused and tickled at what Rajvir shared.
d) He was impressed with what Rajvir had shared.

Answer : C

Question : Where did Rajvir and Pranjol study?
a) Assam
b) Coorg
c) Goa
d) Delhi

Answer :  D

Question : Which word in the following means the same as 'sweet smell'?
a) Good morning
b) Loaves
c) Fragrance
d) None of the Above

Answer : C

Question : Tea is being drunk in China:
a) since 1400 AD
b) since 2700 BC
c) since 500 BC
d) since 1779 AD

Answer : B

Question : “Almost everyone in the compartment was drinking _____ too”
a) Coffee
b) Juice
c) Tea
d) Water

Answer : C

A Baker from Goa
INTRODUCTION—

‘A Baker from Goa’ is a pen portrait of a traditional Goan village baker who still has an important place in his society. The narrator is travelling through the memory lane thinking about the loaves of bread a baker delivered every morning.

SUMMARY—

Goa is very much influenced by the Portuguese. Their traditional work can be still seen there. The Portuguese are famous for preparing the loaves of bread. We can come across the bakers of bread. The writer tells about his childhood days in Goa when the baker used to visit their friend. He used to visit the house twice a day. In the morning, his jingling sound of the bamboo woke them from sleep. They all ran to meet him. The loaves were purchased by the man-servant of the house. The villagers were much fond of the sweet bread known as ‘bol’. The marriage gifts were meaningless without it. So the bakers’ furnace in the village was the most essential thing. The lady of the house prepared sandwiches on the occasion of her daughter’s engagement. In those days the bread sellers wore a particular dress known as ‘Kabai’. It was a single piece long frock up to the knees. Even today, they can be seen wearing a half pant that reaches just below the knees. People usually comment that he is dressed like a ‘pader’. Baking was a profitable profession in the old days. The baker and his family never starved and they looked happy and prosperous.

Extract Based Questions

Read the passages given below and answer the questions that follow :

Our elders are often heard reminiscing nostalgically about those good old Portuguese days, the Portuguese and their famous loaves of bread. Those eaters of loaves might have vanished but the makers are still there. We still have amongst us the mixers, the moulders and those who bake the loaves.

(a) Who are nostalgic about the good old Portuguese and their famous loaves of bread ?
(a) The elders
(b) The young people
(c) The children
(d) The ladies

Answer : A

(b) What is still popular in Goa ?
(a) Cake making
(b) Roll making
(c) Bread making
(d) Pizza making

Answer : C

(c) What are mixers used for ?
(a) Mixing vegetables
(b) Mixing water
(c) Preparing dough
(d) Mixing juices

Answer : C

(d) Which word in the passage means the same as ‘cook’ ?
(a) fry
(b) boil
(c) mix
(d) bake

Answer : D

Our elders are often heard reminiscing nostalgically about those good old Portuguese days, the Portuguese and their famous loaves of bread. Those eaters of loaves might have vanished but the makers are still there. We still have amongst us the mixers, the moulders and those who bake the loaves. Those age-old, timetested furnaces still exist. The fire in the furnaces has not yet been extinguished. The thud and jingle of the traditional baker’s bamboo, heralding his arrival in the morning, can still be heard in some places. May be the father is not alive but the son still carries on the family profession.

(a) Who brought the idea of loaves of bread in Goa?
(a) Spanish
(b) Italian
(c) Portuguese
(d) French

Answer : C

(b) What has not yet been extinguished in furnaces?
(a) Smoke
(b) Fire
(c) Coal
(d) Wood

Answer : B

(c) Find the word from the passage which means the same as ‘remembering’.
(a) nostalgically
(b) traditional
(c) jingle
(d) reminiscing

Answer : D

(d) Who still carries out the family profession?
(a) Cousins
(b) Son
(c) Brother
(d) Father

Answer : B

He would greet the lady of the house with ‘Good Morning’ and then place his basket on the vertical bamboo. We kids would be pushed aside with a mild rebuke and the loaves would be delivered to the servant. But we would not give up. We would climb a bench or the parapet and peep into the basket, somehow. I can still recall the typical fragrance of those loaves. Loaves for the elders and bangles for the children.

(a) Who rebukes the kids to push them aside to make space and deliver the bread to the servants?
(a) The Painter
(b) The Milkman
(c) The Barber
(d) The Baker

Answer : D

(b) Who would peep into the basket?
(a) The lady
(b) The children
(c) The servant
(d) The baker

Answer : B

(c) The word in the passage means the same as ‘ to take a quick look’
(a) vertical
(b) typical
(c) peep
(d) rebuke

Answer : C

(d) What is the greeting word in the passage?
(a) Good evening
(b) Good morning
(c) Good night
(d) Good afternoon

Answer : B

Marriage gifts are meaningless without the sweet bread known as the ‘bol’, just as a party or a feast loses its charm without bread. Not enough can be said to show how important a baker can be for a village. The lady of the house must prepare sandwiches on the occasion of her daughter’s engagement. Cakes and bols are a must for Christmas as well as for other festivals. Thus, the presence of the baker’s furnace in the village is absolutely essential.

(a) What is the sweet bread known as?
(a) Bol
(b) Sweet buns
(c) Corozon
(d) Doughnut

Answer : A

(b) What does the lady of the house prepare on the occasion of her daughters’ engagement?
(a) Bread Rolls
(b) Bread Pakodas
(c) Sandwiches
(d) Bread Dessert

Answer : C

(c) What is must for Christmas ?
(a) Cakes and Pastries
(b) Cakes and Cookies
(c) Cakes and Chocolates
(d) Cakes and Bols

Answer : D

(d) The presence of the bakers’ ____________ in the village is absolutely essential.
(a) bakery
(b) furnace
(c) mixers
(d) moulders

Answer : B

The baker usually collected his bills at the end of the month. Monthly accounts used to be recorded on some wall in pencil. Baking was indeed a profitable profession in the old days. The baker and his family never starved. He, his family and his servants always looked happy and prosperous. Their plump physique was an open testimony to this. 

(a) Where were the monthly accounts of the baker recorded with a pencil ?
(a) in a note-book
(b) in a diary
(c) on a laptop
(d) on a wall

Answer : D

(b) How was the baking profession?
(a) Profitable
(b) Non-profitable
(c) No profit-No loss
(d) Poor

Answer : A

(c) Which word in the passage means the same as ‘Proof’ ?
(a) profession
(b) plump
(c) testimony
(d) physique

Answer : C

(d) How was the baker’s life ?
(a) joyful
(b) happy
(c) prosperous
(d) happy and Prosperous

Answer : D

The baker usually collected his bills at the end of the month. Monthly accounts used to be recorded on some wall in pencil. Baking was indeed a profitable profession in the olden days. The baker and his family never starved. He, his family and his servants looked happy and prosperous. Their plump physique was a testimony for this. Even today, any person with jackfruit—like physical appearance is easily compared to a baker.

(a) Bread is a _________ item of a Goan meal.
(a) permanent
(b) temporary
(c) essential
(d) substitute

Answer : A

(b) How was the financial status of bakers’ family?
(a) good
(b) bad
(c) very good
(d) worst

Answer : A

(c) Choose a word from the passage which means ‘not able to get sufficient food’.
(a) profitable
(b) jackfruit
(c) starved
(d) physical

Answer : C

(d) How is the physical appearance of baker compared to ?
(a) Bols
(b) Jackfruit
(c) Cakes
(d) Sweet bread

Answer : B

Tea from Assam

INTRODUCTION—

This is a very short description of Assam, a Northern-Eastern State in India. This state is famous for its tea plantations. In this extract Pranjol, a youngster from Assam is Rajvir’s classmate at a school in Delhi.
Pranjol’s father is a manager of a tea-garden in upper Assam and Pranjol has invited Rajvir to visit his home during the summer vacation.

QUICK REVIEW—

‘Tea from Assam’ is an interesting story about tea, its history and significance. Two boys Rajvir and Pranjol are travelling to Assam. Rajvir tells Pranjol that over 8,00,000,000 cups of tea are drunk everyday throughout the world.
The train passes through green hills with a sea of tea bushes as far as can be seen. Rajvir is very excited but Pranjol, who has been brought up on a plantation, does not share his excitement. Rajvir then tells him about the various legends—Indian and Chinese—behind tea. He tells him how a Chinese emperor by chance discovered tea back in 2700 BC. Another story was about how ten tea plants grew out of eyelids of Bodhidharma, a Buddhist ascetic.
These words ‘Chai’ and ‘Chini’ are Chinese words. It was only in the sixteenth century that tea came to Europe.
By now, they had reached Marian junction where they got down and set off for Dhekiabari Tea Estate.
On both sides of the road, there were tea bushes with women plucking tea leaves. Pranjol’s father told Rajvir that he would tell them many more things about tea plantation.

Extract Based Questions

Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow :

It was a magnificent view. Against the backdrop of densely wooded hills, a sea of tea bushes stretched as far as the eye could see. Dwarfing the tiny tea plants were tall sturdy shade-trees and amidst the orderly rows of bushes busily moved doll-like figures. In the distance was an ugly building with smoke billowing out of tall chimneys. ‘Hey, a tea garden !’, Rajvir cried excitedly. 

(a) What have the tea plantations been compared to ?
(a) Sea of tea bushes
(b) Wild bushes
(c) Sea of green bushes
(d) Green fields

Answer : A

(b) What are the doll like figures referred to here ?
(a) The farmers
(b) The labourers
(c) The tea pluckers
(d) The tea tasters

Answer : C

(c) Who cried excitedly, “Hey, a tea garden”?
(a) Pranjol
(b) Tea pluckers
(c) Rajvir
(d) None of them

Answer : C

(d) Which word in the passage means the same as ‘splendid’.
(a) magnificent
(b) densely
(c) dwarfing
(d) billowing

Answer : A

‘Tea was first drunk in China’, Rajvir added ‘as far back as 2700 B.C. In fact, words such as tea, chai and chini are from Chinese. Tea came to Europe only in the sixteenth century and was drunk more as medicine than a beverage.

(a) Where was first tea drunk ?
(a) Russia
(b) Portugal
(c) China
(d) Japan

Answer : C

(b) When was tea first drunk ?
(a) 2500 BC
(b) 2700 BC
(c) 2600 BC
(d) 300 BC

Answer : B

(c) From which language are the words ‘chai’ and ‘chini’ derived ?
(a) French
(b) Hindi
(c) English
(d) Chinese

Answer : D

(d) When did tea come to Europe ?
(a) in sixteenth century
(b) in nineteenth century
(c) in eighteenth century
(d) in fifteenth century

Answer : A

‘Chai garam... garam chai’ a vendor called out in a high pitched voice. He came up to their window and asked, 
‘Chai, sa’ab’ ?
‘Give us two cups,’ Pranjol said.
They sipped the steaming hot liquid. Almost everyone in their compartment was drinking too.
‘Do you know that over 8,00,000,000 cups of tea are drunk every day all over the world’ ? Rajvir asked.

(a) Who was speaking in a high pitched voice ?
(a) Rajvir
(b) Tea vendor
(c) Pranjol
(d) Mr. Barua

Answer : B

(b) Who ordered two cups of tea?
(a) Mr. Barua
(b) Rajvir
(c) Stranger
(d) Pranjol

Answer : D

(c) Rajvir told Pranjol that over 8,00,000,000 cups of tea are drunk ___________ all over the world.
(a) every week
(b) every year
(c) every day
(d) every month

Answer : C

(d) Which word in the passage means the same as ‘drank slowly’ ?
(a) pitched
(b) sipped
(c) steaming
(d) compartment

Answer : B

Pranjol’s father slowed down to allow a tractor, pulling a trailer-load of tea leaves, to pass.
‘This is the second flush or sprouting period, isn’t it, Mr. Barua ?’
Rajvir asked, ‘It lasts from May to July and yields the best tea.’
‘You seem to have done your homework before coming,’ Pranjol’s father said in surprise.
‘Yes, Mr. Barua,’ Rajvir admitted. ‘But I hope to learn much more when I’m here.’

(a) In which tea estate city, had Rajvir visited ?
(a) Darjeeling
(b) Assam
(c) Kerala
(d) Karnataka

Answer : B

(b) When is tea yielded ?
(a) January to March
(b) March to May
(c) April to June
(d) May to July

Answer : D

(c) Which word in the passage means ‘agreed’ ?
(a) flush
(b) admitted
(c) sprouting
(d) slowed

Answer : B

(d) Who had done his homework before coming ?
(a) Rajvir
(b) Pranjol
(c) Mr. Barua
(d) The Staff

Answer : A



We have an Indian legend too. Bodhidharma, an ancient Buddhist ascetic, cut off his eyelids because he felt sleepy during meditations. Ten tea plants grew out of the eyelids. The leaves of these when put in hot water and drunk, banished sleep.
‘Tea was first drunk in China’, Rajvir added, ‘as far back as 2700 B.C. In fact, words such as tea, ‘chai’ and ‘chini’ are from Chinese. Tea came to Europe only in the sixteenth century and was drunk more as medicine than as beverage.’

(a) Who cut off his eyelids to avoid being sleepy during the meditations ?
(a) The Priest
(b) The Buddhist ascetic
(c) The Monk
(d) The Sage

Answer : B

(b) Tea was used in Europe as :
(a) drink
(b) energizer
(c) soft drink
(d) medicine

Answer : D

(c) How many tea plants grew out of the eyelids ?
(a) five
(b) six
(c) eight
(d) ten

Answer : D

(d) Which word in the passage means ‘drove away’?
(a) legend
(b) banished
(c) ancient
(d) ascetic

Answer : B

Question : What did the bakers wear when the author was young ? 
Answer : The bakers in the Portuguese days wore a peculiar dress called the ‘Kabai’. It was a long single piece of frock reaching down to the knees. During the years when the author was young, they wore a shirt and a trouser that used to be longer than a half pant and shorter than a full pant.

Question : Even today any person with a jackfruit-like physical appearance is easily compared to a baker. Explain.
Answer : Bread-making is a prosperous business in Goa. The physique of the baker, i.e., his plump and round body are testimony to that. Therefore, anyone who is fat and plump just like a jackfruit is compared to a baker.

Question : Comment on the significance of a bread baker in a traditional Goan village ?
Answer : Bread is a permanent item of a Goan meal and the baker is an important member of the Goan community.
Besides, sweet bread ‘bol’ is a special delicacy, served at festivals and cakes and bolinhas are a special charm at Christmas. A baker’s furnace is therefore indispensable in a traditional Goan village.