CBSE Class 10 English Madam Rides the Bus MCQs

Q. 2. It was slack time of the day, and there were only six to seven passengers in the bus. They were all looking at Valli and laughing with the conductor. Valli was overcome with shyness. Avoiding everyone’s eyes she walked quickly to an empty seat and sat down ….. It was a new bus, its outside painted a gleaming white
with some green stripes along the sides. Inside, the overhead bars shone like silver. 

(a) Who was laughing at Valli’s remark of being grown up ?
(i) Bus driver
(ii) Bus conductor
(iii) All the passengers
(iv) The Policeman

Answer :  C

(b) Who was going on a bus journey, just to fulfil her dream ?
(i) Valli
(ii) Valli’s mother
(iii) Valli’s aunt
(iv) The old woman

Answer :  A

(c) Write the adjectival form of ‘shyness’.
(i) shy
(ii) shyness
(iii) shyless
(iv) skyful

Answer :  A

(d) Which word in the passage means the same as ‘shining’.
(i) stack
(ii) gleaming
(iii) shone
(iv) overhead

Answer : B

Question. What can you tell about the conductor from the text?             
A) he was funny
B) he was grumpy
C) he was quiet
D) all of the above

Answer :  D

Question. Who was a "real chatterbox"?                   
A) Valli
B) conductor
C) her aunt
D) all of the above

Answer :  C

Question. What did she have to resist on Village Fair Day to save for the ride?           
A) balloons
B) merry go round
C) toys
D) peppermint

Answer :  B

Question. What did the old man say to Valli that annoyed her?                     
A) He shouted at her
B) he asked why she’s alone
C) he merely asked her to sit
D) None of the above

Answer :  C

Question. What would make Valli jealous?         
A) strangers ravelling by bus
B) hearing stories of her friend’s bus journey
C) her mother travelling the bus
D) all of the above

Answer :  B

Question. How many times did the bus cross her street per hour?             
A) 1
B) 2
C) 4
D) 6

Answer :  B

Question. Who is the author of the lesson "Madam rides the Bus"?               
A) Gavin Maxwell
B) Vallikkannan
C) Paulo Coehlo
D) Arup Kumar Dutta

Answer :  B

Question. Valliammai was ——- year’s old girl.               
A) 8
B) 5
C) 7
D) 10

Answer :  A

Question. Town was —- miles from the village.                       
A) Five
B) Ten
C) Six
D) Three

Answer :  C

Question. An old woman sitting beside Valli was ——-.                         
A) Reading book
B) Sleeping
C) Chewing betel
D) Listening song

Answer :  C

Question. Valli’s aunt lived in –                         
A) South Street
B) William street
C) Elvin street
D) North Street

Answer :  A

Question. Who was Vlliammai?                    
A) Eight year old girl
B) Nine year old boy
C) Ten year old boy
D) Eleven year old boy

Answer :  A

Question. What amused Valli the most?                             
A) The sight of buffalo running in front of the bus.
B) The sight of people running in front of the bus.
C) The sight of dog running in front of the bus.
D) The sight of cow running in front of the bus.

Answer :  D

Question. The train looked like a speck:                  
A) in the distance
B) in the border
C) in the grass
D) in the delight

Answer :  A

Question. She had to make careful and elaborate plans for:            
A) her first journey
B) her beautiful dress
C) her doll
D) her icecream

Answer :  A

Question. The outside of the bus was painted:            
A) black
B) brown
C) white
D) green

Answer :  C

Question. The word ‘fascinating’ means:                           
A) recreative
B) everlasting
C) attractive
D) longingly

Answer :  C

Question. The lines show that the animal was:                    
A) dead
B) asleep
C) lost
D) desperate

Answer :  A

Question. Valli clapped her hands with:       
A) tears in eyes
B) smile on lips
C) delight
D) sadness

Answer :  C

Question. The word ‘annoyed’ means:               
A) became sad
B) became happy
C) became dull
D) became angry

Answer :  D

Question. ‘This wish’ here refers to:              
A) collect shells on beach
B) have a ride on the bus
C) prepare a painting
D) draw a design

Answer :  B

Question. What was Valli’s full name?            
A) Vallikkannan
B) Valliammai
C) Valliannai
D) Vallikannam

Answer :  B

Question. What would make Valli jealous?             
A) strangers ravelling by bus
B) hearing stories of her friend’s bus journey
C) her mother travelling the bus
D) all of the above

Answer :  B

Question. What was the next challenge once she’d saved enough money?              
A) tell her mom about it
B) know about the timings
C) buy a ticket
D) to sneak out of the house

Answer :  D

Question. What was the one way fare from the village to the town?                  
A) one rupee
B) 50 paise
C) 40 paise
D) 30 paise

Answer :  D

Question. How much money did Valli pay for her to and fro journey?                 
A) Fifty paise
B) Sixty paise
C) Seventy paise
D) Hundred paise

Answer :  B

Question. Valli would stare wistfully at the people as she                
A) had been watching the bus for a long time.
B) was inspired by the people travelling on the bus.
C) had a strong desire to take a ride on the bus.
D) envied the people who could travel on the bus.

Answer :  C

Question. What does the line ‘gradually a tiny wish crept into her head and grew there’, mean?                       
A) The wish developed in her head over a period of time.
B) The wish was a feeling of wanting to prove her strength.
C) The wish was planted in her head by someone’s suggestion.
D) The wish was small and was overpowered by a sense of doubt.

Answer :  A

Question. Valli told the conductor to mind his own business and laughed as well. This shows that Valli ...                 
A) was not really bothered about what the conductor said.
B) didn’t like the conductor speaking about her.
C) disliked what the conductor said but was amused.
D) was impressed with what the conductor said.

Answer :  C

Question. What can you tell about the conductor from the text?                
A) he was funny
B) he was grumpy
C) he was quiet
D) all of the above

Answer :  A

Question. Who was a "real chatterbox"?                    
A) Valli
B) conductor
C) her aunt
D) all of the above

Answer :  C

Question. What made her laugh on her journey?     
A) the sight of a running cow
B) the old woman's earrings
C) the old man
D) None of the above

Answer :  A

Question. Why did the old lady ask Valli so many questions?                    
A) she was bothered about Valli
B) she liked Valli
C) she was poking her nose
D) she was bored

Answer :  A

Question. What did the old man say to Valli that annoyed her?                  
A) He shouted at her
B) he asked why she's alone
C) he merely asked her to sit
D) None of the above

Answer :  C

Question. "Valli would stare wistfully at the people who got on or off the bus." What is the meaning of wistfully?         
A) fearfully
B) carefully
C) willingly
A) longingly

Answer :  D

Question. Who is the author of the lesson "Madam rides the Bus"?                      
A) Gavin Maxwell
B) Vallikkannan
C) Paulo Coehlo
D) Arup Kumar Dutta

Answer :  B

Q. 4. The bus rolled on, now cutting across a bare landscape, now rushing through a tiny hamlet or past a tiny wayside shop. Sometimes, the bus seemed on a point of gobbling up another vehicle that was coming towards them or a pedestrian crossing the road. But lo! Somehow it passed on smoothly, leaving all obstacles safely behind. Trees came running towards them but then stopped as the bus reached them and simply stood there helpless for a moment by the side of the road before rushing in other direction. 
(a) How was the bus moving ?
(i) at a slow speed
(ii) at a high speed
(iii) at a normal speed
(iv) at a very high speed

Answer :   B

(b) Which word in the passage means the same as ‘difficulties’ ?
(i) rushing
(ii) gobbling
(iii) pedestrian
(iv) obstacles

Answer :    D

(c) Which poetic device is used in ‘trees come running towards them’ ?
(i) Metaphor
(ii) Simile
(iii) Personification
(iv) Hyperbole

Answer :   C

(d) The bus passed on ___________, leaving all obstacles safely behind.
(i) harshly
(ii) smoothly
(iii) gently
(iv) carelessly

 Answer :   B

INTRODUCTION—

This is a sensitive story of an eight year old girl, Valli’s first bus journey into the world outside her village.
At a very tender age, she tries to understand the mystery of life and death in her own terms.

SUMMARY—

‘Madam Rides the Bus’ is the story of a young girl who travels for the first time outside her village by a bus.
Valliammai, Valli for short, was an eight year old girl who wanted to know a number of things. She had no one to play with. A bus ran between her village and the nearest town and Valli longed to travel by that bus.
Listening to people who had travelled by the bus, she gathered little details about the trip. She decided to gather enough money to travel by it. When she had the required money, she went on the bus.
The conductor was surprised to see a young girl, travelling by herself but jokingly called her ‘Madam’ and offered her the front seat. Valli observed everything very carefully e.g. the trees that seemed to be running towards them, a cow that suddenly moved in front of the bus and so on.
When they reached the town, Valli gaped at everything in amazement—the big shops and so on. The conductor asked her to get down and have a look at the sights, but Valli refused. She said that she had come only for the bus ride. The conductor offered to buy a cold drink for her but she refused. On the journey back, Valli saw a young cow dead by the roadside. The conductor told Valli that it was the same cow they had seen earlier. Valli felt sad. The memory of the cow haunted her. When they reached the village, the conductor told her to come again, but to remember to bring the fare. When Valli reached home, she found an aunty with her mother. Her mother asked her where she had been. Valli did not reply but only smiled secretively.

Extract Based Questions

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

But for Valli, standing at the front door was every bit as enjoyable as any of the elaborate games other children played. Watching the street gave her many new unusual experiences.
The most fascinating thing of all was the bus that travelled between her village and the nearest town. It passed through her street each hour, once going to the town and once coming back. The sight of the bus filled each time with a new set of passengers, was a source of unending joy for Valli.

(a) Valli’s favourite pastime was to stand at the __________.
(a) back door
(b) terrace
(c) front door
(d) bus stop

Answer : C

(b) What was the most fascinating thing of all for Valli ?
(a) Bus
(b) Car
(c) Truck
(d) Scooter

Answer : A

(c) Find a word from the passage which means the same as ‘very interesting’.
(a) unusual
(b) fascinating
(c) source
(d) elaborate

Answer : C

(d) How often did the bus pass her street?
(a) each day
(b) each week
(c) each morning
(d) each hour

Answer : D

It was slack time of the day, and there were only six to seven passengers in the bus. They were all looking at Valli and laughing with the conductor. Valli was overcome with shyness. Avoiding everyone’s eyes she walked quickly to an empty seat and sat down ….. It was a new bus, its outside painted a gleaming white with some green stripes along the sides. Inside, the overhead bars shone like silver.

(a) Who was laughing at Valli’s remark of being grown up ?
(a) Bus driver
(b) Bus conductor
(c) All the passengers
(d) The Policeman

Answer : C

(b) Who was going on a bus journey, just to fulfil her dream ?
(a) Valli
(b) Valli’s mother
(c) Valli’s aunt
(d) The old woman

Answer : A

(c) Write the adjectival form of ‘shyness’.
(a) shy
(b) shyness
(c) shyless
(d) skyful

Answer : A

(d) Which word in the passage means the same as ‘shining’.
(a) stack
(b) gleaming
(c) shone
(d) overhead

Answer : B

Her first journey-what careful, painstaking, elaborate plans she had to make for it; she had thriftily saved whatever stray coins came her way, resisting every temptation to buy peppermints, toys, balloons and the like, and finally she had saved a total of sixty paise. How difficult it had been, particularly that day at the village fair, but she had resolutely stifled a strong desire to ride the merry-go-round, even though she had the money.

(a) Who does ‘her’ refer to in the passage ?
(a) The old lady
(b) The young lady
(c) Valli
(d) Valli’s mother

Answer : C

(b) Where was her first journey made to ?
(a) to the park
(b) to the circus
(c) to the mall
(d) till the next town

Answer : D

(c) She had resisted all temptations to save __________ for a bus ride.
(a) things
(b) toys
(c) money
(d) time

Answer : C

(d) Which word in the passage means the same as a ‘Swing’ ?
(a) painstaking
(b) elaborate
(c) thriftly
(d) merry-go-round

Answer : D

The bus rolled on, now cutting across a bare landscape, now rushing through a tiny hamlet or past a tiny wayside shop. Sometimes, the bus seemed on a point of gobbling up another vehicle that was coming towards them or a pedestrian crossing the road. But lo! Somehow it passed on smoothly, leaving all obstacles safely behind. Trees came running towards them but then stopped as the bus reached them and simply stood there helpless for a moment by the side of the road before rushing in other direction.

(a) How was the bus moving ?
(a) at a slow speed
(b) at a high speed
(c) at a normal speed
(d) at a very high speed

Answer : B

(b) Which word in the passage means the same as ‘difficulties’ ?
(a) rushing
(b) gobbling
(c) pedestrian
(d) obstacles

Answer : D

(c) Which poetic device is used in ‘trees come running towards them’ ?
(a) Metaphor
(b) Simile
(c) Personification
(d) Hyperbole

Answer : C

(d) The bus passed on ___________, leaving all obstacles safely behind.
(a) harshly
(b) smoothly
(c) gently
(d) carelessly

Answer : B

“Don’t you want to have a look at the sights, now that you’re here ?
“All by myself ? Oh, I’d be much too afraid.”
Greatly amused by the girl’s way of speaking, the conductor said, “But you weren’t afraid to come in the bus.”
“Nothing to be afraid of about that,” she answered.

(a) Who is the ‘girl’ mentioned in the passage ?
(a) Valli
(b) Pooja
(c) Veena
(d) Mallini

Answer : A

(b) Who had come only for a bus ride ?
(a) The old man
(b) The old woman
(c) Valliammai (Valli)
(d) The little boy

Answer : C

(c) Which word in the passage means the same as ‘To cause to laugh’ ?
(a) sights
(b) amused
(c) fun
(d) great time

Answer : B

(d) Was Valli really afraid ?
(a) Yes
(b) a little
(c) No
(d) very much

Answer : C