CBSE Class 9 English The Adventures of Toto MCQs

SUMMARY

Toto was a pretty monkey. He had mischief in his shining eyes. His teeth were white like pearls. His hands were dried-up. His fingers were quick. His tail served as a third hand. The narrator’s Grandmother fussed when his Grandfather added a new animal to his zoo. So Toto was kept in a secret place. It was a little closet. It opened into the narrator’s bedroom. Toto was kept tied to a peg. A few hours later, the narrator found a change in his bedroom. Toto had removed the ornamental paper from the walls. He had also pulled out the peg. He also tore up the narrator’s school blazer. Grandfather seemed pleased with Toto’s mischiefs. Toto was now transferred to a big cage. It was in the servants’ quarters. There Grandfather’s other animals lived sociably. These were a tortoise, a pair of rabbits, a squirrel, a pet goat. The monkey didn’t allow them to sleep peacefully. Grandfather had to leave Dehradun. He had to collect his pension from Saharanpur. Grandfather got a big black canvas kit-bag. He put Toto into it. Toto couldn’t take his hands out of this bag. It was too strong for him to bite. Toto remained in the bag as far as Saharanpur. Grandfather was coming out of the railway station. Toto grinned at the ticketcollector at the gate. The ticket-collector was taken aback. He told Grandfather that he had a dog with him. So he would have to pay Rs. three as fare for this ‘dog’. In vain, argued the Grandfather that Toto was not a dog. He had his pet tortoise with him also. So he asked the ticket-collector how much he should pay for it: The ticket-collector said that it was not a dog. So there was no charge for that. Finally, Toto was accepted in the house. Grandfather gave Toto a comfortable place in the stable. There Toto got Nana, the family female donkey, as a companion. But Toto continued teasing her. They could never become friends. Once Toto nearly boiled himself alive. There was a large kitchen kettle left on the re. It was to boil for tea. Toto decided to remove the lid. He found the water warm to bathe. He got in. Just then the water began to boil. Toto raised himself a little. But he sat down again. He continued jumping up. Grandmother came there. She took him out of the kettle. Toto always made mischiefs. He tore things to pieces. He tore up the dresses of the aunt of the narrator. One day, the narrator found Toto eating rice on the dining table. Grandmother screamed. Toto threw a plate at her. One of the narrator’s aunts rushed forward. Toto threw a glass of water at her face. When Grandfather came, Toto ran out with the dish of pullao in his hand. He ran up to the branches of the jackfruit tree. He threw the dish at Grandmother when she screamed at him. Toto caused much loss to the family. Dishes were broken. Clothes, curtains, wall papers were torn. The family couldn’t bear this. So Grandfather sold Toto back to the tonga-driver for only three rupees.

LEARN AND WRITE THE QUESTION ANSWERS IN YOUR COPY.

Question. “Toto was a pretty monkey.” In what sense is Toto pretty?
Answer : Toto was a pretty monkey. His bright eyes sparkled with mischief beneath the deep-set eyebrows, and his teeth, which were a pearly white, were very often displayed in a smile that frightened the life out of elderly Anglo-Indian ladies. But his hands looked dried-up as though they had been pickled in the sun for many years. Yet his fingers were quick and wicked and his tail, while adding to his good looks served as a third hand. He could use it to hang from a branch and it was capable of scooping up any delicacy that might be out of reach of his hands.

Question. How does Toto take a bath? Where has he learnt to do this? How does Toto almost boil himself alive?
Answer : Toto takes bath in a tub of warm water. It puts its legs in the water one by one and applies soap as well. As monkeys are good at aping others, so Toto has learnt proper steps of bathing while watching the narrator doing same. Toto is fond of bathing with warm water. So once having tested the warmth of water in the kettle Toto sits in the kettle. Probably he is not intelligent enough to understand the risk boiling water so he pops his head up and down in the kettle.

Question. How does Toto come to grandfather’s private zoo?
Answer : Toto was in the captivity of a tonga owner. The grandfather gets sympathetic with the monkey and thinks that his private zoo would be a better place for Toto. So he purchased Toto from the tongawallah for five rupees.

Question. Why does the author say, “Toto was not the sort of pet we could keep for long”?
Answer : Though Toto was pretty and clever, he was very mischievous. He brought a lot of damage to the house by breaking dishes, tearing clothes and curtains. He also scared the visiotrs by tearing holes in their dresses. Furthermore, he didn’t get along well with other animals in the house too. One day Toto crossed the limits by picking up a dish of pullao and running on a branch to eat it. When scolded he threw off the plate and broke it. That’s when grandfather decided he had had enough of Toto because he couldn’t bear the losses that he incurred because of Toto’s mischief.

Question. Why does grandfather take Toto to Saharanpur and how? Why does the ticket collector insist on calling Toto a dog?
Answer : Toto was a real menace for every living soul in the household. Other animals in grandfather’s zoo were at Toto’s mercy even during night. So, grandfather decided to provide some relief to other animals in the zoo and thought of taking Toto to Shaharanpur. The ticket collector was following his rulebooks. As there seems to be no rule for fixing a monkey’s fare so he equated Toto with dog. Ticket collector’s ingenuity tried to categorize all pets of a certain size as dogs.