CBSE Class 10 English The Making of a Scientist VBQs

Multiple Chocie Questions

Question. Richard Ebright published his cell theory in …………… .
(a) Proceedings of the National Academy of Science
(b) Proceedings of the National Academe Sciences
(c) Minutes of the National Academy of Science
(d) Minutes of the International Journal of Science
Answer. (a) 

Question. Why could Richard not play football or baseball?
(a) Because he didn’t know how to play.
(b) Because he didn’t want to play.
(c) Because his mother didn’t allow him to play.
(d) Because he had nobody to team up with.
Answer. (d)

Question. “I was his only companion until he started school.” Who said this in the context of ‘The Making of a Scientist’?
(a) Richard E. Bright
(b) Richard’s mother
(c) Dr. Urquhart
(d) James R. Wong
Answer. (b) 

Question. Among the butterflies that Ebright captured in his hometown, which were not a part of the list?
(a) Bog Copper
(b) Red Admiral
(c) Pearl Crescent
(d) Olympia
Answer. (b) 

Question. The book ‘The Travels of Monarch X’ told how monarch butterflies migrate to ………… .
(a) Northern America
(b) Canada
(c) Central America
(d) Pennsylvania
Answer. (c) 

Question. Which project won Ebright first prize in the county fair?
(a) Device that showed the golden spots on monarch were producing a hormone necessary for the butterfly’s full development.
(b) How the cell can read the blueprint of its DNA.
(c) Discovery of unknown insect hormone.
(d) All of the above
Answer. (a) 

Question. Which entomology lab did Richard get the opportunity to work at?
(a) Walter Reed Army Institute of Research
(b) Model United Nations Club
(c) Army Laboratory
(d) U.S. Department of Agriculture
Answer. (a)

Question. Which experiments did Richard continue as a high school junior?
(a) Experiments on Cells
(b) Experiments on DNA
(c) Experiments on Monarch pupa
(d) Experiments on Viceroy butterflies
Answer. (c)

Question. DNA is the substance in the nucleus of a cell that controls ………… .
(a) Blueprint
(b) Information
(c) Heredity
(d) Identity
Answer. (c) 

Question. Mr. Weiherer said, “For the right reasons he wants to be the best.” What did he mean by the given statement?
A. Richard was not interested in winning prizes.
B. Richard did not want to win the first prize for the sake of winning.
C. Richard wanted to do his best job for the welfare of people.
(a) Only A
(b) A and B
(c) B and C
(d) None of these
Answer. (c) 

Question. Who was Richard’s Social Studies teacher?
(a) Mr. Weiherer
(b) Dr. Urquhart
(c) James R. Wong
(d) None of these
Answer. (a) Mr.Weiherer was Richard’s Social Studies teacher.

Question. Arrange the achievements of Richard Ebright from ‘The Making of a Scientist’.
(i) Tried to discover the disease caused by a virus that nearly killed most of the monarch caterpillars every year.
(ii) Started his scientific research about the discovery of a mysterious insect hormone.
(iii) His brand-new theory on the life of cells took place.
(iv) Tried to find the main purpose of the twelve tiny golden spots on a monarch pupa.
(v) Got an opportunity to work at the entomology lab in Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.
(a) (i), (ii), (iii), (iv) and (v)
(b) (iv), (iii), (v), (ii) and (i)
(b) (v), (ii), (iii), (i) and (iv)
(d) (iv), (v), (ii), (iii) and (i)
Answer. (a) 

Question. Which other qualities than being a scientist did Richard possessed?
(i) Debater                (ii) Photographer
(iii) Public Speaker   (iv) Cannoeist
(a) (i), (ii) and (iii)
(b) (ii), (iii) and (iv)
(c) (i), (iii) and (iv)
(d) (i), (ii), (iii) and (iv)
Answer. (d) 

Question. What is the conclusion of the story ‘The Making of a Scientist’?
(a) We should be perseverant
(b) We should be dedicated towards our work
(c) Anyone can become a scientist
(d) Both (a) and (b)
Answer. (d) 

Question. Select the correct option for (i) and (ii).
(i) Richard’s mother motivated him and his scientific curiosity.
(ii) Richardwas a graduate fromHarvardMedical School.
(a) (i) is the result of (ii)
(b) (i) and (ii) are independent of each other
(c) (ii) is the result of (i)
(d) (i) is true (ii) is false
Answer. (b) 

Extract Based MCQs

1. Read the extract to attempt the questions that follow.

“I didn’t get any real results,” he said. “But I went ahead and showed that I had tried the experiment. This time I won.” The next year his science fair project was testing the theory that viceroy butterflies copy monarchs. The theory was that viceroys look like monarchs because monarchs don’t taste good to birds.
Viceroys, on the other hand, do taste good to birds.
So, the more they look like monarchs, the less likely they are to become a bird’s dinner. Ebright’s project was to see whether, in fact, birds would eat monarchs. He found that a starling would not eat ordinary bird food. It would eat all the monarchs it could get.

Question. Choose the option listing Ebright’s qualities as depicted by the above extract.
1. Persevering   2. Visionary
3. Determined   4. Liberal
5. Conceited
(a) 1, 2
(b) 3, 5
(c) 1, 3
(d) 4, 5
Answer. (c) 

Question. According to the dictionary, ‘fair’ as a noun, shows the following meanings. Choose the option that lists the meaning similar to the usage to that in the extract.
(a) A gathering of stalls and amusements for public entertainment.
(b) A competitive exhibition showcasing products or ideas.
(c) A periodic gathering for the sale of goods.
(d) An annual exhibition of livestock, agricultural products,etc., held by a town, county, or state.
Answer. (b) 

Question. Choose the option that is true for the two statements given about the information in the extract.
Statement 1 Starling feeds on viceroys.
Statement 2 Starling does not eat seeds and insects.
Codes
(a) Both statements are clearly mentioned in the extract.
(b) Statement 1 cannot be clearly inferred from the text and statement 2 is true.
(c) Statement 1 is false and statement 2 cannot be clearly inferred from the extract.
(d) Both the statements need to be inferred from the given extract.
Answer. (c)

Question. Choose the statements that are TRUE for the given extract contextually.
1. Ebright didn’t get any results for the experiment he conducted on butterflies.
2. Monarchs tasted awfully to the birds.
3. Ebright wanted to explore the possibility of monarchs getting eaten by birds.
4. He wanted to prove that viceroys are look alikes of monarchs.
(a) 1, 2
(b) 2,
(c) 1, 3
(d) 2, 4
Answer. (b)

Question. Four friends bring their pets to a pet show.
Choose the option that mentions the friend with a starling as a pet.
Friend 1 has a turtle named Missy.
Friend 2 has a dragonfly named Majesty.
Friend 3 has a rabbit named Molly.
Friend 4 has a bird named Mitch.
(a) Friend 1
(b) Friend 2
(c) Friend 3
(d) Friend 4
Answer. (d) 

2. Read the extract to attempt the questions that follow.

Surprising no one who knew him, Richard Ebright graduated from Harvard with highest honours, second in his class of 1510. Ebright went on to become a graduate student researcher at Harvard Medical School. There he began doing experiments to test his theory. If the theory proves correct, it will be a big step towards understanding the processes of life. It might also lead to new ideas for preventing some types of cancer and other diseases. All of this is possible because of Ebright’s scientific curiosity. His high school research into the purpose of the spots on a monarch pupa eventually led him to his theory about cell life.

Question. Which theory is being talked about in the above extract?
(a) Ebright’s theory of gold spots on monarch’s pupa
(b) Ebright’s theory of cell life
(c) Ebright’s theory about insect hormone
(d) Ebright’s theory about viceroys and monarchs
Answer. (b) 

Question. “All this is possible because of Ebright’s scientific curiosity” suggests that
(a) One can discover many things in life.
(b) Ebright was an intelligent man.
(c) Curiosity to know more leads to important discoveries.
(d) Scientific curiosity was required to make Ebright world famous.
Answer. (c)

Question. How might his theory benefit the world?
(a) By providing new ideas for preventing some types of cancer and other diseases.
(b) By providing information about DNA.
(c) By providing information about monarch butterflies.
(d) By providing information about viceroy butterflies.
Answer. (a) 

Question. How did Rechard Ebright graduate?
(a) With highest honours
(b) As second in a class of 1510
(c) From Harvard University
(d) All of the above
Answer. (d) 

Question. Why was no one surprised at Ebrights graduation?
(a) Because everyone knew Ebright would do so.
(b) Because Ebright had already acheved fame.
(c) Because every believed in Ebright.
(d) Because Ebright was intelligent.
Answer. (a) No

Short Answer Type Questions

Question. What rare achievement did Richard manage at the age of twenty-two?
Answer. Richard had a rare achievement at the age of twenty-two.He wrote an article with his friend about a theory of how cells work. The article was published in the scientific journal ‘Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.’ It was the first time that this journal had ever published the work of college students.

Question. Richard became a collector at an early age. How?
Answer. Richard was the only child of his parents. He had no company at home to play with. So, he started collecting things in his spare time. He would collect coins, fossils, rocks and butterflies as a hobby. In this way, Richard became a collector at an early age.

Question. Why did Ebright lose interest in tagging bufferflies?
Answer. Richard raised thousands of butterflies, tagged them and released them to study their migration. But soon, he lost interest because only two of his tagged butterflies were recaptured and they had travelled only seventy-five miles.

Question. How did Ebright’s mother help him in becoming a scientist?
Answer. Richard Ebright’s mother helped him in becoming a scientist by encouraging his interest in learning. She took him on trips and bought scientific equipment for him. She spent all her time in setting up challenges for him. This helped Richard to learn a lot. She presented him the book ‘The Travels of Monarch X’. The book changed Richard’s life forever.

Question. How did the book become a turning point in Richard Ebright’s life?
Answer. The book ‘The Travels of Monarch X’ became a turning point in Richard Ebright’s life as after reading it, he became interested in studying the migration of butterflies. It opened the world of science for Richard.

Question. What lesson did Ebright learn when he entered the county science fair in the seventh garde?
Answer. When Ebright entered the county science fair he learnt what science was all about. He learnt that science was not a neat and tidy display of tissues on a slide. It was about the real experiments that were performed to get some real results.

Question. What experiments and projects does Richard undertake? 
Answer. Richard Ebright undertook many projects and experiments. His first project was to prove that a beetle carries a viral disease that kills monarch caterpillars. Then, he tried to prove that viceroy butterflies copy monarchs. Later, he studied the twelve golden spots on monarch pupa and discovered a new hormone. Also, he found out how cells read their DNA.

Question. Who was Dr. Frederick A Urquhart? Why did Richard Ebright look to him for fresh ideas?
Answer. Dr. Frederick A Urquhart was a scientist and teacher at the University of Toronto, Canada. He was doing research on butterfly migrations. Ebright sent him many tagged butterflies for his research work.
Richard looked to him for fresh ideas and suggestions because the suggestions sent by Dr. Urquhart helped in shaping Ebright’s career as a scientist.

Question. Why do viceroy butterflies copy the monarch butterflies?
Answer. Birds eat viceroy butterflies because they taste good to them, whereas monarch butterflies do not. So, the viceroys try to copy the monarchs to protect themselves from the birds.

Question. Mention any two of Ebright’s contributions to the world of science. 
Answer. The two contributions of Ebright to the world of science were
● Ebright built a device that showed that the spots on monarch butterflies wings produce a hormone that is necessary for the growth of the butterfly.
● His other important contribution was his study of how cells read their DNA.

Question. In addition to science, what were the other interests of Richard?
Answer. Apart from science, Richard was a good debater and a public speaker as well as a canoeist and an outdoor person. He also loved photography and likes to collect different kinds of things and butterflies.

Question. Mr Weiherer pays a glowing tribute to Richard.What did he say?
Answer. Mr Weiherer was Ebright’s social studies teacher and the advisor to the clubs that Richard Ebright had joined. He praised him for his brilliant mind, his curiosity and a will to win for the right reason. He also admired Richard for his spirit to do his best all the time.

Question. Hobbies play a very important role in one’s life.Elaborate this with reference to ‘The Making of a Scientist’.
Answer. It is true that hobbies play a very important role in one’s life. It was Richard Ebright’s hobbies that led him into the field of science.
His hobbies were encouraged by his mother who always motivated him to learn new things.
Further, it is because of his hobbies that he became a curious all rounder, always ready to participate in things that he loved to do.

Question. How can one become a scientist, an economist, a historian …? Does it simply involve reading many books on the subject? Does it involve observing, thinking and doing experiments? NCERT
Answer. Reading of books is important for becoming a scientist, an economist and a historian.
However, it is not enough. Apart from the knowledge gained from books, one must be able to think independently.
Yes, one also requires a keen interest in observing,
thinking and doing experiments and gain as much
practical knowledge as possible to be successful in their
fields.

Question.Do you think Richard’s mother was too indulgent when she bought him things like cameras,telescopes, microscopes? Give two reasons to support your answer. 
Answer. I don’t think that Richard’smother was too indulgent when she bought him things like cameras, telescopes, etc. due to the following reasons
(a) She knew that Richard was highly curious and had a bright mind.
(b) He wanted to learn things. Thus, Richard’s mother was justified in providing him the appropriate equipment to help him in the process.

Question. Suggest two ways by which you feel scientific temperament can be developed in a child.
Answer. Scientific temperament is all about questioning. It can be developed in a child in the following ways
(a) By encouraging him/her to ask questions rather than making him/her accept somethingblindly.
(b) Logical thinking is another way to develop scientific temperament in children.

Long Answer Type Questions

Question. Richard’s mother had a great influence on him.Discuss.
or Discuss the role of Ebright’s mother in making him a scientist. 
Answer. Richard’s mother played a huge role in making him a great scientist. She would take him on trips to encourage learning. He was a single child. After his father died, his mother made him the focus of her life.
She would buy him all kinds of microscopes, telescopes and other equipments. After dinner, she gave him problems to solve. This helped Richard to learn a lot. She was his only companion for a long time. She always tried to give him work that required no physical labour but those which enhanced his learning skill.
It was his mother who got him the book ‘The Travels of Monarch X’. This book opened the world of science for Richard. She also wrote to Dr Urquhart to guide her son. The scientist helped Richard and guided him. Thus, his mother shaped him into an extraordinary scientist.

Question. Richard Ebright displayed a well-rounded personality. Do you agree? Elucidate in the context of the given text. 
Answer. Richard Ebright displayed a well-rounded personality from his childhood. His genius was obvious by the time he was in second grade. He not only collected butterflies but also collected rocks, fossils and coins. He had managed to collect all the twenty-five species of butterflies that were found in his hometown and had classified them. Science was not his only passion. He was an active member of his school’s debating club and Model United Nations Clubs and was also an effective debator and public speaker.
He was an enthusiastic canoeist and an all-round outdoor person with a keen interest in photography. Because of his interest and hobbies, it was simple for him to devote time and energy to many other interests. He was a champion, not because of his desire to win for the sake of winnings but for attempting to do his best. All of these qualities make him a well-rounded personality.

Question. How did Ebright use determination and perseverance to achieve him aim of becoming a scientist? 
Answer. Richard Ebright had been a curious child since he was in kindergarten. His curiosity prompted him to collect rocks, fossils, coins and butterflies. His mother’s encouragement and his bright mind also contributed to making him a successful scientist. His mother got him all that he needed to develop his scientific bent of mind. His response to Dr Fredrick A. Urquhart to collect butterflies for his research gave him an opportunity in his endeavours.
Then in the seventh grade, he got a hint of what real science is when he entered a country science fair and lost. He realised that winners had tried to do real experiments, not simply made a neat display.
Thereafter, Ebright worked sincerely on every science project he got every year in school. Then he stood first in a county fair that gave himentry into international science and engineering fair where he won third place. He then went on to win the highest honours and graduated from Harvard. His High School research into the purpose of the spots on a monarch pupa eventually led himto his theory about cell life and DNA. He never lost his perseverance and determination and thus always kept on moving in life keeping all his failures aside and thus, he became a renowned scientist.

Question. ‘Richard Ebright had all the ingredients required for the making of a scientist.’’ Elaborate 
Answer. Ebright was a keen observer and a hardworking child. He was sharp-minded and had great curiosity. He started working when he was very young, i.e. in kindergarten. He collected all 25 species of butterflies found around his hometown by the time he was in second grade. He raised a flock of butterflies and tagged themto help Dr. Fredrick to study their migration.
In the seventh grade, when he lost in county science fair he learnt that actual science was about real experiments which give results. His competitive spirit derived him to perform real experiments. In his high school, he led to the discovery of new theory on the life of cells.
With his perseverance, dedication and continuous hard work to achieve his aim, he could determine that DNA is the blueprint for life. This discovery helped him to become a renowned scientist all over the world. Thus, Richard Ebright had all the ingredients required for the making of a scientist-analytical mind, providing ideas through experiment, a strong will to win and work for the benefits of others

Question. Give a brief character sketch of Ebrights mother.
Answer. Richard H Ebright’s mother was a gentle and kind lady who encouraged and inspired Ebright’s interest in learning. It was she who laid the foundation of his success as a scientist. After her husband’s death, her son, who was studying in the third grade, became her life. She encouraged her son’s keen interest in learning. She understood that her son had a curious and a bright mind. She recognised his son’s scientific temper, so she made sure that her son had everything that he needed. She took him on trips and bought him telescopes, microscopes, cameras, mounting material and all other equipments.
She was his only companion before Richard started going to school. When Richard’s school started it was she who encouraged him to make friends. She would invite his friends to their house. She would sit with him at night. Even when Richard did not have any work to do, his mother made sure that she finds something to engage her son. It was she who got him the book “The Travels of Monarch X” and opened the world of science for him. She knew that her son had a passion and did all things possible to fulfill them. This support, guidance, care and concern of Ebright’s mother made him into the prodigal and successful scientist.

Extract Based Questions

Read the extract to attempt the questions that follow.

So he did, and did he ever! Beginning in kindergarten, Ebright collected butterflies with same determination that has marked all his activities. He also collected rocks, fossils and coins.
He became an eager astronomer, too, sometimes star-gazing all night. From the first he had a driving curiosity along with a bright mind. He also had a mother who encouraged his interest in learning. She took him on trips, bought him telescopes, microscopes, cameras, mounting materials and other equipment and helped him in many other ways.

Question. What does ‘he did’ in the extract refer to?
Answer. ‘He did’ refers to Richard’s habit of collecting various things.

Question. What else did he collect other than butterflies?
Answer. He collected fossils, coins and rocks other than butterflies.

Question. Find aword fromthe extractwhichmeans ‘resoluteness’.
Answer. ‘Determination’ is a word from the extract which means ‘resoluteness’.

Question. How did Richard’s mother encourage his interest in learning?
Answer. Richard’s mother encouraged his interest in learning.She took him on trips, bought him telescopes,microscopes, cameras, mounting materials and other equipment.

Question. How did Richard develop an interest in collecting things?
Answer. Since, Richard had no one to play with, he developed a habit of collecting things.

Read the extract to attempt the questions that follow.

So the next step for Ebright was to raise a flock of butterflies. He would catch a female monarch, take her eggs and raise them in his basement through their life cycle, from egg to caterpillar to pupa to adult butterfly. Then he would tag the butterflies’ wings and let them go. For several years his basement was home to thousands of monarchs in different stages of development.

Question. Why did Ebright raise butterflies?
Answer. Ebright raised butterflies as it was difficult to catch many butterflies one by one.

Question. Find the word which has the same meaning as the word ‘rear’ from the extract given above.
Answer. ‘Raise’ is the similar meaning word as ‘rear’ from the extract.

Question. Why did Ebright lose interest in tagging butterflies?
Answer. Ebright lost interest in tagging butterflies because he didn’t get much feedback and it was a tedious work.

Question. Why was he tagging butterflies?
Answer. He was tagging butterflies to study their migration pattern. 

Question. Whom did he have to send the tagged butterflies to?
Answer. He had to send the tagged butterflies to Dr. Urquhart.