CBSE Class 10 English Glimpses of India (A Baker from Goa, Coorg, Tea from Assam) Important Questions Set 08

Answer: (a) ‘We’ refers to the narrator and his friends.
(b) They were pushed aside so that the loaves could be handed over to the servant.
(c) The word is ‘rebuke’.
(d) It held loaves for the elders and bread bangles for the children.

Teacher's Note:
1. The children’s curiosity about the basket shows the warmth of the narrator’s memories.
2. Reading the extract closely makes the vocabulary question easy.

Answer: (a) Cakes and bolinhas are prepared at Christmas.
(b) Different kinds of bread are needed for daily meals and for weddings, engagements and festivals.
(c) ‘Feast’.
(d) She must prepare sandwiches.

Teacher's Note:
1. This extract links the baker to every important event in Goan life.
2. Use it to explain why his furnace was ‘essential’.

Answer: (a) Coorg lies midway between Mysore and the coastal town of Mangalore.
(b) It is known for evergreen rainforests, spices and coffee plantations.
(c) ‘Martial’.
(d) Martial men, beautiful women and wild creatures live there.

Teacher's Note:
1. The writer calls Coorg ‘a piece of heaven’ to show how beautiful it is.
2. Note that Kodagu is the smallest district of Karnataka.

Answer: (a) They are ready to tell tales of the valour of their sons and fathers.
(b) They are the only people in India allowed to carry firearms without a licence.
(c) ‘Valour’.
(d) General Cariappa, a Coorgi.

Teacher's Note:
1. The extract proves that the courage of the Coorgis is recognised officially.
2. Remember the firearms privilege, as it is often asked.

Answer: (a) Over eighty crore cups are drunk every day.
(b) They were in a train travelling towards Assam.
(c) ‘Whew!’
(d) Almost everyone in the compartment was drinking tea, and crores of cups are drunk daily across the world.

Teacher's Note:
1. Rajvir’s fact shows that he had read about tea before the trip.
2. Write the figure as ‘eighty crore’ exactly.

Answer: (a) He was an ancient Buddhist ascetic.
(b) When put in hot water and drunk, they banished sleep.
(c) In China, as far back as 2700 BC.
(d) He felt sleepy during meditation.

Teacher's Note:
1. This is the Indian legend of tea, told as a reply to the Chinese one.
2. Learn both legends together for long-answer questions.

Answer: The bakers wore a peculiar one-piece long frock called the kabai. It reached down to their knees. By the narrator’s childhood they had changed to shirts and trousers cut a little shorter than usual.

Teacher's Note:
1. The old dress is named and described in the text.
2. Mention both the old kabai and the later shirt-and-trousers for full marks.

Answer: The narrator says the eaters of loaves may have vanished but the makers are still there. The mixers, moulders and bakers remain, the old furnaces still burn, and the thud and jingle of the baker’s bamboo can still be heard in some places. Sons carry on the family trade.

Teacher's Note:
1. The answer is built from the opening paragraph.
2. Mention the furnaces and the sons continuing the profession.

Answer: Bread was needed for every occasion. The bol was an essential marriage gift, sandwiches were made at engagements, and cakes and bolinhas were a must at Christmas and other festivals. Without the baker’s furnace none of this was possible.

Teacher's Note:
1. Link the furnace to at least two occasions.
2. Name the bol and the bolinhas.

Answer: He announced himself with the ‘jhang, jhang’ sound of his specially made bamboo staff, which he banged on the ground with one hand while the other supported the basket on his head. He then greeted the lady of the house with ‘Good morning’ and placed his basket on the vertical bamboo.

Teacher's Note:
1. Two actions are asked, so cover both the sound and the greeting.
2. The ‘jhang, jhang’ detail earns the mark.

Answer: According to one story, a part of Alexander’s army moved south along the coast and settled in Coorg when returning home became impractical. The soldiers married local women, so the Kodavus are possibly of Greek or Arabic descent. Their martial traditions and the Kuppia dress, which resembles the Arab kuffia, support this idea.

Teacher's Note:
1. The word ‘possibly’ matters because this is only a legend.
2. Give the Alexander story and one supporting detail.

Answer: The Kaveri rises in the hills and forests of Coorg, and the large freshwater fish mahseer abounds in it. Kingfishers dive for their catch, squirrels and langurs drop half-eaten fruit into the water, and elephants enjoy being bathed by their mahouts. Macaques, Malabar squirrels and slender loris live in the rainforests.

Teacher's Note:
1. Group the animals as river life and forest life.
2. Name at least three animals.

Answer: The season of joy runs from September to March, when the weather is perfect with a few showers and the air smells of coffee. During the monsoon it rains so heavily that many visitors stay away.

Teacher's Note:
1. State the months and contrast them with the monsoon.
2. Mention coffee to match the text.

Answer: Rajvir had never seen so much greenery. The soft green paddy fields gave way to a sea of tea bushes stretching as far as the eye could see. Pranjol had been born and brought up on a plantation, so the sight was ordinary for him.

Teacher's Note:
1. Contrast a visitor’s first view with a local’s familiarity.
2. Quote ‘sea of tea bushes’ if you can.

Answer: No one knows who discovered tea. In the Chinese legend, an emperor who always boiled his water found that leaves from burning twigs fell into the pot and gave a pleasant flavour. In the Indian legend, tea plants grew from the eyelids of Bodhidharma. Tea was first drunk in China about 2700 BC and reached Europe in the sixteenth century, where it was used more as medicine than as a drink.

Teacher's Note:
1. Cover legends, place and date.
2. The words ‘chai’ and ‘chini’ come from Chinese.

Answer: No, I do not think it is desirable. The narrator ran to the baker without even brushing his teeth, peeped into the basket and enjoyed bread bangles with hot tea. Those simple pleasures belong to childhood. Children who rush towards adulthood and early access to technology grow up before their time and miss such joys. They need to learn, play and grow at nature’s pace, since a childhood that is cut short cannot be lived again.

Teacher's Note:
1. The answer gives a clear opinion backed by an example from the text.
2. Keep a short conclusion about the value of childhood.

Answer: Coorg lies in the Western Ghats, with rolling hills, evergreen rainforests that cover about thirty per cent of the district, and coffee and spice plantations unlike those in many other parts of India. The Kodavus have their own customs, dress and martial traditions, distinct from the Hindu mainstream, yet they share India’s tradition of hospitality. Wildlife, the Kaveri, Buddhist monks at Bylakuppe and adventure sports add more colours. Together they show how many cultures and landscapes India holds.

Teacher's Note:
1. Take one point each for location, people and nature.
2. End by linking back to India’s diversity.

Answer: Assam has the largest concentration of tea plantations in the world. From the train, Rajvir sees paddy fields give way to a sea of tea bushes against densely wooded hills. Tall shade trees stand over the tiny plants, and doll-like figures, the tea pluckers, move along the orderly rows. In the distance is a factory with smoke rising from tall chimneys. The second flush, from May to July, yields the best tea.

Teacher's Note:
1. Use the descriptive words from the text such as ‘sea of tea bushes’ and ‘shade trees’.
2. Mention the pluckers and the factory to complete the picture.

Answer: Yes, they should, as traditions keep people connected to their roots. The Coorgis have preserved their martial customs, hospitality and dress, and so are still recognised as a distinct people. The Goan bakers continue to make bread for every festival, and the baker’s furnace remains a part of village life. Traditions also teach values and give emotional support. Adapting them with common sense, rather than abandoning them, helps a culture survive.

Teacher's Note:
1. State a clear view and support it with one example from each lesson.
2. A balanced closing line adds weight.