CBSE Class 10 English Bholi Worksheet Set A

Bholi

GIST
From a very young age, Bholi was neglected at home. She had remained a backward child and had contacted small-pox at the age of two which left her permanently disfigured by deep black pock-marks.She was late to start speaking and she stammered which made the other children make fun of her.
This resulted in her speaking very little, until she went to school and learned to read and write with the help of a dedicated teacher.

Read the given extracts to attempt the questions that follow:

1. At birth, the child was very fair and pretty. But when she was two years old, she had an attack of small-pox. Only the eyes were saved, but the entire body was permanently disfigured by deep black pock-marks. Little Sulekha could not speak till she was five, and when at last she learnt to speak, she stammered. The other children often made fun of her and mimicked her. As a result, she talked very little.

A. Multiple Choice Questions

Question. At birth, Bholi:
(a) was dark and ugly.
(b) had a deformed face.
(c) was very fair and pretty.
(d) had deformed feet.
Answer. C

Question. Bholi had an attack of smallpox:
(a) at the age of five.
(b) at the age of three.
(c) at the age of two.
(d) at the age of seven.
Answer. C

Question. What kind of family was she born in?
(a) An educated family
(b) A poor family
(c) A prosperous family
(d) None of these
Answer. C

Question. What made her body ugly?
(a) A high fever
(b) Hard work
(c) Hunger
(d) Smallpox
Answer. D

Question. What is the meaning of ‘mimicked’?
(a) Imitated
(b) Copied
(c) Aped
(d) All of these
Answer. D

B. Very Short Answer Questions

Question. Why did Bholi have deep black pock-marks all over her body?
Answer. When Bholi was two years old she had an attack of small-pox which left her entire body disfigured with deep-pock marks.

Question. Why did the other children make fun of Bholi?
Answer. Bholi could not speak till she was five years old, and when she started speaking, she used to stammer. This was why the other children made fun of her.

Question. Why do you think Bholi stammered?
Answer. When Bholi was ten months old she fell off the cot and this damaged a part of her brain. As a result she started speaking only when she was five years old and then she was stammering.

Question. Why did the author consider her a backward child?
Answer. Due to the fall Bholi was not as bright as other children of her age. This is why the author considered her a backward child.

Question. How did Bholi get her name?
Answer.  Bholi was christened Sulekha when she was born, but due to a fall from the cot at the age of two, some part of her brain was damaged due to which she was backward in her growth. So she was named Bholi, the simpleton.

2. “What’s the matter with you, you fool? Shouted Ramlal. “I am only taking you to school.” Then he told his wife, “Let her wear some decent clothes today or else what will the teachers and the other schoolgirls think of us when they see her?
New clothes had never been made for Bholi. The old dresses of her sisters were passed on to her.
No one cared to mend or wash her clothes. But today she was lucky to receive a clean dress which had shrunk after many washings and no longer fitted Champa. She was even bathed and oil was rubbed into her dry and matted hair. Only then did she believe that she was being taken to a place better than her home! When they reached the school, the children were already in their classrooms.”

A. Multiple Choice Questions

Question.(i) Why did Ramlal call Bholi a fool?
This was because:
(a) Bholi had become hysterical and was screaming.
(b) Bholi shouted in fear and pulled her hand away.
(c) Bholi was behaving foolishly and was running away.
(d) Bholi had been behaving very strangely with her father.
Answer. B

Question. Pick the sentence that brings out the meaning of ‘decent’ as used in the extract.
(a) He gets a decent amount of salary.
(b) One must be decent when having a conversation with strangers.
(c) She was dressed in a decent manner for the interview.
(d) It was very decent of him to lend me some money.
Answer. C

Question. Pick the option that best describes how Bholi felt at the end of her first day in school.
(a) lost and scared
(b) calm and peaceful
(c) elated and peaceful
(d) hopeful and elated
Answer. D

Question. Why was Bholi’s hair matted?
(a) It was entangled and oiled.
(b) It was never oiled or combed.
(c) It was not combed regularly.
(d) It was unkempt and oiled.
Answer. B

Question. What fear did Bholi have when she was told about being taken to school?
(a) She thought she was going to be neglected by her parents.
(b) She thought her parents were going to get rid of her.
(c) She felt that she would be thrown out of the house and sold.
(d) She thought her parents were thinking of ways to throw her out.
Answer. C

B. Very Short Answer Questions

Question. Why did Bholi’s father say to let Bholi wear some decent clothes?
Answer. Bholi’s clothes were never mended nor cleaned. If she wore those clothes to school what would her teachers and school girls think of them. So, her father said to let her wear some decent clothes.

Question. How did Bholi’s hair get matted?
Answer. Bholi’s hair were never oiled or combed. Thus they became matted.

Question. Who asked Ramlal to send his daughter’s to school?
Answer. When the primary school for girls was opened in the village the Tehsildar who came to open the school told Ramlal that as a revenue official he was the representative of the government in the school so he should set an example to the village by sending his daughters to school.

Question. What type of dress was Bholi made to wear?
Answer. Bholi was given a clean dress to wear that day. The dress belonged to her sister Champa and it no longer fitted her as it had shrunk after many washings.

Question. Why did Bholi believe that she was being taken to a place better than her home?
Answer. Bholi got a clean dress to wear that day. She was also bathed and oil was rubbed into her dry and matted hair. That was why she believed that she was taken to a place better than her home.

3. And Sulekha said in a voice that was calm and steady, ‘‘Don’t you worry, Pitaji! In your old age I will serve you and Mother and I will teach in the same school where I learnt so much. Isn’t that right, Ma’am?’’
The teacher had all along stood in a corner, watching the drama. ‘‘Yes, Bholi, of course,’’ she replied.
And in her smiling eyes was the light of a deep satisfaction that an artist feels when contemplating the completion of her masterpiece.

A. Multiple Choice Questions

Question. Sulekha’s voice when she spoke was:
(a) stammering
(b) calm and steady
(c) wailing
(d) breaking
Answer. B

Question. Sulekha planned to:
(a) sit at home.
(b) do social work.
(c) teach in the school she studied.
(d) help the villagers.
Answer. C

Question. What trait of Bholi’s character is reflected in the above extract?
(a) Cowardice
(b) Selfishness
(c) Bold and courage
(d) Self-sacrifice
Answer. C

Question. Who has penned the above extract?
(a) K.A. Abbas
(b) Ruskin Bond
(c) Sinclair Lewis
(d) Mahatma Gandhi
Answer. A

Question. Give the verb form of ‘satisfaction’.
(a) Satisfactory
(b) Satisfy
(c) Satisfying
(d) Satisfactorily
Answer. B

B. Very Short Answer Questions

Question. Why did Sulekha tell her father not to worry?
Answer. Sulekha told her father not to worry as she just broken her marriage by refusing to many the greedy bridegroom.

Question. What did Sulakha plan to do instead of getting married?
Answer. Sulekha planned to serve her parents in their old age and teach in the school where she had her education.

Question. Why was the teacher standing in a corner?
Answer. The teacher was standing in a corner because the wedding was a family event and she was participating in it as a guest.

Question. What was the drama that teacher was watching?
Answer. The teacher watched the drama of the bridegroom demanding five thousand rupees to marry Bholi and the girl’s defiant refusal to marry the greedy bridegroom.

Question. How did the teacher feel when Bholi refused to marry the greedy old man?
Answer. The teacher felt deep satisfaction just like an artist when or she has just completed a masterpiece

 I. Multiple Choice Questions 

Question. Why did the Tehsildar come to Bholi’s village?
(a) To see how the village was developing
(b) To open a primary school for the girls of the village.
(c) To meet the Ramlal the revenue officer
(d) To meet the villagers in general.
Answer. B

Question. How did Bholi leave school on the first day?
(a) Very depressed and sad
(b) Frightened and subdued
(c) Happy with a ray of hope in life
(d) Very angry and irritated
Answer. C

Question. What did the Tehsildar ask Ramlal to do?
(a) To keep the villagers happy
(b) To discuss the problems of the village with him
(c) To have dinner with him to know each other better
(d) To send his daughters to school
Answer. D

Question. Why did Bholi became backward?
(a) At ten months old she fell off from the cot
(b) At two years old she had small pock
(c) At five years old she started speaking
(d) She could never speak well, she stammered
Answer. A

Question. Why did Bishamber demand five thousand to marry Bholi?
(a) Because that was the custom
(b) Because Bholi’s looks were marred by the pock-marks on her face
(c) Because Bishamber thought he was a rich man and should be honoured
(d) Because Bishamber’s friends told him to ask Bholi’s father for the money
Answer. D