Midnight Express
Textual Questions & Answers
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Activity 1
Tick the correct alternative:
(i) Mortimer found the book -
(a) at a friend’s place(b) in a book fair
(c) in his father’s library
(ii) The illustration on the page showed -
(a) a vast sea
(b) an empty railway platform
(c) a dark library room
Ans: (b) an empty railway platform
(iii) Mortimer was able to read up to -
(a) page fifty of the book
(b) the last page of the book
(c) page fifty five of the boo
Ans: (a) page fifty of the book
(iv) Here Midnight Express is -
(a) an express train
(b) a railway station
(c) a book
Ans: (c) a book
Activity 2
Rearrange the following sentences in the correct order and put the numbers in the given boxes:
1. As a young man, Mortimer was waiting for a train in an
empty junction. [ 6 ]
2. Mortimer found a battered old book. [ 1
]
3. He started to read the story by candlelight. [
2 ]
4. Mortimer stopped at page fifty while reading the
story. [ 5 ]
5. The illustration of the story frightened Mortimer every
time. [ 4 ]
6. Mortimer was fascinated by the battered old
book. [ 3 ]
Activity 3
Answer
the following questions:
1. Why do you think Mortimer never read beyond fifty of the book?
Answer: Mortimer
never read beyond page fifty of the book because he felt threatened by the
illustration on that page for some unknown reason.
Activity 4
Complete
the following sentences with information from the text:
1. Mortimer noticed in the lamp light a dark and solitary figure he knew.
2. The solitary figure faced the black mouth of a tunnel.
3. Walking towards the figure Mortimer looked into its face.
4. The shadow figure stood with a candle.
Activity 5
Answer
the following questions:
1. When had Mortimer seen the ‘dark and solitary figure’ in his childhood?
Ans: Mortimer had seen
the ‘dark and solitary figure’ on page fifty of the book ‘Midnight Express’ in
his childhood.
2. “Mortimer was shocked.” When was Mortimer shocked and why?
Ans: Mortimer was
shocked when he saw the dark and solitary figure on the platform. He was
shocked because the figure looked just like him.
3. What was “steadily gaining” on Mortimer as he stumbled out of the
platform?
Ans: The echo of his
own footsteps was steadily gaining on Mortimer on the platform.
Activity 6
Write ‘T’ for true and ‘F’
for false statements in the given boxes. Give supporting statements for each of
your answers:
1. Mortimer found the old battered book on the armchair.
Ans: False , Supporting Statement: “By the
armchair was a small, oak table on which lay a battered old book bound in red
leather.”
2. Mortimer realized that the book was the same one which he had read in
his childhood.
Ans: True , Supporting Statement: “With a
shock he realized it was the same book from his childhood, the book which
contained the story of ‘Midnight Express’.”
3. Mortimer felt immensely afraid of the things happening around him.
Ans: True , Supporting Statement: He was
filled with acute dread.
4. In the flickering candlelight, the host was seen standing by the table.
Ans: False , Supporting Statement: “The
shadowy figure stood before Mortimer.”
Activity 7
Answer
the following questions:
1. To where did Mortimer follow the shadowy figure?
Ans: Mortimer followed
the shadowy figure to an upper room where a bright fire was burning.
2. Why do you think Mortimer’s hands trembled when he turned the pages of
the book?
Ans: Mortimer was
astonished and afraid when he found the same book he read in his childhood in
that strange house. Thus, his hands trembled when he turned the pages of the
book.
3. “Mortimer tried to grasp the strange cycle of events he was going
through.” - What was the strange cycle of events?
Ans: In his childhood,
Mortimer was afraid to see a frightening picture of a solitary man standing in
an empty platform on page fifty of a book. At his youth, he saw this in
reality. He found the same strange man in same condition. Then he ran away in
fear and entered a cottage and found the same book which contained the story of
‘Midnight Express’. Also the figure looked exactly like him. This is the
strange cycle of events.
4. Do you think the strange incident that happened to Mortimer would not
have occurred if he had not read the book?
Ans: I think the
strange incidents that happened to Mortimer would not have occurred if he had
not read the book.
Activity 8 (a)
In the following sentences, underline the verb
forms which show that the person denoted by the Subject is doing something.
Circle the verb forms which show that something is being done to the person
denoted by the Subject:
1. I am writing a letter.
2. A letter is being written by me. (Circle)
3. The gatekeeper was opening the
gate.
4. The gate was being opened by the
gatekeeper. (Circle)
Activity 8(b)
Identify the voice of the following sentences and fill in the chart
given below:
(i) The artist is painting a picture.
(ii) A song is being sung by Shiela.
(iii) The boy was flying a kite.
(iv) Football was being played by the children.
|
Active voice |
Passive voice |
|
(i) The artist is painting a picture. |
(ii) A song is being sung by Shiela. |
|
(iii) The boy was flying a kite. |
(iv) Football was being played by the children. |
Activity 8(c)
Match
column A with column B:
|
A |
B |
|
|
(i) Mother is cooking food for us. |
(a) Trees were being planted by the children |
iii |
|
(ii) Father is baking a cake. |
(b) A lesson was being learnt by the students. |
iv |
|
(iii) The children were planting trees. |
(c) Food is being cooked by mother for us. |
i |
|
(iv)The students were learning a lesson. |
(d) A cake is being baked by father. |
ii |
Activity 8(d)
Change
the voice of the following sentences:
1. The girl is watching a film.
Ans: A film is being
watched by the girl.
2. Rahul is driving a car.
Ans: A car is being
driven by Rahul.
3. The author was writing a novel.
Ans: A novel was being
written by the author.
4. The man was buying vegetables.
Ans: Vegetables were
being bought by the man.
Activity 9
Find
words in the passage which mean the following:
1. A passage built underground to allow a railway/ bus to go
through a hill → Tunnel
2. To be very afraid of something → Panic
3. Shaking of the body → Trembling
4. The sound that a door sometimes makes when we open
it → Creaking