First Flight - Lesson No. 8 Mijbil the Otter - Gavin Maxwell Glossary, Questions, and Answers Thanks, Julie Clarke https://unsplash.com/ph...
First Flight - Lesson No. 8
Mijbil the Otter - Gavin Maxwell
Glossary, Questions, and Answers
 |
| Thanks, Julie Clarke |
https://unsplash.com/photos/black-and-white-animal-on-gray-rock-b-IjVn5B6vU?utm_content=creditShareLink&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash
Glossary -
1. otter -
2. Camusfearna -
3. eminently - clearly.
4. squatting - to sit.
5. squirmed - twist.
6. thraldom - to control.
7. medievally conceived - an imagination of the middle ages.
8. christened - named.
9. aloof and indifferent -keeping a distance.
10. apathy - an absence of interest.
11. plunging - to jump.
12. slosh - to move.
13. provoking - causing anger.
14. fumbling - to do something oddly.
15. chittering - making a sound.
16. an appalling spectacle- a shocking scene.
17. trickled - to flow.
18. whimpered - to cry softly.
19. shreds - small pieces.
20. squawks and shrieks - to cry loudly and emotionally.
21. portly -heavy and fat.
22. craning -stretching out one's body.
23. nuzzle - rub or push against gently with nose and mouth.
24. terrapin shell -the shell of a small turtle found in North America.
25. engrossed -completely interested in.
26. ambush -to attack suddenly.
27. crouching -to bend the body.
28. trot off -to leave, to depart.
29. tug- to pull something hard and quickly.
30. gallop - to go at the fastest speed.
31. barrage- a continuous attack.
32. walrus - a large animal that lives in the sea.
34. giggles - to laugh in a silly way.
35. beaver -an animal.
36. brontosaur -a kind of dianosaur.
37. glared -to stare.
38. Growled -to make a sound.
Oral Comprehension Check ( Textbook page no. 106)
1. What 'experiment' did Maxwell think Camusfearna would be suitable for?
Ans - Maxwell thought that Camucfearna would be suitable for the experiment to keep an otter as a pet instead of a dog because the place was surrounded by water.
2. Why does he go to Basra? How long does he wait there and why?
Ans - The author goes to Basra to the Consulate-General to collect and answer his mail from Europe. He waits there for five days to receive his mail.
3. How does he get the otter? Does he like it? Pick out the words that tell you this?
Ans - When the author comes to his room, he finds that two Arabs are waiting for him with a sack that is twisted, and they give him a note from his friend. The otter was a gift from his friend. The author liked him very much, and the words that show it, " he uses otter fixation".
4. Why was the otter named, " Maxwell's otter"?
Ans - These otters were named after zoologists as Lutrogale Perspicillata Maxwelli. In short, these were known as Maxwell's otters.
5. Tick the correct answer. In the beginning, the otter was---
1. aloof and indifferent.
2. friendly.
3. hostile.
Ans - In the beginning, the otter was aloof and indifferent.
6. What happened when Maxwell took Mijbil to the bathroom? What did it do two days after that?
Ans - When Maxwell took Mijbill to the bathroom, for half an hour, it went wild with joy in the water, plunging and rolling in it, shooting up and down in the bathtub and making enough slosh and splash. Two days later, it escaped into the bathroom and opened the tap all by itself.
Oral Comprehension Check ( Textbook page no. 108-109)
1. How was Mij to be transported to England?
Ans - When he tried to transport Mij to England, but British airline did not allow him to fly animals to London, so he booked a flight to Paris on another airline, and then to London, but the airline insisted that Mij should be packed into a box not more than eighteen inches square, in this way, the author transported Mij to England.
2. What did Mij do to the box?
Ans - Mij tore the lining of the box into shreds, and he got hurt, and blood started coming from all over his body. The blood trickled from the airholes and chinks of the lid.
3. Why did Maxwell put the otter back in the box? How do you think he felt when he did this?
Ans - Maxwell removed the shredded lining so that Mij won't hurt himself. The airline insisted that the otter be packed in a box, so Maxwell had to put Mij back into the box.
Maxwell must have felt very sad because he loved his otter and the otter was badly hurt.
4. Why does Maxwell say the air hostess was, " the very queen of her kind"?
Ans - On the flight, when Maxwell narrated her incidents that occurred to the otter and how it got hurt, then with her incredible kindness, she allowed Maxwell to keep the otter on his lap, and he was so overwhelmed by her heart, he said the above sentence with gratitude.
5. What happened when the box was opened?
Ans - When the box was opened, the otter suddenly came out of it and disappeared, all the passengers became scared and panicked, but again the kind air hostess promised to bring back the otter, but after some time, the otter came back itself.
Oral Comprehension Check (page no. 110)
1. What game had Mij invented?
Ans - Mij invented a game with a ping-pong ball. The writer had a problem with his suitcase with its lid. The lid used to remain slopping towards one end. Mij would place the ball at the higher end of the lid and run down the suitcase's length. It would catch the ball before it fell on the ground.
2. What are ' compulsive habits'? What does Maxwell say are the compulsive habits of----
a) School children b) Mij
Ans - Compulsive habits are those habits that are impossible to control.
a) School children - They have the habit of putting their feet squarely on the centre of each paving block, must touch every seventh upright of the iron railings, or pass to the outside of every second lamp post.
b) Mij - On the other hand, Mij would tug the author to the wall, jump on it, and run at the fastest speed across the full length of its thirty yards.
3. What group of animals do otters belong to?
Ans - Otters belong to a comparatively small group of animals called Mustellines. Other animals of this group include badger, mongoose, weasel, stoat, mink, etc.
4. What guesses did the Londoners make about what Mij was?
Ans - People of London did not identify the otter, but their guesses were like a baby seal, a squirrel, a walrus, a hippo, a beaver, a bear cub, or a leopard.
Thinking about the Text -
1. What things does Mij do that tell you that he is an intelligent, friendly, and fun-loving animal who needs love?
Ans - Mij does many activities that show that he is an intelligent, friendly, and fun-loving animal such as he could convert anything into toys, he could open the tap in the bathtub of his own, could jump the wall, and respond the writer whenever being called.
2. What are some of the things we come to know about otters from this text?
Ans - Otters belong to a small group of animals Mustellines like mongoose, weasel, etc. These are found in wetlands of southern Iraq and tamed by Arabs and they are intelligent, playful, fun-loving, and fast learners.
3. Why is the Mij species now known to the world as Maxwell's otter?
Ans -These types of otters were named by zoologists as Lutrogale Perspicillata Maxwelli, in short, these otters are known as Maxwell's otters.
For a quick glance at the content, please visit my YouTube channel, " English Prose and Verse ".
No comments