NCERT Solutions Class 10 English (First Flight) Chapter 8 (Mijbil the Otter)

NCERT Solutions Class 10 English (First Flight) 

The NCERT Solutions in English Language for Class 10 English (First Flight) Chapter – 8 Mijbil the Otter has been provided here to help the students in solving the questions from this exercise. 

Chapter – 8 (Mijbil the Otter) 

Oral Comprehension Check

1. What ‘experiment’ did Maxwell think Camusfearna would be suitable for?
Answer – Maxwell thought that he would keep an otter instead of a dog as a pet. Camusfearna, surrounded by water a very short distance from its door, would be an eminently suitable spot for the experiment.

2. Why does he go to Basra? How long does he wait there, and why?
Answer – The writer went to Basra to collect and answer his mail from Europe. He had to wait there for 5 days as his mail did not arrive.

3. How does he get the otter? Does he like it? Pick out the words that tell you this.
Answer – His friend bought the otter for him and sent it to the place where he was staying.
The author liked it. This is seen in “The second night Mijbil came on to my bed in the small hours and remained asleep in the crook of my knees….” “ I made a body-belt for him…”.

4. Why was the otter named ‘Maxwell’s otter’?
Answer – The otter was named by zoologists as Lutrogale Perspicillata Maxwelli. Hence, it was called Maxwell’s otter in short.

5. Tick the right answer. In the beginning, the otter was
• aloof and indifferent
• friendly
• hostile
Answer – 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?
Answer – When the author first took Mijbil to the bathroom, the otter first went wild with joy in the water. He plunged and rolled in it. He jumped up and down the length of the bathtub. He made enough slosh and splash. After two days, the otter suddenly disappeared and went to the bathroom to play in the water and opened the tap on his own.

Oral Comprehension Check

1. How was Mijbil transported to England?
Answer – Maxwell booked a flight to Paris and from there he would go on to London. The airline insisted that Mij should be packed in a box (not more than eighteen inches square) that was to be placed on the floor, near his feet.

2. What did Mij do to the box?
Answer – The box was lined with a metal sheet. Mij didn’t feel comfortable in the box and tried to escape. In his attempt to escape, Mij tore into the metal lining of the box and in the process hurt himself.

3. Why did Maxwell put the otter back in the box? How do you think he felt when he did this?
Answer – As there was no other way to carry Mij to London, Maxwell put in the box again. He must have felt pity on the way the otter hurt himself. Moreover, he must be worried as well.

4. Why does Maxwell say the airhostess was “the very queen of her kind”?
Answer – Maxwell says this because the air hostess showed great kindness to the otter. She cooperated with him about the otter.

5. What happened when the box was opened?
Answer – As soon as the box was opened, Mij ran out. Then it ran all over the place scaring all the passengers. It created a claos and most of the people in the plane got scared.

Oral Comprehension Check

1. What game had Mij invented?
Answer – Mij had invented a game with ping-pong ball. He would put the ball at one end of a sloping lid and then grab it as it ran to the other end.

2. What are ‘compulsive habits’? What does Maxwell say are the compulsive habits of
(i) school children
(ii) Mij?
Answer – Compulsive habits are usually strange act or behaviour which a person does without clear reason.
(i) On their way to and from school, children make it a habit to place their feet exactly on the centre of each paving block.
(ii) Similarly, Mij had made it a habit to jump on to the school wall and go galloping all along its length of thirty yards.

3. What group of animals do otters belong to?
Answer – Otters belong to a comparatively small group of animals called Mustellines. The other animals of this group are badger, mongoose, weasel, stoat, mink and others.

4. What guesses did the Londoners make about what Mij was?
Answer – As otters are not found in England so Londoners made the wildest possible guesses about Mij. Their guesses ranged from a baby seal, a squirrel, a hippo to a brontosaurus.

Thinking about the Text

1. What things does Mij do which tell you that he is an intelligent, friendly and fun-loving animal who needs love?
Answer – Mij invented his own game out of ping-pong ball and a worn down suitcase. He loved water, and once he understood that on opening the tap water came out of it, he would get into the tub and played with water. He had gradually formed a special attachment with Maxwell. It giyw desperate when Maxwell left it in a box and wanted to come out as soon as possible.

2. What are some of the things we come to know about otters from this text?
Answer – Otters belong to a comparatively small group of animals called Mustellines, shared by badger, mongoose, weasel, stoat, mink and others. They are found in large numbers in marshes. Arabs keep them as pets and tame them. Otters love to spread water and splash in it. Maxwell’s otter was of a race previously . unknown to science and was at length named by zoologists Lutrogale Perspicillata Maxwelli.

3. Why is Mij’s species now known to the world as Maxwell’s otter?
Answer – Maxwell’s otter was of a race previously unknown to science and was at length named by zoologists Lutrogale Perspicillata Maxwelli, hence, it is known as Maxwell’s otter in short.

4. Maxwell in the story speaks for the otter, Mij. He tells us what the otter feels and thinks on different occasions. Given below are some things the otter does. Complete the column on the right to say what Maxwell says about what Mij feels and thinks.

Answer –

5. Read the story and find the sentences where Maxwell describes his pet otter.
Then choose and arrange your sentences to illustrate those statements below that you think are true.
Maxwell’s description
(i) makes Mij seem almost human, like a small boy.
(ii) shows that he is often irritated with what Mij does.
(iii) shows that he is often surprised by what Mij does.
(iv) of Mij’s antics is comical.
(v) shows that he observes the antics of Mij very carefully.
(vi) shows that he thinks Mij is a very ordinary otter.
(vii) shows that he thinks the otter is very unusual.

Answer –
(i) makes Mij seem almost human, like a small boy.  (True)
(ii) shows that he is often irritated with what Mij does.  (False)
(iii) shows that he is often surprised by what Mij does.  (True)
(iv) of Mij’s antics is comical.  (True)
(v) shows that he observes the antics of Mij very carefully.  (True)
(vi) shows that he thinks Mij is a very ordinary otter.  (False)
(vii) shows that he thinks the otter is very unusual.  (True)

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