Directions (Q1-6): Read the poem given and answer the following questions by selecting the most appropriate option.
Go hang yourself, you old M.D.!
You shall not sneer at me.
Pick up your hat and stethoscope,
Go wash your mouth with laundry soap;
I contemplate a joy exquisite
I’m not paying you for your visit.
I did not call you to be told
My malady is a common cold.
2. By pounding brow and swollen lip;
By fever’s hot and scaly grip;
By those two red redundant eyes
That weep like woeful April skies;
By racking snuffle, snort, and sniff;
By handkerchief after handkerchief;
This cold you wave away as naught
Is the damnedest cold man ever caught!
3. Bacilli swarm within my portals
Such as were ne’er conceived by mortals,
But bred by scientists wise and hoary
In some Olympic laboratory;
Bacteria as large as mice,
With feet of fire and heads of ice
Who never interrupt for slumber
Their stamping elephantine rumba.
Q1. What is the emotion that the poet displays in the first stanza?
(a) Anger
(b) Joy
(c) Jealousy
(d) Sympathy
Q2. Why and at whom does the poet show his emotion?
(a) At an old man because he has sneered at the poet
(b) At a doctor for an incorrect diagnosis of his medical condition
(c) At a friend who is happy at the poet’s plight
(d) At a doctor who has said that the poet merely has a cold
Q3. The poet describes his eyes as ‘two red redundant eyes’ because
(a) He cannot see properly due to the cold
(b) They show how furious the poet is
(c) They have been affected by an eye disease
(d) In his medical condition the poet is imagining things
Q4. ‘Bacteria as large as mice’ is an instance of a/an
(a) Simile and a hyperbole
(b) Metaphor
(c) Personification
(d) Alliteration
Q5. ‘Who never interrupt for slumber
Their stamping elephantine rumba.’
The meaning of these lines is that
(a) The bacteria are continuously stamping their elephant-like feet
(b) The cold-causing germs are causing much discomfort and pain to the poet without any break
(c) The bacilli are so active that they refuse to go to sleep
(d) The poet is not able to concentrate on his work due to the raging cold
Q6. The general tone of the poem can be described as
(a) Satirical and harsh
(b) Ironical and mocking
(c) Whimsical and humorous
(d) Sad and tragic
Directions (Q7-10): In each of the following questions, find out which part of the sentence has an error. If there is no mistake, the answer is “no error”.
Q7. She is too much beautiful (1)/ so most of the boys (2)/ run after her and (3)/want to influence her. (4)
(a) 1
(b) 2
(c) 3
(d) 4
Q8. We will have at (1)/ some point of time in our lives (2)/ wondered if we are actually (3)/ being too nice to someone. (4)
(a) 1
(b) 2
(c) 3
(d) 4
Q9. Of all the models (1)/Jessica is (2)/ the more good-looking one (3)/No error (4)
(a) 1
(b) 2
(c) 3
(d) 4
Q10. The fight for liberation (1)/bring out the best (2)/and a noblest quality in mankind. (3)/ No error (4)
(a) 1
(b) 2
(c) 3
(d) 4
S1. Ans.(a)
Sol. In the first stanza, the poet is angry with the doctor for saying that the poet has common cold.
S2. Ans.(d)
Sol. The poet uses hyperbole while expressing his state to the doctor, who, to the poet’s dismay, had diagnosed him with common cold.
S3. Ans.(a)
Sol. The cold has affected the poet’s eyes. His eyes have become red and he is not able to see properly.
S4. Ans.(a)
Sol. Simile and hyperbole have been used in the given phrase. Simile is the used of ‘as’ or ‘like’ for comparing two things and hyperbole is an extreme exaggeration of a point (in this case, bacteria, which is actually a very small thing, is described as big as mice).
S5. Ans.(b)
Sol. The poet is in discomfort due to cold. He describes the discomfort and pain caused by the bacteria as ‘elephantine rumba’.
S6. Ans.(a)
Sol. The poem can be marked by satire, which is the use of humor, irony, ridicule and exaggeration to criticize something. It has elements of harshness embedded in the tone.
S7. Ans.(a)
Sol.
S8. Ans.(d)
Sol.
S9. Ans.(c)
Sol.
S10. Ans.(c)
Sol.
