NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English First Flight Chapter 9 Madam Rides The Bus

NCERT Solutions for CBSE Class 10 English First Flight Chapter 9 Madam Rides The Bus are provided here. This story is written by Vallikkannan and includes many questions that are important for exams. We have solved all the NCERT questions of the lesson with a detailed explanation that help students to complete their assignments & homework. We have provided NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English First Flight Chapter 9 Madam Rides The Bus in PDF format so that you can download them for offline use.

Class 10 English First Flight Chapter 9 NCERT Questions and Answers

Oral Comprehension Check (Page No. 119)

Question 1. What was Valli’s favourite pastime?

Answer: Valli’s favourite pastime was to stand in the front doorway of her house and watch what was happening outside in the street.

Question 2. What was the source of unending joy for Valli? What was her strongest desire?

Answer: A source of unending joy for Valli was the sight of the bus that travelled between her village and the nearest town, filled with a new set of passengers each time it passed through her street. Her strongest desire was to ride on that bus.

Question 3. What did Valli find out about the bus journey? How did she find these details?

Answer: Valli found out that the bus journey to the town took 45 minutes and the one-way fare costed 30 paisa. She listened carefully to the conversations between her neighbours and people who regularly used the bus and asked a few discreet questions here and there. This way she picked up various small details about the bus journey.

Question 4. What do you think Valli was planning to do?

Answer: Valli was planning to go to the town and then return back by the same bus. The fare was 30 paise one way and the ride took forty five minutes. In this way, she planned that she would be back by 2:45 pm if she took the bus at 1:00 pm.

Oral Comprehension Check (Page No. 122)

Question 1. Why does the conductor call Valli ‘madam’?

Answer: Valli was trying to behave more mature than her age. She was trying to look overconfident and smart. The conductor was amused at her behaviour and in an effort to tease her, calls her ‘madam’.

Question 2. Why does Valli stand up on the seat? What does she see now?

Answer: Valli wanted to look outside the bus. She found her view blocked by the canvas blind that covered the lower part of the window. In order to have a better view she stood up on the seat and peered over the blind. She saw a canal, palm trees, grassland, mountains, green fields and the sky.

Question 3: What does Valli tell the elderly man when he calls her a child?

Answer: When the elderly man called her a child, Valli told him that there was nobody in the bus who was a child. She had paid her fare of thirty paise like everyone else.

Question 4. Why didn’t Valli want to make friends with the elderly woman?

Answer: Valli did not want to make friends with the elderly woman because she found her absolutely repulsive. She saw that the woman had big holes in her ear lobes and very ugly earrings in them. The woman was chewing betel nut and the betel juice was about to seep out of her mouth. That is why she did not want to be sociable with her.

Oral Comprehension Check (Page No. 125)

Question 1. How did Valli save money for her first journey? Was it easy for her?

Answer: Valli had carefully saved whatever stray coins came her way, resisting every temptation to buy peppermints, toys, balloons, and the like. Finally, she had saved sixty paise.

No, it was not easy for her, especially at the village fair where she was tempted to ride the merry-go-round as she had the money. However, she suppressed her strong desire and saved the money for the bus ride.

Question 2. What did Valli see on her way that made her laugh?

Answer: Valli saw a young cow, tail high in the air running very fast right in the middle of the road in front of the bus. The driver sounded his horn again and again so that the cow moves away. But the more he honked, the more frightened the animal became and faster it galloped. This all seemed very funny to Valli and she laughed and laughed till there were tears in her eyes.

Question 3. Why didn’t she get off the bus at the bus station?

Answer: Valli had planned that she only wanted to ride on the bus. She would spend thirty paise on her fare, go to the town and then come back by the same bus before her mother woke up. She didn’t 1 time or money to go to see the town.

Question 4. Why didn’t Valli want go to the stall have a drink? What does this tell yo about her?

Answer: Valli didn’t want to go to the stall as she had saved sixty paise only for the bus journey. She didn’t want to waste money on anything unnecessary as she had to return by the same bus at any cost. So, when the conductor suggested her to get down and get a drink for herself, she refused. He also offered to get her a drink in case she doesn’t have money, but she still refused. This implies that she was an independent girl who did not want to rely on anyone for her needs.

Thinking About the Text

Question 1. What was Valli’s deepest desire? Find the words and phrases in the story that tell you this.

Answer: Valli’s strongest desire was to ride on the bus she saw everyday. The sentences in the story which depict this are as follows:

“Day after day she watched the bus, and gradually a tiny wish crept into her head and grew there: she wanted to ride on that bus, even if just once. This wish became stronger and stronger, until it was an overwhelming desire.”

Question 2. How did Valli plan her bus ride? What did she find out about the bus, and how did she save up the fare?

Answer: Valli planned that she would take the one o’clock bus, reach the town at one forty-five, and be back home by two forty-five. She found out that the town was six miles away from her village. The fare was thirty paise one way. The trip to the town took forty-five minutes. On reaching the town, if she stayed in her seat and paid another thirty paise, she could return home on the same bus. She had carefully saved whatever stray coins came her way, resisting every temptation to buy peppermints, toys, balloons, etc. and finally she had saved sixty paise.

Question 3. What kind of person is Valli? To answer this question, pick out the following sentences from the text and fill in the blanks. The words you fill in are the clues to your answer.

(i) “Stop the bus! Stop the bus!” And a tiny hand was raised ____________
(ii) “Yes, ____________ go to town,” said Valli, still standing outside the bus.
(iii) “There’s nobody here  ____________,” she said haughtily. I’ve paid my thirty paise like everyone else.”
(iv) “Never mind,” she said, “I can  ____________. You don’t have to help me. “I’m not a child, I tell you,” she said, ____________.
(v) “You needn’t bother about me. I  ____________,” Valli said, turning her face toward the window and staring out.
(vi) Then she turned to the conductor and said, “Well, sir, I hope  ____________.”

Answer: (i) “Stop the bus! Stop the bus!” And a tiny hand was raised commandingly.

(ii) “Yes, I simply have to go to town,” said Valli, still standing outside the bus.

(iii) “There’s nobody here who’s a child,” she said haughtily. “I’ve paid my thirty paise like everyone else.”

(iv) “Never mind,” she said, “I can get on by myself. You don’t have to help me. ”I’m not a child, I tell you,” she said, irritably.

(v) “You needn’t bother about me. I can take care of myself,” Valli said, turning her face toward the window and staring out.

(vi) Then she turned to the conductor and said, “Well, sir, I hope to see you again.”

Question 4. Why does the conductor refer to Valli as ‘Madam’?

Answer: When the conductor stretched out his hand to help her get on the bus, Valli said commandingly that she could get on by herself, and she did not require his help. She did not act like a child, but as a grown-up girl and therefore, the conductor called her ‘madam’. When the elderly man called her a child and asked her sit down on her seat, she replied that nobody was a child on the bus. She kept stressing on the fact that she had paid her fare like everybody else and therefore, she should not be treated differently.

Question 5. Find the lines in the text which tell you that Valli was enjoying her ride on the bus.

Answer: The following lines in the text show that Valli was enjoying her ride on the bus:

(i) “Valli devoured everything with her eyes.”

(ii) “On the one side there was the canal and, beyond it, palm trees, grassland, distant mountains, and the blue, blue sky. On the other side was a deep ditch and then acres and acres of green fields − green, green, green, as far as the eye could see. Oh, it was all so wonderful!”

(iii) “Everyone laughed, and gradually Valli too joined in the laughter. Suddenly, Valli clapped her hands with glee.”

(iv) “Somehow this was very funny to Valli. She laughed and laughed until there were tears in her eyes.”

(v) “Valli wasn’t bored to the slightest and greeted everything with the same excitement she’d felt the first time.”

Question 6. Why does Valli refuse to look out of the window on her way back?

Answer: Valli refused to look out of the window on her way back because she saw a young cow lying dead by the roadside, where it had been struck by some fast moving vehicle. It was the same cow that was running in front of their bus, during their trip to the town. She was overcome with sadness. The memory of the dead cow haunted her and therefore, she refused to look out of the window.

Question 7. What does Valli means when she says… “I was just agreeing with you what you said about things happening without our knowledge”.

Answer: Valli’s mother said that many things happen around us, but we are usually unaware of them. Valli had gone on a bus ride to town, all alone, and had come back without any harm. She did all this without the knowledge of her mother. Hence, she agreed with what her mother said.

Question 8. The author describes the things that Valli sees from an 8 years old’s point of view. Can you find evidence from the text for his statement?

Answer: The author has described the things that Valli saw from an eight-year-old’s point of view. She was fascinated by a bus. Watching the bus filled with a new set of people each time was a source of unending joy for her. Her strongest desire was to ride the bus. She saved money by cutting on peppermints, toys, and balloons, and even resisting the temptation to ride the merry-go-round at the fair. When the author describes the bus, the points he stresses on are the colour and look of the bus. It was a ‘new bus’, painted a ‘gleaming white’. The overhead bars ‘shone like silver’. The seats were ‘soft and luxurious’. The descriptions that the author gives when Valli looked outside are also typical for an eight-year-old. The ‘blue, blue sky’ and the ‘acres and acres of green fields − green, green, green’ show the enthusiasm of a kid on looking at different colours. Valli clapped her hands in glee on watching a cow run right in front of the bus. She found it so funny that tears came into her eyes. On the other hand, she was overcome with sadness on her way back when she saw the same cow lying dead. It had been a ‘lovable, beautiful creature’ and later it ‘looked so horrible’. The memory of the dead cow haunted her so much that she refused to look outside the window. These are the typical reactions of a young child.