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Chapter-10, The Story of Cricket, Comprehension Check I, 1. Cricket is originally a/an, A. Indian game, B. British game, C. International game., Answer, , Cricket is originally, , a, , British game., , 2. "There is a historical reason behind both these oddities.", In the preceding two paragraphs, find two words/phrase that mean, the same as 'oddities'., , Answer:, The two words that mean the same as "oddities' are:, Peculiarities, , Curios characteristics, 3. How is a cricket bat different from a hockey stick?, Answer:, , A cricket bat is different from a hockey stick as the bat is flat and, straight while the stick is curved and bent at the bottom.
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Working with the Text, 1. Name some stick-and-ball games that you have witnessed or heard, Answer:, , Some popular stick-and-ball games are Hockey, Golf, Polo and, Snooker., , 2. The Paris were the first Indian community to take to cricket. Why?, Answer:, The Parsis were a community of rich business men who were in close, contact with the white settlers. They were one of the first pcople i n, India to adopt westem ways of life and played cricket as a leisure, , sport., , 3. The rivalry between the Paris and the Bombay Gymkhana had, , happy ending for the former. What does 'a happy ending' refer to?, Answer:, Here, the phrase "Happy ending' refers to a definite victory. The, Bombay Gymkhana wasa colonisers' club that played cricket in, , Bombay. The Paris club and Bombay Gymkhana people often tussled, over the common park for playing cricket. In 1889 the Paris club, , defcated thec Bombay Gymkhana in a cricket match, thus ending the, , rivalry., 4. Do you think cricket owes its present popularity to television?, Justify your answer., Answer:, Yes, cricket owes it present popularity to television. It is the most, , wide broadcasted sports in the country and people spend hours glucd, to the television screen on days on important matches., , 5. Why has cricket a large viewership in India, not in China or, Russia'?, Answer:, , China and Russia are both communist country and do not play cricket., India, a former colony of the British Empire, has been playing cricket, since pre-independence. It gained popularity as a colonial sport, played against the colonisers and then the whites., , 4
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6. What do you understand by the game's (cricket) "equipment"?, , Answer:, , The main equipment in cricket consists of bat, ball, stumps and bails., , The players too put on protective cquipment's like helmet, pads and, gloves while playing the game., , 7. How is test cricket a unique game in many ways?, , Answer:, Test cricket is unique in itself since it can go on for five days without, , any conclusive victory and the match ending up as a draw between, the teams, while no other game takes half as much time to finish. A, football match, for examples, cnds in 90 minutes., , 8. How is cricket different from other, , team, , games?, , Answer:, , Cricket is different from other team games since it was the first game, to be codified. The length of the pitch is specified as 22 yards,, however there are no specific measurements for the shape or size of, the ground. Cricket is played in various formats like five day test, matches, one day internationals and now, even twenty twenty matches, while other team games usually follow only one format. Also, unlike, other team sport a cricket match could go draw without either of the, team winning the match., , 9. How have advance in technology affected the game of cricket?, , Answer:, The advancement in technology has improved the, manufacturing, standards of protective equipment's. Vulcanised rubber is used to, make pads and gloves, and helmets are made from, , lightweight, , synthetic material. However, the basic equipment's (the ball & the, bat) are still handmade.
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10., , Explain how cricket changed with changing times and yet, , remained, , unchanged, , in some ways., , Answer:, , Cricket has changed with changing times and yet remained unchanged, time to, shape, of, the, bat, evolved, over, the, is, current flat and straight fom. Earlier, it was made from one single, in, , some, , ways. The, , piece of wood but now it has, , two, , components, the blade and the, , handle made of two different kinds of woods. Now, the players use, protective equipment's made with technologically advanced material., , However, the basic, , playing equipment's, , are, , still handmade.
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Comprehension CheckI, 1. Do you think the atmosphere of Mr Purcll's shop was cheerful or, , depressing? Give reasons for your answer., Answer:, The atmosphere of Mr Purcell's shop was depressing because the, birds and the animals were caged. Though they kept it lively by, , making noises, the depressing environment can be inferred by the, author's words like moving around in frantic circles, frightened,, , bewildered, blindly sccking all., , 2. Describe the stranger who came to the pet shop. What did he want?, Answer:, , The stranger who came to the pet shop wanted something that was, , small but ina cage. He wore shiny shoes which squeaked forward and, his suit, though new, was cheap and ill-fitting. He had a shuttling, glance and close-cropped hair., , 3., , (A), , The man insisted on buying the doves because he was fond of, birds. Do you agree?, , Answer:, , No, I do not agree that the man was fond of birds. Had it been so, he, would have asked for birds the very moment he entered the shop. He, was not very clear about what he wanted. He just wanted something, which was small and flew but was in a cage., , (B), , How had he earned the five dollars he had?, , Answer:, Though nothing is cxplicitly stated in the passage but we can infer, , that the man had just got freed from the prison. He told the pet shop, owner that he had earmed the five dollars after doing ten years of hard, labour. He further said that he had been given five dollars and a cheap, suit and was told not to get caught again.
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4. Was the customer interested in the care and feeding of the doves he, had bought? If not, why not?, Answer:, No, the customer freed the birds from the cage which means that he, was not interested in the care and feeding of the doves he had bought., , Exercises, 1. Why, in your opinion, did the man set the doves free?, Answer, , As can be inferred from the man's words, he had spent the last ten, years of his life in jail and he knew the pain of being locked up and, the importance of freedom. He sympathized wilh the creatures in, cages who were designed by the God to fly high but were kept in, cages by the, , owner., , 2. Why did it make Mr. Purcell feel "vaguely insulted"?, Answer, , Mr. Purcell felt vaguely insulted because the man freed the doves he, had bought from his shop for five dollars. The man had only five, dollars with him and he spent them entirely on purchasing the birds, just to let them free. This made Mr Purcell feel insulted as he had, caged the birds and sold them.
