Page 1 :
In Time of Drought, Reading Comprehension, A. 1. ‘Rushes are black by the river bed’, ‘waste of gravel and sand’ and ‘waterless gullies’, depict a drought-hit, landscape., 2. The sheep and cattle stand ‘where the waters were, In a waste of gravel and sand.’, 3. The wayfarer has fainted despite his lightened load as there is no water to quench his thirst., 4. The fields are furrowed and the seeds have been sown., B. 1. The river bed was full of water earlier but now the rushes are black by them and the sheep, and cattle stand, there wistful-eyed. The river bed is now full of gravel and sand., 2. The pool is called slimy because it does not have any water but just wet mud. It may not fully, serve the, purpose for which it is approached but it does serve the purpose for which it is approached, to, the extent that, it is the last resort for water for the cattle dying in the drought., 3. The poet means to say that though our need was really immense, the river of God was full, enough to take care, of all our needs., D. 1. a. The fields are waiting for the rains from the heavens., b. The first question the poet raises is, ‘And where shall the grain for the harvest be—?’, c. The poor will benefit from the harvest., 2. a. The poet mentions the Andes and the Himalayas as a direct request to God for rain. The, poet requests that, the same clouds that rise from the tropic seas and bless the Andes’ mountain range in South, America with, rains and the Himalayan mountain range of Asia with snow may bless them too so that they, may gladly say, ‘Although our need for water was so great, the rivers of God were full enough to satisfy them, all!’, b. To a farmer, a drought is a period of moisture deficiency that affects the cultivation of his, crops., The clouds which rise from the tropic seas can shed rain or snow , which helps in fighting with, the scarcity of water., So, ‘Tropic seas’ are being referred to in these lines., c. The poet asks God to fill up the clouds from tropic seas so that they shed rains on the Andes’, westward, slopes and soft snowfall on Himalayas’ peak.