Page 21 - English Expedition Class 6

Comprehension

A. Sequence the following events in the order in which they happen in the story.

• Rigzin woke up early to help in the preparations for the special prayers.

• The snow leopard was taken to Leh.

• A happy Rigzin thought about the snow leopard as he prayed that night.

• Jigmet urgently pointed him towards Tashi’s house.

• A snow leopard had entered Tashi’s lhas and killed all the livestock.

• The villagers gasped when they saw the leopard up close.

• People wanted to throw poisoned meat through the hole.

• Only a calf was still alive.

• Rigzin went in to retrieve the calf.

• The leopard began to jump towards the hole.

B. Answer the questions with reference to the context.

1. ‘Yes, it’s a big one, Rigzin. If you climb onto the roof of the lhas, you will get a glimpse of it.’
a. Who says these lines? Where are the speaker and Rigzin standing at the moment?

b. What is a ‘big one’? Where had Rigzin learnt a lot about it?

c. How does the ‘big one’ communicate with the others of its species?
2. ‘We have to fi rst save the calf in there. It’s still alive, and we’ll have to get it out somehow . . .’
a. Who says this? What is the general feeling among the listeners when this is said?

b. Who, among the listeners, is most attached to the calf? Why?

c. What is the speaker’s plan to rescue the calf?
3. ‘Oh no! We can’t kill a snow leopard, azhang-ley . . .’
a. Who is speaking to whom?

b. What reasons are given for killing the snow leopard?

c. What are the speaker’s arguments for not killing the animal?
4. ‘It was a mistake to have made a hole in the roof.’
a. Who is the speaker?

b. Why had the hole in the roof been made in the fi rst place?

c. Why was it a mistake to make the hole?

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