Page 172 - New Grammar with a Smile 8

It is the hardest thing in the world to frighten
a mongoose, because he is eaten up from nose
to tail with curiosity. The motto of all the
mongoose family is ‘Run and find out,’ and
Rikki-tikki was a true mongoose. He looked at
the cotton wool, decided that it was not good to
eat, ran all round the table, sat up and put his
fur in order, scratched himself, and jumped on
the small boy’s shoulder.

‘Don’t be frightened, Teddy,’ said his father.
‘That’s his way of making friends.’

On the basis of your reading of the passage given above, answer the
following questions.

a. Who was Rikki?

i. a tailorbird ii. a musk-rat iii. a mongoose iv. a snake

b. Match the names with the people/animals.

i. Darzee mongoose

ii. Chuchundra an English boy

iii. Rikki-tikki-tavi tailorbird

iv. Teddy musk-rat

c. What is a small house or cottage that is either single-storeyed or has a second
storey built into a sloping roof?

i. an apartment ii. a cottage iii. a bungalow iv. a hut

d. What was ‘Rikk-tikk-tikki-tikki-tchk!’?

i. Chuchundra’s war cry ii. the Englishman’s war cry

iii. Darzee’s war cry iv. Rikki-tikki-tavi’s war cry

e. How did Rikki-tikki-tavi get separated from his family?

i. because of a high summer flood ii. because of torrential rain

iii. because of heavy snowfall iv. because of drought

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