Passage Questions
Comprehension Check :
1. What tasks, do you think, were assigned to the dog and the ox?
~ In
the desert the dog was assigned the task of fetching and carrying sticks, and
the ox was assigned the task of ploughing.
2. Why did the camel live in the middle of the desert?
~ The
camel lived in the middle of the desert because he did not want to work. He ate
sticks, thorns, and prickles, and when anybody spoke to him for work he replied
“Humph!” and nothing more.
3. What made the dog, the horse and the ox very angry?
~ On their
complain the man told the dog, the horse, and the ox that since the camel
cannot work, he would leave it alone and the three of them would have to work
double-time to make up for the work not done by the camel which made the three
of them very angry.
4. How did the Djinn know the horse was complaining against the
camel?
~
Djinn being the in-charge of all deserts, knew about everything and every one
of his deserts. He knew that the horse was complaining against the long neck,
the camel.
Comprehension Check :
1. The camel was looking at this own reflection in the pool. What
does it
suggest to you about the camel?
~ The
camel was very self-obsessed, he loved himself, he loved his image in the pool.
2. The camel said, “Humph” repeatedly. How did it affect him?
~ The
camel repeatedly said “Humph!” despite
the Djinn’s warning, and as a result, he got a big hump in his back.
3. What, according to the Djinn, was the use of the “humph”?
~ The
Djinn said that as the camel had skipped work for three days, he could live on
his humph and work for three days without eating. He assured that his “humph”
would not create any problem while working.
4. “…he has never yet learnt to behave”. In the light of this,
what is the
writer’s opinion about the camel?
~ The
nature of the camel has not changed. He was so lazy that in spite of being
asked by the Djinn to go out of the desert to help the other three animals
after getting a hump in his back he did not behave himself and worked lazily in
the desert. And so he was unable to
complete the pending work of those three missed days. He continued carrying the
hump and living in the desert.
Exercise
Discuss the following topic in groups.
1. Can this story be factually true?
~ No, the story ‘How the camel got his hump’ is
not factually true.
Its
completely virtual, an imaginary story of the writer.
2. What, according to you, is the story about?
Consider the following
i)How the word began.
ii)Why everyone should do his/ her work seriously.
iii)How animals are important to humans.
iv)How the camel got his hump.
~ The
story ‘How the camel got his hump’ is all about how the camel got his hump.
3. What did you do over the weekend? Where you generally active or
idle? Please check your back before starting to discuss or answer the question.
~ I
woke up late and kept myself busy the whole day with the works which give me
happiness.
I was
both active and idle, depending on the pressure of work and mood too.
I have
checked my back and there is no hump.
4. There are broadly two categories of workers, those who prefer to
do today what they can do tomorrow and those who prefer to do tomorrow what
they can fo today. Where do you belong?
~ I do
belong to the category ‘those who prefer to do today what they can do
tomorrow’. I believe to complete my work on time.