Class 5 English Chapter 11 Solution
Midnight Express
1. Very Short Question Answer
1. How did the book look?
Ans: The book was a battered old one, bound in red leather.
2. Where did Mortimer find the book?
Ans: Mortimer found the book in his father’s library.
3. How old was Mortimer when he found the book in the library?
Ans: Mortimer was twelve years old when he found the book in the library.
4. How was Mortimer’s house?
Ans: Mortimer’s house was large and old.
5. What is the name of the story which the leather – bound book contained?
Ans: The name of the story which the leather – bound book contained is ‘Midnight Express’.
6. What did Mortimer do when his instincts were aroused?
Ans: Mortimer walked quickly towards the figure and looked into its face when his instincts were aroused.
7. To where did Mortimer follow the shadowy figure?
Ans: Mortimer followed the shadowy figure to an upper room where a bright fire was burning.
2. Short Question Answer
1. When did Mortimer read the book?
Ans: When the rest of his large, old house was covered in darkness, Mortimer read the book in his bedroom by the candlelight.
2. What did the illustration on page fifty of the book show?
Ans: The illustration on page fifty of the book showed an empty railway platform at night lit by a dull, yellow lamp. A single man stood under the lamp, his face turned towards the black mouth of a tunnel.
3. Why do you think Mortimer never read beyond page fifty of the book?
Ans: I think that Mortimer never read beyond page fifty of the book because there was an illustration on page fifty which threatend him for some unknown reason.
4. Why were Mortimer’s instincts aroused?
Ans: Mortimer’s instincts were aroused because he suddenly noticed in an empty junction a dark and solitary figure which he saw on page fifty of his book in his childhood.
5. When had Mortimer seen the ‘dark and solitary figure’ in his childhood?
Ans: Mortimer had seen the dark and solitary figure’ while he was reading a book from his father’s library in his childhood. It was there in an illustration on page fifty.
6. “Mortimer was shocked” When was Mortimer shocked and why?
Ans: When Mortimer noticed the solitary figure on the platform, he was reminded that he had seen on page fifty of his book in his childhood. He was shocked when he walked quickly towards the figure and looked into its face. Mortimer was shocked because he was staring into his own face.
7. What was “steady gaining” on Mortimer as he stumbled out of the platform?
Ans: The echo of Mortimer’s own footsteps behind him were “steadily gaining” on him as he stumbled out of the platform.
8. What was the content of the story “Midnight Express”?
Ans: The content of the story “Midnight Express” was about a man who in his childhood had read a book which contained a frightening picture.
9. How did Mortimer react to the panicky situation?
Ans: Mortimer collapsed into the armchair and picked up the old book. With a shock he realized it was the same book from his childhood. He was afraid. He turned the pages with trembling hands.
10. When did Mortimer feel a chill run up his spine?
Ans: Mortimer felt a chill run up his spine when he looked up into the face of the shadowy figure and realized that he was looking at himself.
11. Why do you think Mortimer’s hands trembled when he turned the pages of the book?
Ans: When Mortimer realized that the book which lay on the oak table was the same book from his childhood, he was greatly afraid. This is why Mortimer’s hands trembled.
12. “Mortimer tried to grasp the strange cycle of events he was going through” – What was the strange cycle of events?
Ans: Mortimer saw a picture in a book in his childhood and exactly the same picture and the book he saw when she was an adult man. All the incidents of the story were coming alive in front of him.
13. Do you think that the strange incidents that happened to Mortimer would not have occurred if he had not read the book?
Ans: Since the book was a part of the strange cycle of events, it is possible that the things that happened to Mortimer would not have happened if he had not read the book.
3. True And False
1.(a) F By the armchair was a small, oak table on which lay a battered old book bound in red leather.
(b) T With a shock he (Mortimer) realized it was the same book from his childhood, the book which contained the story of ‘Midnight Express’.
(c) T He (Mortimer) was filled with acute dread.
(d) F The candle on the table cast huge shadows on the walls. The shadowy figure stood before Mortimer. Slowly he edged forward.
2.(i) T Mortimer was greatly afraid.
(ii) F The clock ticked in the hall below and the sea roared outside.
(iii) T He (Mortimer) was staring into his own face.
(iv) F The candle on the table cast huge shadows on the wall. The shadowy figure stood before Mortimer.
(v) T… suddenly noticed a dark and solitary figure he (Mortimer) knew.
(vi) F Mortimer was greatly afraid.
(vii) F It was a battered old book, bound in red leather.