Question 1 : Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.
In the end they finished the harvest in two days’ less time than it had usually taken Jones and his men. Moreover, it was the biggest harvest that the farm had ever seen. There was no wastage whatever; the hens and ducks with their sharp eyes had gathered up the last stalk. And not an animal on the farm had stolen so much as a mouthful.
All through that summer the work of the farm went like clockwork. The animals were happy as they had never conceived it possible to be.
i) What problems did the animals face in the beginning? What work did the pigs do?
Answer : The Rebellion had been achieved and the animals were in control of the farm now. Now, they needed to harvest the hay. However, it was a difficult task as the animals were adapted to the tools that were required for harvesting. Moreover, they required the animals to stand on their hind legs. The pigs were the think tanks of the farm and hence did not work at all. They assumed the position of leadership and started to direct and supervise the functioning of the farm.
ii) Give any three examples of how the animals worked together in harmony to take are of the farm?
Answer : Every animal in the farm played its part to take care of the farm. The pigs, who were the think tanks, made different policies for the betterment of the farm and constantly motivated them. Most of the hard labour was done by the two horses Boxer and Clover. Even the ducks and hens carried tiny wisps of hay in their beaks and ensured that three was no wastage.
iii) What was the colour of the flag that was hoisted every Sunday? What design did it have? What was the significance of the design?
Answer : The flag was green and it was hoisted every Sunday. Snowball also painted a hoof and a horn on it in white colour. He explained that the green colour represented the green fields of England, while the hoof and horn signified the future Republic of the Animals which would arise when the human race had been finally overthrown.
iv) Name three Animal Committees that Snowball organised.
Answer : Snowball busied himself with organising the other animals into what he called Animal Committees. He was indefatigable at this. He formed the Egg Production Committee for the hens, the Clean Tails League for the cows, the Wild Comrades’ Re-education Committee (the object of this was to tame the rats and rabbits), the Whiter Wool Movement of the sheep, and various others, besides instituting classes in reading and writing.
v) Point out the differences in the characters of Snowball and Napoleon. Cite instances to support your answer.
Answer : Snowball was a patriot and he thought only for the betterment of the farm and its animals. He was also a visionary and came up with great ideas every now and then. He reduced the Seven Commandments into a single maxim for the stupid animals. He was good at making strategies which was clear and form the fact that he wanted the animals to learn reading and writing and formed special committees for their welfare. He was a good leader.
On the other hand, Napoleon was a tyrannical dictator. He knew that the was no match for Snowball’s intelligence and hence overthrew him by force. He was selfish and while the other animals of the farm went hungry, he actually got fat.
He used lies against Snowball to belittle his contributions and make a name for himself. He was greedy and in no way thought for the greater good.
Question 2 : Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.
Napoleon took no interest in Snowball’s committees. He said that the education of the young was more important than anything that could be done for those who were already grown up.
i) Name the different Committees that Snowball had formed?
Answer : Snowball busied himself with organising the other animals into what he called Animal Committees. He was indefatigable at this. He formed the Egg Production Committee for the hens, the Clean Tails League for the cows, the Wild Comrades’ Re-education Committee (the object of this was to tame the rats and rabbits), the Whiter Wool Movement of the sheep, and various others, besides instituting classes in reading and writing.
ii) How did the reading and writing classes go?
Answer : The reading and writing classes, however, were a great success. By the autumn almost every animal on the farm was literate in some degree. However, the pigs were the most efficient in these skills.
iii) Just before the extract, the sheep are seen adopting a maxim? What was it?
Answer : The sheep were not able to remember all the Seven Commandments. Then Snowball formed a single maxim for them – “Four legs good, two legs bad”. The sheep developed a great liking for this maxim and would often start bleating it.
iv) What did Napoleon do just after this extract?
Answer : It happened that Jesse and Bluebell had given birth to nine sturdy puppies. As soon as they weaned, Napoleon took them from their mothers, saying that he would make himself responsible for their education.
v) Later in the chapter, the pigs were seen getting greedy? How?
Answer : The mystery of disappearing milk was solved. It was being mixed everyday into the pig’s mash. Then when the orchard became littered with windfall apples, the animals thought that they would be distributed equally among them.
However, the pigs got the whole of them. They fooled the other animals saying that they actually disliked milk and apples, but they were necessary as they needed them for their health. If their brains was not healthy then Jones might return. Everybody accepted the explanation.
Long Answer Type Question
Question 1 : Describe, in your own words, the new working system of the residents of the Animal Farm.
Answer : After the Rebellion had been achieved, the pigs decided that they must tend to the harvest, for they needed food for their bellies. They toiled and sweated to get the hay in! But their efforts were rewarded, for the harvest was an even bigger success than they had hoped. Sometimes the work was hard; the implements had been designed for human beings and not for animals, and it was a great drawback that no animal was able to use any tool that involved standing on his hind legs. But the pigs were so clever that they could think of a way around every difficulty. As for the horses, they knew every inch of the field, and in fact understood the business of mowing and raking far better than Jones and his men had ever done.
The pigs did not actually work, but directed and supervised the others. With their superior knowledge it was natural that they should assume the leadership. They also motivated and cheered the others.
Every animal down to the humblest worked at turning the hay and gathering it. Even the ducks and hens toiled to and fro all day in the sun, carrying tiny wisps of hay in their beaks. In the end they finished the harvest in two days’ less time than it had usually taken Jones and his men.
Moreover, it was the biggest harvest that the farm had even seen. There was no wastage whatever; the hens and ducks with their sharp eyes had gathered up the very last stalk. And not an animal on the farm had stolen so much as a mouthful.
All through that summer the work of the farm went on like a clockwork. They met with many difficulties – for instance, later in the year, when they harvested the corn, they had to tread it out in the ancient style and blow away the chaff with their breath, since the farm possessed no threshing machine – but the pigs with their cleverness and Boxer with his tremendous muscles always pulled them through.
Everyone worked according to their capacity. The hens and ducks, for instance, saved five bushels of corn at the harvest by gathering up the stray grains. Mollie was not good at getting up in the mornings, and had a way of leaving work early on the ground that there was a stone in her hoof.
It was soon noticed that when there was work to be done the cat could never be found. Old Benjamin, the donkey, seemed quite unchanged since the Rebellion. He did his work in the same slow obstinate way as he had done it in Jone’s time, never shrinking and never volunteering for extra work either.
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10