Question 1 : Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.
The windmill presented unexpected difficulties. There was a good quantity of limestone on the farm, and plenty of sand and cement had been found in one of the outhouses, so that all the materials for building were at hand. But the problem the animals could not at first solve was how to break up the stone into pieces of suitable size.
i) Who had presented the idea of the windmill?
Answer : Snowball, the pig, had presented the idea of the windmill. It was his dream project. However, it also became the reason for his downfall.
ii) How was the windmill going to help the animals of the farm?
Answer : Snowball had the dream of building a windmill for the Animal Farm. He told the animals that after the windmill gets completed, the animals would have electricity and then they would have more comfortable lives as most of their work would get completed much more earlier and efficiently.
iii) Why had Napoleon protested the windmill initially?
Answer : It is not clear why Napoleon had protested the building of the windmill initially. It seems that he was always against Snowball’s thoughts and that might have prompted him to go against the idea of the windmill also. But later, he told the animals of the farm that they indeed needed the windmill.
iv) How did the humans solve the problem of breaking the stone?
Answer : The animals needed to break the stone in order to build the windmill. However, they were not able to do so as the humans did it by picks and crowbars and the animals were not able to operate these tools without standing on their hind legs.
v) Why did the animals not solve the problems like the humans? What solution did they come up with?
Answer : After weeks of vain effort did the right idea occur to somebody – namely, to utilise the force of gravity. Huge boulders, for too big to be used as they were, lying all over the bed of the quarry. The animals lashed ropes around these, and then all together, cows, horses, sheep, any animal that could lay hold of the rope – even the pigs sometimes joined in at critical moments.
They dragged them with desperate slowness up the slope to the top of the quarry, where they were toppled over the edge, to shatter the pieces below. Transporting the stone where it was once broken was comparatively simple.
Question 2 : Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.
Once again the animals were conscious of a vague uneasiness. Never to have ….. had to these been among the earliest resolutions passed at that first triumphant. Meeting after Jones was expelled? All the animals remembered passing such resolutions: or at least they thought that they remembered it.
i) Why wee the animals feeling uneasy?
Answer : One Sunday morning, when the animals assembled to receive their orders, Napoleon announced that the had decided upon a new policy. From now onwards Animal Farm would engage in trade with the neighbouring farms. This announcement made the animals uneasy.
ii) What happened just after this extract?
Answer : Just after this extract, the four young pigs who had protested when Napoleon abolished the meetings raised their voices timidly, but they were promptly silenced by a tremendous growling from the dogs. Then, as usual, the sheep broke into ‘Four legs good, two legs bad!’
iii) What were the Seven Commandments the animals abide by?
Answer : The Seven Commandments of the Animal Farm were:
a) Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.
b) Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.
c) No animal shall wear clothes.
d) No animal shall sleep in a bed.
e) No animal shall drink alcohol.
f) No animal shall kill any other animal.
g) All animals are equal.
iv) The animals were feeling uneasy but Napoleon had already made arrangements. What arrangements had he made?
Answer : Napoleon announced that the needs of the windmill would override everything. He was therefore making arrangements to sell a stack of hay and part of the current year’s wheat crop, and later on, if more money was needed, it would have to be made up by the sale of eggs, for which there was always a market in Willingdon. The hens, said Napoleon, should welcome this sacrifice as their own special contribution towards the building of the windmill.
Long Answer Type Question
Question 1 : The animals worked like slaves to complete the windmill. However, they had to meet utter disappointment. What had happened to the windmill? What was its effect on the animals?
Answer : On the third Sunday after Snowball’s expulsion, the animals were somewhat surprised to hear Napoleon announce that the windmill was to be built after all. He did not give any reason for having changed his mind, but merely warned the animals that this extra task would mean very hard work. It might even be necessary to reduce their rations.
All that year the animals worked like slaves. But they were happy in their work; they grudged no effort or sacrifice, well aware that everything that they did was for the benefit of themselves and those of their kind who would come after them, and not for a pack of idle, thieving human beings.
The windmill presented unexpected difficulties. There was a good quarry of limestone on the farm, and plenty of sand and cement had been found in one of the outhouses, so that all the materials for building were at hand. But the problem the animals could not at first solve was how to break up the stone into pieces of suitable size. Only after weeks of vain effort did the right idea occur to somebody – namely, to utilise the force of gravity. Huge boulders, far too big to use used as they were, were lying all over the bed of the quarry.
The animals lashed ropes around these, and then all together, cows, horses, sheep, any animal that could lay hold of the rope – even the pigs sometimes joined in at critical moments. They dragged them with desperate slowness up the slope to the top of the quarry, where they were toppled over the edge, to shatter to pieces below. Transporting the stone when it was once broken was comparatively simple.
By late summer a sufficient store of stone had accumulated, and then the building began, under the superintendence of pigs. But it was a slow, laborious process. Frequently it took a whole day of exhausting effort to drag a single boulder to the top of the quarry, and sometimes when it was pushed over the edge it failed to break.
November came, with raging South-West winds. Building had to stop because it was now too wet to mix the cement. Finally there came a night when the gale was so violent that the farm buildings rocked on their foundations and several tiles were blown off the roof of the barn. There was a loud bang. In the morning, the animals met a horror sight. The windmill had been destroyed.
Napoleon claimed that Snowball was after this. They even found a pig’s footprint. Napoleon announced that whoever would capture Snowball would be conferred with a military honour and half a bushel of apples. He also announced that they would build the windmill again and show Snowball that he cannot deter them from their path. All the animals agreed.
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10