STUDY MATERIALS GROUP IX [SMGs]

The Lost Child

1. What are the things the child sees on his way to the fair? Why does he
lag behind?
Ans. On his way to the fair, the child sees the following things-
1. He saw toys that were displayed in the shops lined up on the way.
2. He saw the vast mustard field which seemed like melting gold.
3. There were brightly coloured dragonflies, butterflies and black bees which flapped
their wings and sat on the flowers to suck nectar from them.
4. He also saw little insects and worms along the footpath that were crawling out of
the holes in the footpath to get sunshine.
5. The child saw a dove bird in the grove.
6. Also, he saw hordes of people walking towards the fair.
The child often lagged behind because he would watch the different happenings
around him. He would get attracted to these things and would stop in his way. Then,
his parents would walk ahead and he would be left behind.
2. In the fair he wants many things. What are they? Why does he move on
without waiting for an answer?
Ans. In the fair, the boy wanted the following things-
1. He wanted to buy a burfi from the sweetmeat seller.
2. He wanted a garland of flowers from the flower seller.
3. Next, he saw a balloon seller and wanted a balloon.
4. When he saw the snake – charmer he was attracted to the music of the flute and
wanted to listen to it.
5. He wanted to take a ride on the roundabout swing.
The child moved ahead from all the stalls without waiting for a reply
because he knew that his parents would not heed to his demands. He knew
their replies in each case would be as follows –
1. For the burfi, they would say that he was a greedy child.
2. The garland of flowers would not be bought because it was considered cheap.
3. They would not buy him a balloon because he was grown up to play with it.
4. The child’s parents had warned him from listening to such unpleasant music as
was played by the snake – charmers.
3. When does he realize that he has lost his way? How have his anxiety and
insecurity been described?
Ans. When the child raised his demand for a ride on the round about, his parents did
not reply. He moved his head up to look for them. It was then that he discovered that
he had lost his way. His anxiety and insecurity have been described in the following
ways-
1. The child saw hefty men with murderous eyes and got scared of them.
2. He ran here and there looking for his parents.
3. His turban untied.
4. His clothes became dirty.
5. He was screaming at the top of his voice.
4. Why does the lost child lose interest in the things that he had wanted
earlier?
Ans. The lost child loses interest in the things that he wanted earlier because now
he is sad as he has lost his parents. Before getting anything of his choice like sweets,
flowers, balloons, joy rides and music, he wants to reunite with his mother and
father.
5. What do you think happens in the end? Does the child find his parents?
Ans. The ending of the story is not given. I think that in the end, the boy finds his
parents standing at the fair reception. Thus, the child finds his parents and they
reunite once again.
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Class 9 English The Lost Child Question Answers

Lesson 1 – Extract Based Questions
Extract-based questions are of the multiple-choice variety, and students must
select the correct option for each question by carefully reading the passage.

A. Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow:
IT was the festival of spring. From the wintry shades of narrow lanes and alleys
emerged a gaily clad humanity. Some walked, some rode on horses, others sat,
being carried in bamboo and bullock carts. One little boy ran between his father’s
legs, brimming over with life and laughter.“Come, child, come,” called his parents,
as he lagged behind, fascinated by the toys in the shops that lined the way. He
hurried towards his parents, his feet obedient to their call, his eyes still lingering on
the receding toys. As he came to where they had stopped to wait for him, he could
not suppress the desire of his heart, even though he well knew the old, cold stare of
refusal in their eyes.
Q1. Name the chapter from where this extract has been taken.
Ans. The Lost Child
Q2. Who is the author of the chapter?
Ans. Mulk Raj Anand is the author of the chapter “The Lost Child”.
Q3. What fascinates the child in the fair?
Ans. Toys fascinate the child in the fair.
Q4. What do you understand by “cold stare of refusal”?
Ans. Cold stare of refusal refers to the act of refusal which is without any gesture,
without mentioning a word, just through the act of staring.

B. Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow:
A sweetmeat seller hawked, “gulab-jaman, rasagulla, burfi, jalebi,” at the corner of
the entrance and a crowd pressed round his counter at the foot of an architecture of
many coloured sweets, decorated with leaves of silver and gold. The child stared
open eyed and his mouth watered for the burfi that was his favourite sweet. “I want
that burfi,” he slowly murmured. But he half knew as he begged that his plea would
not be heeded because his parents would say he was greedy. So without waiting for
an answer he moved on.
Q1. What did the child ask for?
Ans. The child asked for burfi.
Q2. How did the child know that his plea would not be heard?
Ans. The child knew that his parents would refuse to buy him sweets by calling him
greedy.
Q3. What do you understand by “ mouth watered”?
Ans. “ Mouth watered” means food that is arousing the appetite or tantalizingly
delicious or appealing.
Q4. What do you understand by “hawk”?
Ans. “Hawked” means to try to sell things by going from place to place asking
people to buy them.

C. Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow:
There was a roundabout in full swing. Men, women and children, carried away in a
whirling motion, shrieked and cried with dizzy laughter. The child watched them
intently and then he made a bold request: “I want to go on the roundabout, please,
Father, Mother.” There was no reply. He turned to look at his parents. They were not
there, ahead of him. He turned to look on either side. They were not there. He
looked behind. There was no sign of them.
Q1. What happened to the child?
Ans. The child lost his parents.
Q2. Who does the “THEY” refer to in the last lines of the extract?
Ans. “They” are the parents of the child.
Q3. Where did the child lose his parents?
Ans. The child lost his parents in the fair.
Q4. What does the word “dizzy laughter” mean?
Ans. Dizzy laughter means playful and silly laughter.

D. Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow:
He ran quickly again, this time to a shrine to which people seemed to be crowding.
Every little inch of space here was congested with men, but he ran through people’s
legs, his little sob lingering: “Mother, Father!” Near the entrance to the temple,
however, the crowd became very thick: men jostled each other, heavy men, with
flashing, murderous eyes and hefty shoulders. The poor child struggled to thrust a
way between their feet but, knocked to and fro by their brutal movements, he might
have been trampled underfoot, had he not shrieked at the highest pitch of his voice,
“Father, Mother!” A man in the surging crowd heard his cry and, stooping with great
difficulty, lifted him up in his arms.
Q1. Who was the child looking for?
Ans. The child was looking for his parents.
Q2. Elaborate the child’s sufferings.
Ans. The poor child struggled to find his parents. He shouted at the highest pitch of
his voice, “Father, Mother!” He was thrusted between people’s feet, knocked to and
fro by their brutal movements.
Q3. Who saved the child from the chaos of the crowd?
Ans. A stranger saved the child from the chaos of the crowd.
Q4. What do you understand by “Men jostled each other”?
Ans. “Men jostled each other” means to push against someone in order to move
past that person or get more space when you are in a crowd of people.

E. Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow:
“Will you have a ride on the horse?” he gently asked as he approached the ring. The
child’s throat tore into a thousand shrill sobs and he only shouted, “I want my
mother, I want my father!”
Q1. Who is “he” in the first line of the extract?
Ans. “He” is a stranger who saved the child from being trampled.
Q2. Why does “he” offer the child a ride?
Ans. The strange man asked the child for a ride to distract him or quieten him as he
was crying inconsolably.
Q3. Why did the child cry?
Ans. The child was crying as he was extremely scared of being lost. He wanted to be
reunited with his parents immediately .
Q4. Why did the child cry “I want my mother, I want my father!”?
Ans. The child felt insecure in the absence of his parents. The child realised that
parents are more important than toys, sweets and swing-rides.

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Class 9 English The Lost Child Short Question

Answers (including questions from Previous
Years Question Papers)
In this post we are also providing important short answer
questions from Chapter 1 The Lost Child for CBSE Class 9 exam in the coming
session.
Q1. What was his father’s reaction to his demands?
Ans. At the fair, the child was delighted. He yearned for a toy. Perhaps his father
couldn’t afford it. He gave him an angry expression. The kid didn’t say anything and
just kept walking.
Q2. What kind of a lady was his mother?
Ans. His mother was a wonderful woman. She had a very gentle demeanour. She
made an effort to distract the child’s focus whenever he expressed an interest in
purchasing something. She didn’t scold him.
Q3. Describe the path of the fair.
Ans. The fair could be reached by foot from the village. After passing through some
lanes, the trail wound its way past some mustard fields.
Q4. Why was the child forbidden to hear the music?
Ans. The child was mesmerised by the snake-charmer’s flute music. He desired to
pause there and take in the music. His parents forbade him from hearing that. They
thought the flute music was cheap and coarse. He was hence not allowed to hear it.
Q5. How did the child react in front of the snake charmer?
Ans. The snake charmer was serenading a snake with the flute. The melody drew
the child, and he approached him. He was aware that his parents would disapprove
of him being there. So he moved on.
Q6. Where did the child’s parents stop and why?
Ans. The child’s parents took a break while travelling to the fair beneath the cover
of a grove. The scene there was also fairly interesting.
Q7. What did the child do in the grove?
Ans. The youngster began gathering the falling petals into his hands as soon as he
entered the forest. When he heard doves cooing, he went to alert his parents about
the bird’s arrival.
Q8. Why would his parents have refused to buy a garland of Gulmohar?
Ans. A Gulmohar garland would have been too expensive for his parents to
purchase. As a result, the child did not ask for it even before receiving a response.
Q9. Why did the parents refuse for the flute’s music?
Ans. The child’s parents refused to let him listen to the flute because they thought
that it was coarse music. The youngster repressed his emotions and continued to
move.
Q10. Where did the child meet a kind-hearted person?
Ans. Near the shrine, the child encountered the good-hearted guy. In the throng, the
man spotted the kid. The kid could have been crushed beneath the feet of the crowd.
The kind man who picked him up noticed him after hearing his screams.
Q11. According to you, why was the child happy when he was on the way to
fair? Was it the attraction of the fair or the natural beauty that he enjoyed
on the way?
Ans. When the boy and his parents decided to visit the fair, he was overjoyed. In my
perspective, he was enjoying the scenery along the route. He was enthralled by the
breathtaking scenery all around him. He was delighted by flowers, worms,
dragonflies, and other insects.
Q12. How can you say that the child was an obedient boy?
Ans. The child was well-behaved. He had a lot of items on his wishlist that he
wanted to purchase from the fair’s merchants. He silently followed instructions when
his parents expressed dismay at his demands. He did not voice any complaints. It
demonstrates that he was an obedient boy.
Q13. When did the child realise that he was separated from his parents?
What was his response?
Ans. The youngster was always lagging behind. He became engrossed in the fair’s
delights. He asked for a swing while he was close to it, but received no response.
Then he understood that he was not with his parents. He burst into tears at this
realisation.
Q14. “The child was running towards the shrine.” Why? What would have
happened if he was not lifted?
Ans. The child headed for the temple in quest of his parents after becoming
separated from them. The place was jam-packed. He found it difficult to manoeuvre
around the people’s legs. He would have been crushed if the kind man had not saved
him.
Q15. Do you think in the end the child was reunited with his parents? Who,
according to you, had helped him?
Ans. In the end, I believe the child was reunited with his parents. He must have
received assistance in locating his parents from the good man who saved him from
the crowd. The honest efforts of that good man must have succeeded because it was
a tiny fair.
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Class 9 The Lost Child Long Answer Questions

Lesson 1
Q1. How did the child behave at the shop of the sweetmeat-seller? What
does it show about the values of the child? Was he a considerate child?
Ans. Around the sweetmeat vendor’s counter, there was a sizable crowd. There
were several beautiful candies on display that were adorned with silver and gold
leaves. His products included “Gulab Jamun, Rasgulla, Burfi, and Jalebi.” The child
was fascinated. His beloved Burfi made his mouth water. Open-eyed, he just gazed.
Although he desired one, he was aware that his parents would forbid him from
acquiring it.
They would criticise him as being greedy. He continued without waiting for a
response. It demonstrates what a thoughtful boy the kid was. He was aware of his
parents’ limitations. Although he enjoyed the candy, he did not insist on buying any.
He knew that his parents could not afford it. His behaviour was good. He was not a
greedy and disobedient boy.
Q2. What were the reactions of the child on seeing the flower-seller and
the balloon-seller? Do you think it was an obvious reaction of a child?
Ans. The scent of the flowers drew the child in. He moved in the direction of the
flower basket. He was looking for a garland. But he moved on since he knew his
parents wouldn’t permit it. He observed a balloon vendor carrying a pole filled with
vibrant balloons. The balloons’ multicoloured splendour simply carried away the
child. He wanted to own them all. He anticipated his parents saying that he was too
old to play with them. He kept quiet and continued. All of the kids are drawn to the
bright balloons and toys and want to possess them. This youngster was incredibly
respectful and obedient because he didn’t forcefully demand anything of his parents.
Q3. If you had been the lost child, what would you have done to search for
your parents in the fair?
Ans. If I would have been in the same situation, I would have been pacing back and
forth while seeking my parents. I would have cried vehemently as well. But I would
have behaved more rationally. I would have stayed away from the crowded area. I
would have gone to the fair’s office, given them my address and the names of my
parents, and asked them to have an announcement made.
If I would not get any help then I would have waited for my parents at one place. If
some kind-hearted man would help me locate my parents, I would definitely
accompany him. The parents wouldn’t have left the fair without me and would have
continued to the locations we had visited. I would not have lost patience and would
have waited for them.
Q4. You are a counsellor. Write a paragraph advising parents how to
ensure that the children are not lost in any crowded place like a fair, etc.
Ans. Tips for parents
Children and their parents frequently get separated at events or fairs open to the
public. Children have occasionally been located and reunited with their families.
However, there are instances where the kids land in the wrong hands and are never
found. Parents must exercise extra caution and vigilance to prevent their children
from being lost. Never disregard a child in any situation. They should not be left
behind in any shop.
Sometimes a child is so engrossed in the toys that they stop moving, and the
parents, engrossed in other things, leave the child behind. A child should always
have the ID card. Children need to be taught how to approach the public address
system while remaining calm. In the event of separation, it is usually preferable to
set a meeting location beforehand.
Q5. A little child’s reactions to the immediate situation bears a universal
ring when examined superficially. Delving in depth, one can see that each
child reacts to a situation according to his or her individual characteristics.
Write a character sketch of the little child in the lesson ‘The Lost Child’,
bringing out the child’s individual traits as illustrated in the contents of the
story.
Ans. The young child who is the subject of the short story “The Lost Child” went to
the village fair with his parents. He wore a yellow turban. He was enthralled and
enthusiastic about every fair activity. The youngster had grown up in a home where
his parents had a habit of controlling everything he did. He wanted to stay at the toy
store, but he listened to his father and followed them.
He was perceptive and enthralled by the sight of worms and insects on the
pavement. While his parents relaxed in the grove, the youngster played about the
banyan tree picking flower petals and enjoying the sound of cooing doves. He loved
burfis and had a sweet tooth like many kids. As a restless person drawn to
immediate stimuli, he was able to momentarily let go of his parents’ comfort and
safety. However, he was inconsolable when separated from them and persistently
begged to be returned to them.
Q6. Describe the condition of the child when he was separated from his
parents in /he fair. Do you think it is a natural reaction?
Ans. The young child began sobbing as he understood that he had been separated
from his parents. His eyes were filled with tears. He was agitated and overcome with
terror. He ran here and there in a fit of fright. He had lost the tie on his yellow
turban. His clothing got filthy. In an effort to find his parents, he hurried towards the
shrine.
The gathering was dense. A good-hearted person lifted the child up in his arms to
save the child from being crushed beneath their feet. He brought the child to the
roundabout and made him a number of offers. He enquired as to his route there and
the location of his parents. But the kid sobbed even harder and begged out for his
parents. Yes, any child his age would have a natural response to that.
Q7. Compare the attitude of the child before and after his separation from
his parents. The company of parents is more important than the things of
pleasure. Do you agree?
Ans. The child was initially delighted and enthusiastic. In addition to other things, he
wished for toys, candy, and flowers. Even though he was aware that his parents
would forbid him from obtaining the items, he still desired them. He was content just
to have these items there. The moment he was taken away from his parents, his
demeanour altered drastically. He burst into tears.
He was given access to everything available at the fair by a generous individual. But
the child turned down everything. All he wanted was his parents. For him, everything
had lost its significance. It demonstrates that family time is more valuable than
recreational activities. Without his parents, the child found everything to be
meaningless.