The Ball Poem Class 10 Questions and Answers | Class 10 English First Flight The Ball Poem Animals Question Answers

by Meenu Saini | Mar 10, 2023 | General | 0 comments

NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English First Flight Book The Ball Poem Important Question Answers Poem 5

Class 10 English The Ball Poem Question Answers – Looking for The Ball Poem question answers (NCERT solutions) for CBSE Class 10 English First Flight Book Poem 5? Look no further! Our comprehensive compilation of important questions will help you brush up on your subject knowledge. Practising Class 10 English question answers can significantly improve your performance in the board exam. Our solutions provide a clear idea of how to write the answers effectively. Improve your chances of scoring high marks by exploring Poem 5: The Ball Poem question answers now. The questions listed below are based on the latest CBSE exam pattern, wherein we have given NCERT solutions to the chapter’s extract based questions, multiple choice questions, short answer questions, and long answer questions.

Also, practising with different kinds of questions can help students learn new ways to solve problems that they may not have seen before. This can ultimately lead to a deeper understanding of the subject matter and better performance on exams.

Class 10 English The Ball Poem Question Answers Poem 5 – 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. What is the boy now, who has lost his ball.

What, what is he to do? I saw it go

Merrily bouncing, down the street, and then

Merrily over—there it is in the water!

No use to say ‘O there are other balls’:

Q1. What has happened to the boy?

Ans. The boy was very sad as he had lost his ball.

Q2. Why does the poet say ‘No use to say – ‘O there are other balls’?

Ans. The poet says so as the loss of the ball is of a major consequence to the boy.

Q3. Which word means ‘happily’?

Ans. Merrily means happily.

Q4. Where did the ball go?

Ans. The ball went to the water.

B. An ultimate shaking grief fixes the boy

As he stands rigid, trembling, staring down

All his young days into the harbour where

His ball went. I would not intrude on him,

A dime, another ball, is worthless.

Q1. Where had the boy’s ball gone?

Ans. The boy’s ball went into the dark waters of the harbour.

Q2. How has the loss affected the boy?

Ans. The boy is very much troubled at the loss of his ball. He stands still, trembling and staring at his ball.

Q3. Why was ‘he’ trembling, staring down?

Ans. He was trembling, staring down as he had lost his ball.

Q4. What does the poet mean by ‘first responsibility’?

Ans. By ‘First responsibility’, the poet means to look after his things properly.

C. ………..Now

He senses first responsibility

In a world of possessions. People will take balls,

Balls will be lost always, little boy,

And no one buys a ball back. Money is external.

Q1. What does the boy understand?

Ans. The boy learns to grow up and understands his first responsibility.

Q2. What does the word ‘balls’ signify?

Ans. ‘Balls’ signify the boys’ innocence and happy young days.

Q3. What is meant by the word ‘possessions’?

Ans. ‘Possessions’ means something that is owned or possessed.

Q4. What does “In a world of possessions mean?”

Ans. It means that everybody loves to possess things or materials in their names.

D. He is learning, well behind his desperate eyes,

The epistemology of loss, how to stand up

Knowing what every man must one day know

And most know many days, how to stand up

Q1. What is the boy learning?

Ans. The boy is learning to cope up with the loss.

Q2. Why are boy’s eyes desperate?

Ans. Boy’s eyes look desperate as he is sad to see his ball gone forever.

Q3. What do you mean by ‘epistemology of loss’?

Ans. ‘Epistemology of loss’ means to understand the nature of loss.

Q4. What every man needs to know one day?

Ans. Every man needs to know one day that loss may occur to him and he would have to bear it up.

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Class 10 English First Flight Poem 5 – The Ball Poem Multiple Choice Questions

Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) are a type of objective assessment in which a person is asked to choose one or more correct answers from a list of available options. An MCQ presents a question along with several possible answers.

What is the Boy’s reaction at the loss of the ball?

A. The boy is least affected.

B. The boy is trembling and devastated at the loss of the ball which was valuable to him.

C. The boy is searching for the ball.

D. The boy asks his parents to get him another ball.

Ans. B.The boy is trembling and devastated at the loss of the ball which was valuable to him.

Where had the boy’s ball gone?

A. In the dark waters of the harbour.

B. In the deep forest.

C. In the flowing river.

D. In the basement of the building.

Ans. A. In the dark waters of the harbour.

What according to the poet, the boy has to realise?

A. The boy has to realise what it means to lose a thing that is most dear to him.

B. The boy has to realise the value for money.

C. The boy has to realise not to be upset.

D. The boy should realise the importance of time.

Ans. A. The boy has to realise what it means to lose a thing that is most dear to him.

What does “in a world of possessions” mean?

A. It means possessing various items.

B. It means a world full of artificial things.

C. ‘‘In the world of possessions’ means a world full of material things valued, owned and priced because of their worth.

D. The world where everyone is materialistic.

Ans. C. ‘‘In the world of possessions’ means a world full of material things valued, owned and priced because of their worth.

“He senses first responsibility”—what responsibility is referred to here?

A. The responsibility to cope with or bear the loss through self understanding on losing the ball.

B. The responsibility to take charge of his feelings.

C. The responsibility to not lose your things.

D. The responsibility to be happy in every situation.

Ans. A.The responsibility to cope with or bear the loss through self understanding on losing the ball.

What does the poet mean by epistemology of loss?

A. It means that loss is transient.

B. It means that loss is painful.

C. It means to understand the nature of loss.

D. It means to cope with life.

Ans. C. It means to understand the nature of loss.

The poet does not offer a new ball to the boy because he wants him to learn the value of _________ .

A. responsibility

B. loss

C. money

D. ability

Ans. B. loss

While recovering from the loss, what does the boy in the ‘The Ball Poem’ realize?

A. We must learn to move on.

B. Loss is a part and parcel of life.

C. It was just a ball.

D. Both (A) and (B)

Ans. D. Both (A) and (B)

What does the poet mean by saying ‘money is external’?

It means that money can __________ .

A. Lead to peace and prosperity.

B. Only buy emotions.

C. Only buy materialistic things and not emotions and attachments.

D. Buy all the happiness in the world.

Ans. C. Only buy materialistic things and not emotions and attachments.

The poet does not offer to buy the boy another ball because:

A. it would be worthless

B. he should understand the meaning of loss

C. he does not have the money

D. he will lose the other ball also

Ans. A. it would be worthless

The extract suggests that the poet is

A. an onlooker observing

B. a parent recounting the incident

C. the boy talking about himself

D. imagining the incident

Ans. A. an onlooker observing

The poet seems to have indicated the merry bouncing of the ball to

A. create a sense of rhythm in these lines.

B. support the happiness of the experience of playing.

C. contrast with the dejected feeling of the boy.

D. indicate the cheerful mood of the boy.

Ans. C. contrast with the dejected feeling of the boy.

Merrily over- there it is in the water!

Choose the situation that corresponds to the emotion behind the exclamation mark in the poem.

A. option 1

B. option 2

C. option 3

D. option 4

Ans. C. option 3

The poem begins with a question. Based on your reading of the poem, the speaker
wants the boy to answer the question.
expects the passers-by to respond.
is looking for answers in a self-help book.
is thinking to himself.

Ans. D. is thinking to himself.

“An ultimate shaking grief fixes the boy” The poet uses the word ‘ultimate’ to describe the boy’s reaction.

Pick the meaning that DOES NOT display what, ‘ultimate’ means in the context given.

A. consequent

B. final

C. conclusive

D. fateful

Ans. C. conclusive

Pick the option that lists the boy’s thoughts, matching with the line-As he stands rigid, trembling, staring down.

A. Option 1

B. Option 2

C. Option 3

D. Option 4

Ans. D. Option 4

“All his young days into the harbour where

His ball went.”

Choose the option that lists the meaning of ‘harbour’ as used in the line.

Noun:

(1) a place on the coast where ships may moor in shelter.

(2) a place of refuge.

Verb:

(3) keep (a thought or feeling, typically a negative one) in one’s mind, especially secretly.

(4) shelter or hide (a criminal or wanted person).

A. Option 1

B. Option 2

C. Option 3

D. Option 4

Ans. A. Option 1

Why does the speaker choose not to intrude? This is so because the poet

A. knows that it would embarrass the boy in his moment of grief.

B. feels that it’s important that the boy learn an important life lesson, undisturbed.

C. realises that he doesn’t have sufficient funds to purchase a new ball for the boy.

D. Experiences a sense of distress himself, by looking at the boy’s condition.

Ans. B. feels that it’s important that the boy learn an important life lesson, undisturbed.

Identify the poetic device. “Merrily bouncing down the street”

A. Metaphor

B. Alliteration

C. Repetition

D. Imagery

Ans. D. Imagery

Identify the poetic device. “No one buys a ball back”

A. Metaphor

B. Alliteration

C. Repetition

D. Imagery

Ans. B. Alliteration

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Class 10 English The Ball Poem Question Answers (including questions from Previous Years Question Papers)

In this post we are also providing important short answer questions from the poem The Ball Poem for CBSE Class 10 Boards in the coming session. These questions have been taken from previous years class 10 Board exams and the year is mentioned in the bracket along with the question.

Q1. No use to say ‘O there are other balls’

What do the words in inverted commas mean? Why does the poet think that it is useless to give this suggestion to the boy?

Ans. These words suggest that the loss of the ball is not important enough to worry about. The poet knows that the boy is sad and grieved over the loss of his ball and knows it is useless to make the boy understand how unimportant the loss of the ball is.

Q2. What is the boy learning from the loss of the ball?

Ans. The boy is learning the epistemology of loss from the loss of the ball. He is understanding what it means to lose something he greatly admires.

Q3. “And no one buys a ball back. Money is external”. What does the poet imply by this expression?

Ans. Through this expression the poet implies that a lost ball cannot be bought back even with money. Money can only be used to buy valuable things but not to restore or compensate for a thing that is lost.

Q4. ‘He senses first responsibility’—What responsibility is referred to here?

Ans. The responsibility referred to here is of losing a ball by a little boy and how he learns to grow up. The ball is a much loved possession and the boy experiences grief at the loss of his ball which personifies his young and happy innocent days. The losing of the ball is losing his innocence and he is forced to grow up, and become responsible.

Q5. Why does the poet say that he will not offer the boy money to buy another ball?

Why does the poet say, ‘I would not intrude on him? Why doesn’t he offer him money to buy another ball?

Ans. The poet says that he will not offer the boy money to buy another ball because balls are anyway worthless and also because he wants the boy to understand what it means and how it feels to lose something.

Q6. A ball is an easily available, inexpensive thing. Then, why is the boy so sad to lose it?

Ans. No doubt the ball is an easily available and inexpensive item but the ball the boy has lost is valuable for him. His memories of younger days are associated with it because he had been playing with it for a long time. It was not ordinary but a special ball for him. No other ball could take its place. Hence, the boy is sad to lose it.

Q7. Express your views on the title of the poem, ‘The Ball Poem’.

Ans. When one reads the title ‘The Ball Poem’, one assumes that the poem may be a light-hearted one but perhaps about the joys of childhood. But, the poem is about how we must not feel disheartened, dejected and desperate but try to stand up and bear the loss through self-understanding.

Q8. How did the boy react after his ball fell into the water of the harbour?

Ans. The falling of the ball in the water was quite sudden. Actually, it was an unexpected loss. The boy was completely shaken but couldn’t even move a step. He stood there fixed to the ground like a statue. He constantly continued staring at the point where his ball fell into the harbour. It seemed as if he was thinking of his childhood days which had disappeared forever like the lost ball.

Q9. Does the lost ball stand for the metaphor of the boy’s lost childhood? How?

Ans. The boy has lost his ball. It has fallen down into the harbour. It will not be found back again. However, through the metaphor of the lost ball, the poet wants to highlight a bigger loss. It is the loss of his childhood. Like the lost ball, the childhood days which he cherishes still now, have been lost forever. This makes the loss inconsolable.

Q10. What is the general rule of this ‘world of possessions’?

Ans. Getting something and losing it is a natural cycle. Many more boys before him bought and lost their balls. This process will go on forever. However, no amount of money can buy back the same ball that has been lost forever. Money is external and has its own limitations. Wealth can’t compensate for such emotional losses such as the loss of one’s childhood days.

Q11. If you were the poet, which toy would you use, instead of a ball? Give a reason for your response.

Ans. Toys have a very special place in the lives of children. If I were a poet, I would use a doll instead of a ball. The reason for using a doll would be that a child keeps the doll with extreme care and love as a baby. A doll appears soft and harmless and Children connect by befriending their dolls. The loss of doll would express the pain and difficulty in accepting the bitter truth more efficiently

Q12. Do you think the ‘I’ in the poem is the poet or an observer? Give a reason for your choice of response.

Ans. The ‘I’ in the poem, is the poet as in a few lines the poet says that he doesn’t want to intrude on the inconsolable boy. Instead, he wants to leave the boy alone to develop a new sense of responsibility.

Q13. Explain how, “Out of sight, out of mind” might apply to the boy, towards the end of the poem.

Ans. Towards the end of the poem, the boy saw his ball going ‘out of his sight’. With that, he recalled the time that he spent with the ball in his past childhood days. However, the ball is no longer with the boy and slowly, it will get ‘out of his mind’ too.

Q14. A popular quote states: : Responsibility is self-taught. How does the poem

address this thought?

Ans. The responsibility referred in the poem is how to stand up or bear the loss through self-understanding and trying to console oneself on his own as the boy who lost his ball was trying to do.

Q15. What feelings do you think might be experienced, at the loss of a mobile phone, for a youngster today? Explain how these would be different from those felt by the boy in the poem. [CBSE OD, 2020]

Ans. The feelings of a youngster on the loss of his mobile phone today would be very different from those felt by the boy in the poem. The boy in the poem was a little kid. It was his first experience of losing a thing beloved to him. However, a youngster today might not react in such a sad way as kids today are not so attached with their possessions. They have become more materialistic with time.

The loss of a mobile phone may cause inconvenience for some time but one may buy another mobile phone to serve the purpose.

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Class 10 The Ball Poem Long Answer Questions Poem 5

Q1. Should the boy be allowed to grieve for his ball? If his loss is irreparable or irretrievable then how should one handle it? What lessons can be learnt?

Ans. Yes, the child should be permitted to mourn the loss of his ball because he owned it for a very long period. He had a lot of distant memories from his early years associated with it. Furthermore, one should not interrupt or bother someone who is struggling to deal with their grief on their own because doing so could cause them to lose their train of thought and become agitated.

One should have self-consolation, and self -understanding in order to bear the loss. Self-realization and understanding are more effective and lasting than when it is done by an external agency or a person.

Q2. How did the boy really react to the loss of the ball or was he fearful of something or someone ……..? Can our attention be directed toward his family and other people? Are there any lessons to be learnt?
Ans. (i) The boy was not fearful of anyone, in fact, he was really upset about the loss of the ball. The ball was valuable for him. He was shocked, remained fixed, trembled with grief staring at the place where the ball had fallen. His family must not have been affected by the loss as a ball is an easily available and inexpensive item.
(ii) The loss of the ball teaches a lesson to us. Money is external in the sense that it can give you only outer happiness or pleasure not inner. Money cannot buy the emotions and heavenly virtues. It cannot be linked with old memories. Moreover, self-consolation, realization or understanding is more effective and lasting than done by an external agency or a person.

Q3. How is the lost ball, the metaphor of the lost childhood of the boy? Why doesn’t the poet want to ‘intrude on’ the boy by offering him money to buy another ball?

Ans. The boy has a ball. Perhaps he has been keeping it for a long time. He must have developed a lot of attachment and love with the ball. Suddenly while he is playing, the ball bounces down the street. And after a few bounces, it falls down into the harbour. It is lost forever. The boy stands there shocked and fixed to the ground. He constantly goes on staring at the spot where his ball fell down into the water. Outwardly, the loss seems to be quite small. The boy seems to be making a fuss over the loss. Many boys have lost such balls and will lose so in future. A new ball can be easily bought in a dime.

The metaphor of the lost ball is beautifully linked to the loss of sweet childhood. No amount of money can buy the ball back that has been lost forever. Similarly, no worldly wealth can buy back the lost childhood. The poet doesn’t want to sermonise on this issue. The boy himself has to learn epistemology or the nature of the loss. He has to move ahead in life forgetting all the losses he has suffered in the past.

Q4. What is the epistemology of loss in this world of possessions? How has the child learned to stand up in life?

Ans. Gain and loss are the two sides of the same coin. Getting, spending and losing things form a natural cycle of life. The boy is inconsolable at the loss of his ball. Actually, it is not the ordinary ball but his long association and attachment with it that makes the loss so unbearable. It is like the good sweet days of childhood that the boy cherishes so much but are lost and gone forever. They will never come back again.

So, what is the remedy? He can bear this loss by understanding the epistemology or nature of the loss. In this world of material wealth and possessions, it seems that money can buy anything. However, it is a false conception. Money has its own limitations. Its nature is external. It cannot compensate for the losses that a person suffers emotionally or internally. No wealth can buy back the ball that has been lost forever. Similarly, no wealth can buy back the lost childhood. The child will have to move ahead and stand up in life. He has to stop weeping over his past losses and start living life as it should be lived.

Q5. If the Buddha were to summarise the life lesson of “The Ball Poem’, what would that sermon be? Think and create this address for people of your age.

Ans. Losses are an integral part of life. We must look at them in totality. First of all, we must always keep in mind that life’s each and everything is God’s gift for which we must be thankful. The things which God has given can be taken back anything. We must not be attached to these gifts. Once these attached gifts are taken away, we become sad. We feel the lost thing is irreplaceable with any other things. The lost ball stands for the general losses a human being suffers as he grows old. The losses may be the loss of a personal possession or the death of a dear one or separation from a beloved one. As long as there is life, there will be many types of losses; what each one has to learn is bearing those losses.

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