CBSE Class 10 Footprints Without Feet Book Chapter 3 The Midnight Visitor Question Answers from previous years question papers (2019-2024)

 

The Midnight Visitor Previous Year Questions with Answers –  Question Answers from Previous years Board Exam Question papers provide valuable insights into how chapters are typically presented in exams. They are essential for preparing for the CBSE Board Exams, serving as a valuable resource.They can reveal the types of questions commonly asked and highlight the key concepts that require more attention. In this post, we have shared Previous Year Questions for Class 10 English Chapter 3, “The Midnight Visitor”.

 

Questions which came in 2024 Board Exam

 

Q1. Who was Henry? What role did he play in Ausable’s plan? [2024, 40-50 words]

Ans. Henry was a server at the French hotel where Ausable had a room. He played a vital part in helping Ausable’s plan as it was Henry’s knock at the door which frightened Max as he mistook it to be a policeman at the door. This confusion forced Max to jump from the window assuming it to be a deck and hence helping Ausable’s plan to get relief from Max. 

 

Q2. Despite his unusual appearance, Ausable’s presence of mind helped him get rid of Max.

Comment with reference to the story ‘The Midnight Visitor’. [2024, 40-50 words]

OR

One should never judge a book by its cover. Explain with reference to Ausable and how he outwits Max with his presence of mind. [2024, 40-50 words]

Ans. Ausable’s appearance was just not that of a secret detective. The maxim ‘Looks are deceptive’ describes him best. As they say do not judge a book by its cover, Max was foolish to underestimate Ausable. He jumped out of the window when he got convinced by Ausable’s story that there was police at the door and there was a balcony outside the window.

 

Questions from the Chapter in 2023 Board Exams

 

Q1. How did Ausable get rid of Max without using a weapon? [2023, 40-50 words]

Ans. When Ausable told Max that it was the police at the door, Max got in a hurry to escape and he accepted Ausable’s talk of there being a balcony outside the window. Max planned to hide in the balcony and jumped from the window. However, there was nothing of the kind and he jumped to death.

 

Q2. Describe Max as a secret agent. [2023, 40-50 words]

Ans. Max was thin, with average height. He was crafty like a fox. There was nothing menacing about him except his pistol. He visited Ausable to steal some important documents relating to new missiles. Ausable outwitted Max and made him jump out of the room’s window.

 

Questions that appeared in 2020 Board Exams

 

Q1. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

And as the light came on, Fowler had his first authentic thrill of the day. For halfway across the room, a small automatic pistol in his hand, stood a man.

Ausable blinked a few times. [2020]

 

(a) Who was standing in the room with a pistol in his hand?

  1. Ausable
  2. Fowler

iii. Max

  1. A waiter

Ans. iii

 

(b) Ausable blinked because he:

  1. was getting adjusted to the light.
  2. got afraid of the man with a pistol.

iii. was thrilled to have reached his room.

  1. started thinking of how to get rid of the man.

Ans. iv

 

(c) Fowler was thrilled because what he saw looked like a ……….

Ans. looked like a real thriller scene finally. The kind of action and scene he had been expecting while he was on his way.

 

(d) Which word in the extract means the same as ‘genuine/real’?

Ans. authentic

 

Q2. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

Max bit his lip nervously. The knocking was repeated.

“What will you do now, Max?” Ausable asked. “If I do not answer the door, they will enter anyway. The door is unlocked. And they will not hesitate to shoot”. [2020]

 

(a) Who is Max?

(i) a spy (i) a tourist

(iii) a businessman (iv) a waiter

Ans. i

 

(b) Max became nervous because :

(i) he got scared of Ausable.

(ii) he thought the police had come.

(iii) the door was unlocked.

(iv) Ausable did not get up to open the door.

Ans. ii

 

(c) Actually the door was knocked at by the____.

Ans. Actually the door was knocked at by the waiter. Ausabel had ordered a drink when he returned back to the hotel and the waiter had come to deliver it.

 

(d) Which word in the extract is opposite in meaning to the word ‘confidently’?

Ans. The word ‘nervously’ is opposite in meaning to the word ‘confidently’.

 

Q3. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

Ausable was, for one thing, fat. Very fat. And then there was his accent. ‘Though he spoke French and German passably, he had never altogether lost the American accent he had brought to Paris from Boston twenty years ago.

“You are disappointed,” Ausable said wheezily over his shoulder. [2020]

 

(a) Who is ‘you’ here?

(i) Fowler (ii) Ausable

(iii) Waiter (iv) Max

Ans. (i)

 

(b) Ausable was a native of ______ :

(i) France (ii) Germany

(iii) the U.S. (iv) Sweden

Ans. (iii)

 

(c) ‘You’ believed that Ausable was a ______.

Ans. ‘You’ believed that Ausable was a secret agent or a spy dealing in espionage and danger.

 

(d) He spoke French like an _____.

Ans. American

 

Q4. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

Ausable moved to an armchair and sat down heavily. “I’m going to raise the devil with the management this time, and you can bet on it,” he said grimly. “This is the second time in a month that somebody has got into my room through that nuisance of a balcony !” [2020]

 

(a) Who is Ausable?

(i) A secret agent (i) A tourist in a hotel

(iii) A reporter (iv) A businessman

Ans. (i)

 

(b) Why was Ausable angry with the management?

(i) His room was unsafe.

(ii) The food was not good.

(iii) The balcony was a nuisance

(iv) The armchair was not soft.

Ans. (iii)

 

(c) Was there a balcony with the room? Yes/No.

Ans. No, there was no balcony with the room.

 

(d) Ausable was playing a ______ on his visitor.

Ans. Ausable was playing a prank on his visitor.

 

Q5. How is Ausable different from other secret agents? [2020, 30-40 words]

Ans. Ausable is different from other secret agents because he was very fat, lived in a room on the top floor of a gloomy French hotel and could only speak French possibly although he had been living in Paris for over 20 years. His voice still had an American touch to it . He used to receive messages via telephone instead of dark eyed beauties getting him his messages. So he was very different from the way other secret agents are.

 

Q6. What purpose did the ‘balcony’ serve in the story, ‘The Midnight Visitor’? [2020, 30-40 words]

Ans. The balcony is an imagination of the secret agent Ausable. This shows the power of his mind. He befools Max with his false story and makes him believe that police is at the door and that there is a balcony outside the window. 

 

2019 Exam Question and Answers from the chapter

 

Q1. How was Ausable different from other secret agents? [2019, 30-40 words]

Ans. Ausable did not fit the general description of secret agents. He was very fat. He spoke French and German passably and had an American accent that remained with him even after twenty years of moving from America to Paris.He did not get messages slipped into his hand by dark-eyed beauties. He seemed too boring to be a secret agent.

 

Also see:

The Midnight Visitor Important Questions, NCERT Solutions, Extra Questions 

The Midnight Visitor Summary, Explanation 

The Midnight Visitor MCQs 

The Midnight Visitor Character Sketches