PSEB Class 10 English Chapter 2 Half A Rupee Worth Important Question Answers from English Literature (Supplementary Reader) Book
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PSEB Class 10 English Chapter 2 Half A Rupee Worth Textbook Questions
1. How did Subbiah manage to get rice during the drought?
Ans. In the time of drought when rice was not available and rice mills were not in operation, Subbiah demonstrated his determination and business acumen by keeping his shop open. He would leave the town and visit rural areas to gather small amounts of rice, even if it were only enough to fill two baskets. While many others were struggling, Subbiah continued to sell rice, and even if rice was scarce, he used common sense to remain in business and keep his profits steady.
2. ‘Those were the days when Subbiah loathed the rice bags’. Which were those days? Why did he dislike the rice then?
Ans. These were the days of Subbiah’s childhood where he served as an unpaid apprentice to his stern father. He remained in the shop, handling the rice sacks and learning the business, while dreaming of movies, sports and the public life. He hated rice then because it was symbolic of association, discipline, and loss of his freedom.
3. “Rice was in his blood” means
(a) he ate nothing but rice
(b) he liked the smell of rice
(c) he knew all about rice
Ans. (c) he knew all about rice
4. How did Subbiah’s profits increase during the war? Did he follow the rules laid down by the government? How did he tackle the officers?
Ans. When the war caused a halt in imports from Burma and Saigon, the price of rice surged due to a shortage in supply. The news of not enough rice led to Subbiah’s reputation to precede him as he began to sell rice for twice the value he was getting it for. With the introduction of food and price control, he feigned compliance with the pretences of the government. In reality, he recorded fake records, bribed officers, and concealed his rice in godowns, combating the system against a corrupt organisation and rationale. He had continued his way of abusing and lying to people while posing as a good citizen.
5. Besides selling rice what else did Subbiah do to earn more?
Ans. In addition to selling rice, Subbiah also lent out money at exorbitantly high interest rates; when the borrowers failed to pay him back, he simply seized their possessions. Ultimately, he acquired properties, houses, and land, and raised his riches further by acquiring through immoral practices. Subbiah’s greed was not limited to his trade; he extended the grasp of his trade to exploit an individual’s financial distress.
6. Who came to buy rice one evening when Subbiah was about to go home? Did he give rice to him? What did he say?
Ans. One evening, a penniless man walked into Subbiah’s shop and begged for rice for his starving children and old mother. Subbiah was touched by the man’s tale of a starving family, but he did not offer him rice directly. He took the man’s half-rupee coin and told him to wait, acting as if he would leave the shop to find rice stocked with someone else. He instructed the man not to follow him, and he disappeared.
7. How much rice did Subbiah agree to sell to him and for how much?
Ans. Subbiah agreed to sell a man half a seer of rice in exchange for a half-rupee. The price was outrageous, but the man had no choice: his family was hungry. The man paid him the money, but Subbiah never came back with the rice.
8. Why did Subbiah ask the man to wait? What reasons did he give?
Ans. Subbiah told the man to wait because he said that the rice belonged to another person who was dubious and would refuse to sell to him if he saw someone with Subbiah. It was a lie to cover the location of his secret godown. He requested the coin up front and disappeared, using that as a tool to mislead this poor man.
9. Where did Subbiah go to get the rice?
Ans. Subbiah put on a sly act and pretended to go in one direction, but indeed, he turned and went to his secret godown, where illegally hoarded rice was stored. He wanted to keep the location a secret from everyone, even the deep-in-debt poor man, who put his trust in him.
10. Did the man wait for Subbiah for long? How do you know?
Ans. Yes, the man waited in despair and hope for hours. When night fell, the man became worried about his starving family. He walked around the streets for a while, went back to the shop, and eventually, one last time, he knocked at Subbiah’s house, trying every single way to find him.
11. Where did the man go then? Where was he taken and by whom?
Ans. After waiting for hours to locate Subbiah, the unfortunate man decided to go to Subbiah’s house. The wife said Subbiah had not returned, but eventually located the godown, which was only known by her. He and the others went with her to the godown. When they arrived, it was locked from the inside, so they broke the ventilator, sent a boy through the ventilator to open the door. This is where they found Subbiah’s body, buried beneath a heap of rice sacks that fell on him.
12. How did Subbiah die?
Ans. Subbiah was found dead in his secret godown, crushed under a collapsed tower of rice bags. Ironically, he had clutched in his hand the half-rupee coin that the poor man had given him, an unfortunate monument of his greed. I think of Subbiah’s death as poetic justice for the exploitation he had suffered.
13. Tick the qualities that Subbiah possessed.
(a) a hard-working man (b) a cruel father (c) a miser (d) an obedient son (e) a sympathetic shop keeper (f) a religious man (g) an honest citizen
Ans. Subbiah was:
✓ (a) a hard-working man
✓ (c) a miser
✓ (d) an obedient son
✓ (f) a religious man
✗ (b) a cruel father
✗ (e) a sympathetic shopkeeper
✗ (g) an honest citizen
DISCUSSION
Q1. Only the dishonest can prosper. Speak for and against the statement.
Ans. In support of the statement, Subbiah’s story exemplifies how dishonest people can exploit systems, corrupt officials, and hoard wealth within the acceptable bounds of respectability. Subbiah became immensely wealthy and benefited from the suffering of many during a crisis by cheating. He lived a rich lifestyle as a “player” while cheating others. Ultimately, Subbiah’s wealth was short-lived and came at a cost to his moral standing. In contrast to the statement, with respect to “prosperity”, true prosperity includes peace of mind, respect from others, and satisfaction from one’s ethical motivation, none of which Subbiah had at the time. Subbiah’s ending crushed under a pile of his own hoarded rice confirms that dishonest contributions can lead to temporary prosperity at best, and not ultimate success. So in general terms, this does suggest that dishonest contributions to “prosperity” could bring temporary benefits, but nothing that endures.
Q2. Greed can ruin a man. Discuss.
Ans. Subbiah’s life serves as a sad lesson about greed and its destructive nature. His pursuit of money blinded him from humanity and compassion. He preyed on the poor, hoarded food and skewed the system in his favor to maximize the gains to his businesses. While a man was begging for a handful of rice to feed his starving family, Subbiah chose money over mercy. Not only did his greed ruin his character, but ultimately, it resulted in his demise. He died a troubling death crumpled under-upcacked sacks of rice with a half-rupee stuck in his hand to keep his profits. A painful reminder that unbridled greed deseminates, ending in disaster and death, but does not represent true success.
Punjab Board Class 10 English Chapter 2 Half A Rupee Worth Extra Question and Answers
Extract-Based questions
A.
“Subbiah sold rice at the market gate. In his shop you found, heaped in wicker baskets, all varieties: from pebbly coarse rice to Delhi Samba, white as jasmine and slender as a needle. His shop was stuffy and dark but he loved every inch of it.”
Q1. Which types of rice were sold at Subbiah’s shop?
Ans. From coarse to the finest quality like Delhi Samba.
Q2. Where was Subbiah’s shop?
Ans. Near the market gate.
Q3. What does the description of the shop indicate about Subbiah’s viewpoint of it?
Ans. He loved his shop! It was stuffy and dark, but he had a strong connection with his work.
Q4. “white as jasmine and slender as a needle” is referring to which rice?
A. Pebbly rice
B. Samba rice
C. Parboiled rice
D. Basmati rice
Ans: B- Samba rice.
Q5. How would you describe Subbiah’s sense of business?
A. Carefree and erratic
B. Passionate and invested
C. Lazy and dishonest
D. Uninterested and distracted
Ans: B- Passionate and invested.
B.
“This is the end of the month, you see, this is all I have.”
“You will get only half a seer. That’s the price a man I know will demand.”
“All right,” the other said. “Better than nothing.”
1. Who is speaking in this extract?
Ans: The poor man and Subbiah are speaking.
2. What was the poor man trying to buy?
Ans. Half a seer of rice.
3. How much money did the man offer?
Ans. Half of a rupee (eight annas).
4. Why did the poor man agree to buy such a small quantity?
Ans. He was in a desperate situation with a starving family to feed.
5. Which quality of the poor man is revealed through this dialogue?
A. Arrogance
B. Greed
C. Patience and helplessness
D. Dishonesty
Ans: C. Patience and helplessness
C.
“Those were days when Subbiah loathed the rice bags. He longed for the crowded streets, cinemas, football matches and wrestling tournaments, which he saw through the crowded shop door. But his father more or less kept him chained to the shop and discouraged his outside interests.”
Q1. What did young Subbiah want to enjoy instead of staying in the shop?
Ans: Crowded streets, cinemas, football matches, and wrestling tournaments.
Q2. What does “kept him chained to the shop” imply?
A. He was physically tied
B. He was forced to love rice
C. He was made to work unwillingly
D. He wanted to manage the shop
Ans: C. He was made to work unwillingly
Q3. Who discouraged Subbiah from going outside?
Ans: His father
Q4. How did Subbiah feel about rice during his early years?
Ans: He loathed it.
Q5. What does this paragraph reveal about his childhood?
Ans: He was restricted by his father and missed out on a normal childhood.
D.
“After passing through some bylanes, they came upon the building. The door was bolted from inside. They knocked on it. Finally they had to break open the front ventilator, slip a boy through it, and then have the main door opened. A faint morning light came in through the broken ventilator. In a corner they saw an electric torch lying on the floor and then a half-rupee coin, and a little of a hand stuck out of a pile of fallen bags.”
Q1. Where did the people go to search for Subbiah?
Ans: To his secret godown.
Q2. What was seen lying beside the torch?
Ans: A half-rupee coin and part of Subbiah’s hand.
Q3. What had happened to Subbiah?
Ans: He was crushed under a pile of fallen rice sacks.
Q4. Why is the half-rupee coin significant in this scene?
Ans: It represents Subbiah’s greed and the poor man’s unfulfilled need.
Q5. What emotion does this extract evoke in the reader?
A. Humor
B. Sympathy for Subbiah
C. Shock and poetic justice
D. Joy
Ans: D. Shock and poetic justice
Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs)
1. Identify the writer of the story “Half A Rupee Worth”?
A. Ruskin Bond
B. R.K. Narayan
C. Leo Tolstoy
D. Guy De Maupassant
Ans: B. R.K. Narayan
2. What type of shop did Subbiah operate?
A. Sweet Shop
B. Clothes Shop
C. Rice Shop
D. Fruit Shop
Ans: C. Rice Shop
3. What was Subbiah’s attitude during the drought?
A. He closed the shop
B. He gave rice away
C. He refused to sell anything
D. He collected and sold whatever little he could
Ans: D. He collected and sold whatever little he could
4. What was Subbiah’s reaction when a poor man begged him for rice for his starving family?
A. He immediately gave him the rice out of kindness
B. He refused to help and scolded the man
C. He took the man’s money and promised rice, but never returned
D. He reported the man to the authorities
Ans: C. He took the man’s money and promised rice, but never returned
5. When there was an abundance of rice, what did Subbiah do?
A. He sold rice at give-a-way prices
B. He stopped buying rice
C. He hiked his prices
D. He gave rice to the needy
Ans: B. He stopped buying rice
6. What devious behavior did Subbiah engage in during the war?
A. He marketed rice at discounts
B. He gave rice away
C. He hoarded rice and bribed officers
D. He followed the proper government procedures
Ans: C. He hoarded rice and bribed officers
7. What effect did the war have on Subbiah’s business (at first)?
A. Decrease
B. No effect
C. A lot of improvement
D. It ended his business
Ans: C- A lot of improvement
8. What change did Subbiah find disturbing during the war?
A. Imports of foreign rice
B. Food and Price Control regulations
C. Surplus rice
D. Shrinking demand
Ans: B- Food and Price Control regulations
9. What did Subbiah use the neighboring homes for?
A. For family
B. For guest houses
C. For godowns to store rice
D. For temples
Ans: C- For godowns to store rice
10. What did Subbiah do for people who did not pay back loans?
A. Forgave the loan
B. Donated rice
C. Took possession of houses
D. Hired as workers
Ans: C- Took possession of houses
11. What did the poor man want from Subbiah?
A. A job
B. A half seer of rice
C. A loan
D. Some clothing
Ans: B- A half seer of rice
12. How much did the poor man offer for rice?
A. One rupee
B. Ten annas
C. Half a rupee
D. One anna
Ans: C- Half a rupee
13. What excuse did Subbiah use for not taking the poor man along?
A. The road is blocked
B. The godown keeper was suspicious
C. I am tired
D. It is raining
Ans: B- The godown keeper was suspicious
14. What did Subbiah tell the man to do?
A. Come with me
B. Wait out and give him the coin
C. Go home
D. File an appeal
Ans: B- Wait out and give him the coin
15. What was the poor man’s situation?
A. He was rich
B. He was an officer of the government
C. His family was starving
D. He was a rice trader
Ans: C- His family was starving
16. Where did Subbiah actually go after he took the coin?
A. To the market
B. To his home
C. To the secret godown
D. To the cinema
Ans: C- To the secret godown
17. What did the man do when Subbiah did not come back?
A. Went Home
B. Waited quietly
C. Searched the streets and asked at Subbiah’s house
D. Complained to the police
Ans: C- Searched the streets and asked at Subbiah’s house
18. Who knew the location of Subbiah’s secret godown?
A. His Son
B. His neighbour
C. His wife
D. The poor man
Ans: C- His wife
19. How was Subbiah actually found dead?
A. In the street
B. In his home
C. Beneath some collapsed rice sacks
D. In a temple
Ans: C- Beneath some collapsed rice sacks
20. What was in Subbiah’s hand when he was found dead?
A. A bunch of keys
B. A sack of rice
C. A gold coin
D. A half-rupee coin
Ans: D- A half-rupee coin
True or False
State whether the following are true or false-
1. Subbiah enjoyed the smell of rice and sac bags in his shop.
2. Subbiah refused to sell rice at a time of drought and closed his shop.
3. Subbiah liked working with his father in the rice shop when he was a child.
4. Subbiah made huge profits during the war because of the shortage of rice.
5. Subbiah followed all the government rules about food and price controls exactly.
6. Subbiah had a hidden godown where he kept extra rice illegally.
7. The poor man who asked Subbiah for rice was given a full seer for one rupee.
8. Subbiah took the poor man’s half-rupee coin and instantly returned – with the rice.
9. Subbiah’s wife had no idea about his secret godown.
10. Subbiah died under the weight of his own rice sacks, holding the poor man’s coin.
Answers.
1. True
2. False
3. False
4. True
5. False
6. True
7. False
8. False
9. False
10. True
Fill in the blanks
1. Subbiah owned a store close to the ______ gate.
2. When Subbiah was younger, he yearned to watch football games, wrestling competitions, and ______.
3. Subbiah’s father discouraged his ______ interests and kept him chained to the store.
4. Subbiah’s rice stock increased in value to ______ during the war.
5. Subbiah purchased the large house next door and used it as a ______ to store more rice.
6. To look legitimate, Subbiah registered as a Fair Price ______ Depot.
7. All the poor man asked for was ______ a seer of rice.
8. The other man was very ______, so Subbiah told him not to follow him.
9. Buried beneath rice sacks, Subbiah was discovered with a ______ coin in his hand.
10. When Subbiah failed to return, his wife gave away the ______ godown’s location.
Answers:
1. Market
2. Cinemas
3. Outdoor
4. Gold
5. Godown
6. Grain
7. Half
8. suspicious
9. Half-rupee
10. secret
Extra Questions
Answer the following questions-
1. Who was Subbiah, and what kind of business did he run?
Ans. Subbiah was a rice merchant who had a shop at the entrance of the market. He sold every sort of rice and earned a living in good and bad times. During rationing periods, he employed ruthless and deceptive tactics to continue selling rice, while most other merchants were out of stock.
2. How did Subbiah react during the drought?
Ans. During the drought, Subbiah would not stop, he travelled the countryside and gathered all the little rice he could find and sold it in small quantities. This indicated his commitment to profit through crisis.
3. What was Subbiah’s attitude towards government regulations during the war?
Ans. Subbiah strongly opposed government measures in price and food control. While he would officially comply by registering as a Fair Price Grain Depot, he was still secretly hoarding grain, bribing officials, and submitting altered report documents to illegally maximize profit.
4. How did Subbiah’s childhood influence his business mindset?
Ans. As a child, Subbiah’s father would not let him leave the shop, because of his strictness, had to be with rice and the work was taking away his playing outside. This made him a man with nothing but rice and profits in his mind.
5. Describe the poor man who approached Subbiah one evening.
Ans. The miserable man appeared to be desperate in his explanations, revealing that he had two children and an old mother who were starving at that very moment in time. He offered his last half-rupee coin for just half a seer of rice. He was well aware of the disparity and limitation of his probabilities, as he was as severely beaten down by his circumstances.
6. What did Subbiah promise the poor man, and what did he actually do?
Ans. Subbiah told the man he would get half a seer of rice from another supplier, took the man’s coin, and told the man to wait. In truth, he duped the man and went to his secret godown and had no intention to return.
7. What did the poor man do after waiting for hours?
Ans. After waiting for three hours, the poor man became anxious and restless. He wandered through the streets searching for Subbiah, returned to the shop, and then went to Subbiah’s house. He was desperately hoping to find him and get some rice to feed his starving family.
8. How was Subbiah’s secret godown discovered?
Ans. Subbiah’s wife, worried about his absence, eventually revealed the location of his secret godown. When the door wouldn’t open, they broke the ventilator and sent in a boy. Inside, they found Subbiah buried under fallen rice sacks.
9. What symbolic object was found in Subbiah’s hand after his death?
Ans. A half-rupee coin was found in Subbiah’s hand the same coin he took from the poor man. This half-rupee coin illustrated Subbiah’s greed and became a grim reminder of heartless conduct and its impacts.
10. What message does the story Half A Rupee Worth convey?
Ans. The story emphasizes the dangers of greed and exploitation. Subbiah’s unfortunate demise suggests that greed and selfishness, especially when at the cost of humanity can lead to one’s destruction. Compassion must always outweigh profit.