‘A Thief’s Story’ is a lesson from the NCERT Class 10 book ‘First Flight’. Extract-based Objective type Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) are given here. These questions are for CBSE Class X Board Exam preparation and revision. Click here for more study materials for class X English.
I. Read the given extract and answer the following questions.
“Anil was watching a wrestling match when I approached him. He was about 25 — a tall, lean fellow — and he looked easy-going, kind and simple enough for my purpose. I hadn’t had much luck of late and thought I might be able to get into the young man’s confidence.
“You look a bit of a wrestler yourself,” I said. A little flattery helps in making friends.
“So do you,” he replied, which put me off for a moment because at that time I was rather thin.
“Well,” I said modestly, “I do wrestle a bit.”
“What’s your name?”
“Hari Singh,” I lied. I took a new name every month. That kept me ahead of the police and my former employers. After this introduction, Anil talked about the well-oiled wrestlers who were grunting, lifting and throwing each other about. I didn’t have much to say. Anil walked away. I followed casually.
“Hello again,” he said. I gave him my most appealing smile. “I want to work for you,” I said.
“But I can’t pay you.”
Questions:
1. What was the narrator’s ‘purpose’ for approaching Anil?
- A) To befriend Anil
- B) To ask Anil for help
- C) To learn from Anil
- D) To steal from Anil
2. What two qualities point to Hari being a successful thief?
- A) Wrestling ability
- B) Tact to take a new name every month
- C) Ability to cook well
- D) Ability to flatter people
3. What did Hari Singh ask Anil?
- A) If he could learn from him
- B) Whether he could work for him
- C) If he could get a job
- D) Whether he could lend some money
4. What is the meaning of the word ‘flattery’?
- A) Fanciful thinking
- B) Reliable nature
- C) Sweet talk
- D) Critical manner
5. What problem did Anil raise in hiring Hari?
- A) Hari was not qualified.
- B) Hari was a stranger.
- C) Hari had a police record.
- D) He couldn’t pay Hari.
Answers:
1. D) To steal from Anil
The narrator’s ‘purpose’ was to get close to Anil and then steal from him.
2. B) Tact to take a new name every month (Hari Singh was not the narrator’s real name. In fact, he states that he took a new name every month. This helped him escape the attention of the police.)
D) Ability to flatter people (Hari complimented Anil that he looked like a wrestler. This compliment was nothing more than flattery since Anil was tall and lean.)
3. B) Whether he could work for him (After approaching Anil, Hari Singh stated that he wanted to work for him.)
4. C) Sweet talk (‘Flattery’ means praising someone for material gains.)
5. D) He couldn’t pay Hari. (When Hari asked for work, Anil hesitated because he could not afford to pay him.)
II. Read the given extract and answer the following questions.
“I had no friends, believing that friends were more trouble than help. And I did not want to make anyone curious by staying at one of the small hotels near the station. The only person I knew really well was the man I had robbed. Leaving the station, I walked slowly through the bazaar.
In my short career as a thief, I had made a study of men’s faces when they had lost their goods. The greedy man showed fear; the rich man showed anger; the poor man showed acceptance. But I knew that Anil’s face, when he discovered the theft, would show only a touch of sadness. Not for the loss of money, but for the loss of trust.”
Questions:
1. What study had Hari made during his career as a thief?
- A) What would Anil think?
- B) Who would he rob?
- C) Where would he stay?
- D) How do men react when robbed?
2. Why, according to Hari, would Anil be sad on having discovered the theft?
- A) He would lose all his life’s savings.
- B) He would lament his loss of money.
- C) He would mourn the loss of a good servant like Hari.
- D) He would feel that his trust was broken.
3. Which of these words is a synonym for ‘deserted’?
- A) Uninhabited
- B) Lonely
- C) Bare
- D) Neglected
4. Why was Hari not keen on staying in a small hotel?
- A) He feared that the hotel manager would call the police.
- B) He could not afford the hotel bill.
- C) He was afraid that people would be curious.
- D) He thought that Anil would find out about him.
5. What was the reason for Hari’s lack of friends?
- A) He himself avoided making friends.
- B) He had friends, but they lived out of town.
- C) Nobody liked him because he was a thief.
- D) His friends had boarded the train.
Answers:
1. D) How do men react when robbed? (Hari had made a study of people’s reactions when they lost their belongings. He thought about all the men he had robbed and how they react after being robbed.)
2. D) He would feel that his trust was broken. (Anil had put his trust in Hari, so much so that he had given his house keys to him. This loss of trust would hurt him more than the loss of money.)
3. A) Uninhabited (There was no one on the platform because everyone had left in the train. So, the platform was uninhabited.)
4. C) He was afraid that people would be curious. (Hari did not wish to make anyone curious by checking into a hotel in the middle of the night.)
5. A) He himself avoided making friends. (Hari was a thief by profession. He did not like making friends because he believed that they did not help as much as they proved to be a hindrance.)
III. Read the given extract and answer the following questions.
“I had been working for Anil for almost a month and, apart from cheating on the shopping, had not done anything in my line of work. I had every opportunity for doing so. Anil had given me a key to the door, and I could come and go as I pleased. He was the most trusting person I had ever met.
And that is why it was so difficult to rob him. It’s easy to rob a greedy man, because he can afford to be robbed; but it’s difficult to rob a careless man — sometimes he doesn’t even notice he’s been robbed and that takes all the pleasure out of the work. Well, it’s time I did some real work, I told myself; I’m out of practice. And if I don’t take the money, he’ll only waste it on his friends. After all, he doesn’t even pay me.”
Questions:
1. What was Hari’s difficulty in robbing Anil?
- A) Anil was poor and didn’t have any money.
- B) It was not right to steal from an endearing person like him.
- C) Hari felt guilty while stealing from Anil.
- D) There was no pleasure in stealing from a trusting person like him.
2. Why was it easy for Hari to steal from Anil?
- A) Anil was very rich.
- B) Hari was a wrestler.
- C) Anil was a greedy man.
- D) He had the key to the door.
3. What was Hari’s ‘line of work’?
- A) He did household chores.
- B) He was a robber.
- C) Cooking delicious dishes
- D) Reading and writing
4. Which of these words is a synonym for the word ‘opportunity’?
- A) Excuse
- B) Good fortune
- C) Event
- D) Chance
5. Why is it easy to rob a greedy man?
- A) He was careless with his money.
- B) He had a lot of money.
- C) He would fall for
- D) He could afford to be robbed.
Answers:
1. D) There was no pleasure in stealing from a trusting person like him. (Hari thought it wouldn’t be any fun to rob Anil because Anil was careless and trusted Hari completely. There wouldn’t be any pleasure to steal from him.)
2. D) He had the key to the door. (Anil trusted Hari so much that he had given him the key to his house.)
3, B) He was a robber. (Hari was a thief. He robbed rich and greedy people.)
4. D) Chance (In this context, the synonym for the word ‘opportunity’ is chance or an opening.)
5. D) He could afford to be robbed. (According to Hari, it was easy to steal from a greedy man, because he would have accumulated a lot of wealth in his greed. So, he could afford to be robbed.)
IV. Read the given extract and answer the following questions.
“I remained still for a minute. Then my hand found the edge of the mattress and slipped under it with the notes.
I awoke late the next morning to find that Anil had already made the tea. He stretched out his hand towards me. There was a fifty-rupee note between his fingers. My heart sank. I thought I had been discovered. “I made some money yesterday,” he explained. “Now you’ll be paid regularly.”
My spirits rose. But when I took the note, I saw it was still wet from the night’s rain. “Today we’ll start writing sentences,” he said. He knew. But neither his lips nor his eyes showed anything. I smiled at Anil in my most appealing way. And the smile came by itself, without any effort.
Questions:
1. Which quote best suits this extract?
- A) Repentance is a lifetime self-improvement.
- B) Some plants of the bitterest root have the whitest and sweetest blossoms.
- C) Rolling in the muck is not the best way of getting clean.
- D) The repentance of a hypocrite is itself hypocrisy.
2. Why was Hari able to smile without any effort?
- A) He was glad to receive fifty rupees.
- B) He knew that Anil had forgiven him.
- C) Anil promised that he would receive a regular salary.
- D) He was trying to flatter Anil.
3. Which of these sentences uses the word ‘spirits’ correctly as used in the passage?
- A) Everyone was in high spirits as the match began.
- B) Prospero controlled many air and fire spirits.
- C) The Ouija board is used to summon spirits.
- D) Spirits are made by fermenting foods with natural sugars.
4. Which word suits Anil’s personality in light of this extract?
- A) Robust
- B) Roguish
- C) Desperate
- D) Clement
5. What can you say about the relationship between Anil and Hari from this extract?
- A) Mentor and mentee
- B) Master and slave
- C) Colleagues
- D) Best friends
Answers:
1. A) Repentance is a lifetime self-improvement. (The passage narrates how a repentant thief returned the stolen money to its owner. In return, he received acceptance and a second chance to improve himself.)
2. B) He knew that Anil had forgiven him. (When Hari receive fifty rupees from Anil, he saw that it was wet from the night’s rain. It was obvious that Anil knew about the theft and yet decided to forgive him. Anil’s generosity made him smile effortlessly.)
3. A) Everyone was in high spirits as the match began. (In the passage, the word ‘spirits’ means mood or temperament. This sentence states that the audience was in a good mood when the match started.
4. D) Clement (A person who is merciful and inclined to forgive others is known as clement. As Anil readily forgave Hari, he can be described as clement.)
5. A) Mentor and mentee (Anil, through his behaviour, modified Hari’s actions and changed his heart. In a way, he was a mentor guiding Hari who was his mentee.)
Read More…
- The Thief’s Story: Word Meanings
- The Thief’s Story Extra Questions
- Summary of The Thief’s Story
- The Thief’s Story Solutions
