A Tiger in the Zoo Poem Important Questions Class 10 First Flight English
Very Short Answer Type Questions
Question 1. How does the tiger walk in the cage?
Answer
In the cage, the tiger walks stately and furiously.
Question 2. Where should the tiger hide to himself?
Answer
The tiger should hide in the shadow.
Question 3. How does the caged tiger react to the visitors?
Answer
He ignores the visitors.
Question 4. How does the tiger feel in the cage?
Answer
In the cage, he is in an angry mood.
Question 5. Who passes near the water hole?
Answer
The fat deer pass near the water hole.
Question 6. What sound does the tiger hears at night?
Answer
The tiger hears the sound of the patrolling cars at night.
Question 7. How should the tiger walk through the grass?
Answer
He should walk with ease through the grass.
Question 8. How do the eyes of the tiger look?
Answer
His eyes look brilliant.
Short Answer Type Questions
Question 1. How does the tiger act in the cage?
Answer
The tiger is in the cage. He is powerless and helpless. He longs for freedom. His velvet pads do not make any noise. He is in the silent anger roaring and ignoring the visitors.
Question 2. What would the tiger do in a forest?
Answer
In the forest, the tiger can enjoy complete freedom. He would walk around freely without any fear. He would terrorize the villagers by growling. He would show his teeth and claws.
Question 3. How does the tiger feel in the zoo?
Answer
The poet describes the feelings of the tiger in the zoo. He keeps on moving from one comer to another. “He stalks in his vivid stripes moving the few steps of his cage”. He is not happy. He expresses his silent anger.
Question 4. The tiger in the poem ‘A Tiger in the Zoo’ has some obvious limitations, describe them in contrast to its natural habitat.
Answer
The tiger in the zoo was confined to a small space. He was angry that he couldn’t be free to move, hunt and do what he pleased forced to be a showpiece; and the cage’s bars obstructed his view of the starry night. This was all unlike his natural habitat where he hunted fiercely and slept fitfully.
Question 5. How does the tiger terrify the villagers?
Answer
The tiger prowls around the houses of the villagers. He terrifies them by snarling at them. Their houses are situated near the jungle. He terrifies the villagers by baring his fangs and showing his long claws.
Question 6. How does the tiger walk in the cage?
Answer
The tiger walks in the cage in a proud manner. He walks quietly. But his eyes show that he is very angry at having been imprisoned in a cage. But he can’t do anything for his freedom.
Question 7. Freedom can’t be bargained at any cost. What message does Leslie Norris give to the readers in ‘A Tiger in the Zoo’?
Answer
Not only humans but animals too cherish freedom. Freedom can’t be bargained. In this case, a tiger may be well-fed and protected. However, the curtailment of his freedom keeps him in ‘quiet rage’. He resents being behind the bars. He is a different animal when he is in his natural habitat, the jungle. He roams around the water hole and ambushes his favourite plump deer.
Question 8. What does the poet say about a tiger in his natural surroundings?
Answer
The poet says that the tiger should be in the jungle. It is his natural habitat. In the jungle, he moves in the long grass near a water hole. He hides in shadow to hunt the deer for his food.
Question 9. How does the tiger behave at night?
Answer
At night the tiger feels lonely. He hears the sound of the patrolling cars. He looks through the bars at the shining stars. His eyes are also shining.
Question 10. How does the tiger stalk in the cage?
Answer
The tiger is not in his natural habitat i.e. the jungle. The tiger is locked in a cage made up of cement and concrete. He keeps on stalking inside his cage from one side to the other. He is walking in a quiet rage with his heels which are padded like velvet.
Question 11. He hears the last voice at night, the patrolling cars. Who hears the last voice and of what?
Answer
The tiger hears the last voice Le, the sound of the patrolling cars at night. He is imprisoned in a cage at the zoo. The patrolling cars are making a round of the zoo to see that everything is alright.
Question 12. Is it safe to allow tigers to live in their natural habitat these days?
Answer
Although it is ideal for tigers to live in the wild, today, it will mean certain death for them. Fast diminishing jungles and danger posed by poachers have pushed tigers to the brink of extinction, making their natural home unsafe.
Question 13. Wh4ere is the strength of the tiger and how does he treat the visitors?
Answer
The tiger is imprisoned in a cage. So his strength is behind the bars. He paces to-and-fro the length of the cage. Visitors come to his cage. But he ignores those visitors.
Question 14. How does the poet contrast the tiger in the cage with a tiger in the forest?
Answer
The poet says that the caged tiger is imprisoned. He is not free. He is angry. On the other hand the tiger in the jungle is free. He walks in the tall grass and hunts the deer that pass near the water hole.
Long Answer Type Questions
Question 1. The tiger in the poem is feeling miserable in a concrete cell. Does it not amount to cruelty? Express your opinion about keeping wild animals in zoos. Is there any lesson for humans?
Answer
The tiger in the poem is wretched in its cage. It longs for freedom. It may be well looked after, but the fact of the matter is that unless one is free, one is not alive. Confinement brings bondage, and bondage is cruel. One may argue that at least this way they all will not be killed and become extinct. However, taking away one’s freedom to keep one alive kill the desire to live anyhow. Even humans throughout the world oppose the chains of slavery and oppression. How are other living creatures any different? Humans have encroached on their space, and sheltering them in zoos is truly inhuman. Humans must learn to respect nature, for humans exist only due to nature.
Question 2. Notice the use of a word repeated in lines such as these —
(i) On pads of velvet quiet,
In his quiet rage.
(ii) And stares with his brilliant eyes
At the brilliant stars.
What do you think is the effect of this repetition?
Answer
(i) The word ‘quiet’ has been repeated in these lines. The repetition of the words expresses the intensity of the Tiger’ action.
(ii) ‘Brilliant’ word has been repeated in these lines. It expresses both the anger and brightness in the eyes of the tiger. It creates an effect of intensity of the action.
Question 3. Freedom is such an essential virtue that is valued not only by human beings but also by animals alike. Justify the statement with reference to Leslie Norris’s poem ‘A Tiger in the Zoo’.
Answer
Freedom is an essential virtue valued by all. Not only humans but even the denizens of the forest value it. No one knows it better than a caged tiger in a zoo. Animals, particularly the animals of the wilds, feel free only in their natural habitats. Any attempt to ‘domesticate’ ferocious and mighty animals like lions or tigers by locking them in concrete cells will be against natural justice. The tiger roams around in the jungle hunting its prey at will. He rarely kills his prey for sport. He kills them only when he is hungry. He knows how to ambush his prey. He lurks unnoticed in the long grass before pouncing upon his prey. He also knows where he can find his favourite plump deer. He may come out of the forest sometimes and terrorise -the villagers living at the outskirts of the jungle. He rarely kills them till he is provoked.
The same tiger feels depressed and low in spirits when he is put behind the bars. He stalks constantly the length of his cage in his ‘quiet rage’. He ignores the visitors and feels helpless. Behind the bars, he keeps on staring at the brilliant stars in the open sky. This sadly reminds him of his loss of freedom and intensifies his grief.
Question 4. Some animals are becoming extinct; the tiger is one such animal. What do you think could be the reason? Should this decrease in number be stopped? Why?
Answer
The primary threats to the survival of tigers are poaching and habitat loss due to intensive development. The Tigers are getting extinct. The Tigers are on the list of endangered species and the reason behind it is human interference. Humans hunt tigers for their commercial benefits. The loss of habitats also leads to a reduction in prey animals, so the area can support fewer tigers. Moreover, tigers are poached for trophies such as teeth and fur and for traditional medicines. The growing population clears the forest areas to make them agricultural land for food. This creates a problem of the tiger’s habitat. Tigers are the backbone of food web and forest, hence should be protected.