Answer - 11 : - As soon as the box was opened, Mij jumped out of it. He disappeared in no time and ran all over the place scaring other passengers in the flight. The otter created a lot of chaos in the airplane and the co-passengers got scared looking at the little creature. Out of fear, a woman stood up on her seat as he went beneath the legs of a portly white-turbaned Indian. Maxwell tried to get hold of Mij, but failed. The airhostess assured Maxwell that she would find the otter for him. Soon enough, Mijbil returned to the author and bounded on to his knee and began to nuzzle his face and his neck.

Question - 12 : - What game had Mij invented?

Answer - 12 : -

Mij invented a game ofplaying with the ping-pong ball. One of the author’s suitcase was damaged andhad a slope on the lid. Mij would put the ball on the high end of the slopinglid and run to catch the ball as it slided down towards the lower end.

Question - 13 : - What are ‘compulsive habits’? What does Maxwell say are the compulsive habits of :-

Answer - 13 : -

(i) school children

(ii) Mij?

Answer:

Compulsive habits usually refers to strange behavioural acts done by a person without clear reason. For example, a kid may jump over a fence, instead taking the normal passageway. Usually children express compulsive behaviour as they are mischievous by nature.

(i) As per the story, Maxwell expresses the compulsive habits such the rituals of children who on their way to and from school must place their feet squarely on the centre of each paving block; must touch every seventh upright of the iron railings, or pass to the outside of every second lamp post.

(ii) Similarly, even Mijbil while on his way to home would jump over the boundary wall railing and gallop the full length of its thirty yards, to the hopeless distraction both of pupils and of staff within.

Question - 14 : - What group of animals do otters belong to?

Answer - 14 : - Otters belong to a relatively small group of animals known as Mustellines. The other animals of this group are badger, mongoose, weasel, stoat, mink and others.

Question - 15 : - What guesses did the Londoners make about what Mij was?

Answer - 15 : - According to Maxwell, Londoners do not recognize otters easily as they are not found in England. Hence, they made the wildest possible guesses about Mijbil. Some people guesses ranged from a baby seal, a squirrel, a walrus, a beaver, a bear cub, a leopard, a hippo to a brontosaurus.

Question - 16 : - What things does Mij do which tell you that he is an intelligent, friendly and fun-loving animal who needs love?

Answer - 16 : - Mij proved his intelligence when he invented his own game of ping-pong ball on a worn-out suitcase of Maxwell. Another instance of his intelligence was when he opened the tap in the bathroom and got into the tub and played with water. Although initially he was aloof and indifferent towards Maxwell, but he gradually exhibited his friendly nature towards his owner. This is evident from the fact, when he clung to Maxwell’s feet in the flight. He developed a close bond with the author in due course of time and proved to be a fun-loving animal when he developed games on his own and exhibited certain compulsive habits on his walks with Maxwell in the streets of London.

Question - 17 : - What are some of the things we come to know about otters from this text?

Answer - 17 : - Otters belong to a relatively small group of animals called Mustellines that is shared by badger, mongoose, weasel, stoat, mink and others. They are mostly found in large numbers in marshy areas. Arabs tame them as pets. Otters love to play with water and splash in it. Maxwell’s otter was of an unknown race to science and was at length named by zoologists as Lutrogale Perspicillata Maxwelli, hence, it is also known as Maxwell’s otter in short. We also came to know that otters are intelligent and fun-loving animals who invent and love to play their own games and have a friendly nature towards human beings.

Question - 18 : - Why is Mij’s species now known to the world as Maxwell’s otter?

Answer - 18 : - Maxwell’s otter was of an unknown race to science and was at length named by zoologists as Lutrogale Perspicillata Maxwelli, hence, it is also known as Maxwell’s otter in short.

Question - 19 : - Maxwell in the story speaks for the otter, Mij. He tells us what the otter feels and thinks on different occasions.

Answer - 19 : -

Given below are somethings the otter does. Complete the column on the right to say what Maxwellsays about what Mij feels and thinks.

What Mij does	How Mij feels or thinks
plunges, rolls in the water and makes the water splosh and splash
Screws the tap in the wrong way
Nuzzles Maxwell’s face and neck in the aeroplane

Answer:

What Mij does	How Mij feels or thinks
plunges, rolls in the water and makes the water splosh and splash	Went wild with joy
Screws the tap in the wrong way	Irritated and disappointed at the tap’s failure to cooperate
Nuzzles Maxwell’s face and neck in the aeroplane	a distressed chitter of recognition and welcome

Question - 20 : - Read the story and find the sentences where Maxwell describes his pet otter.

Answer - 20 : -

Then choose and arrange your sentences to illustrate those statements below that you think are true.

Maxwell’s description

1. makes Mij seem almost human, like a small boy.

2. shows that he is often irritated with what Mij does.

3. shows that he is often surprised by what Mij does.

4. of Mij’s antics is comical.

5. shows that he observes the antics of Mij very carefully.

6. shows that he thinks Mij is a very ordinary otter.

7. shows that he thinks the otter is very unusual.

Answer:

1. True. The statement – “He spent most of his time in play.”

2. False

3. True. The statement – “I watched, amazed; in less than a minute he had turned the tap far enough to produce a trickle of water, and after a moment or two achieved the full flow.”

4. True. The statement – “Marbles were Mij’s favourite toys for this pastime: he would lie on his back rolling two or more of them up and down his wide, flat belly without ever dropping one to the floor.

5. True. The statement – “A suitcase that I had taken to Iraq had become damaged on the journey home, so that the lid, when closed, remained at a slope from one end to the other. Mij discovered that if he placed the ball on the high end it would run down the length of the suitcase. He would dash around to the other end to ambush its arrival, hide from it, crouching, to spring up and take it by surprise, grab it and trot off with it to the high end once more.”

6. False

7. True. The statement – “It is not, I suppose, in any way strange that the average Londoner should not recognise an otter, but the variety of guesses as to what kind of animal this might be came as a surprise to me.”

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Chapter 8 Mijbil the Otter Solutions

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