Chapter 9 – A Tiger in the House Solutions
Question - 11 : - (i) What did Toto do to entertain Timothy?
(ii) What did he do when Timothy lost his temper?
Answer - 11 : -
(i) Toto pulled Timothy by the tail to entertain him.
(ii) When Timothy lost his temper, Toto climbed up the curtains.
Question - 12 : - Have you heard of the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA)? What do they do?
Answer - 12 : -
This question requires you to use your own perspective as well as your analytical skills. The answer to the question would vary from one person to another. It is suggested that you read the text carefully and try attempting it on your own.
Question - 13 : - “I became one of the tiger’s favourites”. Who is ‘I’ in the statement? Why did he think so?
Answer - 13 : -
In the statement, ‘I’ is the narrator of the story. Timothy had the habit of stalking anyone who would play with him. When the narrator went to live with Grandfather, he became Timothy’s favourite playmate. One of his games was to slowly creep towards the narrator and then suddenly make a dash for his feet, pretending to bite his ankles.
Question - 14 : - Where was Timothy most comfortable during the day? Where was he during the night?
Answer - 14 : -
During the day, Timothy’s favourite place in the house was the drawing-room and was the most comfortable on the long sofa. He slept at night in the cook’s quarters.
Question - 15 : - What was Grandmother’s prophecy about the cook? Did it come true?
Answer - 15 : -
Grandmother’s prophecy about the cook was that one day Timothy would make a meal of Mahmoud. It did not come true. However, the tiger had begun to stalk Mahmoud about the house with a villainous intent.
Question - 16 : - What made Grandfather decide to transfer Timothy to the zoo?
Answer - 16 : -
When Timothy was about six months old, he grew less friendly. When he was out for a walk with the narrator, he would try to steal away to stalk a cat or someone’s pet dog.
Sometimes at night, they would hear frenzied cackling from the poultry house. In the morning, they would find feathers lying all over the verandah. Timothy had to be chained up more often. And finally, when it began to stalk Mahmoud about the house with a villainous intent, Grandfather decided it was time to transfer it to a zoo.
Question - 17 : - Why did Grandfather want Timothy to be put in another enclosure?
Answer - 17 : -
Grandfather wanted Timothy to be put in another enclosure as the leopard in the next cage would constantly rush at Timothy. Whenever this happened, the frightened Timothy would slink to a corner.
Question - 18 : - What shocked Grandfather in the end?
Answer - 18 : -
While he was petting Timothy, Grandfather happened to notice the keeper who had been there when Timothy had been brought to the zoo. He was watching Grandfather with alarm. When Grandfather asked him to transfer Timothy to another cage, he said that the tiger in the cage was not Timothy. He said that Grandfather’s tiger had died two months back because of pneumonia. The tiger that Grandfather mistook to be Timothy was actually a very dangerous tiger and was trapped the previous month. This was what shocked Grandfather.