CBSE Important Questions for Class 10 English First Flight Chapter 7: "Madam Rides the Bus" by Vallikkannan is a heartwarming story about Valliammai, a curious and adventurous eight-year-old girl. Fascinated by the outside world, she dreams of riding a bus to the nearby town.
One day, she secretly saves money and fulfills her wish, experiencing the thrill of travel.
Important questions from Madam Rides the Bus help students grasp key themes like curiosity, independence, and childhood innocence. These questions focus on Valliammai’s adventurous spirit, her observations during the bus journey, and the emotional impact of witnessing death.
By practicing Madam Rides the Bus Important Questions, students improve their comprehension, analytical, and writing skills, ensuring they can effectively answer exam questions.
Class 10 English Chapter 7 Madam Rides the Bus Important Questions
Get a quick overview of the most important questions from Madam Rides the Bus to strengthen your exam preparation.
These questions help students understand key themes, character traits, and major events from the chapter for better scoring.
1. How did Valli react when she saw the dead cow by the roadside?
Ans. The conductor was a very wise man and knew how to tackle and talk with the passenger. He was fond of jokes and, in his jolly tone, interrogated Valli many times.
2. Give examples from the text to show that Valli was a meticulous planner.
Ans. Valli was a meticulous planner. She listened carefully to the conversations between her
neighbours and people who regularly used the bus and also asked discreet questions. She picked up various small details about the bus journey and then planned it. On and on went her thoughts as she calculated and recalculated, planned and replanned.
3. How can you say that the conductor was a good, natured jolly fellow? Support your answer with examples.
Ans. The conductor was a fun-loving, jolly fellow. For instance-when Valli refused his help to board the bus he said jokingly, “Don’t be angry with me, fine madam... Everyone move aside please — make way for madam’.
4. How did Valli save money for her first journey? Was it easy for her?
Ans. Valli had very painstakingly saved every stray coins that came her way by resisting every temptation to buy peppermints, toys, balloons, etc. It had been very difficult for her. Even at the village fair she resisted the temptation to be on the merry-go-round.
Thus, she had been able to save sixty paise for her first bus journey.
5. Read the extract below and answer the questions that follow:
But for Valli, standing at the front door was every bit as enjoyable as any of the elaborate games other children played. Watching the street gave her many new unusual experiences.
(A) Why did Valli keep on standing at the doorway?
(B) How did Valli feel while standing at the doorway?
(C) Find a word from the extract which means ‘not very common’.
(D) How was Valli different from children of her age?
Ans.
(A) Valli kept on standing at the doorway to watch the happenings on the street outside.
(B) Watching the street gave Valli many new experiences. She felt joyous standing at the
doorway.
(C) ‘Unusual’ from the extract means ‘not very common’.
(D) Valli was different from children of her age as she was not interested in playing any elaborate games.
6. Read the extract below and answer the questions that follow. The most fascinating thing of all was the bus that travelled between her village and the nearest town. It passed through her street each hour, once going to the town and once coming back. The sight of the bus, filled each time with a new set of passengers, was a source of unending joy for Valli.
(A) How many times did the bus pass?
(B) What was the source of unending joy for Valli?
(C) Find a word from the extract which means ‘never ending’.
(D) What was the most fascinating thing for Valli?
Ans. (A) The bus passed through Valli’s street once in an hour.
(B) The sight of the bus, filled each time with a new set of passengers, was a source of
unending joy for Valli.
(C) ‘Unending’ from the extract means ‘never ending’.
(D) The most fascinating thing for Valli was watching the bus that travelled between her
village and the nearest town.
7. What details did Valli pick up about the bus journey? How did she pick up these details?
OR
What information did Valli collect for her first bus ride?
Ans. Valli gathered all the minute details about the bus journey. She gathered that she required sixty paise to buy tickets for the up and down journey and that the bus would take ninety minutes from the village to town and back. She carefully listened to the conversations of the passengers and villagers to get the details.
8. What made Valli sad on her return journey?
Ans. On her return journey, Valli saw a dead cow lying in the middle of the road. It was lying sprawled in a pool of blood, legs spread out, lifeless eyes staring—a horrible scene. She felt sad.
9. What was a source of unending joy for Valli? What was her strongest desire?
OR
What was the most fascinating thing for Valli?
Ans. Valli’s source of unending joy was to have a bus ride. That was her tiny wish which grew into a strong desire with the passage of time. Her desire turned into longing as she wistfully stared at the faces of the passengers who got on or off the bus.
10. What was Valli’s favourite pastime?
OR
Valli was an eight-year-old girl who was very curious about things. What was her favourite
Pastime?
Ans. Valli’s favourite pastime was to stand in the front doorway of her house. She did not play like most other children because there were no playmates of her age on her street. Watching the street also gave her many unusual experiences which were equally enjoyable to her.
11. "Never mind,” she said, “I can get on by myself.”
“You don’t have to help me,” said Valli to the conductor. She shows extraordinary courage in
making the bus journey all alone. Taking inspiration from Valli’s character, write how the
ability and courage to take risks are essential to fulfilling one’s dream.
OR
Valli nurtures a strong desire to travel by bus and visit the city. She works hard for it and finally, she is successful. Based on this incident, analyze what values of life do you need to nurture to attain your goals in life?
Ans. Valli is an eight-year-old village girl. She is fascinated by the bus that comes to the village every hour.
She develops a desire turned into a firm determination to ride the bus. She meticulously plans for it and saves money for the bus journey. Then she boards the bus without anyone’s help.
She travels all alone, confidently and independently and finally returns home successfully. Her self- dependence and self-respecting nature help her to nurture her goal. She enjoys her journey. Similarly, to achieve goals in life, we need to have such values
in us. One should be confident and self-dependent. Proper planning and determination will lead to success. Enthusiasm and excitement to achieve the goal are also needed to nurture our goals in life.
12. In such a fast moving world when we hear so many incidents happening with people, do you think Valli did right by not telling her mother about the bus journey?
Ans. No, I don’t think that Valli did the right thing by travelling alone to town without informing her mother.
By doing this, she put herself in a vulnerable position as she could have easily been a victim of child abuse had she come in contact with wrong people. In fact, she was lucky to return home safely. Children should always travel along with their parents or elders as they are easy targets for criminals.
We hear a lot of instances of crime committed against children these days like kidnapping, child abuse, molestation, etc. Valli should have expressed her desire of travelling in the bus to her mother. Her mother may have taken her on a bus ride.
13. The people and surroundings provide great opportunities for learning. In the lesson "Madam Rides the Bus," Valli learns a lot from others. Mention the character traits that help her learn from her surroundings.
Ans. Valli dreamt of riding on the bus. Her eagerness to fulfill her dream fired her curiosity. This curiosity led her to listen to the conversations of people going on the bus ride and asking discreet questions so that she could gather as much information as she could regarding the bus journey.
On the bus journey, Valli acted confidently and behaved maturely. She did not consider herself to be any less than an adult. She was focused on fulfilling her dream and did not get tempted to go outside the bus and explore the town when the bus reached the town.
On the return journey, she learnt about death when she came to terms with the dead cow. This made her aware of the fact that death is a part of life and should be accepted as it is a natural phenomenon. Thus, the bus journey made her learn a lot of things.
CBSE Madam Rides the Bus Important Questions Chapter 7 PDF
Below, we have provided a PDF containing important questions for Madam Rides the Bus. These questions will help students understand key themes, character analysis, and important events from the story. Practicing these will enhance comprehension and exam performance. The PDF includes short and long answer questions, along with value-based questions to strengthen analytical skills. Download the PDF to prepare effectively.
CBSE Important Questions for Class 10 English First Flight Chapter 7 PDF
Advantages of Using Madam Rides the Bus Important Questions Chapter 7
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Enhanced Understanding: Strengthens grasp of key themes like curiosity, independence, and childhood innocence using well-prepared Class 10 notes.
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Smart Exam Preparation: Focuses on important questions from Madam Rides the Bus, helping students understand commonly asked concepts and patterns.
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Improved Answer Writing: Supports students in framing better responses for long answers, very short questions, and analytical questions.
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Better Time Management: Regular practice of Madam Rides the Bus, very short question answer sets help students answer quickly and accurately during exams.
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Concept Clarity: Deepens understanding of the story’s events, character traits, and moral lessons through structured practice.
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Higher Scores: Builds confidence for both objective and subjective sections and boosts overall performance in Class 10 English.
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