Clearing in the Sky Story Questions and Answers for Class 11

11th Class English Chapter 2 Clearing in the Sky Short Questions and Answers – First-Year English Notes

This post contains Clearing in the Sky Questions and Answers for 11th Class Students. This Short Story, Clearing In the Sky is the 2nd Chapter in the textbook of FSC, 1st Year. I am sharing short questions from the textbook and also an exercise from Kips Notes. This is a story of an old man’s willpower to whom doctors told him that he has few days and he should spend his time with his family and do nothing. But instead, he does all the things which a healthy person can do and survive. He brings his son with him to the garden where he has been working to remain healthy and fit. You should also visit Complete English Notes for Class 11.

Summary of Clearing in the Sky Short Story for FSC 1st Year Students

Our past plays a great role in our lives. Jesse Stuart wants to share the same feelings with us in this story. His father has grown old and is leading a life full of recollections. The old man wants to visit the places where he has worked and succeeded against the advice of his doctors.

The writer’s father takes his son ( Jesse Stuart) with him on a small journey to visit a mountain top on a vertical path. The son is unwilling to go with his father. On their way, they observe many things which take them to their past. His father has cleared a patch at the mountain top which is a pleasant shock for the son. His old father tells him that he was done all this despite the warnings of the doctors. He further says that this takes him back to his youth that’s why he wants to come here to grow his tomatoes and yams with better taste in the wildland. “Clearing in the Sky” is the story of youthful verve in an old heart. This juvenile passion doesn’t let the old body perish.

Chapter 2 “Clearing in the sky” Short Questions and Answers For FSC, Part 1

This is the first part with nine short questions from the textbook.

Q.1 Why didn’t the old man follow the advice of the doctors?

Ans. The old man did not follow the advice of the doctors because he believe in himself. He had to raise a family of five children. If he had followed the doctor’s advice, he would have been confined to bed.

Q.2 What had the doctors told the old man?

Ans. The doctors had advised him to go home and be with his family as long as he could. They told him not to work but to live and enjoy the few days he had left him.

Q.3 Where did the old man take his son to?

Ans. The old man took his son to the top of the mountain where he had raised potatoes, yams, and tomatoes, but actually, he wanted to disclose to his son the secret of his victory over the odds which were heavily against him.

Q.4 Had the son ever been there before?

Ans. With the exception of the last three years, he had been there many times, though he had never seen anything extraordinary upon that high point of the rugged land.

Q.5 What were the names of the vegetables?

Ans. The old man had grown potatoes, yams, and tomatoes on his farm.

Q.6 Why did the old man take the steep path?

Ans. When the doctors forbade him to walk or climb, the old man made a longer, easier path in order to avoid doing so much climbing. As he got better, he made steeper paths. That was one way of knowing that he was getting better all the time.

Q.7 Why had the son at the age of six cry?

Ans. The son cried at the age of six when he lost the little wooden plough his father had once made him. He cried and cried until his father made him another plough.

Q.8 What were the feelings of the old man at the age of seventy?

Ans. He was happy that he had, despite the warning by the doctors, lived a natural span of life that God allows to a man on the earth, and raised a family of five children successfully.

Q.9 Why had the old man planted his secret garden?

Ans. The old man had planted his secret garden to check and prove his physical and spiritual strength. The secret garden was a symbol of the old man’s strong willpower. It was a sign of his victory over the odds that were heavily against him.

Kips Exercise

Q.1 Why didn’t Jess want to go with his father?

Ans. Jess didn’t want to go with his father because he had already walked half a mile uphill, carrying his mother’s basket of dishes.

Q.2 What was the temperature when Jess came to see his father?

Ans. It was 97 in the shade when Jess came to see his father.

Q.3 What was the advice of the doctors to the old man?

Ans. The doctors advised him to take rest and avoid physical work. They told him not to do anything but to live and enjoy the few remaining days of his life.

Q.4 What was the old man’s response to the doctors’ advice?

Ans. He didn’t pay any heed to their advice. He did as much hard work as any other person did.

Q.5 Why could Jess not protest to his father when he was taking him to the mountain top?

Ans. Jess could not protest his father because once his father made up his mind to do a thing he would do it even if he had to crawl.

Q.6 What was the significance of October in the old man’s memories?

Ans. It was the time when the rabbits were ripe. The old man hunted the rabbits and the wind blew rustling the big leaves from trees, which fell like yellow raindrops to the ground.

Q.7 How did the pines look on the top of the mountain above them?

Ans. The pines on top of the mountain above them looked as if the fingers of their long boughs were fondling the substance of the white cloud.

Q.9 What did Jess see on the mountain top?

Ans. He saw a small clearing not more than three fourth of an acre in the heart of the wilderness right on the mountain-top.

Q.10 Why had the old man fenced his vegetable field?

Ans. He had fenced the clearing against stray cattle if they ever got out of the pasture.

Q.11 Why did the old man raise vegetables on the mountain top?
or
Why did the writer’s father prefer the land on the top of the mountain?

Ans. The old man raised vegetables on the mountain top because anything grown in a new ground like that had a better flavour.

Q.12 What kind of man was the writer’s father?

Ans. He was a determined man. When he made up his mind, he would do it even if he had to crawl. He did not care if it was 97 in the shade or 16 below zero.

Q.13 What was the opinion of the people when the old man bought the land on the top of the mountain?

Ans. Everybody around them said that he would end up with his family at the country’s poor farm if he tried to make a living there.

Q.14 What did the writer’s father remember on seeing the fox squirrel?

Ans. He remembered the old day when he and his son used to sit under hickory trees and the squirrels threw hickory shells down at them. The morning wind at the break of day in august was so good to breathe.

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