Please refer to below Exam Question for Class 10 English Chapter 6 Animals. These questions and answers have been prepared by expert Class 10 English teachers based on the latest NCERT Book for Class 10 English and examination guidelines issued by CBSE, NCERT, and KVS. We have provided Class 10 English exam questions for all chapters in your textbooks. You will be able to easily learn problems and solutions which are expected to come in the upcoming class tests and exams for standard 10th.

Chapter 6 Animals Class 10 English Exam Question

All questions and answers provided below for Exam Question Class 10 English Chapter 6 Animals are very important and should be revised daily.

Exam Question Class 10 English Chapter 6 Animals

Short Answer Type Questions :

Question. How have humans dropped those ‘tokens’ which are plainly in the ‘possession’ of animals?
Ans. Tokens of love, sympathy and contentment which humans shared with animals at one time — ‘negligently’ dropped by humans — Greed, overambition, arrogance, confusion and vulgarity took the place of those ‘tokens’ — humans once shared with animals.

Question. What are the ‘tokens’ that the poet says he may have dropped long ago, and which the animals have kept for him? Explain. (Hint: Whitman belongs to the Romantic tradition that includes Rousseau and Wordsworth, which holds that civilisation has made humans false to their own true nature. What could be the basic aspects of our nature as living beings that humans choose to ignore or deny?)
Ans. These ‘tokens’ represent all that is best in ethics and behaviour. These tokens stand for love, kindness, honesty, affection, sympathy, mutual respect and honour, etc. These were the ‘tokens’ of noble virtues that humans once possessed. Now humans have given up all such tokens of noble virtues. They suffer from the mania of possession, greed and arrogance. On the other hand, animals retain all such ‘tokens’ even now. They are always contented with their lot. They are calm and don’t suffer from inflated egos or arrogance. They have a clear conscience and never weep over their sins.

Question. Why do animals don’t kneel down to their fellow beings or ancestors? How do humans react to them?
Ans. Animals don’t show unnecessary respect to their fellow beings and to their ancestors. They don’t indulge in such unnecessary civilities and formalities. On the other hand, humans express their respect not only to their ancestors but also to their fellow beings. They have a tendency to indulge in unnecessary civilities and decencies.

Question. They do not sweat and whine about their condition.
Who are ‘‘they’’? What are the things they do not do?
Ans. ‘‘They’’ refer to animals. They do not sweat and complain about their condition.

Question. Do humans kneel to other humans who lived thousands of years ago? Explain.
Ans. Yes, human beings do kneel to other humans who lived thousands of years ago. Animals don’t suffer from this tendency. In this regard, the law of equality operates there. They don’t bother about their ancestors. On the other hand, humans have a tendency to show respect to those who have shown rare heroism, bravery and spiritual values. Humans have a tendency to deify such great ancestors. They assumed the status of gods and prophets over a long period of time. Humans worship such ancestors.

Question. How, according to the poet, are animals superior to humans?
Ans. The animals are superior to humans in that they are calm and contented. They commit no sin. They do not run after wealth like man. They never complain about their condition.

Question. Notice the use of the word ‘turn’ in the first line, “I think I could turn and live with animals …”. What is the poet turning from?
Ans. The poet is fed up with the world of human beings. He no more feels proud of being a man. He wants to turn away from human beings and wants to exchange places. He wants to live with animals. Their self-satisfaction, independence and contentment impresses the poet to join them.

Question. Why does the poet want to take a turn?
Ans. The poet is fed up living in the world of humans. They are always confused. They are arrogant. They don’t have a clear conscience and weep over their sins throughout the night. On the other hand, animals are contented, calm and possess all the ‘tokens’ of virtue that humans have given up. So, he wants to exchange places and live with animals.

Question. Why do humans keep awake in the dark and weep for their sins while animals never do such things?
Ans. Animals — a clear conscience — not confused or muddle-headed. Humans — ambitious, greedy — suffer from the mania of possessing and owning things — sins and misdeeds — don’t allow them to enjoy a sound sleep at night — weep over their sins.

Question. Why does the poet say “They bring me tokens of myself”? What are those ‘tokens’?
Ans. There was a time when both humans and animals possessed noble virtues of love, peace, contentment, and simplicity. With the passage of time, humans gave up all such tokens of noble virtues. They indulged in greed, arrogance and the mania of possession. The road of noble virtue, which humans and the poet himself, left long ago, is still followed by animals. They are contented, humble and free from the burden of conscience. They remind the poet of those noble qualities which he has lost.

Question. Why is the poet so much impressed with animals?
Ans. Animals possess all the noble virtues that are necessary for an ideal living. They are contented and never complain about their fate. They are independent and don’t show unnecessary respect for their ancestors or to their fellow beings. They are not selfish and don’t suffer from the mania of possessing and owning things. So, he is highly impressed with animals.

Question. Mention three things that humans do and animals don’t.
Ans. (i) Humans — never satisfied with their lot — animals — always contented.
(ii) Animals — clear conscience — don’t weep over their sins at night.
(iii) Animals — don’t bother their heads — whether they have done their duties towards God or not. Humans — always tormented with these thoughts.

Question. Why does the poet wish to live with animals?
Ans. Animals — placid and self-contained — satisfied with their lot and never complain about it — poet — disgusted — living among human beings.
Wishes to live with animals — he likes them.

Question. What is the message that Walt Whitman wants to give to the readers through this poem?
Ans. There is nothing great about being humans. They have degraded themselves to the extent that animals appear to be noble and superior beings in their comparison. No doubt, humans did possess those ‘tokens’ of love, innocence, simplicity, contentment and independence. But they have given up such ‘tokens’ long ago. Animals still share those noble virtues and appear to be nobler than humans.

Long Answer Type Questions :

Question. In the poem, Walt Whitman is critical of man’s nature and behavior. Discuss.
Ans. The poet uses words such as ‘demented’ and ‘mania’ for never ending desire of human beings to own things. These words show that the poet is comparing this desire to a kind of madness. The poet is right in doing so as this desire makes us greedy and traps us in a vicious circle of aspiring for more and more. Animals that are free from any possession are also free from sins, worries and complaints. In order to gain more wealth, all the important values such as morality and kindness are sacrificed by humans. Excessive desire for material things is taking away man from the natural state in which God created him. Man needs to relearn the natural way of living from animals and find peace and contentment that he is lacking.

Question. What are those ‘tokens’ and how animals have maintained them while humans have left them long ago?
Ans. The poet says — animals bring to him the ‘tokens’ of himself — tokens — stand for all that is good in behaviour and mutual relationships — the ‘tokens’ of love, sympathy, contentment, honesty and innocence — a time when both animals and humans possessed those tokens of noble virtues — humans degraded themselves — animals continued walking on the road leading to those tokens of noble virtues — Humans — led astray — followed the wrong path of life — gave up contentment, innocence, simplicity and love. Dissatisfaction, unrest, burden of sins and misdeeds, greed, overambition and arrogance overpowered humans — humans have left the virtuous path of life — animals not corrupted and degraded themselves to that extent. Their ‘tokens’ of virtuous living reminds the poet that he must arouse those lost values again — For this — have to change sides and join the world of animals.

Question. Why is the poet so much impressed with animals that he wants to change sides and wishes to live with them?
Ans. The poet feels that humans have degraded themselves beyond redemption. Nothing great has been left with human beings. He is fed up with their behaviour and wants to escape from the world of humans. No doubt, humans were not so bad at one time. They shared ‘tokens’ of love, sympathy, contentment and innocence with animals. However, the spirit of greed, overambition, and arrogance overpowered them. They gave up the path of virtue and the ‘tokens’ of love and sympathy. They are confused. The burden of their sins and misdeeds lies heavy on their hearts and souls. On the other hand, animals still maintain the old virtues left by man long ago. They are contented, self-sufficient, simple and free from confusions and the burden of sins and misdeeds. So, the poet wants to change sides and wants to be a part of the animal-world.

Question. What can man learn from animals. Discuss with reference to the poem?
Ans. human beings should be gentle—for everything—virtues bring important values like innocence and honesty—The lack of such values—corrupt and degraded society—people commit sins and weep over—dissatisfied and unhappy in life. Human beings—had these virtues—once but along the—course of civilization—left them behind—become greedy and cunning.

Extract Based Questions :

1. Read the given extracts to attempt the questions that follow:

They bring me tokens of myself,
They evince them plainly in their possession
I wonder where they get those tokens,
Did I pass that way huge times ago and negligently drop them?

Question. What difference did the poet find between animals and him?
Ans. The poet found that animals have retained their noble qualities whereas he has forgotten it a long time ago.

Question. Who are ‘they’ referred to in the extract?
Ans. ‘They’ are referred to animals in the above extract.

Question. What is the mind of the poet reflected in the above extract?
Ans. The poet is very sad because he has dropped the qualities held by animals a huge time ago.

Question. Why is the poet deeply attached with animals?
Ans. Animals have impressed the poet with his noble qualities.

Question. What are the biggest possessions of animals?
Ans. Peacefulness, independence, self-sufficiency and self-contentment are the greatest possessions of animals.

2. Read the given extracts to attempt the questions that follow:

They do not sweat and whine about their condition,
They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins,
They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God,

Question. Do animals enjoy a sound sleep at night?
Ans. Yes, they enjoy a sound sleep at night.

Question. What do animals not complain about?
Ans. Unlike humans, animals don’t complain of any missing.

Question. How do animals react to their condition?
Ans. They never feel miserable at their condition but remain contented.

Question. Why do humans stay awake till the late night?
Ans. Human stay awake till the late night crying in repentance for their wrong doing.

Question. What do humans do at night?
Ans. Human beings keep awake weeping over their sins and misdeeds.

3. Read the given extracts to attempt the questions that follow:

Not one is dissatisfied,
not one is demented with
the mania of owning things,
Not one kneels to another, nor to his kind that lived thousands of years ago,
Not one is respectable or unhappy over the whole earth.

Question. Among animals not one is respectable but why do you think it is not so among humans?
Ans. Among humans, the rich people are given more respect than the poor ones.

Question. What is the mania that humans are demented with? Do animals suffer from this mania?
Ans. Animals don’t suffer from the mania of collecting things like human beings.

Question. Are animals remain dissatisfied with their lot?
Ans. No, animals are always satisfied with their lot.

Question. How are animals compared with human beings?
Ans. They don’t suffer from their inflated egos like human beings.

Question. Do they kneel down to show respect to their ancestors?
Ans. No, they don’t kneel down to show respect to their ancestors.