Saved Bookmarks
| 1. |
Read the following passage and answer the questions in your own words.A long time ago there lived a monster called the sphinx. She had the head of a woman, the body of a lion and the wings of a big bird. Her eyes were so fierce that nobody dared to look at her face. The sphinx sat on a cliff outside the city of Thebes. When a man passed by her, she would ask him a riddle. The man had to give the right answer, or the sphinx would eat him up. The riddle was so difficult that no one could answer it.Many men lost their lives and people were afraid to come out of their houses. Then one day a clever man wanted to answer the sphinx. His name was Oedipus and he was not afraid of the sphinx. The sphinx stopped and asked him a riddle “what walks on four legs in the morning, on two legs at noon and on three legs in the evening?”Oedipus said that it was easy, “you try and answer it!” roared the sphinx. Oedipus said, “The answer is man walks on four legs in his childhood, on two legs when grown up and on three legs during old age”. Hearing the right answer the sphinx was disappointed and very angry. She jumped off the cliff and ended her life.a. How did the sphinx look like? b. What would the sphinx do if a man failed to give the right answer to her riddle? c. Why was the sphinx angry? d. What is the ‘third leg’ of man in his old age? e. What is the most suitable title to the passage? |
|
Answer» (a) The sphinx looked like a monster with the head of a woman, the body of a lion and the wings of a big bird. (b) The sphinx would eat up the man if he failed to give the right answer to her riddle. (c) Hearing the right answer to her riddle from Oedipus, the sphinx was disappointed and very angry (d) The third leg is invariably the walking stick the old man will be using in his old age. (e) The title could be ‘Sphinxs’ Riddles’. |
|