Silk Road Class 11 English Important Questions

Please refer to Silk Road Class 11 English Important Questions with solutions provided below. These questions and answers have been provided for Class 11 English based on the latest syllabus and examination guidelines issued by CBSE, NCERT, and KVS. Students should learn these problem solutions as it will help them to gain more marks in examinations. We have provided Important Questions for Class 11 English for all chapters in your book. These Board exam questions have been designed by expert teachers of Standard 11.

Class 11 English Important Questions Silk Road

Short Answer Type Questions :

Question. Tibetan mastiffs were popular in China’s imperial courts. Explain
Answer: Tibetan mastiffs were popular in China’s imperial courts as hunting dogs. They were brought along the Silk Road in ancient times as payment of tax from Tibet. They were huge black dogs also used as watchdogs. They exploded into action like bullets when roused. They were furious and fearless.

Question. Explain the purpose of the author’s journey to Mount Kailash. 
Answer: Nick Middleton is an Oxford Professor as well as an adventurer. He follows the most difficult terrain through the Silk Road and reaches the foot of Mount Kailash. The purpose of the author’s journey to Mount Kailash was to complete the kora, which was a sacred religious ritual according to Hindu and Buddhist tradition.

Question. Describe the appearance of Hor.
Answer: Hor, although a town at the shore of the holy lake Mansarovar, was a grim and miserable place. There was no vegetation whatsoever; only dust and rocks, liberally scattered with years of accumulated rubbish left by tourists.
There was only one cafe in Hor which also was poorly maintained. The author found no population there except for one youth of chinese military.

Question. “As a Buddhist, he told me, he knew that it didn’t really matter if I passed away, but he thought it would be bad for business.” Comment.
Answer: These were Tsetan’s words spoken to the author. After the author’s sickness was cured, Tsetan wanted to go back to Lhasa. By saying these words, Tsetan firmly stated that he was a Buddhist, who believed that physical death was not death in the real sense. However, he thought that the death of a tourist could affect his business as his credibility will be at stake in looking after the tourists, due to which he may not get customers anymore.

Question. The author’s experience at Hor was in stark contrast to earlier accounts of the place. 
Answer: According to the earlier accounts, the town, on the shore of Lake Manasarovar, was abundant in natural beauty. A Japanese monk who had arrived there in 1900 was so moved by the sanctity of the lake that he burst into tears. A couple of years later, the hallowed waters had a similar effect on another traveller. However, now it was a grim and miserable place. There was no vegetation whatsoever, but only dust and rocks liberally scattered with years of accumulated rubbish left by tourists.

Question. Tsetan’s support to the author during the journey. 
Answer: Tsetan was a good and efficient driver. He drove the car very carefully. During the journey, he spoke to the author giving information about the places they were visiting. He was very caring. At Darchen when he found that the author was not well, Tsetan took him to the medical college and got medicine for him. He was also a good Buddhist.

Question. Briefly comment on the author’s meeting with Norbu.
Answer: The author was feeling rather lonely without Tsetan, who had gone back with the car to Lhasa. There weren’t any pilgrims at Darchen as he had reached the place too early in the pilgrimage season. The author was sitting in the only cafe in Darchen when he met Norbu. The author was delighted to meet Norbu since he was also planning to do the kora. Now, he had a companion with whom he could also complete his pilgrimage.

Question. How did the author find relief from his breathing troubles?
Answer: The author found relief from his breathing troubles after taking a full day’s course prescribed by the doctor at Darchen medical college. The author was diagnosed with cold and the effects of altitude.

Question1. What was the farewell present given by Lhamo to the author when he told her that he was going to Mount Kailash?
Answer: The farewell present given by Lhamo to the author when he told her that he was going to Mount Kailash was a long-sleeved sheepskin coat that normally shepherds wore.
She felt that the coat would protect him from the cold weather on the mountain.

Question. What troubled the author at Darchen?
Answer: A bad cold troubled the author at Darchen. He was unable to go to sleep at night as his nostrils were blocked. When he was just dozing off, he woke up suddenly. He felt his chest becoming very heavy, as he was not able to breathe-in enough oxygen.

Question. How did Norbu become an ideal companion for the author?
Answer: Norbu was an ideal companion for the author as both were academicians who had come away from their academic work.
Both were not devout believers and they did not intend to prostrate themselves all round the mountain like other pilgrims.

Question. What did Tsetan say would be the only hurdle while they were on their way to Mount Kailash?
Answer: Tsetan said that their journey to Mount Kailash would involve crossing several high mountain passes. He knew the way very well, but the only hurdle would be snow on the way. He could not say anything for sure until they reached there.

Question. The author was disappointed with Darchen. Explain.
Answer: The author was indeed disappointed in Darchen as the place was dusty, partially derelict and punctuated by heaps of rubble and rubbish left behind by tourists. Further, even though the place was full of people, there were no tourists or pilgrims in whose company he could complete his kora.

Question. The author thought that his positive thinking strategy worked well after all. Justify
Answer: The author felt that his positive strategy was working because, all the while he was in Darchen, he had been worried about completing his kora. He had no companion and no person to clear his doubts. So, he had being trying to convince himself that he would be successful in his endeavour. His positive thinking worked as soon he met Norbu who would be his companion while doing kora.

Question. Why had Norbu come to Kailash?
Answer: Norbu had been writing academic papers about the Kailash kora and its importance in various works of Buddhist literature for many years, but he had actually never done it himself. Hence, he also was there to do kora.

Long Answer Type Questions :

Question. Justify the title ‘Silk Road’.
Answer: The ‘Silk Road’ is not single highway, but a network of overland routes linking Europe with Asia, making trade possible between those with a passion for silk, horses and exotic fauna and flora. Just about every transaction imaginable has occurred along its many trails over the centuries. It’s a thread that links East and West, a network of veins that pumped new lifeblood into mighty empires, a fabled route trodden by innumerable adventurers through the ages.
Yet, underlying this romantic trail is one of the most extraordinary tracts of land on this planet, a vast region separating China from the Mediterranean world that rates as one of the least hospitable areas on Earth. It was the difficulty of crossing such unforgiving territory that kept East and West apart for so long, allowing them to develop in their own distinct ways.
The author records the challenges and hardships he faced in the Silk Road regions as they are now. The reader finds it refreshing to traverse such vast tracts of the natural world that remain largely unchanged from earlier days.

Question. “He’s an adventurer, but at heart more a meticulous academic than a daredevil”. Explain the truth of the statement about the author based on your reading of the travelogue ‘Silk Road’ by Nick Middleton.
Answer: Oxford professor and travel writer, Nick Middleton is truly an adventurer, but at heart more a meticulous academic than a daredevil adventurer. He is an environmental consultant who has written many articles in journals, magazines and newspapers as well as 16 books. Nick Middleton teaches geography at Oxford University. His main research interest is in the nature and human use of deserts and their margins.
After reaching Hor, what he was struck by was not the natural beauty of the place but the litter all around the area left by tourists. He was disappointed to see how man was ruining the environment. Being an environmental consultant, he was much disturbed at how the environment is slowly deteriorating due to human activity.
He gives a graphic detail of the mountain terrain, the snow covered mountains and the calm and relaxed people he met there. He strongly believes that travelling broadens our mind.

Question. Describe the author’s experiences at Darchen.
Answer: Both the author and Tsetan reached Darchen during the late night. They found a guesthouse to stay in. However, the author had serious sleep problems at night as he was suffering from the effects of the high altitude as well as a blocked nose. The next day, Tsetan took him to the Darchen Medical College for getting him treated. The doctor there told them that it was a common problem in this area and gave some medicine for him.
Then Tsetan left him to return to Lhasa as, from here onwards, the author would have to go on foot. At Darchen, he found people very relaxed and unhurried, but he could not find pilgrimage there as he had reached there very early in the pilgrimage season. Then he met Norbu, who was a Tibetan working in Beijing. He also had come for kora. They decided to climb Kailash together, as both were not devout pilgrims and had no desire to prostrate themselves all round the mountain.

Question. How was his experience of Hor a stark contrast to the accounts he had read of the earlier travellers?
Answer: Hor was a small town placed in the back on the main East-West highway that followed the old trade route from Lhasa to Kashmir. The author found the place very grim and miserable. There was no vegetation whatsoever, just dust and rocks, scattered all around along with heaps of garbage left behind by people. The town sat on the shore of lake Manasarovar, Tibet’s holiest stretch of water. Ancient Hindu and Buddhist scriptures tell that Lake Manasarovar was the source of four great Indian rivers: Indus, Ganges, Sutlej and Brahmaputra. Actually only the Sutlej flows from the lake, the headwaters of the others rise nearby on the slopes of Mount Kailash.
His experience in Hor came as a stark contrast to accounts he had read of earlier travellers’ first encounters with Lake Manasarovar. Ekai Kawaguchi, a Japanese monk who had arrived there in 1900, was so moved by the sanctity of the lake that he burst into tears. Similarly, in 1902, Sven Hedin from Sweden was also moved by the vision of the lake.
However, now you could only find open-air dumps of rubbish in the town.

Extract Based Questions :

Question. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.
‘‘My experience in Hor came as a stark contrast to accounts I’d read of earlier travellers’ first encounters with Lake Mansarovar. Ekai Kawaguchi, a Japanese monk who had arrived there in 1900, was so moved by the sanctity of the lake that he burst into tears. A couple of years later, the hallowed waters had a similar effect on Sven Hedin, a Swede who wasn’t prone to sentimental outbursts.
It was dark by the time we finally left again and after 10.30 p.m. we drew up outside a guest house in Darchen for what turned out to be another troubled night. Kicking around in the open-air rubbish dump that passed for the town of Hor had set off my cold once more, though if truth be told it had never quite disappeared with my herbal tea.’’
(i) How did the author feel about Hor?
(ii) “My experience in Hor came in contrast to accounts I’d read.” Explain.
(iii) Do you think that the author is dissatisfied with Hor?
(iv) Explain the phase ‘another troubled night’.
(v) What is to be blamed for the author’s deteriorating cold according to him?
Answer: (i) The author felt that Hor was a grim and a miserable place without any vegetation of population.
(ii) The author could not see the spiritual beauty of Hor which had enamored the earlier travelers. He felt that it was dusty and dirty place in contrast to the earlier travelers who had emotional outbursts at seeing the place.
(iii) Yes, the author is dissatisfied with Hor as he had expected it to be full of spirituality and picturesque scenarios but the reality was completely different.
(iv) The phrase ‘another troubled night’ refers to the health problem suffered by the author due to his cold. The author was unable to sleep due to his cold.
(v) The author blames the dust found in Hor to be the cause of his deteriorating cold.

Question. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.
‘“You English?” he enquired, after he’d ordered tea.
I told him I was, and we struck up a conversation.
I didn’t think he was from those parts because he was wearing a windcheater and metal-rimmed spectacles of a Western style. He was Tibetan, he told me, but worked in Beijing at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, in the Institute of Ethnic Literature. I assumed he was on some sort of fieldwork.
“Yes and no,” he said. “I have come to do the kora.”
My heart jumped. Norbu had been writing academic papers about the Kailash kora and its importance in various works of Buddhist literature for many years, he told me, but he had never actually done it himself.”
(i) Do you think Norbu was also looking for a companion?
(ii) What was Norbu doing in Darchen?
(iii) How do you think that the author and Norbu are similar?
(iv) Was the author correct in saying that Norbu was doing some fieldwork?
(v) How did the author feel about Norbu?
Answer: (i) Yes, I think that Norbu was also looking for a companion as it is he who suggests that they could be a team.
(ii) Norbu had come to Darchen to do the kora for the first time even though he was a Tibetan.
(iii) The author and Norbu are similar in many aspects.
Both of them are academicians who are not well-equipped to do the kora by themselves.
(iv) Yes, the author was correct in saying that Norbu was doing some fieldwork as Norbu was not only doing the kora but was also writing academic paper on it.
(v) The author was excited to meet Norbu as he felt that he had a companion to complete his kora.

Question. Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
‘‘He had opened his door and jumped out of his seat before I realised what was going on. ‘Snow,’ said Daniel as he too exited the vehicle, letting in a breath of cold air as he did so. A swathe of the white stuff lay across the track in front of us, stretching for maybe fifteen metres before it petered out and the dirt trail reappeared. The snow continued on either side of us, smoothing the abrupt bank on the upslope side. The bank was too steep for our vehicle to scale, so there was no way round the snow patch. I joined Daniel as Tsetan stepped on to the encrusted snow and began to slither and slide forward, stamping his foot from time to time to ascertain how sturdy it was. I looked at my wristwatch. We were at 5,210 metres above sea level.’’
(i) What is going on in the given lines?
(ii) How will the snow impact the journey?
(iii) Do you think that the presence of snow hampered the author’s mood?
(iv) Did the problem faced by the author in the given extract repeat itself?
(v) How did Tsetan solve the problem?
Answer: (i) In the given lines, Tsetan has stopped the car because the path in front is covered in snow.
(ii) The snow would impact the journey undertaken by the author because it would be difficult for them to cross the snow easily. The presence of the snow thus would make the journey difficult.
(iii) I don’t think that the presence of snow hampered the author’s mood. In fact, he remains neutral following Tsetan to reach his destination.
(iv) Yes, the problem of snow repeated itself just after 10 minute of throwing dirt on the snow and driving away described in the given extract.
(iv) To solve the problem, Tsetan threw a handful of dirt on the snow and drove along the path while the author and Daniel walked.

Extract Based MCQs :

1. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.
‘‘Now that we were leaving Ravu, Lhamo said she wanted to give me a farewell present. One evening I’d told her through Daniel that I was heading towards Mount Kailash to complete the kora and she’d said that I ought to get some warmer clothes.
After ducking back into her tent, she emerged carrying one of the long-sleeved sheepskin coats that all the men wore. Tsetan sized me up as we clambered into his car. “Ah, yes,” he declared, “drokba, sir.” We took a short cut to get off the Changtang. Tsetan knew a route that would take us South-West, almost directly towards Mount Kailash.
It involved crossing several fairly high mountain passes, he said. “But no problem, sir”, he assured us, “if there is no snow.” What was the likelihood of that I asked. “Not knowing, sir, until we get there.”

Question. Why does the author communicate via Daniel as can be understood by when he says “I’d told her through Daniel”?
(a) They did not speak the same language
(b) They were not on speaking terms
(c) They were afraid to see each other
(d) None of the above

Question. Tsetan says that there will be no problem in their journey if there is no snow.
He means that snow ………… .
(a) can hasten their movement
(b) determines the smoothness of their journey
(c) can tell if they can reach Mount Kailash
(d) will increase their difficulties in the journey

Question. Choose the correct statement(s) that can be inferred from the passage.
I. Lhamo was kind and generous to travellers.
II. Tsetan knew the roads quite well.
III. Daniel does not know any other language than the author’s.
(a) Only III
(b) Only II
(c) I and II
(d) All of these

Question. “Ah, yes,” he declared, “drokba, sir.” Select the option that explains it.
(a) Tsetan says this as the author is looking like a drokba
(b) Tsetan had complimented the author
(c) Tsetan wants to point what the author was going to see
(d) Tsetan wants to thank Lhamo for the coat

Question. Which of the following can be said about Tsetan?
(a) He was an amiable man.
(b) He was expert at his job.
(c) He was going on the first journey of the season.
(d) All of the above.

2. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.
“It’s a cold,” he said finally through Tsetan. “A cold and the effects of altitude. I’ll give you something for it.” I asked him if he thought I’d recover enough to be able to do the kora. “Oh yes,” he said, “you’ll be fine.”
I walked out of the medical college clutching a brown envelope stuffed with fifteen screws of paper. I had a five-day course of Tibetan medicine which I started right away. I opened an after-breakfast package and found it contained a brown powder that I had to take with hot water. It tasted just like cinnamon. The contents of the lunchtime and bedtime packages were less obviously identifiable. Both contained small, spherical brown pellets. They looked suspiciously like sheep dung, but of course I took them. That night, after my first full day’s course, I slept very soundly. Like a log, not a dead man.

Question. The author was suspicious about the medicine yet he took it. Why?
This was so because …………… .
(a) he would not have been able to survive another sleepless night.
(b) he was desperate to complete his kora.
(c) he wanted relief from the cold.
(d) he did not want Tsetan to worry about him and wanted him to continue his journey.

Question. Which of the following describes the author’s view about the Medical College?
(a) Scantily maintained
(b) Monastery like
(c) Spiritual
(d) Eye pleasing

Question. Explain the phrase: ‘Like a log, not a dead man’.
(a) He slept peacefully
(b) He felt lifeless
(c) He dreamt about dying
(d) He felt disturbed in his sleep

Question. What is the author’s reaction to the medicine he is offered?
(a) He is happy to get the treatment
(b) He is doubtful about the treatment but succumbs to it
(c) He is strongly against the medication
(d) He did not believe that it was real medication

Question. What is meant by the utterance: ‘It’s a cold,’ in the begining of the extract? `
(a) Tsetan knew English but chose not to talk to the author
(b) The doctor was unhelpful and selfish towards the author, so he talked through Tsetan
(c) Tsetan translated the conversation between the doctor and the author
(d) None of the above