The River: Exercise

Let us have a test exercise on Valerie Bloom’s lively and lovely poem, ‘The River’.

Here goes-

1.       How many stanzas are there in ‘The River’?

a)      5

b)      6

c)       7

d)      8

2.       Pastoral people who move from place to place in search of food and water are called

a)      Campers

b)      Nomads

c)       Caravan people

d)      Vagrants

3.       To be ‘vexed’ means to be

a)      worried

b)      angry

c)       irritated

d)      haunted

4.       What is the most likely reason a river ‘twists and turns’?

a)      river waters move in torrents

b)      river water moves in currents

c)       water moves from left to right

d)      it cannot cut through hard rocks

5.       To ‘gobbled’ means to

a)      eat in slow motion

b)      eat noisily and quickly

c)       eat slowly  in small mouthfuls

d)      eat in an easy relaxed manner

6.       When water goes down our throats, it may  

a)      gurgle

b)      gargle

c)       gobble

d)      garble

7.       ‘The River’ uses plenty of metaphors. Which is the following is not a metaphor?

a)      baby

b)      winder

c)       singer

d)      treasures

8.       ‘The River’ is personified with a

a)      female gender

b)      male gender

c)       neutral gender

d)      no gender

9.       The poet describes ‘The River’ as if it is a

a)      monster

b)      person

c)       baby

d)      wanderer

10.   An angry river becomes a monster and

a)      swallows

b)      destroys

c)       gobbles

d)      crushed