n these sentences words like everyday, often, seldom, never, every month, generally, usually, etc. may be used.

1. Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the verb in brackets.
(i) The heart is a pump that ____________(send) the blood circulating through our body. The pumping action ____________(take place) when the left ventricle of the heart ____________(contract). This ____________(force) the blood out into the arteries, which ____________(expand) to receive the oncoming blood.

(ii) The African lungfish can live without water for up to four years. During drought, it ____________(dig) a pit and ____________(enclose) itself in a capsule of slime and earth, leaving a tiny opening for air. The capsule ____________(dry) and ____________(harden), but when rain ____________(come), the mud ____________(dissolve) and the lungfish ____________(swim) away.

(iii) Mahesh: We have to organise a class party for our teacher. ____________(Do) anyone play an instrument?
Vipul:Rohit ____________(play) the flute.
Mahesh: ____________(Do) he also act?
Vipul: No, he ____________(compose) music.
Mahesh: That’s wonderful!

(a) What kind of atmosphere prevails outside the Pashupatinath temple, and why?

(b) What happens when a princess of the Nepalese royal house appears there?

(c) Find out the words /phrases from the passage which mean the same as the following:

(i) make known publicly. (ii) complete chaos.

(i) Who fights at the temple and how?

(ii) How is the river Bagmati used by the people there?

(iii) Find the words from the passage which mean the same as –

(a) dried, (b) emerges.

(a) What is the atmosphere inside the Buddhist shrine?

(b) Where do the small shops stand?

(c) What do you understand by ‘a haven of quietness’?

(a) What type of place is Kathmandu, according to the writer?

(b) Mention some of the things that one can buy in Kathmandu bazar.

(c) Find a word from the passage which means ‘clear’.

(i) Which route would the writer take back home if he were propelled by enthusiasm for travel per se?

(ii) Which route does he decide to take up?

(iii) Find the words/expressions from the passage which indicate the same meaning as in –

(a) by itself, (b) thrill.

(a) Why is the writer unable to tear himself away from the square?

(b) Why does the writer consider flute music ‘the most universal’?

(c) Find a word from the passage which means ‘harmony’.

How does the narrator describe Kathmandu?

How does Vikram Seth describe the Hindu temple?

How does Vikram Seth describe the Buddhist shrine of Kathmandu?

What is the belief associated with the half-immersed shrine in the river Bagmati ? What does it tell us?