Hi Everyone!! This article will share The Hero of Haarlem Questions & Answers.
This story is about an eight-year-old boy who saved his town named Haarlem in Holland. In one of my previous posts, I have shared the questions and answers of Indian Weavers and The Scarlet Flower – A Russian Folktale so, you can check these posts as well.
The Hero of Haarlem Questions & Answers
Word Galaxy
Let’s see the meaning of some of the words used in this chapter:
- Sluice – a sliding gate for controlling the flow of water.
- Dike – a barrier used to regulate water from a river
- Canals – thin long streams of water that are man-made
- Trickling – flowing in a small stream
- Swelled – became greater in volume
- In vain – without success or result
- Numb – without feeling
- Exclaimed – cried out suddenly
The Hero of Haarlem Questions & Answers
Question 1: What was the occupation of the boy’s father?
Answer: The boy’s father was a sluicer.
Question 2: What was the sluicer duty?
Answer: It was the sluicer’s duty to open and shut the sluices or large oak gates that were placed at regular distances at the entrance of the town’s canals.
Question 3: It was important to close the sluices at night. Give reason.
Answer: It was important to close the sluices carefully at night else the water could flow into the canals and flood the whole town.
Question 4: Why did the boy want to visit the poor blind man? Where did the man live?
Answer: The boy wanted to visit the poor blind man to give him some cakes. The poor blind man lived at the other side of the dyke or dike.
Question 5: What warning did the father give to the boy?
Answer: The boy’s father warned him not to stay out too late.
Question 6: Did the boy keep his promise given to his father?
Answer: Yes, the boy kept his promise. He did not stay long and left early to return home.
The Hero of Haarlem Questions & Answers
Question 7: What did the boy find when he went near the dike?
Answer: When the boy went near the sluice, he found a hole in the wall, through which the water was dripping.
Question 8: What did the boy realise on seeing the hole? What did he do about it?
Answer: The boy realised at once that the water would soon enlarge the hole. The water that was now only dripping could flood the town. He climbed on stones till he reached the hole, and put his finger into it, plugging the flow of the water.
Question 9: In what condition was the boy found at day-break?
Answer: After a long and terrible night, the boy was discovered at day-break by a clergyman, seated on a stone, shivering and crying.
Question 10: Do you think the title ‘The Hero of Haarlem’ is apt for the story?
Answer: Yes, the title ‘The Hero of Haarlem’ is apt for the story because that little saved the whole town from drowning in the flood. So, everyone in the town praised this little hero of Haarlem.
Question 11: Fill in the blanks:
1. The boy took some cake to the blind man.
2. He strolled along the canals, humming a merry song.
3. The boy heard a faint sound, like the trickling of water upon pebbles.
4. The boy plugged the hole in the wall with his finger.
5. Clergyman found the boy while returning from the church at day-break.
6. The boy saw that the autumn rain had swelled the waters of the canals.
So, these were The Hero of Haarlem Questions & Answers.