Read the following passage and answer the questions set on it.
A ten-year-old boy saw a flying bird and shot it down. He ran and picked it up. The bird looked like a house sparrow, but it had a yellow patch on the throat. The child had not seen such spots before. The puzzled boy took the sparrow to his uncle Amiruddeen and asked him what kind of bird it was. His uncle was not able to satisfy his curiosity. He took the boy to the office of Bombay Natural History Society and introduced him to W.S. Millard, the Honorary Secretary of the Society.
Millard was surprised to find such a young boy keen to know about the bird. He took him around the room and showed him many stuffed birds. The child became more curious about birds.
Thereafter, the boy started coming to his office frequently to learn about identifying and preserving birds. The boy was Salim Moizuddin Abdul Ali, later known as Salim Ali, the bird watcher. Salim Ali was born on November 12,1896. He did a course in Zoology and was appointed a guide at the museum of Bombay Natural History Society. During the course of this work he became more and more eager to study the living conditions of the birds. With this aim he went to Germany. After one year, he returned to India. In his absence, his post in the museum had been abolished for lack of funds.
He would sit under the trees throughout the day and write in his note book about the activities of the weaver bird. In 1930 he published a research paper on the nature and the activities of the weaver bird. The published papers brought him fame and recognition in the fields of Ornithology. After this, he travelled to various places to study about birds and wrote a book titled ‘The Book of Indian Birds’ which was published in 1941. The book gave information about 538 species of Indian birds.
Because of his deep knowledge about birds, people started calling him the moving encyclopaedia of birds. He worked not only in the study of birds but also in the field of protection of nature. He was given an International award of Rs. 5,00,000 which he donated to the Bombay Natural History Society. In 1983, he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan by the Government of India. When this ninety-year-old ornithologist died oh 20 June 1987, the birds lost their godfather and friend.
Answer the following in a word, a phrase or a sentence each.
(a) Which bird had the boy shot down?
(b) What difference did the boy see about the bird?
(c) Name the boy’s uncle.
(d) Who was W.S. Millard?
(e) Where was Salim appointed as a guide?
(f) How long had Salim been in Germany?
(g) Salim was famous for his role in the (protecting/protection) of nature.
(h) Mention the title of the book written by Salim.
(i) Pick out and write the word which means ‘Study of Birds’ in the passage.
(j) Which award was conferred on Salim Ali by the Government of India?
