The Sound of Music
Prepare for your Class 9 English exam with our interactive MCQs on The Sound of Music.
This quiz covers important multiple-choice questions from both parts of the chapter — Evelyn Glennie Listens to Sound Without Hearing It and The Shehnai of Bismillah Khan. Practice the most likely questions asked in CBSE exams to test your comprehension, vocabulary, and analytical skills. Each question includes detailed explanations to help you understand the theme, character insights, and literary elements of the lesson. Attempt this free online quiz to strengthen your command over The Sound of Music and improve your English exam performance.
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30
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Questions in this Quiz
Q1: How old was Evelyn Glennie when she first arrived at the prestigious Royal Academy of Music in London?
Eight years old
Eleven years old
Seventeen years old
Sixteen years old
Q2: What significant challenge did the aspiring musician Evelyn Glennie face upon arriving in London?
She was slight and nervous.
She was profoundly deaf.
She was fresh from a Scottish farm.
She was competing with master musicians.
Q3: Who was Isabel Glennie?
Evelyn’s first music teacher.
Evelyn’s grandmother.
Evelyn’s mother.
Evelyn’s headmistress.
Q4: At what age did Evelyn’s mother first realize something was wrong with Evelyn’s hearing?
Seventeen
Eleven
Eight
Sixteen
Q5: By what age had Evelyn’s marks deteriorated, leading her headmistress to urge her parents to see a specialist?
Eight
Sixteen
Eleven
Seventeen
Q6: What was the cause of Evelyn’s severely impaired hearing, according to the specialist?
A sudden infection.
Gradual nerve damage.
Damage from loud music.
She was born deaf.
Q7: What advice were Evelyn’s parents given by the specialist when her deafness was confirmed?
To give up music and focus on studies.
To move to a bigger city.
To fit her with hearing aids and send her to a school for the deaf.
To immediately apply to the Royal Academy of Music.
Q8: Despite the news, what was Evelyn determined to do?
To live a quiet life in Scotland.
To only learn French and Japanese.
To lead a normal life and pursue her interest in music.
To switch from music to sports.
Q9: Who spotted Evelyn’s musical potential and offered her encouragement?
Isabel Glennie
James Blades
Ron Forbes
Ann Richlin
Q10: What instrument did Evelyn first notice a girl playing, which made her want to play it too?
The piano
The drums
The xylophone
The violin
Q11: What unconventional method did Ron Forbes use to teach Evelyn to sense music?
He asked her to read the notes.
He told her to listen only through her ears.
He tuned two large drums to different notes and told her to sense the sound some other way.
He taught her to read lips.
Q12: How did Evelyn learn to feel the higher note from the drum?
Through her fingertips.
From the waist down.
From the waist up.
Through her hair.
Q13: What did Evelyn learn to open to sounds and vibrations?
Her eyes and face.
Her mind and body.
Her ears and mouth.
Her fingertips and toes.
Q14: By what age did Evelyn decide to make music her life, after touring with a youth orchestra?
Eight
Eleven
Seventeen
Sixteen
Q15: Evelyn scored one of the highest marks in the history of which institution during her audition?
The school for the deaf.
The Royal Philharmonic Society.
The Royal Academy of Music in London.
The Beethoven Fund.
Q16: What change did Evelyn gradually make in her performance career after her course at the academy?
She switched entirely to composing.
She moved from orchestral work to solo performances.
She started working mainly in prisons and hospitals.
She focused on teaching young musicians.
Q17: Evelyn Glennie is described as the world’s most sought-after what?
Solo xylophonist.
Multi-percussionist.
Orchestra conductor.
Film composer.
Q18: What does Evelyn say is necessary to achieve success?
Having only great talent.
Being able to hear well.
Working hard and knowing where you are going.
Capturing the top awards quickly.
Q19: In her two-hour discussion, Evelyn laughingly mentioned that who gives her trouble when she reads lips?
Women who talk too fast.
People who wear dark lipstick.
Men with bushy beards.
People who speak French.
Q20: When Evelyn watches people speak, she uses not just the lips, but especially what other parts of the face?
The nose and chin.
The ears and neck.
The whole face, especially the eyes.
The cheekbones and hair.
Q21: Evelyn’s speech is clear because:
She practiced extensively every day.
She could hear till she was eleven.
She speaks with a Japanese lilt.
She uses modern hearing aids.
Q22: When playing the xylophone, how does Evelyn sense the sound?
The sound passes up the stick into her fingertips.
The sound tingles in her hair.
The sound flows from the waist up.
The sound resonates through her legs.
Q23: Why does Evelyn remove her shoes on a wooden platform?
To show respect to the audience.
So that the vibrations pass through her bare feet and up her legs.
To stop the platform from tingling.
To signal the start of a solo performance.
Q24: What prestigious award did Evelyn win in 1991?
The Bharat Ratna.
Soloist of the Year Award from the Royal Philharmonic Society.
Padma Bhushan.
The Royal Academy of Music’s highest mark award.
Q25: According to James Blades, what is extraordinary about Evelyn's relationship with music?
She feels it far more deeply than those who hear.
She can master a thousand instruments.
She composes beautiful film scores.
She can improvise raagas effortlessly.
Q26: Evelyn confesses that she is something of a/an:
Deaf inspiration.
Soloist.
Workaholic.
Perfectionist.
Q27: Besides regular concerts, what does Evelyn prioritize highly?
Learning new languages like Japanese and French.
Giving free concerts in prisons and hospitals and classes for young musicians.
Getting to the top of the international schedule.
Staying in Scotland.
Q28: What does Ann Richlin of the Beethoven Fund for Deaf Children say about Evelyn?
She is a great workaholic.
She speaks with a Scottish lilt.
She is a shining inspiration for deaf children, showing there is nowhere they cannot go.
She has accomplished more than most people twice her age.
Q29: What does the word 'daunting' mean, as used in Paragraph 1?
Exciting
Encouraging
Frightening
Effortless
Q30: Evelyn Glennie has helped demonstrate that percussion instruments can be:
Kept strictly in the background.
Difficult for teenagers.
Very moving, bringing them to the front of the orchestra.
Only played by hearing people.