49. Reading Skills Comprehension: PIGEONS

PIGEONS

 Read the given passage carefully and answer the questions that follow.                              

 At 3:40 p.m., the cage doors open and the air is suddenly full of pigeons. Not just your average grey pigeons. But a pageant of red, black, blue and white pigeons-each one different from the next. Some of these pigeons are the envy of the neighbourhood. Some of them have been in training for years. All of them are Faqir Mohammed’s pigeons. And they know it.

 Mohammed is a 41-year-old shop-keeper with steely blue eyes and a haggard face who, like many Afghans of his generation, looks older than he is. He has been flying pigeons all his life. In Afghanistan, it is a popular way to pass the afternoon. It is also a fiercely competitive sport, with owners vying for one another’s birds. Mohammed learned how to train pigeons from his dad, who used to fly them on this very roof in the capital’s oldest neighbourhood, where the only colour on the palette is brown. “The roofs are the same. The cages are the same. They’re all made of mud,” says Mohammed Ismail, 32, as he watches his older brother work. “But somehow, the birds know as well as we do which one is theirs.”

The routine varies little from day to day. After spending the morning in his shop, Mohammed comes home and lets loose his collection of 28 pigeons. At first, he just watches them circle and whistles. It is a piercing cry, high enough to make a child on the other side of the roof stick fingers in her ears. Mohammed whistles again and again. Then he goes for his net.

But the goal is not to haul the pigeons in. It is to widen the gyre, to send them flying a little farther from home. So out they go. Past the nearest mosques, where the call to prayer is sounding. Out near the presidential palace, where an Afghan flag flaps in the breeze. Up against the barren hills, which serve as the prelude to the snow-capped peaks beyond.

There are at least six flocks of pigeons flying in Kabul today, and as Mohammed’s birds wander farther afield, they merge with someone else’s. Together, they are mere specks on the horizon. But they haven’t lost sight of home.

The flock, predominantly male, is already on its way back. As the flock nears, hope dawns in Mohammed’s eyes. All 28 of his pigeons are coming, plus one.

Another man’s bird has become confused and joined Mohammed’s flock. He sees the newcomer instantly. I know my pigeons very, very well, “he says. This is the moment he lives for. Based on the unwritten code of Afghan pigeon owners, if a stray bird lands on his roof, there are two options. Either Mohammed gets to keep it, or he can sell it back to the rightful owner for whatever the pigeon is worth-some go for as much as $500-plus a finder’s fee.

Mohammed has tried to quit pigeon-flying. Fifteen times in as many years, he has sold the whole flock. And each time, a few of the birds return. Mohammed buys more to keep them company. For a while, it looked like the Taliban would help him quit. They banned the sport. But Mohammed’s birds kept flying, just a bit more stealthily than before. At this point, it is doubtful lie will ever be without pigeons. Ismail, the younger brother, certainly hopes not. “When I see the pigeons,” he says, “my soul gets refreshed. They’re beautiful.”

1 Why is the sky suddenly full of pigeons?                                                            

…………………………………………………………………………………………

2 Why does the writer say that the Afghans look older?                                                   

…………………………………………………………………………………………

3 Why does the writer say But somehow, the birds know ….’?                    

…………………………………………………………………………………………

4 How far do the pigeons fly?                                                                                                     

(a)………………………………………………………………………………………

b)……………………………………………………………………………………………… 

5 When do the pigeons return home?                                                                                    

…………………………………………………………………………………………

6 Give an instance to show Mohammed knows his birds well.                                      

7 Why hasn’t Mohammed been able to give up pigeon flying?                                  

…………………………………………………………………………………………

8 Which words in the passage mean the same as                                                             

(a) a thin tray on which an artist lays and mixes paints  ……………………………………………………..

(b) competing eagerly………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

  (c) looking exhausted and unwell ……………………………………………………………………………………..

(d) move away aimlessly from a group ……………………………………………………………………………..

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