Macavity The Mystery Cat - Worksheets

CBSE WorkSheet 01
Macavity The Mystery Cat
  1. Describe Macavity after the poet T.S. Eliot.
  2. How does the poet support his statement ‘there is no one like macavity’?
  3. Macavity is also known as Hidden Paw. Why?
  4. Why is Macavity the bafflement of Scotland Yard and the Flying Squad?
  5. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
    You may seek him in the basement, you
    may look up in the air-
    But I tell you once and once again,
    Macavity’s not there!
    Macavity’s a ginger cat, he’s very tall and thin;
    You would know him if you saw him, for
    his eyes are sunken in.
    1. The great difficulty is that Macavity
      (a) is easily found
      (b) is very difficult to be found
      (c) is a ginger cat
      (d) is tall and thin
    2. Ginger in the passage is
      (a) a thing that Macavity likes
      (b) something which resembles Macavity
      (c) the colour of Macavity
      (d) the breed of Macavity
    3. The poet’s name is
      (a) R.N. Tagore
      (b) Zulfikar Ghose
      (c) William Blake
      (d) T.S. Eliot
  6. Read the extract and answer the questions that follow:
    Macavity's a ginger cat, he's very tall and thin;
    You would know him if you saw him, for his eyes are sunken in
    His brow is deeply lined with thought, his head is highly doomed;
    His coat is dusty from neglect, his whiskers are uncombed.
    1. Why is Macavity called a ginger cat?
    2. How would you know that it is a Macavity cat?
    3. What kind of coat and whiskers did Macavity have? 
CBSE WorkSheet 01
Macavity The Mystery Cat
Solution
  1. According to T.S. Eliot Macavity is unique. He is a master criminal. He defies not only human laws but even the laws of nature. The poet calls him a fiend in a cat’s body.
    His greatest quality is that he is never found at the spot of crime. He runs away from there before even the Flying Squad can reach. Then they may search him under the earth or in the air but Macavity will not be found.
    Macavity is a ginger cat. He is very tall and thin. His eyes are sunken and his forehead wrinkled. He has a big head which he sways from side to side.
  2. The poet calls Macavity a master criminal. He could make a good escape before the police came to the scene of crime. He befooled the soldiers and the flying squad. He was an outlaw. He was a master in his field. He was matchless, a devil in the shape of a cat.
  3. Macavity is also known as Hidden Paw because of its secretive character. After committing a crime, it escapes so smartly and mysteriously that investigators have never traced the marks of his paws.
  4. Macavity is a master criminal who can defy the law. When police forces reach the place where crime is discovered, Macavity is not there and they are unsuccessful in inspecting the crime.
  5. i. (b), ii. (c), iii. (d).
    1. Macavity is called a ginger cat because he's very tall and thin.
    2. We would know it is a Macavity cat as its eyes were sunken in and his brow is deeply lined with thought, his head is highly doomed.
    3. Macavity had a dusty coat and uncombed whiskers.