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This topic explores empathy through the Class 9 English chapter “The Little Girl.” Students examine how Kezia’s feelings toward her father change as she begins to understand his responsibilities, emotions, and care. They learn to look beyond outward behaviour, recognise another person’s perspective, and connect these ideas with family relationships and everyday communication. The topic also supports thoughtful reading, character analysis, inference, and the use of English to express feelings, experiences, and understanding clearly.
Medium · Level 9 · 25 questions
Practice questions
01 In the absence of empathy, which image of the father remains dominant?
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Answer and explanation
Correct answer: B. Stern and frightening
Explanation: Empathy changes how Kezia interprets the same person. Without it, she would judge her father only by the visible features of his behaviour: his stern voice, serious face, large presence, and strict expectations. Those features form the dominant image of a frightening authority figure. His tenderness becomes visible only when she considers his situation and notices his protective actions during her nightmare. Therefore option B is correct. Option A represents the fuller understanding she reaches later, not the image that remains without empathy. The story does not portray him as playful, helpless, or weak, so C and D are unsupported distractions.
02 How does Kezia learn empathy toward her father?
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Answer and explanation
Correct answer: A. When her father comforts her after a nightmare and lets her sleep beside him
Explanation: Empathy is learned here through direct emotional experience, not through a lesson, book, or outside criticism. When Kezia’s mother is away and Kezia has a frightening nightmare, she cries for help. Her father responds with care: he picks her up, reassures her, and lets her sleep beside him. This moment allows her to experience his love rather than merely fear his strictness. She also begins to understand that his tiredness after work influences his manner. Option A is therefore correct. The book, neighbour, and teacher mentioned in the other choices do not cause the change in her attitude.
03 Which option best shows the relation between empathy and forgiveness?
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Answer and explanation
Correct answer: A. Empathy helps Kezia forgive her father by understanding the stress behind his sternness
Explanation: Option A is correct because empathy means making a serious effort to understand another person’s feelings, pressures, and circumstances rather than judging only the visible behaviour. Kezia first experiences her father as frightening and harsh, especially after being punished. Later, she recognises that he is tired, occupied with work, and capable of quiet affection. This wider understanding does not prove that every action of his is right, but it softens fear and resentment and makes forgiveness possible. Option B confuses empathy with blind approval; C reverses the emotional movement; and D removes the need for understanding. The governing idea is that empathy can lead to forgiveness without denying hurt or responsibility.
04 How does the title connect with the theme of empathy?
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Answer and explanation
Correct answer: A. A little girl gradually understands a big emotion
Explanation: Option A is correct because the title focuses attention on Kezia as a child whose emotional understanding develops gradually. At the beginning, her limited experience makes her interpret her father’s sternness as frightening and uncaring. Through the events of the story, especially the night when he comforts her, she learns to look beyond appearances and recognise his tiredness, responsibility, and affection. This movement from a child’s narrow judgement to a more compassionate view connects the title with the theme of empathy. Option B is incomplete: the title suggests more than age. Options C and D do not describe the central relationship or the main emotional change. Thus, the title highlights a child’s growth into deeper emotional understanding.
05 Which inner change is involved in Kezia's empathy toward her father?
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Answer and explanation
Correct answer: A. Moving from fear to trust and affection
Explanation: Option A is correct because Kezia’s central inner movement is a change in the way she interprets her father. In the early part of the story, his stern expression, loud voice, and punishment make her afraid and emotionally distant. The later incident in which he comforts her during the night allows her to notice his tenderness and hidden concern. Fear therefore gives way to security, trust, and affection. The change is not sudden permission to approve every action; it is a more balanced understanding of the person behind the strict appearance. B, C, and D describe movements opposite to the development shown in the text. The governing concept is emotional growth through empathy.
Correct answer: A. A harsh judgement made in haste
Explanation: Option A is correct because empathy challenges the habit of judging a person from one frightening impression or one painful incident. Kezia first forms a harsh opinion of her father from his stern voice, silence, and punishment. As she observes his care during a difficult night, she begins to consider his tiredness, responsibilities, and affection. Her judgement becomes slower, fairer, and more informed by context. Empathy does not oppose family affection, responsibility, or a child’s safety; in fact, it helps her recognise these qualities more clearly. Option B names something empathy reveals, C is part of the context that should be understood, and D is a value empathy supports. The central contrast is between quick condemnation and compassionate understanding.
07 What is the strongest proof of empathy in the father-Kezia relationship?
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Answer and explanation
Correct answer: B. Kezia realizing that her father has a big heart
Explanation: Option B is correct because Kezia’s realisation that her father has a big heart shows that her understanding has changed from fear to compassion. The phrase does not simply praise him in an idealised way; it indicates that she has noticed his capacity for care, tenderness, and responsibility beneath his stern manner. Options A and C describe her earlier distance and limited judgement, so they provide evidence of fear rather than empathy. Option D concerns social activity with other children and does not establish anything about the father-daughter relationship. The strongest proof is therefore the final insight that she can recognise the father’s inner goodness even though he is not always gentle or expressive.
08 Which main principle of empathy becomes clear through Kezia's final understanding?
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Answer and explanation
Correct answer: A. One should see the experiences and feelings behind another person's behaviour
Explanation: Option A is correct because empathy requires looking beyond an action or outward manner to the experiences and feelings that may shape it. Kezia initially sees only her father’s sternness and therefore assumes that he is frightening and uncaring. Her final understanding includes the pressures of his work, his tiredness, and the quiet love expressed through his care for her. This does not excuse every harsh action; it creates a fuller and fairer interpretation. B is an absolute statement and is contradicted by the father’s affection. C has no relation to the lesson, and D wrongly restricts the ways in which love can be shown. The story therefore teaches contextual, compassionate understanding.
09 Why does the father's behaviour after the nightmare change Kezia's understanding?
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Answer and explanation
Correct answer: B. Because he understands her fear and lets her sleep beside him
Explanation: The governing concept is that direct experience can correct a mistaken emotional judgement. Kezia has usually encountered her father as a strict and intimidating figure, so she assumes that he is mainly frightening. After the nightmare, however, he notices her distress, comforts her, and lets her sleep beside him. This concrete act of protection reveals tenderness that she had not previously recognised. Option B is correct because it identifies both the father’s compassionate action and its effect on Kezia’s understanding. Options A, C, and D contradict the episode and do not explain her change of view.
10 Kezia calling her father big-hearted indicates which emotional change?
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Answer and explanation
Correct answer: A. Moving from fear to empathetic acceptance
Explanation: The governing concept is character development through a change in emotional perspective. At the beginning, Kezia is intimidated by her father and interprets his strict manner as evidence that he is frightening. The nightmare episode gives her a different experience: he protects her, offers comfort, and reveals a caring side. Calling him big-hearted shows that she now accepts the affection beneath his sternness and can judge him with empathy. Option A is correct because it describes the complete movement from fear to understanding. Options B, C, and D introduce emotions or relationships that do not represent her final realisation.
11 Kezia’s emotional change in the story is proof of what?
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Answer and explanation
Correct answer: C. Experience can change perspective
Explanation: The central concept is that experience can revise a person’s interpretation of another person. At first, Kezia judges her father almost entirely by his stern voice, formal manner, and frightening presence. The nightmare episode gives her a different experience: he protects her, comforts her, and lets her sleep near him. She then recognises care where she had previously seen only fear. This movement from one interpretation to another proves that experience can change perspective, making option C correct. Options A and B are absolute statements, and D is unrelated because the story does not claim that all discipline is worthless.
12 Kezia’s understanding of her father leads the reader to which moral lesson?
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Answer and explanation
Correct answer: A. Relationships should not be judged only by first impressions
Explanation: The moral lesson is that first impressions and outward behaviour may provide only an incomplete picture of a relationship. Kezia initially judges her father as frightening because she notices his strictness but cannot yet interpret his responsibilities or affection. After he comforts her during the night, she sees another side of him and revises her opinion. Consequently, option A is correct: relationships should be understood through patience, experience, and attention to a person’s complete behaviour. Option B is an unjustified absolute, while C and D contradict the story’s movement toward trust and emotional understanding.
13 What does the experience of fatherly safety break in Kezia's mind?
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Answer and explanation
Correct answer: C. Her monstrous fear of her father
Explanation: The governing idea is that a child’s judgement of a parent can change when direct experience reveals hidden affection. Kezia has imagined her father as a frightening, almost monstrous figure because he is stern, busy and demanding. During the nightmare episode, however, he carries her, comforts her and allows her to sleep safely beside him. This caring action does not erase his strictness, but it changes the meaning Kezia gives to it. Therefore, option C is correct: the experience breaks her monstrous fear of her father. Options A, B and D are unrelated to the central emotional change in this scene.
Correct answer: A. The belief that appearing stern proves absence of love
Explanation: The governing concept is empathetic reinterpretation: a person should not be judged only by an intimidating outward manner. Kezia first treats her father’s loud voice, stern face, and strict actions as evidence that he does not love her. The nightmare episode challenges this conclusion. Although he is tired and not openly expressive, he protects her, comforts her, and gives her a sense of safety. When Kezia considers his responsibilities and hidden affection, she discovers that severe appearance and loving nature can coexist. Therefore option A is correct. The other choices concern general learning, family importance, or the grandmother’s role, none of which is the belief directly tested by Kezia’s emotional development.
15 At the end of the story Kezia's feeling is most closely connected with what?
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Answer and explanation
Correct answer: B. Safety and understanding
Explanation: The governing concept is emotional resolution. At the beginning, Kezia responds to her father mainly with fear because she notices his stern expression, loud voice and strict expectations. The final episode supplies evidence that changes this response: after her nightmare, her father holds her, lets her rest near him and offers protection even though he is exhausted. Kezia therefore reaches a feeling of safety and begins to understand the human reasons behind his behaviour. Option B is correct. Hatred, revenge, jealousy and isolation do not describe the warmth and insight created by the final scene; comparison with another family merely helps her notice the difference.
16 What is the indirect importance of grandmother's advice from the viewpoint of empathy?
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Answer and explanation
Correct answer: A. It moves Kezia toward contact with her father
Explanation: The governing concept is that empathy may develop through an indirect prompting rather than through a direct lecture. Grandmother encourages Kezia to prepare a pin-cushion as a birthday gift for her father. The task makes Kezia think about him personally and creates an attempt at contact, even though the gift-making goes wrong when she uses the papers from his speech. This effort does not immediately remove her fear, but it begins to connect her emotionally with him. Therefore, option A is correct. The advice neither punishes the father nor blames neighbours, and it does not remove the mother from the narrative.
Correct answer: A. क्योंकि उसे पता चलता है कि उसके पिता की कठोरता के पीछे थकान, जिम्मेदारियाँ और स्नेह भी हैं
Explanation: The governing concept is the movement from fear to empathy through fuller understanding of another person’s circumstances. Kezia initially sees only the frightening surface of her father’s personality. The final incident shows her that he works hard, becomes tired and may express love through protection rather than through playful words. When he comforts her after the nightmare, she experiences his care directly and begins to imagine life from his side. Option A is correct because it includes fatigue, responsibility and affection. B reverses the grandmother’s role, C is factually false, and D contradicts the story because Kezia has often seen her father busy and angry.
18 Which option understands the father's humanity empathetically?
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Answer and explanation
Correct answer: B. Though tired from work, he comforts and protects his daughter when she is frightened.
Explanation: The governing concept is balanced character interpretation: empathy requires considering both a person’s limitations and the care shown through actions. Kezia’s father is stern, tired and not emotionally expressive, but these qualities do not make him heartless. During her nightmare he notices her distress, gives her physical comfort and allows her to sleep safely beside him. This action reveals protective love beneath his severe exterior. Option B is therefore correct. A and D reduce a complex parent to one negative trait, while C treats quietness as proof of indifference. The scene teaches that humanity is often clearer in conduct than in affectionate speech.
19 Because of empathy how does Kezia appear more mature?
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Answer and explanation
Correct answer: A. She moves beyond her own pain and understands her father's situation
Explanation: The governing concept is emotional maturity, which means moving beyond one’s immediate feelings and recognising another person’s circumstances. Kezia does not remain trapped in the fear caused by her father’s stern words and earlier punishment. After he comforts her during the nightmare, she considers that he is tired from work, carries responsibilities and may show love through protection rather than cheerful conversation. This ability to see beyond her own discomfort demonstrates empathy and maturity. Option A is correct. The other choices describe crying, rejection or imitation; none shows thoughtful understanding of another person’s situation or the development of her judgement.
20 Why is the father's love not easily visible in the story?
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Answer and explanation
Correct answer: B. He does not express love openly through play and words
Explanation: The governing idea is that affection may be real even when it is not expressed warmly or openly. Kezia’s father is serious, busy and strict, and he does not spend time playing with her or use tender words that would make his love obvious. Because she judges him mainly by his stern voice and formal behaviour, she feels afraid of him. Later, when a nightmare frightens her, he allows her to sleep beside him and comforts her. This action reveals the care that was present all along. Option A is not the main reason, while C and D contradict the story. Thus, B best explains the hidden nature of his love.
21 What kind of learning does Kezia's understanding of her father offer?
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Answer and explanation
Correct answer: A. Emotional learning
Explanation: Kezia’s experience provides emotional learning because she develops a deeper understanding of feelings, relationships and human behaviour. At first, she forms a narrow judgement: her father is frightening because he is strict and does not communicate affection in an obvious way. Later, his care during her nightmare helps her recognise that a person’s external manner may not reveal the whole truth about his feelings. This is a lesson in empathy, emotional maturity and interpreting relationships thoughtfully. Grammar concerns language rules, science concerns the natural world, and commercial learning concerns trade or business; none of these explains Kezia’s change. Thus, A is correct because the learning occurs in her feelings and understanding.
22 Which process of empathy becomes clear through Kezia's experience?
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Answer and explanation
Correct answer: A. Moving from another's outward behaviour to inner feeling
Explanation: The governing concept is empathy: trying to understand a person's feelings and situation instead of judging only visible behaviour. At first, Kezia notices her father's stern voice, serious manner, and frightening appearance, so she assumes that he is harsh and unloving. Later, especially when he comforts her during the night, she recognises the affection and protection hidden behind that outward strictness. Thus the movement is from an external impression to an understanding of inner feeling. Option A is correct because it describes this psychological change precisely. Imitation, avoidance, and blame do not explain Kezia's growing insight into her father's emotions.
23 What is the final effect of empathy in the story?
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Answer and explanation
Correct answer: A. Understanding and affection replace fear in the father-daughter relationship
Explanation: The governing idea is that empathy can correct a one-sided judgment and transform a relationship. Kezia initially sees her father mainly through fear: his stern words and formal behaviour make her think that he does not care for her. When he protects and comforts her after the nightmare, she experiences his tenderness directly. This new experience allows her to understand that his strict exterior does not cancel his love. Therefore option A is correct: fear gradually gives way to emotional understanding and affection. The other options are either factually wrong or unrelated to the story's conclusion; Kezia does not permanently avoid him, the father remains present, and the Macdonalds serve only as a comparison.
24 What mainly shows the lack of empathy in Kezia's fear of her father?
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Answer and explanation
Correct answer: B. She could not understand his feelings and tiredness
Explanation: Empathy requires recognising what another person may be feeling beneath visible actions. Kezia sees her father coming home tired, speaking firmly, and maintaining a serious manner, but she does not yet connect these actions with adult responsibility, work-related fatigue, or concern for the family. Because she interprets his exterior without understanding his inner condition, fear dominates her response. Option B is therefore correct. The tall figure may contribute to her childlike image of him, but it is not the main issue. Her academic ability and her conversations with her grandmother do not explain the absence of emotional understanding in this situation.
25 When does the greatest shift of empathy occur in the story?
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Answer and explanation
Correct answer: C. When her father comforts her at night
Explanation: The important concept is a change in perception caused by a direct emotional experience. Earlier, Kezia knows her father mainly as a frightening, strict adult and cannot imagine tenderness in him. During the night, after she is frightened by a nightmare, her father takes care of her, gives her comfort, and allows her to feel safe beside him. This action reveals his affection more clearly than his ordinary words do. Option C is correct because this is the event that changes her interpretation of him. Memorising a speech and learning sewing belong to earlier incidents, while the market is not the decisive moment in her emotional development.
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