Try each question on your own first. Use the Show Answer button only after you have selected your option, then read the explanation and revise the related concept from your chapter notes.
Explanation: 'Deep Water' is an excerpt from the autobiography of William O. Douglas, who served as a justice of the United States Supreme Court.
2. How did the author develop his fear of water?
A. He nearly drowned after being thrown into deep water by another boy at a pool
B. He read about a shark attack
C. He fell from a boat as a baby
D. He watched a friend drown
Answer: A. He nearly drowned after being thrown into deep water by another boy at a pool
Explanation: The author's fear of water began at age ten or eleven, when a bigger boy at the YMCA pool threw him into the deep end, causing him to nearly drown in terror and panic.
3. Where did the traumatic near-drowning incident of the author's childhood take place?
A. A river
B. The sea
C. A YMCA swimming pool in Yakima
D. A lake near his farmhouse
Answer: C. A YMCA swimming pool in Yakima
Explanation: The frightening incident that instilled a deep phobia of water in the young author occurred at the YMCA pool in Yakima.
4. How did the author eventually decide to overcome his fear of water years later?
A. He avoided water for the rest of his life
B. He hired a professional instructor and practiced rigorously, piece by piece, to master swimming
C. He never managed to overcome it
D. He asked a friend to push him into water again
Answer: B. He hired a professional instructor and practiced rigorously, piece by piece, to master swimming
Explanation: As an adult, determined not to let fear control his life, the author hired an instructor who patiently trained him in individual swimming movements over months until his fear was conquered.
5. What method did the instructor use to help the author overcome his fear systematically?
A. Breaking down swimming into separate parts: kicking, arm movement, breathing, and combining them slowly over weeks
B. Throwing him into the pool repeatedly
C. Only teaching him to float
D. Making him watch others swim
Answer: A. Breaking down swimming into separate parts: kicking, arm movement, breathing, and combining them slowly over weeks
Explanation: The instructor used a careful, methodical approach, teaching the author each individual component of swimming separately before gradually combining them, spread over about five months of daily practice.
6. Where did the author finally test whether he had completely overcome his fear of water?
A. In a bathtub
B. In Lake Wentworth, New Hampshire
C. In a swimming pool only
D. In a river near his home
Answer: B. In Lake Wentworth, New Hampshire
Explanation: To truly confirm that his old terror was gone, the author swam alone across Lake Wentworth and then further out into the deep parts of Lake Kettle, both in New Hampshire.
7. What is the central theme of 'Deep Water'?
A. The dangers of swimming pools
B. Confronting and conquering one's deepest fears through determination and systematic effort
C. The biography of a judge
D. The history of the YMCA
Answer: B. Confronting and conquering one's deepest fears through determination and systematic effort
Explanation: The essay centers on the theme of overcoming deep-seated fear through willpower, patience, and a disciplined, step-by-step approach, illustrating that fear can be defeated with the right method and resolve.
8. What emotion does the author describe feeling each time he tried to enter the pool after his traumatic experience, even years later?
A. Excitement
B. Sheer terror and paralyzing fear
C. Boredom
D. Curiosity
Answer: B. Sheer terror and paralyzing fear
Explanation: Even years after the incident, whenever the author attempted to swim, the old terror would return in full force, leaving him paralyzed with fear despite his attempts to overcome it.
This page contains a chapter-wise objective practice set. Try the questions without checking the answer first, then use the explanation to understand the point you missed. The current page contains 8 questions, so you can practise in smaller sets when you are revising.
Quick revision tip
After the practice set, write down the question numbers you missed and revise only those concepts once more. This makes MCQ practice more useful than repeatedly attempting the same questions without reviewing mistakes.
