Class 7 English · Original EZT practice
The Tunnel (Class 7 English Chapter 10): Suraj's walk into the dark
The midday train has just snorted out of the tunnel and vanished, 'like some wild animal going back to its home in the hills', when Suraj - cycling from the town to his village - decides to walk right through the tunnel on foot. Ruskin Bond's story takes us with him into the damp, echoing dark, where a leopard watches from the bushes and a signal lamp swings in the distance, and into the friendship of Sunder Singh, the railway watchman who keeps the tunnel safe. This page gives a summary, word meanings and practice questions. (Note: this is original practice, not a textbook exercise key.)
6 original worked examples, 6 fresh self-check questions and 4 mixed questions, with explained answers. These are not copied textbook exercises, an official chapter index or a full answer key. No affiliation with NCERT is claimed.
Official sources for topic and edition context, checked 23 October 2026:
1. Story summary - Suraj's walk through the tunnel
Suraj, cycling from the town to his village, watches the midday train rush out of a tunnel 'like some wild animal'. Curious, he walks into the tunnel on foot - damp walls, his own footsteps echoing, the far end only a small opening of light. He thinks of the tunnel as a great beast and imagines what the train looks like coming through.
2. Reading for detail - the watchman and his lamp
Suraj meets Sunder Singh, the railway watchman whose hut stands near the tunnel, with marigolds and a small vegetable patch. The watchman's signal lamp is his way of warning the engine driver of any danger inside the tunnel - a flow chart in the textbook asks students to complete this system. Sunder Singh knows the tunnel so well that he jokes he has lent it to the Government.
3. The jungle around the tunnel
The tunnel cuts through jungle where animals also rest in the heat of the day - only 'the tribe of boys' will not rest. Suraj once sees a leopard flash past: 'a flash of orange and gold, and a long swishing tail.' The story's final image calls the watchman a 'firefly' for those travelling through the tunnel in the dark.
4. Word meanings
Words from the margin - swishing, cutting, night mail, snorting and phrases like 'a flash of orange and gold' - fixed to plain meanings.
Choose, solve, check, then try a fresh question.
Before calculating, read the method prompt and name the condition that makes it useful. Write your own attempt. Open the steps only when you need them, and use the check to catch a wrong sign, unit or interpretation. Finish with the fresh question before reading its answer.
Fix what Suraj sees and does
Choose the method: Watch the train, then walk in.
EZT practice question
What does Suraj watch the train do, and what does he decide to do next?
Show the worked solution
- He sees the midday train snort out of the tunnel and vanish, 'like some wild animal going back to its home in the hills'.
- Curious about the tunnel, he leaves his cycle and walks in on foot.
- Inside he finds damp walls, echoing footsteps and a small opening of light at the far end.
Answer: He watches the midday train rush out of the tunnel like a wild animal, then decides to walk through the tunnel on foot, finding it dark, damp and echoing.
Check: It is the heat of the day - animals rest, but boys will not.
Watch for this: Do not say Suraj travels by train - he walks into the tunnel out of curiosity.
Now try it yourself
Why does Suraj walk into the tunnel?
Check your answer
Out of curiosity - he wants to know what it is like inside.
The train's rush out of the dark fascinates him.
Unpack the wild-animal image
Choose the method: The train as a beast.
EZT practice question
How does Suraj think of the train and the tunnel?
Show the worked solution
- The train emerges 'snorting' - like a wild animal leaving its home.
- The tunnel seems like the beast's dark home in the hills.
- Inside, he imagines the engine thundering through, filling the tunnel with sound and steam.
Answer: Suraj pictures the train as a wild animal and the tunnel as its dark home in the hills - the simile makes the machine feel alive.
Check: A simile uses 'like' - here it turns a steam engine into a creature.
Watch for this: Do not treat the comparison as literal - it is Suraj's imagination, the way a boy sees a train.
Now try it yourself
What sound does the story give the engine as it leaves the tunnel?
Check your answer
A snort - the engine 'snorted' out, like a breathing animal.
The word keeps the wild-animal image alive.
Recall the leopard moment
Choose the method: A flash, then gone.
EZT practice question
What wild animal does Suraj once see near the tunnel, and how is it described?
Show the worked solution
- He sees a leopard in the bushes near the tunnel.
- It is 'a flash of orange and gold, and a long swishing tail'.
- It is there and gone - the leopard 'minds its own business' near the tunnel.
Answer: A leopard - described as 'a flash of orange and gold, and a long swishing tail', seen for only a moment near the tunnel.
Check: Sunder Singh says it is 'a leopard that minds its own business'.
Watch for this: Do not call it a tiger - the text says leopard, and the flash of orange and gold lasts only an instant.
Now try it yourself
What does 'swishing' suggest about the leopard's tail?
Check your answer
It moved swiftly through the air with a soft sound - the tail swept past as the leopard vanished.
'Swish' is the sound and movement of something sweeping quickly.
Meet Sunder Singh
Choose the method: The watchman by his hut.
EZT practice question
Who is Sunder Singh, and what is his job?
Show the worked solution
- He is the railway watchman whose hut stands near the tunnel, with marigolds and a small vegetable patch around it.
- He keeps watch over the tunnel and knows it inside out.
- He jokes that he has lent the tunnel to the Government - it is that much his own.
Answer: Sunder Singh is the railway watchman who lives in a hut by the tunnel, with marigolds and a vegetable patch, and who watches over the tunnel he knows so well he jokes he has lent it to the Government.
Check: He puts a banana leaf over his face to keep away the flies and snores in the heat.
Watch for this: Do not confuse him with the engine driver - Sunder Singh watches the tunnel, he does not drive the train.
Now try it yourself
What grows around the watchman's hut?
Check your answer
Marigolds, and there is a small vegetable patch.
The hut is a home, not just a post.
Explain the lamp system
Choose the method: A signal for danger.
EZT practice question
How does the watchman warn the engine driver of danger inside the tunnel?
Show the worked solution
- Sunder Singh keeps watch with a signal lamp.
- If there is danger in the tunnel - a rockfall or an obstruction - he uses the lamp to signal the driver.
- The textbook's flow chart asks students to complete the steps of this warning system.
Answer: With his signal lamp - the watchman waves the light to warn the engine driver of any danger inside the tunnel, such as a rockfall or obstruction.
Check: The lamp matters most at night - that is when the driver cannot see ahead.
Watch for this: Do not say he phones or flags down the train with his hands - his tool is the signal lamp.
Now try it yourself
Why does the driver need a warning about the tunnel?
Check your answer
Because the driver cannot see inside the dark tunnel until the train is in it - a blocked tunnel would mean disaster without a signal.
The watchman's eyes guard what the driver cannot see.
Understand the firefly image
Choose the method: A small light in the dark.
EZT practice question
Why is Sunder Singh called a 'firefly' at the end of the story?
Show the worked solution
- A firefly is a tiny insect whose light glows in the dark.
- The watchman, alone in the night jungle with his little lamp, is a small but steady light.
- For the thousands travelling through the tunnel, that small light means safety.
Answer: He is a 'firefly' because, like the small insect glowing in the dark, his little lamp is a tiny but precious light for those travelling through the tunnel - he will 'always remain a firefly' for them.
Check: The image links size and value: small light, great safety.
Watch for this: Do not read 'firefly' as an insult - it honours how much a small, faithful light can mean.
Now try it yourself
Who are the 'thousands' in the firefly line?
Check your answer
The travellers whose trains pass through the tunnel, guarded by his lamp.
He serves people he never meets.
Try a mixed set
Choose a method or explanation before opening each answer.
1. Who wrote The Tunnel?
Show answer and reason
Ruskin Bond.
A story of Suraj and the watchman Sunder Singh.
2. The train is compared to?
Show answer and reason
A wild animal going back to its home in the hills.
It 'snorted' out of the tunnel.
3. The leopard appears as?
Show answer and reason
A flash of orange and gold with a long swishing tail.
It minds its own business.
4. Sunder Singh is called a ___ at the end?
Show answer and reason
A firefly - a small but precious light for travellers.
His lamp guards the tunnel.
Try it yourself
Work these on paper before checking any notes. Answers are deliberately not shown here.
- Describe the tunnel from inside in two sentences as Suraj would.
- Why does Sunder Singh say he has lent the tunnel to the Government?
- Draw or list the steps of the watchman's lamp-warning system.
Know the rule but lose track of the steps?
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Questions about this practice page
- What is The Tunnel about?
- Suraj, a boy cycling home from town, walks through a jungle railway tunnel out of curiosity, meets the watchman Sunder Singh, and learns how his signal lamp keeps trains safe.
- Who wrote The Tunnel?
- Ruskin Bond.
- What is the 'firefly' image?
- The watchman, alone in the dark jungle with his small lamp, is like a firefly - a tiny light that means safety for thousands of travellers.
- What wild animal does Suraj see near the tunnel?
- A leopard - 'a flash of orange and gold, and a long swishing tail'.
- Are these the NCERT exercise questions for Class 7 English Chapter 10?
- No. EZT pages are original practice following the chapter's section order - use them to prepare for the textbook exercises, not as a substitute for your book.