The Snake Trying

I. 1. What is the snake trying to escape from?
Ans: The snake is trying to escape from the stick.

2. Is it a harmful snake? What is its colour?

Ans: No, it is not a harmful snake. Its small size renders it harmless even to the children. The snake is green in colour.

3. The poet finds the snake beautiful. Find the words he uses to convey its beauty.

Ans: The words the poet uses to convey the snake’s beauty are “beautiful” and “graceful”.

4. What does the poet wish for the snake?

Ans: The poet wishes that the snake be left unharmed. He wants it to go over the water into the reeds to hide.

5. Where was the snake before anyone saw it and chased it away? Where does the snake disappear?

Ans: The snake was lying on the sand till someone saw it and again chased it away. The snake disappeared in the ripples of the water among the green reeds.

II. 1. Find out as much as you can about different kinds of snakes (from books in the library, or from the Internet). Are they all poisonous? Find out the names of some poisonous snakes.

Ans: No, all snakes are not poisonous. Some of the poisonous snakes are Indian Cobra, Common Krait, Russell’s Viper and Saw-scaled Viper.

On Killing a Tree

I. 1. Can a “simple jab of the knife” kill a tree? Why not?

Ans: No, a simple jab of a knife cannot kill a tree because it takes many years for a tree to grow and rise out of the earth. Moreover, only a chop cannot kill it because it will slowly rise again and grow to its original size.

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2. How has the tree grow to its full size? List the words suggestive of its life and activity.

Ans: The tree grows to its full size by absorbing years of sunlight, water, and air. It slowly grows out of the earth and sprouts leaves. The words suggestive of its life and activity are ‘grown slowly consuming the earth’, ‘rising out of it’, ‘feeding upon its crust’, ‘absorbing years of sunlight, air, water’, and ‘sprouting leaves’.

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3. What is the meaning of “bleeding bark”? What makes it bleed?

Ans: “Bleeding bark” refers to the area on the tree trunk where it has been hit with the axe. It bleeds because the wood cutter has wounded the tree by cutting and chopping it.

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4. The poet says “No” in the beginning of the third stanza. What does he mean by this?

Ans: In the beginning of the third stanza, the poet has said “No” to lay emphasis on the fact that mere chopping of the tree would not kill it. The tree would grow again and retain its original size.

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5. What is the meaning of “anchoring earth” and “earth cave”?

Ans: “Anchoring earth” refers to the roots of the tree that lie inside the earth and play the role of an anchor for the tree to grow. They ensure the security of the tree as they nourish it with water and nutrients. “Earth cave” refers to the ground on which the foundation of the tree is laid as it holds the roots and keeps the tree standing tall and protects it from adversities such as heavy rainfall or storm.

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6. What does he mean by “the strength of the tree exposed”?

Ans: The strength of the tree lies in its roots, which the poet asks to snap out in order to kill the tree. Thus, the phrase “the strength of the tree exposed” refers to the roots of the tree being exposed to sunlight and air.

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7. What finally kills the tree?

Ans: The tree is finally killed by the uprooting of its roots. When the roots, which had anchored it lying hidden in the earth for years, were dug out, the tree’s strength was exposed and this led to the death of the tree. It dried up after it had been uprooted.

The Bond of Love

Page No:119 Thinking about the Text  (do in book)
Given in the box are some headings. Find the relevant paragraphs in the text to match the headings.

Ans: An Orphaned Cub – para 3
Bruno’s Food-chart – para 6
An Accidental Case of Poisoning – para 8
Playful Baba – para 12
Pain of Separation – para 14
Joy of Reunion – para 16
A Request to the Zoo – para 18
An Island in the Courtyard – para 21

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(do in notebook)

II. Answer the following questions.

1.   “I got him for her by accident.”

(i) Who says this?
(ii) Who do ‘him’ and ‘her’ refer to?
(iii) What is the incident referred to here?

Ans: (i) Narrator said this.

(ii) Here, ‘him’ refers to the sloth bear and ‘her’ refers to the narrator’s wife.

(iii)  About two  years ago the narrator and his companions were passing through the sugarcane fields near Mysore. Suddenly, they saw a black sloth bear. One of the narrator’s companions shot it on the spot. As they saw the fallen animal, they were surprised to see that the black fur on its back moved. Then they saw that it was a baby bear that had been riding on its mother’s back. The narrator ran up to it and attempted to capture it. He finally succeeded in grabbing it and gifted it to his wife. This incident is referred to in the above statement

2. “He stood on his head in delight.”
(i) Who does ‘he’ refer to?
(ii) Why was he delighted?

Ans: (i) ‘He’ refers to the bear, Bruno.
(ii) Bruno was delighted to see the narrator’s wife after three months of separation.

 

3. “We all missed him greatly: but in a sense we were relieved.”
(i) Who does ‘we all’ stand for?
(ii) Who did they miss?
(iii) Why did they nevertheless feel relieved?

Ans: (i) ‘We all’ stands for the narrator, his wife and his son.
(ii) They missed Bruno (Baba).
(iii) They felt relieved because Baba was getting too big to be kept at home. That is why they had sent him off to a zoo.

 

III. Answer the following questions in 30 to 40 words each.

1. On two occasions Bruno ate/drank something that should not be eaten /drunk. What happened to him on these occasions?

Ans: Bruno ate some poison-barium carbonate He also vomited and breathed heavily, but was later cured. In another incident, he drank nearly a gallon of old engine oil. Fortunately, he remained unaffected.meant for the rats, which paralysed and weakened him.

2. Was Bruno a loving and playful pet? Why, then, did he have to be sent away?

Ans: Yes, Bruno was a loving and playful pet. Everybody in the family was attached to it ,especially the narrator’s wife. It had to be sent  away to a zoo because it was getting too big to be kept at home.

3. How was the problem of what to do with  Bruno finally solved?

Ans: Bruno was not happy at the zoo. Seeing its condition and its happiness at seeing the narrator’s wife, Bruno was allowed to go back to Bangalore. There, an island was made for the bear, keeping all its needs in mind.

I. 1. Find these words in the lesson. They all have ie or ei in them.(do in book)

f___ld	ingred ___nts	h ___ght	misch ___vous
fr ___nds	___ghty-seven	rel ___ved	p ___ce

Ans:

field	ingredients	height	mischievous
friends	eighty-seven	relieved	piece

2. Now here are some more words. Complete them with ei or ie. Consult a dictionary if necessary.

bel___ ve	rec ___ve	w ___rd	l ___sure	s ___ze
w ___ght	r ___gn	f ___gn	gr ___f	p ___rce

(There is a popular rule of spelling: ‘i’ before ‘e’ except after ‘c’. Check if this rule is true by looking at the words above.)
Ans:

believe	receive	weird	leisure	seize
weight	reign	feign	grief	pierce

 

II. Here are some words with silent letters. Learn their spelling. Your teacher will dictate these words to you. Write them down and underline the silent letters.

knock	wrestle	walk	wrong
knee	half	honest	daughter
hours	return	hornet	calm
could	sign	island	button

Ans:

Knock	Wrestle	Walk	Wrong
Knee	Half	Honest	Daughter
Hours	Return	Hornet	Calm
Could	Sign	Island	Button

2. Adverbs

(i) Complete the following sentences, using a suitable adverb ending in –ly.
  (in book)

(i) (a) Rana does her homework timely.
(b) It rains heavily in Mumbai in June.
(c) He does his work properly.
(d) The dog serves his master faithfully.
(ii) (a) We should never get down from a moving train.
(b) I was badly in need of support after my poor performance.
(c) Rita met with an accident. The doctor examined her immediately.

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Reach for the Top 

 Answer these questions in one or two sentences each. (The paragraph numbers within brackets provide clues to the answers.) 

1. Why was the ‘holy man’ who gave Santosh’s mother his blessings surprised? (1)

2. Give an example to show that even as a young girl Santosh was not ready to accept anything unreasonable. (2)

3. Why was Santosh sent to the local school? (3)
 4. When did she leave home for Delhi, and why? (4)
 5. Why did Santosh’s parents agree to pay for her schooling in Delhi? What mental qualities of Santosh are brought into light by this incident? (4)

Ans: 1. The ‘holy man’ was surprised because he had assumed that Santosh’s mother wanted a son. But grandmother told him that they did not want a son.

 2. Santosh, from the very beginning, lived life on her own terms. She was not content with the traditional way of life and was not ready to accept anything unreasonable. Where other girls wore traditional Indian dresses, Santosh preferred shorts.

 3. Even though Santosh’s parents could afford to send their children to the best schools, she was sent to the local village school due to the prevailing custom in the family.

 4. When she turned sixteen and was under pressure to get married, Santosh threatened her parents that she would never marry if she did not get a proper education. Therefore, she left home and got herself enrolled in a school in Delhi.

 5. When Santosh’s parents refused to pay for her education, she politely informed them of her plans to earn money by working part time to pay her school fees. Then, her parents agreed to pay for her schooling in Delhi. This shows that Santosh was a mentally-strong girl and was determined to work very hard to get herself properly educated.

 Page No: 103

 II.Answer each of these questions in a short paragraph (about 30 words). 

1. How did Santosh begin to climb mountains?
 2. What incidents during the Everest expedition show Santosh’s concern for her team-mates?
3. What shows her concern for the environment?
4. How does she describe her feelings at the summit of the Everest?
5. Santosh Yadav got into the record books both times she scaled Mt Everest. What were the reasons for this?

 Ans: 1. From her room in Kasturba Hostel, she watched people going up the Aravalli Hills and vanishing after a while. On investigating, she found nobody except a few mountaineers, and she asked if she could join them. They agreed and even motivated her to take to climbing and so she later accompanied them on their climbing expedition. This was how she began climbing mountains.

 2. During the Everest mission, Santosh showed immense concern for her fellow climbers. Though she was unsuccessful in saving the life of one of them, she did manage to save another climber through artificial respiration.

 3. Santosh was a fervent environmentalist. Her concern for the environment is evident from the fact that she collected and brought down 500 kilograms of garbage from the Himalayas.

 4. Santosh asserted that her feeling at the summit of the Everest was “indescribable”. Unfurling the Indian flag on the top of the world was a spiritual moment for her and she felt proud as an Indian.

 5. When Santosh Yadav first scaled Mt Everest, she became the youngest woman in the world to achieve the feat. When she scaled the Everest the second time, she became the only woman to have scaled it twice.

 (Do these Qs in the book )

 III. Complete the following statements.
 Ans: 1. From her room in Kasturba Hostel, Santosh used to watch villagers going up the hill and suddenly vanish after a while.

 2. When she finished college, Santosh had to write a letter of apology to her father because she had got herself enrolled at Uttarkashi’s Nehru Institute of Mountaineering without his permission.

 3. During the Everest expedition, her seniors in the team admired her climbing skills, physical fitness and mental strength while her concern for others and desire to work together with them endeared her to fellow climbers.

 IV. Pick out words from the text that mean the same as the following words or expressions. (Look in the paragraphs indicated.) 

 1. took to be true without proof (1)                      Assumed

 2. based on reason; sensible; reasonable (2):       Rational

3. the usual way of doing things (3):                      Custom

4. a strong desire arising from within (5):                Urge

5. the power to endure, without falling ill (7) :       Resistance

No Men are Foreign

 (i) “Beneath all uniforms…” What uniforms do you think the poet is speaking about?
(ii) How does the poet suggest that all people on earth are the same?

Ans: (i) The poet is probably speaking about the uniforms that the soldiers wear at the time of war. The word “uniform” here could also mean the traditional dresses of a country.
(ii) The poet suggests that all people on earth are the same as they breathe, buried, wake, sleep, hate, love and labour. The importance of the sun and air and water is equal for everyone. Everyone needs peace and suffers from starvation during wars.

2. In stanza 1, find five ways in which we all are alike. Pick out the words.

Ans: Words which suggest the five ways in which we all are like are:
Each of us has a similar body
All of us breathe
All of us walk
All of us lie
We live and die on the same earth

3. How many common features can you find in stanza 2? Pick out the words.

Ans: There are five common features in stanza 2. These features are the sun, the air, the water, peaceful harvest, hands and the labour.

4. “…whenever we are told to hate our brothers…” When do you think this happens? Why? Who ‘tells’ us? Should we do as we are told at such times? What does the poet say?

Ans: Whenever there is war, leaders tell people to hate the other country. They tell us to do so because of their personal gains. But we should not act as a puppet in their hands and do as they say. We should understand that war is futile and analyse the situation before jumping to conclusions.The poet says that if we fight against them, we kill and condemn ourselves.

Packing

I. Discuss in pairs and answer each question below in a short paragraph (30 − 40 words).

1. How many characters are there in the narrative? Name them. (Don’t forget the dog!).

Ans: There are four characters in the narrative. They are Jerome (the narrator), George, Harris and Montmorency (the dog).

2. Why did the narrator (Jerome) volunteer to do the packing?

Ans: The narrator volunteered to do packing because he thought he was the best packer. He felt proud of his packing and wanted to show it.

3. How did George and Harris react to this? Did Jerome like their reaction?

Ans: George and Harris readily accepted Jerome’s suggestion. George smoked a pipe and “spread himself over the easy-chair”, while Harris put his legs on the table and lit a cigar.
No, Jerome was  irritated by their reaction.

4. What was Jerome’s real intention when he offered to pack?

Ans: When Jerome offered to pack, his real intention was to supervise the work. He wanted to show his ability through the supervision.

5. What did Harris say after the bag  was shut and strapped? Why do you think he waited  till then to ask?

Ans: After the bag  was shut and strapped, Harris mentioned that Jerome had not packed the boots.
He had waited  till then to ask because he wanted to make Jerome realise his mistake and ridicule his packing skills.

6. What “horrible idea” occurred to Jerome a little later?

Ans: The “horrible idea” that occurred to Jerome a little later was whether he had packed his toothbrush or not. Whenever he  travelled  he could never remember if he had packed his toothbrush or not. This thought haunted him and made his life a misery.

7. Where did Jerome finally find the toothbrush?

Ans: Jerome finally found the  tooth brush inside a boot when he was putting the things back one by one after turning them out of the bag.

8. Why did Jerome have to reopen the packed bag?

Ans: Jerome had to reopen the packed bag twice owing to his forgetfulness. Once he had to reopen the bag as he had forgotten to pack the boots. The next time, he unpacked when he  realised  he had packed his toothbrush in.

9. What did George and Harris offer to pack and why?

Ans: George and Harris offered to pack the hampers because It was getting late and they thought that Jerome had taken too much of time. They also wanted to show their skill to Jerome.

II. What does Jerome say was Montmorency’s ambition in life? What do you think of Montmorency and why?

Ans: Jerome says Montmorency’s ambition in life was to get in the way and he sworn at. Montmorency was a mischievous little dog who loved creating troubles for others. I think that Montmorency was a perfect nuisance because whenever he found people busy with their work, he might feel bored and wanted to get involved. He meant no trouble intentionally. But when people shouted at him or threw things at his head, he got discouraged and then went away to sit silently, which the narrator calls as the fulfillment of his conceit.

III.Discuss in groups and answer the following questions in two or three paragraphs (100 −150 words)

1. Of the three, Jerome, George and Harris, who do you think is the best or worst packer? Support your answer with details from the text.

Ans: Of the three, Jerome is the best packer He knew how to arrange things in order. Both Harris and George messed everything. Harris packed the strawberry jam on top of a tomato and squashed it. George stepped on the butter. They  were getting constantly irritated by Montmorency.  Till the time Jerome packed, although he took his time, the job. They even kept things behind them and then kept searching for it. They made everything such a mess.

2. How did Montmorency ‘contribute’ to the packing?

Ans: The packing escapade was already a messy job and Montmorency’s contribution made it even more tiresome. He did his level best to be a “perfect nuisance”.
He came and sat down on things, just when  they  were wanted to be packed. He put his leg into the jam and worried the teaspoons. He also pretended that the lemons were rats. So  he got into the hamper and killed three of them before Harris could land him with the frying-pan.

3. Do you find this story funny? What are the humorous elements in it?
(Pick out at least three, think about what happens, as well as how it is described.)

Ans: Yes, this story is definitely funny. Not only is the way in which the three friends pack for their trip quite humourous, but the way the author narrates all the incidents is also entertaining.
The first humorous element is that he offered to pack, George and Harris leaves the whole matter to him. Consequently, he has to do packing though his real intention was to boss the job.
The second humorous element is that George placed the butter on the chair and Harris sat on it and it stuck at his back. When they searched it for packing it was missing. They walk and walk round the room. At last, George saw it at Harris’s back.
The third humorous element is that Montmorency squirms in where he is not wanted. He wants somebody stumble over him and curse him steadily for an hour. He pretends that lemons were rats.

The table below has some proverbs telling you what to do and what not to do. Fill in the blanks and add a few more such proverbs to the table.

	Positive		Negative
(i)	Save for a rainy day.	(i)	Don’t cry over spilt milk.
(ii)	Make hay while the sun shines.	(ii)	Don’t put the cart before the horse.
(iii)	____ before you leap.	(iii)	____ a mountain out of a mole hill.
(iv)	____ and let live.	(iv)	____ all your eggs in one basket.

Ans: (iii) Look before you leap.
Don’t  make  a mountain out of a mole hill.
(iv)  Live  and  let Live.
Don’t  put   all your eggs in one basket.
(v) Mind your own business.
Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.
(vi)  Be  first  at the feast and last at the fight.
Don’t  count   the days, make the days count!