Working with the Text
1. Answer the following questions.
1. The old farmer is a kind person. What evidence of his kindness do you find in the first two paragraphs.
Answer: The old man is a kind person. We can find evidence of his kindness in the first paragraph, as he loved the dog as if it were their child. He feed him the pieces of fish with their chopsticks and also offered him boiled rice.
In the second paragraph, we can see that the old man is kind to everything that has life. He even turned up the sod for the bird to provide food to them.
2. What did the dog do to lead the farmer to the hidden gold?
Answer: To lead the farmer to the hidden gold, the dog came running to the farmer and kept its paw on his leg. It kept directing him to the place behind him. But at the first, the old man thought that the dog is just playing but when it started to run and make loud sounds continuously for a minute, he followed the dog to the place of gold.
3. (i) How did the spirit of the dog help the farmer first?
Answer: The spirit of the dog came into the dream of the old man. Instructed him to cut down the pine tree over its grave and make mortar and hand-mill from it. And while making rice pastry and bean sauce from the mortar and hand-mill the old man received a huge amount of gold. That is how the spirit of the dog helped the farmer for the first time.
3. (ii) How did it help him next?
Answer: The spirit of the dog again appeared in the farmer’s dream and asked him to collect the ashes of the mortar and mill from the evil neighbor and sprinkle it over the dried trees which will make it blossom again. The farmer did the same and sprinkled the ashes on the cherry tree in front of the lord Daimio, tree blossomed and the Daimio rewarded him. This is how the spirit of the dog helped the farmer for the second time.
4. Why did the daimio reward the farmer but punish his neighbour for the same act?
Answer: The Daimio rewarded the farmer but punished his neighbour for the same act because when the farmer sprinkled the ashes on the cherry tree, it blossomed which impressed the Daimio. Whereas, when the evil neighbour sprinkled the ashes on the tree, it did not blossom. But the ashes went into the nose and eyes of the Daimio and his wife which made them sneeze and choke. This spoiled the whole procession which made the Daimio irritated and for this act, the evil neighbour is punished.
Working with Language
1. Read the following conversation.
RAVI : What are you doing?
MRIDU : I’m reading a book.
RAVI : Who wrote it?
MRIDU : Ruskin Bond.
RAVI : Where did you find it?
MRIDU : In the library.
Notice that ‘what’, ‘who’, ‘where’, are question words. Questions that require information begin with question words. Some other question words are ‘when’, ‘why’, ‘where’, ‘which’ and ‘how’.
Remember that
• What asks about actions, things, etc.
• Who asks about people.
• Which asks about people or things.
• Where asks about place.
• When asks about time.
• Why asks about reason or purpose.
• How asks about means, manner or degree.
• Whose asks about possessions.
Read the following paragraph and frame questions on the italicized phrases.
Anil is in school. I am in school too. Anil is sitting in the left row. He is reading a book. Anil’s friend is sitting in the second row. He is sharpening his pencil. The teacher is writing on the blackboard. Children are writing in their copybooks. Some children are looking out of the window.
ANSWERS:
(i) Where is Anil?
(ii) Where is Anil sitting?
(iii) What is Anil doing?
(iv) Where is Anil’s friend sitting?
(v) What is his friend doing?
(vi) Who is writing on the blackboard?
(vii)What are children doing?
2. Write appropriate question words in the blank spaces in the following dialogue.
NEHA : ____________ did you get this book?
SHEELA : Yesterday morning.
NEHA : ___________ is your sister crying?
SHEELA : Because she has lost her doll.
NEHA : _________ room is this, yours or hers?
SHEELA : It’s ours.
NEHA : ____________do you go to school?
SHEELA : We walk to school. It is near by.
ANSWER:
NEHA : When did you get this book?
SHEELA : Yesterday morning.
NEHA : Why is your sister crying?
SHEELA : Because she has lost her doll.
NEHA : Whose room is this, yours or hers?
SHEELA : It’s ours.
NEHA : How _do you go to school?
SHEELA : We walk to school. It is near by.
3. Fill in the blanks with the words given in the box.
how, what, when, where, which
(i) My friend lost his chemistry book. Now he doesn’t Know_________ to do and ________ to look for it.
(ii) There are so many toys in the shops. Neena can’t decide _____________one to buy.
(iii) You don’t know the way to my school. Ask the ___________ Policeman to get there.
(iv) You should decide soon ___________ to start building your house.
(v) Do you know ___________ to ride a bicycle? I don’t remember _________ and __________I learnt it.
(vi) “You should know __________to talk and ___________ to keep your mouth shut,” the teacher advised Anil.
ANSWER:
(i) My friend lost his chemistry book. Now he doesn’t know what to do and where to look for it.
(ii) There are so many toys in the shops. Neena can’t decide which one to buy.
(iii) You don’t know the way to my school. Ask the Policeman how to get there.
(iv) You should decide soon when to start building your house.
(v) Do you know how to ride a bicycle? I don’t remember when and where I learned it.
(vi) “You should know when to talk and where to keep your mouth shut,” the teacher advised Anil.
4. Add im- or in- to each of the following words and use them in place of the italicized words in the sentences given below.
Patient, proper, possible, sensitive, competent
(i) The project appears very difficult at first sight but it can be completed if we work very hard.
ANSWER: The project appears impossible at first sight but it can be completed if we work very hard.
(ii) He lacks competence. That’s why he can’t keep any job for more than a year.
ANSWER: He is incompetent. That’s why he can’t keep any job for more than a year.
(iii) “Don’t lose patience. Your letter will come one day,” the postman told me.
ANSWER: “Don’t be impatient. Your letter will come one day,” the postman told me.
(iv) That’s not a proper remark to make under the circumstances.
ANSWER: That’s an improper remark to make under the circumstances.
(v) He appears to be without sensitivity. In fact, he is very emotional.
ANSWER: He appears to be insensitive. In fact, he is very emotional.
5. Read the following sentences.
It was a cold morning and stars still glowed in the sky.
An old man was walking along the road.
The words in italics are articles. ‘A’ and ‘an’ are indefinite articles and ‘the’ is the definite article. ‘A’ is used before a singular countable noun. ‘An’ is used before a word that begins with a vowel.
- a boy
- an actor
- a mango
- an apple
- a university
- an hour
Use a, an, or the in the blanks.
There was once _________ play which became very successful. ________ famous actor was acting in it. In __________play his role was that of __________ aristocrat who had been imprisoned in __________castle for twenty years. In _________the last act of ___________ the play, someone would come on _________ stage with _________ letter which he would hand over to ___________prisoner. Even though _________aristocrat was not expected to read ________letter at each performance, he always insisted that letter be written out from beginning to end.
ANSWER:
There was once a play that became very successful. A famous actor was acting in it. In the play, his role was that of an aristocrat who had been imprisoned in a castle for twenty years. In the last act of the play, someone would come on the stage with a letter which he would hand over to the prisoner. Even though the aristocrat was not expected to read the letter at each performance, he always insisted that the letter be written out from beginning to end.
6. Encircle the correct article.
Nina was looking for (a / the) job. After many interviews she got (a / the) job she was looking for.
A : Would you like (a/an/the) apple or (a/an/the) banana?
B : I’d like (a/an/the) apple, please.
A : Take (a/an/the) red one in (a/an/the) fruit bowl. You may take (a/an/the) orange also, if you like.
B : Which one?
A : (A/An/The) one beside (a/an/the) banana.
ANSWER:
A : Would you like an apple or a banana?
B : I’d like an apple, please.
A : Take the red one in the fruit bowl. You may take an orange also, if you like.
B : Which one?
A : The one beside the banana.
Speaking and Writing
1. Do you remember an anecdote or a story about a greedy or jealous person and the unhappy result of his/her action? Narrate the story to others in your class.
Here is one for you to read.
Seeing an old man planting a fig tree, the king asked why he was doing this. The man replied that he might live to eat the fruit, and, even if he did not, his son would enjoy the figs.
“Well,” said the king, “if you do live to eat the fruit of this tree, please let me know.” The man promised to do so, and sure enough, before too long, the tree grew and bore fruit.
Packing some fine figs in a basket, the old man set out for the palace to meet the king.
The king accepted the gift and gave orders that the old man’s basket is filled with gold.
Now, next door to the old man, there lived a greedy old man jealous of his neighbour’s good fortune. He also packed some figs in a basket and took them to the palace in the hope of getting gold.
The king, on learning the man’s motive, ordered him to stand in the compound and had him pelted with figs. The old man returned home and told his wife the sad story. She consoled him by saying, “You should be thankful that our neighbour did not grow coconuts.”
Answer: Once upon a time, there was a greedy king. He was a rich King and his love for gold was unimaginable. He lived with his wife and daughter. His love for his daughter was unconditional. He believed in God and he prayed every day. One day while offering prayer, the god appeared in front of him and granted him the wish that ” Everything he touches will become gold”. He got excited and started to touch everything that came on the way. As granted by the god everything converted to gold, all shining and glowing in a yellow.
King was overexcited and wanted to share his excitement with his beloved daughter. He started to look for his daughter and his wife. His daughter came running towards the King and hugged each other tightly and in the meantime, his daughter turned in a gold statue. He then remembered the wish granted to him by God. He started to cry out loudly and was unable to do anything to save his daughter. His greediness destroyed his sweet little family.
2. Put each of the following in the correct order. Then use them appropriately to fill the blanks in the paragraph that follows. Use correct punctuation marks.
• English and Hindi/both/in/he writes
• and only/a few short stories/many books in English/ in Hindi
• is/my Hindi/than my English/much better
Ravi Kant is a writer, and ____________________. Of course, he is much happier writing in English than in Hindi. He has written___________________________________________________________________________________.I find his books a little hard to understand. ________________________________.
ANSWER:
Ravi Kant is a writer, and he writes both in English and Hindi. Of course, he is much
happier writing in English than in Hindi. He has written many books in English and only a few short stories in Hindi. I find his books a little hard to understand. My Hindi is much better than my English.
3. Are you fond of reading stories? Did you read one last month? If not, read one or two and then write a paragraph about the story. Use the following hints.
• title of the story
• name of the author
• how many characters
• which one you liked
• some details of the story
• main point(s) as you understand it
Tell your friends why they should also read it.
ANSWER:
• Title of the story –Beauty lies in everything.
• Name of the author- Anonymous.
• Characters – Two.
• I liked – The deer.
• Some details of the story -This story is about the deer who embraced his horns and disliked his legs, but his beautiful horns caused him trouble while his ugly legs saved his life from the hunter.
• The main points as I understand it are –
a). Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder.
b). we should be satisfied with our bodies.
They should read it because this story has good morale values.
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