Class-7
English
Three Questions
Working with the text
Q-1 Why was the king advised to go to the magicians?
Ans: Some of the wise men thought that in order to decide right time for doing something, one must look into the future and only magicians were able to do that. So, they advised the king to go to the magicians.
Q-2 In answer to the second question, whose advice did the people say would be important to the king?
Ans: In answer to the second question, some people suggested to seek advice of councillors, the priests, the doctors or the soldiers.
Q-3 What suggestions were made in answer to the third question?
Ans: For the third question some people said science was the most important business while there were others who believed it was fighting and then there were those who believed religious worship should take the first place.
Q-4 Did the wise men win the reward? If not, why not?
Ans: No, the wise men didn’t win the reward because their answers were so different from each other and king was not satisfied with their answers.
Q-5 How did the king and the hermit help the wounded man?
Ans: The king washed the wound and covered the wound of the man with his handkerchief and kept on dressing it until the bleeding stopped completely. The king also offered the wounded man water to drink.
Q-6 (i) Who was the bearded man?
Ans: The bearded man was an enemy of the king. He wanted to take revenge of his brother’s death by killing the king and taking away all his property.
Q-6(ii) Why did he ask for the king’s forgiveness?
Ans: The bearded man asked for the king’s forgiveness because he wanted to kill the king but the king has saved his life. He was grateful to the king now.
Q-7 The king forgave the bearded man. What did he do to show his forgiveness?
Ans: The king showed his forgiveness by promising the man that he will send his doctor and servants to look after him and also promised to return him all his property.
Q-8 What were the hermit’s answers to the three questions? Write each answer separately. Which answers do you like the most and why?
Ans: The most important time, the hermit said, is our present because it is the only moment when we have the power to act. The most important person at a moment is the one with whom we are at the present. The most important thing to do is to do that person good.
I like the third answer the most because helping someone in need is like serving God. It makes us a good person and brings a sense of satisfaction and contentment.
The Squirrel
Working with the poem
Q-1 Why does the poet say the squirrel “wore a question mark for tail”? Draw a squirrel, or find a picture of a squirrel sitting on the ground. How would you describe its tail?
Ans: The poet said that the squirrel “wore a question mark for a tail” because its tail is twisted appearing like a question mark.
Q-2 Do we usually say that an animal ‘wears’ a tail? What do we say?
(Think: Does an animal wear a coat? Consult a dictionary if you like, and find out how ‘wear’ is used in different ways.)
Ans:
The dictionary meaning of ‘wear’ suggest something of an outer covering for instance clothes.
Q-3 “He liked to tease and play”. Who is teasing whom? How?
Ans: The squirrel liked to tease and play with the poet and his friends. Whenever the poet went a little close to the squirrel would ran away in the other direction.
A Gift of Chappals
Working with the Text
Q1. Complete the following sentences.
(i) Ravi compares Lalli’s playing the violin to ……
(ii) Trying to hide beneath the tray of chillies, Mahendran ……
(iii) The teacher played a few notes on his violin, and Lalli …….
(iv) The beggar said that the kind ladies of the household ……..
(v) After the lesson was over, the music teacher asked Lalli if ……..
Ans: (i) Ravi compares Lalli’s playing the violin to derailing of the train going completely off track.
(ii) Trying to hide beneath the tray of chillies, Mahendran tipped a few chillies over himself.
(iii) The teacher played a few notes on his violin, and Lalli stumbled behind him on her violin.
(iv) The beggar said that the kind ladies of the household kept his body and soul together on their generosity for a whole week.
(v) After the lesson was over, the music teacher asked Lalli if she had seen his chappals.
Q2. Describe the music teacher, as seen from the window.
Ans: As seen from the window, music teacher had the bony figure. He had a mostly bald head with a fringe of oiled black hair falling around his ears and an old-fashioned tuft. A gold chain gleamed around his leathery neck, and a diamond ring glittered on his hand.
Q3. (i) What makes Mridu conclude that the beggar has no money to buy chappals?
(ii) What does she suggest to show her concern?
Ans: (i) Mridu conclude that the beggar had no money to buy chappals because his feet were blistered.
(ii) She suggested Mridu and Ravi about the pair of old slippers so that they could give it to the beggar.
Q4. “Have you children…” she began, and then, seeing they were curiously quiet, went on more slowly, “seen anyone lurking around the verandah?”
(i) What do you think Rukku Manni really wanted to ask?
(ii) Why did she change her question?
(iii) What did she think had happened?
Ans: (i) Rukku Manni actually wanted to ask the children if they had seen the music master’s slippers.
(ii) She changed her question because children were curiously quiet and she suspected that children must have done something with chappals.
(iii) She thought that the children have given the music-master’s chappals to that old beggar.
Q5. On getting Gopu Mama’s chappals, the music teacher tried not to look too happy. Why?
Ans: The music teacher tried not to look happy because he did not wanted to reveal his happiness of getting new chappals. He wanted to show that his own chappals were more expensive and branded one.
Q6. On getting a gift of chappals, the beggar vanished in a minute. Why was he in such a hurry to leave?
Ans: On getting a gift of chappals, the beggar vanished in a minute because he did not wanted to lose the gift of those chappals. His feet were blistered and he couldn’t have got anything better from that house.
Q7. Walking towards the kitchen with Mridu and Meena, Rukku Manni began to laugh. What made her laugh?
Ans: Rukku Manni began to laugh while thinking about the reaction of her husband after hearing this incident and when he came to know about that they had given his new chappals to the music teacher.
The Rebel
Working with the Poem
1. Answer the following questions.
(i) If someone doesn’t wear a uniform to school, what do you think the teacher will say?
(ii) When everyone wants a clear sky, what does the rebel want most?
(iii) If the rebel has a dog for a pet, what is everyone else likely to have?
(iv) Why is it good to have rebels?
(v) Why is it not good to be a rebel oneself?
(vi) Would you like to be a rebel? If yes, why? If not, why not?
Ans: (i) The teacher will ask him/her about the reason for not being in uniform and then takes action according to the reply.
(ii) When everyone wants a clear sky, the rebel wants rain the most.
(iii) If the rebel has a dog for a pet, then everyone else is likely to have a cat.
(iv) It is good to have rebels because very few people have the power to oppose the decision of the majority. They think differently and fearlessly stand with their choices which can be beneficial.
(v) It is not good to rebel oneself because no one will like you. It keeps you apart from the people and they will be like enemy for you.
(vi) No, I would not like to be a rebel because i don’t have the guts to opposes the majority and moreover i can’t hurt the feelings of the people. I don’t want to be a source of bitterness among the people.
2. Find in the poem an antonym (a word opposite in meaning) for each of the following words.
(i) long
(ii) grow
(iii) quietness
(iv) sober
(v) lost
Ans: (i) Short
(ii) Cut
(iii) Disturbance
(iv) Fantastic
(v) Find
3. Find in the poem lines that match the following. Read both one after the other.
(i) The rebel refuses to cut his hair.
(ii) He says cats are better.
(iii) He recommends dogs.
(iv) He is unhappy because there is no sun.
(v) He is noisy on purpose.
Ans: (i) The rebel lets his hair grow long.
(ii) The rebel expresses a preference for cats.
(iii) The rebel puts in a good word for dogs.
(iv) The rebel regrets the absence of sun.
(v) The rebel creates a disturbance.
GOPAL AND THE HILSA-FISH
Working with the Text
Answer the following questions.
Q1. Why did the king want no more talk about the hilsa-fish?
Ans: The king was fed of the talks of Hilsa-fish. It was season of Hilsa-fish and everyone was busy in talking of it. More-ever, he did not want his courtier to waste the time on these talks.
Q2. What did the king ask Gopal to do to prove that he was clever?
Ans: The king asked Gopal to buy a hilsa-fish and bring it to the palace without anyone asking anything about the fish throughout the way to prove that he was clever.
Q3. What three things did Gopal do before he went to buy his hilsa-fish?
Ans: Gopal half-shaved his beard, smeared himself with ash, and wore disgraceful rags before he went to buy his hilsa-fish.
Q4. How did Gopal get inside the palace to see the king after he had bought the fish?
Ans: When Gopal asked the guards to let him meet the king, they refused. Therfore, he began to dance and sing loudly. On hearing his loud song, the king sent his messenger to call him in the court.
Q5. Explain why no one seemed to be interested in talking about the hilsa-fish which Gopal had bought.
Ans: Gopal’s funny appearance attracted the attention of people much more than the hilsa-fish. At that time, no one was caring about the hilsa-fish he was carrying. Everyone was busy in talking about his mad appearance, half shaved face and rags.
Q6. Write ‘True’ or ‘False’ against each of the following sentences.
(i) The king lost his temper easily.
(ii) Gopal was a madman.
(iii) Gopal was a clever man.
(iv) Gopal was too poor to afford decent clothes.
(v) The king got angry when he was shown to be wrong.
Ans: (i) True
(ii) False
(iii) True
(iv) False
(v) False
The Shed
Working with the Poem
1. Answer the following questions.
(i) Who is the speaker in the poem?
(ii) Is she/he afraid or curious, or both?
(iii) What is she/he planning to do soon?
(iv) “But not just yet…” suggests doubt, fear, hesitation, laziness or something else. Choose the word which seems right to you. Tell others why you chose it.
Ans: (i) The speaker of the poem is poet Frank Flynn when he was a small boy.
(ii) She/He was curious not afraid as she/he always peep through that window and ready to take a peek one day.
(iii) She/he is planning to go inside the shed soon.
(iv) “But not just yet…” suggests the hesitation of the poet from going inside that shed. Though he was confident that there were no ghosts but still he was hesitated to go inside and thought that soon he will go inside the shed but not now.
2. Is there a room in your house or a house in your neighbourhood/locality where you would rather not go alone, and never at night? If there is such a place and a story to go with it, let others hear all about it.
Ans: Do this yourself.
Chapter – 4
Chivvy – Poem
Working with the Poem
Q1. Discuss these questions in small groups before you answer them.
(i) When is a grown-up likely to say this?
Don’t talk with your mouth full.
(ii) When are you likely to be told this?
Say thank you.
(iii) When do you think an adult would say this?
No one thinks you are funny.
Ans: (i) A grown-up is likely to say this when a child tries to speak while eating something.
(ii) We are expected to say thank you when someone helps us or gives us something.
(iii) When a child acts weird or does something funny to try and seek attention of the people around, then an adult would say – no one thinks you are funny.
Q2. The last two lines of the poem are not prohibitions or instructions. What is the adult now asking the child to do? Do you think the poet is suggesting that this is unreasonable? Why?
Ans: The adult keeps advising the child about what he should do or should not do. But in the last two lines, the adult is expecting the child to make decisions for himself. Yes the poet is suggesting that this is unreasonable because the child cannot decide what he should do or not when he is bound by
instructions and prohibitions regarding each and every action he does.
Q3. Why do you think grown-ups say the kind of things mentioned in the poem? Is it important that they teach children good manners, and how to behave in public?
Ans: The grown-ups say such things to their children in order to teach them good manners. This is very important because it is their duty to make children good citizens.
Q4. If you had to make some rules for grown-ups to follow, what would you say? Make at
least five such rules. Arrange the lines as in a poem.
Ans: I would make rules like:
Don’t abuse anyone.
Schedule a time slot for fun and game.
Avoid snoring while in bed
Keep the neighbourhood clean.
Don’t smoke or spit publically.
No physical punishments.
Do your duties.
Chapter – 05
Quality
Working with the text
Q1. What was the author’s opinion about Mr Gessler as a bootmaker?
Ans: According to the author, Mr. Gessler was the best bootmaker in the city. He made only what was ordered and what he made never failed to fit. The boots made by him were mysteriously wonderful. He was the perfect artist in this job.
Q2. Why did the author visit the shop so infrequently?
Ans: The boots made by Mr. Gessler lasted very long, longer than the usual ones. He didn’t want new ones. Therefore, the author visit the shop so infrequently.
Q3. What was the effect on Mr Gessler of the author’s remark about a certain pair of boots?
Ans: When author remarked about a certain pair of boots as being creaky, Mr Gessler looked at him as if surprised and waited for some time to let the author withdraw or qualify his statement. Then he asked the author to get the pair back to let him check and said if he could not repair them then he would take them off his bill.
Q4. What was Mr Gessler’s complaint against “big firms”?
Ans: Mr Gessler’s complaint against “big firms” was that they got their business by advertisement, not by good work. They did not have any respect for the work they do. Every year Mr Gessler’s sale was getting less because of them and soon he would be left with no job.
Q5. Why did the author order so many pairs of boots? Did he really need them?
Ans: The author was shocked, and filled with sorrow, by the news of the death of Mr
Gessler’s elder brother. Out of pity and with an intention to help him, the author ordered so
many pairs of boots. No, he didn’t really need them.