HOW THE DOG FOUND HIMSELF A NEW MASTER!

17

Before you read

2
You may know that the dog and the wolf are
closely related. You may also know something
about how over the centuries, human beings have
domesticated and tamed wild animals. Here is a
story about how the dog became a tame animal.

How the Dog Found

Himself a New Master!

1. DOGS were once their own masters and

lived the way wolves do, in freedom,
until a dog was born who was ill pleased ill pleased: (old-
fashioned way of
with this way of life. He was sick and saying) not happy
tired of wandering about by himself

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18 HONEYSUCKLE

looking for food and being frightened

of those who were stronger than he.
2. He thought it over and decided that
the best thing for him to do was to
become the servant of one who was
stronger than anyone on earth, and he
set out to find such a master.
3. He walked and he walked and he met
a kinsman of his, a big wolf who was kinsman: (old-
fashioned word
as strong as he was fierce. for) a relative
“Where are you going, Dog?” the Wolf fierce: violent;
asked. frightening

“I am looking for someone to take take up service

with: become
up service with. Would you like to be the servant of
my master, Wolf?”
“I don’t see why not!” the Wolf said,
and this agreed upon, the two of them
went on together.
4. They walked and they walked, and all
of a sudden the Wolf lifted his nose,
sniffed, darted quickly off the path and darted: moved
quickly, suddenly
into the bushes and crept deeper into
the forest. The Dog was much surprised.
“What’s come over you, master?” he come over you:
affected you
asked. “What has frightened you so?”
“Can’t you see? There’s a Bear out
there, and he might eat up both of
us — you and me.”
5. Seeing that the Bear was stronger
than the Wolf, the Dog decided to take
up service with him, and he left the
Wolf and asked the Bear to be his
master. The Bear agreed to this readily

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HOW THE DOG FOUND HIMSELF A NEW MASTER! 19

and said, “Let us go and find a herd of

cows. I’ll kill a cow and then we can
both eat our fill.”
6. They walked on and soon saw a herd
of cows, but just as they were about to
come up to it they were stopped by a
terrible noise. The cows were mooing
loudly and running in a panic in
all directions.
7. The Bear looked out from behind a
tree, and then he too ran hastily deeper
into the forest.

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20 HONEYSUCKLE

“Now, why did I have to come here!”

said he to the Dog. “It is the Lion who
rules the forest in these parts.”
“The Lion? Who’s he?”
“Don’t you know? He is the strongest
beast on earth!”
“Well, then, I’ll say goodbye to you,
Bear. I want a master who is stronger
than anyone on earth!”
8. And off the Dog went to ask the Lion
to be his master.
The Lion agreed to it, and the Dog
stayed with him and served him for a
long, long time. It was a good life, and
he had nothing to complain of, for there
was no stronger beast in the forest than
the Lion, and no one dared touch the dared: to be brave
enough to do
Dog or offend him in any way. something
9. But one day the two of them were
walking side by side along a path that
ran amid bare cliffs when all of a sudden cliff: a steep, high
the Lion stopped. He gave a great roar rock (often at the
edge of the sea)
and struck the ground angrily with his
paw with such force that a hole formed
there. Then he began to back away very
quietly.
“What is it, Master, is anything
wrong?” asked the Dog, surprised.
“I smell a man coming this way,” the
Lion said. “We’d better run for it or we’ll
be in trouble.”
“Oh, well, then I’ll say goodbye to you,
Lion. I want a master who is stronger
than anyone on earth!”

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HOW THE DOG FOUND HIMSELF A NEW MASTER! 21

10. And off the Dog went to join the

man and he stayed with him and
served him faithfully. This happened
long, long ago, but to this day the dog
is man’s most loyal servant and knows
no other master.

WORKING WITH THE TEXT

A. Discuss these questions in pairs before you

write the answers.
1. Why did the dog feel the need for a master?
(1, 2)
2. Who did he first choose as his master?
Why did he leave that master? (3)
3. Who did he choose next? (5)
4. Why did he serve the Lion for a long
time? (8)
5. Who did he finally choose as his master
and why? (9, 10)
B. A summary of the story is given below. Fill in
the blanks to complete it taking appropriate
phrases from the box.

a dog stronger than anyone else

the strongest of all a wolf the bear
afraid of man his own master a lion

This is the story of —–––––—————————–, who

used to be —————————————— . He decided
to find a master —–––––––——————— . First
he found ———————————— , but the wolf

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22 HONEYSUCKLE

was afraid of –––————––——————— . The dog thought that

the bear was ————————————— . After some time the
dog met ————————————— , who seemed the strongest.
He stayed with the lion for a long time. One day he realised that
the lion was ———————––—————— . To this day, the dog
remains man’s best friend.

WORKING WITH LANGUAGE

A. Each word in the box given below indicates a large number of…
For example,‘a herd of cows’ refers to many cows.
Complete each of the following phrases with a suitable word
from the box.

school fleet brood bundle bunch pack flock herd

1. a —————––—— of ships 5. a ———––———— of sticks

2. a ——————––— of flowers 6. a ——––————— of sheep

3. a ——————––— of chicks 7. a —––—————— of fish

4. a ———————–– of cattle 8. a ––——————— of wolves

B. Make nouns from the words given below by adding –ness or –

ity. (For some words we need to add just –ty, or –y.)

1. honest ————————— 7. creative ———————————--

2. kind —————————— 8. sincere ———————————--

3. cruel —————————— 9. cheerful ——————————

4. calm —————————— 10. bitter ———————————---

5. sad ——————————— 11. sensitive——————————-

6. active —————————---- 12. great ———————————----

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HOW THE DOG FOUND HIMSELF A NEW MASTER! 23

C. Wordsearch
• There are twelve words hidden in this table.
• Six can be found horizontally and the remaining six vertically.
• All of them are describing words like ‘good’, ‘happy’, etc.
• The first letters of the words are given below:

Horizontal: H R F F S G
Vertical: A W S F L Q

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24 HONEYSUCKLE

D. Read the following passage and do the exercises that follow. Then
complete the family tree of dogs given on the facing page.

The Dog Family

The dog family is one of the 11 families that make up the Carnivores,
a large group of intelligent, flesh-eating, backboned animals. In this
group are such varied animals as bears, pandas, raccoons, cats,
hyenas, and even seal. The dog or canine family has many wild
species like wolves, foxes, coyotes, jackals, and wild dogs.
The dog is the only domesticated member of the canine family
though now and then someone tames a wolf, fox or coyote as a pet.
All members of the dog family are descendants of a wolf-like animal
which lived about 15 million years ago. From this distant ancestor,
the true dogs gradually developed. But nobody knows the exact
ancestor of the modern domestic dog.
Several wild dogs look and behave like domestic dogs. The dingo
or wild dog of Australia is one of these. It is possible that the dingo
was a tamed dog brought to Australia long ago which then ran wild.
Dogs were the first animals tamed by humans — perhaps 20,000
years ago. Tamed dogs were brought from Asia to the New World
5,000 or more years ago. Dogs were first used for hunting.
1. Find the opposites of these words in the text above.
(i) ancestor ——————————
(ii) wild t—m—
(iii) ancient ——————
(iv) near d—————t
(v) suddenly gr — — — — — — —
2. Complete the following sentences.
(i) The dingo is ———————————————————–————— .
(ii) Dogs were the ——————————————————— animals
tamed by humans. The other animals tamed by humans
are ——————————————————————————————
(Think and name some other such animals.)
(iii) The New World refers to ———————————–––————— .
Dogs were brought there from —————————–————— .

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 Family Tree of Dogs
C es

Seal
Ra H Dog
or
HOW THE DOG FOUND HIMSELF A NEW MASTER!

C family

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P B

Wild Do t cat

W F C J Wild dog
25
26 HONEYSUCKLE

SPEAKING

Here are some points from a similar story that you might have
heard in another language. Dividing the class into two groups try
and tell the story in English. One person from each group can
speak alternately. Your teacher will help you. As you tell it, one of
you may write it down on the board.

A Mouse Maiden
l mouse changed into a girl by a magician...
l wants to marry the strongest person...
l asks whether sun or cloud stronger (why?)...
l but mountain stronger than clouds (how?)...
l but mouse stronger than mountain (how?)...
l girl asks to marry mouse, becomes a mouse again.

The Last Ride Together

There was a young man of Niger

Who went for a ride on a tiger.
They returned from their ride,
With the man inside,
And a smile on the face of the tiger.

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HOW THE DOG FOUND HIMSELF A NEW MASTER! 27

The Kite
All of us like to fly kites. Have you ever tried to fly one? Read
this poem about a kite as it flies in the sky.

How bright on the blue

Is a kite when it’s new!
With a dive and a dip
It snaps its tail
Then soars like a ship
With only a sail
As over tides
Of wind it rides,
Climbs to the crest
Of a gust and pulls,
Then seems to rest
As wind falls.
When string goes slack
You wind it back
And run until
A new breeze blows
And its wings fill
And up it goes!
How bright on the blue
Is a kite when it’s new!
But a raggeder thing
You never will see
When it flaps on a string
In the top of a tree.
HARRY BEHN

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28 HONEYSUCKLE

WORKING WITH THE POEM

1. List out the action words in the poem.

dive, dip, snaps, ——————, ——————, ———————,
——————, ——————
Find out the meanings of these words.

2. Read these lines from the poem:

Then soars like a ship
With only a sail
The movement of the tailless kite is compared to a ship with a
sail. This is called a simile. Can you suggest what or who the
following actions may be compared to?
He runs like —————————————––———
He eats like ——————————————–—–—
She sings like ————————————––——–—
It shines like ————————————–––———
It flies like ——————————————––———–
3. Try to make a kite with your friends. Collect the things required
such as colour paper/newspaper, thread, glue, a thin stick that
can be bent. After making the kite see if you can fly it.

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AN INDIAN –AMERICAN WOMAN IN SPACE: KALPANA CHAWLA 45

Before you read 4

In 1997, an Indian – American, Kalpana Chawla,
was part of the international crew aboard the
U.S. Space Shuttle, Columbia, becoming the first
woman born in India to go into space. Sadly, the
second mission in Columbia ended in tragedy.

An Indian – American
Woman in Space:
Kalpana Chawla
1. A space shuttle is a spacecraft that is made
for repeated space travel (unlike a rocket), for
example, between earth and a space station.
2. Use a dictionary to do the tasks below.
(i) Find out the meanings of the following words
and phrases (look up the words underlined in
the phrases).
(a) naturalised U.S. citizen ———————————
(b) space ——————————————————————
(c) frontiers of space ———————————————
(d) aboard ——————————————————————
(e) lift off (How is it different from ‘take off ’ ?)
——————————————————————————
(f) crew ———————————————————————
(ii) Notice the spellings of these words in this
lesson: airplane, program. This is how these
words are spelt in American English. How are
they spelt in British English?
46 HONEYSUCKLE

A News Report

Tragedy in Space
U.S. Space Shuttle Columbia
breaks into flames
In an unprecedented 200,000 feet and travelling
space tragedy, U.S. Space at over 20,000 km. per hour
Shuttle Columbia, carrying when ground control lost
India-born American contact with the shuttle.
astronaut Kalpana Columbia had lifted off
Chawla and six others, on 16 January 2003, from
broke apart in flames as the Kennedy Space Center,
it streaked over Texas Florida. It had stayed
towards its landing strip in orbit for 16 days and
on Saturday, 1 February the seven-member crew
2003, killing all seven conducted 80 experiments
on board. before it began its downward
The shuttle lost contact journey, which ended in
with NASA at about 9 a.m. tragedy. This was Columbia’s
(19.30 hrs 1ST) as it came 28th space flight and the
in for landing. It was flying shuttle was said to be good
at an altitude of over for 100 flights.

1. KALPANA Chawla said that she never

dreamed, as a child in Karnal, that she
would cross the frontiers of space. It was
enough that her parents allowed her to
attend engineering college after she
graduated from Tagore School.
2. After a Bachelor of Science degree in
aeronautical engineering, against great
opposition from her father, she went for
a master’s degree to the United States
of America. She later earned her Ph.D.
in aerospace engineering. Kalpana
Chawla was the first Indian–American
woman astronaut to blast off from the
AN INDIAN –AMERICAN WOMAN IN SPACE: KALPANA CHAWLA 47

launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida,

and participate in a successful mission
in space. Her family from India cheered
along with staff at the Kennedy Space
Center as they watched the Columbia
lift off.
3. Kalpana was born in Karnal, Haryana,
but was a naturalised U.S. citizen,
married to flight instructor Jean-Pierre
Harrison. Besides being an astronaut,
she was licensed to fly single and multi-
engine land airplanes, single-engine
seaplanes and gliders. She was also a
certified flight instructor. After
48 HONEYSUCKLE

qualifying as a pilot, Kalpana began to

consider another challenge: applying to
NASA’s space shuttle program. She was
first hired as a research scientist at
NASA. In 1994 she was selected by
NASA for training as an astronaut.
4. When asked what it was like being a
woman in her field she replied, “I really
never, ever thought, while pursuing my
studies or doing anything else, that I
was a woman, or a person from a small
city, or a different country. I pretty
much had my dreams like anyone else
and I followed them. And people who
were around me, fortunately, always
encouraged me and said, ‘If that’s what
you want to do, carry on’.”
5. Kalpana’s first space mission in the
space shuttle, Columbia, was 15 days,
16 hours and 34 minutes long. During
this time she went around the earth 252
times, travelling 10.45 million
kilometres! The crew included a
Japanese and a Ukranian astronaut.
The crew performed experiments such
as pollinating plants to observe food
growth in space, and tests for making
stronger metals and faster computer
chips — all for a price tag of about
56 million dollars.
6. On the Saturday night when the
news about the Columbia disaster
broke, there was shock and disbelief.
AN INDIAN –AMERICAN WOMAN IN SPACE: KALPANA CHAWLA 49

The town of Karnal spent a sleepless

night as thousands of households
stayed glued to their television sets in
the hope that Kalpana and the crew had
somehow survived. A journalist wrote:
She was a heroine. It takes enormous
ability to become an astronaut. You need
to know a lot about everything, from biology
to astrophysics to aeronautical engineering.
In this age of super-specialisation, you
must have encyclopaedic knowledge
to be an astronaut. Her achievement is
awe-inspiring.
50 HONEYSUCKLE

7. For millions of young Indians, the

story of Kalpana Chawla, a girl from a
small town who touched the skies, had
become an inspiration. In a message
that she sent from aboard the space
shuttle, Columbia, to students of her
college in Chandigarh, Kalpana said,
“The path from dreams to success does
exist. May you have the vision to find
it, the courage to get onto it… . Wishing
you a great journey.” There will surely
be many who start off on this journey
to fulfil their dreams.

[adapted from Span

January/February 1998]

WORKING WITH THE TEXT

A. Answer the following questions.
1. Where was Kalpana Chawla born? Why is
she called an Indian – American? (3)
2. When and why did she go to the U.S.? Who
did she marry? (2, 3)
3. How did she become an astronaut? What
gave her the idea that she could be an
astronaut? (3)
4. What abilities must an astronaut have,
according to the journalist? (6)
5. Describe Kalpana Chawla’s first mission in
space. (5)
6. What does Kalpana Chawla say about
pursuing a dream? Do you agree with her
that success is possible? (7)
AN INDIAN –AMERICAN WOMAN IN SPACE: KALPANA CHAWLA 51

B. Read the newspaper report to find the following facts about the
Columbia’s ill-fated voyage.
l. Date and place of lift off: ————————————————————

2. Number of astronauts on board: ———————————————––

3. Number of days it stayed in space: ——————————————––

4. Number of experiments done by scientists: —————————––

5. Date of return journey: ———————————————–————–––

6. Height at which it lost contact: ————————————————––

WORKING WITH LANGUAGE

A. Match the following.

1. unprecedented space tragedy l something that causes

feelings of respect and wonder
2. certified flight instructor l having knowledge of a wide
variety of subjects
3. space mission l nowadays, in these times
4. super specialisation l a set of jobs to be done in
space by a group
5. encyclopaedic knowledge l a person with the correct
qualification to teach people
to fly planes
6. awe-inspiring l a sad accident of a kind
that has never happened
before in space
7. in this age l great expertise in a limited
field or a particular subject
52 HONEYSUCKLE

B. Use these phrases in sentences of your own, after finding out

their meanings.
1. broke apart 4. lifted off 7. cheered along
2. streaked over 5. blast off 8. on board
3. spread across 6. went on 9. carry on

C. We add ‘un-’ to make opposites.

For example, true — untrue.
Add ‘un’– to the words below to make their opposites. Then look
up the meanings of the words you have formed in the dictionary.
l. identified ————————— 6. educated ——————––———

2. controlled ——————–—–– 7. interesting ——————––——

3. attended ————————–— 8. qualified —————————––

4. successful ———————–— 9. trained ——————–—–———

5. important ————————— 10. answerable ———–—————

SPEAKING
In her message to students of her college, Kalpana Chawla said, “May
you have the vision to find the path from dreams to success... Wishing
you a great journey.”
Form pairs. Use “May you...” and “I wish you/Wishing you” to wish
your partner good luck and success in
(i) a sports event,
(ii) a quiz or a competition, and
(iii) a test or examination.
Be sure to thank your partner when she/he wishes you in turn. You
may also look up a telephone directory, or go to a post office, and get a
list in English and Hindi of standard phrases that can be sent in greeting
telegrams anywhere in India. Discuss which of these you might use,
and when. Compare the English and Hindi phrases for expressing good
wishes. Do you know such phrases in any other language?
AN INDIAN –AMERICAN WOMAN IN SPACE: KALPANA CHAWLA 53

WRITING
A. Do you have a ‘dream’, or something you very much wish to do?
Write a paragraph saying what you want or wish to do. Then say
(in another paragraph) how you think you can make your dream
come true.

B. Given below are some words that are spelt differently in British
and American English. Fill in the blanks accordingly.

British American

1. colour ————————

2. ———————— labor

3. ———————— traveler

4. counsellor ————————

5. centre ————————

6. ———————— theater

7. ———————— organize

8. realise ————————

9. ———————— defense

10. offence ————————

Beauty

Beauty
What is beauty? Try to describe what beauty is, or list some of
the things or persons you think are beautiful.
Now let us read a poem on beauty.

Beauty is seen
In the sunlight,
The trees, the birds,
Corn growing and people working
Or dancing for their harvest.

Beauty is heard
In the night,
Wind sighing, rain falling,
Or a singer chanting
Anything in earnest.

Beauty is in yourself.
Good deeds, happy thoughts
That repeat themselves
In your dreams,
In your work,
And even in your rest.

E-YEH-SHURE
BEAUTY 55

WORKING WITH THE POEM

1. The poet says, “Beauty is heard in …”

Can you hear beauty? Add a sound that you think is beautiful
to the sounds the poet thinks are beautiful.
The poet, Keats, said:
Heard melodies are sweet,
But those unheard are sweeter.
What do you think this means? Have you ever ‘heard’ a song in
your head, long after the song was sung or played?
2. Read the first and second stanzas of the poem again. Note the
following phrases.
corn growing, people working or dancing, wind sighing,
rain falling, a singer chanting
These could be written as
• corn that is growing
• people who are working or dancing
Can you rewrite the other phrases like this? Why do you think the
poet uses the shorter phrases?
3. Find pictures of beautiful things you have seen or heard of.
4. Write a paragraph about beauty. Use your own ideas along with
the ideas in the poem. (You may discuss your ideas with your
partner.)
56 HONEYSUCKLE

Before you read

5
l Do you know these words? If you don’t, find
out their meanings: bandage, crutch, cripple,
honour, misfortune, system.
l Look at the pictures in this unit and guess in
what way this school may be different from
other schools.

A Different Kind
of School

1. I HAD heard a great deal about Miss

Beam’s school, but not till last week did
the chance come to visit it.
2. When I arrived there was no one in in sight: to be seen
sight but a girl of about twelve. Her eyes
were covered with a bandage and she

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A DIFFERENT KIND OF SCHOOL 57

was being led carefully between the

flower-beds by a little boy, who was
about four years younger. She stopped,
and it looked like she asked him who
had come. He seemed to be describing
me to her. Then they passed on.
3. Miss Beam was all that I had
expected — middle-aged, full of authority,
yet kindly and understanding. Her hair kindly: friendly
was beginning to turn grey, and she had
the kind of plump figure that is likely plump: stout,
pleasantly fat
to be comforting to a homesick child. I
asked her some questions about her
teaching methods, which I had heard
were simple.
4. “No more than is needed to help them
to learn how to do things — simple
spelling, adding, subtracting, multiplying
and writing. The rest is done by reading
to them and by interesting talks, during
which they have to sit still and keep
their hands quiet. There are practically
no other lessons.”
5. “The real aim of this school is not so
much to teach thought as to teach
thoughtfulness — kindness to others,
and being responsible citizens. Look out responsible:
of the window a minute, will you?” aware of their
duties
6. I went to the window which
overlooked a large garden and a
playground at the back. “What do you
see?” Miss Beam asked.

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58 HONEYSUCKLE

7. “I see some very beautiful grounds,”

I said, “and a lot of jolly children. It
pains me, though, to see that they are
not all so healthy and active-looking.
When I came in, I saw one poor little
girl being led about. She has some
trouble with her eyes. Now I can see
two more with the same difficulty. And
there’s a girl with a crutch watching
the others at play. She seems to be a at play: playing
hopeless cripple.” hopeless:
unfortunate;
8. Miss Beam laughed. “Oh, no!” she without hope
said. “She’s not really lame. This is only
her lame day. The others are not blind lame day: day
on which she
either. It is only their blind day.” acts as if she
I must have looked very surprised, was lame
for she laughed again.
9. “This is a very important part of our
system. To make our children appreciate
and understand misfortune, we make misfortune:
unfortunate
them share in misfortune too. Each term condition; bad
every child has one blind day, one lame luck
day, one deaf day, one injured day and
one dumb day. During the blind day their
eyes are bandaged absolutely and they their eyes are
bandaged: they
are on their honour not to peep. The are blindfolded
bandage is put on overnight so they wake are on their
blind. This means that they need help honour: have
promised
with everything. Other children are given
the duty of helping them and leading
them about. They all learn so much this
way — both the blind and the helpers.

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A DIFFERENT KIND OF SCHOOL 59

10. “There is no misery about it,” Miss misery: difficulty;

unpleasantness
Beam continued. “Everyone is very kind,
and it is really something of a game.
Before the day is over, though, even the
most thoughtless child realises what thoughtless:
careless
misfortune is.
11. “The blind day is, of course, really
the worst, but some of the children tell
me that the dumb day is the most
dif ficult. We cannot bandage the
children’s mouths, so they really have
to exercise their will-power. Come into
the garden and see for yourself how the
children feel about it.”
12. Miss Beam led me to one of the
bandaged girls. “Here’s a gentleman
come to talk to you,” said Miss Beam, come to talk: who
has come to talk
and left us.
13. “Don’t you ever peep?” I asked the girl.
“Oh, no!” she exclaimed. “That would
be cheating! But I had no idea it was so
awful to be blind. You can’t see a thing. awful: bad
You feel you are going to be hit by
something every moment. It’s such a
relief just to sit down.”
“Are your helpers kind to you?” I asked.
14. “Fairly. But they are not as careful
as I shall be when it is my turn. Those
that have been blind already are the best
helpers. It’s perfectly ghastly not to see.
I wish you’d try.”
“Shall I lead you anywhere?” I asked.

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60 HONEYSUCKLE

15. “Oh, yes”, she said. “Let’s go for a

little walk. Only you must tell me about
things. I shall be so glad when today is
over. The other bad days can’t be half
as bad as this. Having a leg tied up and
hopping about on a crutch is almost
fun, I guess. Having an arm tied up is a
bit more troublesome, because you can’t troublesome: difficult
eat without help, and things like that. I
don’t think I’ll mind being deaf for a
day—at least not much. But being blind
is so frightening. My head aches all the
time just from worrying that I’ll get hurt.
Where are we now?”
16. “In the playground,” I said. “We’re
walking towards the house. Miss Beam

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A DIFFERENT KIND OF SCHOOL 61

is walking up and down the

garden with a tall girl.”
“What is the girl wearing?”
my little friend asked.
“A blue cotton skirt and
a pink blouse.”
“I think it’s Millie?” she
said. “What colour is her
hair?”
“Very light,” I said.
“Yes, that’s Millie. She’s
the Head Girl.”
“There’s an old man tying up roses,”
I said.
“Yes, that’s Peter. He’s the gardener.
He’s hundreds of years old!”
“And here comes a girl with curly red
hair. She’s on crutches.”
“That’s Anita,” she said.

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62 HONEYSUCKLE

17. And so we walked on. Gradually I gradually: slowly

discovered that I was ten times more
thoughtful than I ever thought I could
be. I also realised that if I had to describe
people and things to someone else, it
made them more interesting to me.
When I finally had to leave, I told Miss
Beam that I was very sorry to go.
“Ah!” she replied, “then there is
something in my system after all.”

E.V. LUCAS
(abridged and simplified)

WORKING WITH THE TEXT

A. Put these sentences from the story in the right
order and write them out in a paragraph. Don’t
refer to the text.
l I shall be so glad when today is over.
l Having a leg tied up and hopping about on
a crutch is almost fun, I guess.
l I don’t think I’ll mind being deaf for a day —
at least not much.
l But being blind is so frightening.
l Only you must tell me about things.
l Let’s go for a little walk.
l The other bad days can’t be half as bad
as this.
B. Answer the following questions
1. Why do you think the writer visited Miss
Beam’s school? (1)

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A DIFFERENT KIND OF SCHOOL 63

2. What was the ‘game’ that every child in the school had
to play? (9)
3. “Each term every child has one blind day, one lame day…”
Complete the line. Which day was the hardest? Why was it
the hardest? (9, 11, 15)
4. What was the purpose of these special days? (5, 9)

WORKING WITH LANGUAGE

A. Match the words and phrases with their meanings in the box below.

paragraph numbers
1. homesick (3)
2. practically (4)
3. it pains me (7)
4. appreciate (9)
5. thoughtless (10)
6. exercise (11)
7. relief (13)
8. ghastly (14)

almost it hurts me terrible test the strength of

understanding the difficulties wanting to be home
a welcome change not very caring

B. Re-word these lines from the story:

1. I had heard a great deal about Miss Beam’s school.
2. Miss Beam was all that I had expected — middle-aged, full of
authority.
3. I went to the window which overlooked a large garden.
4. “We cannot bandage the children’s mouths, so they really have
to exercise their will-power.”

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64 HONEYSUCKLE

C. 1. Given below is a page from a dictionary. Look at it carefully

and
(i) find a word which means the same as ghastly. Write down
the word and its two meanings.
(ii) find a word meaning a part of the school year.
(iii) find a word that means examination.

term noun test2 noun

1 a fixed length of time: He was made captain an examination: I passed my driving test
of the football team for a term of one year. today.
2 a part of the school year: There are three test tube noun small thin glass tube: We
terms in a school year. put chemicals in test tubes in our chemistry
terms plural noun the things you are asking class.
for: If you agree to my terms—free meals and text noun
good wages—I will work for you. 1 the words used in a book
terrace noun 2 a few words from a book
1 a level area cut out from the side of a hill textbook noun: A textbook is a book we
2 a flat area outside a house: We sat on the use to learn about something.
terrace in the evening. than
3 a row of houses joined together (used when we compare things, in
terraced adjective: a terraced house sentences like these): My brother is older
terrible adjective than me. Mary sings better than anyone
1 causing fear: We saw a terrible storm. else in the class.
2 very bad: Your writing is terrible. thank verb
terribly adverb: It is terribly ( = very) hot. to say we are grateful to someone: I
terrify verb thanked her for the present she sent me.
(present participle terrifying, past terrified) Thank you for the present you sent me.
to fill with fear: The animals were terrified No, thank you, I don't want any more tea.
by the storm.
thankful adjective very glad; grateful
terror noun (no plural)
thanks plural noun word used to show that
great fear: a feeling of terror
we are grateful: Thanks for helping me. It
territory noun
was thanks to John (= because of him)
(plural territories)
that we won the game.
1 land ruled by one government: This island
that
is British territory.
1 (plural those) the one over there; the
2 an area belonging to one person or animal:
one further away than this one: This is my
Wild animals will not allow other animals to
bowl; that bowl is yours.
enter their territory.
2 (plural those) (used to point out someone
testl verb
or something; used to mean the one known
1 to look at something to see if it is correct
or mentioned already): Did you bring that
or will work properly: Before he bought the
photograph? We played football and after
car, he drove it to test it.
2 to ask someone questions: The teacher that ( = next) we went home.
tested the children on their homework. 3 (used instead of who, whom)

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A DIFFERENT KIND OF SCHOOL 65

2. Now make lists of

(i) all the words on the page (plus any more that you can
think of) that begin with terr-
(ii) five words that may follow the last word on the page, that.
(iii) write down your own meaning of the word thank. Then
write down the meaning given in the dictionary.

D. A poem for you to read

All but Blind*

All but blind

In his chambered hole
Gropes for worms
The four-clawed Mole.

All but blind

In the evening sky
The hooded Bat
Twirls softly by.

All but blind

In the burning day
The Barn Owl blunders
On her way.

And blind as are

These three to me,
So, blind to Someone
I must be.
WALTER DE LA MARE

* as good as blind

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66 HONEYSUCKLE

SPEAKING AND WRITING

A. Make a short list of things you find difficult to do.
For example:

turning a somersault

threading a needle

Compare your list with the others’ in the class. Can you explain
why you find these things difficult to do?

B. Look at your hands carefully. Now, write down for each finger one
action for which that finger is particularly important. For example,
the second (or index) finger helps to hold the knife down firmly
when cutting.

Know Your Country

1. Which states border Andhra
Pradesh?
2. Which is India’s largest island?

Answers on page 123

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A DIFFERENT KIND OF SCHOOL 67

Where Do All the

Teachers Go?

For a little child a teacher is special. It is difficult for a small

child to think of his/her teacher as an ordinary person.

Where do all the teachers go

When it’s four o’clock?
Do they live in houses
And do they wash their socks?

Do they wear pyjamas

And do they watch TV?
And do they pick their noses
The same as you and me?

Do they live with other people

Have they mums and dads?
And were they ever children
And were they ever bad?

Did they ever, never spell right

Did they ever make mistakes?
Were they punished in the corner
If they pinched the chocolate flakes?

Did they ever lose their hymn books

Did they ever leave their greens?
Did they scribble on the desk tops

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68 HONEYSUCKLE

Did they wear old dirty jeans?

I’ll follow one back home today
I’ll find out what they do
Then I’ll put it in a poem
That they can read to you.

PETER DIXON

WORKING WITH THE POEM

1. Answer these questions.

(i) Why does the poet want to know where the teachers go at
four o’clock?
(ii) What are the things normal people do that the poet talks about?
(iii) What does he imagine about
(a) where teachers live?
(b) what they do at home?
(c) the people with whom they live?
(d) their activities when they were children in school?
(iv) Why does the poet wonder if teachers also do things that other
people do?
(v) How does the poet plan to find out? What will he do once he
finds out?
2. What do you think these phrases from the poem mean?
(i) punished in the corner
(ii) leave their greens

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WHO I AM 69

Before you read

6
In this lesson we look at what we are like and
how each of us is different. We are all interesting
people in different ways and we are all good at
different things. As you read this, think about
what you are like and what you enjoy doing.

Who I Am
Part I
MANY VOICES

RADHA
My favourite activity is climbing
trees. Just outside our house,
there is a mango tree which I
love to go up. Its branches
spread out, so it is simple to
climb up the tree, and I can sit
comfortably in the fork of two
branches. My mother tells me
it is not sensible for girls
to climb trees, but one
afternoon she climbed up too,
and both of us sat there
talking and eating raw
mangoes. When I am high up
in the tree, I feel like I can
rule the whole world.
70 HONEYSUCKLE

NASIR
When I grow up, I
want to become a
seed collector. We
have cotton fields in
our village and every
year, my father
spends a lot of
money on buying new
seeds to grow our
cotton plants. My grandfather told me that
many years ago, he could collect the seeds from
his own plants which could be sown to grow
new plants during the next year. But today that
doesn't work so we have to spend money to
buy new seeds every single year. I want to
find out why that is so. I want to learn how to
preserve seeds so that we can use them again
and not spend money every year.

ROHIT
If I had a huge
amount of money I
would travel and
travel. I want to see
the mountains of New
Zealand because they
looked beautiful in a
magazine picture. I
wish I could sail down
the Amazon river in
South America on a
WHO I AM 71

raft. I want to live on the beaches of

Lakshadweep and dive down to see coral. I
suppose I should go to the Konark temple
in Orissa or the old city in Beijing in China
and the Pyramids in Egypt too, but what I
actually enjoy is seeing nature more than
old buildings.

SERBJIT
What makes me
very angry is when
people don’t believe
me when I am
telling the truth.
For example, if I
tell my teacher
that I couldn’t do
my homework
because Ravi
borrowed my book
and forgot to
return it. Or I tell
my parents that it
wasn’t me but my
little brother who
started the fight. Or if I tell my teacher that
I really did study for the test even if I have
got bad marks. They all look at me as if
they think I am telling lies. The look on their
faces really angers me. Sometimes I have
to look down at my shoes and count to ten
so that I do not show that I am angry.
72 HONEYSUCKLE

DOLMA
When I grow up, I am
going to be the Prime
Minister of India. People
always laugh when I say
that, but I am sure that I
will do it. Everyone in my
class asks me what to do
when they have a
problem, and my teacher
always trusts me when something needs
to be done in school. I want to make things
better for everyone. I want us to have good
hospitals and roads and schools. I want to
make sure that there are many good
scientists in India who will invent cures
for diseases and send a spaceship to Mars.

PETER
My favourite day is
the second Sunday of
every month. On this
day our whole family
always goes to the
cinema hall to see a
film. My father gets
the tickets in advance
and all of us — my
grandmother, my
parents, my two
brothers and I — take
the bus there. In the
interval my father
WHO I AM 73

buys us peanuts and I love to sit in the

darkness of the hall eating and watching
the film. Afterwards we always stop to eat
ice cream. Everyone is in a good mood and
we all feel very lucky that we are such a
happy family.

WORKING WITH THE TEXT

A. Answer the following questions.
1. Peter’s favourite day of the week is Sunday
because —————–———————————————

——————————————————————————–—
2. Nasir wants to learn ——————————————

————————————————————————————
———————————————————————––––––––
3. Dolma believes that she can make a good
Prime Minister because ———————————

————————————————————————––—
———–————–––————––————––————––
B. Write True or False against each of the following
statements.
1. Peter is an only child. ——————————

2. When Serbjit gets angry he shouts at

people. ——————————

3. Nasir lives in the city. ——————————

4. Radha’s mother enjoys doing things with

her. ——————————
74 HONEYSUCKLE

Part II
MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES

Each one of us is skilled or good at something. But do

you know that different people are intelligent in
different ways?
VISUAL INTELLIGENCE VERBAL INTELLIGENCE MATHEMATICAL
INTELLIGENCE

You like to: You like to: You like to:

think in pictures, use words and use reason, logic and
create mental images language. You speak numbers. Always
to remember things. well and think in words curious about the
You enjoy looking rather than pictures. world around, you ask
at maps, charts, lots of questions and
You are good at:
pictures, videos, and like to do experiments.
speaking, writing, story
movies.
telling, listening, You are good at:
You are good at: explaining, teaching, problem solving,
puzzle building, using humour, solving puzzles,
reading, writing, understanding the experimenting,
understanding maps, meaning of words, questioning and
charts and graphs, a remembering wondering about
sense of direction, information, convincing natural events, doing
sketching, painting, someone of your point mathematics
fixing or making of view. calculations, working
objects, with geometric shapes.
You can become a:
understanding
poet, journalist, writer, You can become a:
pictures.
teacher, lawyer, scientist, engineer,
You can become a: politician, translator. computer programmer,
navigator, sculptor, researcher,
artist, inventor, accountant,
architect, interior mathematician.
designer, mechanic,
engineer.
WHO I AM 75

Being good at your studies is one kind of

intelligence, but there are many others too. Read the
descriptions to find out which of the following types of
intelligence best describes you. Remember that there
will probably be more than one type of intelligence
which fits you.

BODILY INTELLIGENCE MUSICAL INTELLIGENCE INTERPERSONAL

INTELLIGENCE

You like to: You like to: You like to:

control your body play and enjoy music. understand others. You
movements and handle You think about try to see things from
objects skillfully. You sounds, rhythms and other people’s point of
have a good sense of patterns. You view in order to
balance and can catch immediately respond to understand how they
or hit a ball well, and music either think or feel. You are a
like to dance. You like appreciating or good organiser and
to move around while criticising what you manage to get other
learning. hear. people to cooperate and
work as a team.
You are good at: You are good at:
dancing, physical singing, whistling, You are good at:
coordination, playing musical seeing things from
sports, crafts, acting, instruments, others’ view, listening,
miming, using your recognising tunes, understanding other
hands to create or composing music, people’s moods and
build. You express remembering melodies, feelings, solving
emotions through your understanding the problems, cooperating
body. structure and rhythm with groups, noticing
of music. people’s moods,
You can become a: communicating,
dancer, athlete, You can become a: building trust.
physical education musician, disc jockey,
teacher, actor, singer, composer. You can become a:
firefighter, craftsperson. counsellor, salesperson,
politician, business
person, teacher.

[Based on Howard Gardner’s theory of Multiple Intelligences]

76 HONEYSUCKLE

WORKING WITH THE TEXT

Fill in the blanks to name the different kinds of intelligence. One has
been done for you.
When I enjoy listening to people and solving their problems I use
my interpersonal intelligence.

(i) When I enjoy dancing or physical activity, I use my

————————————— intelligence.

(ii) When I enjoy looking at maps and examining pictures I use

my ————————————— intelligence.

(iii) When I enjoy working with numbers and solving maths

problems I use my ————————————— intelligence.

(iv) When I enjoy telling a story or arguing, I use my

————————————— intelligence.

WORKING WITH LANGUAGE

Match the job on the left with its description on the right.

(i) Navigator ————— (a) Advises people what to do about

jobs, personal problems, etc.

(ii) Architect ————— (b) Works in politics, usually by

standing for election.

(iii) Politician ————— (c) Finds and monitors the route to

get to a place, or the direction
of travel.
WHO I AM 77

(iv) Engineer ————— (d) Reports on recent news for

newspaper, radio, or TV.

(v) Computer ————— (e) Plans the design of a building,

programmer town, or city.

(vi) Athlete ————— (f) Controls and puts together a

programme of music.

(vii) Disc jockey ————— (g) Works in sports or activities

such as running, jumping,etc.

(viii) Composer ————— (h) Designs and builds things like

roads, bridges, or engines.

(ix) Counsellor ————— (i) Makes up notes to create music.

(x) Journalist ————— (j) Designs the system by which

a computer runs or gives
information.

WRITING
Write a paragraph about yourself so that people who read it will get to
know you better. You could write about yourself from any point of
view, or choose one of the following topics.
• What I enjoy doing most
• What makes me angry
• What I hate to do
• What I want to become
(Remember to give a reason or details of what you write about, so
that anyone reading it will understand you better.)
After you have finished your paragraph affix your photo on the
sheet and display it on the wall. Read each other’s paragraphs.
Did you understand someone else better after you had read what
he/she wrote?
78 HONEYSUCKLE

WORKING WITH LANGUAGE

Read these columns about careers in environment, that is, working to
keep our world — the land, air, water and the people, animals and
plants — safe from natural and man-made dangers. Check out the

What’s ADVENTUROUS

CREATIVE
Your
Nature?
You Are You Are
Thinker Stoic, determined, Creative, imaginative,
or patient, romantic, calm, artistic, a dreamer, romantic,
curious, physically tough, sensitive, liberal, cooperative,
Tinker?
unflappable. cordial, clever, perceptive,
The right job needs You Like humorous, intuitive.
the right kind of Adventure, travelling, You Like
person. Depending on outdoors, forests, Colours, good design,
the kind of person you trekking, wild creatures, outdoors, communicating,
are — your personality rain, climbing mountains, creative writing, art and
type — you would be camping, being alone. craft, watching films,
best suited for a You Are Good at nature walks, engaging with
particular kind of work. Biology, outdoor activities, social issues, travelling,
Find out which keeping calm under studying liberal arts.
personality matches duress, running long You Are Good at
distances, dealing with Art and craft, drawing,
yours best and what
bad weather, looking at a photography, creative
you would want to
wild elephant in the eye. writing, painting, dreaming,
become. You Can Become communicating ideas.
a wildlife biologist, You Can Become
zoologist, botanist, a film maker, copy writer,
naturalist, forester, zoo graphic designer, artist,
curator, veterinary doctor, sculptor with a social concern
biology teacher, who does development
environment educator, communication projects or
organic farmer, rural works for NGOs, school
community worker. teacher, community worker,
wildlife artist/illustrator,
environment educator,
communication expert.
WHO I AM 79

personality profiles needed to be successful at different kinds of

careers in the environmental field. Find out whether you are more
adventurous than your partner, or whether your partner is a better
inquirer than others. You may wish to prepare a personality profile
of yourself/your partner. In groups, attempt some of the activities
suggested at the end.
COMMUNICATOR
INQUIRER

IDEALIST
You Are You Are You Are
Systematic, logical, Confident, intelligent, Hopeful, selfless, romantic,
practical, organised, creative, gregarious, radical, frank, political,
inquisitive, thorough, talkative, opinionated, rebellious, socialist,
outward-looking, alert, energetic, purposeful, freethinking, restive,
rational, studious, forthright, sociable, eloquent. passionate, visionary, helpful.
methodical, intuitive. You Like You Like
You Like Reading, writing, thinking To help others, to express
Building and fixing about the state of the world, your concern at injustice,
things, finding reasons politics, cultures, arguing, social and cultural
behind phenomena, travelling to remote places, histories, understanding
figuring out how things meeting people, stating your human psychology, a sense
work, learning about opinion, intellectual pursuits, of community, people with
new technologies, doing current affairs, cities. social concerns.
maths, gadgets. You Are Good at You Are Good at
You Are Good at Literature, history, languages, Dealing with all kinds of
Physics, mathematics, communicating, debating, people, working in a team,
chemistry, fixing and oratory, demanding your demanding your rights,
repairing the plumbing rights, sensitive to living frugally, making the
or electrical gadgets at injustice, interacting with most of any given situation,
home, engineering, all kinds of people. strategising, writing letters,
fantastic structures You Can Become taking criticism, doing
with Lego. a documentary filmmaker, daring acts.
You Can Become environmental lawyer, You Can Become
an environmental newspaper/magazine a social worker, environmental
engineer, bio-engineer, journalist, urban activist, NGO representative,
chemical engineer, researcher, ecological rural development expert,
meteorologist, climatologist, historian, development public interest advocate,
toxicologist, water expert, consultant, communications lawyer, communications
appropriate technologist. expert, government official. expert.
80 HONEYSUCKLE

Word-finders group 1. Thinker becomes Tinker if we leave out

an ‘h’. Who is a tinker?
2. Make a list of words that your
classmates want to find out the
meanings of. Then find out the
meanings by consulting a dictionary
or asking your teacher. Tell your
classmates what you have found out.
People-finders group Find people in the jobs mentioned
here. They may be people you know,
or people mentioned in newspapers,
etc. Make a chart.
Picture-finders group Get pictures or photographs of the
kinds of people, subjects, activities,
places, etc., mentioned above.

SPEAKING

A. Why does Radha’s mother tell her that it is not suitable for girls
to climb trees? Find points to agree with Radha or her mother.
Plan what you will say by making notes like this:
l Girls should be able to climb trees if they wish
1. ———————————————————————————————————

2. ———————————————————————————————————

3. ———————————————————————————————————

l Girls should not be allowed to climb trees

1. ———————————————————————————————————

2. ———————————————————————————————————

3. ———————————————————————————————————
WHO I AM 81

Now divide the class into two groups. Present to the rest of the
class the opinion of Radha who thinks there is no harm in girls
climbing trees and of her mother who thinks girls should not
do this.
B. Sit in a circle so that you can see each other. Each one must talk
to complete the following sentence in your own way.
“What makes me very angry is ...”
Remember to listen with respect and without comment to each
person as he/she speaks.

Know Your Country

1. The Hirakud Dam is built on a
major river. Name it.
2. In which state is Kanyakumari, the
southernmost tip of the mainland?
3. Name the channel that separates
the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Answers on page 137

 The Wonderful Words
Imagine a world without language. All humans speak at least
one language. The words we speak bring out our thoughts. Read
the following poem on words.

Never let a thought shrivel and die

For want of a way to say it
For English is a wonderful game
And all of you can play it.
All that you do is match the words
To the brightest thoughts in your head
So that they come out clear and true
And handsomely groomed and fed—
For many of the loveliest things
Have never yet been said.
Words are the food and dress of thought
They give it its body and swing
And everyone’s longing today to hear
Some fresh and beautiful thing;
But only words can free a thought
From its prison behind your eyes
May be your mind is holding now
A marvellous new surprise!

MARY O’NEILL
THE WONDERFUL WORDS 83

WORKING WITH THE POEM

1. With your partner, complete the following sentences in your own

words using the ideas in the poem.
(i) Do not let a thought shrivel and die because ———————————

————————————————————————————––––————————
(ii) English is a ————————————————————— with words that
everyone can play.

(iii) One has to match ————————————————————————————

(iv) Words are the ————————————————————— of thought.

2. In groups of four discuss the following lines and their meanings.

(i) All that you do is match the words

To the brightest thoughts in your head

(ii) For many of the loveliest things

Have never yet been said

(iii) And everyone’s longing today to hear

Some fresh and beautiful thing

(iv) But only words can free a thought

From its prison behind your eyes
84 HONEYSUCKLE

Before you read

7
Has your best friend ever done something you
thought was wrong? What did you do then? Did
you keep quiet or did you tell your friend what
you thought?
Read this story about two friends who had to
decide what was more important — friendship
and enmity, or a sense of what is right and
what is wrong.

Fair Play
Part I
1. JUMMAN Shaikh and Algu Chowdhry were
good friends. So strong was their bond
of friendship that when either of them
went away from the village, the other
looked after his family. Both were greatly
respected in the village.
2. Jumman had an old aunt who had
some property. This she transferred to
him on the understanding that she
would stay with him and he would look
after her. The arrangement worked well
for a couple of years. Then the situation became indifferent:
lost interest in or
changed. Jumman and his family were did not care for
tired of the old relative. Jumman became grudged: gave
as indifferent to her as his wife, who unwillingly; felt
angry/ unhappy
grudged even the little food that the old about giving
lady wanted every day. She swallowed swallowed these
these insults along with her food for a insults: tolerated
few months. But patience has its limits. them

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FAIR PLAY 85

3. One day she spoke to Jumman, “My

son, it is now obvious that I am not
wanted in your house. Kindly give me a
monthly allowance so that I can set up
a separate kitchen.”
“My wife knows best how to run the
house. Be patient,” said Jumman
shamelessly. This made his aunt very
angry and she decided to take her case
to the village panchayat.
4. For many days, the old lady was seen
talking to the villagers explaining her case
and seeking their support. Some
sympathised with her, others laughed
at her and a few others advised her to

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86 HONEYSUCKLE

make it up with her nephew and his wife. make it up: stop
quarreling; come
At last she came to Algu Chowdhry and to an agreement
spoke to him. “You know, Chachi, with
Jumman is my best friend. How can I
go against him?” Algu said. “But is it
right, my son, to keep mum and not say mum: quiet/silent
what you consider just and fair?”
pleaded the old lady. “Come to the
panchayat and speak the truth,” she
said. Algu didn’t reply, but her words
kept ringing in his ears.

Part II
5. The panchayat was held the same
evening under an old banyan tree.
Jumman stood up and said, “The voice
of the Panch is the voice of God. Let my

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FAIR PLAY 87

aunt nominate the head Panch. I will nominate: propose/

suggest someone’s
abide by her decision.” name for something
6. “The Panch knows neither friend nor abide by: accept
enemy. What do you say to Algu
Chowdhry?” the old lady announced.
“Fine,” replied Jumman hiding his joy
over this unexpected piece of luck.
“Chachi, you are aware of my
friendship with Jumman,” said Algu.
“I know that,” replied the aunt, “but I
also know that you will not kill your
conscience for the sake of friendship. God
lives in the heart of the Panch, and his
voice is the voice of God.” And the old
lady explained her case.
“Jumman,” said Algu, “you and I are
old friends. Your aunt is as dear to me
as you. Now I am a Panch. You and your
aunt are equal before me. What have you
to say in your defence?”
“Three years ago,” began Jumman,
“my aunt transferred her property to me.
I promised to support her as long as she
lived. I have done all I could. There have
been a couple of quarrels between my
wife and her but I can’t stop it. Now my
aunt is claiming a monthly allowance
from me. This is not possible. That’s all
I have to say.”
7. Jumman was cross-examined by
Algu and others. Then Algu announced,
“We have gone into the matter carefully.
In our opinion, Jumman must pay his

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aunt a monthly allowance, or else the

property goes back to her.”
8. Now, the two friends were seldom seldom: rarely
seen together. The bond of friendship
between them was broken. In fact,
Jumman was Algu's enemy and wanted
his revenge.

Part III
9. Days passed and, as ill luck would have
it, Algu Chowdhry found himself in a
tight spot. One of his fine pair of tight spot: difficult
situation
bullocks died, and he sold the other to
Samjhu Sahu, a cart driver of the village.
The understanding was that Sahu would
pay the price of the bullock in a month’s
time. It so happened that the bullock
died within a month.
10. Several months after the bullock’s
death, Algu reminded Sahu of the
money he hadn’t yet paid. Sahu got very
annoyed. “I can’t pay you a penny for
the wretched beast you sold me. He
brought us nothing but ruin. I have a
bullock. Use it for a month and then
return it to me. No money for the dead
bullock,” he said angrily.
11. Algu decided to refer the case to the
panchayat. For a second time in a few
months, preparations for holding the
panchayat were made, and both the
parties started meeting people seeking
their support.

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FAIR PLAY 89

12. The panchayat was held under the

old banyan tree. Algu stood up and said,
“The voice of the Panch is the voice of
God. Let Sahu nominate the head
Panch. I will abide by his decision.”
13. Sahu saw his chance and proposed
the name of Jumman. Algu’s heart
sank and he turned pale. But what
could he do?
14. The moment Jumman became head
Panch, he realised his responsibility
as judge and the dignity of his office.
Could he, seated in that high place,
have his revenge now? He thought
and thought. No, he must not

deviate: move away

from; leave

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90 HONEYSUCKLE

allow his personal feelings to come

in the way of speaking the truth and
doing justice.
15. Both Algu and Sahu stated their
cases. They were cross-examined and
the case was considered deeply. Then
Jumman stood up and announced, “It
is our opinion that Sahu should pay
Algu the price of the bullock. When
Sahu bought the bullock, it suffered
from no disability or disease. The
death of the bullock was unfortunate,
but Algu cannot be blamed for it.”
Algu could not contain his feelings. He
stood up and said loudly over and
over again, “Victory to the panchayat.
This is justice. God lives in the voice
of the Panch.”
16. Soon after, Jumman came to Algu,
embraced him and said, “Since the last
panchayat, I had become your enemy.
Today I realised what it meant to be a
Panch. A Panch has no friend nor
enemy. He knows only justice. Let no
one deviate from the path of justice and deviate: move away
from; leave
truth for friendship or enmity.”
Algu embraced his friend and wept.
And his tears washed away all the dirt
of misunderstanding between them.

PREMCHAND
[retold]

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FAIR PLAY 91

WORKING WITH THE TEXT

A. Match the sentences under I with those under II.

1. Jumman and Algu were the best of friends.

2. Jumman’s aunt transferred her property to him.
3. The aunt decided to appeal to the panchayat.
4. Algu was unwilling to support the aunt.
5. Jumman was very happy to hear Algu’s name as head Panch.

II

1. He believed that his friend would never go against him.

2. She wanted justice.
3. In the absence of one, the other took care of his family.
4. The condition was that he would be responsible for her welfare.
5. The bond of friendship between him and Jumman was very
strong.

B. Who says this to whom and why?

1. “My wife knows best how to run the house.”
2. “But is it right, my son, to keep mum and not say what you
consider just and fair?”
3. “What have you to say in your defence?”
4. “I can’t pay you a penny for the wretched beast you sold me.”
5. “Victory to the panchayat. This is justice.”

C. Answer the following questions.

1. “Then the situation changed.” What is being referred to? (2)
2. When Jumman’s aunt realised that she was not welcome in
his house, what arrangement did she suggest? (3)

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3. What was the villagers’ reaction when the aunt explained

her case to them? (4)
4. Why was Jumman happy over Algu’s nomination as head
Panch? (6)
5. “God lives in the heart of the Panch.” the aunt said. What
did she mean? (6)
6. What was Algu’s verdict as head Panch? How did Jumman
take it? (7, 8)
7. Algu found himself in a tight spot. What was his problem? (9)
8. Why was Algu upset over Jumman’s nomination as head
Panch? (12, 13)
9. What was Jumman’s verdict as head Panch? How did Algu
take it? (14, 15)
10. Which of the following sums up the story best?
(i) “I also know that you will not kill your conscience for
the sake of friendship.”
(ii) “Let no one deviate from the path of justice and truth for
friendship or enmity.”
(iii) “The voice of the Panch is the voice of God.”
Give a reason for your choice.

WORKING WITH LANGUAGE

A. Replace the italicised portion of each sentence below with a

suitable phrase from the box. Make necessary changes,
wherever required.

look after swallow make it up keep mum go into

ease one’s conscience as ill luck would have it
a tight spot take chances my heart sank

1. The best way to avoid an unnecessary argument is to remain silent.

2. Unfortunately, the train I was trying to catch was cancelled.

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FAIR PLAY 93

3. He has been told not to take risks while driving a car through
a crowded street.
4. The patient needs to be properly taken care of.
5. Why don’t the two of you end your quarrel by shaking hands?
6. I was in a difficult situation till my friends came to my rescue.
7. When I saw a pile of dirty dishes, I felt very disappointed.
8. I will examine the matter carefully before commenting on it.
9. They criticised him in the meeting but he accepted without
protest all the criticism.
10. It will free me from worry to know that I had done nothing
wrong.

B. Look at the following phrases and their meanings. Use the

phrases to fill in the blanks in the sentences given below.

set up — put in place or start

set aside — save or keep for a particular purpose
set down — write or record
set out — start on a journey
set in — begin and seem likely to continue

1. Why don’t you ————————————— your ideas on paper?

2. A fund has been ————————————— for the soldiers’

families.

3. We should ————————————— a little money every month.

4. You should buy some woollens before winter ——————— .

5. They ———————————— on the last stage of their journey.

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94 HONEYSUCKLE

SPEAKING AND WRITING

A. Look at the following picture. One asks a question, the other

answers it. Then the answer is noted in a form as shown below.

Yes, I do but not

Do you like to always. I do have
meet people? some close friends,
though.

Kindly write it
in the form.

Questions Yes/No Additional Response

1. Do you like to Yes I do, but not I do have some close

meet people? always. friends, though.
2. Do you like the No, I don’t. But I have no choice.
area you live in?

B. Work in small groups. Ask your partner the questions given

below. If possible, ask him/her a reason for saying Yes or No.
Then tick Yes/No, whichever is proper.
1. Do you have a separate room for sleep and study? Yes/No
2. Would you prefer to live in a joint family? Yes/No
3. Do you get on with people? Yes/No
4. Do you like the area you live in? Yes/No

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FAIR PLAY 95

5. Do you find the place overcrowded? Yes/No

6. Do you use public transport? Yes/No
7. Would you like a vehicle of our own? Yes/No
8. Do you like reading? Yes/No
9. Would you like to be a teacher/doctor/engineer/ Yes/No
architect?

C. Now that you have completed the above project, write a brief
report stating what you did, how you did it and the conclusion.

DICTATION
Your teacher will speak the words listed below. Write against
each a word of opposite meaning.

Examples: liquid solid

hard soft

1. old —————————————————

2. wet —————————————————

3. open —————————————————

4. blunt —————————————————

5. forget —————————————————

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Notes for the Teacher

UNITS 8 –10
8. A Game of Chance

l Indian festival – rational thinking/

scientific temper. Let children
read the story individually or in
pairs. Then ask them to fill in the
blanks individually without
referring to the text.
l While doing the comprehension questions, let them read and
re-read the text.
l ‘Working with Language’ has an exercise using the same word
as noun and verb. Draw children’s attention to changes, if
any, in the sentence when a noun functions as a verb or vice-
versa.
l The use of ‘there’ and ‘it’ as empty subject to be clarified through
examples.
l In ‘Speaking and Reading Aloud’, organise the first activity in
such a manner that every child gets a chance to speak,
describing his/her visit to the fair. In the next activity help them
with words, phrases and reformulated sentences.

Vocation

l This poem, when recited with feeling, will have an impact on

children by drawing their attention to the importance of every
job or piece of work.
l The child’s curiosity and desire to be left alone sometimes may
also be expressed in discussions. It would be fun to answer
their questions in this regard with understanding and
sympathy.

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NOTES FOR THE TEACHER 97

l In the “I wish I were…….” activity, suggest vocations/callings

if children have difficulty doing it. “I wish I had two eyes at the
back of my head also…” “I wish I wasn’t a kid…….” can lead to
interesting explanations and accounts.
l The last activity will make children use their hand, heart and
head together. To understand the dignity of labour, children
should be taken out to visit places of work and talk to workers.
Making cards with pictures will follow naturally. This may be
clubbed with a craft activity.

9. Desert Animals
l Wildlife — this lesson presents the lifestyle of
animals in the desert, and how they survive under
very harsh conditions. If possible, connect it with
biology portions which deal with animals and their
habits. Enlist the help of the science teacher.
l Speaking activity in this lesson focuses on the
superlative form of adjectives. Extend the activity including
other forms also. ‘Thinking about Language’ is not a writing
task, though it involves writing five sentences. The aim is to
enable children to see the use of the given phrases in different
contexts. Create other exercises to enable children to use
phrases like ‘some... any’ ‘so much so’ ‘more than’, etc.
l Talk about desert areas in India.
l Deserts are hot, but they can be very cold. Familiarise children
with Ladakh and people who live there.

Whatif

l Let children compare the word ‘whatifs’ with the phrases ‘No I
thinks’ ‘No buts’ in ‘What Happened to the Reptiles’ in the
Supplementary Reader. Discuss what they mean. Whatif is a
word invented out of the phrase ‘what if’, which means
‘suppose’; the other phrases echo other speakers’ words, and
are used to cut them short.

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98 HONEYSUCKLE

l Let children arrange ‘whatifs’ in the poem as probable, less

probable and improbable.
l Encourage every child to make a short poem of the ‘whatifs’
she/he has listed, as suggested. Edit their compositions and
put up some on the wall.

10. The Banyan Tree

l Adventure, wildlife — the photographs at the
beginning are crucial to understanding the
text. Help children deal with the text that goes
with the photographs.
l Any reason children can think of why the
mongoose should always be so keen on
fighting the cobra!
l Read aloud short excerpts from Treasure Island, Tom Sawyer
and Huckleberry Finn in story reading sessions.

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96 HONEYSUCKLE

Notes for the Teacher

UNITS 8 –10
8. A Game of Chance

l Indian festival – rational thinking/

scientific temper. Let children
read the story individually or in
pairs. Then ask them to fill in the
blanks individually without
referring to the text.
l While doing the comprehension questions, let them read and
re-read the text.
l ‘Working with Language’ has an exercise using the same word
as noun and verb. Draw children’s attention to changes, if
any, in the sentence when a noun functions as a verb or vice-
versa.
l The use of ‘there’ and ‘it’ as empty subject to be clarified through
examples.
l In ‘Speaking and Reading Aloud’, organise the first activity in
such a manner that every child gets a chance to speak,
describing his/her visit to the fair. In the next activity help them
with words, phrases and reformulated sentences.

Vocation

l This poem, when recited with feeling, will have an impact on

children by drawing their attention to the importance of every
job or piece of work.
l The child’s curiosity and desire to be left alone sometimes may
also be expressed in discussions. It would be fun to answer
their questions in this regard with understanding and
sympathy.

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NOTES FOR THE TEACHER 97

l In the “I wish I were…….” activity, suggest vocations/callings

if children have difficulty doing it. “I wish I had two eyes at the
back of my head also…” “I wish I wasn’t a kid…….” can lead to
interesting explanations and accounts.
l The last activity will make children use their hand, heart and
head together. To understand the dignity of labour, children
should be taken out to visit places of work and talk to workers.
Making cards with pictures will follow naturally. This may be
clubbed with a craft activity.

9. Desert Animals
l Wildlife — this lesson presents the lifestyle of
animals in the desert, and how they survive under
very harsh conditions. If possible, connect it with
biology portions which deal with animals and their
habits. Enlist the help of the science teacher.
l Speaking activity in this lesson focuses on the
superlative form of adjectives. Extend the activity including
other forms also. ‘Thinking about Language’ is not a writing
task, though it involves writing five sentences. The aim is to
enable children to see the use of the given phrases in different
contexts. Create other exercises to enable children to use
phrases like ‘some... any’ ‘so much so’ ‘more than’, etc.
l Talk about desert areas in India.
l Deserts are hot, but they can be very cold. Familiarise children
with Ladakh and people who live there.

Whatif

l Let children compare the word ‘whatifs’ with the phrases ‘No I
thinks’ ‘No buts’ in ‘What Happened to the Reptiles’ in the
Supplementary Reader. Discuss what they mean. Whatif is a
word invented out of the phrase ‘what if’, which means
‘suppose’; the other phrases echo other speakers’ words, and
are used to cut them short.

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98 HONEYSUCKLE

l Let children arrange ‘whatifs’ in the poem as probable, less

probable and improbable.
l Encourage every child to make a short poem of the ‘whatifs’
she/he has listed, as suggested. Edit their compositions and
put up some on the wall.

10. The Banyan Tree

l Adventure, wildlife — the photographs at the
beginning are crucial to understanding the
text. Help children deal with the text that goes
with the photographs.
l Any reason children can think of why the
mongoose should always be so keen on
fighting the cobra!
l Read aloud short excerpts from Treasure Island, Tom Sawyer
and Huckleberry Finn in story reading sessions.

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A GAME OF CHANCE 99

Before you read

8
Have you ever won anything in a ‘lucky dip’ or
other such game of chance? Do you like such
games?

A Game of Chance
1. EVERY year on the occasion of Eid, there
was a fair in our village. Eid was
celebrated only one day but the fair lasted tradesmen:
shopkeepers or
many days. Tradesmen from far and people who have
wide came there with all kinds of goods goods to sell

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to sell. You could buy anything from a

small pin to a big buffalo.
2. Uncle took me to the fair. Bhaiya, who
worked for us at home, came with us.
There was a big crowd at the fair. Uncle
was leading us through the crowd when
he met a few of his friends. They wanted
him to spend some time with them.
3. Uncle asked me whether I would like
to look around the fair with Bhaiya till
he came back. I was happy to do that.
Uncle warned me neither to buy anything
nor to go too far out while he was away. I
promised that I would wait for him.
4. Bhaiya and I went from shop to shop.
There were many things I would have
liked to buy, but I waited for Uncle to
return. Then we came to what was called
the Lucky Shop. The shopkeeper was
neither young nor old. He was a middle-
aged man. He seemed neither too smart
nor too lazy. He wanted everybody to try
their luck. There were discs on the table
with numbers from one to ten facing
down. All you had to do was to pay
50 paise, pick up any six discs, add up
the numbers on the discs and find the
total. The article marked with that
number was yours.
5. An old man paid 50 paise and
selected six discs. He added up the
numbers on them and found the total
was 15. He was given the article marked

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A GAME OF CHANCE 101

15, which was a beautiful clock. But the

old man did not want a clock. The
shopkeeper obliged him by buying it
back for 15 rupees. The old man went
away very pleased.
6. Then a boy, a little older than I, tried
his luck. He got a comb worth 25 paise.
The shopkeeper looked neither happy
nor sad. He bought the comb from the
boy for 25 paise. The boy tried his luck
again. He now got a fountain-pen worth
three rupees. Then he tried a third time
and got a wrist watch worth 25 rupees.
When he tried again he got a table lamp
worth more than 10 rupees. The boy was
happy and went away with a smile and a
good deal of cash.
7. I wanted to try my luck too. I looked
at Bhaiya. He encouraged me. I paid 50
paise and took six discs. My luck was
not too good. I got two pencils. The
shopkeeper bought them from me for 25
paise. I tried again. This time I got a bottle
of ink, also of little value. The shopkeeper
bought that too for 25 paise. I took a
chance for the third time. Still luck was
not with me.
8. I had hopes of winning a big prize and
continued to try my luck again and again,
paying 50 paise each time. But every time
I got a trifle. At last I was left with only 25 a trifle: an object of
little value
paise. Again the shopkeeper showed his
kindness. He said I could either play

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once more with 25 paise or settle the

account then and there. I played again and
the last 25 paise also disappeared.
9. People were looking at me. Some were
laughing at my bad luck, but none
showed any sympathy. Bhaiya and I went
to the place where Uncle had left us and
waited for him to return.
Presently he came. He looked at me and
said, “Rasheed, you look upset. What is
the matter?”
10. I did not say anything. Bhaiya told him
what had happened. Uncle was neither
angry nor sad. He smiled and patted me.
He took me to a shop and bought me a

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A GAME OF CHANCE 103

beautiful umbrella, biscuits and sweets

and some other little gifts. Then we
returned home.
11. Back home, Uncle told me that the
Lucky Shop man had made a fool of me.
“No, Uncle,” I said, “it was just my
bad luck.”
“No, my boy,” said Uncle, “it was
neither good luck nor bad luck.”
“But, Uncle,” I said, “I saw an old man
getting a clock and a boy getting two or
three costly things.”
“You don’t know, child,” Uncle said,
“they were all friends of the shopkeeper.
They were playing tricks to tempt you to
try your luck. They wanted your money
and they got it. Now forget about it, and
don’t tell anybody of your bad luck or
your foolishness.”

WORKING WITH THE TEXT

A. Complete the following sentences from
memory choosing a phrase from those given
in brackets.

1. ————————————— was held at the

time of the Eid festival.
(A big show, A big fair, A big competition)

2. Tradesmen came to the village with all

kinds of goods————————————— .
(to display, to buy, to sell)

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3. Uncle told me ———————————————————————— while

he was away.
(not to buy anything, not to go anywhere, not to talk to
anyone)

4. The owner of the Lucky Shop wanted everybody present

—————————————————————————— .
(to play the game, to win a prize, to try their luck)

5. The first time I took a chance I got —————————————–— .

(a bottle of ink, two pencils, a trifle)

6. Uncle told me that the shopkeeper had made ————————.

(a fool of me, a good profit, friends with many people)

B. Answer the following questions.

1. Why do you think Rasheed’s uncle asked him not to buy
anything in his absence? (3)
2. Why was the shop called ‘Lucky Shop’? (4)
3. An old man won a clock and sold it back to the shopkeeper.
How much money did he make? (5)
4. How many prizes did the boy win? What were they? (6)
5. Why was Rasheed upset? (7, 8, 9)
6. In what way did the shopkeeper make a fool of Rasheed? (11)

WORKING WITH LANGUAGE

A. The words given against the sentences below can be used both
as nouns and verbs. Use them appropriately to fill in the blanks.

1. (i) The two teams have ————————————— three matches

already. (play)

(ii) The last day’s ————————————— was excellent.

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A GAME OF CHANCE 105

2. (i) She has a lovely ————————————— . (face)

(ii) India ———————————— a number of problems these days.

3. (i) He made his ————————————— in essay-writing.

(mark)
(ii) Articles ————————————— ‘sold’ are reserved.

4. (i) The police are ————————————— the area to catch

the burglars. (comb)
(ii) An ordinary plastic ————————————— costs five
rupees.

5. (i) He gave a ————————————— in answer to my question.

(smile)
(ii) We also ————————————— to see him smile.

6. (i) He said he ————————————— to be invited to the party.

(hope)
(ii) We gave up ————————————— of his joining the party.

7. (i) The boys put up a good athletic ————————————— .

(show)
(ii) The soldiers ————————————— great courage in saving
people from floods.

8. (i) You deserve a ————————————— on the back for your

good performance. (pat)
(ii) The teacher ————————————— the child on the cheek
to encourage her.

B. Notice the use of ‘there’ in the following sentences.

l There was a big crowd at the fair.
l There were many things I’d have liked to buy.
Now rewrite the following sentences using ‘there’ in the
beginning. Look at the following examples.
l I can do nothing to help you.
l There is nothing I can do to help you.

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106 HONEYSUCKLE

l A man at the door is asking to see you.

l There is a man at the door asking to see you.

1. This park has beautiful roses.

2. Your story has no fun in it.
3. We have no secrets between us.
4. My village has two primary schools.
5. This problem can be solved in two ways.

C. Fill in the blanks in the paragraph below with words from

the box.

huge big foolish interesting tiny unlucky last

There was a ————————————— Eid fair in our village. We

could buy anything from a ————————————— toy to a

————————————— camel. I went to the fair on its

————————————— day with Uncle and Bhaiya. We went to

the Lucky Shop. It was very————————————— . I tried my

luck but did not win any prize. Later, Uncle told me that I was

more ————————————— than ————————————— .

SPEAKING AND READING ALOUD

A. 1. Suppose you are Rasheed. Describe in your own words your
visit to the fair. Do not refer to the Lucky Shop.
2. Read aloud the two paragraphs that describe the boy and
the old man at the Lucky Shop.

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A GAME OF CHANCE 107

3. Listen to these children. What are they talking about?

I don’t like coffee.

Would you like I’d prefer tea.
tea or coffee?

I’d prefer coffee,

thank you.

B. Work in pairs. One of you is an agent and the other is a client

looking for accommodation in a hotel. Talk to each other. Use
the clues given below.

Agent Client

What sort of accommodation I’d prefer a —————————–––—

would you prefer?
—————————————————–––
Would you like your own I’d like ——————————————–
room or would you like to
share a room? I don’t think I’d like __________
——————————————————––
Would you like a room with Yes, I do want ————————–––
a television?
—————————————————–––

Do you need to hire a car? No, thanks. I don’t need __________

No, I’d prefer —————————–—

What sort of location are you I’d like to stay in ———————––

interested in?
—————————————————–––
Have you any other Yes, I must have ———————––
requirements?
Yes, give me —————————–—
No, no other requirements.

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DICTATION

1. Some words are given below. Listen carefully to the word from
the list the teacher speaks, and write against it another word
that has the same pronunciation but different spelling. The first
is an example.

fair fare

buy

one

which

two

no

here

see

there

hare

nun

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A GAME OF CHANCE 109

Vocation
On your way to school or market you see many people at
work. In pairs, discuss what you have noticed. Then read
this poem. You may read it aloud with a partner, if you like.

When the gong sounds ten in the morning and

I walk to school by our lane,
Every day I meet the hawker crying, “Bangles,
crystal bangles!”
There is nothing to hurry him on, there is no
road he must take, no place he must go to, no
time when he must come home.
I wish I were a hawker, spending my day in
the road, crying, “Bangles, crystal bangles!”
When at four in the afternoon I come back from
the school,
I can see through the gate of that house the
gardener digging the ground.
He does what he likes with his spade, he soils
his clothes with dust, nobody takes him to
task, if he gets baked in the sun or gets wet.
I wish I were a gardener digging away at the
garden with nobody to stop me from digging.
Just as it gets dark in the evening and my
mother sends me to bed,
I can see through my open window the
watchman walking up and down.

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110 HONEYSUCKLE

The lane is dark and lonely, and the street-

lamp stands like a giant with one red eye in
its head.
The watchman swings his lantern and walks
with his shadow at his side, and never once
goes to bed in his life.
I wish I were a watchman walking the street
all night, chasing the shadows with my
lantern.

RABINDRANATH TAGORE

WORKING WITH THE POEM

1. Your partner and you may now be able to answer these questions.
(i) Who is the speaker in the poem? Who are the people the
speaker meets? What are they doing?
(ii) What wishes does the child in the poem make? Why does
the child want to be a hawker, a gardener, or a watchman?
Pick out the lines in each stanza, which tell us this.
(iii) From the way the child envies the hawker, the gardener
and the watchman, we can guess that there are many things
the child has to do, or must not do.
Make a list of the do’s and don’ts that the child doesn’t like.
The first line is done for you.

The child must The child must not

come home at a fixed time. get his clothes dirty in the dust.

——————————————————— ———————————————————

——————————————————— ———————————————————

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——————————————————— ———————————————————

——————————————————— ———————————————————

——————————————————— ———————————————————

——————————————————— ———————————————————

——————————————————— ———————————————————

——————————————————— ———————————————————

——————————————————— ———————————————————

——————————————————— ———————————————————

Now add to the list your own complaints about the things
you have to do, or must not do.
(iv) Like the child in the poem, you perhaps have your own wishes
for yourself. Talk to your friend, using “I wish I were…”

2. Find out the different kinds of work done by the people in your
neighbourhood. Make different cards for different kinds of work.
You can make the card colourful with pictures of the persons
doing the work.

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Before you read

9
Can you name some desert areas in India and the
world? Who do you think lives in such areas?

Desert Animals
1. DESERTS are the driest places on earth
and sometimes go for months, or even
years, without rain. But even the desert
animals cannot survive without water,
or for long periods in the scorching sun, scorching: very hot
so they have had to find different ways
of coping with the harsh conditions. For
example, gerbils spend the hottest part gerbils: mouse-like
desert rodents with
of the day in cool underground burrows. long hind legs
And strange insects called darkling
beetles are experts at catching drops of
moisture on their legs, then lifting them
into the air until the drops trickle down
into their mouths. Not all deserts are
endless seas of rolling sand dunes. dunes: heaps of
sand formed by
Some are rocky or pebbly and dotted the wind
with small bushes while others are pebbly: stony
sprinkled with colourful flowers during
the spring.
2. There are more than 2300 different
kinds of snakes around the world,
ranging from just fifteen centimetres
long to more than eleven metres. Most
snakes are quite harmless — but there

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are a few that are so

poisonous they can kill a
human being with just one
bite. Most snakes lay eggs,
but there are many which
give birth to their young. In
the dry, rocky deserts of
America lives a rather evil-
looking snake with a very bad
reputation. Its frightening
rattle can be heard as far as
thirty metres away, and it can strike
with lightning speed.
3. But the rattlesnake, or ‘rattler’ as it
is sometimes called, prefers to avoid
people if it possibly can. It holds its tail
upright and rattles the end whenever it
is disturbed, in the hope that the
intruder will go away. However, if its
warnings are ignored — and it feels
threatened—it will coil ready to bite. But
the rattler itself cannot hear the noise
its own tail makes. Like most snakes,
it ‘hears’ things through vibrations in
the ground. If a person walks nearby
the snake can feel the movement. But if
the same person were to shout, it would
not hear a thing. Rattlesnakes are very
common and widespread animals, living voles: small
plant-eating
right across the American continent rodents
from Canada to Argentina. They feed chipmunks: small
ground squirrels
on a variety of prey, including mice, having light and
voles, rats, chipmunks and many other dark stripes

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small animals. Rattlesnakes kill their

prey with venom. Like all snakes, they
swallow the unfortunate animals whole.
Few snakes have to eat more than once
a week and some, such as the larger
pythons, can survive for a year or more
without eating.
4. Mongooses like to hunt together,
but they always keep a lookout for
dangerous predators nearby. Poking predator: an animal
naturally preying
their noses into holes, overturning rocks on others.
with their paws and scratching the
ground with their sharp claws, banded
mongooses are very amusing animals amusing:
interesting;
to watch. A common sight in many parts enjoyable.
of Africa, they travel in groups of about
twenty to forage for beetles, millipedes forage: search for
food.
and other small creatures.
5. They like to
hunt together,
keeping in touch
whenever they go out
of sight behind rocks
or bushes by
twittering and calling.
Always on the lookout
for danger — hawks,
eagles and large
snakes — they warn
one another with a
special alarm call if
they spot anything
suspicious.

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6. Mongooses are famous for being able

to kill snakes without getting hurt
themselves. Their reactions are so fast
that they can dodge each time the snake dodge: move
quickly to avoid
strikes. They continually make a its enemy
nuisance of themselves until, after a
while, when the snake gets tired, they
quickly dive in for the kill.
7. All the female mongooses have their
kitten at about the same time. They
are raised by the whole group in a den
made inside an old termite mount or
hollow log. When most of the adults
are out looking for food, one or two
males stay behind to stand guard until
the others return for the night.
8. Another animal which lives in the
desert is the camel. Camels were
first domesticated by people many
thousands of years ago. In the wild,
camels usually live in small groups of
up to thirty animals. Camels have long,
shaggy winter coats to keep warm and
shorter, tidier coats in the summer to
keep cool. A thirsty camel can drink as
much as thirty gallons of water — that’s
about five hundred full glasses — in
just ten minutes. Normally, however,
it gets all the moisture it needs from
desert plants and can survive for up
to ten months without drinking any
water at all.

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9. There are two different kinds of

camel. One, known as the Dromedary,
has only a single hump; the other is
called a Bactrian camel and has two
humps. The humps help the animal
to survive in the desert, by acting as
storage containers. But they don’t
store water — as many people wrongly
believe — they are full of fat. This fat
nourishes the camels when food is
scarce. If they have nothing to eat for
several days, their humps shrink as the
fat is used up. There are many other
ways in which camels are adapted to
desert life. Their mouths are so tough
that even the sharp thorn cannot pierce
through.

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WORKING WITH THE TEXT

A. 1. Talk to your partner and say whether the following statements

are true or false.
(i) No animal can survive without water.
(ii) Deserts are endless sand dunes.
(iii) Most snakes are harmless.
(iv) Snakes cannot hear, but they can feel vibrations through
the ground.
(v) Camels store water in their humps.

2. Answer the following questions.

(i) How do desert animals survive without water? (1)
(ii) How do mongooses kill snakes? (6)
(iii) How does the hump of the camels help them to survive when
there is no water? (9)

B. Read the words/phrases in the box. With your partner find their
meaning in the dictionary.

harsh conditions harmless survive intruder

threatened predators prey continually

Fill in the blanks in the following passage with the above words/
phrases.
All animals in forests and deserts struggle to ———————————
in ———————————————— . Though most of the animals
are ——————————— , some are dangerous when ———————————.
If an ————————————— is noticed, they attack or bite to save
themselves. They struggle ——————————— for food and water.
Some animals are called ————————————— because they

—————————— on other animals.

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SPEAKING
Look at these sentences.
l Deserts are the driest places on earth.
l Gerbils spend the hottest part of the day in cool underground
burrows.
Now form pairs. Ask questions using a suitable form of the word in
brackets. Try to answer the questions too.
Do you know
1. Which animal is the _______________________ (tall)?
2. Which animal runs the _______________________ (fast)?
3. Which place on earth is the _______________________ (hot) or the
_______________________ (cold)?
4. Which animal is the _______________________ (large)?

5. Which is the ————————————— (tall) mountain in the world?

6. Which is the _______________________ (rainy) place on earth?
7. Which is the ________________________ (old) living animal?

Can you add some questions of your own?

THINKING ABOUT LANGUAGE

A. Look at these sentences.
l Most snakes are quite harmless, but a few are poisonous.
l Most snakes lay eggs, but the rattlesnake gives birth to its
young.
Now write five sentences like these using ‘most’ and the clues below.

1. (90% of) people are honest (10%) are dishonest.

—————————————————————————————————————

—————————————————————————————————————

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DESERT ANIMALS 119

2. (Lots of) fruit have plenty of sugar, (some) citrus fruit are low in
sugar.
—————————————————————————————————————

—————————————————————————————————————

3. (Every soft drink except this one) has lots of ‘empty calories’.
—————————————————————————————————————

—————————————————————————————————————

4. (The majority of) films are romances, (a few) are on other topics.
—————————————————————————————————————

—————————————————————————————————————

5. (A majority of) people agree that he is a good leader, (just a few)

disagree.
—————————————————————————————————————

—————————————————————————————————————

B. Look at these sentences.

l Animals cannot survive for long without water.
l So desert animals have to find different ways of coping.

The first sentence says what cannot happen or be done; the second
tells us what must, therefore, be done, what it is necessary to do.
Complete these sentences using cannot and have to/has to.

1. You —————————— reach the island by land or air; you

—————————— go by boat.

2. We —————————— see bacteria with our eyes; we ——————————

look at them through a microscope.

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3. He—————————— have a new bicycle now; he ———————

wait till next year.

4. Old people often —————————— hear very well; they

—————————— use a hearing aid.

5. Road users —————————— do what they wish; they

————— follow the traffic rules.

6. She —————————— accept this decision; she ———————

question it.

7. You —————————— believe everything you hear; you

—————————— use your own judgement.

WRITING

Imagine you are journeying through a desert. Write a couple of

paragraphs describing what you see and hear.

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Whatif
Are there times when your mind fills with fear? Have you ever
thought,“What if something dangerous happens to me or the
people around me?” “What if the world stops revolving around
the sun?” “What if the sun does not rise in the morning?”
Here is a poem which talks about some more such “Whatifs”.

Last night, while I lay thinking here,

Some Whatifs crawled inside my ear
And pranced and partied all night long
And sang their same old Whatif song:
Whatif I’m dumb in school?
pranced: jumped/
Whatif they’ve closed the swimming-pool?
danced happily

Whatif I get beat up?

Whatif there’s poison in my cup?
dumb: unable to
Whatif I start to cry? answer questions
Whatif I get sick and die? or do tasks

Whatif I flunk that test?

Whatif green hair grows on my chest?
Whatif nobody likes me?
Whatif a bolt of lightning strikes me?
Whatif I don’t grow taller?
Whatif my head starts getting smaller?
Whatif the fish won’t bite?

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Whatif the wind tears up my kite? flunk: fail

Whatif they start a war?
Whatif my parents get divorced?
Whatif the bus is late?
Whatif my teeth don’t grow in straight?
Whatif I tear my pants?
Whatif I never learn to dance?
Everything seems swell, and then
The night-time Whatif strikes again!

SHEL SILVERSTEIN

WORKING WITH THE POEM

1. (i) Who is the speaker in the poem?

(ii) With your partner list out the happenings the speaker is worried
about.
(iii) Why do you think she/he has these worries? Can you think
of ways to get rid of such worries?

2. Read the following line.

Some Whatifs crawled inside my ear

Can words crawl into your ear? This is an image. The poet is trying
to make an image of what she/he experiences. Now with your
partner try and list out some more images from the poem.
3. In groups of four discuss some more ‘whatifs’ that you experience
in your day to day life and list them out.
(i) —————————————————————————————————

(ii) —————————————————————————————————

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WHATIF 123

(iii) —————————————————————————————————

(iv) —————————————————————————————————

(v) —————————————————————————————————

(vi) —————————————————————————————————

(vii) —————————————————————————————————

(viii) —————————————————————————————————

And now write a poem of five or six lines with the ‘whatifs’ that you
have listed.

Know Your Country

Answers

1. Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Orissa

and Chattisgarh.
2. Middle Andaman.
Situated in the Bay of Bengal, the Middle
Andaman is India’s largest island.

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Before you read

10
l Have you seen a mongoose? You have read in
Lesson 9 that a mongoose can fight with and
kill a snake. Look at the pictures and read the
lines given along with them.

The Banyan Tree

The fight of the cobra and the

mongoose is a classic drama often
seen in India, and the outcome is
largely the same. The mongoose is
not immune to the venomous bite,
but is faster and quicker in motion
than the snake. The cobra assumes
a posture of defence and attempts to
reach the animal by a sweeping
strike, but the quick-moving
mongoose jumps out of reach and
comes at the snake from another

direction, before the snake can

get into striking position again.
This constant movement tires and
discourages the snake, and the
mongoose is finally able to leap in
close and bury its teeth in the
snake’s neck, usually severing the
joints of its vertebrae.

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THE BANYAN TREE 125

l You must have seen a banyan tree. This is a

story about what the author saw, as a young
boy, when he was sitting in an old banyan tree
in his grandfather’s house.

Part I
1. THOUGH the house and grounds belonged
to my grandparents, the magnificent old
banyan tree was mine — chiefly because
Grandfather, at sixty-five, could no
longer climb it.
2. Its spreading branches, which hung
to the ground and took root again,
forming a number of twisting passages,
gave me endless pleasure. Among them
were squirrels and snails and
butterflies. The tree was older than the
house, older than Grandfather, as old
as Dehra Dun itself. I could hide myself
in its branches, behind thick green
leaves, and spy on the world below. spy: watch secretly
3. My first friend was a small grey
squirrel. Arching his back and sniffing
into the air, he seemed at first to resent resent: dislike; feel
angry about
my invasion of his privacy. But when
he found that I did not arm myself with
catapult or air gun, he became friendly,
and when I started bringing him pieces
of cake and biscuit he grew quite bold
and was soon taking morsels from hand. morsels: small
pieces of food
Before long, he was delving into my delving: going
pockets and helping himself to whatever deep into
he could find. He was a very young
squirrel, and his friends and relatives

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126 HONEYSUCKLE

probably thought him foolish and

headstrong for trusting a human.
4. In the spring, when the banyan tree
was full of small red figs, birds of all
kinds would flock into its branches: the
red-bottomed bulbul, cheerful and
greedy; parrots, myna and crows
squabbling with one another. During the during the fig
season: the time
fig season, the banyan tree was the when figs appeared
noisiest place in the garden.
5. Halfway up the tree I had built a
crude platform where I would spend the
afternoons when it was not too hot. I propping myself up:
could read there propping myself up leaning against

against the tree with a cushion from the

living room. Treasure Island, Huckleberry
Finn and The Story of Dr Dolittle were

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THE BANYAN TREE 127

some of the books that made up my

banyan tree library.
6. When I did not feel like reading, I
could look down through the leaves at
the world below. And on one particular
afternoon I had a grandstand view of grandstand view:
a clear view from
that classic of the Indian wilds, a fight the best position
(a grandstand is
between a mongoose and a cobra. a large covered
space with rows
of seats for people
Part II to watch sports)

7. The warm breezes of approaching

summer had sent everyone, including
the gardener, into the house. I was
feeling drowsy myself, wondering if I
should go to the pond and have a swim
with Ramu and the buffaloes, when I
saw a huge black cobra gliding out of a gliding: moving
smoothly
clump of cactus. At the same time a clump: group (of
mongoose emerged from the bushes and bushes or trees)
emerged: came
went straight for the cobra. out
8. In a clearing beneath the banyan clearing: an open
space in a forest
tree, in bright sunshine, they came where there are
face to face. The cobra knew only too no trees
well that the grey mongoose, three
feet long, was a superb fighter, clever
and aggressive. But the cobra, too,
was a skilful and experienced fighter.
He could move swiftly and strike with sacs: a part (of an
the speed of light; and the sacs animal or plant)
behind his long sharp fangs were full shaped like a bag
fangs: long sharp
of deadly poison. It was to be a battle teeth (of a snake
of champions. or dog)

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128 HONEYSUCKLE

9. Hissing defiance, his forked tongue defiance: rebellion;

resistance
darting in and out, the cobra raised
dart: move quickly,
three of his six feet off the ground, and suddenly
spread his broad, spectacled hood. The
mongoose bushed his tail. The long hair
on his spine stood up.
10. Though the combatants were combatants:
participants in a
unaware of my presence in the tree, they fight
were soon made aware of the arrival of
two other spectators. One was a myna, spectators: those
who watch a show,
the other a jungle crow. They had seen a game, etc.
these preparations for battle, and had
settled on the cactus to watch the outcome: result
outcome. Had they been content only
to watch, all would have been well with
both of them.

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THE BANYAN TREE 129

11. The cobra stood on the defensive,

swaying slowly from side to side, trying
to mesmerise the mongoose into making mesmerise: here,
a false move. But the mongoose knew magically persuade
a false move: an
the power of his opponent’s glassy, unwise action
unwinking eyes, and refused to meet
them. Instead he fixed his gaze at a point
just below the cobra’s hood, and opened
the attack.
12. Moving forward quickly until he was
just within the cobra’s reach, the
mongoose made a pretended move to
one side. Immediately the cobra struck.
His great hood came down so swiftly
that I thought nothing could save the
mongoose. But the little fellow jumped
neatly to one side, and darted in as
swiftly as the cobra, biting the snake
on the back and darting away again
out of reach.
13. At the same moment that the cobra
struck, the crow and the myna hurled
themselves at him, only to collide heavily
in mid-air. Shrieking insults at each
other they returned to the cactus plant.
A few drops of blood glistened on the glistened: shone
cobra’s back.
14. The cobra struck and missed. Again
the mongoose sprang aside, jumped in
and bit. Again the birds dived at the
snake, bumped into each other instead,
and returned shrieking to the safety of
the cactus.

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130 HONEYSUCKLE

15. The third round followed the same round: here, a

stage in a fight or
course as the first but with one dramatic competition
difference. The crow and the myna, still
deter mined to take part in the
proceedings, dived at the cobra; but this
time they missed each other as well as
their mark. The myna flew on and
reached its perch, but the crow tried to
pull up in mid-air and turn back. In the pull up: here, stop
second that it took the bird to do this
the cobra whipped his head back and whipped...back:
moved...back
struck with great force, his snout suddenly
thudding against the crow’s body. snout: the nose
16. I saw the bird flung nearly twenty feet and mouth of an
animal
across the garden. It fluttered about for
a while, then lay still. The myna
remained on the cactus plant, and when

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THE BANYAN TREE 131

the snake and the mongoose returned

to the fight, very wisely decided not to
inter fere again! The cobra was
weakening, and the mongoose, walking
fearlessly up to it, raised himself on his
short legs and with a lightning snap had
the big snake by the snout. The cobra
writhed and lashed about in a
frightening manner, and even coiled
itself about the mongoose, but to no to no avail: with
no success
avail. The little fellow hung grimly on,
until the snake had ceased to struggle.
He then smelt along its quivering length,
gripped it round the hood, and dragged
it into the bushes.
17. The myna dropped cautiously to
the ground, hopped about, peered
into the bushes from a safe distance,
and then, with a shrill cry of
congratulation, flew away.

RUSKIN BOND
[slightly abridged]

WORKING WITH THE TEXT

A. Complete the following sentences.

1. The old banyan tree “did not belong” to

grandfather, but only to the boy, because

——————————————————————————
——————————————————————————

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132 HONEYSUCKLE

2. The small gray squirrel became friendly when —————————

—————————————————————————————————————

3. When the boy started to bring him pieces of cake and biscuit,
the squirrel ——————————————————————————————

—————————————————————————————————————

4. In the spring, the banyan tree —————————————–, and

—————————————– would come there.

5. The banyan tree served the boy as a —————————————–—–

—————————————————————————————————————

6. The young boy spent his afternoons in the tree —————————

————–—————————————–—————————————–———–––—

B. Answer the following questions.

1. “It was to be a battle of champions.”(8)

(i) What qualities did the two champions have? Pick out words
and phrases from the paragraph above this line in the text
and write them down.

Mongoose Cobra

(a) ________________ (a) ________________

(b) ________________ (b) ________________

(c) ________________ (c) ________________

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THE BANYAN TREE 133

(ii) What did the cobra and the mongoose do, to show
their readiness for the fight?
2. Who were the other two spectators? What did they do? (Did
they watch, or did they join in the fight?) (10)

3. Read the descriptions below of what the snake did and what the
mongoose did. Arrange their actions in the proper order. (11, 16)

(i) ceased to struggle l grabbed the snake by

the snout
(ii) tried to mesmerise l dragged the snake into
the mongoose the bushes
(iii) coiled itself around l darted away and bit the
the mongoose cobra on the back
(iv) struck the crow l pretended to attack the
cobra on one side
(v) struck again and l refused to look into the
missed snake’s eyes
(vi) struck on the side l sprang aside, jumped in
that the mongoose and bit
pretended to attack

4. (i) What happened to the crow in the end? (16)

(ii) What did the myna do finally? (17)

WORKING WITH LANGUAGE

A. 1. The word ‘round’ usually means a kind of shape. What is its

meaning in the story?
2. Find five words in the following paragraph, which are generally
associated with trees. But here, they have been used differently.
Underline the words.

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134 HONEYSUCKLE

Hari leaves for work at nine every morning. He works in

the local branch of the firm of which his uncle is the owner.
Hari’s success is really the fruit of his own labour. He is
happy, but he has a small problem. The root cause of his
problem is a stray dog near his office. The dog welcomes
Hari with a loud bark every day.

B. The words in the box are all words that describe movement. Use
them to fill in the blanks in the sentences below.

dived gliding sprang darting

whipped...back delving

1. When he began to trust me, the squirrel began —————————

into my pockets for morsels of cake.

2. I saw a cobra ———————————out of a clump of cactus.

3. The snake hissed, his forked tongue ———————————— in

and out.

4. When the cobra tried to bite it, the mongoose ——————————

aside.

5. The snake ——————————— his head ——————————— to

strike at the crow.

6. The birds ——————————— at the snake.

C. Find words in the story, which show things striking violently

against each other.

1. The cobra struck the crow, his snout th — — — ing against its
body. (15)

2. The crow and the myna c — ll — — — — in mid-air. (13)

3. The birds dived at the snake, but b — — — — d into each

other instead. (14)

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THE BANYAN TREE 135

D. Look at these sentences.

• In the spring, birds of all • Grandfather, at sixty-five,

kinds would flock into the could no longer climb the
banyan tree’s branches. banyan tree.
• I would spend the afternoons • I could hide myself in its
there. branches.
• I could look down through the
leaves at the world below.
• I could read there.

‘Would’ tells us what the ‘Could’ tells us what the

author used to do, or what author was usually able to
used to happen. do, or grandfather is now
not able to do.

Choose would and could to replace the italicised words in the following
sentences.
Grandfather says, in the old days,
1. elephants were able to fly in the sky, like clouds. They were
also able to change their shapes. They used to fly behind
clouds and frighten them. People used to look up at the sky
in wonder.
2. because there was no electricity, he used to get up with the
sun, and he used to go to bed with the sun, like the birds.
3. like the owl, he was able to see quite well in the dark. He was
able to tell who was coming by listening to their footsteps.

SPEAKING
Look at these sentences.
l The tree was older than Grandfather.
l Grandfather was sixty-five years old.
How old was the tree? Can you guess?

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136 HONEYSUCKLE

l The tree was as old as Dehra Dun itself.

Suppose Dehra Dun is 300 years old. How old is the tree?
When two things are the same in some way, we use as...as.
Here is another set of examples.
l Mr Sinha is 160 centimetres tall.
l Mr Gupta is 180 centimetres tall.
l Mrs Gupta is 160 centimetres tall
Mrs Gupta is as tall as Mr Sinha.
Use the words in the box to speak about the people and the things
below, using as...as or -er than

tall – taller cold – colder hot – hotter

strong – stronger short – shorter

(Notice that in the word ‘hot’, the letter ‘t’ is doubled when -er is added.)

1. Heights

Zeba (155cm) Ruby (150cm) Rani (155cm)

————————————————————————————————————————
————————————————————————————————————————
2. Weight Lifters

Vijay (50kg) Akshay (50kg) Anwar (65kg)

————————————————————————————————————————
————————————————————————————————————————

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THE BANYAN TREE 137

3. City Temperatures

Shimla (60) Gangtok (60) Srinagar (20)

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4. Lengths

Romi’s pencil Mona’s pencil Raja’s pencil

(3 inches long) (5 inches long) (3 inches long)

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5. City Temperatures

Delhi (430) Chennai (390) Nagpur (430)

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2020-21
138 HONEYSUCKLE

WRITING

‘My Favourite Place’

Read again the paragraphs of the story in which the author
describes the banyan tree, and what he used to do there. Is
there a place in your house, or in your grandparents’ or uncles’
or aunts’ houses, that you specially like? Write a short paragraph
about it, saying
• where it is
• what you do there
• why you like it
You may instead write about a place you dislike, or are afraid of.

Know Your Country

Answers

1. The Mahanadi.
Measuring 4800 metres, the Hirakud Dam is the
largest in the country.
2. Tamil Nadu.
The merger of the Arabian sea, the Bay of Bengal and
the Indian ocean at this point is an unforgettable
spectacle.
3. Ten Degree Channel.

2020-21