Solution of Chapter 10. The Banyan Tree (NCERT English - Honeysuckle Book)

Chapter Exercises

Working with the text
Working with Language
Speaking
Writing

Working with the text

1

The old banyan tree “did not belong” to grandfather, but only to the boy, because _________________
1

The small gray squirrel became friendly when ______________.
1

When the boy started to bring him pieces of cake and biscuit the squirrel ___________________.
1

In the spring, the banyan tree __________________, and ______________ would come there.
1

The banyan tree served the boy as a _____________________.
1

The young boy spent his afternoons in the tree ____________________.
2

“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) ____________



(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)
2

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



● grabbed the snake by the snout



(ii) tried to mesmerize the mongoose



● dragged the snake into the bushes



(iii) coiled itself around the mongoose



● darted away and bit the cobra on the back



(iv) struck the crow



● pretended to attack the Cobra on one side



(v) struck again and missed



● refused to look into the snake’s eyes



(vi) struck on the side that the mongoose pretended to attack



● sprang aside, jumped in and bit
2

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

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

Working with Language

1

The word ‘round’ usually means a kind of shape. What is its meaning in the story?
1

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

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.
2

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.
3

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)
4

Look at these sentences.


● In the spring, birds of all kinds would flock into the banyan tree’s branches.


● I would spend the afternoons there.



● Grandfather, at sixty-five, could no longer climb the banyan tree.


● I could hide myself in its branches


I could look down through the leaves at the world below.


● I could read there.



‘Would’ tells us what the author used to do, or what used to happen.



‘Could’ tells us what the author was usually able to do, or grandfather is now not able to do.



Choose would and could to replace the italicized 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

1

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


______________


2. Weight Lifters


_____________


3. City temperatures


______________


4. Lengths


______________


5. City Temperatures


______________

Writing

1

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 especially 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.