Part I
A boy who came to live with his grandparents became the owner of a large old banyan tree that housed squirrels, snails and butterflies. A squirrel became his friend on the tree. They became so friendly that the squirrel started taking tit bits of food from his hand. In spring, the tree was the noisiest place in the garden with a variety of birds chirruping on it. The boy made a rough platform on which he used to sit and read adventurous books during hot summers. From here, he also watched the world under the tree. One day he watched a fight between a mongoose and a cobra while sitting on the tree.
Part II
Because of the hot summer everyone was indoors. The boy was thinking of going to the pond and have a swim with the buffaloes and Ramu. Suddenly, a huge black cobra and a mongoose came out. The cobra was aware of the superb fighting skills of the mongoose. However, the cobra was no less. He was also fast and had sharp fangs of deadly poison. None of them knew that the boy was watching them. Other than the boy, two other spectators, a myna and a crow were also watching them from the clump of cactus. The mongoose opened the attack. The crow and the myna also joined them in the fight and attacked at each other in the air but returned safely to the cactus twice. The third time, the myna returned safely but the crow was hit by the cobra. The injured crow fell on the ground. The fight between the mongoose and the snake was still continued. Finally, the mongoose defeated the snake. The snake resigned and stopped struggling. The mongoose dragged and pushed it inside the bushes. The myna was watching all this. It gave a congratulatory shrill and flew away.
Page No 131:
Question A:
A. Complete the following sentences.
1. The old banyan tree “did not belong” to grandfather, but only to the boy, because
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
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
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
ANSWER:
1. The old banyan tree “did not belong” to grandfather, but only to the boy, because the grandfather at sixty-five could no longer climb it.
2. The small grey squirrel became friendly when he found that the boy did not arm himself with catapult or air-gun.
3. When the boy started to bring him pieces of cake and biscuit, the squirrel grew quite bold and was soon taking morsels from the author’s hand.
4. In the spring, the banyan tree was full of small red figs, and birds of all kind would come there.
5. The banyan tree served the boy as a library.
6. The young boy spent his afternoons in the tree when it was not too hot.
Page No 132:
Question B:
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) ___________
(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
Grabbed the snake by the snout
(ii)
Tried to mesmerise 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
(v)
Struck on the side that the mongoose pretended to attack
Sprang aside, jumped in and bit
4. (i) What happened to the crow in the end? (16)
(ii) What did the myna do finally? (17)
ANSWER:
1.
(i)
Mongoose
Cobra
(a) superb fighter
(a) skilful
(b) clever
(b) experienced
(c) aggressive
(c) swift
(ii) To show its readiness for the fight, the cobra hissed defiance, its forked tongue darting in and out. It raised three of its six feet off the ground, and spread its broad, spectacled hood. The bushing of its tail and the standing up of the long hair on its spine showed that the mongoose was also ready for the fight.
2. The other two spectators were a crow and a myna. They settled on a cactus to watch the outcome. But they did not just watch. They tried to join the fight by hurling themselves at the cobra.
3.
Snake
Mongoose
(ii) Tried to mesmerise the mongoose
Refused to look into the snake’s eyes
(vi) Struck on the side that the mongoose pretended to attack
Pretended to attack the cobra on one side
(v) Struck again and missed
Sprang aside jumped in and bit
(iv) Struck the crow
Darted away and bit the cobra on the back
(iii) Coiled itself around the mongoose
Grabbed the snake by the snout
(i) Ceased to struggle
Dragged the snake into the bushes
4.
(i) In the end, the crow was flung nearly twenty feet across the garden by a blow from the cobra’s snout. The crow fluttered about for a while and then lay still.
(ii) Finally, 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.
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