The Banyan Tree – NCERT Solutions

Q. Complete the following sentences.

1. The old banyan tree “did not belong” to the 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 man was not strong enough to climb it.
2. it found that the boy carried no catapult or air/gun in his hand .
3. became bold enough to take pieces of food from his hand.
4. was full of small red figs, birds of all kinds.
5. reading room where he had made a rough platform to sit and read books.
6. leaning against the tree, reading story books.

Q. 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.

Answer

Mongoose

1. a great fighter
2. very clever and swift
3. made calculated move

Cobra

1. skilled and experienced champion fighter
2. had a broad hood and poisonous teeth
3. swift in speed and attack

Q. What did the cobra and the mongoose do, to show their readiness for the fight?

Ans. The cobra produced a hissing sound to challenge the mongoose to a fight. It raised three feet of its body off the ground. It spread its broad hood. The mongoose bushed its tail. The long hair on its back also stood up.

Q. Who were the other two spectators? What did they do? (Did they watch, or did they join in the fight?)

Ans. In addition to the narrator, the two other onlookers of the fight were a myna and a wild crow. First of all they sat on the cactus plant to watch the outcome of the fight. In the end they took part in the game. Both tried to pick up the cobra for their meal. The crow got bitten and died. The mongoose dragged the snake away into the bushes. The myna also flew away.

Q. Read the descriptions below of what the snake did and what the mongoose did. Arrange their actions in the proper order.

(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 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

Answer

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 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

Q. What happened to the crow in the end?

Ans. In the end the crow got bitten by the cobra and it fell dead.

Q. What did the myna do finally?

Ans. The myna flew to the ground, looked into the bushes, gave a shrill cry and flew away.

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

Ans. The word ‘round’ in the story means ‘the second course of fight’.

Q. 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.

Ans. Leaves, branch, fruit, root, bark.

Q. 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.

Answer

1. delving / to delve
2. gliding
3. darting / darted
4. sprang
5. whipped, back
6. dived

Q. 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.
2. The crow and the myna c _ ll _ _ _ _ in mid-air.
3. The birds dived at the snake, but b _ _ _ _ d into each other instead

Answer

1. thudding
2. collided
3. bumped

Q. Choose would and could to replace the italicised words in the following sentences.

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.

Answer

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