NCERT Solutions Class 6 English honeysuckle Chapter 10 The Banyan Tree

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________
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.

B. Answer the following questions.

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

(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)_____

Ans.

Mongoose	Cobra
(a) Superb fighter	(a) Skilful
(b) Clever	(b) Experienced
(c) Aggressive	(c) Swift

(ii) What did the cobra and the mongoose do, to show their readiness for the fight?

Ans. To show their 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. Who were the other two spectators? What did they do? (Did they watch, or did they join in the fight?

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

Ceased to struggle	Grabbed the snake by the snout
Tried to mesmerise the mongoose	Dragged the snake into the bushes
Coiled itself around the mongoose	Darted away and bit the cobra on the back
Struck the crow	Pretended to attack the cobra on one side
Struck again and missed	Refused to look into the snake’s eyes
Struck on the side that the mongoose pretended to attack	Sprang aside, jumped in and bit

Ans.

Tried to mesmerise the mongoose	Refused to look into the snake’s eyes
Struck on the side that the mongoose pretended to attack	Pretended to attack the cobra on one side
Struck again and missed	Sprang aside jumped in and bit
Struck the crow	Darted away and bit the cobra on the back
Coiled itself around the mongoose	Grabbed the snake by the snout
Ceased to struggle	Dragged the snake into the bushes

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

Ans. 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) What did the myna do finally?

Ans. 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.

Working with language

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

Ans. In the story the word ‘round’ means the different stages of the fight between the cobra and the mongoose.

(ii) 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 and bark.

Qus 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.

Ans.  

1. When he began to trust me, the squirrel began delving into my pockets for morsels of cake.
2. I saw a cobra gliding out of a clump of trees.
3. The snake hissed, his forked tongue darting in and out.
4. When the cobra tried to bite it, the mongoose sprang aside.
5. The snake whipped his head back to strike at the crow.
6. The birds dived at the snake.

Qus. 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.
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.

Ans.

1. The cobra struck the crow, his snout thudding against its body.
2. The crow and the myna collided in mid – air.
3. The birds dived at the snake, but bumped into each other instead.

Qus. D.

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 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.

Ans. Grandfather says, in the old days,

1. Elephants could fly in the sky like clouds. They could change their shapes. They would fly behind clouds and frighten them. People would look up at the sky and wonder.
2. Because there was no electricity, he would get up with the 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.

Get NCERT Solutions for Class 6 English Honeysuckle All Chapters From Below

Chapter	Name
1	Who Did Patrick’s Homework
2	How the Dog Found Himself a New Master
3	Taros Reward
4	An Indian American Woman in Space
5	A Different Kind of School
6	Who I Am
7	Fair Play
8	A Game of Chance
9	Desert Animals
10	The Banyan Tree

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