Read the following passage and answer the questions given below it:
Many years ago there lived a farmer who was very cunning. He had never
made use of a certain little hill which stood on his land, and one day, he made
up his mind to plough its grassy slopes to make a new field.
No sooner had he begun to work than a dwarf appeared and, in a very
angry voice, demanded to know why the farmer was ploughing up the roof of
his house.
The farmer explained that he wished to plough the ground in order to
grow crops and tried hard to persuade the little man to allow him to go on
peacefully with his work.
“No,” said the dwarf. “I will not have my roof broken up, and my sleep
disturbed.”
“Don’t you see,” said the farmer, “that if I grow food on this land, we shall
both be better off? Look here, let me use the ground. I will do all the work and
I promise that you shall have a share of the crops I grow. The first year you
shall have all that grows below the ground and I will have what grows above it.
The next year you shall have all that grows above and I will take what grows
below.”
This seemed quite fair to the dwarf and he allowed the farmer to
plough the ground. But the artful farmer grew wheat on the land the first year
and groundnuts the next.
Q.1 Who are the main characters in this story?
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Q.2 What did the farmer promise the dwarf?
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Q.3 What shows that the farmer was very cunning?
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Q.4 Write from the passage phrases that mean :
i) decided ii) be in a better situation.
Ans. i. __________________ ii. _____________________________
Q.5 i) The dwarf said, “I will not have my roof broken up.”
(Rewrite in indirect speech)
ii) Let me use the ground. (Rewrite as a question.)
Q.6 What kind of a story is this? Explain your point of view.
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COMPREHENSION
Read the following passage and answer the questions given below it :
Frank’s favourite subject was science. With the passage of time, he grew more and more
interested in reading various scientific journals. Not only this, after reading about science-
related matters, he would try to perform various experiments.
Frank’s hard work and determination brought him success one day. He had found out the
cause behind lightning and thunder during rain. Now he knew that thinking them to be
caused by God’s fury was just superstition and nothing else!
One day Frank told some people, “You think that the thunder and lightning occur only
when God is angry? It is not so. It happens when water-filled clouds collide with each
other!”
But instead of believing Frank they started ridiculing him.
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1. How did Frank finally achieve success?
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2. Write two things that Frank did because of his interest in science.
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3. ‘Now he knew that thinking them to be caused by God’s fury was just superstition and
nothing else!’ What is the ‘them’ referred to in this sentence?
Ans.
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4. Write from the passage :
i) one word that means ‘to hit something violently’ and
ii) one phrase that means ‘made him successful’.
Ans. i)________________________________
ii)_____________________________________
5. i) With the passage of time, he grew more and more interested in reading various
journals.
(Rewrite using ‘passed’ in place of the noun ‘passage’.)
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ii) He had found out the cause behind lightning and thunder. (Add a question tag).
Ans.
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6. What is your opinion about superstition?
Ans.
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JOINING WORDS
Join these sentences using the words and, but, because or so.
1. Indians fought the British. They wanted to be free.
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2. Britain was dumping its goods in the Indian market. Indian industries could not grow and
develop.
3. Jawaharlal Nehru became the first Prime Minister of India. Indira Gandhi became the
third Prime Minister of India.
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4. Indira could not really remember her life in Anand Bhavan. She could remember vividly
the time they burnt their foreign clothes.
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5. Indira’s grandfather took her to the bonfire. She fell asleep.
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6. She refused the dress the visitor brought. She knew this was the right thing to do.
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7. She loved her doll passionately. It was very difficult for her to give it up.
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8. Indira always hated striking a match. It reminded her of her beloved doll.
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VERBS – TENSE
Verbs written in the present tense tell us what is happening now.
Verbs written in the past tense tell us what has already happened.
All the verbs in this passage are in the past tense because they tell us about something that
happened a long time ago.
Rewrite the passage changing all the underlined verbs to the present tense.
As he approached the wood he slowed down, and then stepping softly, he wound his way
in and out among the trees. He saw the animals gathered round the pool.
He smelt the poison. Then he knew everything. The unicorn knelt beside the pool,
lowered his head and dipped his long pointed horn into the water, deeper and deeper, until
it was completely covered. He waited a moment and then slowly lifted his horn out of the
water. He stood up. His magical horn had done its work. The poison was gone. The water
fresh and pure again.
As he approaches the wood he slows down,______________________________________________
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Underline the verbs in this passage and change them for the present tense to the past
tense.
These little people live underground in grand palaces. They have hoards of fairy treasure.
They wear green cloaks and red caps. They are good musicians and at night they come out
and sing and dance. If they see humans they catch them and keep them underground.
Sometimes they fly into the sky and hide behind the stars.
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