The Banyan Tree

AP SCERT / NCERT Solutions for Grade  6 English 
Unit 8– 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....his grandfather was sixty-five years old and could no longer climb it.

2. The small gray 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 his hand.

4. In the spring, the banyan tree ... ... was full of small red figs, and birds of all kinds would come there.

5. The banyan tree served the boy as a ... library where he had made a crude platform to sit and read books.

6. The young boy spent his afternoons in the tree ....when it was not too hot, leaning against it and reading story books.

Answer the following questions.

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) superb fighter	(a) skilful
(b) clever	(b) experienced fighter
(c) aggressive	(c) swift

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

The cobra got ready for a fight by hissing and raising its body, while the mongoose puffed up its tail and made its hair stand on end in response.

2. Who were the other two spectators? What did they do? (Did they watch, or did they join in the fight?) (10)

Two more animals, a myna and a crow, perched on a cactus to see the fight. They didn't just watch; they joined in and attacked the cobra.

3. Read the descriptions below of what the snake did and what the mongoose did. Arrange their actions in the proper order. (11, 16)

Mongoose	Snake
(ii)tried to mesmerize 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) What happened to the crow in the end?

At the fight's end, the cobra lunged, hitting the crow hard. The crow flew about briefly and then lay motionless, dead, after being struck by the cobra's powerful attack.

(ii) What did the myna do 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. 1. The word ‘round’ usually means a kind of shape. What is its meaning in the story?

The word ‘round’ in the story denotes the different courses of the fight that took place between the snake and the mongoose.

2. 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.

 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.

delving

2. I saw a cobra ———out of a clump of cactus.

gliding

3. The snake hissed, his forked tongue ———in and out.

darting

4. When the cobra tried to bite it, the mongoose ——aside.

sprang

5. The snake ——his head — to strike at the crow.

whipped...back

6. The birds —at the snake.

dived

C. Find words in the story, which show things striking violently against each other.

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.

D. Look at these sentences.

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.

Answers:

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 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.

Speaking 

1. Look at these sentences.

The tree was older than Grandfather.

Grandfather was sixty-five years old.

How old was the tree? Can you guess?

The tree was as old as Dehra Dun itself.

Suppose Dehra Dun is 300 years old. How old is the tree?

Probably, the tree was 300 years old too.

When two things are the same in some way, we use as…as.

Here is another set of examples.

Mr Sinha is 160 centimetres tall.

Mr Gupta is 180 centimetres tall.

Mrs Gupta is 160 centimetres tall

Mrs Gupta is as tall as Mr Sinha.

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.)

Images from book...

(i) Zeba is as tall as Rani.

(ii) Zeba is taller than Ruby.

(iii) Rani is taller than Ruby.

(iv) Ruby is shorter than Rani as well as Zeba.

(i) Vijay is as strong as Akshay.

(ii) Anwar is stronger than Akshay as well as Vijay.

(iii) Neither Akshay nor Vijay is as strong as Anwar.

(i) Shimla is as cold as Gangtok.

(ii) Srinagar is colder than Shimla and Gangtok.

(iii) Neither Gangtok nor Shimla is as cold as Srinagar.

(i) Romi’s pencil is as long as Raja’s pencil.

(ii) Mona’s pencil is longer than Romi’s pencil and Raja’s pencil.

(iii) Neither Romi’s pencil or Raja’s pencil is as long as Mona’s pencil.

(i) Delhi is as hot as Nagpur.

(ii) Chennai is not as hot as Delhi or Nagpur.

(iii) Delhi is hotter than Chennai.

(iv) Nagpur is hotter than Chennai.

Writing (Page 138)

1. ‘My Favourite Place’

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 specially 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.

My favorite spot in my house is the balcony connected to my bedroom. My room has a big window overlooking the garden. I stand there to see the pretty garden. In the morning, sunlight comes in and makes my room bright. Sometimes, a nice breeze comes in, making it feel fresh. I have a desk by the window where I do my schoolwork. I really like my room because I can see nature's beauty every day.

Place I Dislike

I don't like dark, spooky caves. They're scary because they're so dark, and I can't see well inside. The silence makes me nervous, and I worry about what might be hiding in there. I prefer bright and open places where I can see everything clearly.