NCERT Solutions Class 6th English (Honeysuckle) Chapter – 8 The Banyan Tree Question & Answer

NCERT Solutions Class 6th English (Honeysuckle) Chapter – 8 The Banyan Tree

NCERT Solutions Class 6th English (Honeysuckle) Chapter – 8 The Banyan Tree

Chapter – 8

The Banyan Tree

Question & Answer

Working with the text (Page 131-133)

A. Complete the following sentences.

1. The old banyan tree “did not belong” to the grandfather, but only to the boy, because _____________________________.

Answer – the old man was not strong enough to climb it.

2. The small gray squirrel became friendly when__________________________.

Answer – it found that the boy carried no catapult or air/gun in his hand.

3. When the boy started to bring him pieces of cake and biscuit, the squirrel

Answer – became bold enough to take pieces of food from his hand.

4. In the spring, the banyan tree ___________________________________, and ________________________ would come there.

Answer – was full of small red figs, birds of all kinds.

5. The banyan tree served the boy as a__________________________________ .

Answer – reading room where he had made a rough platform to sit and read books.

6. The young boy spent his afternoons in the tree________________________.

Answer – leaning against the tree, reading story books.

B. 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.

Answer –

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

Answer – 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.

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

Answer –

4. (i) What happened to the crow in the end? 
Answer – In the end, the crow got bitten by the cobra and it fell dead.

(ii) What did the myna do finally? 
Answer – The myna flew to the ground, looked into the bushes, gave a shrill cry and flew away.

Working with language (Page 133-135)

A. 1. The word ‘round’ usually means a kind of shape. What is its meaning in the story?
Answer – The word ‘round’ in the story means ‘the second course of a fight’.

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.

Answer – leaves, branch, fruit, root, bark.

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. 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

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.

Answer – 1. thudding
2. collided
3. bumped

D. Look at these sentences.

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.

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.

Speaking (Page 135-137)

Writing (Page 138)

‘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 especially 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.

Answer – My favourite place in the house is either the balcony or the cemented platform built round the stem of the peepal tree. I use to sit in the balcony to enjoy the sunshine on winter days and the cool breeze on summer mornings.

I learn my lessons and even do my homework there. I like it because it is an isolated, quiet and open place.

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