A Hero

CHECK YOUR UNDERSTANDING :

"Share your responses"

(Refer to Text Page No. 3 & 4):

1. Swami's father drew his attention to

a report in the newspaper. What

was the report about ?

Ans : It was about the bravery of a village

boy who came face to face with a

tiger

2. The report said that the boy (who

fought with the tiger) stayed on the

tree for half-a-day. Why did he do

so? (Choose the right answer)

a. He wanted to watch the tiger from

the top of a tree.

b. He wanted someone to kill the tiger.

c. He wanted to take rest for some time.

Ans : (b) He wanted someone to kill the

tiger.

3. Swami said that a very strong and

grown-up person might have fought

with a tiger. Do you think he made

this remark out of his

(a) experience (b) wisdom

(c) belief?

Choose the most appropriate word)

Ans : (c) belief.

"Can you prove you have courage?”

Swami's father said, (Answer the

following questions)

(a) Was he joking ? Or Serious ?

(b) Was it a challenge ? Or a command ?

Ans : (a) He was serious.

(b) It was a challenge.

5. The place where Swami usually slept

was ... (Fill in the blank) -

Ans: beside his granny in the passage.

6. What is disgraceful, according to

Swami's father ?

Ans : According to swami's father, it is

disgraceful for Swami sleeping beside

his granny or mother like a baby.

(Refer to Text Page No. 5 & 6):

1. What do you think was the practice

of granny before she went to bed ?

Ans: Swami's granny used to tell stories

to Swami before she went to bed.

2. Was Swami really sleeping? Or was

he pretending ?

Ads: He was pretending.

3. To Swami, his father looked like an

...... (Fill in the blank).

Ans: apparition.

Why do you think Swami looked at

his granny and his mother while

following his father to the room ?

Ans: Because he thinks that they may

help him or prevent his father from

taking him.

5. "There might be scorpions behind

your law books,” said Swami.

a Had he seen them earlier ? Or were

there scorpions really ?

b. Was it a trick to escape from his

father ?

Ans: (a) He had not seen any scorpions.

(b) It was a trick played by Swami to

escape from his father.

(Refer to Text Page No. 7);

1. Swami wished that the tiger hadn't

spared the boy, which means .........

(choose the right answer)

a. he didn't want the boy to be alive.

b. he didn't want the tiger to be alive.

Ans: a) he didn't want the boy to be alive.

2. As silence deepened in the room,

what was Swami reminded of ?

Ans: He remembered all the stories of

devils and ghosts he had heard in

hi his life.

3. Which place in the room did Swami

think was safe, compact and

reassuring ?

Ans: Swami got up and spread his bed

under the bench so that he could

save himself from the eyes of the

ghosts.

4. Swami touched ............ in the room

. instead of granny. (fill in the blank

appropriately)

Ans: the wooden leg of the bench.

5. Swami saw a moving creature in the

room. Was it .

a. his shadow ? b. a scorpion ?

C. a man?

(Fill in the blank)

Ans: (c) a man ?

(Refer to Text Page No. 9):

Who cried, “Aiyo! Something has

bitten me?"

Ans: The burglar cried out.

2. Who did father, cook and a servant

stumble upon ?

Ans: They stumbled upon a burglar.

3. Why were congratulations showered

on Swami ?

Ans: Because Swami had bitten into the

flesh of one of the most notorious

house-breakers of the district. He

was caught. For this reason

congratulations were showered upon.

Do you think Swami really wanted

to join the police? If not, what did

he want to be ?

Ans: No. Swami didn't really want to join

the police. Actually he wanted to be

an engine driver, a railway guard, or

a bus conductor.

5. Did Swami muster up courage to

sleep alone after the burglar's

incident?

Ans: No. Swami didn't muster up courage

to sleep alone after the burglar's

incident.

6. Who supported Swami – His mother

or his granny ?

Ans: Swami's mother supported Swami.

THINK ABOUT THE TEXT:

(Refer to Text Page No. 9):

1. A report about a boy in the

newspaper was an unexpected event

in Swami's life. Justify.

Ans: When Swami's father read

about the boy who came face to face with

a tiger and high flight up the tree, Swami

didn't believe this. He asked his father

how a boy could fight a tiger. His father

talked about the courage. The boy had

and asked Swami to sleep in his office

alone if he had courage. This forced

Swami to sleep alone. In the end, he bit

the leg of the burglar thinking that he bit

the leg of the ghost. Then came his

father, cook and a servant and caught

hold of the burglar. The police inspector

praised the bravery of his Swami.

2. Swami made a comment on the

newspaper report. Was he right?

How did his view differ from that of

his father ?

Ans: When Swami's father talked

about the bravery of the boy, Swami told

that the boy must have even very strong

person but not a boy out of all. He

further asked how a boy could fight with

a tiger. Then his father told him that

courage is everything and strength and

age are not important. Swami didn't agree

with this, and asked his father what he

could do if a tiger should attack him.

3. What desperate attempts did Swami

make to escape from his father ?

Ans: At first, Swami slept early and

made wild) gesticulations to silence his

grandmother. He snored but his father

came and told him to get up.

4. Why did. Swami conclude that his

father's proposition was frightful ?

Ans: Swami's father told Swami to

sleep alone in his office room but Swami

found it a frightful proposition because

he had always slept beside his

grandmother in the passage and he didn't

like to have any change.

5. As the night advanced, Swami to

that something terrible would happen

to him. What would it be? How

would it happen?

Ans: Swami's heart beat faster. He

remembered all the stories of devils and

ghosts he had heard from his friends. He

brought to his mind all what his friends

had said and seen about the devils of

whom they had seen in the banyan tree

He expected that the devils would come

up and carry him.

6. There was absolute silence in the

room. In spite of it, some noises

reached Swami's ears. What were

they?

Ans: Swami heard all kinds of noises

namely the ticking off the clock, rustle of

trees, snoring sounds and some vague

night insects humming.

7. Narrate Swami's dreadful experience

when he was lying under the bench.

Ans: When Swami slept under the

bench, he was racked with nightmares of

tiger was chasing him and he tried to

escape but he couldn't move. He could

see the tiger scratching its claws on the

ground and heard a loud thud. Swami

groaned in despair. At last he opened his

eyes and saw something moving down.

He gazed at it with horror. He thought it

would be the ghost. It was almost do or

die point to him. So he gathered up all

his courage and bit the leg of a man who

made agonising cry, then came Swami's

father and caught the man who was a

burglar.

8. How was Swami honoured by his

classmates, teacher and the

headmaster?

Ans: swami's classmates looked at

Swami with all the respect. His teachers

praised him. They patted his buck. The

hear master called Swami as a true scout.

9. Why did father want Swami to sleep

alone in the office room?

Ans: Swami's father to prove that

courage is everything, strength and age

are not important. He wanted his son to

have courage to sleep alone. He also told

Swami that it was disgraceful sleeping

beside his grandmother or mother like a

baby, as he was in the second form and

he didn't like the way he was being

brought up.

who do you think was wiser, Swami

or his father? Justify your preference.

Ans: Swami's father is wiser.

because he wanted his son to have

courage and be bold. But Swami

considered it as a frightful proposition.

But he was made to sleep alone which

helped him to catch a burglar in the end.

So the purpose of his father is served.

When Swami gathered all his might, he

could act. So his father is wiser.

Why did Swami feel relieved at the

end?

Ans: At last Swami could sleep

beside his grandmother and his father

gave up his idea of telling him to sleep

alone again because Swami's mother

objected strongly.

12. Suppose you are Swami of the story.

Write a brief letter to your friend

describing how you helped to catch

a burglar in your house.

Ans:

My dear friend Arun,

I am well here and hope the same

from you. How are your parents? How is

your study going on? Now, I would like to

tell you an interesting thing which made

me a hero for sometime.

As you know, I always sleep beside

my granny but my father objected strongly

and made me to sleep in his office room

alone. I was frightened but could sleep

and I experience a lot of nightmares.

was afraid of ghosts. When I opened my

eyes, I could see a shadow coming towards

me. I thought it was a devil. Ten it was a

do or die point for me. So I bit the leg of

the man (thinking it was ghost) who cried

and was caught by his father. The shadow

was the real burglar. I was honoured by

my friends, teachers and headmaster and

the police department. This incident made

me a hero.

Now as usual, I sleep beside my

grandmother. I will tell you more about

this when you come here. Please reply

me about my experience.

My regards to your parents,

Yours loving friend,

Swami.

13. Some words describing the

characters of the story 'A Hero' are

given in brackets. Put them in the

appropriate columns.

(caring, protective, innocent, tricky,

authoritative, disciplined, helpless,

nervous)

Ans:

Swami's father ------: authoritative, disciplined.

Mother ---------: caring, helpless

Granny------------------nervous, protective

Swami ------------------ innocent, tricky

ENRICH YOUR VOCABULARY

C

Task 1. Homophones - Homophones

are words that sound the same

e but have different meanings

a nd different spellings.

* Fill in the blanks with appropriate

word.

1. We had__________many apples to carry. (too/two)

Ans: too

2. I.....................a horse at the Marina Beach. (road/rode)

Ans: rode

3. Did you have a.................for lunch? (pear/pair)

Ans: pear

4. The books are over....................on the shelf. (their/there)

Ans: there

Task 2. Fill in the blanks with

choosing the appropriate word

and complete the story.

Ans: This is a story told by a

knight. Once he received a letter. When

he read it through, he could not believe

his own eyes. For, it was written by

none other than the queen of the land.

She asked him to meet her at a secret

place. The knight was in a fix. But he

thought of a plan to tide over this

problem. He went to the meeting place,

not alone, but along with his fair wife,

Can you guess what happened then?

Task 3: Scramble the letters to form

words. See the meaning clues

in brackets.

1. atrtefl- .................- (praise)

2. boudt.....................- (suspect)

3. ragtedy — (unhappy ending

4. гаgfen mt.................- (a piece)

5. raeti.....................- (careful)

6. c a c saiyt................ (short supply)

7. ymtsath peic—(not cruel)

Ans:

1. flatter

2. doubt

3. tragedy

4. fragment

5. alert

6. scarcity

7. sympathetic

LISTEN AND COMPREHEND

Answer the following:

1. Why do you think the audience, on

hearing the dialogue burst into

laughter?

Ans: Because the actor told his

dialogue in the reverse way.

2. Try to repeat the words as delivered

by the actor

Ans: "Stars were barking, dogs were

twinkling and thief broke the clock and

took away the wall."

3. If you had been the actor, how would

you have said it ?

Ans: "Stars twinkling, dogs were

barking, and a thief broke the wall and

took away the clock."

Use of Modals : Some sentences are given

below

a. Rewrite them beginning with the clue'

given in brackets

b. Identify the language function. One

example is given.

1. Please return my library books.

Begin with 'will....

Ans: Will you return my library books ?

Function: Permission

2. The files are heavy. I'll carry them

for you.

Begin with 'would'

Ans: Would you allow me to carry files

for you?

Function: Obligation,

3. That's your essay. Perhaps you have

no objection if I see it.

Begin with 'May_

Ans: May I see your essay ?

Function: Permission.

4. Let me switch on the fan, OK?

Begin with 'Do you_'

Ans: Do you switch on the fan ?

Function: Questioning

5. 'Bring the books to my office'

Begin with 'would_

Ans: Would you bring the books to my

office ?

Function: Command.