- Read the following poem.
The Wind
Who has seen the wind?
Neither I nor you;
But when the leaves hang trembling
The wind is passing through.
Who has seen the wind?
Neither you nor l;
But when the trees bow down their heads
The wind is passing by.
(a) Answer the following questions.
(i) Has the poetess seen the wind?
Answer – No, the poetess has not seen the wind.
(ii) How does the poetess know that the wind is passing by?
Answer – The poetess knows the wind is passing by when the leaves hang trembling and the trees bow down their heads.
(b) Match the following with their correct meanings.
(i) leaves hang trembling
✓ leaves shake because of wind
(ii) trees bow down their head
✓ trees bend because of wind
- Read the passage: Plants and Music
Most of us know that plants have life. But very few of us know that plants can hear too! In 1960 an Indian scientist working on plants found that plants responded to music and grew taller and stronger than plants that grew without any music. The scientist noticed that rice growing in paddy fields grew strong, healthy and produced more when Indian music was played to them. In most cases harvests went up between 25 and 60 per cent! Later, a scientist in the USA tried to find out what kind of music plants prefer. To her surprise, she found that the plants did not like rock music at all. In fact all her plants died when a shrill rock number was played. On the other hand, her plants. loved classical music, especially Indian classical, and some plants even flowered when soft jazz music was played.
(a) Write (T) for true and (F) for false statements.
(i) Plants can hear. T
(ii) Plants that grew with music did not seem to be any different from those that grew without music. F
(iii) A scientist in the USA found that her plants preferred rock music. F
(iv) Some plants flowered when Indian music was played to them. F
(b) Answer the following questions.
(i) What happened to the rice in the paddy field when music was played to it over a period of time?
Answer – The rice grew strong, healthy, and produced more, with harvests increasing between 25 and 60 percent.
(ii) What kind of music did the plants like?
Answer – The plants liked classical music, especially Indian classical, and some even flowered with soft jazz music.
(c) Choose and tick (✓) the most appropriate title for the passage.
(i) Indian Music ☐
(ii) Plants ☐
(iii) I Can Hear You! ☐
(iv) Music for Plants ✓
- Read the following poem.
The Cow
The friendly cow all red and white,
I love with all my heart.
She gives me cream with all her might,
To eat with apple-tart.
She wanders lowing here and there,
And yet she cannot stray,
All in the pleasant open air,
The pleasant light of day;
And blown by all the winds that pass
And wet with all the showers,
She walks among the meadow grass
And eats the meadow flowers.
-R. L. Stevenson
(a) Tick (✓) the correct option.
(i) The colour of the cow is-
black and white ☐
red and white ✓
brown and white ☐
(ii) The poet gets from the cow.
apple-tart ☐
apples ☐
cream ✓
(iii) The cow has for its food-
cream ☐
meadow flowers ✓
meadow grass ☐
(b) Match the words with their meanings.
(i) might ✓ power
(ii) wander ✓ to move here and there
(iii) lowing ✓ making a low noise
(iv) stray ✓ to lose way
(c) Fill in the blanks.
The poet finds the cow to be a friendly creature. He enjoys the cream from its milk with apple-tart. He feels that the cow wanders here and there in all kinds of weather but does not stray. The cow enjoys the open air and the pleasant light of day. It even bears the blowing winds and also gets wet in the showers. But in spite of all this, the cow continues to walk in the meadow grass eating the meadow flowers.
- Read the following passage.
The Chameleon
The chameleon is a strange looking lizard that moves very slowly. But this slow movement is only to befool its prey. It can actually catch and swallow its prey in one twenty-fifths of a second! The chameleon is also famous for changing its colour according to the background, making it impossible for people to spot it. It changes its colour with the help of special colour cells on its skin. These cells can help it look green, brown or beige, according to the surroundings. Another surprising feature of this creature is that it can move its two eyes independently in any direction. And when it spots an insect, its tongue, which is almost as long as its body, shoots at an amazing speed and catches the prey and pulls it into its mouth in less time than it takes us to blink!
(a) Answer the following questions.
(i) Why does the chameleon move very slowly?
Answer – The chameleon moves very slowly to befool its prey.
(ii) Pick lines from the text that suggest that the chameleon can hunt its prey very fast.
Answer – “It can actually catch and swallow its prey in one twenty-fifths of a second!” and “its tongue… shoots at an amazing speed and catches the prey and pulls it into its mouth in less time than it takes us to blink!”
(iii) Why is it difficult to spot a chameleon?
Answer – It is difficult to spot a chameleon because it changes its colour according to the background using special colour cells on its skin.
(iv) What is special about the chameleon’s eyes?
Answer – The chameleon can move its two eyes independently in any direction.
(b) Find words from the passage which mean the opposite of the following:
(i) fast – Slowly
(ii) possible – impossible
(iii) ordinary – strange
(iv) short – long
(c) Match the words in Column A with their correct meaning in Column B.
(i) locate ✓ to spot
(ii) characteristic ✓ feature
(iii) pace ✓ speed
- Read the story: “The Geese and the Tortoise”
(a) Tick (✓) the correct option.
(i) Where did the geese decide to go?
to another jungle ☐
to another lake ✓
to a village ☐
(ii) How did the geese hold the stick?
with their beaks ✓
with their claws ☐
on their wings ☐
(iii) Why did the tortoise fall down?
the stick broke ☐
the geese left the stick and flew away ☐
the tortoise opened its mouth ✓
(b) Answer the following questions.
(i) Why did the geese and the tortoise have to leave their lake?
Answer – They had to leave because the lake started drying up as summer approached, and they could not live without water.
(ii) What was the plan proposed by the geese?
Answer – The geese proposed to hold a stick in their beaks from both sides, with the tortoise holding it in its mouth from the center, allowing them to fly together.
(iii) What did the first goose warn the tortoise against?
Answer – The first goose warned the tortoise not to open its mouth or speak, or else it would fall and die.
(iv) Why did the tortoise open its mouth?
Answer – The tortoise opened its mouth because it got angry when people on the ground made fun of it.
(c) Use the following words in sentences to show two meanings each.
(i) leave
I will leave the room now. (to go away)
The trees leave their leaves in autumn. (to produce or shed)
(ii) fly
Birds fly in the sky. (to move through the air)
Time seems to fly when I’m happy. (to pass quickly)
(iii) stick
I found a stick in the garden. (a piece of wood)
The glue will stick the paper together. (to adhere)