Chapter 3.3 A Crow in the House
Textbook Questions and Answers
1. A. Find antonyms for the following from the story.
Question A.
- motionless × …………..
- captivity × …………..
- frequent × …………..
- dull × …………..
- gentle × …………..
- co-operated × …………..
- deep × …………..
Answer:
- motionless × restless
- captivity × freedom
- frequent × sometimes
- dull × gleaming
- gentle × throaty
- co-operated × objected
- deep × shallow
B. Now try to find out synonyms (words that mean the same. for the following: (You may use a dictionary/thesaurus.
Question B.
Now try to find out synonyms (words that mean the same. for the following: (You may use a dictionary/thesaurus.
- disapproved: …………..
- bits / pieces: …………..
- achievement: …………..
- attracted: …………..
- nuisance: …………..
- mishap: …………..
- controlled: …………..
- rebuke: …………..
Answer:
- disapproved: objected
- bits/pieces: shreds
- achievement: success
- attracted: fascinated
- nuisance: pest
- mishap: disaster
- controlled: restricted
- rebuke: scold
2. Using your imagination, write how the other pets in the house could have objected to Caesar living in their house.
Question 1.
Using your imagination, write how the other pets in the house could have objected to Caesar living in their house.
Answer:
The pet dog Bruno and the little pet cat Tisca would have got upset about the author’s attention-getting divided. Tisca would have refused to eat or drink and Bruno must have barked each time the author would play with Caesar. Bruno and Tisca would have leapt onto the writer’s lap to get his attention like before. Their pet parrot in the cage would have squabbled and squawked at the very sight of Caesar and called him names to tease him.
3. Prepare a table to show Caesar’s pranks at home and outside.
Question 1.
Prepare a table to show Caesar’s pranks at home and outside.
Answer:
| Caesar’s pranks at home | Caesar’s pranks outside |
| 1. He danced about on the dining table. 2. He fidgeted about and investigated things. 3. He would empty the matchbox. 4. He would rip the daily paper to shreds. 5. He would overturn a vase of flowers. 6. He would tug at the tail of a dog. 7. He would squabble with the Hornbill and peck at his feet. 8. He knocked off Aunt Mabel’s spectacles. | 1. He would visit neighbors’ houses frequently. 2. He would steal pens and pencils, hair ribbons, combs, keys, shuttlecocks, toothbrushes and false teeth. 3. He would snatch sweets from children. 4. He would take off clothes pegs from the clothesline. |
4. Relate the life-story of Caesar, rearranging the facts In a proper sequence in the form of a flow chart.
Question 1.
Relate the life-story of Caesar, rearranging the facts In a proper sequence in the form of a flow chart.
Answer:
5. Rewrite in your own words.
Question a.
One event from the story.
Answer:
When Aunt Mabel paid the author a visit, Caesar impressed her by landing on her arm and demanding a kiss. As soon as Aunt Mabel (all delighted. put her cheeks forward, her spectacles grabbed his attention and he knocked them off.
Question b.
One of the Caesar’s traits that makes you laugh.
Answer:
Begining with getting comfortable in the author’s house, caesar slowly started annoying the pets already there. He would tug at the tail of one of the dogs or sit on top of Harold, the hornbill’s cage and peck his feet and annoy him. This trait makes me laugh.
6. Hold a debate on ‘Pets or Pests’.
Question 1.
Hold a debate on ‘Pets or Pests’
Answer:
Pets are the most lovable beings around us. When it comes to dogs, loyalty is their trademark. Besides being friendly, they shower unconditional love. Their presence in itself is a stress buster. They have the art of lifting one’s spirit with their playfulness and joyful nature. Pets help combat depression. Most pets are least demanding.
When one comes home all tired from the workplace, pets are always there to welcome. Their cheerfulness is extremely contagious. Their very presence adds to the energy of the environment. Although they cannot speak like humans, they express their emotions far more effectively. When it comes to understanding emotions, pets sense it pretty fast.
So pets are a blessing to have. Pets are pests as they are quite demanding when it comes to food. All of us know how choosy a cat is. Besides, pets eat into one’s constructive time as they are dependent for their daily chores. They dirty the house and require special training. Not all pets are friendly. Some even create trouble for the neighbourhood and the owner of the pet is held responsible. Guests fear coming home when they know there is a pet dog.
Moreover, one cannot travel with a carefree mind when one has a pet back home. Making adjustments to keep the pet when one is away is another challenge. When one loses one’s pet, it becomes quite difficult to overcome the sorrow due to emotional attachment. Hence, at times, pets turn out to be pests.
7. Do you have pet animals.
Question 1.
Write an interesting story about your own or your friend’s pet.
Answer:
Yes, I do have a pet dog named Brady. He usually gets along well with almost everyone. But one of my neighbours Ms. Miranda, an old woman, aged 70, never managed to impressed the canine. He would do did his utmost to make her life miserable. Sometimes tilting her dustbin kept outside her door, spreading garbage all over her entrance door, other times barking at her guests so fiercely to shoo them away before they could even meet her.
But one evening when Ms. Miranda got stuck in the lift, Brady immediately recognised her voice. He couldn’t bear to hear her cry of anxiety mixed with fear. Off he went running, searching for the security guard and rescued her. Since then both, Brady and Ms. Miranda are best friends.
8. Language Study.
Complement: There are two types of complement: subject complement and object complement. Subject complement Is a word or a phrase used after a verb that describes the subject. The underlined words and phrases in the following sentences are subject complements.
1. I am hungry.
2. My sister became a teacher.
The word ‘hungry’ and the phrase ‘a teacher’ describe the subjects of the verbs. Therefore, they are subject complements. An object complement comes after the object of a verb and gives us information about the object. The underlined words and phrases in the following sentences are object complements.
3. The class made her the monitor.
4. The teacher found my answer correct.
The phrase the monitor’ gives us information about the object ‘her’. The word ‘correct’ gives us information about the object ‘my answer’.
Additional Important Questions and Answers
Answer the following questions.
Question 1.
Who were the other members of the author’s family living in the same house?
Answer:
Author and his grandparents lived in the same house.
Question 2.
Did the author’s Grandfather like animals? How do we know that? Give two examples from this page to support your answer.
Answer:
Yes, the author’s Grandfather liked animals. We know this from the fact that Grandfather already had some pets and Caesar was taken good care of by Grandfather when he was ailing.
Question 3.
What is implied in ‘He took over the administration of the house?
Answer:
Inspite of the opposition to caesar’s presence in the house from Grandmother, Aunt Mabel and Grandfather’s pets, he made himself comfortable there. This is what is meant by “He took over the administration of the house.”
Question 4.
Guess how Caesar learnt to say ‘Hello, hello’.
Answer:
The author laught caesar to, say ‘Hello, hello’ in a cracked throaty voice.
Question 5.
What is meant by ‘Aunt Mabel never was a success with the pets’? Can you think of the reasons why it was so?
Answer:
Aunt Mabel never was a success with the pets means she didn’t get along well with pets. She, probably, must be afraid of them or there must be some inherent dislike for pets. It came in the way of pets developing a rapport with her as they are very quick to sensing love.
Question 6.
What is implied in the following sentence? Most of the neighbours were represented in our house by a toothbrush.
Answer:
Caeser stole and gathered toothbrush from his neighborhood and made a collection of them on top of the cupboard in his room. As, he was very fond of them. This implied that ‘Most of the neighbors were represented in our house by a toothbrush.
Question 7.
What actions of the author show that he loved Caesar?
Answer:
The author brought the injured crow home and called it Caesar. Despite Grandmother being unhappy about Caesar’s mischiefs, the author never got upset or thought of getting rid of him. When he died, the author dug a grave in the garden and buried Caesar there along with all the clothes, pegs and toothbrushes. He weven taught him how to talk and kiss These actions of the author show us that he loved Caesar.
Answer the following question in two or three sentences.
Question 1.
Why did the author not expect the crow to live?
Answer:
The author did not expect the crow to live because it was in a very sorry state with its beak gaping and head dropping.
Question 2.
How did the author and his Grandfather revive the injured crow?
Answer:
The author and his Grandfather fed the crow little bread and milk; varied this diet with occassional doses of Grandmother’s home-made wine in order to revive the bird.
Question 3.
How did Caesar trouble Aunt Mabel?
Answer:
When caesar alighted on her arm, the delighted Aunt Mabel leaned forward for a kiss. But her glaming spectacles caught his altention and he knocked them off.
Question 4.
Where would the neighbours clothes be lying? Why?
Answer:
The neighbours clothes would be lying in the mud with no sign of pegs because Caesar would steal the pegs and take it to the writer’s house.
Reading Skills, Vocabulary and Grammar.
Simple Factual Questions.
Question 1.
Match the columns.
| ‘A’ | ‘B’ |
| 1. A horse-drawn vehicle. | a. shreds |
| 2. Make small nervous movement | b. prizing |
| 3. Torn strips of paper. | c. tonga |
| 4. Use force to move apart. | d. fidget |
Answer:
| ‘A’ | ‘B’ |
| 1. A horse-drawn vehicle. | c. tonga |
| 2. Make small nervous movement | d. fidget |
| 3. Torn strips of paper. | a. shreds |
| 4. Use force to move apart. | b. prizing |
Complex Factual Questions.
Question 1.
What dangers were likely to befall the young crow?
Answer:
The Young crow was in danger of being crushed by a cart or tonga or seized by a cat.
Question 2.
To whom do these names refer?
1. Mabel
2. Caesar
Answer:
1. Mabel refers to the author’s aunt.
2. Caesar refers to the young crow brought home by the author.
Vocabulary.
Question 1.
Use appropriate form of the word given in brackets.
1. I picked it up and it home, (bring.
2. He was his freedom (offer.
Answer:
1. I picked it up and brought it home.
2. He was offered his freedom.
Grammar.
Complete the table.
| Present Tense | Past Tense | Past Participle |
| …………… | brought | brought |
| fall | ……………… | fallen |
| …………… | kept | kept |
| give | ……………. | given |
Answer:
| Present Tense | Past Tense | Past Participle |
| bring | brought | brought |
| fall | fell | fallen |
| keep | kept | kept |
| give | gave | given |
Personal Response.
Question 1.
What pranks did Caesar engage in?
Answer:
During meal times Caesar would dance about on the dining table until he was given a bowl of meat soup and vegetables. He would empty the contents of the match-box, rip the daily paper to shreds, overturn a vase of flowers or tug at the tail of one of the dogs.
Simple Factual Questions.
Complete the statements.
Question 1.
Caesar did not show any inclination to
Answer:
join the other crows in the banyan tree
Question 2.
Perching on top of Harold’s cage, Caesar would
Answer:
peck at the big bird’s feet
Complex Factual Questions.
Question 1.
Why did the writer not cage Caesar?
Answer:
When the writer put Caesar in a cage, he cawed and flapped his wings so fiercely that they thought that for their own peace of mind, it was best not to cage him.
Question 2.
Why did Caesar not mingle with other crows, according to Grandfather?
Answer:
According to Grandfather, Caesar did not mingle with other crows because he was a jungle crow and looked at ordinary crows with contempt.
Vocabulary.
Question 1.
Use prefix ‘in’/’un’ with any two words from the extract to make its antonymns.
1. kind
2. human
Answer:
1. unkind
2. inhuman
Question 2.
Give verb forms.
1. little
2. inclination
Answer:
1. belittle
2. incline
Question 3.
Give one word for the following.
1. to come down
2. shining brightly
Answer:
1. alighted
2. gleaming.
Grammar.
Question 1.
He would sit for hours outside the window. (Rewrite using modal auxiliary of past ability..
Answer:
He could sit for hours outside the window.
Question 2.
I had also taught him to sit on my arm. (Pick out the infinitive..)
Answer:
to sit – infinitive.
Personal Response.
Question 1.
Which two contrasting traits of Caesar does the passage highlight? Do all animals and birds have this?
Answer:
Caesar on one hand is a very snobbish and mischievous crow troubling the Hornbill and not mingling with other crows. But on the other hand, he comes across as a very loving bird greeting the writer and kissing him. Yes, I think all animals and birds have these contrasting traits just as we humans do. They are good to some people and mischievous with the ones who don’t like them.
Simple Factual Questions.
State whether the following sentences true or false.
1. Caesar often managed to snatch sweets from children.
2. An occasional sip of Grandmother’s wine finally led to disaster.
Answer:
1. true
2. false.
Complex Factual Questions.
Question 1.
Where did Caesar store his stolen goods?
Answer:
Caesar stored his stolen goods on top of the author’s cupboard.
Question 2.
Why did Grandmother’s blood pressure go up?
Answer:
Watching Caesar steal combs, keys pens, pencils etc. from neighboring houses, Grandmother’s blood pressure went up.
Question 3.
Where did the author bury him?
Answer:
The authors dug a shallow grave in the garden and buried him there.
Vocabulary.
Question 1.
Give norm forms for the following.
- restrict
- fascinate
- spy
- refuse
Answer:
- restriction
- fascination
- spy
- refusal
Question 2.
Use ‘spy’ as a noun and verb in sentences.
Answer:
Noun – Vijay’s brother worked as a spy for FBI
Verb – It is a very sensitive matter to spy for one’s country.
Grammar.
Grandfather and I washed and bandaged his leg and gave a sip of homemade wine. (Rewrite using ‘Not only but also’)
Answer:
Grandfather and I not only washed and bandaged his leg but also gave a sip of homemade wine.
Personal Response.
Question 1.
Do you think the author had any feelings when he found Caesar dead?
Answer:
The expression “Poor Caesar!” by the author shows that he had a soft corner for Caesar. They both shared a loving relationship with Caesar welcoming the author back from school saying, ‘hello, hello’ and “Kiss, Kiss” by sitting on his arm and placing his head against the author’s mouth.
Language Study.
Question 1.
I dug a shallow grave in the garden. (End with ‘………. by me’)
Answer:
A shallow grave was dug in the garden by me.
Question 2.
He grew weaker day-by-day. (Make negative)
Answer:
He didn’t grow stronger day-by-day.
Make sentence.
Question 1.
to bring it round
Answer:
The doctors put in their best efforts to bring the patient round.
Question 2.
to make oneself at home
Answer:
I made myself at home in the new hostel room within few days.
Question 3.
to tug at something
Answer:
The beggar tugged at my sleeve asking for some money.
Question 4.
to get rid off
Answer:
I got rid off the old story books by giving them to the child next door.
Question 5.
to find one’s way
Answer:
I found my way to the college on my own.
Question 6.
Caesar was joining us at mealtimes. (Identify the tense)
Answer:
was joining – past continuous tense.
Question 7.
He danced about on the dining table. (Change into present continuous tense.)
Answer:
He is dancing about on the dining table.
Question 8.
Use the following phrases in sentence.
1. do your best
2. on the road to recovery
Answer:
1. My grandma tells me to do my best when I take up any task.
2. After the revaging floods, the state of of Kerala is on the road to recovery.
Writing Skills.
Question 1.
Write a character sketch on Caesar.
Answer:
Caesar was the author’s pet crow who had been brought home by him after an injury. Caesar, was typically wild with all his anti-social activities. He had made the life of his caretakers difficult. The other pets in the house too did not like him as he would not spare them as well. The fact that he did not mingle with other crows shows that he was too snobbish. He couldn’t be caged and so he made the most of the freedom that he got by troubling others.
He comes across as a hoarder who loved to amass various things ranging from essentials like toothbrushes and combs to false teeth. However, lying beneath this arrogant behaviour, was a layer of love and warmth for the writer whom he greeted with a ‘hello’ and a kiss. He was a good learner as he had learnt to say ‘hello’. But his own notorious action landed him in trouble and proved fatal when he was hit with a stick. In short, Caesar was a wild bird who loved to live a life on his own terms around the author’s house.
Formative Assessment.
Question 1.
Crows are very common to India. Gather some information about them.
- Are crows intelligent?
- Can you teach a crow to talk?
- Are crows friendly?
- Do crows have funerals?
Answer:
- Crows are nearly as intelligent as ravens. They have a good memory for human faces and approach people differently.
- Several crows can mimic human speech.
- Crows are very social species and live in large extended family groups.
- When a bird dies, crows gather squawking loudly and gathering as many other birds as they can find to come and look at the dead body.
Summary in English
This extract revolves around a crow who was injured and lying on the road. He was picked up and taken home by the author and nursed back to health. How he became a pet as well as a pest in -w the family is seen in this lesson.
Introduction:
Ruskin Bond is an Indian author of British descent. He has made significant contribution to the growth of children’s literature in India. He was a recipients of ‘Padmashri’ in 1999 and ‘Padmabhushan’ in 2014. His works reflect his love for things in nature and his keen sense of observation. The present extract is from his book “Grandfather’s Private Zoo”.
Glossary:
- fluttering (v) – fly unsteadily
- tonga (n) – a light horse-drawn-two-wheeled vehicle used in India
- prizing (v) – use force to move apart
- recovery (n) – a return to a normal state of health
- grubs (n) – the larva of an insect, especially a beetle
- fidgeting (v) – to make small nervous movement of hands and feet
- rip (v) – tear or pull something away forcibly
- shreds (n) – torn strips or pieces of paper or cloth
- ruin (n) – destruction
- grumbled (v) – complain about something in a bad-tempered way
- fierce (adj) – violent and aggressive
- contemptuous (adj) – showing disregard
- squabble (v) – to quarrel noisily over a small matter
- gleaming (adj) – shining brightly
- engaging (adj) – charming and attractive
- spied (v) – to observe carefully and make out something
- disaster (n) – tragedy
- mend (v) – repair
- flung (v) – threw
- anti-social (adj) – contrary to the laws and customs of society
- grave (n) – burying place
- carrion crows (n) – crows feeding on dead or decaying flesh (and other garbage)