NCERT Solutions for Class 6th: Ch 5 A Different kind of school and Where do all the teachers go? (Poem) Honeysuckle English
– E.V. Lucas
Working with Text(Page No: 62)
A.Put these sentences from the story in the right order and write them out in a paragraph. Don’t refer to the text.
- I shall be so glad when today is over.
- Having a leg tied up and hopping about on a crutch is almost fun, I guess.
- I don’t think I’ll mind being deaf for a day — at least not much.
- But being blind is so frightening.
- Only you must tell me about things.
- Let’s go for a little walk.
- The other bad days can’t be half as bad as this.
Answer: Let’s go for a little walk. Only you must tell me about things. I shall be so glad when today is over. The other bad days can’t be half as bad as this. Having a leg tied up and hopping about on a crutch is almost fun, I guess. I don’t think I’ll mind being deaf for a day – at least not much. But being blind is so frightening.
B.Answer the following questions
1. Why do you think the writer visited Miss Beam’s school?
Answer: The writer visited Miss Beam’s school because he had heard a great deal about the school.
Page No: 63
2. What was the ‘game’ that every child in the school had to play?
Answer: The ‘game’ that every child in the school had to play was that each term every child had one blind day, one lame day, one deaf day, one injured day and one dumb day.
3. “Each term every child has one blind day, one lame day…” Complete the line. Which day was the hardest? Why was it the hardest?
Answer: “Each term every child has one blind day, one lame day, one deaf day, one injured day and one dumb day.” The dumb day was the hardest because the children’s mouths could not be bandaged, so they really had to exercise their willpower to remain silent.
4. What was the purpose of these special days?
Answer: The purpose of these special days was to teach the children thoughtfulness – kindness to others, and how to be responsible citizens. These days make the children appreciate and understand misfortune by making them share in the misfortune of others.
Working with language
A. Match the words and phrases with their meanings in the box below. paragraph numbers
1.homesick (3)
2.practically (4)
3.it pains me (7)
4.appreciate (9)
5.thoughtless (10)
6.exercise (11)
7.relief (13)
8.ghastly (14)
Almost, it hurts me, terrible, tests the strength of, understanding the difficulties, wanting to be home, a welcome change, not very caring
Answer
1. homesick – wanting to be home
2. practically – Almost
3. it pains me –it hurts me
4. appreciate – understanding the difficulties
5. thoughtless – not very caring
6. exercise – test the strength of
7. relief – a welcome change
8. ghastly – terrible
B. Re-word these lines from the story:
1. I had heard a great deal about Miss Beam’s school.
Answer: I had come to know a lot about the school run by Miss Beam.
2. Miss Beam was all that I had expected — middle-aged, full of authority.
Answer: Miss Beam was middle-aged authoritative as I had thought her to be.
3. I went to the window which overlooked a large garden.
Answer: I walked towards a window from which one could see a garden of a large size.
4. “We cannot bandage the children’s mouths, so they really have to exercise their will-power.”
Answer: “It is not possible to put bandages on children’s mouths so an exercise of willpower is required on their part.”
C. Given below is a page from a dictionary. Look at it carefully and
i) find a word which means the same as ghastly. Write down the word and its two meanings.
► Terrible is that word. Its two meanings are: causing fear and very bad.
ii) find a word meaning a part of the school year.
► a term
iii) find a word that means examination.
► test
Where do all the teachers go?
Peter Dixon
Page No: 68
Working with Poem
1. Answer these questions.
(i) Why does the poet want to know where the teachers go at four o’clock?
Answer: The poet wanted to know where the teachers go at four o’clock because this is a time when school got over.
(ii) What are the things normal people do that the poet talks about?
Answer: The things normal people do that the poet talked about are living in houses, washing socks, wearing pyjamas, watching TV, picking their noses, living with their parents, not spelling right, being bad, making mistakes, getting punished, losing books, scribbling on desktops, wearing old dirty jeans.
(iii) What does he imagine about
(a) where teachers live?
► In houses
(b) what they do at home?
► washed their socks, wore pyjamas, picked their noses, and watched TV.
(c) the people with whom they live?
► lived with other people and if they also had mothers and fathers.
(d) their activities when they were children in school?
► they were also bad, made mistakes, never spelt right, and were punished in the corner for pinching the chocolate flakes. They ever lost their hymn books, scribbled on the desktops, or wore old dirty jeans.
(iv) Why does the poet wonder if teachers also do things that other people do?
Answer: The poet wondered if teachers also do things that other people do because he had seen them as superhumans. They are strict, did not make any mistakes and punish those who did.
(v) How does the poet plan to find out? What will he do once he finds out?
Answer: The poet plans to follow one of the teachers on the way back home that day to find out what they did. Once he succeeds in doing so, he would compose it into a poem, which then those teachers would read to their students.
2. What do you think these phrases from the poem mean?
(i) punished in the corner
► getting the punishment of standing in the corner of the classroom
(ii) leave their greens
► Leaving the playground after the bell strikes for the next class to begin