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NCERT Class 8 English Chapter 3 Glimpses of the Past
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Glimpses of the Past
Chapter: 3
HONEYDEW: PROSE
Textbook Questions With Their Answers
COMPREHENSION CHECK – I
Q. 1. Look at the picture I and recall the opening lines of the original song in Hindi. Who is the singer? Who else do you see in this picture?
Ans. The opening lines of the original song in Hindi are: “Aey mere vatan ke logon, tum khub laga lo naara, ye shubh din hai hum sabka, lehra lo tiranga pyara, par mat bhulo seema par, veero ne hai pran gavayen, Kutchh yaad unhe bhi harlo, Jo laut ke ghar na aaye ____ “. Lata Mangeshkar is the singer. Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Indira Gandhi are also seen in this picture.
Q. 2. In picture 2 what do you understand by the Company’s ‘superior weapons’?
Ans. The Company’s ‘Superior Weapons’ mean all their wits, strength, rules and regulations.
Q.3. Who is an artisan? Why do you think the artisans suffered?
Ans. An artisan is a skilled workman. The thumbs of expert artisans were chopped off so that they could not make expert goods.
Q. 4. Which picture, according to you, reveals the first sparks of the fire of revolt?
Ans. The picture about ‘The Company’s Conquest’ reveals the first sparks of the fire of revolt.
WORKING WITH THE TEXT
Answer the following questions:
Q. 1. Do you think the Indian princes were short-sighted in their approach to the events of 1757?
Ans. Yes, the Indian princes were short- sighted as they had been quarrelling with their counterparts on petty issues. They took the outsiders’s help to fight within the native land.
Q.2. How did the East India Company subdue the Indian princes?
Ans. The East India Company subdued the Indian princes by their policy of ‘Divide and Rule’.
Q.3. Quote words used by Raja Ram Mohan Roy to say that every religion teaches the same principles.
Ans. “Cows are of different colours but the colour of their milk is the same.Different teachers have different opinions but the essence of every religion is the same.”
Q.4. In what ways did the British officers exploit Indians?
Ans. The British officers exploited Indians to every possible way, they could. They imposed heavy laxes on Indian farmers. And reduced import duty on goods manufactured in England and brought to India. Eves they cut the thumbs of expert artisans.
Q.5. Name these people.
(i) The ruler who fought pitched battles against the British and died fighting.
Ans. Tipu Sultan of Mysore.
(ii) The person who wanted to reform the society.
Ans. Raja Ram Mohan Roy from Bengal.
(iii) The person who recommended the introduction of English education in India.
Ans. Lord Macaulay.
(iv) Two popular leaders who led the revolt (Choices may vary.)
Ans. Nana Saheb and Kunwar Singh.
Q. 6. Mention the following:
(i) Two examples of social practices prevailing then.
Ans. Untouchability and Child-Marriage.
(ii) Two oppressive policies of the British.
Ans. (a) To put the Indians in jails without trial in a court.
(b) The Company’s loot in industrial sector.
(iii) Two ways in which common people suffered.
Ans. (a) Indian artisans were ruined with the exporting of British machine-made goods.
(b) The Indian farmers had to abandon their fields due to heavily imposed taxes.
(iv) Four reasons for the discontent that led to the 1857 war of independence.
Ans. (a) The natives had become slaves in their own country.
(b) The East India Company crippled Indian industries and cared a little for Indian’s need.
(c) The huge difference in the treatment of the English men and the Indians.
(d) The use of grease on the bullet was spoiling the customs of Indians as it was made of the fat of cows and pigs.
WORKING WITH LANGUAGE
In comics what the characters speak is put in bubbles. This is direct narration. When we report what the characters speak, we use the method of indirect narration.
Study these examples:
First farmer: Why are your men taking away the entire crop?
Second farmer: Your men have taken away everything.
Officer: You are still in arrears. If you don’t pay tax next week. I’ll send you to jail.
→ The first farmer asked the officer why his men were taking away the entire crop.
→ The second farmer said that their men had taken away everything.
→ The officer replied that they were still in arrears and warned them that if they did not pay tax the following week, the officer would send the farmers to jail.
1. Change the following sentences into indirect speech:
(i) First Man: We must educate our brothers.
Second Man: And try to improve their —- material conditions.
Third Man: For that we must convey —– our grievances to the British Parliament.
Ans. The first man said that they must educate their brothers
The second man added that they must try to impress thar material conditions also.
The third man suggested that for that they mast convey their grievances to the British Parliament.
(ii) First soldier: The white soldier gets huge pay, mansions and servants.
Second soldier: We get a pittance and —— slow promotions.
Third soldier: Who are the British to abolish our customs?
Ans. The first soldier said that the white
soldier got huge pay, mansions and servants.
The second soldier remarked that they got a pittance and alow promotions.
The third soldier asked who the British where to abolish their customs.
SPEAKING AND WRITING
Q. 1. Play act the role of farmers who have grievances against the policies of the government. Rewrite their ‘speech bubbles’ in dialogue form first.
Ans. (Roles to be played in the classroom).
Q. 2. Look at the pictures.
(i) Ask one another questions about the picture.
1. Where is fox?
Ans. The fox is inside a well.
2. How did it happen?
Ans. It happened accidentally.
3. What is the fox thinking?
Ans. The fox is thinking how to get out of the well.
4. Who is the visitor?
Ans. The goat is the visitor.
5. What does she want to know?
Ans. She wants to know if the water of the well is sweet.
6. What’s the fox’s reply?
Ans. The fox’s reply is that the water of the well is too sweet. Even she had it so much and might faint.
7. What happens next?
Ans. The fox comes out of the well with the goat’s help.
8. Where is the goat?
Ans. The goat is inside the well.
9. Where is the fox now?
Ans. The fox has now come out of the well.
10. What is the goat thinking?
Ans. The goat is thinking about her mother who used to say “Be careful how you take the advice of people you don’t know.”
(ii) Write the story in your own words. Give it a title.
Ans. The Fox and The Goat
Once there was a fox. It accidentally fell into a well. She was worried. She tried many times to come out of the well but all in vain. She thought, “How do I get out of here?” Just then, a goat was passing by the well. She stopped and peeped into the well. She asked the fox, “Hello! Is this water sweet?” The fox was cunning. It replied, “Too sweet?” I’ve had so much. I might faint.” Then the goat was eager to taste the water. She told the fox to help her to come inside the well. The fox was waiting for the same. It hold her and came out of the well whereas the goat had fallen inside. The fox thanked her and said, “Come out when you can.” The goat was helpless. She remembered her mother saying.”Be careful how you take advice of people you don’t know.”
Q. 3. Read the following news item.
HISTORY BECOMES FUN AT THIS SCHOOL
Mumbai: Students in the sixth grade of a certain school in Navi Mumbai love their history lessons thanks to a novel teaching aid. It is not surprising giving the fact that their study material includes comic books and they use their textbooks for reference to put things into perspective. Besides, students are encouraged to tap other sources of information as well. During History classes, students pore over comic strips of historical periods, enact characters of emperors and tyrants, and have animated discussions on the subject. History has become fun.
In the class students are asked to read the comic strip aloud, after which they break up into groups of four, discuss what they have heard and write a summary. Each group leader reads his group’s summary aloud and the whole class jumps into discussion and debate, adding points, disagreeing and qualifying points of view. A sixth grade student says, ‘It’s a lot of fun because everyone gets a chance to express themselves and the summary takes everyone’s ideas into account.”
According to the school principal the comic strip format and visuals appeal to students. A historian feels that using comics in schools is a great idea. Comic and acting help students understand what characters in the story are actually thinking.
(Adapted from The Times of India, New Delhi dated 3 October 2007)
Based on this news item, write a paragraph about what you think about this new method of teaching History.
Ans. It is said. “Seeing in ten times better than listening something.”And if the presentation is beautiful, it leaves a greater impact on the learner. The situation is same at the school level teaching. The students are afraid of Social Studies, English and Mathematics sort of subjects. Especially, History is headache for them. But this new comic strip format and visuals have surely made the learning of History easy and interesting. Group discussions, debates and dramatizations creat an everlasting impact on the students because they are ‘learning by doing’. This new method of teaching History has made this subject learnable to the students.It is fun for them rather than a matter of boredom.
Q.4. Find the chapters in your Histe book that correspond to the episodes and events described in this comic. Note how the information contained in a few chapters of History has been condensed to a few pages with the help of pictures and the ‘speech bubbles’.
Ans. (To be discussed in the classroom)
Q.5. Create a comic of your own using this story:
Once the Sun and the Wind began to quarrel, each one saying that he was stronger than the other. At last they decided to test each one’s strength. A man with a cloak around his shoulders was passing by. The Wind boasted. Using my strength I can make that man take off the cloak.’ The sun agreed. The Wind blew hard. The man felt so cold that he clasped his cloak round his body as tightly as possible.
Now it was the turn of the Sun which shone very hot indeed. The man felt so hot that he at once removed the cloak from his body. Seeing the man taking off the cloak,the wind conceded defeat.
Ans. Who is the strongest? “The Sun and the Wind’
SOME OTHER QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION
Q. 1. What encouraged the English East Indian Company to become rulers of India rather than traders?
Ans. The English East India Company came to India for trade. But with its superior weapons of diplomacy extended its power in the 18th century Indian princes were divided and shortsighted. People in India has no peace due to constant fights among the states of India. The rivalries between them helped the company to defeat them and subdue them one by one.
Q. 2. How did the Britishers make Indian industries weak and cripple?
Ans. The main motif of the British was to exploit Indian resources. They discouraged handicrafts of India. They removed imports duty for the benefit of industries in Britain. They imposed heavy taxes on the Indian farmers. They also sent many farmers to jail failing to pay their tax arrears. Thus they made the Indians weak as well as poor.
Q. 3. How did Indians decide to fight collectively against the British?
Ans. The British exploited Indian handicrafts. They also adopted all the mean and foul tactics to take over the princely states. They forced Indians to adopt Christian religion. They employed Indians only for clerical jobs and paid them very low wages. Hence, all the sections of the society and also the Indian soldiers were displeased with them. So Indiane decided to fight collectively against the British.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
Tick (✓) the correct option
1. What does territory mean?
(a) land under one ruler.
(b) land under many rulers.
(c) persons belonging to one country.
(d) none of these.
Ans. (a) land under one ruler.
2. Which of the following words means – ‘to change the form’?
(a) oppress.
(b) despize.
(c) ruin.
(d) essence.
Ans. (b) despize.
3. Begum Hazrat Mahal was ruler of _____.
(a) Kanpur.
(b) Gujarat.
(c) Lucknow.
(d) Jullundur.
Ans. (c) Lucknow.
4. ‘We should have Peshwa Nana Saheb as leader in this war of independence’ who said this to whom?
(a) Tatya Tope said this to Ajimulla Khan.
(b) Ajimulla said this to Tatya Tope.
(c) Begum Hazrat Mahal said this to Tatya Tope.
(d) Tatya Tope said this to Begum Hazrat Mahal.
Ans. (b) Ajimulla said this to Tatya Tope.
5. What happened when old Kunwar Singh of Bihar do when he received a bullet in his wrist?
(a) He could not tolerate the pain and died on the ‘spot’.
(b) He just cut it off.
(c) He presented it to the river ‘Ganga’.
(d) All of these.
Ans. (d) All of these
6. British had conquered the whole of India by _________.
(a) 1850
(b) 1856
(c) 1842
(d) 1846
Ans. (b) 1856.
MAKE SENTENCES
Use the following words in sentences of your own:
(i) grievances.
(ii) fortunate.
(iii) learned.
(iv) regulation.
(v) suspicious.
(vi) martyrs.
(vii) function.
Ans. (i) grievances: The workers went on
a strike because they had many grievances against the administration.
(ii) fortunate: I am very fortunate to be born in such a noble family.
(iii) learned: Many learned people were present in Akbar’s court.
(iv) regulation: We must all obey traffic regulations.
(v) suspicious: The boss became suspicious of clerk’s honesty when he found the money missing from his drawer.
(vi) martyrs: Our true regard for the martyrs for the country’s freedom would be to serve our nation well.
(vii) function: Everybody present in the function was dressed in red and white.
Macavity: The Mystery Cat
HONEYDEW: POEM
Textbook Questions With Their Answers
WORKING WITH THE POEM
Q. 1. Read the first stanza and think.
(i) Is Macavity a cat really?
Ans. It seems that Macavity is not really a cat.
(ii) If not, who can Macavity be?
Ans. Macavity can be a master criminal.
Q. 2. Complete the following sentences:
(i) A master criminal is one who _________.
Ans. can defy the law.
(ii) The Scotland Yard is baffled because________.
Ans. when they reach the scene of crime and do not find Macavity there.
(iii) ______ because Macavity moves much faster than them.
Ans. We cannot find Macavity on a crime scene.
Q. 3. “A cat, I am sure, could walk on a cloud without coming through.” (Jules Verne) Which law is Macavity breaking in the light of the comment above?
Ans. Newton’s law of gravity.
Q. 4. Read Stanza-3 and then, describe Macavity in two or three sentences of your own.
Ans. Macavity is a cautious cat who has a tall and thin stature. He is a master criminal with sunken eyes. Macavity wears a dusty coat and he has a highly domed head. His whiskers are uncombed and crawls like a snake.
Q.5. Say ‘False’ or ‘True’ for each of the following statements:
(i) Macavity is not an ordinary cat.
Ans. True.
(ii) Macavity cannot do what a fakir can easily do.
Ans. False.
(iii) Macavity has supernatural powers.
Ans. True.
(iv) Macavity is well dressed, smart and bright.
Ans. False.
(v) Macavity is a spy, a trickster and a criminal, all rolled in one.
Ans. True.
Q. 6. Having read the poem, try to guess whether the poet is fond of cats. If so, why does he call Macavity a fiend and monster.
Ans. Probably, the poet is fond of cats as he inspects on their traits and has even written a poem on the cats, so much so that he finds them mysterious. Macavity is called a fiend and a monster as he does criminal things which defy the law. His mischievous personality provokes the poet to call him a devilish monster.
Q. 7. Has the poet used exaggeration for special effect? Find a few examples of it and read those lines aloud.
Ans. The poetic device used for exaggeration of the subject is hyperbole which are in the following instances:
- his powers of levitation would make a fakir stare.
- head is highly domed.
- for he’s a fiend in a feline shape
- with movements like a snake
- a monster of depravity
COMPREHENSION STANZAS
STANZA – 1
Macavity’s a Mystery Cat: he’s called the Hidden Paw For he’s the master criminal who can defy the law. He’s the bafflement of Scotland Yard, the Flying Squad’s despair. For when they reach the scene of crime–Macavity’s not there.
Questions
(i) What is the other name for Maravity?
Ans. The other name for Macavity is the ‘Halden Paw’.
(ii) What are the names of the police forces?
Ans. Seatland Yard and the flying squad are the police forces.
(iii) Complete the sentence: Macavity’s a ______ cat.
Ans. Macavity’s a mystery cat.
STANZA – 2
Macavity, Macavity, there’s no one like Macavity, He’s broken every human law, he breaks the law of gravity,His powers of levitation would make a fakir stare, And when you reach the scene of crime-Macavity’s not there! You may seek him in the basement, you may look up in the air But I tell you once and once again, –Macavity’s not there!
Questions
(i) Which law in particular did Macavity break?
Ans. Newton’s law of gravity.
(ii) What do you mean by levitation?
Ans. ‘Levitation’ means floating in air without support.
(iii) Give the rhyming words for ‘there’ from the passage.
Ans. stare, air
STANZA – 3
Macavity’s a ginger cat, he’s very tall and thin; You would know him if you saw him, for his eyes are sunken in His brow is deeply lined with thought, his head is highly domed; His coat is dusty from neglect, his whiskers are uncombed. He sways his head from side to side, with movements like a snake, And when you think he’s half asleep, he’s always wide awake.
Questions
(i) What is the rhyme scheme of the poem?
Ans. aabbcc
(ii) Which is the comparison made to the movement by his head?
Ans. The movement by his head is compared to that of a snake.
(iii) Complete the sentence Maravity’s a ________ cat.
Ans. Macavity’s a ginger cat.
STANZA – 4
Macavity, Macavity there’s no one like Macavity, For he’s a fiend in feline shape, a monster of depravity. You may meet him in a by-street, you may see him in the square. But when a crime’s discovered, then Macavity’s not there!
Questions
(i) What do you mean by depravity?
Ans. Moral corruption.
(ii) ‘Macavity is a devil’. Which line states this?
Ans. For he’s a fiend.
(iii) Who is the poet of the poem?
Ans. T.S. Eliot.
SOME OTHER QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION
Q. 1. Write a description of a cat’s physique.
Or
What is the stature of Macavity?
Or
How does Macavity look physically?
Ans. Macavity is a mysterious criminal. His looks are that of a fiend. He is very tall and thin. His eyes are sunken in. He is a thoughtful personality with deeply lined brows and a highly domed head. He wears a dusty coat and uncombed whiskers. His movements are those like a snake’s.
Q. 2. Why is Macavity the bafflement of Scotland Yard and the Flying Squad?
Ans. Macavity is a master criminal who can defy the law. When police forces reach the place where crime is discovered, Macavity is not there and they are unsuccessful in inspecting the crime.
MAKE SENTENCES
Frame sentences of your own from the following words:
(a) gravity.
(b) thought.
(c) discovered.
(d) depravity.
Ans. (a) gravity: It is because of the earth’s gravity that it does not collide with other planets.
(b) thought: How can you bring this thought to your mind?
(c) discovered: It was Columbus who discovered America.
(d) depravity: Many leaders indulge in depravity.
