English VII Class Chapter 1 2 3 2020 01 05 652
English VII Class Chapter 1 2 3 2020 01 05 652
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Pre-reading
Dictionary Reference: Learning New Words
Activity 1
Look up the following words in a dictionary. You should seek the following
information about the words and put them in your WORDS notebook.
Reading
Let us read the story
Rent for Water
Once upon a time, a man sold his well to a farmer. The farmer bought the well so
that he could water his fields. The next day, when the farmer went to draw water
from that well, the man did not allow him to draw the water from it. He said, "I
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The farmer replied, "This man is my neighbour. I needed water for my fields. I
bought a well from him to water my fields."
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The king said, "Did you not pay him the money?"
The farmer said, "I did, Your Majesty! With great difficulty, I had collected money to
buy a well. I bought the well from him by giving him the money he had asked for."
The king asked the man, "Did the farmer give you the money for the well?"
The man said, "Yes, Your Majesty."
The king asked the farmer, "So what is the argument about, then?"
The farmer said, "Now, he's asking me to pay the money for the water too. The water
in the well is mine now. Why should I pay him more? I want justice, Your Majesty!"
The king asked the neighbour, "What is this? Is it true?"
The neighbour also pleaded, "Yes, Your Majesty! I sold him the well, but not the
water inside it."
The king found the problem very interesting and asked Tenali Raman, the wisest
minister of his court, to solve it.
Tenali Raman, then, said to the neighbour, "We understand that you sold your well
to the farmer, but not the water."
"Yes, Sir", said the man.
"But you sold the well and took money for it?" said Tenali Raman.
"Yes, Sir", said the man.
The wise minister looked at the farmer and said, "So, the well belongs to you and the
water to your neighbour".
"Yes, Sir", said the farmer.
"So is he giving you the rent for keeping his water in your well?" asked Tenali
Raman.
"No, Sir", said the farmer, smilingly. He had understood that he would get justice.
Tenali Raman said to the man, "Since you have kept your water in the well, you
should pay the rent to the farmer or take out your water immediately. If you do not
take out your water from this man's well, you must pay two gold coins as rent to the
farmer for keeping your water in the farmer's well. And the farmer will pay you one
gold coin every month for drawing the water from the well for his fields."
King Krishna Dev Rai started smiling at how Tenali Raman had solved this tricky
situation and done justice too.
Tenali Raman proved that greed is not good and punished the neighbour for his
dishonesty.
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Post-reading
Vocabulary Expansion
Given below are some phrases taken from the story. Their meanings are also given.
1. draw water - to take out water from a well
Example: I am thirsty. Please let me draw water from your well.
2. Your Majesty - respectful words used when talking to or about a king
or a queen.
Examples: Your Majesty! I am a poor farmer. Please help me!
His Majesty will soon arrive at the palace.
3. get justice - to be treated justly
Examples: People go to the court to get justice.
The farmer understood that he will get justice in the court.
4. instead of - 'Of ' is generally used with the word 'instead'. We say 'instead
of ' to mean one thing or person will replace another thing or person.
Examples: There were green small lanes instead of busy streets.
There were big trees instead of tall buildings
I think I will have tea instead of coffee today.
Activity 2
Insert instead of in the following sentences, wherever needed:
Activity 3
Answer the following questions:
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Activity 4
Read and answer the questions that follow.
1. The farmer bought the well so that he could water his fields.
Who is 'he' in the sentence? __________________________________
2. I have sold you the well, not the water, so you cannot draw the water
from it.
What does 'it' mean in the sentence?____________________________
3. They went to the court of King Krishna Dev Rai.
Who are 'they' in the sentence?________________________________
4. He was listening to the complaints of the people of his Kingdom.
Who is 'he' in the sentence? __________________________________
5. I bought a well from him to water my fields.
Who is 'him' in the sentence? ________________________________
Activity 5
Read the sentences taken from the story. Answer the questions that follow in the
given blanks.
Learning Language
The Noun: Revision
A noun is the name of a person, place, animal, thing, etc.
Let us look at some sentences.
1. Divyam is a good dancer.
2. New York is a big city.
3. Animals are important for the existence of human beings.
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A particular type of Collective Nouns is called ‘Nouns of Assembly.’ These are phrases
that describe a group of animals, such as
1. a pride of lions
2. a murder of crows
But sometimes people also make up funny or clever new ones such as
3. a blister of shoes
4 a forest of books
Activity 6
Read the sentences below and underline the Concrete Nouns and encircle the
Abstract Nouns.
Activity 7
Given below are two boxes. Match the words in box 1 with their collective
nouns in box 2 (The teacher can also convert it into a group game by cutting out
the word labels in both the boxes and asking the students to match them.)
Box 1
an army a bouquet a bunch a company
a colony a deck a fleet a flock
a herd a lounge a pack a swarm
a litter a range a school a pride
Box 2
of actors of lions of puppies of flowers
of ships of wolves of frogs of mountains
of cattle of birds of bees of lizards
of cards of fish of grapes of rabbits
Learning to Listen
Activity 8
The teacher will read a story twice. You must number the sentences given below
as the events happen in the story. You will mark the sequence in the space given
after each sentence. Number one has been done for you.
1. Ram said that the mango tree was his; while Sham said he owned it. [_____]
2. Birbal understood the situation. [_____]
[_____]
3. Unable to find a way out, they decided to ask Birbal for help.
4. Upon hearing Birbal, Ram nodded and said he agreed to the [_____]
suggestion.
5. He said, “The tree belongs to Sham because the very thought of cutting [_____]
it down troubled him”.
6. Someone who has cared for it for three years won't cut it down . [_____]
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7. He told the brothers to remove all the mangoes, share them between [_____]
the two brothers and then cut the tree in two equal halves.
8. Birbal found out who the real owner of the tree was. However, Sham [_____]
pled not to cut the tree for he had nurtured it for three whole years.
9. Once, two brothers, Ram and Sham, were fighting over the ownership [_____]
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of a mango tree.
Learning to Speak
Activity 9
Look at the words given below. They are commonly mispronounced. Learn to
pronounce them well. Repeat the words after your teacher. (The teacher must
check the pronunciation before teaching.)
1. clothes
2. monkey
3. picture
4. bury
5. dengue
6. donkey
7. village
8. heart
9. tomb
10. Wednesday
11. women
12. develop
13. plumber
14. truth
15. coupon
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Learning to Write
Activity 10
Look at the picture given below. Describe the picture in your own words in the
given space.
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Study the following road map of Malad Mumbai. Give directions to Nanika
standing on the Palm Court side of the Link Road to reach Goregaon Railway
Station using the above-mentioned phrases.
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Pre-reading
Dictionary Reference and Learning New Words
Activity 1
Look up the following words in a dictionary. You should seek the following
information about the words and put them in your WORDS notebook.
Reading
Have you travelled by a train?
Let us read and enjoy this poem
Trains
Over the mountains,
Over the plains,
Over the rivers,
Here come the trains.
Carrying passengers,
Carrying mail,
Bringing their precious loads
In without fail.
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Post-reading
Vocabulary Expansion
Trains are a very important means of land transport in India. India has a large
network of trains.
Activity 2
Given below are some more means of transport. Put them under the right box.
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3. Why does the poet call passengers and mail as ''precious loads''?
__________________________________________________
Activity 4
Read the following lines and answer the questions that follow.
2. What do the 'day and darkness' and 'dusk and dawn' in the poem tell the
readers?
__________________________________________________
Learning Language
Conjunctions: 'so', 'because', 'although', ‘and’, ‘yet’
We use Conjunctions like 'and', 'or', 'but', 'because' and 'although' to join two
parts of sentences. Conjunctions can be used to give more or unexpected information,
results, options and reasons.
Activity 5
Complete the sentences given below with 'so' or 'because'. Here are a few examples.
Read them before you do the activity.
Examples
1. Rajan is happy because he has stood first in the race.
2. It was raining, so I did not go to school.
3. I went to the cinema because it was a holiday.
We use 'because' for giving reasons, and 'so' for talking about
results or purposes.
1. My dog was hungry, _________ it stole biscuits
from the shelf.
2. I am feeling sleepy _________I am very tired.
3. Babli bought new clothes _________she wanted to wear them on Diwali.
4. It was raining, _________my books got wet.
5. He did not study hard,_________he failed the test.
6. I asked for directions _________ I was lost.
7. I did not clean the room, _________it became dirty.
8. I met with an accident_________ I was driving fast.
9. Deepa went to the doctor _________she was feeling sick.
10. Mohan did not help Sohan _________ he was not well.
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Activity 6
Combine the sentences given below using 'although' and 'yet'. Write them in
your notebook. Here are a few examples. Read them before you do the activity.
Examples
1. Rajan did not win the race. Rajan was happy.
Although Rajan did not win the race, yet he was happy.
We use 'although' and 'yet' in the same sentence for unexpected or different
information.
3. Babli wanted to wear new clothes on Diwali. Babli did not buy them.
9. Mohan and Sohan were friends. Mohan did not help Sohan.
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Learning to Listen
Activity 7
Listen to the teacher, recite the following poem and repeat after her/him.
Clouds
White sheep,white sheep,
On a blue hill,
When the wind stops,
You all stand still.
When the wind blows,
You walk away slow.
White sheep, white sheep
Where do you go?
Learning to Speak
Activity 8
Speak the following pairs aloud.
1. mail fail
2. dawn lawn
3. plains trains
Activity 9 (Pairwork)
Discuss with your partner about how you would like to travel. You can discuss
the following questions with each other.
1. Do you like to travel by train/ship/plane?
2. How would you like to travel if you have to go from Punjab to
Mumbai? Why?
3. If you decide to go by train, what would you like to take with you?
Learning to Write
Activity 10
Paragraph writing
A paragraph is a short description of a point. Its length is about 100 words. Writing
a paragraph is an art. The first sentence should introduce the topic in about 10-15
words and the last sentence should conclude it in 10-15 words. Rest 70-80 words
must describe the main topic or idea.
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Pre-reading
Dictionary Reference: Learning New Words
Activity 1
Look up the following words in a dictionary. You should seek the following
information about the words and put them in your WORDS notebook.
Reading
Let us read the story
Birbal’s Khichdi
It was winter time. The ponds and lakes near Akbar's palace were all frozen.
At Akbar's court:
Akbar asked Birbal, "Tell me one thing, Birbal! Do you think a man will do anything
for money?"
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In the morning, he returned to Akbar's court to receive his reward of two thousand gold
coins.
The king asked the brahmin "How could you stand in the frozen pond in such an
extreme temperature?"
The innocent brahmin replied, "I could see faintly glowing lights of the palace a
mile away and that was a ray of hope for me. I kept looking at the lights and
thinking about my family that they will get food if I continue to stand in the pond."
Akbar suddenly became very stern. He said harshly," Oh brahmin, you have cheated
me. I will not give you any reward for this. You looked at the palace lights and got
warmth from the lights. You do not deserve the reward."
Birbal said, “Your Majesty, it is impossible to get the warmth from the lights
glowing so far away!”
Akbar did not listen to him.
How could the poor brahmin argue with the emperor? He returned disappointed
and bare-handed from Akbar's court.
The next day, Birbal did not go to Akbar's court. He sent a messenger to the
emperor saying that he would come to the court only after his khichdi gets cooked.
Birbal did not turn up even after five days. The emperor himself went to Birbal's
house to see what he was doing. He saw that Birbal had lit the fire and kept the pot
of uncooked khichdi one yard above the fire.
Akbar said, " Birbal, I considered you to be the wisest in this country, but you have
proved me wrong.”
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Akbar realised his mistake. He called the poor brahmin and gave him two thousand
gold coins. Akbar was happy that Birbal had helped him to realise his mistake.
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Vocabulary Expansion
Example
The word 'uncooked' can be broken as under:
un + cook + ed
In the example above, un- is a prefix to cook and -ed is a suffix.
Prefixes and suffixes are groups of letters that come at the beginnings and endings
of words respectively and make them longer. For example, the suffix '-er' when
added to 'long' changes it to 'longer'.
Learning the meanings of common prefixes and suffixes can help you understand
unknown words you read. It can also help you become better at spelling words.
Prefixes come before the main word and suffixes come after. They change the
meaning of the word and generally make them the opposite of the main word. For
example, the prefix un- can mean "not," "remove," or "opposite." Adding the
prefix un- to the word "happy" gives you the word "unhappy", which means not
happy.
Prefixes with their meanings and examples
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A suffix is a letter or a group of letters added to the end of a word. Suffixes do not
make the opposites. They are used to show the part of speech of a word. For
example, adding "ion" to the verb "progress" gives us "progression," the noun
form of the word. Suffixes also tell us the verb tense of words or whether the words
are singular or plural .
Suffixes with their meanings and examples
Now let us look at some words from the story and see how we can break them. In
the word 'impossible', im- is a prefix and in the word 'national' -al is a suffix.
1. frozen ___________________________________________
2. return ___________________________________________
3. extremely ___________________________________________
4. disappointed ___________________________________________
5. shivering ___________________________________________
6. wisest ___________________________________________
7. realise ___________________________________________
8. looking ___________________________________________
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Activity 3
Write answers to the following questions.
1. What time of the year was it in the story?
______________________________________________________
2. What had happened to the ponds and lakes?
______________________________________________________
3. What did Akbar want to know?
______________________________________________________
4. Why did the brahmin accept Akbar's challenge?
______________________________________________________
5. How much money did Akbar agree to give to the brahmin?
______________________________________________________
Activity 4
Who said to whom? Write in the given space.
1. Stand inside the frozen pond all through the night without any clothes
and I will give you two thousand gold coins.
______________________________________________________
2. How could you stand in the frozen pond in such an extreme temperature?
______________________________________________________
3. Oh brahmin, you have cheated me.
______________________________________________________
4. Your Majesty, it is impossible to get the warmth from the lights glowing
so far away!
______________________________________________________
5. Birbal, I considered you to be the wisest in this country, but you have
proved me wrong.
______________________________________________________
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Activity 5
What do you understand about Birbal in the story? Write three to four sentences
on Birbal.
__________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
Learning Language
Adverbs
Activity 6
Look at the following words. Notice what is common in them.
1. harshly
2. faintly
3. mainly
4. truly
5. frankly
The common thing about the words above is the use of the letters 'ly' at the end.
The words can easily be divided into two parts. (word + ly).
For example: harsh+ly
Words that end with -ly are mostly Adverbs. They add to the quality of the verb.
For Example: to speak (verb) harshly (adverb). Adverbs of Manner usually take
-ly after a word.
Expressions of time show frequency of an action. Let's look at some examples:
1. The girls always get late for the party.
2. I usually do yoga every morning.
3. He is often late for work.
4. My dentist told me to brush my teeth twice daily.
Adverbs are of many types such as time, place, manner, frequency etc. and give
information regarding 'how things happen', 'how many times', 'when' and 'where'.
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Activity 7
Divide the following words into two parts. The first has been done for you.
Activity 8
Fill in the blanks with appropriate -ly words given in the box.
Activity 9
The following exercise will help you to understand how Adverbs of Frequency
work. Choose the best answer to complete each sentence.
1. I ___________ late on weekends.
a. get up usually
b. get usually up
c. usually get up
d. up get usually
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C E R T A I N L Y
Q M L A A P T L Y
C O S T L Y Y Y L
E N D L E S S L Y
D T J F L A T L Y
A H A P P I L Y I
I L U S U A L L Y
L Y S U R E L Y I
Y B M O R A L L Y
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1. ________________________ 6. ________________________
2. ________________________ 7. ________________________
3. ________________________ 8. ________________________
4. ________________________ 9. ________________________
5. ________________________ 10. ________________________
Learning to Speak
Activity 11
Three sets of dialogues are given below. Practise them in the class.
Note: The teacher must get the dialogues rehearsed one at a time in pairs and small
groups. The best three groups in speaking for each set will present their dialogue in
front of the class. The teacher must help the students to understand the text and speak
as instructed in square brackets.
Set 1 (Pairwork)
Akbar (to Birbal): Tell me one thing, Birbal! Do you think a man will do anything
for money? [question]
Birbal (to Akbar): Yes, Your Majesty. [statement]
Akbar (to Birbal): Alright, then prove it! [order]
Set 2 (a group of 3)
Birbal (to Akbar): Your Majesty, this brahmin is ready to do anything for the sake of
money. [statement]
Akbar (to Birbal): Will he do what I say, Birbal? [question]
Birbal (to Akbar): Yes, Your Majesty. [statement]
Birbal (to the brahmin): Are you ready to do anything that His Majesty asks you to?
[question]
Brahmin (to Akbar): Anything, if I get some money to feed my family, Your Majesty.
[statement]
Akbar (to the brahmin): Stand inside the frozen pond all through the night without
any clothes. For this, I will give you two thousand gold coins. [order]
Set 3 (a group of 3)
Akbar (to the brahmin): Tell me, how could you stand in the frozen pond in such an
extreme temperature? [question]
The brahmin (to Akbar): It was very difficult. It was freezing. But I needed the
money for my family. So I kept standing in the cold water. [statement]
Akbar (to the brahmin): Was it due to money that you could stand in the water all
night? [question]
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The brahmin (to Akbar): Your Majesty, I could also see the faintly glowing lights of
the palace. The lights helped me. I kept looking at the lights and thinking about the
food my family will get. [statement]
Akbar (angrily to the brahmin): What! Oh brahmin, you have cheated me!
[exclamation]
The brahmin (to Akbar): Your Majesty, I did as you said. I have not cheated. [statement]
Akbar (angrily to the brahmin): You do not deserve the reward. You looked at the
palace lights and got warmth from the lights. [statement]
The brahmin (pleadingly to Akbar): Your Majesty, I have stood all night in the
freezing waters of the pond. [statement]
Akbar (sternly to the brahmin): I will not give you any reward for this. If you say
one more word, I will put you in jail for cheating. [order]
Birbal (to Akbar): Your majesty, it is impossible to get the warmth from the lights
glowing so far away! [exclamation]
Learning to Write
Dialogue writing.
Writing a dialogue is a very interesting activity. If you already have a passage,
converting it into dialogue form is very simple. You must remember:
1. You do not use words such as 'said', 'asked', 'replied', 'told', etc.
Instead, you use 'to' at its place.
2. You use colon after addressee put in round bracket.
3. You do not use inverted commas (" " ) for what the speaker has to
say. You simply write it.
Statements: Birbal told the messenger, "Give Birbal tells the messenger to go to the
my message to the emperor." emperor and give him a message.
Process
Step 1. Remove 'told', comma and Remove 'tells'
inverted commas.
Step 2. Instead of 'told' use 'to' Remove 'to' after 'messenger'.
Use 'to' and remove 'tells'.
Step 3. Put 'to' and 'the messenger' in round brackets after the name of the speaker.
Step 4. Add colon (:) the name of the speaker and the addressee as in
Birbal (to the messenger):
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Activity 12 (Pairwork)
Read the given statements and rewrite them as dialogues.
1. Statement : Akbar said, "Birbal, I considered you to be the wisest in this
country, but you have proved me wrong."
Dialogue:_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
2. Statement : Birbal said, "Why, your majesty?"
Dialogue:_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
3. Statement : Akbar said, "How will the khichdi get cooked when it is one
meter above the fire? What is wrong with you Birbal?"
Dialogue:_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Learning to Use Language
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