WORKING WITH
THE TEXT PAGE
117
A. 1. Talk to your partner and say whether the
following statements are true or false.
(i) No animal can survive without water.
(ii) Deserts are endless sand dunes.
(iii) Most snakes are harmless.
(iv) Snakes cannot hear, but they can feel
vibrations through the ground.
(v) Camels store water in their humps.
Answer:
(i) True
(ii) False
(iii) True
(iv) True
(v) False
2. Answer the following
questions.
(i) How do desert animals survive without
water? (1)
Answer:
Different desert animals have different strategies to survive. For example,
gerbils spend the hottest part of the day in cool underground burrows. And
strange insects called darkling beetles are experts at catching drops of
moisture on their legs, then lifting them into the air until the drops trickle
down into their mouths.
(ii) How do mongooses
kill snakes? (6)
Answer:
Mongooses are known for the unique way through which they kill snakes without
getting much hurt. Their reactions are quick enough to dodge the bite of the
snake. They make a nuisance of themselves for quite some time and when the
snakes get tired they dive in to kill them.
(iii) How does the hump of the camels help them to
survive when there is no water? (9)
Answer:
The hump of the camel acts as a storage container. They store fat in the hump
instead of water. Hump nourishes the camel when there is a scarcity of food.
The hump shrinks as the fat is used up. This is the way through which a camel’s
hump helps it to survive when there is no water.
B. Read the words/phrases in the box. With
your partner, find their meaning in the dictionary.
Harsh conditions harmless
survive intruder
threatened predators prey continually
Fill in the blanks in the following passage with the above
words/phrases.
All
animals in forests and deserts struggle to ______________________________ in
________________________________________. Though most of the animals are
______________________________, some are dangerous when __________. If an
________________________________ is noticed, they attack or bite to save themselves.
They struggle _____________________________ for food and water. Some animals are
called ______________________________________________ because they _________________________ on
other animals.
Answer:
All animals in forests
and deserts struggle to survive in harsh conditions. Though most of the animals
are harmless, some are dangerous when threatened. If an intruder is noticed,
they attack or bite to save themselves. They struggle continually for food and
water. Some animals are called predators because they prey on other animals.
SPEAKING PAGE
118
Look at these sentences.
• Deserts
are the driest places on earth.
• Gerbils
spend the hottest part of the day in cool underground burrows.
Now form pairs. Ask questions using a suitable form of the word
in brackets.Try to answer the questions too.
Do you know
1. Which animal is the
_______________________ (tall)?
2. Which animal runs the
_______________________ (fast)?
3. Which place on earth is the
_______________________ (hot) or the _______________________ (cold)?
4. Which animal is the
_______________________ (large)?
5. Which is the
————————————— (tall) mountain in the world?
6. Which is the _______________________
(rainy) place on earth?
7. Which is the ________________________
(old) living animal?
Can you add some questions of your own?
Answer:
1. Which animal is the
tallest (tall)?
2. Which animal runs
the fastest (fast)?
3. Which place on earth
is the hottest (hot) or the coldest (cold)?
4. Which animal is the largest (large)?
5. Which is the tallest
(tall) mountain in the world?
6. Which is the
rainiest (rainy) place on earth?
7. Which is the oldest (old)
living animal?
THINKING
ABOUT LANGUAGE PAGE
118
A. Look at these
sentences.
• Most
snakes are quite harmless, but a few are poisonous.
•
Most snakes lay eggs, but the rattlesnake gives birth to its young.
Now write five sentences like these using ‘most’ and the clues
below.
1. (90% of) people are honest (10%) are dishonest.
Answer:
Most people are honest, but about ten percent are dishonest.
2. (Lots of) fruit have plenty of sugar, (some) citrus fruits
are low in sugar.
Answer:
Most fruits have plenty of sugar, but some citrus fruits have less sugar.
3. (Every soft drink except this one) has lots of ‘empty
calories'.
Answer:
Most soft drinks have lots of ’empty calories, but this one does not have
’empty calories.
4. (The majority of) films are romances, (a few) are on other
topics.
Answer: Most films are romances, but a few are on
other topics.
5. (A majority of) people agree that he is a good leader, (just
a few) disagree.
Answer:
Most people agree that he is a good leader, but a few disagree.
B. Look at these
sentences.
• Animals
cannot survive for long without water.
• So
desert animals have to find different ways of coping.
The first
sentence says what cannot happen or be done; the second tells us what must,
therefore, be done, what it is necessary to do.
Complete these sentences using cannot and have to/has to.
1. You ______ reach the island by land or air; you ______ go by
boat.
Answer:
You cannot reach the island by land or air; you have to go by boat.
2. We ______ see bacteria with our eyes; we ______ look at them
through a microscope.
Answer:
We cannot see bacteria with our eyes; we have to look at them through a
microscope.
3. He ______ have a new bicycle now; he ______ wait till next
year.
Answer: He cannot have a new bicycle now; he has to
wait till next year.
4. Old people often ______ hear very well; they ______ use a
hearing aid.
Answer: Old people often cannot hear very well; they
have to use a hearing aid.
5. Road users ______ do what they wish; they ______ follow the
traffic rules.
Answer:
Road users cannot do what they wish; they have to follow the traffic rules.
6. She ______ accept this decision; she ______ question it.
Answer:
She cannot accept this decision; she has to question it.
7. You ______ believe everything you hear; you ______ use your
own judgement.
Answer:
You cannot believe everything you hear; you have to use your own judgment.
WRITING PAGE
120
Imagine you are journeying through a desert. Write a couple of
paragraphs describing what you see and hear.
Answer:
Do it yourself. Try to be creative and descriptive with your answer.
Poem: Whatif By Shel Silverstein
WORKIING WITH
THE POEM PAGE
122
1. (i) Who is the
speaker in the poem?
Answer:
The child is the speaker in the poem Whatif.
(ii) With your partner, list out the happenings the speaker is
worried about.
Answer:
The speaker being a child is worried about plenty of things. He is worried
about the facts like if he becomes dumb in school, if the swimming is closed,
if he gets beaten up, if there is poison
in his cup. He thinks about how if he cries, becomes sick, and dies, what if he
grows green hair on his chest and nobody likes him. What if a bolt of lightning
strikes on him, and he does not grow tall and his head starts getting small. He
thinks of the possibility of the fish that will not bite, a kite that the wind
tears up, the beginning of a war and his parents getting divorced. He thinks
what if he tears up his pants, his teeth don’t grow straight,the bus is late
and he never learns to dance.
(iii) Why do you think she/he has these worries? Can you think
of ways to get rid of such worries?
Answer:
The child has such worries because she/he may be free at night. An ideal mind
is a devil workshop thus she/he keeps getting such fearful thoughts during
her/his leisure time.
Amind should be
involved in creative activities and work on creating things rather than being
ideal. This will make her/him tired and he will not think about his fears and
she will go to sleep immediately.
2. Read the following
line.
Some
Whatifs crawled inside my ear
Can words
crawl into your ear? This is an image. The poet is trying to make an image of
what she/he experiences. Now with your partner try and list out some more
images from the poem.
Answer: Some other images are:
• Pranced and partied all night long
• Sang their old whatif song.
• What if a bolt of lightning strikes me
3. In groups of four discuss some more ‘what
ifs’ that you experience in your day-to-day life and list them out.
Answer: Do it yourself.
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