NCERT English Class 7 | Chapter 7 | The Invention of Vita- Wonk | Question Answer |

COMPREHENSION CHECK                                                                       PAGE 101

1. Choose the right answer.

(i) Mr Willy Wonka is (a) a cook, (b) an inventor, (c) a manager.

(ii) Wonka-Vite makes people (a) older, (b) younger.

(iii) Mr Wonka wants to invent a new thing which will make people (a) younger, (b) older.

Answer:

(i) Mr Willy Wonka is an inventor.

(ii) Wonka-Vite makes people younger.

(iii) Mr Wonka wants to invent a new thing which will make people older.

2. Can anyone’s age be a minus number? What does “minus 87” mean?

Answer: No one can be old enough to have a minus number. Here, “minus 87” means that the person had to wait eighty-seven years before he could come back. He would have taken such a strong dose of Wonka- Vite and hence had vanished.

3. Mr Wonka begins by asking himself two questions. What are they?

(i) What is ____________________________________________?

(ii) What lives _________________________________________?

Answer:

(i) What is the oldest living thing in the world?

(ii) What lives longer than anything else?


WORKING WITH THE TEXT                                                                      PAGE 102

1.       (i) What trees does Mr Wonka mention? Which tree does he say lives the longest?

(ii) How long does this tree live? Where can you find it?

Answer:

(i) Mr Wonka had mentioned Douglas fir, the oak, and the cedar. He also said that a tree called Bristlecone pine lives the longest.

(ii) Bristlecone Pine tree lives for over 4000 years. It can be found upon the slopes of Wheeler Peak in Nevada, U.S.A.

2.       How many of the oldest living things can you remember from Mr Wonka’s list? (Don’t look back at the story!) Do you think all these things really exist, or are some of them purely imaginary?

Answer: Instead of the 4000-year-old Bristlecone pine, the other things mentioned in Mr Wonka’s list like the toe-nail clipping from a 168-year-old Russian farmer, the tail of a 51-year-old horse are purely imaginary.

3.       Why does Mr Wonka collect items from the oldest things? Do you think this is the right way to begin his invention?

Answer: Mr. Wonka collected objects from the oldest things he could find so that he could make people older. Therefore, the research on oldest things was the right way to start his experiment.

4.       What happens to the volunteer who swallows four drops of the new invention? What is the name of the invention?

Answer: The moment the brave twenty-year-old Oompa-Loompa volunteer swallowed four drops of the new invention, he began wrinkling and shrivelling up all over. His hair started dropping off and his teeth started falling out. Before Mr Wonka could know it, the volunteer had suddenly become an old man of seventy-five. The invention was named as Vita- Wonk.


WORKING WITH LANGUAGE                                                                      PAGE 103

1.       What do you call these insects in your language?

How do these insects effect your health? Have a discussion in the class.

Answer: Answer it yourself.

2.       Fill in the blanks in the recipe given below with from the box.

Shred              Cooker     times     tomatoes     half     onion     oil

Easy Palak-Dal

INGREDIENTS

·        One __________________________

·        One cup dal

·        Two thin green chillies

·        ______________________________ a teaspoon red chilli powder

·        Eight small bunches of palak

·        Two __________________________

·        Salt to taste

Wash and cut the vegetables; __________________________the palak. Put everything in a pressure _______________________. Let the cooker whistle three _______________________, then switch it off. Fry a few cumin seeds in _____________________________ and add to the palak-dal.

Answer:                                  Easy Palak-Dal

INGREDIENTS

·        One onion

·        One cup dal

·        Two thin green chillies

·        Half a teaspoon red chilli powder

·        Eight small bunches of palak

·        Two tomatoes

·        Salt to taste

Wash and cut the vegetables; shred the palak. Put everything in a pressure cooker. Let the cooker whistle three times, then switch it off. Fry a few cumin seeds in oil and add to the palak-dal.


Poem: Dad and the Cat and the Tree                          By Krr Wright

WORKING WITH THE POEM                                                                     PAGE 110

1.       Why was Dad sure he wouldn’t fall?

Answer: Dad was sure about not falling down while climbing the tree. He thought that he was a good climber and that climbing a tree was a child’s play.

2.       Describe Plan A and its consequences.

Answer: In plan A, Dad took out a ladder from the garden shed and placed it against the tree. However, it slipped and he landed on the flower bed.

3.       Which phrase in the poem expresses Dad’s self-confidence best?

Answer: The phrase in the poem that expresses Dad’s self-confidence the best is ‘Child’s play, this is!’

4.       Plan C was a success. What went wrong then?

Answer: Plan C was successful as Dad was able to climb a wall without falling. However, after he jumped onto the tree, he accidentally landed at the place where the cat was stuck. This terrified the cat and it was pleased to land safely on the ground. This made the cat free. But this time, Dad got stuck on the tree at the same place.

5.       The cat was very happy to be on the ground. Pick out the phrase used to express this idea.

Answer: The phrase used to express the mentioned idea is ‘Pleased as punch to be safe and sound’.

6.       Describe the Cat and Dad situation in the beginning and at the end of the poem.

Answer: In the beginning of the poem, the cat was stuck on the tree and Dad was on the ground. However, at the end of the poem, the situation was totally reversed with Dad stuck on the tree and the cat free on the ground.

7.       Why and when did Dad say each of the following?

(i) Fall?

(ii) Never mind

(iii) Funny joke

(iv) Rubbish

Answer:

(i) Dad said so when he was about to climb the tree for the first time and his wife asked him to be careful and not fall. He was confident enough to call himself a good climber.

(ii) Dad said so when he slipped off the ladder and landed on the flower bed. He said so while brushing off dirt from his hair, face, trousers, and shirt.

(iii) Dad said so when he went ahead to try plan B and his wife was considerate about him falling again.

(iv) Dad said so when during plan B, the branch on which he swung himself up broke and he fell down heavily and as a result, his wife asked him to stop as he would break his neck.

8.       Do you find the poem humorous? Read aloud lines which make you laugh.

Answer: The poem is humorous as the situation gets completely reversed at the end of the poem. Dad, who was determined to set the cat free as it was stuck on the tree, got himself stuck at the same position on the tree in the end. The failed attempts and the continuing over-confidence of Dad are surely funny.

1. Three Questions ; The Squirrel Question Answer

2. A Gift of Chappals ; The Rebel Question Answer

3. Gopal and the Hilsa Fish ; The Shed Question Answer

4. The Ashes That Made Trees Bloom ; Chivvy Question Answer

5. Quality ; Trees Question Answer

6. Expert Detectives ; Mystery of the Talking Fan Question Answer

7. The Invention of Vita-Wonk ; Dad and the Cat and the Tree Question Answer

8. Fire: Friend and Foe ; Meadow Surprises Question Answer

9. A Bicycle in Good Repair ; Garden Snake Question Answer

10. The Story of Cricket Question Answer

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