Chivvy - Solutions

 CBSE Class 07 English Honeycomb

NCERT solution
Chapter - 4
Chivvy - Poem

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Page No: 70
Working with the Poem
1. Discuss these questions in small groups before you answer them.
(i) When is a grown-up likely to say this?
Don’t talk with your mouth full.
(ii) When are you likely to be told this?
Say thank you.
(iii) When do you think an adult would say this?
No one thinks you are funny.
Ans: (i) A grown-up is likely to say so while eating, when a child tries to talk with food stuffed in his/her mouth.
(ii) We are expected to say thank you when someone helps us or gives us something.
(iii) When a child acts weird or does something funny to try and seek attention of the people around, then an adult would say - no one thinks you are funny.

2. The last two lines of the poem are not prohibitions or instructions. What is the adult now asking the child to do? Do you think the poet is suggesting that this is unreasonable? Why?
Ans:  The adult keeps advising the child about what he should do or should not do. But in the last two lines, the adult is expecting the child to make decisions for himself as if the adult has not been advising him about the dos and the don'ts. Yes the poet is suggesting that this is unreasonable because the child cannot decide what he should do or not when he is bound by instructions and prohibitions regarding each and every action he does. (The pronoun he has been used for the child in a general sense and does not depict the gender of the child.)

3. Why do you think grown-ups say the kind of things mentioned in the poem? Is it important that they teach children good manners, and how to behave in public?
Ans: The grown-ups say such things to their children in order to teach them good manners. They want their children to be responsible citizens and behave properly in public. Yes, it is important to teach the children all these things so that they learn how to behave properly in the society, at home and with their elders and youngsters. Our elders are our teachers and we can learn a lot from their experience.

4. If you had to make some rules for grown-ups to follow, what would you say? Make at least five such rules. Arrange the lines as in a poem.
Ans: I would make rules like:
Don't abuse anyone.
Schedule a time slot for fun and game.
Keep the neighbourhood clean.
Don't smoke or spit publically.
No physical punishments.