The Squirrel - Solutions

 CBSE Class 07 English Honeycomb

NCERT Solutions
Chapter - 1
The Squirrel - Poem

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Page No: 17

1. You may have seen a squirrel sitting on the ground eating a nut. What did it look like?
Ans: The squirrel is a rodent. It is grey in colour with brown strips on its back. it is very small in size with fur on its body and a large bushy tail. It generally lives in trees and likes to eat nuts. It is a playful and naughty animal. 

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Working with the Poem

1. Why does the poet say the squirrel “wore a question mark for tail”? Draw a squirrel, or find a picture of a squirrel sitting on the ground. How would you describe its tail?
Ans:

The poet says so because the bushy tail of a squirrel sitting on the ground is curled back on its body in a curved shape that looks very similar to the punctuation mark at the end of an interrogative sentence. I would describe it as a furry and bushy cloth worn on its back that seems to ask you the question - what?

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2. Do we usually say that an animal ‘wears’ a tail? What do we say? (Think: Does an animal wear a coat? Consult a dictionary if you like, and find out how ‘wear’ is used in different ways.)
Ans: No, usually we do not say that an animal ‘wears’ a tail. We usually say that animal 'has' a tail. ( Wear also means to carry or to hold something on your body, like a cloth or a smile or a piece of jewellery or a perfume.The hair on the body can be arranged to be carried in different ways like a poni or a knot or pleated and that can be said as how you wear your hair.) 

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3. “He liked to tease and play”. Who is teasing whom? How ?
Ans: The squirrel is a naughty playful animal. It loves to be chased, by other squirrels and kids as well. When poet and his friends ran around the tree on which the squirrel is sitting, it went the other way teasing them and playing with them.