What If - Solutions

 CBSE Class 6 Subject English

NCERT Solutions
Chapter-08
Poem - What If 

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1. (i) Who is the speaker in the poem?
Ans: The speaker in the poem is child.

(ii) With your partner list out the happenings the speaker is worried about.
Ans: The speaker is worried if he was dumb in school, if they had closed the swimming pool, if he got beaten up, if there was poison in his cup, if he started to cry, if he got sick and died, if he flunked that test, if green hair grew on his chest, if nobody liked him, if a bolt of lightning struck him, if he did not grow taller, if his head started getting smaller, if the fish would not bite, if the wind tore up his kite, if they started a war, if his parents got divorced, if the bus was late, if his teeth did not grow in straight, if he tore his pants, if he never learnt to dance.

(iii) Why do you think she/he has these worries? Can you think of ways to get rid of such worries?
Ans: Idle mind is devil's workshop. She/he has these worries because in the night she/he is free therefore, these fearful thoughts started coming in his mind. To get rid of such worries she/he should involve their mind in creative work.She should keep herself busy in games and read story books during night.

2. Read the following line. 
Some What ifs 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.
Ans: Some other images are:
•  Pranced and partied all night long
•  Sang their old whatif song. 
•  Whatif a bolt of lightning strikes me