NCERT Solutions Class 6 English

Chapter 10: The Banyan Tree

Summary:
“The Banyan Tree” narrates the story of a banyan tree that stood in the center of a village for generations. The chapter explores the significance of the tree in the lives of the villagers and its role as a symbol of unity, resilience, and continuity. Through the tree’s lifecycle, the chapter conveys timeless wisdom about the interconnectedness of life and the importance of preserving natural heritage.

Solutions:

  1. Reading Comprehension:
  • Question 1: What is the central theme of the chapter “The Banyan Tree”?
    • Answer: The central theme of the chapter is the significance of the banyan tree in the lives of the villagers and its role as a symbol of unity and continuity.
  • Question 2: Describe the importance of the banyan tree in the village.
    • Answer: The banyan tree serves as a gathering place for the villagers, provides shade and shelter, and is revered as a sacred symbol of tradition and community.
  • Question 3: How does the tree impact the lives of the villagers?
    • Answer: The tree fosters a sense of belonging and unity among the villagers, provides a meeting place for social interactions, and serves as a source of inspiration and wisdom.
  • Question 4: What lesson can be learned from the lifecycle of the banyan tree?
    • Answer: The lifecycle of the banyan tree teaches us about resilience, adaptation, and the cyclical nature of life, emphasizing the importance of preserving natural heritage for future generations.
  • Question 5: Why do you think the villagers are saddened by the tree’s demise?
    • Answer: The villagers are saddened by the tree’s demise because it represents the end of an era and the loss of a cherished symbol of their community and cultural heritage.
  1. Vocabulary:
  • Word 1: Resilience
    • Meaning: The ability to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.
  • Word 2: Continuity
    • Meaning: The unbroken and consistent existence or operation of something over time.
  • Word 3: Heritage
    • Meaning: The traditions, achievements, beliefs, etc., that are part of the history of a group or nation.
  • Word 4: Revered
    • Meaning: Regarded with deep respect and admiration.
  1. Writing:
  • Write a short poem or reflection about the significance of trees in your life or community.
  1. Grammar:
  • Rewrite the following sentences using the correct tense:
    • Original: The banyan tree stand in the center of the village.
    • Rewritten: The banyan tree stands in the center of the village.

This is a brief overview of the solutions for Chapter 10: “The Banyan Tree” in Class 6 English.



A. Complete the following sentences.

1. The old banyan tree “did not belong” to
grandfather, but only to the boy, because
——————————————————————————
————————————————————————
2. The small gray squirrel became friendly when —————————
—————————————————————————————————————
3. When the boy started to bring him pieces of cake and biscuit,
the squirrel ——————————————————————————————
—————————————————————————————————————
4. In the spring, the banyan tree —————————————–
, and
—————————————–
would come there.
5. The banyan tree served the boy as a —————————————–—–
—————————————————————————————————————
6. The young boy spent his afternoons in the tree —————————
————–—————————————–—————————————–———–––—

Answer-

  1. The old banyan tree “did not belong” to grandfather, but only to the boy, because Grandfather, at sixty-five, could no longer climb it.
  2. The small gray squirrel became friendly when he found that the boy did not arm himself with a catapult or air gun.
  3. When the boy started to bring him pieces of cake and biscuit, the squirrel grew quite bold and was soon taking morsels from his hand.
  4. In the spring, the banyan tree was full of small red figs, and birds of all kinds would come there.
  5. The banyan tree served the boy as a library where he could read books.
  6. The young boy spent his afternoons in the tree reading, spying on the world below, or watching the fight between the mongoose and the cobra.


B. Answer the following questions.
1. “It was to be a battle of champions.”(8)
(i) What qualities did the two champions have? Pick out words
and phrases from the paragraph above this line in the text
and write them down.
Mongoose Cobra
(a) ________________ (a) ________________
(b) ________________ (b) ________________
(c) ________________ (c) ________________
ii) What did the cobra and the mongoose do, to show
their readiness for the fight?
2. Who were the other two spectators? What did they do? (Did
they watch, or did they join in the fight?) (10)
3. Read the descriptions below of what the snake did and what the
mongoose did. Arrange their actions in the proper order. (11, 16)
(i) ceased to struggle l grabbed the snake by
the snout
(ii) tried to mesmerise l dragged the snake into
the mongoose the bushes
(iii) coiled itself around l darted away and bit the
the mongoose cobra on the back
(iv) struck the crow l pretended to attack the
cobra on one side
(v) struck again and l refused to look into the
missed snake’s eyes
(vi) struck on the side l sprang aside, jumped in
that the mongoose and bit
pretended to attack
4. (i) What happened to the crow in the end? (16)
(ii) What did the myna do finally? (17)

Answer the following questions.

  1. “It was to be a battle of champions.”(i) What qualities did the two champions have? Pick out words and phrases from the paragraph above this line in the text and write them down.
    • Mongoose (a) Fast (b) Superb fighter (c) Clever and aggressive
    • Cobra (a) Skilful fighter (b) Experienced (c) Swift and deadly
    (ii) What did the cobra and the mongoose do, to show their readiness for the fight?
    • The cobra raised three of his six feet off the ground, spread his broad, spectacled hood, and hissed defiance with his forked tongue darting in and out. The mongoose bushed his tail, and the long hair on his spine stood up.
  2. Who were the other two spectators? What did they do? (Did they watch, or did they join in the fight?)
    • The other two spectators were a myna and a jungle crow. They did not just watch the fight; they also dived at the cobra and tried to join in the fight.
  3. Read the descriptions below of what the snake did and what the mongoose did. Arrange their actions in the proper order.
    • Mongoose: (i) Refused to look into the snake’s eyes (ii) Pretended to attack the cobra on one side (iii) Sprang aside, jumped in and bit (iv) Darted away and bit the cobra on the back (v) Grabbed the snake by the snout (vi) Dragged the snake into the bushes
    • Cobra: (i) Tried to mesmerise the mongoose (ii) Struck on the side that the mongoose pretended to attack (iii) Struck again and missed (iv) Coiled itself around the mongoose (v) Struck the crow (vi) Ceased to struggle
  4. (i) What happened to the crow in the end?
    • The cobra struck the crow with great force, flinging it nearly twenty feet across the garden. The crow fluttered about for a while and then lay still.
    (ii) What did the myna do finally?
    • The myna dropped cautiously to the ground, hopped about, peered into the bushes from a safe distance, and then, with a shrill cry of congratulation, flew away.

WORKING WITH LANGUAGE

A. 1. The word ‘round’ usually means a kind of shape. What is its
meaning in the story?

  1. Find five words in the following paragraph, which are generally
    associated with trees. But here, they have been used differently.
    Underline the words.

    Hari leaves for work at nine every morning. He works in
    the local branch of the firm of which his uncle is the owner.
    Hari’s success is really the fruit of his own labour. He is
    happy, but he has a small problem. The root cause of his
    problem is a stray dog near his office. The dog welcomes
    Hari with a loud bark eve

Answer-.

1. The word ‘round’ usually means a kind of shape. What is its meaning in the story?

  • In the story, ‘round’ refers to a stage in a fight or competition.
  1. Find five words in the following paragraph, which are generally associated with trees. But here, they have been used differently. Underline the words.
    • Hari leaves for work at nine every morning. He works in the local branch of the firm of which his uncle is the owner. Hari’s success is really the fruit of his own labour. He is happy, but he has a small problem. The root cause of his problem is a stray dog near his office. The dog welcomes Hari with a loud bark every day.

B. The words in the box are all words that describe movement. Use
them to fill in the blanks in the sentences below.
dived gliding sprang darting
whipped ,back delving

  1. When he began to trust me, the squirrel began —————————
    into my pockets for morsels of cake.
  2. I saw a cobra ———————————out of a clump of cactus.
  3. The snake hissed, his forked tongue ———————————— in
    and out.
  4. When the cobra tried to bite it, the mongoose ——————————
    aside.
  5. The snake ——————————— his head ———————————to
    strike at the crow.
  6. The birds ——————————— at the snake.

Answer

1.delving

2.gliding

3.darting

4.sprang

5. whipped . back

6.dived

C. Find words in the story, which show things striking violently
against each other.

  1. The cobra struck the crow, his snout th — — — ing against its
    body. (15)
  2. The crow and the myna c — ll
    — — — — in mid-air. (13)
  3. The birds dived at the snake, but b — — — — d into each
    other instead. (14)

Answer-

Find words in the story, which show things striking violently against each other.

  1. The cobra struck the crow, his snout thudding against its body.
  2. The crow and the myna collided in mid-air.
  3. The birds dived at the snake, but bumped into each other instead.

D. Look at these sentences

  • In the spring, birds of all
    kinds would flock into the
    banyan tree’s branches.
  • I would spend the afternoons
    there.
    ‘Would’ tells us what the
    author used to do, or what
    used to happen.
  • Grandfather, at sixty-five,
    could no longer climb the
    banyan tree.
  • I could hide myself in its
    branches.
  • I could look down through the
    leaves at the world below.
  • I could read there.
    ‘Could’ tells us what the
    author was usually able to
    do, or grandfather is now
    not able to do.
  • Choose would and could to replace the italicised words in the following
    sentences.
    Grandfather says, in the old days,
  1. elephants were able to fly in the sky, like clouds. They were
    also able to change their shapes. They used to fly behind
    clouds and frighten them. People used to look up at the sky
    in wonder.
  2. because there was no electricity, he used to get up with the
    sun, and he used to go to bed with the sun, like the birds.
  3. like the owl, he was able to see quite well in the dark. He was
    able to tell who was coming by listening to their footsteps.

Answer-

Grandfather says, in the old days,

  1. elephants could fly in the sky, like clouds. They could also change their shapes. They would fly behind clouds and frighten them. People would look up at the sky in wonder.
  2. because there was no electricity, he would get up with the sun, and he would go to bed with the sun, like the birds.
  3. like the owl, he could see quite well in the dark. He could tell who was coming by listening to their footsteps.

SPEAKING

Look at these sentences.
l The tree was older than Grandfather.
l Grandfather was sixty-five years old.
How old was the tree? Can you guess?
l The tree was as old as Dehra Dun itself.
Suppose Dehra Dun is 300 years old. How old is the tree?
When two things are the same in some way, we use as…as.
Here is another set of examples.
l Mr Sinha is 160 centimetres tall.
l Mr Gupta is 180 centimetres tall.
l Mrs Gupta is 160 centimetres tall
Mrs Gupta is as tall as Mr Sinha.
Use the words in the box to speak about the people and the things below, using as…as or -er than

tall – taller cold – colder hot – hotter
strong – stronger short – shorter

Answer-

The sentences using “as…as” or “-er than”:

  1. Heights
  • Zeba is as tall as Rani.
  • Ruby is shorter than Zeba.
  • Ruby is shorter than Rani.
  1. Weight Lifters
  • Vijay is as strong as Akshay.
  • Anwar is stronger than Vijay.
  • Anwar is stronger than Akshay.
  1. City Temperatures
  • Shimla is as cold as Gangtok.
  • Srinagar is colder than Shimla.
  • Srinagar is colder than Gangtok.
  1. Lengths
  • Romi’s pencil is as long as Raja’s pencil.
  • Mona’s pencil is longer than Romi’s pencil.
  • Mona’s pencil is longer than Raja’s pencil.
  1. City Temperatures
  • Delhi is as hot as Nagpur.
  • Chennai is cooler than Delhi.
  • Chennai is cooler than Nagpur.

WRITING

‘My Favourite Place’
Read again the paragraphs of the story in which the author
describes the banyan tree, and what he used to do there. Is
there a place in your house, or in your grandparents’ or uncles’
or aunts’ houses, that you specially like? Write a short paragraph
about it, saying

  • where it is
  • what you do there
  • why you like it
    You may instead write about a place you dislike, or are afraid of.

Answer

Writing

My Favourite Place

There is a cozy little nook in my grandparents’ house that I love dearly. It’s in the corner of the attic, where an old rocking chair sits by a small window. I often retreat there with a book or my sketchpad, enjoying the quiet and the view of the garden below. I like it because it’s a place where I can be alone with my thoughts, away from the hustle and bustle of daily life. The soft creak of the rocking chair and the gentle rustling of the leaves outside make it the perfect spot for relaxation and creativity.