and one of these days, you’re going to find bond’s book of better sandwiches up there on the...

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RAIN IN SUMMER

CLASS 7

COMPREHENSION PASSAGE 1

© copyright Pearson Education

How beautiful is the rain! After the dust and heat, In the broad and fiery street, In the narrow lane, How beautiful is the rain! How it clatters along the roofs, Like the tramp of hoofs; How it gushes and struggles out From the throat of the overflowing spout!

Across the window-pane It pours and pours; And swift and wide, With a muddy tide, Like a river down the gutter roars The rain, the welcome rain! The sick man from his chamber looks At the twisted brooks; He can feel the cool Breath of each little pool; His fevered brain Grows calm again, And he breathes a blessing on the rain.

From the neighbouring school Come the boys, With more than their wonted noise And commotion; And down the wet streets Sail their mimic fleets, Till the treacherous pool Engulfs them in its whirling And turbulent ocean.

A. You have read an extract from the original poem. Find a book on Longfellow’s poems in your school library and read the complete poem.

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RAIN IN SUMMER

CLASS 7



B. Answer the following questions.

1. Why, according to the poet, is the rain so welcome in summer?

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2. Which animal does the rain sound like when it clatters along the roofs?

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3. Pick out the lines from the poem that tell you that a heavy shower is being de-

scribed.

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4. What effect does the rain have on the sick man?

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5. What is the school boys’ ‘mimic fleet’?

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C. Find the antonyms of these words, from the poem.

1. Narrow ______________________

2. Wide ______________________

3. Clean ______________________

4. Calm ______________________

5. Safe ______________________

6. Sow ______________________

7. Curse ______________________

8. Well ______________________

9. Straight ______________________

10. Ugly ______________________

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RAIN IN SUMMER

CLASS 7



D. Rain is beautiful, but sometimes, it can also cause problems. Imagine you are going back

home in your car with your family one evening, and get caught in a thunderstorm. De-

scribe what happens.

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NAME ______________________________________ DATE _________________


MY FAILED OMELETTES AND

OTHER DISASTERS

CLASS 7



In nearly fifty years of writing for a living, I have never succeeded in writing a best-seller. And now I know why. I can’t cook. Had I been able to do so, I could have turned out a few of those sumptuous looking cookery books that brighten up the bookstore windows before being snapped up by folks who can’t cook either. As it is, I were forced to write a cookbook, it would probably be called Fifty Ways of Boiling an Egg, and Other Disasters. I used to think that boiling an egg would be a simple undertaking. But when I came to live at 7,000 feet in the Himalayan foothills, I found that just getting the water to boil was something of an achievement. I don’t know if it’s the altitude or the density of the water, but it just won’t come to the boil in time for breakfast. As a result, my eggs are only half-boiled. “Never mind,” I tell everyone, “half-boiled egs are more nutritious than full-boiled eggs.” “Why boil them at all?” asks my five-year-old grandson, Gautam, who is my Mr. Dick, always offering good advice. “Raw eggs are probably healthier.” “Just you wait and see,” I told him, “I’ll make you a cheese omelette you’ll never forget.” and I did. It was a bit messy, as I was over-generous with the tomatoes, but I thought it tasted rather good. Gautam, however, pushed his plate away, saying, “You forgot to put in the egg.” 101 Failed Omelettes might well be the title of my bestseller. I love watching other people cook—a habit that I acquired at a young age, when I would watch my Granny at work in the kitchen turning out delicious curries, koftas and cus-tards. I would try helping her, but she soon put a stop to my feeble contributions. On one occasion, she asked me to add a cup of spices to a large curry dish she was preparing, and absent-mindedly, I added a cup of sugar. The result—a very sweet curry! Another inven-tion of mine. I was better at remembering Granny’s kitchen proverbs. Here are some of them: ‘There is skill in all things, even in making porridge.’ ‘Dry bread at home is better than curried prawns abroad.’ ‘Eating and drinking should not keep men from thinking.’ ‘Better a small fish than an empty dish.’

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OTHER DISASTERS

CLASS 7



And her favourite maxim, with which she reprimanded me whenever I showed signs of gluttony: ‘Don’t let your tongue cut your throat,’

And as for making porridge, it’s certainly no simple matter. I made one or two attempts, but it always comes out lumpy.

“What’s this?” asked Gautam suspiciously, when I offered him some.

“Porridge!’ I said enthusiastically, “It’s eaten by those brave Scottish Highlanders who were always fighting the English!”

“And did they win?” he asked. “Well—er—not usually. But they were outnumbered!”

He looked doubtfully at the porridge. “Some other time,” he said.

So why not take the advice of Thoreau and try to simplify life! Simplify! Simplify! Or sim-ply sandwiches...

These shouldn’t be too difficult, I decided. After all, they are basically bread and butter. But have you tried cutting bread into thin slices? Don’t. It’s highly dangerous. If you’re a pianist, you could be putting your career at great risk.

You must get your bread ready-sliced. Butter it generously. Now add your fillings. Cheese, tomato, lettuce, cucumber, whatever. Gosh, I was really going places! Slap another slice of buttered bread over this assemblage. Now cut in two. Result: Everything spills out at the sides and on to the table-cloth.

“Now look what you’ve gone and done,” says Gautam, in his best Oliver Hardy manner.

“Never mind,” I tell him, “practice makes perfect!”

And one of these days, you’re going to find Bond’s Book of Better Sandwiches up there on the bestseller lists. A. Now that you have read the chapter, talk about the humour in it.

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OTHER DISASTERS

CLASS 7



B. Match the words to their meanings.

C. Answer the following questions.

1. What is a bestseller? Why do you think a cookbook is a bestseller?

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2. Why did the eggs, which the author made for breakfast, remain half-boiled?

How did he console himself?

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3. Why did Gautam feel that the cheese omelette had no egg?

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4. What advice did he give his grandfather?

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5. What were the author’s granny’s kitchen proverbs? What do they mean?

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6. Why does the author say that a pianist’s career would be at risk if he tried to

cut very thin slices of bread?

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7. Name some bestsellers that the author thinks he could write.

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1. sumptuous 2. snapped up 3. simple undertaking 4. achievement 5. altitude 6. density 7. nutritious 8. feeble contributions 9. assemblage 10. gluttony

A. height B. easy task C. quantity of matter D. eating far too much E. weak efforts F. impressive, tasty and costly G. collection of articles H. healthy and nourishing I. something completed successfully J. quickly taken or bought

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OTHER DISASTERS

CLASS 7



D. Fill in the blanks with the correct forms of the appropriate phrasal verbs given in the brackets.

1. The new car _________________________ in the middle of the road due to a technical problem.

2. The best clothes were __________________________ by eager shoppers at the beginning of the sale.

3. We thought he was not in town and were quite surprised when he _______________________ for dinner.

4. Don’t __________________________ yet; keep trying hard and you may still succeed.

5. He needs to _______________________ his typing skills if he wants a job in this office.

E. Have you ever had adventures in the kitchen like the author? Write a diary entry abput one of

them.

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BRUSH UP, GIVE UP, TURN UP, BLOW UP, SNAP UP

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OTHER DISASTERS

CLASS 7



F. You have invited ten friends for dinner. Three of them are vegetarians, and one is a vegan. He/

She is a vegetarian who does not take any animal products. You have to explain this to one of your

parents, and draw up an ideal menu to suit everybody. Write the conversation between you and

your parent.

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LAUGHING SONG

CLASS 7



When the green woods laugh with the voice of joy, And the dimpling stream runs laughing by; When the air does laugh with our merry wit, And the green hills laughs with the noise of it; When the meadows laugh with lively green,

And the grasshoppers laughs in the merry scene; When Mary and Susan and Emily

With their sweet round mouths sing ‘Ha ha he!’ When the painted birds laugh in the shade,

Where our table with cherries and nuts is spread: Come live, and be merry, and join with me, To sing the sweet chorus of ‘Ha ha he!’

A. Pick out words from the poem which mean the following: 1. Forests _________________________________

2. Making hollow spaces in the way _________________________________

3. Ability to be funny and clever _________________________________

4. Green fields _________________________________

B. The mood of the poem is a happy one. Write a diary entry in about 100-150 words about the things that make you happy. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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LAUGHING SONG

CLASS 7



C. Answer these questions based on your reading of the poem.

1. What do the green hill and the meadows do in the poem? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Which words in the poem suggest joy? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. What are Mary, Emily and Susan doing? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. What does the poet want the readers to do? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. Do you think the mood of the poem is happy? Or is it sad? Give reasons for your answer. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6. Explain the following phrases from the poem in your own words: i. dimpling streams: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

ii. Green hills laugh ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

iii. Lively green ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

iv. Painted birds ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

D. Given below are the adverb forms of some words. Tick the correct spelling for each..

There are different spelling rules

being followed in the above exer-

cise. After you have ticked the cor-

rect spelling, can you identify the

different spelling rules followed?

1. merry 2. sweet 3. soft 4. true 5. clumsy 6. gentle

merrily sweetily softly truly clumsily gentley

merrily sweetly softily truly clumsly gently

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LAUGHING SONG

CLASS 7



E. Laughter a very important part of our lives. Write a short letter to your younger sister/brother highlighting this fact. _________________________________________________________________________

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NATURE’S FURY: VOLCANOES

CLASS 7



Imagine a mountain spitting out burning hot rocks, and lava trickling down along its sides—frightening, awe-inspiring nature at its wildest. That’s what a volcano is. Let us read more about this. The crust of the earth is composed of twelve major plates and a number of smaller plates. The plates keep rubbing against each other. They slide and push against one another and even pull apart from each other. When this happens, sometimes earthquakes and volca-noes occur. How does all this happen? In the core of the earth, there is a pool of melted rock. It is called magma. Due to the in-tense heat inside, magma expands and pushes against solid rock. It squeezes into cracks and a sit reaches the earth’s surface, it bursts out and that is a volcanic eruption. Magma also has extremely hot gases in it. When magma reaches the surface of the earth, it is called lava. Lava is a boiling, red-hot liquid. As it runs down the sides of the volcano, it cools down and solidifies. A volcano also spits our tephra, which is hardened magma. It either comes out in the form of rocks or tiny particles of volcanic ash. The largest pieces of tephra are known as volcanic bombs. These are dangerous as they may be large and very heavy. Volcanoes do not smell good as they give off gases, some of which are poisonous. Volcanoes that have erupted in the recent periods are called active volcanoes. One such volcano is Stromboli, which is called the ‘Lighthouse of the Mediterranean’. An extinct volcano is one that has not erupted for thousands of years. Edinburgh in Scotland is built around an extinct volcano. A dormant volcano is one which may have erupted only in the earlier periods of history but is inactive now. An example of this is the Paricutin in Mex-ico, which has not erupted since the early 1950s.

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CLASS 7



Earth is not the only planet which has volcanoes. Volcanoes are found on Venus and Mars, as well as on our moon and the moons of Jupiter. On the Earth, however, volcanoes are found on all the continents except Australia. Most volcanoes on Earth are found in an area appropriately named the Pacific Ocean. A number of volcanoes are also found near the Mediterranean and Caribbean seas. Volcanoes endanger the lives and properties of those living close to them, but volcanic ash is full of minerals that make the soil very fertile. A good example of this is the rich, min-eral-filled soil of Bali, Indonesia. Thanks to this, three crops of rice may be grown here in a year. Volcanoes also bring to the surface precious metals such as gold and silver. Magma, when it cools over a long period of time, may also form diamonds. Much of the mystery surrounding volcanic eruptions has been unraveled by scientists and geologists. But an erupting volcano still remains an awe-inspiring sight.

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT SOME VOLCANOES

1. Krakatau is a small volcanic island in the South Pacific Ocean. In 1883, this island erupted and amazingly the sound was heard 4800 km away, in islands of the Indian Ocean. Volcanic ash from this eruption hung in the air even in faraway London for two years!

2. Mount Vesuvius in Italy erupted in AD 79. the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum were buried under lava and volcanic ash which later hardened. The cities were discovered only in 1700s.

3. El Popo,55 km from Mexico City, is the most dangerous volcano as it erupts on a daily basis. A major eruption could cause tremendous destruction as a population of millions living close by would be affected.

4. The largest active Volcano is Mauna Lao in Hawaii. It is about 4 km above sea level and 192 km wide.

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CLASS 7



A. Try to guess the meaning of these words as used in the passage. Pick out the closest meaning from the alternatives provided.

B. Imagine that you are a journalist based at Ahmedabad. Write a short report of the earthquake that took place in Gujrat on 26 January 2001. you may collect information from magazines and the Internet. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

1. awe-inspiring

a. height b. wonder c. respectful fear

2. intense

a. extreme b. deep c. strong feeling

3. eruption

a. boil b. bursting out of lava and ash c. dramatic outbreak

4. composed

a. calm b. made up of c. made up

5. dormant

a. asleep b. temporarily inactive c. alive but not actively growing

6. unravelled

a. wrapped up b. to make clear c. written about

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CLASS 7



C. Answer the following questions.

1. Why is a volcano described as being ‘nature at its widest’? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Why does a volcanic eruption take place? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. What is magma? When is it called ‘lava’? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. What is ‘tephra’? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. What are the following types of volcanoes? Give examples of each. a. Active volcanoes ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

b. Dormant volcanoes ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

c. Extinct volcanoes ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6. What is the ‘Ring of Fire’? ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________

D. As you already know, words may have different meanings. They may also be used as different parts of speech. Pick out words from the passage which have these meanings when used in a differ-ent context. One has been done for you.

1. Hard outer part of a loaf of bread crust 2. The centre of an apple _____________________ 3. We eat on it _____________________ 4. A rank in the army _____________________ 5. We wash our faces in these _____________________ 6. A modern form of music _____________________ 7. Come to the top _____________________ 8. Length X breadth _____________________ 9. A document with blank spaces to be filled in with necessary information _____________________

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THE BLIND MEN AND THE ELEPHANT

CLASS 7



It was six men of Indostan, To learning much inclined, Who went to see the elephant (Though all of them were blind), That each by observation Might satisfy his mind. The First approached the Elephant, And happening to fall Against his broad and sturdy side, At once began to bawl: “God bless me! But the elephant Is very like a wall.” The second, feeling of the tusk Cried, “Ho! What have we here So very round and smooth and sharp? To me ‘tis mighty clear This wonder of an Elephant Is very like a spear!” The third approached the animal, And happening to take The squirming trunk within his hands, Thus boldly up and spake: “I see,” quoth he, “the Elephant Is very like a snake!” The Fourth reached out his eager hand, And felt about the kee. “What most this wondrous beast is like Is mighty plain,” quoth he; “ ‘Tis clear enough, the Elephant Is very like a tree.” The Fifth who chanced to touch the ear, Said, “E’en the blindest man Can tell what this resembles most; Deny the fact who can, This marvel of an Elephant Is very like a fan!”

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CLASS 7



The sixth no sooner had begun About the beast to grope, Than, seizing on the swinging tail That fell within his scope, “I see,” quoth he, “the Elephant is very like a rope!” And so these men of Indostan Disputed loud and long, Each in his own opinion Exceeding stiff and strong; Though each was partly in the right And all were in the wrong.

A. Complete the table to find out what the elephant looked like to the blind men. The first one has been done for you.

B. Find words and phrases in the poem which mean the following:

1. Interested in education _____________________ 2. Cry out loudly _____________________ 3. A weapon with a long shining blade _____________________ 4. Said _____________________ 5. Moving around all the time this way and that _____________________ 6. Without fear _____________________ 7. Holding onto _____________________ 8. Argued _____________________ 9. Not completely _____________________

MAN FELT BELIEVED

First man The side That it was like a wall

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CLASS 7



C. Play a game. Your teacher will place some objects on a tray covered with a cloth. Form two teams. Four members of each team will be blindfolded and asked to feel the objects and guess what they are. A scorekeeper can give points for each correct answer and the team with the highest score will win.

D. Make pairs of sentences with the words in the box to show how they may be used in different

ways. One has been done for you.

1. The blind man took the squirming trunk of the elephant in his hands.

He packed his clothes in his steel trunk.

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TRUNK, PLAIN, FAIR, BAY, LIGHT, BARK

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CLASS 7



E. The guessing game must have been quite interesting. Write a dairy entry about it when you

reach home. Date ______________________ Dear Dairy, Today it wasn’t a;; studies. We actually played a game in class. It was great fun… ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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and one of these days, you’re going to find bond’s book of better sandwiches up there on the...

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