NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Beehive

Chapter 7 Packing
NCERT Textbook Question

Thinking about the text

(Page 89)

I. Discuss in pairs and answer each question below in a short paragraph. (30-40
words)

Question 1.
How many characters are there in the narrative? Name them. (Don’t forget the dog!).
Answer:
There are four characters in the narrative including the dog. They are the narrator,
George, Harris and the fourth is the dog named Montmorency.

Question 2.
Why did the narrator (Jerome) volunteer to do the packing?
Answer:
The narrator felt that he knew more about packing than any other person living.
Moreover, he would get an opportunity to boss the job and George and Harris would do
the job under his directions.

Question 3.
How did George and Harris react to this? Did Jerome like their reaction?
Answer:
George and Harris accepted the narrator’s suggestion readily. But Jerome did not like it.

Question 4.
What was Jerome’s real intention when he offered to pack?
Answer:
Jerome’s real intention was to boss the job. He wanted that Harris and George should
work under his guidance and instructions. But they accepted the proposal and sat idle
on the chairs comfortably.

Question 5.
What did Harris say after the bag was shut and strapped? Why do you think he waited
till then to ask?
Answer:
Harris asked the narrator to put the boots in the bag after strapping the bag. He did it
with an intention to irritate the narrator.
Question 6.
What ‘horrible idea’ occurred to Jerome a little later?
Answer:
Jerome was going to close the bag after putting the boots in it. He suddenly thought of
his toothbrush. While travelling, he must needed the toothbrush which he packed in the
bag. Now he had to search for it in the bag.

Question 7.
Where did Jerome finally find the toothbrush?
Answer:
Jerome tried his best to find the toothbrush. He unpacked the bag but could not find it.
He put the things back one by one, and held everything up and shook it. At last, he
found it inside a boot.

Question 8.
Why did Jerome have to reopen the packed bag?
Answer:
Jerome packed his spectacles in the bag. So he had to reopen the packed bag.

Question 9.
What did George and Harris offer to pack and why?
Answer:
George and Harris offered to pack hamper because they wanted Jerome to take some
rest. They decided to pack the rest of things themselves.

Question 10.
While packing the hamper, George and Harris do a number of foolish and funny things.
Tick the statements that are true.
(i) They started with breaking a cup.
(ii) They also broke a plate.
(iii) They squashed a tomato.
(iv) They trod on the butter.
(v) They stepped on a banana.
(vi) They put things behind them, and couldn’t find them.
(vii) They stepped on things.
(viii)They packed the pictures at the bottom and put heavy things on top.
(ix) They upset almost everything.
(x) They were very good at packing.
Answer:
The true statements are as follows:
(i),(iii),(iv),(vi),(vii),(ix)

Question 11.
What does Jerome say was Montmorency’s ambition in life? What do you think of
Montmorency and why?
Answer:
Montmorency’s ambition in life is to interfere with others and be abused. He wants to be
a perfect nuisance and make people mad. If things are thrown at his head, he feels his
day has not been wasted. To get somebody to stumble over him, and curse him steadily
for an hour is his highest aim and object. He came and sat on things, just when they
were going to be packed. He put his leg into the jam and worried the teaspoons and
pretended that lemons were rats and got into the hamper and killed three of them.

It is the natural, original sin that is bom in him that makes him do things like that.

III. Discuss in groups and answer the following questions in two or three
paragraphs.

Question 1.
Of the three, Jerome, George and Harris, who do you think is the best or worst packer?
Support your answer with details from the text.
Answer:
Of the three, Harris is the worst packer in this world. But none of them is the perfect
packer. All of them are confused and do not know what is to be placed and where. So
far as Jerome is concerned he unpacked the bag to find his toothbrush in a boot. He
also packs his spectacles in the bag. Harris and George start their work in a light
hearted spirit. There are piles of plates, cups, kettles, bottles, jars, pies, stoves, cakes
and tomatoes. They break a cup. Harris packs the strawberry jam on top of a tomato
and squashes it. They have to pick out the tomato with a teaspoon. George treads on
the butter. He gets it off from his slipper and puts it in the kettle. He puts it down on a
chair and Harris sits on it. It sticks to him and then they look for it all over the room. In
this way they created chaos in the room.

Question 2.
How did Montmorency ‘contribute’ to the packing?
Answer:
Montmorency’s contribution to the packing cannot be forgotten. His ambition in life was
to disturb others and be abused by them. He came and sat on things, just when they
were going to be packed and he put his leg into the jam. He disturbed everything. He
pretended the lemons to be rats and got into the hamper and killed three of them.

Montmorency wanted to be a perfect nuisance and make people mad. If things are
thrown at his head, he feels his day has not been wasted. To get somebody to stumble
over him, and curse him steadily for an hour was his highest aim and objective. When
he got succeeded in accomplishing it, his conceit became quite unbearable.

Question 3.
Do you find this story funny? What are the humorous elements in it? (Pick out at least
three, think about what happens, as well as how it is described.)
Answer:
The story is really humorous and funny. Jerome’s episode of packing, Harris’s and
George’s way of packing and Montmorency’s contribution have made the story funny
and interesting. Jerome was confused about his toothbrush and found it in a boot. He
also packed his spectacles in the bag. The incident of butter makes the reader laugh.
George treads on the butter and it sticks to his slipper. Later he puts it on the chair.
Harris sits on the chair and it sticks to his bottom. They squash the tomatoes by putting
the strawberry jam on them.

Montmorency’s pretention for the lemons to be rats is also fascinating and funny.

These incidents are described in an orderly and perfect way.

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NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Beehive

Chapter 8 Reach for the Top
NCERT Textbook Questions

Thinking about the Text

(Page 102)

I. Answer these questions in one or two sentences each. (The paragraph numbers
within brackets provide clues to the answers.)

Question 1.
Why was the ‘holy man’ who gave Santosh’s mother his blessings surprised? (1)
Answer:
The ‘holy man’ who gave Santosh’s mother his blessings was surprised because her
grandmother sought blessings for a daughter. In this society most of the people ask the
seers to bless for a son.

Question 2.
Give an example to show that even as a young girl Santosh was not ready to accept
anything unreasonable. (2)
Answer:
She used to wear shorts and not the traditional dresses meant for girls.

Question 3.
Why was Santosh sent to the local school? (3)
Answer:
She was sent to the local school in line with the prevailing custom in the family.

Question 4.
When did she leave home for Delhi, and why? (4)
Answer:
She left home for Delhi to get proper education. She was sixteen at that time.

Question 5.
Why did Santosh’s parents agree to pay for her schooling in Delhi? What mental
qualities of Santosh are brought into light by this incident? (4)
Answer:
Her parents got ready because she informed them of her plans to earn money by
working part time to pay her school fees.

II. Answer each of these questions in a short paragraph (about 30 words).

Question 1.
How did Santosh begin to climb mountains?
Answer:
She wished to climb mountains when she watched villagers from her room, going up the
hill and suddenly vanishing after a while. One day, she decided to check it out herself.
She found nobody except a few mountaineers. Later she saved money and enrolled in a
course at Uttarkashi’s Nehru Institute of Mountaineering. Then she began climb
mountains every year.

Question 2.
What incidents during the Everest expedition show Santosh’s concern for her team-
mates?
Answer:
Santosh Yadav provided special care to a climber who lay dying at the south pole in
1992 Everest Mission. She saved Mohan Singh, who would have lost his life had she
not shared her oxygen with him.

Question 3.
What shows her concern for the environment?
Answer:
Santosh was really concerned for the environment. She collected and brought down
500 kilograms of garbage from the Himalayas.
Question 4.
How does she describe her feelings at the summit of the Everest?
Answer:
She said that it took some time for the enormity of the moment to sink in. She was
delighted at this moment and proudly unfurled the Indian tricolour.

Question 5.
Santosh Yadav got into the record books both times she scaled Mt. Everest. What were
the reasons for this?
Answer:
She is the youngest woman who scaled the Everest. She is the only woman who
climbed the Everest twice.

III. Complete the following statements:

1. From her room in Kasturba Hostel, Santosh used to ………………

2. When she finished college, Santosh had to write a letter of apology to her father
because ………………
3. During the Everest expedition, her seniors in the team admired her ………………
while ……………… endeared her to fellow climbers.

Answers:

1. … see the villagers going up the hill and suddenly vanishing after a while.
2. … she was going directly for training and not home which she should have done.
3. … climbing skills, physical fitness and mental strength while working together
endeared her to fellow climbers.

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2 reach the top

I. Identify the two parts in the sentences below by underlining the part that gives
us the information in brackets, as shown above.

Question 1.
Where other girls wore traditional Indian dresses, Santosh preferred shorts. (Contrasts
her dress with that of others.)
Answer:
Where other girls wore traditional Indian dresses, Santosh preferred shorts.
Question 2.
She left home and got herself enrolled in a school in Delhi. (Tells us what happened
after the first action.)
Answer:
She left home and got herself enrolled in a school in Delhi.

Question 3.
She decided to fight the system when the right moment arrived. (Tells us when she was
going to fight the system?)
Answer:
She decided to fight the system when the right moment arrived.

Question 4.
Little Maria had not yet celebrated her tenth birthday when she was packed off to train
in the United States. (Tells us when Maria was sent to the US?)
Answer:
Little Maria had not yet celebrated her tenth birthday when she was packed off to train
in the United States.

II. Now rewrite the pairs of sentences given below as one sentence.

Question 1.
Grandfather told me about the old days. All books were printed on paper then.
Answer:
Grandfather told me about the old days when all books were printed on paper.

Question 2.
What do you do after you finish the book? Perhaps you just throw it away.
Answer:
Perhaps you just throw the book away after reading it.

Question 3.
He gave the little girl an apple. He took the computer apart.
Answer:
After giving the little girl an apple, he took the computer apart.

Question 4.
You have nothing. That makes you very determined.
Answer:
You have nothing which makes you very determined.

Question 5.
I never thought of quitting. I knew what I wanted.
Answer:
I never thought of quitting as I knew what I wanted.

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NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Poem

Chapter 5 A Legend Of The Northland
NCERT Textbook Questions

Thinking About the Poem

(Page 67)

I.
Quiestion 1.
Which country or countries do you think “the Northland” refers to?
Answer:
It is a country in the north where days are short and nights are long.

Question 2.
What did Saint Peter ask the old lady for? What was the lady’s reaction?
Answer:
Saint Peter asked the old lady for a piece of cake. The lady behaved miserly and kept
decreasing the size of the cake. At last she did not give him anything to eat.

Question 3.
How did he punish her?
Answer:
He cursed her and made her a woodpecker.

Question 4.
How does the woodpecker get her food?
Answer:
The woodpecker bores the hard and dry wood to get its food.

Question 5.
Do you think that the old lady would have been so ungenerous if she had known who
Saint Peter really was? What would she have done then?
Answer:
No, she would not have done this. On the contrary, she would have given him a large
piece of cake to make him happy with the greed to get a handsome return.
Question 6.
Is this a true story? Which part of this poem do you feel is the most important?
Answer:
No, it is an imaginative story. It is a legend. The third stanza of the poem is very
important.

Question 7.
What is a legend? Why is this poem called a legend?
Answer:
A legend is a story from ancient times about people and events. The title of the poem
tells that it is a legend. The poet himself says that ‘I don’t believe it is true’.

Question 8.
Write the story of ‘A Legend of the Northland’ in about ten sentences.
Answer:
The poem is a story of an old woman. She is asked by Saint Peter for alms who has
become weak because of fasting and travelling. But her greed forces her not to give him
anything. He becomes angry and makes her a woodpecker who bores hard, dry wood
to get food. Her clothes are burnt to ashes and she is left with a cap on her head. She
continues boring into hard wood for her little food.

II.
Question 1.
Let’s look at words at the end of the second and fourth lines, viz., ‘snows’ and ‘clothes’,
‘true’ and ‘you’, ‘below’ and ‘know’. We find that ‘snows’ rhymes with ‘clothes’, ‘true’
rhymes with ‘you’ and ‘below’ rhymes with ‘know’.
Find more such rhyming words.
Answer:
Earth-hearth, done-one, lay-away, another-over, flat-that, faint-saint, form- worm, food-
wood, same-flame.

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NCERT Solutions For Class 9 English

Moments Chapter 6 Weathering the Storm in
Ersama
NCERT Textbook Questions

Think about it
(Page 42)
Question 1.
What havoc has the super cyclone wrecked in the life of the people of Orissa?
Answer:
It was a devastating storm which washed the houses away and destroyed hundreds of
villages. It killed thousands of people and uprooted a large number of trees. There were
dead bodies all around. People became homeless and many children who had lost their
parents became orphans. This crazed destruction continued for the next thirty-six hours.
The condition seemed grim after the super cyclone.

Question 2.
How has Prashant, a teenager, been able to help the people of his village?
Answer:
On reaching his village, Prashant found deplorable conditions all around him. He had
leadership qualities so he took the initiative to rehabilitate people. He made a team of
young volunteers and cleaned urine, filth, vomit and floating carcasses. His team was
fully dedicated to serve others. He persuaded grief-stricken women to look after
children. In this way he became a ray of hope for all.

Question 3.
How have the people of the community helped one another? What role do the women of
Kalikuda play during these days?
Answer:
Prashant took the initiative and mobilised everyone to help one another. In this time of
distress the people of the community joined hands together and started relief work.
Women started working in the food for work programme and looked after the orphans.

Question 4.
Why do Prashant and other volunteers resist the plan to set up institutions for orphans
and widows? What alternatives do they consider?
Answer:
Prashant and other volunteers resisted the plan as they felt that it would not be proper
to set up separate institutions for orphans and widows. The group of volunteers was of
the opinion that in these institutions children would not be able to get love and widow
would suffer from stigma and loneliness and isolation. The group decided to rehabilitate
them in their own community. New families were made and the childless widows took
care of the orphan.

Question 5.
Do you think Prashant is a good leader? Do you think young people can get together to
help people during natural calamities?
Answer:
Undoubtedly, Prashant is a good leader. He has all the qualities of a leader. He has a
special quality of taking initiatives. His vision is quite clear. He faces adverse
circumstances courageously. He is a source of energy for others and has great
motivational power. I think that youth is power. This power can be used to assist society
during natural disasters. Whatever job is assigned to the youth in such circumstances
they perform their duty with full spirit.

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NCERT Solutions For Class 9 English
Moments Chapter 7 The Last Leaf
NCERT Textbook Questions

Think about it
(Page 48)

Question 1.
What is Johnsy’s illness? What can cure her, the medicine or the willingness to live?
Answer:
Johnsy, a young artist, was ill. She was suffering from pneumonia. But later on she
suffered from a misconception that she would die as soon as the last leaf on the creeper
would fall down. The medicine had no effect on her. Her willingness to live could cure
her.

Question 2.
Do you think the feeling of depression Johnsy has is common among teenagers?
Answer:
Life has two aspects i.e. positive and negative. It depends upon us how we take it.
Nowadays it is very common that teenagers are getting depressed because of cut-
throat competition. On the other hand, a majority of teenagers who take life positively
and faces difficulties boldly never lose hope and proceed further.

Question 3.
Behrman has a dream. What is it? Does it come true?
Answer:
Behrman had a dream to paint a masterpiece in his life. He kept waiting for the
opportunity to give it a practical shape. Yes, he could materialize his dream when he
painted the last leaf of the ivy creeper.

Question 4.
What is Behrman’s masterpiece? What makes Sue say so?
Answer:
Behrman was a 60-year old artist who had a dream to paint a masterpiece. His painting
of an ivy leaf was his masterpiece which saved the life of Johnsy. It was such a painting
that it was not easy to make out whether the leaf was real or it was just a painting.
When Behrman died painting this life-saving painting, Sue called it a masterpiece.