Class 7 English Unit 04 Rhythms of Life: A Village Pooram - Questions and Answers | Activities


Study Notes for Class 7th English Unit 04 Rhythms of Life - A Village Pooram | Text Books Solution STD VII English - Rhythms of Life | Activities | Teachers Handbook

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Unit 04 Rhythms of Life: A Village Pooram
Rhythms of Life - Textual Questions and Answers & Activities
Answer the Following Questions

A Village Pooram

1. What makes the Pooram attractive?
Answer: Mountains of bananas, hillocks of paddy, yards of jasmine, rows of glinting glass bangles, shimmery satin ribbons in rainbow hues, trinkets, and toys. The call of the vendors. The mouth-watering aroma of murukku. The beat of the drums. The stamp of feet. The acrid smell of gunpowder. The heat. The dust. These are the things that make Pooram attractive.

2. Why do children hide behind the adults?
Answer: They are afraid of the Thira and Poothan. So they hide behind the adults.

3. What do the Thira and Poothan represent?
Answer: The Thira and Poothan are symbolic representations of the goddess who visits each home to chase away the evil spirits and bless the family.

4. Find out the words that describe the movement of the Thira and Poothan.
Answer: The drummers begin to beat the 'chendas', Cymbals' clash and the Thira and Poothan both begin to dance. They twist and turn, gyrate and twirl, and swirl feet.

5. What are the many art forms which one can find in the Pooram ground? Answer in your own words.
Answer: There are many art forms be it classical, folk or contemporary. kathakali, Carnatic vocal concerts, Mimicry, ballet, songs and dancing etc are some of the art forms in Pooram ground.

6. Describe kaala-vela in your words.
Answer: Kaala-vela is one of the typical sights of a North Kerala temple Pooram is the Kaala (oxen). Made of straw, built around a bamboo frame, and dressed ostentatiously with sequins, mirrors and brilliant colours, each pair is created to outshine the rest. More than 25 to 30 Kaalas come from various villages and wait at the Kaala Parambu (oxen ground). We walk around each pair examining its exquisite handiwork.

7. How does the writer describe the effect of the pyrotechnics?
Answer: Rows of iron cylinders are kept on the ground, filled with gunpowder and as one is it, the spark from it sets the other one off. The explosions rock the ground, fill your ears and rock within your heart.

8. How do the old people view Poorams?
Answer: The older generation remembers Pooram from their times and compares it to the present day and shares a lot of stories.

Activity
a) There are several expressions in ‘A Village Pooram’ associated with sights (visual) and sounds (auditory). Classify them as shown below:
Visual Auditory
• mountains of bananas 
•
•		• drummers beating their chendas
•
•
Answer: 
Visual Auditory
• mountains of bananas 
• hillocks of paddy
• yards of jasmine
• rows of glinting glass bangles
• shimmery satin ribbons in rainbow hues
• a heap of paddy in a para
• a lit bronze lamp		• drummers beating their chendas
• the call of the vendors 
• the stamp of feet 
• the gate creaks open 
• Thira and Poothan saunter in with a jangling and clanging 
• cymbal clash
• distant throb of drums 
b) Now, describe in your own words the various sights and sounds you have noticed in a marketplace/school.
Answer: The first thing that draws our attention in a marketplace is its noisy atmosphere. We can hear the call of the vendors, traffic horns and sounds and the chit-chat of people. We can see the vendors selling their products shouting their names and buyers bargaining over the price. Different types of shops selling utensils, footwear, fish, vegetables, clothes, toys and sweets can be seen. Vegetables, fruits and flowers are arranged neatly to attract people.

1. Read the line 'Came the boys like a flock of sheep' from the poem ‘Somebody’s Mother.’
The word ‘flock’ stands for a group.
a)  Read the following passage and identify such words. 
Once, there was a custom in a university. If a professor was late by ten minutes, the class was suspended. One day, a professor arrived early for a 9 a.m. class. He could see only a stack of chairs. He had a pile of books with him. He wanted to take them to the library. He kept his bunch of keys on the table and walked to the library. By the time he got back to the class, it was 9.10. The room was empty. The next day he told his students, "When my keys are here, I'm here." He kept the keys in the chest of drawers and walked down the flight of steps. The following day, he arrived at 9. He saw 28 keys on the desks - and no students.
Expressions/words that refer to a group
• a bunch of keys
• 
• 		 •
• 
• 
Answer:
• a stack of chairs
• a pile of books
• the chest of drawers
• the flight of steps

b) Fill in the blanks using appropriate words from those given in the box.
a ........................................ of ladies
a ........................................ of players
a ........................................ of steps
a ........................................ of thieves
a ........................................ of dogs
a ........................................ of bananas
a ........................................ of islands
a ........................................ of trees
a ........................................ of hay
a ........................................ of flowers
an ...................................... of soldiers
flight        clump  
pack            gang
group          stack
  team       regiment
bunch        bevy
 bouquet
• a bevy of ladies
• a team of players
• a flight of steps
• a gang of thieves
• a pack of dogs
• a bunch of bananas
• a group of islands
• a clump of trees
• a stack of hay
• a bouquet of flower
• a regiment of soldiers

2. Look at the underlined words in the following expressions:
(These words represent different kinds of sounds.)
‘The call of the vendors, … the beat of the drums, the stamp of the feet.’
‘The gate creaks open…’
What do these words refer to?
What are the other sounds that you are familiar with? Make a list of such sounds.
• The twinkling of stars 
• The rustling of leaves

a) Read ‘A Village Pooram’ once again, and find out the words that refer to sound.
• Beat
• Throb
• Creaks
• Stamp
• Call
• Jangling 
• clanging
• Clash
• Explosion
• Thunderous

b) Find out the meaning of the following words from the dictionary, and fill in the boxes.
creak - short high-pitched sound heard when something moves
(e.g. door, stairs, etc.)
rustle - soft sounds made when things like paper, leaves, etc., move or rub together
jingle - a ringing sound like small bells, made by metal objects gently hitting each other.
splash - to fall or to make liquid fall noisily or fly in drops onto a person or thing.
click - to make a short sharp sound; to cause something to do this.
rattle - to make a noise like hard things hitting each other or to shake something so that it makes this noise.
squeak - a short high noise that is not very loud.
bang - to make a loud noise by hitting something hard; to close something or to be closed with a loud noise.
whistle - the sound made by blowing a whistle or by blowing air out between your lips.
crash - to hit something hard, making a loud noise.
drip - the act or sound of water dripping.
screech - to make an unpleasant loud, high sound.
tick - to make regular short sounds.

3. Read the following sentence from the story ‘The Wooden Cup.’
‘Suddenly the child went over to the fireplace where his mother had swept
the pieces of the cup.’
Sweeping is an everyday action. What are some of the everyday actions that you do?
• Wash clothes
• Clean utensils
• Sweep the floor
• Cook the food
• Wipe the floor
• Doing homework
****************2

4. Imagine that your mother goes out when you are not at home. She leaves the following instructions for you. Fill in the blanks, choosing the appropriate words from the box.
beat, tidy, make, wash, scrub, dust, clean out, empty, change, cook.
Answer:
Dear son/ daughter,
I am going out and will be back only in the evening. Here are the jobs for the day. Scrub the floors, dust the carpets, tidy the bed, change the sheets, clean out the house, empty the rubbish, cook the supper, wash the laundry and beat the fireplace.

5. Read this sentence: ‘The Pooram ground ‘sees’ the blossoming of many art forms....’ (‘A Village Pooram’)
What does the word ‘sees’ suggest here?
Answer: It suggests the general nature of the Pooram.

Now, read the following short poems.
a) Say what the fog, the eagle and the sea do:
Fog: comes, sits, moves 
Eagle: clasps, stands, watches, falls
Sea: Crawls

b)  What do the following words suggest?
comes, sits moves, clasps, crawls, falls, watches
[They suggest the general nature or habits of things/people in their movements. The words are all in the simple present form.]
• comes: It suggests an action of arriving somewhere.
• sits: It suggests an action of sitting.
• moves: It suggests an action of moving.
• Clasps: It suggests an action of clasping
• Crawls: It suggests an action of crawling
• Falls: It suggests an action of falling
• Watches: It suggests an action of watching

6. Now, read the following passages.
Passage 1
The sun rises very late in this part. People wake up very late. My next-door neighbour wakes up very early. Usually, he gets up before 6 a.m. Then he goes to the newsagent and buys the morning paper. Then he goes to the cafe, orders a cup of black coffee and reads the paper. After that, he goes for a walk round the park and then returns home.
a) Read the passage again and note how the verbs change when the subject is singular or plural.
[We use ‘wake’ (base/ root form) when the subject is plural and ‘wakes’ (-s form) when the subject is singular.]
Write your findings.
My findings:
• These words are in simple present form We use 'wake' (base) 
• They suggest the general nature or habits of root form) when the subject is plural, and things/people in their movements. 
• we use base /root form when the subject is plural when the subject is
singular.

b) Rewrite Passage 1 using the plural form in place of ‘neighbour’ and ‘they’ in place of ‘he’. Make necessary changes in the verb forms.
The sun rises very late in this part. People wake up very late. My next-door neighbours wake up very early. Usually, they get up before 6 a.m. Then they go to the newsagent and buy the morning paper. Then they go to the cafe, order a cup of black coffee and read the paper. After that, they go for a walk around the park and then return home.

c) Study the sentences given in Passage 1 again, and say whether they express habits or general (universal) truths. Write habit / general truth in column B.
Add more sentences in column A and answers/comments in column B.
A B
• The sun rises late in this part. • general truth
• People wake up late• habit
• He gets up before 6 a.m.• habit
• He goes to the newsagent• habit
• orders a cup of black coffee and reads the paper• habit
• He goes for a walk around the park and then returns home• habit
d) Passage 2
Here is a lady who talks about some of her habits. I never wear churidar. I always use make-up when I go out. I wear a hat when it is cold. I wear gloves only when I wash dishes. I usually wear glasses while driving and while watching television. I don’t wear jeans very often.
Find out the verbs in the simple present. List them.
[You may have noted that the words 'always,' 'never,' 'usually,' etc., help us to know that the actions are regular or habitual. Such words are called Adverbs of Frequency. The other words of such category are 'sometimes,' 'generally,' 'occasionally,' 'often', 'hardly ever, 'once a week/year’, etc.]
• wear
• use
• wash
• driving 
• watching

e) Read Passage 1 once again. You have read the daily routine of the neighbour.
Now, can you say what he did yesterday?
Rewrite the passage.
beat, tidy, make, wash, scrub, dust, clean out, empty, change, cook.
7. Now, read the first paragraph of the story ‘The Wooden Cup’ again.
Here are a few sentences:
• Robertino loved his grandfather very much.
• They spent much time together.
• Robertino loved to sit on his grandfather’s knee and listen.
The sentences refer to some habits that they had in the past. The simple past form is used here.
Read another passage from the same story.
One night, at dinner, grandfather lifted his cup to drink his coffee, but his
poor old hands shook so much that the coffee spilled on the clean white
tablecloth.
Look at the words underlined. Do they suggest past habits? 
(These words do not refer to past habit, but show what happened at a particular point of time in the past.)

a. Pick out from the story ‘The Wooden Cup’ the verbs that show habits, and the verbs that show the things that happened at a specific point of time in the past.
Past habit Happened in the past
• Robertino loved
• They spent much time together
• were good friends
• never said a word
• the cup broke
• lifted his cup
• his hands shook
• spoke angrily
b. Look at the words ‘lifted’ and ‘shook’ - What do you notice about them?
How are they formed?
(Some verbs have ‘-d’ or ‘-ed’ or ‘-t’ in their past forms. They are called Regular verbs. But some verbs have different ways for forming their past and past participles. They are  Irregular verbs).
Lifted: It is a verb. It is formed by writing the verb 'lift' in the past tense.
Shook: It is a verb. It is formed by writing the verb 'shake' in the past tense.
Regular verbs
d: love - loved, save - saved
ed: call - called, look - looked, play - played
ied: cry - cried, marry - married, study - studied

c. Read the poem ‘Somebody’s Mother’ and the story ‘The Wooden Cup’ once again and pick out the verbs in the past. Classify them as Regular Verbs or Irregular Verbs.
Regular Verbs Irregular Verbs
• waited
• passed
• needed
• piled
• hastened
• offered
• loved
• lifted		• stood
• came
• went
• caught
• shook
• spoke
• swept
• said
8. Here is a poem for you to sing. Fill in the blanks using the correct
form of the words given in brackets.
The little girl put on her coat
she picked up her heavy basket
she ........... out of the cottage (go)
and walked along the path
she looked up at the green trees
she listened to the birds singing
she whistled happily.
Suddenly she ........... a beautiful flower (see)
she smiled and ........... down (kneel)
then she picked up the flower
she looked up
and saw a big bad wolf with long ears and long teeth
she ........... and ran away (scream).
She walked and walked and walked
she walked and walked and walked
she ........... very tired and very hungry (get)
then she saw her grandmother’s cottage
she knocked three times on the door
a deep voice said ‘........... in, my dear!’ (come)
she opened the door and went in.
The little girl saw an old lady in bed
the old lady had a bonnet on her head
but she had long ears and long teeth.
Answer:
• went 
• saw
• knelt
• screamed
• got
• come

a) List the words used in the past.
• picked
• went
• walked
• looked
• listened
• whistled
• saw
• knelt
• screamed
• got
• knocked
• said
• opened
• had

b) Rewrite the poem in the form of a story.
One day, the little girl put on her coat and picked up her heavy basket. She went out of the cottage and walked along the path, looking at the green trees and listening to the birds singing. She whistled happily. Suddenly she saw a beautiful flower. She smiled and knelt down, then she picked up the flower, looked up and saw a big bad wolf with long ears and long teeth. She screamed and ran away. She walked and walked and walked and got very tired and hungry. The she saw her grandmother's cottage. She knocked three times on the door and a deep voice said 'come in, my dear!', She opened the door and went it. The little girl saw an old lady in bed who had a bonnet on her head but had long ears and long teeth.

9. What were your activities yesterday? Make a detailed diary entry. Use the past forms.
Yesterday was a wonderful day. I woke up at 7 a.m. and then went cycling for an hour. It was a fresh start into the day. I then came back and got freshened up and had my breakfast. Later i sat for my studies and completed my daily target and then had lunch. After the lunch I took a small nap and then woke up by 4 p.m. I then had snacks and joined my friends for the play time. I came back home at 7 p.m. and washed my feet and hands. Then it was our family time followed by dinner and bedtime. It was overall a very pleasant day.

10. Complete the conversation using the correct forms of the verbs given below.
get, work, graduate, look, plan
Swapna: Hi, Diana, I haven't seen you for ages. How have you been?
Diana: Pretty good, thanks.
Swapna: Are you still in college?
Diana: No, not anymore. I ……….. last year. And I ……….. a job at the
Punjab Bank.
Swapna: That's great news. You know, you ……….. different. Have you changed your hairstyle?
Diana: Yes, it's shorter. Oh, and I've lost weight.
Swapna: Well, you look fantastic!
Diana: Thanks, so do you. And there's one more thing. I got engaged.
Swapna: Congratulations. Where ……….. he ………..?
Diana: In Australia.
Swapna: ……….. you ……….. to go with him after the marriage?
Diana: After a year, perhaps.
Answer:
Swapna: Hi, Diana, I haven't seen you for ages. How have you been?
Diana: Pretty good, thanks.
Swapna: Are you still in college?
Diana: No, not anymore. I graduated last year. And I got a job at the
Punjab Bank.
Swapna: That's great news. You know, you look different. Have you
changed your hairstyle?
Diana: Yes, it's shorter. Oh, and I've lost weight.
Swapna: Well, you look fantastic!
Diana: Thanks, so do you. And there's one more thing. I got engaged.
Swapna: Congratulations. Where does he work?
Diana: In Australia.
Swapna: Are you planning to go with him after the marriage?
Diana: After a year, perhaps.

11. Read the following sentence from ‘The Wooden Cup.’
‘I am making a wooden cup,’ answered Robertino. 
What idea do you get about the action ‘make’?
Is the action complete or going on?
Discuss in groups and write your findings here.
You may have noted that the action is going on at the time of speaking. In such situations, the ‘- ing’ form of the verb is used along with ‘am / is/ are.’
My findings:
• The action is going on; not completed.
• The 'ing' form of the verb is used along with 'am'
• The sentence is present continuous tense.

a) Read the following passage and identify the actions going on at the
present time.
John lives in Mumbai.  He is working in a restaurant.  He works six days a week. After work, he plays soccer or baseball with his sons. He tries to play every day, but sometimes he cannot. John’s wife works too. She is working as a teacher. Their children are studying in her school. So, she is very happy.
ACTION IN THE PRESENT TIME:
• studying
• working 
• lives
• works
• plays

b) Complete the table with sentences from the passage given above. One has been done for you.
Actions that are continuing Actions that happen regularly
• He is working in a restaurant. 
• She is working as a teacher
• Their children are studying in her school
• He works six days a week.
• He plays soccer or baseball with his sons
• John’s wife works too
c) Think of a place where you would like to be. Close your eyes and
imagine this place in great detail.
What are you doing? How is the weather? What do you see?
Where are you sitting or standing? Who is with you?
Now, take a piece of paper and write a description of what
you have just imagined.
(You may begin, ‘I am sitting on a quiet beach.’)
I am sitting on a quiet beach with my friends. The weather is very clear. The white sandy beach lined with palm trees is a beautiful sight. There are many people on the beach. Some of them are swimming in the sea and some others are relaxing on the shore. The vendors are selling ice cream and groundnut. Children are building sandcastles and flying kites.

d) Present it in the class. Let your friends identify the sentences in the
present continuous form.
Present continuous tense is formed by adding -ing in the verb, which represents that the action is being performed right now/ is ongoing.

12. Here is a diary entry of a girl describing the experience she had during her stay in  Mumbai. There are some errors in it. Edit them. (The errors are underlined.)
I am meeting a really interesting girl in my neighbourhood cafe this morning. I was writing a letter to my mother, and she ask me what language I was writing in. We end up talking for about an hour! People in Mumbai were seeming very comfortable with each other. It seem quite natural for two people to just started talking in a cafe. This is something that don’t happen in my place. At home, I would never start chatting with a stranger. I see that it’s easy to met new people here.
Answer:
I met a really interesting girl in my neighbourhood cafe this morning. I was writing a letter to my mother, and she asked me what language I was writing in. We ended up talking for about an hour! People in Mumbai seemed very comfortable with each other. It seems quite natural for two people to just start talking in a cafe. This is something that doesn't happen at my place. At home, I would never start chatting with a stranger. I see that it’s easy to meet new people here.

13. Read the sentence given below.
'What are you making, Robertino?' asked his mother fondly.
What are the other ways of asking the same question? Discuss and write.
Answer:
• Can you tell me what you are doing?
• Could you please tell me what you are doing?
• I should be interested to know what you are doing

Now, read the imaginary conversation between Robertino and his grandfather and identify different ways of asking questions.
Robertino: Could you please tell me a story, grandpa?
Grandpa: I should be interested to know what story you would like to hear.
Robertino: Can you tell me why angels live in heaven?
Grandpa: Have you got any idea about what angels do for us?
Robertino: I am afraid I don't know anything about it.
Grandpa: If you like, I could tell you a story about it.
Roberto: Thank you very much, grandpa.

a) You may have noted that each utterance in the above conversation serves a function. Discuss. Now, complete the table given below.
Function Utterance
1. Asking for information• I should be interested to know what story you would like to hear.
• Can you tell me why angels live in heaven?
• Have you got any idea about what angels do for us?
2. Making a request• Could you please tell me a story, grandpa?
3. Offering help• If you like, I could tell you a story about it.
4. Accepting help• Thank you very much, grandpa.
5. Saying you do not know• I am afraid I don't know anything about it.
b) Here are a few situations. How can you ask for information? Use the
expressions in the box.
Situations
1. At the reception table in a company office
2. At the Railway Information desk
3. When you are not sure who has the information about bus timings
4. At the bank
• Excuse me, do you know…………………………….?
• Could anyone tell me………………………………….?
• I wonder if you could tell me……………………………
• Can you please give me any information about……………….?
Answer:
1. Excuse me, do you know the manager's office?
2. Can you please give me any information about the reservation
3. Could anyone tell me about the bus timings?
4. I wonder if you could tell me how to open a current account?













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