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Find Answers to NCERT Class 7 English Unit 8 Poem ‘Meadow Surprises,’ here.
Working with the Poem
1. Read the lines in which the following phrases occur. Then discuss with your partner the meaning of each phrase in its context.
(i) velvet grass
(ii) drinking straws
(iii) meadow houses
(iv) amazing mound
(v) fuzzy head
Answer:
(i) ‘Velvet grass’ is so called because each part of the grass has a smooth velvety feel when touched. It grows as a weed in damp places like ditches, stream banks, and drainage areas. It is a tufted grass variety which reaches up to 1 metre in height. So, it would hide sitting rabbits and also bird nests from view.
(ii) ‘drinking straws’– The upper jaw or maxillae of a butterfly is modified into an elongated tubular proboscis which is curled up at rest and expanded when it needs to feed. It sucks up nectar from the flowers through the proboscis just as if it were drinking through a straw.
(iii) ‘meadow houses’ – Meadows are filled with a diverse number of plants which makes them a wonderful home for animals, birds and insects. Rabbits and moles burrow underground, some birds like larks, and warblers build nests on the ground amidst the tall grass, ants build hills, while lizards, bees, butterflies and other insects live on the plants.
(iv) ‘amazing mound’ – Ant mounds are amazing because worker ants remove the soil below ground as they excavate during tunnelling and construction of the nest chambers. The soil is then painstakingly deposited above ground thus forming a mound which is the entrance to the nest, controls internal temperature of the nest, and protects from predators.
(v) ‘fuzzy head’ – When the yellow petals of a dandelion dry up and fall away, a white ball remains which eventually opens into a full sphere of innumerable fluffy white threads attached to the stem. This is what the poet calls the dandelion’s ‘fuzzy head’. The slightest breeze dislodges the seeds, also called parachutes, and disperses them.
2. Which line in the poem suggests that you need a keen eye and a sharp ear to enjoy a meadow? Read aloud the stanza that contains this line.
Answer: The line in the poem that suggests that you need a keen eye and a sharp ear to enjoy a meadow is:
“You may discover these yourself, if you look and listen well.”
3. Find pictures of the kinds of birds, insects and scenes mentioned in the poem.
Answer: Enjoy doing this yourself. You will learn a lot in the process.
4. Watch a tree or a plant, or walk across a field or park at the same time every day for a week. Keep a diary of what you see and hear. At the end of the week, write a short paragraph or a poem about your experiences. Put your writing up on the class bulletin board.
Answer:
The Crow’s Nest
One afternoon I looked out of my window at the water apple tree below and saw a crow carrying a twig in its beak. It set the twig on top of a pile of twigs in the fork of two branches. My mother told me that it was building a nest to lay eggs. I followed the bird’s activities during the day and was amazed at the number of twigs it had gathered.
The next day I saw the crow tug hard with its beak at a twig of our bougainvillea tree and break it off. It came back again and again for more dry twigs and flew back to the water apple tree to add them to the untidy but growing pile of dry twigs.
On the third day I saw the crow carrying bits of string and some dry grass and set them on top of the pile of twigs, but everything looked so clumsy that I wondered how it could lay eggs in it.
On the following day I was surprised to find the crow sitting in the nest. When it flew off to gather some more material, I was amazed to see the inside of the nest. It had managed to create a bowl like depression in the centre of the twigs which it had lined with dry grass and bits of string to form a soft cushiony layer. The crow came back with more and more dry grass and then something which looked like bits of cloth. All this new material was used to line the bottom and sides of the nest till it looked soft and cosy.
When I went downstairs and looked up at the tree, I could only see a bunch of twigs untidily assembled on the tree top. Who could tell that viewed from the top a crow’s nest looks as cosy and comfortable as any other bird nest?
On the fifth day, the crow sat still in the nest. It did not move at all, so I guessed that the eggs had been laid. A couple of days later I happened to see the crow hop on to the side of the nest revealing four little bluish-green eggs with brown specks. As I called out to my mother to come and see the lovely sight, the crow looked at me, hopped back into the nest and sat still.
5. Read the following poem about the world of nature, which is as busy as the world of human beings.
Busy World
Bees are buzzing, frogs are hopping,
Moles are digging. There’s no stopping
Vines from climbing, grass from growing,
Birds from singing, winds from blowing,
Buds from blooming. Bees are humming,
Sunbeams dancing, raindrops drumming.
All the world is whirling, dizzy,
Summertime is very busy!
Answer: Read it yourself paying attention to the action words which go with each noun to enrich your vocabulary
Extra Questions on NCERT Class 7 English Honeycomb Unit -Poem “Meadow Surprises”
A. Multiple Choice type Questions
1. A meadow is ___________.
(i) A piece of grassland
(ii) A garden
(iii) a wooded land
(iv) None of the above
2. What does the poet want you to listen to by the brook?
(i) the bird songs
(ii) crickets chirping
(iii) The babbling of the brook
(iv) None of the above
3. Why does the poet tell us to walk softly?
(i) He does not want us to disturb the creatures who live in the meadow
(ii) He wants us to see the surprises
(iii) The little animals, birds and insects will stop their activities if we are loud
(iv) all of the above
4. What is velvet grass?
(i) a species of grass which has a smooth velvety feel when touched
(ii) A species of tall grass which grows up to 1 metre
(iii) a short velvety smooth grass which covers the ground like a velvet carpet
(iv)both (i) and (ii) above
5. What is a buttercup?
(i) a wild yellow flower
(ii) a kind of cup to store butter
(iii) a flower which produces butter
(iv) None of the above
6. What does the poet call the ‘drinking straws’ of the butterfly?
(i) the legs of the butterfly
(ii) the wings of the butterfly
(iii) the proboscis of the butterfly
(iv) None of the above
7. What would you see hopping away startled by your presence?
(i) a frog
(ii) a hedgehog
(iii) a mole
(iv) a rabbit
8. What colour is a dandelion in bloom?
(i) White
(ii) golden
(iii) brown
(iv) None of the above
9. What does the poet want us to explore
(i) the burrows in the ground
(ii) A nest beneath tall grasses
(iii) The ant’s amazing mound
(iv) All of the above
10. How does the poet say we can discover the meadows surprises?
(i) by reading about them
(ii) by watching documentaries about them
(iii) by keeping our eyes and ears open
(iv) by waiting
Answer:
1. (i) A piece of grassland
2. (iii) The babbling of the brook
3. (iv) all of the above
4. (iv)both (i) and (ii) above
5. (i) a wild yellow flower
6. (iii) the proboscis of the butterfly
7. (iv) a rabbit
8. (ii) golden
9. (iv) All of the above
10. (iii) by keeping our eyes and ears open
B. Fill in the blanks with suitable words from the box to complete the following sentences:
| rabbit | butterfly | velvet | dandelion | rest |
| brook | golden | ant’s | grasses | still |
1. Walk softly through the ______grass,
And listen by the ________.
2. You may see a ________
_______upon a buttercup
3. You may scare a _________
Who is sitting very ________
4. A _________whose fuzzy head
Was __________days ago
5. A nest beneath tall _________
The _______amazing mound.
Answer:
1. Walk softly through the velvet grass,
And listen by the brook.
2. You may see a butterfly
Rest upon a buttercup
3. You may scare a rabbit
Who is sitting very still
4. A dandelion whose fuzzy head
Was golden days ago
5. A nest beneath tall grasses
The ant’s amazing mound.
C. Match the words in column A with those in column B
| A | B |
| ant’s | drinking straws |
| butterfly | Nectar |
| buttercup | Burrow |
| dandelion | amazing mound |
| rabbit | airy parachutes |
Answer:
| A | B |
| Ant’s | amazing mound |
| butterfly | drinking straws |
| buttercup | Nectar |
| dandelion | airy parachutes |
| rabbit | Burrow |
D. State whether the following statements are TRUE or FALSE:
1. The poet says that rabbits are scared of human beings.
2. Butterflies feed on nectar from flowers.
3. Birds build their nests on bushes in the meadow.
4. Dandelions seeds are dispersed by the wind.
5. The meadows surprises are revealed only to those who have keen powers of observation.
Answer:
1.True
2. True
3. False – Birds build their nests beneath the tall grasses of the meadow so that they are concealed from predators.
4. True – the airy parachute like seeds are blown far and wide by the wind .
5. True – One needs to keep one’s eyes and ears open to learn about the activities of the wonderful creatures who inhabit the meadow.
E. Very Short Answer type Questions:
1. What can you find in meadows if you look and listen?
Answer:
The poet says that we can find many surprises if we look around the meadow and listen carefully.
2. Where can the animals find water in the meadow?
Answer:
Animals find water for survival in the brook that flows through the meadow.
3. Name one of the things one may come across in a meadow?
Answer:
We may be lucky to see a butterfly busily sipping nectar from a buttercup.
4. Why does the poet compare the proboscis of the butterfly to drinking straws?
Answer:
The poet compares the proboscis of the butterfly to drinking straws because the butterfly uses its proboscis to draw nectar from flowers in the same way we use straws to draw a drink from a bottle.
5. Which animal may get scared when we walk through the meadow?
Answer:
We might frighten a rabbit away if we walk through the meadow.
6. Why can’t we spot a rabbit in the meadow?
Answer:
It is difficult to spot a rabbit in the meadow as it sits still hidden by the tall grass. When it moves and hops away, we notice its presence.
7. What flutters in the air when you blow on it?
Answer:
The seeds of the dandelion which are like airy parachutes become detached from the stem and flutter around if we blow on them.
8. What is a buttercup?
Answer:
A buttercup is a bright yellow flower which grows in woods and fields of the north temperate Zone.
9. What is velvet grass?
Answer:
Velvet grass is so called because the entire plant has a velvety feel when touched. It grows as a weed in damp places such as ditches, stream banks, and drainage areas. Velvet grass is a tufted grass and reaches up to 1 metre in height.
5. What does the poet mean by meadow houses?
Answer:
The poet refers to the burrows, holes, mounds and nests that small animals and birds build in the meadow to protect their eggs and young ones.
6. Where do birds build their nests?
Answer:
Birds build their nests beneath the tall grasses in the meadow.
7. Who digs burrows?
Answer:
Rabbits dig burrows in the ground.
8. Who can discover the surprises that the meadow holds?
Answer:
A person with a keen eye and sharp ears can discover the surprises which the meadow holds.
9. Who wrote the poem “Meadow Surprises”?
Answer:
The poem “Meadow Surprises” is written by Lois Brandt Phillips.
F. Short Answer Type Questions:
1. What is velvet grass?
Answer:
Velvet grass is so called because it has a velvety feel when touched. It grows like a weed in damp places such as ditches, stream banks, and drainage areas. Velvet grass is a tufted grass and reaches up to 1 metre in height.
2. What does the poet mean by the term “its drinking straws”?
Answer:
The poet means that the upper jaw of a butterfly is modified into an elongated tubular proboscis which is curled up at rest and expanded when it needs to feed. It sucks up nectar from the flowers through the proboscis just as if it were drinking through a straw.
3. Why does the poet think that the ant’s mound is amazing?
Answer:
The poet thinks that ant’s mound is amazing because they are built by worker ants that remove the soil below ground while digging intricate tunnels and constructing nest chambers. The soil is then deposited above ground forming a mound. The mound has multiple functions. It serves as an entrance to the nest below ground, it helps regulate the nest’s internal temperature and helps protect the nest from intruders and predators.
G. Long answer Type Questions
1. What does the poet mean when he says, “a dandelion whose fuzzy head was golden days ago”?
Answer:
The poet describes the change which takes place in the dandelion flower after blooming. The flower has bright golden yellow petals when it blooms. When the yellow petals of a dandelion dry up and fall away, a white ball is revealed which eventually opens into a full sphere of innumerable fluffy white threads attached to the stem. This is what the poet calls the dandelion’s fuzzy head. The slightest breeze dislodges the seeds, also called parachutes, and disperses them far away from the original plant. A child may also pluck the fluffy seed head and blow on the “dandelion wish flower” and make a wish.
2. What are the surprises that the poet says you can find in the meadows?
Answer:
As we walk through the meadow all our senses should be alert so that we do not miss the lovely surprises it holds. The sound of a babbling brook or the velvety feel of the tall grass are a sensual delight.
We may be lucky to see a butterfly resting on a buttercup while it sips the sweet nectar with the help of its proboscis. We may chance upon a startled rabbit as it hops to the safety of its burrow.
A beautiful dandelion which has shed its golden petals revealing a white ball which opens magically up into a sphere. It contains innumerable fluffy white thread- like parachutes which scatter far and wide if blown by the wind, or sometimes by children who make a wish before blowing them away.
If we look on the ground, we will find burrows, holes and nests which are carefully concealed from view by the tall grasses.
We can see for ourselves how painstakingly these little creatures made their nests and the trouble the ants take to perfect their amazing mounds.
There are many more beautiful things that a meadow can uncover if we look and listen attentively.
Extract Based Questions
Extract 1
Read the extract given below and answer the following questions.
Meadows have surprises
You can find them if you look;
Walk softly through the velvet grass,
And listen by the brook.
You may see a butterfly
Rest upon a buttercup
And unfold its drinking straws
To sip the nectar up.
1.The meadow reveals
(i) the beauty of nature
(ii) surprises
(iii)many small creatures
(iv) None of the above
2. Which nectar producing flower does the poet refer to?
(i) primrose
(ii) Dandelion
(iii) Buttercup
(iv) None of the above
3. Which insect is sipping nectar?
(i) cricket
(ii) grasshopper
(iii) bee
(iv) butterfly
4. What does the poet mean by ‘unfold its drinking straws”?
(i) The proboscis of the butterfly is unfolded
(ii) folding plastic straws
(iii) unfolding plastic straws
(iv) none of the above
5. What should one do near the brook?
(i) throw stones in the water
(ii) splash in the water
(iii) Listen to the sound of water
(iv) All of the above
Answer:
1. (ii) surprises
2. (iii) Buttercup
3. (iv) butterfly
4. (i) The proboscis of the butterfly is unfolded
5. (iii) Listen to the sound of water
Extract 2
Read the extract given below and answer the following questions.
Explore the meadow houses,
The burrows in the ground,
A nest beneath tall grasses,
The ant’s amazing mound.
Oh! Meadows have surprises
And many things to tell;
You may discover these yourself,
If you look and listen well.
1. What does “meadow houses “refer to?
(i) The bird’s nests beneath tall grasses
(ii) The burrows in the ground
(iii)The ant’s amazing mound
(iv) All of the above and dwellings of other creatures that inhabit the meadow also
2. The ant’s mound is the entrance to the underground nest, what is another name for an ant’s nest?
(i) an ant’s burrow
(ii) an ant hill
(iii) an ant’s hole
(iv) none of the above
3. What surprises is the poet referring to?
(i) The bright and colourful butterfly and the industrious ant
(ii)The velvet grass and the babbling brook
(iii) beautiful wild flowers like the buttercup and dandelion
(iv) All of the above and many more wonders
4. Who can see these delightful surprises?
(i) an absent-minded person
(ii) a busy person
(iii) a hurried person
(iv) a person who is observant, eager and interested in nature
Answer:
1. (iv) All of the above and dwellings of other creatures that inhabit the meadow also
2. (ii) An ant hill
3. (iv) All of the above and many more wonders
4. (iv) a person who is observant, eager and interested in nature
3. What does the poet mean when he says, “a dandelion whose fuzzy head was golden days ago”?
Answer:
The poet describes the changes which takes place in the dandelion flower after blooming. The flower has bright golden yellow petals when it blooms. When the yellow petals of a dandelion dry up and fall away, a white ball is revealed which eventually opens into a full sphere of innumerable fluffy white threads attached to the stem. This is what the poet calls the dandelion’s fuzzy head. The slightest breeze dislodges the seeds, also called parachutes, and disperses them far away from the original plant. A child may pluck the fluffy seed head and blow on the “dandelion wish flower” and make a wish.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on NCERT Solutions for Class 7 English Honeycomb Unit 8-Poem – “Meadow Surprises”
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We may be lucky to see a butterfly busily sipping nectar from a buttercup.
The poet compares the proboscis of the butterfly to drinking straws because the butterfly uses its proboscis to draw nectar from flowers in the same way we use straws to draw a drink from a bottle.
It is difficult to spot a rabbit in the meadow as it sits still hidden by the tall grass. When it moves and hops away, we notice its presence.
The poet describes the beauty of the meadows and the wonderful ways in which nature can delight those whose senses are open to new experiences.
Yes, certainly. Our team of competent English teachers have carefully anticipated all the queries you may have about the poem and crafted these excellent solutions which draw your attention to every detail in the poem and also explain the essence of the poem.
We suggest that at first you read the poem closely and look up the meanings of unfamiliar terms. Then read the solutions taking in all the details. Do not memorise because the key to learning lies in understanding the text.
Our English experts have painstakingly provided many extra questions which are similar to exam questions and are designed to give you sufficient practice.
Go through the solutions before the exam and practice writing out some answers within a specified time period. This is an important step which should not be skipped because practice not only makes perfect, but also boosts your self-confidence. You will be well-equipped to take on any challenge that your examiner may pose! Good luck!
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