NCERT solutions for English First Flight Class 10 chapter 6 - Mijbil the Otter [null edition]

Do you have a pet? If you do, you perhaps know that a pet is a serious responsibility. Read in the box below what the SPCA - the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals - has to say about how to care for a pet.

Imagine someone has gifted you a pet. With your partner’s help, make a list of the things you need to know about the pet in order to take good care of it. One has been done for you.

1. The food it eats.
2. ______
3. ______
4. ______
5. ______

Otters are found in large numbers in the marshes (i.e. wet areas near lakes, rivers or seas) near Basra, a town in Iraq. Imagine you wanted to bring an otter from Iraq to London, as a pet. What special arrangements would you need to make for your pet otter? You would need to find a place with lots of water, for example. What other points should you think about? The information about Iraq and London given below may help you.

Tick the right answer. In the beginning, the otter was

• aloof and indifferent
• friendly
• hostile

Why did Maxwell put the otter back in the box? How do you think he felt when he did this?

What are ‘compulsive habits’? What does Maxwell say are the compulsive habits of

(i) school children

(ii) Mij?

Maxwell in the story speaks for the otter, Mij. He tells us what the otter feels and thinks on different occasions. Given below are some things the otter does. Complete the column on the right to say what Maxwell says about what Mij feels and thinks.

Read the story and find the sentences where Maxwell describes his pet otter. Then choose and arrange your sentences to illustrate those statements below that you think are true.

Maxwell’s description

(i) makes Mij seem almost human, like a small boy.

(ii) shows that he is often irritated with what Mij does.

(iii) shows that he is often surprised by what Mij does.

(iv) of Mij’s antics is comical.

(v) shows that he observes the antics of Mij very carefully.

(vi) shows that he thinks Mij is a very ordinary otter.

(vii) shows that he thinks the otter is very unusual.

From the table below, make as many correct sentences as you can using would and/or used to, as appropriate. (Hint: First decide whether the words in italics show an action, or a state or situation, in the past.) Then add two or three sentences of your own to it.

Look at these examples from the text, and say whether the modifiers (in italics) are nouns, proper nouns, or adjective plus noun.

Given below are some nouns, and a set of modifiers (in the box). Combine the nouns and modifiers to make as many appropriate phrases as you can. (Hint: The nouns and modifiers are all from the texts in this book.)

Match the words on the left with a word on the right. Some words on the left can go with more than one word on the right.

Use a bit of/a piece of/a bunch of/a cloud of/a lump of with the italicised nouns in the following sentences. The first has been done for you as an example.

(i)  My teacher gave me some advice.  My teacher gave me a bit of advice.

(ii) Can you give me some clay, please. _________________

(iii) The information you gave was very useful____________

(iv) Because of these factories, smoke hangs over the city. __________________________

(v) Two stones rubbed together can produce sparks of fire.

_________________________

(vi) He gave me some flowers on my birthday. _________________________

You have seen how Maxwell describes Mij the otter’s feelings and thoughts by watching him. Play the game of dumb charades. Take turns to express a feeling or thought silently, through gestures. Let the class speak out their guesses about the feelings or thoughts you are trying to express.

Write a description of a person or an animal (such as a pet) that you know very well and love very much. Questions (4) and (5) in ‘Thinking about the Text’ will have given you some idea about how to do this. Mention some things the person or animal does, what you think the person or animal feels, etc.