Let us do these activities before we read.
- Work in pairs and guess the invention.
- I am a concept invented by ancient Indian mathematicians. I add value to numbers. Without me, calculations in the modern digital world would be impossible. Who am I? Answer: You are the number Zero (0).
- I am an ancient Indian practice, now popular globally. I focus on physical and mental well-being. What am I? Answer: You are Yoga.
- Discuss in groups of four what you think the world today would have been like without inventions and discoveries.
Answer: Without inventions and discoveries, our world today would be very different and difficult.
- We would not have electricity, so there would be no lights, fans, computers, or TVs.
- We would not have cars, trains, or airplanes, so traveling to faraway places would take a very long time.
- We would not have telephones or the internet, so talking to people who live far away would be almost impossible.
- Doctors would not have modern medicines or machines, so it would be very hard to treat sick people. Life would be much harder, and we would not have the comforts we have today.
III. Fill the grid given below with missing letters to complete the words. These words display qualities of an inventor.
Answer:
- C R E A T I V I T Y
- C U R I O S I T Y
- T H I N K I N G
- D E T E R M I N A T I O N
- I M A G I N A T I O N
Let us discuss (Page 4-5)
- Complete the cause-and-effect table given below.
- Cause: Anand set up his burglar alarm and rigged it to work when the door was opened softly.
Effect: His father, who always opens the door softly, got soaking wet from the water bag.
- Cause: Anita warned Anand, “If you get a shelling, don’t bring me in.”
Effect: Anita was able to avoid any responsibility as Anand faced the consequences alone.
- Cause: We watched the movie ‘Back to the Future’.
Effect: Anand decided that he had to make a time machine too.
- Cause: Papa firmly said ‘NO’ to trying out the time machine.
Effect: Anand looked sad and disappointed (crestfallen).
- Do you think Anand was able to keep his promise regarding the time machine? If yes, why? If no, why not?
Answer: No, I don’t think Anand was able to keep his promise. He promised his mother half-heartedly. When the thief entered his room where the time machine was, strange noises were heard, and Anand himself gasped, “My time machine, he’s started it!” This shows that the machine was working and he hadn’t stopped working on it.
Let us discuss (Page 8)
Arrange the following events in the correct order of occurrence.
Answer: The correct order of events is:
- (4) Anita wakes Anand up, informing him that someone is trying to get into the house.
- (1) The door swings open, and they see Boppa, standing there with an evil grin.
- (5) Anand misleads Boppa into entering his room instead of his father’s room.
- (3) Sharma, her husband, and Dr. Mohan unlock the door and enter the house to help the children.
- (2) Boppa is nowhere to be found, but his green scarf is lying near the time machine.
Let us think and reflect (Page 9-11)
- Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
- Before beginning this story, let me put you in the picture…
(i) When Anita says, “…let me put you in the picture”, she wants to ___________ (introduce/summarise) the situation for the benefit of the readers.
Answer: introduce
(ii) Anand loves ‘tinkering’ with all sorts of electrical gadgets. This means that he enjoys ___________ gadgets.
Answer: C. repairing or improving
(iii) Which of the following options most suitably describes Anand’s personality?
Answer: B. creative and experimental
(iv) Based on the extract, compare what Anita thinks of her brother Anand with what he thinks of himself.
Answer: Anita thinks her brother is troublesome and his inventions never work as they are supposed to. Anand, on the other hand, thinks he is a scientist.
- I was about to direct him upstairs, when Anand said quickly…
(i) Complete the sentence given below with a suitable reason. Anita was angry with Anand because…
Answer: …he had sent the thief into his own room, and she thought the thief would come back very angry.
(ii) Which action of Anand shows his presence of mind?
Answer: Anand quickly sending the thief to his own room instead of his father’s room shows his presence of mind. This gave them some extra time to think of a plan.
(iii) What might be the cause of the strange noises emerging from the next room?
Answer: B. Anand’s time machine getting activated
(iv) Which of the following best describes the atmosphere in this extract?
Answer: (c) C and E (tense and suspenseful)
- Complete the table with the suitable traits of the characters based on evidence from the text.
Answer:
Anand
- bothersome: And this is not the first time he’s got on Papa’s nerves or frightened someone half to death in the house.
- creative: He loves tinkering with all sorts of electrical gadgets, tools, dynamos, planks of wood, and things like that. And he keeps creating ‘inventions’ that never work out as they are supposed to.
- confident: “Nothing will go wrong this time. I’ve planned it out carefully. See the blueprint.”
Anita
- responsible: “We’re old enough to look after ourselves, Ma…”
- curious: “But how does the alarm know that a burglar is opening the door?”
- careful: “Now clean up this mess before anyone gets home.”
III. Answer the following questions.
- What prompted Anand to create the burglar alarm?
Answer: There had been a rush of thefts in the colony, which prompted Anand to create a burglar alarm.
- How did Anand’s father become the target of the burglar alarm?
Answer: Anand had set up the alarm to work only when the door was opened gently. His father always opens the door softly, so he became the target and got soaked by the water bag.
- How did Anand’s parents and sister react to his ideas? Answer:
- His father got very angry with his inventions, especially the burglar alarm. He did not want Anand to try the time machine.
- His mother was more understanding and tried to calm his father down. However, she was also worried about his inventions and kept a wary eye on her oven and mixer.
- His sister, Anita, thought his inventions were silly and would get him into trouble. She had doubts about his plans but usually had to get involved.
- How did Anand behave when he was on his ‘inventing binges’?
Answer: When Anand was on his inventing binges, he would take apart all the gadgets in the house to collect parts. He would make a lot of noise by hammering and sawing. He would also look like a savage and not even comb his hair.
- Why did Mr. Sharma not believe Anand when he spoke about his time machine?
Answer: Mr. Sharma did not believe Anand because he thought Anand had a very good imagination. He smiled fondly at Anand, which shows he thought it was just a boy’s story.
- Give an ending to this story, explaining what might have happened to Boppa. Answer: Anand’s time machine really worked! When Boppa the thief stumbled into the room and accidentally started the machine, he was sent back in time. Maybe he was sent back to the time of dinosaurs and had to run away from a big T-Rex, or maybe he was sent to ancient India and became a servant in a king’s palace. Whatever happened, he could never find his way back to the present day, which is why he was never seen again.
Let us learn (Page 11-14)
- Onomatopoeia
- Read the sound words used in the story in Column 1. Complete Column 2 by matching expressions from the box given below.
(i) Crash: sudden loud sound of breaking
(ii) Humming: a continuous low and soothing sound
(iii) Hissed: whispered angrily
(iv) Hammering, sawing, clattering: constant and loud construction noises
- Binomials
- Match the words in Column 1 with the correct pairs in Column 2 to make binomials.
(i) safe and sound (E) (ii) odds and ends (F) (iii) make or break (A) (iv) pros and cons (B) (v) now or never (C) (vi) give and take (D)
- Complete the following sentences with suitable binomials from 1.
(i) This project will be a make or break moment for our team’s success.
(ii) After a long journey, we were relieved to arrive home safe and sound.
(iii) Every friendship works well when there is a balance of give and take.
(iv) She organised all the odds and ends in the cupboard, to make space for new clothes.
(v) Before making a decision, it is important to weigh the pros and cons carefully.
(vi) This is our final chance to perform on stage, it is now or never.
- Complete the paragraph by using the phrasal verbs given in the box below.
It had been raining and we (i) ran out of time to set up for the function, so we quickly (ii) rigged up some decorations using whatever materials we had. We accidentally (iii) tripped off the fire alarm because of the smoke from the bonfire. Thankfully, the rain (iv) let up just as the guests were arriving, and despite all the chaos, the function (v) turned out to be a huge success.
III. Idioms
- Complete the following sentences by filling in the blanks with suitable idioms from the text given in the box below.
- Shekhar knew he would get a shelling for breaking his mother’s favourite flower vase.
- We fell over ourselves trying to help the injured dog and get it to the vet as quickly as possible.
- Faizy distracted Kanchan, leaving the coast clear for us to get inside the room to prepare the birthday surprise.
- The constant power fluctuations during meetings can get on our nerves.
- When I am alone at home, any unexpected loud noise in the night can frighten me half to death.
- Simple Past and Past Perfect Tense
- Underline the verbs in simple past and past perfect tense for the following sentences from the text.
(i) Ma had rushed in (past perfect) to see what the racket was (simple past) all about and found (simple past) Papa standing there, sopping wet and scowling.
(ii) Anand had vanished (past perfect) by this time and reappeared (simple past) only after dinner when Papa had cooled down (past perfect).
- Fill in the blanks with the simple past or past perfect form of the verbs given in brackets.
(i) After Rohan A. had finished (finish) his homework, he B. left (leave) the house and C. decided (decide) to go for a walk. He D. realised (realise) he E. had forgotten (forget) his keys inside.
(ii) By the time we A. reached (reach) the station, the train B. had already left (already/leave). We C. waited (wait) for the next one to arrive.
- Combine the pairs of sentences using the time expressions in the boxes given below and rewrite them using the past perfect tenses.
(i) Rohan had packed his suitcase before he left for the airport. (Example)
(ii) He had arrived in the morning before we started work. (iii) After they had set up the tents, the others brought food and medicine. (iv) The students had become quiet by the time they heard the teacher coming. (v) When the villagers had left the village, the flood submerged the entire area.
Let us listen (Page 15)
(Note: These answers depend on a listening audio that was not provided. Based on the questions, here are the likely answers you would get from listening to the audio.)
- Choose the true statements from 1-5 given below.
- Toby misses his school. (Likely True)
- Anita accepts Toby as her friend. (Likely True)
- Anita asks Toby about one of his facial features. (Likely True)
- Toby tells Anita that she had a banana for breakfast. (Likely False, as this would be a guess)
- Toby shares that he can see much clearer with a closed eye. (Likely False, as the question in Part II suggests he has only one eye)
- Listen to the conversation again and fill in the blanks with the exact words you hear.
- Toby: I miss my friends and home.
- Toby: Well, we don’t need to eat anything. We get our energy from the Sun.
- Anita: Oh! Don’t you ever feel like having ice creams and chocolates?
- Anita: Okay, tell me one thing. How are you able to see with only one eye?
- Toby: I can see beyond mountains and forests and woods and even oceans.
Let us speak (Page 15-16)
- Pronounce these words out loud and put them in the correct boxes given below.
| Sounds like ‘oo’ | Sounds like ‘off’ | Sounds like ‘o’ | Sounds like ‘ow’ | Sounds like ‘aw’ |
| through | cough | Dough | bough, plough | thought |
- Read the story given below aloud.
This is a reading practice activity to help you pronounce words with ‘ough’ correctly.
III. Now try saying this tongue twister fast as many times as you can clearly.
This is a speaking practice activity to improve your fluency.
Let us write (Page 17)
Choose a vocation and write a paragraph.
My Favourite Vocation: A Chef 👨🍳
I like the vocation of a chef because I love food and making people happy with delicious meals. To become a good chef, one needs training from a cooking school to learn about different ingredients and cooking techniques. The most important tools for a chef are sharp knives, pots, pans, and a clean kitchen. In a big kitchen, a chef works with many co-workers like other cooks and helpers. Teamwork is very important to make sure all the food is prepared on time and tastes perfect. I would deal with customers by listening to what they like and always trying to make the best food for them. I plan to pursue this vocation with pride because I believe that cooking is an art, and feeding people is a wonderful way to bring joy to their lives.
Let us explore (Page 17-18)
This is a research activity. You should use the internet or library books to find out more about famous Indian inventors and their amazing inventions, just like the ones mentioned in the book:
- Sushruta: The father of surgery.
- Dr. Janaki Ammal: A great woman scientist who worked on plants.
- Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam: The “Missile Man of India” who helped launch India’s first satellite launch vehicle.
- Dr. Narinder Singh Kapany: The “Father of Fibre Optics.”