NCERT Solutions for Class 7 English Chapter 4 The Ashes That Made Trees Bloom

Students those who are searching NCERT Solutions for Class 7 English Honeycomb Chapter 4 The Ashes That Made Trees Bloom can refer to this article. This chapter contains many questions that are important for exams. Here we have provided answers to all these questions with a detailed explanation that help students to complete their assignments and homework.

Class 7 English Chapter 4 The Ashes That Made Trees Bloom NCERT Questions and Answers

Comprehension Check

Question 1. Why did the neighbours kill the dog?

Answer: The neighbours dragged the dog around their garden to find a treasure for themselves. When the dog stopped near a pine tree and started scratching the ground, they dug happily hoping to find a treasure. When they saw that there was nothing in there except a dead kitten, they became furious at the dog. They kicked it and beat it to death. They killed it because it did not help them find a treasure.

Question 2. Mark the right item.

(i) The old farmer and his wife loved the dog

(a) because it helped them in their day-to-day work.
(b) as if it was their own baby.
(c) as they were kind to all living beings.

Answer: (b) as if it was their own baby.

(ii) When the old couple became rich, they

(a) gave the dog better food.
(b) invited their greedy neighbours to a feast.
(c) lived comfortably and were generous towards their poor neighbours.

Answer: (c) lived comfortably and were generous towards their poor neighbors.

(iii) The greedy couple borrowed the mill and the mortar to make
(a) rice pastry and bean sauce.
(b) magic ash to win rewards.
(c) a pile of gold

Answer: (c) The greedy couple borrowed the mill and the mortar to make a pile of gold.

Working with the Text

Answer the following questions.

Question 1. The old farmer is a kind person. What evidence of his kindness do you find in the first two paragraphs.

Answer: The old farmer was a kind person. He and his wife had a pet dog named Muko, as his baby. Having no children, they loved it as though it were a baby. They fed him fish from their own chopsticks and all the boiled rice he wanted. He was patient and kind to everything that had life and often turned up a sod on purpose to give food to the birds.

Question 2. What did the dog do to lead the farmer to the hidden gold?

Answer: To lead the farmer to the hidden gold, the dog came running to the farmer and kept its paws against his legs. It continuously kept directing towards a place behind him. The old man at first thought that the dog was just playing, but when it kept running and whining, the old man followed it to the place.

Question 3. (i) How did the spirit of the dog help the farmer first?

Answer: The spirit of the dog asked the farmer to cut down the pine tree over its grave, and make from it a mortar for rice pastry and a mill for bean sauce. The farmer did so. Some time close to the New Year, the farmer wanted to make some rice pastry. When the rice was boiled, his wife put it into the mortar and he pounded the mass into dough. When the pastry was ready for baking, the whole mass turned into a heap of gold coins. Similarly, when beans were ground in the hand-mill, gold started dropping from it like rain and in a few minutes, the tub under the mill was filled with gold.

(ii) How did it help him next?

Answer: Informing the farmer about how his wicked neighbours had burned the hand-mill, the spirit of the dog asked him to take the ashes of the mill and sprinkle them on withered trees to make them bloom. The old man did so and found to his delight that the words of the spirit were indeed true. The bare cherry tree in his garden sprouted blossoms when a pinch of the ashes were sprinkled on it. Later, he was rewarded by the daimio for making an old withered cherry tree blossom once again.

Question 4. Why did the daimio reward the farmer but punish his neighbour for the same act?

Answer: The farmer had the magical ashes. He made the old withered cherry tree blossom once again by sprinkling the ashes. So, the daimio rewarded the farmer for this. When his greedy neighbor heard about it, he took the ashes and when daimio was passing on the highway, he threw a handful of ashes over the tree. The tree did not blossom and wind blew the fine dust in the noses and eyes of the daimio and his wife. That is why his neighbor punished for the same act.

Working with language

Question 1: Read the following conversation.
Ravi: What are you doing?
Mridu: I’m reading a book.
Ravi: Who wrote it?
Mridu: Ruskin Bond.
Ravi: Where did you find it?
Mridu: In the library.

Notice that ‘what’, ‘who’, ‘where’, are question words. Questions that require information begin with question words. Some other question words are ‘when’, ‘why’, ‘where’, ‘which’ and ‘how’.
Remember that

1. What asks about acting, things etc.
2. Who asks about people.
3. Which asks about people or things.
4. Where asks about place.
5. When asks about time.
6. Why asks about reason or purpose.
7. How asks about means, manner or degree.
8. Whose asks about possessions.

Read the following paragraph and frame questions on the italicised phrases.
Anil is in school. I am in school too. Anil is sitting in the left row. He is reading a book. Anil’s friend is sitting in the second row. He is sharpening his pencil. The teacher is writing on the blackboard. Children are writing in their copybooks. Some children are looking out of the window.

Answer:

1. Where is Anil?
2. Which row he is sitting in?
3. What is he doing?
4. Where is Anil’s friend sitting?
5. What is his friend doing?
6. Who is writing on the blackboard?
7. What are some children doing?

Question 2. Write appropriate question words in the blank spaces in the following dialogue.

NEHA: _________did you get this book?
SHEELA: Yesterday morning.
NEHA: _______ is your sister crying?
SHEELA: Because she has lost her doll
NEHA: _______room is this, yours or hers?
SHEELA: It’s ours.
NEHA: ________do you go to school?
SHEELA: We walk to school. It is near by

Answer:
NEHA: When did you get this book?
SHEELA: Yesterday morning.
NEHA: Why is your sister crying?
SHEELA: Because she has lost her doll.
NEHA: Whose room is this, yours or hers?
SHEELA: It’s ours.
NEHA: How do you go to school?
SHEELA: We walk to school. It is nearby.

Question 3. Fill in the blanks with the words given in the box.

how, what, when, where, which

(i) My friend lost his chemistry book. Now he doesn’t know ________ to do and ________ to look for it.

(ii) There are so many toys in the shops. Neena can’t decide ________ one to buy.

(iii) You don’t know the way to my school. Ask the policeman ________ to get there.

(iv) You should decide soon ________ to start building your house.

(v) Do you know ________ to ride a bicycle? I don’t remember ________ and ________ I learnt it.

(vi) “You should know ________ to talk and ________ to keep your mouth shut,” the teacher advised Anil.

Answer: (i) My friend lost his chemistry book. Now he doesn’t know what to do and where to look for it.

(ii) There are so many toys in the shops. Neena can’t decide which one to buy.

(iii) You don’t know the way to my school. Ask the policeman how to get there.

(iv) You should decide soon when to start building your house.

(v) Do you know how to ride a bicycle? I don’t remember when and where I learnt it.

(vi) “You should know when to talk and where to keep your mouth shut,” the teacher advised Anil.

Question 4. Add im- or in- to each of the following words and use them in place of the italicised words in the sentences given below.

patient, proper, possible, sensitive, competent

(i) The project appears very difficult at first sight but it can be completed if we work very hard.
(ii) He lacks competence. That’s why he can’t keep any job for more than a year.
(iii) “Don’t lose patience. Your letter will come one day,” the postman told me.
(iv) That’s not a proper remark to make under the circumstances.
(v) He appears to be without sensitivity. In fact, he is very emotional.

Answer: (i) The project appears impossible at first sight but it can be completed if we work very hard.

(ii) He is incompetent. That’s why he can’t keep any job for more than a year.

(iii) “Don’t be impatient. Your letter will come one day,” the postman told me.

(iv) That’s an improper remark to make under the circumstances.

(v) He appears to be insensitive. In fact, he is very emotional.

Question 5. Read the following sentences.

It was a cold morning and stars still glowed in the sky.
An old man was walking along the road.
The words in italics are articles. ‘A’ and ‘an’ are indefinite articles and ‘the’ is the definite article. ‘A’ is used before a singular countable noun. ‘An’ is used before a word that begins with a vowel.

• a boy            • an actor
• a mango       • an apple
• a university   • an hour

Use a, an or the in the blanks.

There was once ____ play which became very successful. ____ famous actor was acting in it. In _____ play his role was that of _____ aristocrat who had been imprisoned in ____ castle for twenty years. In ____ last act of the play someone would come on _____ stage with ___ letter which he would hand over to ______ prisoner. Even though the aristocrat was not expected to read _____ letter at each performance, he always insisted that ____ letter be written out from beginning to end.

Answer: There was once a play which became very successful. A famous actor was acting in it. In the play his role was that of an aristocrat who had been imprisoned in a castle for twenty years. In the last act of the play someone would come on the stage with a letter which he would hand over to the prisoner. Even though the aristocrat was not expected to read the letter at each performance, he always insisted that the letter be written out from beginning to end.

Question 6. Encircle (underlined here) the correct article.

Nina was looking for (a / the) job. After many interviews she got (a / the) job she was looking for.

A : Would you like (a/an/the) apple or (a/an/the) banana?

B : I’d like (a/an/the) apple, please.

A : Take (a/an/the) red one in (a/an/the) fruit bowl.

You may take (a/an/the) orange also, if you like.

B : Which one?

A : (A/An/The) one beside (a/an/the) banana.

Answer:

A : Would you like (a/an/the) apple or (a/an/the) banana?

B : I’d like (a/an/the) apple, please.

A : Take (a/an/the) red one in (a/an/the) fruit bowl.

You may take (a/an/the) orange also, if you like.

B : Which one?

A : (A/An/The) one beside (a/an/the) banana.

Speaking and Writing

Question 1. Do you remember an anecdote or a story about a greedy or jealous person and the unhappy result of his/her action? Narrate the story to others in your class.

Here is one for you to read.

Seeing an old man planting a fig tree, the king asked why he was doing this. The man replied that he might live to eat the fruit, and, even if he did not, his son would enjoy the figs.

“Well,” said the king, “if you do live to eat the fruit of this tree, please let me know.” The man promised to do so, and sure enough, before too long, the tree grew and bore fruit.

Packing some fine figs in a basket, the old man set out for the palace to meet the king.

The king accepted the gift and gave orders that the old man’s basket be filled with gold.

Now, next door to the old man, there lived a greedy old man jealous of his neighbour’s good fortune. He also packed some figs in a basket and took them to the palace in the hope of getting gold.

The king, on learning the man’s motive, ordered him to stand in the compound and had him pelted with figs.

The old man returned home and told his wife the sad story. She consoled him by saying, “You should be thankful that our neighbour did not grow coconuts.”

Answer: Do it yourself.

Question 2. Put each of the following in the correct order. Then use them appropriately to fill the blanks in the paragraph that follows. Use correct punctuation marks.

• English and Hindi/both/in/he writes

• and only/a few short stories/many books in English/ in Hindi

• is/my Hindi/than my English/much better

Ravi Kant is a writer, and __________________. Of course, he is much happier writing in English than in Hindi. He has written ____________________________________. I find his books a little hard to understand. __________________.

Answer: Ravi Kant is a writer, and he writes both in English and Hindi. Of course, he is much happier writing in English than in Hindi. He has written many books in English and only a few short stories in Hindi. I find his books a little hard to understand. My Hindi is much better than my English.

Question 3. Are you fond of reading stories? Did you read one last month? If not, read one or two and then write a paragraph about the story. Use the following hints.

• title of the story
• name of author
• how many characters
• which one you liked
• some details of the story
• main point(s) as you understand it

Tell your friends why they should also read it.

Answer: Do it yourself.