NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Beehive Chapter 3 The Little Girl

NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Beehive Chapter 3 The Little Girl are given below. This chapter contains many questions that are essential for exams. Our expert teachers answered all the questions with a detailed explanation that help students to complete their assignments and homework. We have also provided NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Chapter 3 The Little Girl in PDF format so that you can download them for offline use.

The Little Girl NCERT Questions and Answers

Thinking about the Text

I. Given below are some emotions that Kezia felt. Match the emotions in Column A with the items in Column B.   

A	B
(1) fear or terror (2) glad sense of relief (3) a “funny” feeling, perhaps of understanding	(i) father comes into her room to give her a goodbye kiss (ii)  noise of the carriage grows fainter (iii) father comes home (iv) speaking to father (v)  going to bed when alone at home (vi) father comforts her and falls asleep (vii) father stretched out on the sofa, snoring

Answer:

A	B
(1) fear or terror	(iii) father comes home (iv) speaking to father (v) going to bed when alone at home (vii) father stretched out on the sofa, snoring
(2) glad sense of relief	(i) father comes into her room to give her a  goodbye kiss (ii) noise of the carriage grows fainter
(3) a “funny” feeling, perhaps of understanding	(vi) father comforts her and falls asleep

II. Answer the following questions in one or two sentences. 

Question 1. Why was Kezia afraid of her father?

Answer: Kezia was afraid of her father because he was extremely strict and commanding. He never played with her. He used to give her a terrifying look over his spectacles.

Question 2. Who were the people in Kezia’s family?

Answer: Kezia’s family comprised her father, mother and grandmother and herself.

Question 3. What was Kezia’s father’s routine
(i) before going to his office?
(ii) after coming back from his office?
(iii) on Sundays?

Answer: (i) Before going to his office, Kezia’s father usually went into her room to give her a casual kiss.  

(ii) After coming back from his office, he ordered for tea to brought into the drawing room. He also asked his mother to bring him the newspaper and his slippers, and Kezia to pull off his boots. 

(iii) On Sunday, Kezia’s father would stretch out on the sofa. He would cover his face with his handkerchief, put his feet on one of the cushions and sleep soundly.  

Question 4. In what ways did Kezia’s grandmother encourage her to get to know her father better?

Answer: Kezia’s grandmother encouraged her to get to know her father better by sending her to the drawing room to talk to her parents on Sundays. She also suggested Kezia to make a pin cushion out of a beautiful piece of yellow silk as a gift for her father’s birthday. 

III. Discuss these questions in class with your teacher and then write down your answers in two or three paragraphs each. 

Question 1. Kezia’s efforts to please her father resulted in displeasing him very much. How did this happen?  

Answer: Kezia efforts to please her father resulted in displeasing him. On every Sunday, her grandmother sent her down to the drawing room to have a nice talk with her father and mother. But her father always got irritated with her. He used to call her ‘little brown owl’. One day her grandmother suggested her to make a gift of a pin-cushion on her father’s birthday. Kezia stuffed her pin-cushion with papers. But the sheets she had torn and filled in the cushion were her father’s speech for the Port Authority. He scolded her and punished her by hitting her palm with a ruler.

Question 2. Kezia decides that there are “different kinds of fathers”. What kind of father was Mr Macdonald, and how was he different from Kezia’s father?  

Answer: Kezia compared her father with Mr. Macdonald, her next door neighbour. He was a loving, gentle and forgiving father. He was always smiling and playing with his children. He treated his children in a friendly manner. 

He was just opposite to the Kezia’s father. Unlike Kezia’s father he never punished his children. He played with them whenever he was free. Kezia’s father was very harsh and a strict disciplinarian. 

Question 3. How does Kezia begin to see her father as a human being who needs her sympathy? 

Answer: With her mother and grandmother at the hospital, Kezia is left at home in the care of Alice, the cook. At night, after she is put to bed by the cook, she has a nightmare.  

She calls for her grandmother but, to her surprise, she finds her father standing near her bed. He takes her in his arms and makes her sleep next to him. Half asleep, she creeps close to him, snuggles her head under his arm, and holds tightly to his shirt. Her father asks her to rub her feet against his legs for warmth. 

Her father goes off to sleep before her. This makes her understand that he has to work hard every day and this leaves him too tired to be like Mr Macdonald. She expresses her altered feelings for her father by telling him that he has a ‘big heart’. 

Thinking about Language

I. Look at the following sentence. 

1. Use an appropriate word from the synonyms given above in the following sentences. Clues are given in brackets.

(i) She was __________ by the news of her brother’s wedding. (very pleased) 

(ii) I was __________to be invited to the party. (extremely pleased and excited about) 

(iii) She was __________ at the birth of her granddaughter. (extremely happy) 

(iv) The coach was __________ with his performance. (satisfied about)

(v) She was very __________ with her results. (happy about something that has happened). 

Answer:    

(i) She was thrilled by the news of her brother’s wedding. (very pleased)

(ii) I was delighted to be invited to the party. (extremely pleased and excited about)

(iii) She was overjoyed at the birth of her granddaughter. (extremely happy)

(iv) The coach was pleased with his performance. (satisfied about)

(v) She was very happy with her results. (happy about something that has happened)

Question 2. Study the use of the word big in the following sentence. He was so big − his hands and his neck, especially his mouth… Here, big means large in size. 

Now, consult a dictionary and find out the meaning of big in the following sentences. The

first one has been done for you. 

(i) You are a big girl now. older

(ii) Today you are going to take the biggest decision of your career. __________

(iii) Their project is full of big ideas. __________

(iv) Cricket is a big game in our country. __________

(v) I am a big fan of Lata Mangeskar. __________

(vi) You have to cook a bit more as my friend is a big eater. __________

(vii) What a big heart you’ve got, Father dear. __________

Answer:

(i) You are a big girl now. older

(ii) Today you are going to take the biggest decision of your career. most crucial

(iii) Their project is full of big ideas. amazing

(iv) Cricket is a big game in our country. popular

(v) I am a big fan of Lata Mangeskar. great

(vi) You have to cook a bit more as my friend is a big eater. glutton

II. Verbs of Reporting

Study the following sentences.

• “What!” screamed Mother.
• “N-n-no”, she whispered.
• “Sit up,” he ordered.

The italicised words are verbs of reporting. We quote or report what someone has said or thought by using a reporting verb. Every reporting clause contains a reporting verb. For example:

• He promised to help in my project.
• “How are you doing?” Seema asked.

We use verbs of reporting to advise, order, report statements, thoughts, intentions, questions, requests, apologies, manner of speaking and so on.

1. Underline the verbs of reporting in the following sentences.

(i) He says he will enjoy the ride.

(ii) Father mentioned that he was going on a holiday.

(iii) No one told us that the shop was closed.

(iv) He answered that the price would go up.

(v) I wondered why he was screaming.

(vi) Ben told her to wake him up.

(vii) Ratan apologised for coming late to the party.

Answer:

(i) He says he will enjoy the ride.

(ii) Father mentioned that he was going on a holiday.

(iii) No one told us that the shop was closed.

(iv) He answered that the price would go up.

(v) I wondered why he was screaming.

(vi) Ben told her to wake him up.

(vii) Ratan apologised for coming late to the party.

2. Some verbs of reporting are given in the box. Choose the appropriate verbs and fill in the blanks in the following sentences.  

were complaining	shouted	replied
remarked	ordered	suggested

(i) “I am not afraid,” __________ the woman.

(ii) “Leave me alone,” __________ my mother .

(iii) The children __________ that the roads were crowded and noisy.

(iv) “Perhaps he isn’t a bad sort of a chap after all,” __________ the master.

(v) “Let’s go and look at the school ground,” __________ the sports teacher.

(vi) The traffic police __________ all the passers-by to keep off the road.

Answer:

(i) “I am not afraid,” declared the woman.

(ii) “Leave me alone,” shouted my mother .

(iii) The children complained that the roads were crowded and noisy.

(iv) “Perhaps he isn’t a bad sort of a chap after all,” remarked the master.

(v) “Let’s go and look at the school ground,” suggested the sports teacher.

(vi) The traffic police ordered all the passers-by to keep off the road.

Speaking

Form pairs or groups and discuss the following questions.

Question 1. This story is not an Indian story. But do you think there are fathers, mothers and grandmothers like the ones portrayed in the story in our own country?

Answer: Yes, there are fathers, mothers and grandmothers like the ones portrayed in the story in our own country. In a run to make their children disciplined enough, parents sometimes forget that their child needs their love and care too. They forget that their one is yet to learn and accept his/her environment. Giving the kid time, compassion and care is very necessary so that the kid grows up having good bond with his/her parents. Punishing and creating an extremely strict image of oneself only makes children slip away from their parents’ hands emotionally.

Question 2: Was Kezia’s father right to punish her? What kind of a person was he?

You might find some of these words useful in describing him:

Undemonstrative, loving, strict, hard-working, responsible, unkind, disciplinarian, short-tempered, affectionate, caring, indifferent

Answer: No, Kezia’s father was not right to punish her. He should have understood that Kezia is a child and that it is okay for her to make mistakes. He could have explained her how important those papers were to him and that she should never do such a thing again.

He is a father who is undemonstrative, strict and short-tempered. He also has a loving and affectionate heart but he lets his disciplinarian behaviour get the better of him. He does unkind actions like beating her with a ruler but then he is also a caring dad who pacifies her when she wakes up from a bad dream.

Writing

Has your life been different from or similar to that of Kezia when you were a child? Has your perception about your parents changed now? Do you find any change in your parents’ behaviour vis-à-vis yours? Who has become more understanding? What steps would you like to take to build a relationship based on understanding? Write three or four paragraphs (150–200 words) discussing these issues from your own experience.

Answer: Do it yourself.