NCERT Solutions for Class 8 English It So Happened Chapter 2 Children at Work
NCERT Solutions for Class 8 English It So Happened Chapter 2 Children at Work are provided below. These solutions contain answers to all the textbook questions. All the questions are solved by experts with a detailed explanation that help students to complete their assignments and homework. NCERT Solutions for Class 8 English It So Happened Chapter 2 Children at Work are prepared as per the latest CBSE syllabus and curriculum. Students of Class 8th can study the answers provided here to score well in their school exams.
Children at Work Class 8 NCERT Questions and Answers
Comprehension Check (Page No 9)
Question 1: Velu stood on the platform but he felt “as if he was still on a moving train.” Why?
Answer: Velu had run away from home. Being a small boy, he was naturally tired, hungry and afraid of the ticket examiner. He lay down near the compartment door. He could not get over the feeling that his train journey was over.
Question 2: What made him feel miserable?
Answer: Velu felt miserable and exhausted because he had run away from his village two days ago and had not eaten anything except some peanuts and a piece of jaggery for the last two days.
Question 3: (i) Velu travelled without a ticket. Why?
(ii) How did he escape the ticket collector’s attention?
Answer: (i) Velu travelled without a ticket because he had no money.
(ii) Velu could escape the ticket collector’s attention because luckily the ticket collector didn’t come to the unreserved compartment. He tried to sleep on the floor near the door as he had no ticket.
Question 4: Why had Velu run away from home?
Answer: Velu had run away from home because his father used to beat him everyday. His father would also spend the money earned by Velu and his sisters on drinking.
Question 5: Why did he decide to follow the strange’ girl?
Answer: Velu agreed to go after the ‘strange’ girl because he was hungry and the girl promised to get food for him.
Comprehension Check (Page 13)
Question 1: Can Velu read Tamil and English? How do you know?
Answer: Velu could not read the huge signboards that were written in English as he didn’t know what it meant. However, when he walked past the Central Jail, he squinted and read it as it was written in Tamil.
Question 2: “If you are not careful, you will soon be counting bars there,” the girl said.
(i)What is she referring to?
(ii) What does she mean when she says “If you are not careful.”?
(She says something a little later which means the same. Find that sentence.)
Answer: (i) She is referring to Central jail
(ii) When she said “If you are not careful…” to Velu, she meant that he should not get caught. All he had to do to stay away from jail was to not do something stupid and get caught by policemen.
Question 3: (i) Where did the girl lead Velu to?
(ii) What did they get to eat?
Answer: (i) The girl led Velu to a marriage hall.
(ii) Velu got a squashy banana and a vada, whereas the girl only got a banana to eat.
Question 4: What work did she do? (Think of a one-word answer).
Answer: Rag picking
Comprehension Check (Page No 15)
Question 1: (i) What material are the ‘strange’ huts made out of?
(ii) Why does Velu find them strange?
Answer: (i) The ‘strange’ huts are made out of tin sheets, bricks, wood and plastic.
(ii) Velu finds those huts strange because in his own village the huts were made of mud and palm leaves.
Question 2: What sort of things did Jaya and children like her collect and what did they do with those things?
Answer: Jaya and children like her collected paper, plastic, glass, and other such things. They sold these items to Jam Bazaar Jaggu, who further sold it to a factory.
Question 3: Is Velu happy or unhappy to find work? Give a reason for your answer.
Answer: Velu was unhappy to find work because he had not run away from home to dig through garbage bins. The only work he had ever done was weeding and taking cows out to graze. However, since he did not know Chennai too well, he decided to work as a ragpicker till the time he found a better job.
Exercise
Discuss the following questions in small groups. Write their answers afterwards.
Question 1: Is Velu a smart boy? Which instances in the text show that he is or isn’t?
Answer: Yes. Velu seems to be a smart boy.
He ran away from home because of bad circumstances. When he reached Chennai, the girl, who was a ragpicker, tried to help him. Initially, he thought of not taking her help. However, he was smart enough to realize that he was very hungry and did not know where to go. Therefore, he followed the girl. He knew how to read Tamil. When the girl told him to eat the banana that she found in the garbage, he refused at first. However, he quickly realized that he was very hungry and therefore, ate it. Even though he found the place and even the girl very strange, he continued to walk along with her. He tried to understand why she collected rubbish. He knew that he had not come to the big city to collect rubbish; however, he adjusted to the circumstances and decided to do the same work till he found a better job.
Question 2: Do you think Jaya is a brave and sensitive child with a sense of humour? Find instances of her courage, kind nature and humour in the text.
Answer: Yes, Jaya is a brave and sensitive girl. She takes pity on Velu and gets food for him. She herself earns her livelihood bravely by collecting discarded material and selling them. She has a sense of humour also. She calls the ‘dirty trickle of water Buckingham Canal’.
Question 3: What one throws away as waste may be valuable to others. Do you find this sentence meaningful in the context of this story? How?
Answer: The story “Children at work” depicts the sad plight of slum dwellers, mostly the children who have to work as rag-pickers to sustain and feed themselves in big cities. It shows how the rubbish that we throw away in the garbage is being collected by these children to make a livelihood for themselves. People throw away leftover food, bottles and paper which are collected by these children and they earn money by selling these to nearby factories. As a matter of fact, a waste thrown away by someone becomes a blessing or a source of income for another. Therefore, difficult circumstances compel such children to work as ragpickers and earn a living from it.