CBSE Class 7 English Unseen Passages Type I are part of NCERT Solutions for Class 7 English. Here we have given CBSE Class 7 English Unseen Passages Type I.
CBSE Class 7 English Unseen Passages Type I
Read the passages given below and answer the questions that follow each of them :
Passage 1
I had a Dove
I had a dove and the sweet dove died
And I thought it died of grieving :
O, what could it grieve for ? Its feet were tied
With a silken thread of my own hand’s weaving ;
Sweet little red feet! why should you die—
Why should you leave me, sweet bird ! why ?
You liv’d glone on the forest-tree,
Why, pretty thing ! would you not live with me ?
I kissed you oft and gave you white peas ;
Why not live sweetly, as in the green trees ?
—John Keats
Questions
1. How did the dove die ?
2. Why did the dove live with the poet ?
3. How did the poet show his love for the dove ?
4. Was the dove happy with the poet ? Why ?
Answers:
1. The dove died because it was grief-stricken.
2. The dove lived with the poet because its feet were tied with a silken thread.
3. The poet kissed the dove very often. He also gave it white peas to eat.
4. The dove was not happy with the poet. The dove loved flying high but the poet had tied its feet with a silken thread. The loss of freedom had made it unhappy.
Passage 2
Dust of Snow
The way a crow
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree
Has given my heart
A change of mood
And saved some part
Of a day I had rued
—Robert Frost
Questions
1. What did the crow do ?
2. What did the crow’s action do to the poet ?
3. What do the last two lines mean ?
4. What is the message of the poem ?
Answers:
1. The poet was under a hemlock tree. A crow shook one of the tree’s branches. This made some of the dry snow on the tree fall on the poet.
2. The crow’s action changed the poet’s mood. He began to feel better.
3. The last two lines mean that it had been a bad and regretful day for the poet. The only pleasant incident was the one when the crow caused some snow to fall on him.
4. The message of the poem is that Nature has a soothing influence on a person. It is capable of changing a sorrowful person into a happy human being.
Passage 3
Piping Down the Valleys Wild
Piping down the valleys wild,
Piping songs of pleasant glee !
On a cloud I saw a child,
And he laughing said to me :
‘Pipe a song about a Lamb !’
So I piped with merry cheer. ,
‘Drop thy pipe, thy happy pipe ;
Sing the songs of happy cheer ;
So I sang the same again,
While he wept with joy to hear.
‘Piper, sit thee down, and write
In a book that all may read,’
So he vanish’d from my sight,
And I pluck’d a hollow- reed,
And I made a rural pen,
And I stain’d the water clear,
And I wrote my happy songs
Every child may joy to hear.
—William Blake
Questions
1. Where was the poet ? What was he doing ?
2. Why did the child weep ?
3. What did the child ask the poet to do ?
4. What does the poet expect his songs to do ?
Answers:
1. The poet was roaming about in the wild valleys. He was piping songs of happiness.
2. The child did not weep out of grief. He shed the tears of joy.
3. The child asked the poet to write his songs in a book. This would help all the children to read them.
4. The poet expects that his songs would cheer every child who would read them.
Passage 4
The Nightingale and the Glow-worm
A nightingale, that all day long
Had cheered the village with his song,
Began to feel as well he might,
The keen demands of appetite ;
When, looking eagerly around,
He spied far off, upon the ground,
A something shining in the dark,
And knew the glow-worm by his spark ;
So, stooping down from hawthorn top,
He thought to put him in his crop.
The worm, aware of his intent,
Harangued him thus, right eloquent—
“Did you admire my lamp”, quoth he,
“As much as I your minstrelsy
You would abhor to do me wrong,
As much as I to spoil your song ;
For ’twas the self-same power divine,
Taught you to sing, and me to shine ;
That you with music, I with light,
Might beautify and cheer the night.”
The songster heard his short oration,
And warbling out his approbation
Released him, as my story tells,
And found a supper somewhere else.
—William Cowper
Read the statements given below and attempt the task as directed :
Question 1.
The intent of the nightingale was
(i) to sleep
(ii) to feed the glow worm
(iii) to eat the glow worm
(iv) to enjoy the night
Question 2.
The night became beautiful
(i) due to the clouds
(ii) due to the song of the nightingale
(iii) due to the light of the glow-worm
(iv) both (ii) and (iii)
Question 3.
Both the nightingale and the glow-worm .
(i) had an important role to play in the world
(ii) had no role to play in the world
(iii) were jealous of each other
(iv) had plans to kill
Question 4.
The act ‘released him’ means that the nightingale
(i) approved of his own point of view
(ii) approved of the glow-worm’s point of view
(iii) did not like the insect’s taste
(iv) felt proud for releasing the glow-worm
Question 5.
The phrase ‘warbled out his approbation’ means
(i) singing more vigorously
(ii) spilled out words
(iii) gave judgement
(iv) expressed his appreciation
Answers:
1. (iii)
2. (iv)
3. (i)
4. (ii)
5. (iv)
Passage 5
Death to the Dentist!
Death to his chair !
Death to his ‘This might hurt’ !
“There ! There ! There !”
Death to his injections !
Death to his Nurse !
Death to his amalgam !
Curse! Curse ! Curse !
Death to his needle !
Death to his drill!
Death to his “Open wides” !
Kill! KU1! Kill !
—A poem from Tasmania
Read the statements given below and attempt the task as directed :
Question 1.
The patient ……… to go to the dentist
(i) loves
(ii) is encouraged
(iii) dislikes
(iv) had
Question 2.
The doctor quotes …….
(i) This is going to hurt’
(ii) “This might hurt’
(iii) The extraction is painful’
(iv) The extraction will hurt a little bit’
Question 3.
The instructions given by the dentist ……….
(i) will help the dentist do the needful
(ii) will not help the dentist do the needful
(iii) will help the patient get rid of the pain
(iv) will not help the patient get rid of the pain
Question 4.
The word ‘Amalgam’ is
(i) a verb
(ii) an adjective
(iii) a noun
(iv) an adverb
Question 5.
The patient’s sense of thinking
(i) is positive about the dentist
(ii) is negative about the doctor and his techniques
(iii) is of killing everything
(iv) is to ignore the dentist’s instructions
Answers:
1. (iii)
2. (ii)
3. (i)
4. (iii)
5. (ii)
Passage 6
Weavers, weaving at break of day,
Why do you weave a garment so gay ?
Blue as the wing of a halcyon wild,
We weave the robes of a newborn child.
Weavers, weaving at fall of night,
Why do you weave a garment so bright ?
Like the plumes of a peacock purple and green,
We weave the marriage-veils of a queen.
Weavers, weaving solemn and still,
What do you weave in the moonlight chill ?
White as a feather and white as a cloud,
We weave a dead man’s funeral shroud.
Read the statements given below and attempt the task as directed :
Question 1.
The ‘break of day’ has parallel thoughts to :
(i) the day is over
(ii) the new-born babies
(iii) cheerful looking colours
(iv) both (ii) and (iii)
Question 2.
‘Blue’ is common to :
(i) sky, halcyon
(ii) halcyon, new born baby
(iii) baby, its dress
(iv) both (i) and (ii)
Question 3.
The colour of the baby’s dress is:
(i) silver
(ii) gray
(iii) white
(iv) blue
Question 4.
The phrase ‘white as a cloud’ is a :
(i) metaphor
(ii) simile
(iii) consonance
(iv) assonance
Question 5.
Weavers weave different colours :
(i) to match the occasion
(ii) to match the person
(iii) to bring out beauty
(iv) both (i) and (ii)
Answers:
1. (iv)
2. (i)
3. (iv)
4. (ii)
5. (iv)
Passage 7
The Lion and the Echo
1 The king of the Beasts deep in the wood,
Roared as loudly as it could.
Right away the echo came back
And the lion thought itself under attack.
2 “What voice is that roars like mine ?”
The echo replied “Mine, mine…”
3 “Who might you be ?” asked the furious lion
“I’m King of this jungle, this jungle is mine.”
And the echo came back a second time,
‘This jungle is mine, is mine, is mine.”
4 The lion swore revenge if only it could
Discover the intruder in the wood.
It roared, “Coward! Come out and show yourself!’
But the fearless echo replied simply “…elf, elf”
5 “Come out,” said the lion, “enough deceit,
Do you fear, for your own defeat ?
But all the echo did was repeat
“Defeat., .defeat.. .defeat…”
6 Frightened by every conceivable sound,
The exhausted lion sank to the ground.
A bird in a tree looked down and it said
“Dear lion, I’m afraid that what you hear
Is simply the voice of your lion-sized fear !”
Read the statements given below and attempt the task as directed :
Question 1.
‘The king of beasts got rid of his fear’ means
(i) he partially got rid of it
(ii) he got rid of it
(iii) he did not get rid of it
(iv) Both (0 and (ii)
Question 2.
It was difficult for the lion
(i) to kill any other beast
(ii) to kill the beast in the waters
(iii) to win over his fear
(iv) to conquer himself
Question 3.
The mind should always be free
(i) of tensions
(ii) of all sort of fears
(iii) of positive thoughts
(iv) of making clever plans
Question 4.
Which part of speech is the word ‘exhausted’ ?
The exhausted lion ………….. ’
(i) adverb
(ii) noun
(iii) past participle
(iv) verb
Question 5.
The lion had to bow before
(i) the little bird
(ii) the counsel of the little bird
(iii) another king of water
(iv) he was totally ruined
Answers:
1. (ii)
2. (iii)
3. (ii)
4. (iii)
5. (ii)
Passage 8
The good old man humbly asked for the ashes. Though the covetous couple turned up their noses at him and scolded him as if he were a thief, they let him fill his basket with the ashes.
On coming home, the old man took his wife into the garden. It being winter, their favourite cherry tree was bare. He sprinkled a pinch of ashes on it, and, lo ! It sprouted blossoms until it became a cloud of pink blooms which perfumed the air. The news of this filled the village, and everyone ran out to see the wonder.
The covetous couple also heard the story, and, gathering up the remaining ashes of the mill, kept them to make withered trees blossom.
Questions
1. What did the good old man get and from whom ?
2. How did the withered cherry tree sprout blossoms ?
3. What did the villagers do ?
4. Find a word in the passage which means the same as ‘abused’.
Answers:
1. The good old man got the ashes from the greedy couple.
2. When the good old man sprinkled ashes on the withered cherry tree, it sprouted blossoms.
3. When the villagers heard the story of the withered cherry tree, they ran to see the wonder.
4. ‘Scolded’.
Passage 9
Once (once only) I went absent-mindedly into his shop in a pair of boots bought in an emergency at some large firm. He took my order without showing me any leather and I could feel his eyes penetrating the inferior covering of my foot. At last he said, “Dose are nod my boods.”
The tone was not one of anger, nor of sorrow, not even of contempt, but there was in it something quiet that froze the blood. He put his hand down and pressed a finger on the place where the left boot was not quite comfortable.
“Id ‘urds’ you dere,” he said, “Dose big virms’ ave no self-respect.” And then, as if something had given way within him, he spoke long and bitterly. It was the only time I ever heard him discuss the conditions and hardships of his trade.
Questions
1. What did the author do only once ?
2. What did the shop-keeper do ?
3. What did the shop-keeper do for the first time ?
4. What is meant by ‘the inferior covering of the foot’ ?
5. What was there in the shop-keeper’s tone which froze the author’s blood ?
6. Find a word in the passage which means ‘hatred’ ?
Answers:
1. The author entered the shoe shop wearing a pair of shoes which he had bought at some large firm.
2. The shop-keeper pointed a spot in the shoe and told the author that the shoe pinched him there.
3. For the first time, the shop-keeper discussed the conditions and hardships of his trade.
4. It refers to the shoes.
5. The hopelessness of the tone froze the author’s blood.
6. ‘Contempt’.
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