Question 1: Prepare a table to show Caesar’s pranks at home and outside.

Step-by-step solution provided.

Maharashtra State Board Class 7 English (Kumarbharati / Balbharati) Solutions Chapter 3.3 A Crow in the House - Digest Answers | Maharashtra Board Solutions

Maharashtra State Board Class 7 English Solutions Chapter 3.3 A Crow in the House

Class 7 English Chapter 3.3 A Crow in the House Textbook Questions and Answers

1.A. Find antonyms for the following from the story.

Question A.

Answer:

B. Now try to find out synonyms (words that mean the same. for the following: (You may use a dictionary/thesaurus.

Question B.
Now try to find out synonyms (words that mean the same. for the following: (You may use a dictionary/thesaurus.

Answer:

2. Using your imagination, write how the other pets in the house could have objected to Caesar living in their house.

Question 1 Maharashtra Board Solution

Using your imagination, write how the other pets in the house could have objected to Caesar living in their house.

Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

The pet dog Bruno and the little pet cat Tisca would have got upset about the author’s attention-getting divided. Tisca would have refused to eat or drink and Bruno must have barked each time the author would play with Caesar. Bruno and Tisca would have leapt onto the writer’s lap to get his attention like before. Their pet parrot in the cage would have squabbled and squawked at the very sight of Caesar and called him names to tease him.

3. Prepare a table to show Caesar’s pranks at home and outside.

Question 1 Maharashtra Board Solution

Prepare a table to show Caesar’s pranks at home and outside.

Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

Caesar’s pranks at home	Caesar’s pranks outside
1. He danced about on the dining table. 2. He fidgeted about and investigated things. 3. He would empty the matchbox. 4. He would rip the daily paper to shreds. 5. He would overturn a vase of flowers. 6. He would tug at the tail of a dog. 7. He would squabble with the Hornbill and peck at his feet. 8. He knocked off Aunt Mabel’s spectacles.	1. He would visit neighbors’ houses frequently. 2. He would steal pens and pencils, hair ribbons, combs, keys, shuttlecocks, toothbrushes and false teeth. 3. He would snatch sweets from children. 4. He would take off clothes pegs from the clothesline.

4. Relate the life-story of Caesar, rearranging the facts In a proper sequence in the form of a flow chart.

Question 1 Maharashtra Board Solution

Relate the life-story of Caesar, rearranging the facts In a proper sequence in the form of a flow chart.

Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

5. Rewrite in your own words.

Question a.
One event from the story.
Answer:
When Aunt Mabel paid the author a visit, Caesar impressed her by landing on her arm and demanding a kiss. As soon as Aunt Mabel (all delighted. put her cheeks forward, her spectacles grabbed his attention and he knocked them off.

Question b.
One of the Caesar’s traits that makes you laugh.
Answer:
Begining with getting comfortable in the author’s house, caesar slowly started annoying the pets already there. He would tug at the tail of one of the dogs or sit on top of Harold, the hornbill’s cage and peck his feet and annoy him. This trait makes me laugh.

6. Hold a debate on ‘Pets or Pests’.

Question 1 Maharashtra Board Solution

Hold a debate on ‘Pets or Pests’

Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

Pets are the most lovable beings around us. When it comes to dogs, loyalty is their trademark. Besides being friendly, they shower unconditional love. Their presence in itself is a stress buster. They have the art of lifting one’s spirit with their playfulness and joyful nature. Pets help combat depression. Most pets are least demanding.

When one comes home all tired from the workplace, pets are always there to welcome. Their cheerfulness is extremely contagious. Their very presence adds to the energy of the environment. Although they cannot speak like humans, they express their emotions far more effectively. When it comes to understanding emotions, pets sense it pretty fast.

So pets are a blessing to have. Pets are pests as they are quite demanding when it comes to food. All of us know how choosy a cat is. Besides, pets eat into one’s constructive time as they are dependent for their daily chores. They dirty the house and require special training. Not all pets are friendly. Some even create trouble for the neighbourhood and the owner of the pet is held responsible. Guests fear coming home when they know there is a pet dog.

Moreover, one cannot travel with a carefree mind when one has a pet back home. Making adjustments to keep the pet when one is away is another challenge. When one loses one’s pet, it becomes quite difficult to overcome the sorrow due to emotional attachment. Hence, at times, pets turn out to be pests.

7. Do you have pet animals.

Question 1 Maharashtra Board Solution

Write an interesting story about your own or your friend’s pet.

Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

Yes, I do have a pet dog named Brady. He usually gets along well with almost everyone. But one of my neighbours Ms. Miranda, an old woman, aged 70, never managed to impressed the canine. He would do did his utmost to make her life miserable. Sometimes tilting her dustbin kept outside her door, spreading garbage all over her entrance door, other times barking at her guests so fiercely to shoo them away before they could even meet her.

But one evening when Ms. Miranda got stuck in the lift, Brady immediately recognised her voice. He couldn’t bear to hear her cry of anxiety mixed with fear. Off he went running, searching for the security guard and rescued her. Since then both, Brady and Ms. Miranda are best friends.

8. Language Study.

Complement: There are two types of complement: subject complement and object complement. Subject complement Is a word or a phrase used after a verb that describes the subject. The underlined words and phrases in the following sentences are subject complements.
1. I am hungry.
2. My sister became a teacher.
The word ‘hungry’ and the phrase ‘a teacher’ describe the subjects of the verbs. Therefore, they are subject complements. An object complement comes after the object of a verb and gives us information about the object. The underlined words and phrases in the following sentences are object complements.
3. The class made her the monitor.
4. The teacher found my answer correct.
The phrase the monitor’ gives us information about the object ‘her’. The word ‘correct’ gives us information about the object ‘my answer’.

Class 7 English Chapter 3.3 A Crow in the House Additional Important Questions and Answers

Answer the following questions.

Question 1 Maharashtra Board Solution

Who were the other members of the author’s family living in the same house?

Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

Author and his grandparents lived in the same house.

Question 2 Maharashtra Board Solution

Did the author’s Grandfather like animals? How do we know that? Give two examples from this page to support your

Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

Answer: Yes, the author’s Grandfather liked animals. We know this from the fact that Grandfather already had some pets and Caesar was taken good care of by Grandfather when he was ailing.

Question 3 Maharashtra Board Solution

What is implied in ‘He took over the administration of the house?

Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

Inspite of the opposition to caesar’s presence in the house from Grandmother, Aunt Mabel and Grandfather’s pets, he made himself comfortable there. This is what is meant by “He took over the administration of the house.”

Question 4 Maharashtra Board Solution

Guess how Caesar learnt to say ‘Hello, hello’.

Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

The author laught caesar to, say ‘Hello, hello’ in a cracked throaty voice.

Question 5 Maharashtra Board Solution

What is meant by ‘Aunt Mabel never was a success with the pets’? Can you think of the reasons why it was so?

Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

Aunt Mabel never was a success with the pets means she didn’t get along well with pets. She, probably, must be afraid of them or there must be some inherent dislike for pets. It came in the way of pets developing a rapport with her as they are very quick to sensing love.

Question 6 Maharashtra Board Solution

What is implied in the following sentence? Most of the neighbours were represented in our house by a toothbrush.

Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

Caeser stole and gathered toothbrush from his neighborhood and made a collection of them on top of the cupboard in his room. As, he was very fond of them. This implied that ‘Most of the neighbors were represented in our house by a toothbrush.

Question 7 Maharashtra Board Solution

What actions of the author show that he loved Caesar?

Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

The author brought the injured crow home and called it Caesar. Despite Grandmother being unhappy about Caesar’s mischiefs, the author never got upset or thought of getting rid of him. When he died, the author dug a grave in the garden and buried Caesar there along with all the clothes, pegs and toothbrushes. He weven taught him how to talk and kiss These actions of the author show us that he loved Caesar.

Answer the following question in two or three sentences.

Question 1 Maharashtra Board Solution

Why did the author not expect the crow to live?

Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

The author did not expect the crow to live because it was in a very sorry state with its beak gaping and head dropping.

Question 2 Maharashtra Board Solution

How did the author and his Grandfather revive the injured crow?

Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

The author and his Grandfather fed the crow little bread and milk; varied this diet with occassional doses of Grandmother’s home-made wine in order to revive the bird.

Question 3 Maharashtra Board Solution

How did Caesar trouble Aunt Mabel?

Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

When caesar alighted on her arm, the delighted Aunt Mabel leaned forward for a kiss. But her glaming spectacles caught his altention and he knocked them off.

Question 4 Maharashtra Board Solution

Where would the neighbours clothes be lying? Why?

Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

The neighbours clothes would be lying in the mud with no sign of pegs because Caesar would steal the pegs and take it to the writer’s house.

Reading Skills, Vocabulary and Grammar.

Simple Factual Questions.

Question 1 Maharashtra Board Solution

Match the columns.

‘A’	‘B’
1. A horse-drawn vehicle.	a. shreds
2. Make small nervous movement	b. prizing
3. Torn strips of paper.	c. tonga
4. Use force to move apart.	d. fidget

Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

‘A’

‘B’

1. A horse-drawn vehicle.

c. tonga

2. Make small nervous movement

d. fidget

3. Torn strips of paper.

a. shreds

4. Use force to move apart.

b. prizing

Complex Factual Questions.

Question 1 Maharashtra Board Solution

What dangers were likely to befall the young crow?

Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

The Young crow was in danger of being crushed by a cart or tonga or seized by a cat.

Question 2 Maharashtra Board Solution

To whom do these names refer? 1. Mabel 2. Caesar

Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

1. Mabel refers to the author’s aunt. 2. Caesar refers to the young crow brought home by the author.

Vocabulary.

Question 1 Maharashtra Board Solution

Use appropriate form of the word given in brackets. 1. I picked it up and it home, (bring. 2. He was his freedom (offer.

Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

1. I picked it up and brought it home. 2. He was offered his freedom.

Grammar.

Complete the table.

Present Tense	Past Tense	Past Participle
……………	brought	brought
fall	………………	fallen
……………	kept	kept
give	…………….	given

Answer:

Present Tense	Past Tense	Past Participle
bring	brought	brought
fall	fell	fallen
keep	kept	kept
give	gave	given

Personal Response.

Question 1 Maharashtra Board Solution

What pranks did Caesar engage in?

Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

During meal times Caesar would dance about on the dining table until he was given a bowl of meat soup and vegetables. He would empty the contents of the match-box, rip the daily paper to shreds, overturn a vase of flowers or tug at the tail of one of the dogs.

Simple Factual Questions.

Complete the statements.

Question 1 Maharashtra Board Solution

Caesar did not show any inclination to

Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

join the other crows in the banyan tree

Question 2 Maharashtra Board Solution

Perching on top of Harold’s cage, Caesar would

Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

peck at the big bird’s feet

Complex Factual Questions.

Question 1 Maharashtra Board Solution

Why did the writer not cage Caesar?

Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

When the writer put Caesar in a cage, he cawed and flapped his wings so fiercely that they thought that for their own peace of mind, it was best not to cage him.

Question 2 Maharashtra Board Solution

Why did Caesar not mingle with other crows, according to Grandfather?

Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

According to Grandfather, Caesar did not mingle with other crows because he was a jungle crow and looked at ordinary crows with contempt.

Vocabulary.

Question 1 Maharashtra Board Solution

Use prefix ‘in’/’un’ with any two words from the extract to make its antonymns. 1. kind 2. human

Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

1. unkind 2. inhuman

Question 2 Maharashtra Board Solution

Give verb forms. 1. little 2. inclination

Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

1. belittle 2. incline

Question 3 Maharashtra Board Solution

Give one word for the following. 1. to come down 2. shining brightly

Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

1. alighted 2. gleaming.

Grammar.

Question 1 Maharashtra Board Solution

He would sit for hours outside the window. (Rewrite using modal auxiliary of past ability..

Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

He could sit for hours outside the window.

Question 2 Maharashtra Board Solution

I had also taught him to sit on my arm. (Pick out the infinitive..)

Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

to sit – infinitive.

Personal Response.

Question 1 Maharashtra Board Solution

Which two contrasting traits of Caesar does the passage highlight? Do all animals and birds have this?

Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

Caesar on one hand is a very snobbish and mischievous crow troubling the Hornbill and not mingling with other crows. But on the other hand, he comes across as a very loving bird greeting the writer and kissing him. Yes, I think all animals and birds have these contrasting traits just as we humans do. They are good to some people and mischievous with the ones who don’t like them.

Simple Factual Questions.

State whether the following sentences true or false.
1. Caesar often managed to snatch sweets from children.
2. An occasional sip of Grandmother’s wine finally led to disaster.
Answer:
1. true
2. false.

Complex Factual Questions.

Question 1 Maharashtra Board Solution

Where did Caesar store his stolen goods?

Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

Caesar stored his stolen goods on top of the author’s cupboard.

Question 2 Maharashtra Board Solution

Why did Grandmother’s blood pressure go up?

Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

Watching Caesar steal combs, keys pens, pencils etc. from neighboring houses, Grandmother’s blood pressure went up.

Question 3 Maharashtra Board Solution

Where did the author bury him?

Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

The authors dug a shallow grave in the garden and buried him there.

Vocabulary.

Question 1 Maharashtra Board Solution

Give norm forms for the following.

Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

Question 2 Maharashtra Board Solution

Use ‘spy’ as a noun and verb in sentences.

Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

Noun – Vijay’s brother worked as a spy for FBI Verb – It is a very sensitive matter to spy for one’s country.

Grammar.

Grandfather and I washed and bandaged his leg and gave a sip of homemade wine. (Rewrite using ‘Not only but also’)
Answer:
Grandfather and I not only washed and bandaged his leg but also gave a sip of homemade wine.

Personal Response.

Question 1 Maharashtra Board Solution

Do you think the author had any feelings when he found Caesar dead?

Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

The expression “Poor Caesar!” by the author shows that he had a soft corner for Caesar. They both shared a loving relationship with Caesar welcoming the author back from school saying, ‘hello, hello’ and “Kiss, Kiss” by sitting on his arm and placing his head against the author’s mouth.

Language Study.

Question 1 Maharashtra Board Solution

I dug a shallow grave in the garden. (End with ‘………. by me’)

Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

A shallow grave was dug in the garden by me.

Question 2 Maharashtra Board Solution

He grew weaker day-by-day. (Make negative)

Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

He didn’t grow stronger day-by-day.

Make sentence.

Question 1 Maharashtra Board Solution

to bring it round

Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

The doctors put in their best efforts to bring the patient round.

Question 2 Maharashtra Board Solution

to make oneself at home

Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

I made myself at home in the new hostel room within few days.

Question 3 Maharashtra Board Solution

to tug at something

Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

The beggar tugged at my sleeve asking for some money.

Question 4 Maharashtra Board Solution

to get rid off

Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

I got rid off the old story books by giving them to the child next door.

Question 5 Maharashtra Board Solution

to find one’s way

Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

I found my way to the college on my own.

Question 6 Maharashtra Board Solution

Caesar was joining us at mealtimes. (Identify the tense)

Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

was joining – past continuous tense.

Question 7 Maharashtra Board Solution

He danced about on the dining table. (Change into present continuous tense.)

Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

He is dancing about on the dining table.

Question 8 Maharashtra Board Solution

Use the following phrases in sentence. 1. do your best 2. on the road to recovery

Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

1. My grandma tells me to do my best when I take up any task. 2. After the revaging floods, the state of of Kerala is on the road to recovery.

Writing Skills.

Question 1 Maharashtra Board Solution

Write a character sketch on Caesar.

Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

Caesar was the author’s pet crow who had been brought home by him after an injury. Caesar, was typically wild with all his anti-social activities. He had made the life of his caretakers difficult. The other pets in the house too did not like him as he would not spare them as well. The fact that he did not mingle with other crows shows that he was too snobbish. He couldn’t be caged and so he made the most of the freedom that he got by troubling others.

He comes across as a hoarder who loved to amass various things ranging from essentials like toothbrushes and combs to false teeth. However, lying beneath this arrogant behaviour, was a layer of love and warmth for the writer whom he greeted with a ‘hello’ and a kiss. He was a good learner as he had learnt to say ‘hello’. But his own notorious action landed him in trouble and proved fatal when he was hit with a stick. In short, Caesar was a wild bird who loved to live a life on his own terms around the author’s house.

Formative Assessment.

Question 1 Maharashtra Board Solution

Crows are very common to India. Gather some information about them.

Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

A Crow in the House Summary in English

This extract revolves around a crow who was injured and lying on the road. He was picked up and taken home by the author and nursed back to health. How he became a pet as well as a pest in -w the family is seen in this lesson.

Introduction:

Ruskin Bond is an Indian author of British descent. He has made significant contribution to the growth of children’s literature in India. He was a recipients of ‘Padmashri’ in 1999 and ‘Padmabhushan’ in 2014. His works reflect his love for things in nature and his keen sense of observation. The present extract is from his book “Grandfather’s Private Zoo”.

Glossary:

Previous Chapter

Chapter 3.2 Compere a Programme

Next Chapter

Chapter 3.4 The Brook

Chapter 3.3 A Crow in the House Solutions