Latest Maharashtra State Board (SSC & HSC) 2026-27 Syllabus Digest & Solutions Updated!
Class 8English (Kumarbharati / Balbharati)2026-27 Syllabus

Chapter 1.2 Dick Whittington and his Cat Solutions

Complete Maharashtra State Board Balbharati & Yuvakbharati textbook solutions for Chapter 1.2 Dick Whittington and his Cat. Step-by-step solved exercises, numerical problems, and digest answers.

45 Solved Questions4 Diagrams2435 words

Std 8 English Lesson 1.2 Dick Whittington and his Cat Question Answer Maharashtra Board

Class 8 English Chapter 1.2 Dick Whittington and his Cat Textbook Questions and Answers

Warming Up:

1. Discuss the follow in groups and write the answers:

Question a.
Name the world famous personalities, who reached great heights despite of humble circumstances.
Answer:

Question b.
Guess the types of hardships they must have faced in their childhood and youth.
Answer:

Question c.
What strong qualities possessed by them, could have helped them achieve success and fame, all over?
Answer:

Question d.
How do stories / biographies of such famous people help youngsters?
Answer:

2. Syllable: A syllable is a unit of pronunciation that has one ‘owe1 sound and may or may not have consonant sounds before I after it.
Examples of words having:
One syllable: a, I, see, at, on, man, with, thread
Two syllables: mother, seated, giraffe, parrot, active, happy
Three syllables: happiness, wonderful, animal, surprising, adventure, ignorance.
More than three syllables: consequently, encouragement, responsibility, identifying, encyclopedia

Write the numcs of any 5 of your classmates and list how many syllables each name has.
Answer:

1. A. Arrange the following set of words in alphabetical order in your notebook.
ship, small, successful, scoldings, stone, saving, someone, stood, streets, still, screamed, sot, seemed, saint, share.
Answer:
saint, sat, saving, scoldings, screamed, seemed, share, ship, small, someone, still, stone, stood, streets, successful.

1. B. Remove the Affixes (Prefix and Suffix) and write the Root-word.

Answer:

2. A. Find from the story’ one word for the following.

Question a.
a small room just below a sloping roof
Answer:
attic

Question b.
a very narrow passage between buildings
Answer:
alley

Question c.
the highest – ranking officer in the Municipality of a city/town.
Answer:
Mayor

Question d.
the highest ranking official who commands a ship.
Answer:
Captain

Question e.
any animal that catches mice
Answer:
mouser

Question f.
a low constant sound made by cats
Answer:
Purr

2. B. Make sentences of your own using the following expressions.

Question 1 Maharashtra Board Solution

overcome:
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

We must learn to overcome any difilcultics we come across.
Question 2 Maharashtra Board Solution

put up with:
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

We had to put up wilhi the noisy behaviour of our neighbours son.
Question 3 Maharashtra Board Solution

bargain:
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

People In India love to bargain with hawkers.

3. Rearrange the following events us they occur in the story. Put the correct number in the boxes.

Answer:

4. Think and answer:

Question 1 Maharashtra Board Solution

What decision taken by Dick changed his fortune?
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

On hearing the church bells send out a message to him, Dick decided to retrace his steps and go back to Mr. Fitzwarren’s house instead of running away. This decision changed Dick’s fortune.
Question 2 Maharashtra Board Solution

What message does this story bring j out for youngsters?
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

The message that this story brings out for youngsters is that we must S not run away from difficulties but face > them bravely.

5. A. Break the words below into syllables us shown in the first one.

Answer:

5. B. Degrees of Comparison of Adjectives.

Read the sentences.

(i) Yatin is strong.
(ii) Amit is stronger than Yatin.
(iii) Pruvin is the strongest of all.

In sentence (i) the Adjective ‘strong’ is in its simple form. It is called Positive Degree.
In sentence (ii) the Adjective stronger’ refers to a higher degree, when there is a comparison of two nouns. It is called Comparative Degree. (-er is
added to the basic Adjective)
In sentence (iii) the adjective ‘strongest’ refers to the highest degree of comparison of one with more than two nouns. It is called Superlative
Degree. (-est is added to the basic Adjective)

Complete the table of degrees of comparison.

Answer:

Positive

Compa­rative

Super­lative

(1) great

greater

greatest

(2) famous

more famous

most famous

(3) easy

easier

easiest

(4) bad

worse

worst

(5) poor

poorer

poorest

(6) lazy

lazier

laziest

(7) little

less

least

(8) worthy

worthier

worthiest

(9) popular

more popular

most popular

6. Select any one of the famous personalities mentioned in ‘Warming up 1′ on page no. 5. From the library or internet find out their success story. Write ¡tin your own words in about 20 to 30 lines of your notebook. Give your write-up a suitable title.

Class 8 English Chapter 1.2 Dick Whittington and his Cat Additional Important Questions and Answers

Simple Factual Activities :

Complete the following :

Question 1 Maharashtra Board Solution

Dick lived in a ______.
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

small village in the south of England
Question 2 Maharashtra Board Solution

_____ treated Dick unkindly.
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

Many of the villagers
Question 3 Maharashtra Board Solution

The innocent belief ________.
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

that the streets of London were paved with gold made Dick decide to go to London
Question 4 Maharashtra Board Solution

The carter asked Dick _______.
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

if he was running away from home

Complex Factual Activity:

Question 1 Maharashtra Board Solution

Describe the hardships that Dick I faced on arriving in London.
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

Dick arrived in London just before ; nightfall. He had no place to sleep, and he finally slept in the corner of a narrow lane. The following morning, Dick woke ( up feeling cold, miserable and hungry. He j begged for food, but people shouted at him | and hit him angrily on his head. He finally collapsed and lay there, too weak to look further for food.

Activities based on Contextual Grammar:

Question 1 Maharashtra Board Solution

He thought people might treat him more kindly if he were rich. (Identify the modal auxiliary and state its function.)
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

might-indicates possibility
Question 2 Maharashtra Board Solution

All he could see were dirty streets and lots of unfriendly people.
(Rewrite using ‘nothing’.)
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

He could see nothing but dirty streets and lots of unfriendly people.

Personal Response:

When Dick begged for food, people shouted at him and beat him. Do you think this is right?
Answer:
of course it is not right. We ; should have sympathy when people beg for something, not get angry with them. They must be having a strong reason for begging, of course, if they are lazy, do not work and then beg, it is wrong. Even then, we must not beat them or shout at them.

Complete the following:

Question 1 Maharashtra Board Solution

Mr. Fitzwarren favoured Dick by ______.
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

ordering the cook to take him into the kitchen, feed him and then find some work for him
Question 2 Maharashtra Board Solution

Dick had to face two difficulties in Mr. Fitzwarren’s house. They were:
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

(i) the attic where he slept was overrun by rats and mice, preventing him from sleeping.
(ii) the cook was bad-tempered and shouted and screamed at Dick, scolding him and hitting him with a wooden spoon even when he was working as hard as he could.
Question 3 Maharashtra Board Solution

The cat proved to be very useful because _____.
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

it chased away all the rats and mice, allowing Dick to sleep peacefully

Activities based on Contextual Grammar:

Question 1 Maharashtra Board Solution

Dick had fallen in front of a house belonging to a rich merchant. (Rewrite using the simple past tense of the underlined verb.)
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

Dick fell in front of a house belonging to a rich merchant.
Question 2 Maharashtra Board Solution

Dick was able to sleep peacefully.
(Rewrite using the verb ‘slept’.)
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

Dick slept peacefully.

Personal Response:

Question 1 Maharashtra Board Solution

What do Mr. Fitzwarren’s actions tell us about him?
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

Mr. Fitzwarren’s actions tell us that he was a kind-hearted and just man.
He did not abuse Dick or hit him as the others had done. He offered Dick a home and a living in return for helping the cook with all the pots and pans in the kitchen.

Simple Factual Activities:

Who said the following words:

Question 1 Maharashtra Board Solution

I can put up with a few scoldings from the cook.
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

Dick
Question 2 Maharashtra Board Solution

No, it must be his.
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

Mr. Fitzwarren
Question 3 Maharashtra Board Solution

Only my cat.
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

Dick
Question 4 Maharashtra Board Solution

Let me put something in for him.
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

Alice

Fill in the blanks:

Question 1 Maharashtra Board Solution

Dick walked as far as ________.
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

Holloway
Question 2 Maharashtra Board Solution

The first of November is _______.
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

All Saints’ Day
Question 3 Maharashtra Board Solution

Dick went back to _____.
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

Mr. Fitzwarren’s house
Question 4 Maharashtra Board Solution

Mr. Fitzwarren was sending a ship to the _____ to trade.
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

African coast

Complex Factual Activity:

Question 1 Maharashtra Board Solution

’“Explain in your own words what inspired Dick to return to Mr. Fitzwarren’s home.
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

When Dick sat down on a stone to rest, he heard the church bells ringing. As he listened, it seemed that they were ringing a message for him, telling him that he should go back home, and calling him the Mayor of London.

Pick out the subject and predicate in the following sentences and put them in the correct columns in the table given below :

Answer:

Subject

Predicate

(1) You

can then share in the profits

(2) Everyone

produced something except for Dick

(3) The two of them

walked as far as Holloway

(4) Dick and his cat

retraced their steps to Mr. Fitzwarren’s house.

Personal Response:

Question 1 Maharashtra Board Solution

According to you, did Dick do the right thing by running away from Mr. Fitzwarren’s house because of the cook?
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

No, I don’t think that Dick did the right thing. Mr. Fitzwarren was a good man, and Dick was making a decent living. He should have tried to win the cook over and solve his difficulties. If he had run away, he may not have got another job and may have had to beg. Nothing is gained by running away from problems; we must face them and solve them.

Write whether the following statements are True or False:

Question 1 Maharashtra Board Solution

Dick was happy to send his cat on the ship.
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

False
Question 2 Maharashtra Board Solution

The cat caught plenty of mice and rats.
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

True
Question 3 Maharashtra Board Solution

The king was rude to the captain.
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

False
Question 4 Maharashtra Board Solution

The queen knew all about cats.
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

False

Pick out two adverbs ending in ‘-ly’ from the passage, and write the adjectives in them.
Answer:
Adverbs-immediately, normally, Adjectives in them-immediate, normal

Personal Response:

Do you think that all the animals are 1 important to the environment?
Answer:
Yes, all the animals are certainly j important to the environment. They all have their own place and own duties. ; For example, hawks and eagles control the population of mice, rats and snakes. Lions and tigers keep the number of deer, buffaloes and other such animals in check, j Every animal is important in its own way.

Write the following sentences in the correct order of occurrence in the passage:

Answer:

Give reasons:

Question 1 Maharashtra Board Solution

The queen was afraid of the cat.
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

The queen was afraid of the cat because she had seen how fiercely it had attacked the rats and the mice.
Question 2 Maharashtra Board Solution

How much did the king pay for the cat?
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

The king paid ten times the sum for the cat that he had paid for the whole cargo from Mr. Fitzwarren’s ship.

Activities based on Contextual Grammar :

Pick out the verbs from the following sentences and state their tense :

Question 1 Maharashtra Board Solution

The captain showed Mr. Fitzwarren the gold and jewels he had brought from Barbary.
Mr. Fitzwarren then paid him all: the money he had received for the cat.
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

showed – simple past tense; had brought – past perfect tense
paid – simple past tense; had received – past perfect tense

Personal Response:

Question 1 Maharashtra Board Solution

What message does this story bring j out for youngsters?
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

The message that this story brings out for youngsters is that we must S not run away from difficulties but face > them bravely.

Do as directed:

Question 1 Maharashtra Board Solution

Pick out two compound words from the lesson.
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

Two compound words : household, nightfall
Question 2 Maharashtra Board Solution

Use the adverb ’immediately’ in your own sentence :
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

The teacher immediately asked the tired girl to sit down.
Question 3 Maharashtra Board Solution

Find out four hidden words from : the given word : (Each word should have at least 3 letters.)
successful
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

successful : success, self, fuel, fuse
Question 4 Maharashtra Board Solution

Use the following word and its homophone in two separate sentences :ate
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:
Question 5 Maharashtra Board Solution

Underline the adjectives from the following sentence :
He was not only famous, but he was popular too, for he always helped the poor ; with his money.
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

He was not only famous, but he was popular too, for he always helped the poor with his money.
Question 6 Maharashtra Board Solution

Pick out the conjunction in the following sentence :
Dick work up cold, miserable and very hungry.
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

and
Question 7 Maharashtra Board Solution

Punctuate :
alas yes came the reply the country is suffering from a plague of rats and mice
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

“Alas, yes!” came the reply. “The country is suffering from a plague of rats and mice.”
Question 8 Maharashtra Board Solution

Pick out the direct and indirect objects:
He gave me a hundred rupee note.
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

Direct object – a hundred-rupee note
Indirect object – me
Question 9 Maharashtra Board Solution

Use the following word as a noun and a verb in two separate sentences :
sleep
Solution & Step-by-Step Answer:

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