CG Board Class 9 English Unit 1 Environment (Reading C) Saalumarada Thimmakka are given below for Hindi Medium students.
CG Board Class 9 English Unit 1 Environment (Reading C) Saalumarada Thimmakka
Page No. – 24
Comprehension –
Q.1. What details about the following do you get in the passage?
Childhood:- (a) Born in Hulikal
(b) worked as a labourer in a quarry near her home.
Marriage and family life:-
(a) married off to Chikkaiah, a cattle herder
(b) don’t have any child
Occupation:-
(a) active crusader for spreading the message of afforestation.
(b) An environmentalist
Page No.24
Q.2. “From there started a journey of untiring love and selfless service of an ordinary couple towards an extraordinary mission : a mission to raise as many trees as possible with love and care and as their own children.”
Identify the description in the lesson that talks about Thimakka’s
i) untiring love.
ii) ambitious and uncommon mission.
iii) self and her husband as an ordinary couple.
iv) selfless service
Ans :- (i) untiring love :- They treated the saplings as their own children and each day followed the same routine. They also protected the saplings from the grazing cattle by fencing them with thorny shrubs. Their tireless efforts began to bear fruit when the saplings grew into large and strong trees.
ii) ambitious and uncommon mission :- The couple planted the saplings mostly in the monsoon season so that the plants would get the rainwater for their growth. The couple planted more than 300 trees in total and today the asset value of the trees stands at more than 1.5 million rupees. Thimmakka’s husband passed away in 1991 but she continued with her mission alone and undaunted. The Government of Karnataka has taken over the management of the trees now.
iii) self and her husband as an ordinary couple :- The couple wanted children but were unable to get any even after 25 years of their married life. One day, the husband-wife duo decided to plant trees to overcome the sadness and empty feeling of their lives.
iv) selfless service :- She is an active crusader for spreading the message of afforestation. Her simple philosophy of life is that every person on this earth must leave behind some asset for humanity.
She still lives in an economic crisis and just manages to somehow make a living from the various awards and a monthly pension. But this has never managed to kill her spirit or her passion for doing good work for humankind.
Page No.25
Q.3. Choose the correct answer.
i) The village Kudur was selected by Thimmakka to plant trees along the roadside because
a) it was near their home.
b) it had a broad road.
c) there were no trees on that road.
d) the weather in Kudur was hot.
Ans :- c) there were no trees on that road.
ii) The saplings were watered
a) from the wells and ponds nearby.
b) from their home alone.
c) by the water tanks from the municipality.
d) by rain water only.
Ans :- a) from the wells and ponds nearby
iii) Thimmakka has set up a trust to fulfil her plans because
a) she cannot do all the work alone.
b) she doesn’t possess the money required.
c) her main aim is to protect the trees that she has grown.
d) many other people and social activists work with her.
Ans :- c) her main aim is to protect the trees that she has grown.
Page No.25
Q.4. One of the reasons why Thimmakka elected banyan saplings to be planted on the roadside was
Fill in the bubbles with other possible reasons.
Ans:-
Page No.26
Vocabulary-
Q.1. Saalumarada is a Kannada word which means ‘a row of trees’. Find out the meanings and local language equivalents for the words given below:
| Words | Words Meanings | Local language equivalent |
| Ficus trees | The banyan or fig trees | Bar Ped (बर पेड़) |
| Taluk | Subdivision of a district | Tehsil (तहसील) |
| Monsoon | Rainy season | |
| Cattle | A group of animals that include cow, buffalo etc, | Bardi (बर्दी) |
Q.2. The word ‘afforestation’ is preceded by a prefix ‘af’ to give a positive meaning to the root word ‘ forestation’. Complete the table below by adding an appropriate prefix to each word. Find out how it influences the meaning of the word. One is done for you.
| Prefix | Root word | New word | Positive/negative meaning |
| Af- | forestation | afforestation | positive |
| In- | active | Inactive | Negative |
| Un- | Sure | UnSure | Negative |
| In- | difference | Indifference | Negative |
| Un- | ordinary | Unordinary | Negative |
| Un- | tiring | Untiring | positive |
| Un- | compromising | Uncompromising | positive |
Q.3. (i) ‘Prestigious’ is an adjective that is often associated with ‘awards’. Find out adjectives from the lesson that you can associate with the following nouns.
a) hardship b) courage
c) patience d) love
e) crisis
Ans :- (a) hardship :- Immense
b) courage :- Undaunting
c) patience :- Persistent
d) love :- Selfless
e) crisis :- Economic
(ii) Now add two more adjectives that can be used to describe the above nouns. e.g immense hardship
Ans :- (a) Tireless efforts
(b) Selfless works
(iii) List five words from your school environment that take the suffix ‘-ship’
Ans:-Friendship, Scholarship, Sportsmanship, Relationship, Championship
Grammar –
Page No.27
Q.1. Not only-but also
Imagine Thimmakka talking to the children of the village Kudur, telling them how she cared for trees after she had planted them. Use not only–but also to join her ideas.
| Amma, what did you do when you grafted the saplings? | We not only wrapped soil around the saplings, but also kept them moist. |
| Did you put tree guards? | We not only put thorns around them, but also checked that they were not drying up. |
| Do you know the trees you planted even now? | Yes, I not only know all of them, But they also know me. |
| Do you know the animals and birds on the trees too? | I not only go to the trees everyday, but also sit under the shade for many hours, so some of the birds are my friends. |
Page No.27
Q.2. Use of ‘despite’ and ‘in spite of’-
Describe the great work Thimmakka did even though she had many hardships to face in the initial stages. Use despite/in spite of to begin the narration. Make meaningful sentences according to the passage from the given table. Example : Despite her work at the quarry, she watered the plants every morning
| Despite In spite of | her hard work at the quarry their poor economic conditions knowing not an easy task her other domestic work all the awards and honour she received | , | She is as simple and humble as ever. She watered the plants every morning. worried about storing water for the village. decided to plant shady trees along 4 kilometres. bought saplings and grafted them. |
Ans :- 1. In spite of their poor economic conditions, they are worried about storing water for the village.
2. Despite knowing it was not an easy task, she decided to plant shady trees along 4 kilometres.
3. In spite of her other domestic work, bought saplings and grafted them.
4. In spite of the awards and honour she received ,she is as simple and humble as ever.
Page No.28
Writing –
Q.Read the lesson carefully and fill in Saalumarada Thimmakka’s bio-data in the table given below.
| Name Saalumarada Thimmakka Place Of Birth Hulikal Parentage – Childhood and education Nil Marital Status Married Husband’s name and occupation Chikkaiah,cattle herder Age Above 60 Mission of life To raise as many trees as possible with love and care Specific details about the mission :- i)started grafting saplings from Ficus (banyan) trees as there were plenty of Ficus trees near her village.ii) continued with their efforts and increased the number of saplings with each passing year.iii) Their tireless efforts began to bear fruit when the saplings grew into large and strong trees.iv) The couple planted more than 300 trees in total and today the asset value of the trees stands at more than 1.5 million rupees.Other contributions to the society:- She got involved in various social activities like construction of a tank to store rainwater for the annual fair of her village.Message to humanity: that every person on this earth must leave behind some asset for humanity. |
Page No.29
PRACTICE EXERCISE – I
Q.I. Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow :
Saalumarada Thimmakka did not stop at planting trees. She got involved in various social activities like construction of a tank to store rainwater for the annual fair of her village. She has plans of building a hospital in her village and has set up a trust for the purpose. She is an active crusader for spreading the message of afforestation. Her simple philosophy of life is that every person on this earth must leave behind some asset for humanity. She still lives in an economic crisis and just manages to somehow make a living from the various awards and a monthly pension. But this has never managed to kill her spirit or her passion for doing good work for humankind.
(Reading C : Saalumarada Thimmakka)
Q.1. Choose the correct alternative in each of the following.
(i) Saalumarada Thimmakka was not involved in…………
a. planting trees
b. storing rainwater
c. building a hospital
d. teaching at a school
Ans:- d. teaching at a school
(ii) Thimmakka set up a trust for ____________.
a. planting trees
b. building a hospital
c. cleaning up her village
d. making posters
Ans:- b. building a hospital
(iii) Thimmakka now makes a living ____________.
a. from prize money and monthly pension
b. from monthly pension only
c. by working at the hospital
d. by selling plant products
Ans:- a. from prize money and monthly pension
Page No.29
Q.2. Complete the following sentences.
i. Thimmakka still lives in economic crisis.
ii. She has a passion for doing good work for humankind.
iii. Her philosophy of life is that every person on this earth must leave behind some asset for humanity.
iv. She is an active crusader for spreading the message of afforestation.
Page No.30
Q.3. ‘Annual’ means once in a year. It is also called ‘yearly.’
Give one word for the given phrases.
once in month :- Monthly
once in a week :- Weekly
every day :- Daily
Page No.30
Q.4. Pick out the words related to the root words given below from the passage given above.
| Root words | Words from the passage |
| act | Activites |
| construct | Construction |
| economy | Economic |
| month | Monthly |
| society | Social |
| human | Humanity |
Page No.30
Q.5. The commonly used letters used to spell sound /f/ are: ff, ph, f and gh in the words: affair, forest, phone, cough. Now complete the words given below with ff,ph, f, gh. Also add a few more words of each type.
| Words | Hints |
| afforestation | preserving forests |
| photograph | a picture |
| physical | concerning body |
| Fair | a public event (fun) |
| traffic | large number of vehicles |
| selfless | without personal interest |
| ph | ff | f | gh |
| graph | coffee | foreign | tough |
| photo | toffee | famous | laugh |
| physics | puff | face | rough |
| phantom | staff | fans | enough |
| phase | stuff | fat | cough |
Page No.32
Q.1. Read the poem aloud and pick out the rhyming words from the circle and write in the space given.
(Rhyming words are those words which end with the same sounds.) Example : Stanza 1 – Strong – Long, Told – old
Stanza 1: Strong – Long , Told – old
Stanza 2: Tell – Well , Shade – Played
Q.2. Pick out the words and complete the following sentences.
a. The tree is …….…………. and …………….. .
b. It is very ……………….. Tree.
c. The tree knew a hundred ……..…………… .
d. It loves those …………..…..… who sit beneath or play ……………..….. its branches.
Ans:- a) Big , Strong B) Long , C) Secrets, d)Children , Underneath
Page No.32
Q.3. Complete the sentence by choosing the correct word.
a. A ‘hundred years’ is used to tell the …………………. of the tree.
b. A ‘hundred secrets’ is used to tell the ………………… of the children.
Ans:- a) Years b) Secrets
Page No.32
Q.4. Pick out words from the poem that describe the tree.
Big Strong Old Shout
Page No.32
Q.5. Write T for true and F for false after the following sentences.
a. The tree is big, stout and strong.
b. The tree always provides shade for children to play.
c. Its branches are not long and leafy enough to provide shelter to the birds.
d. The tree is not very old.
e. The tree does not like the children.
Ans:- a) True b) True c) False d)False e) False
Page No.33
Q.6. Answer the following questions.
A. Who is ‘I’ in the poem?
Ans.- The Speaker (poet) is ‘I’ in the poem.
B. Whose secrets could the tree tell?
Ans.- The tree could tell the secrets of the children he loved.
C. Who sat beneath the tree?
Ans – Children sat beneath the tree.
D. Who played under the tree?
Ans.- The children played under the tree.
Q.7. Match the words in column ‘A’ with their opposites in column ‘B’.
| A | B |
| big | small |
| strout | Thin |
| strong | Weak |
| long | Short |
| old | Young |
| friendly | Unfriendly |
Page No.33
Q.8. Read the paragraph and fill in the blanks with words from column B of the table given above.
The tree was big and strong when it was young. As it grew older it became __________ and__________. The children loved the friendly tree but did not like the _________ snakes that lived beneath it.
Ans:- 1) Thin 2)Weak 3) Small
Page No.33
Q.9. Make a list of verbs (action words) that occur in the poem.
Ans:- Lived Tell Love
Came sat Played
Page No.34
Q.10. Complete the following table with appropriate forms of verbs.
| I | II | III |
| Live | lived | Lived |
| tell | told | Told |
| Come | came | Came |
| Sit | sat | Sat |
| Play | played | Played |
| Build | built | Built |
| Kiss | kissed | Kissed |
| touch | Touched | Touched |
| Grow | Grew | grown |
| visit | Visited | Visited |
| Change | changed | Changed |
| find | Found | Found |
| love | Loved | Loved |
Note to remember:
Verbs that end with ‘ed’ (lived, played, kissed, changed are called regular verbs. other forms of verbs which don’t have ‘– ed’ endings are called irregular verbs (told, came, sat, built, grown):
Page No.34
Q.11. Now, identify regular and irregular forms of the verbs from the list given below and put them in correct columns in the table below.
know, drink, write, comb, wash, speak, type, open, close, run, sing, give, touch, live
| Regular | Irregular |
| Comb, Type, Open, Close, Run, Touch, | Know, Drink, Water, Speak, Sing, Give |
Page No.35
Q.12. Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the verbs given in brackets.
Long ago, a mynah invited (invite) a snail to her daughter’s first birthday party. “Don’t be late”, she Chirped (chirp) and Flew. (fly) away. The snail
Set off. (set off) the next morning and Began (begin) walking towards the mynah’s nest. He Walked (walk) and Walked (walk) day and night. At last he reached (reach) the mynah’s nest. He Saw (see) the celebration. “I’ve Reached (reach)” he Said (say) to himself. He Met (meet) you”. Mynah’s daughter and Said (say),”Happy birthday to you”. The mynah’s daughter Said (say), “But today is my wedding ceremony.”
Q.13. Nouns are either singular (meaning one) or plural (meaning more than one). The words of noun category are used as either singular or plural.
| adding’s’ | adding es’ | changing ‘y’ to ‘i’ and adding ‘es’ | changing ‘f’ to ‘v’ and adding ‘es’ | changing the vowels | nouns that remain the same | by adding ‘en’ |
| boy-boys tree-trees | box-boxes branch- branches | baby-babies fly-flies | leaf-leaves life-lives | foot-feet mouse-mice man-men | Sheep- sheep deer-deer | Child- children ox-oxen |
Read the poem and pick out the singular and plural nouns.
Ans:-
| Singular | Plural |
| Tree | Years, Secrets,Children,Travels |
Page No.36
Q.14. Read the story. Identify the nouns and correct them if necessary. Rewrite the story.
There was a large forest with tall grasses in which many different animals lived. Some were small. There were field mice, and wild cats, as well as deers, and wild sheeps. There were many tigers, wolves and foxes. Near the forest was a farm which had oxes, bulls and cows. There was an orchard next to the farm which grow mangoes, bananas and oranges. The farmer had many childs who helped him on the farm. On his farm, various different vegetables like potato, tomato, onion and bean were grown.
Ans :- There was a large forest with tall grasses in which many different animals lived. Some were small. There were field mice, and wild cats, as well as deers, and wild sheeps. There were many tigers, wolves and foxes. Near the forest was a farm which had oxes, bulls and cows. There was an orchard next to the farm in which grow mangoes, bananas and oranges. The farmer had many children who helped him on the farm. On his farm, various different vegetables like potatoes, tomatoes, onions and beans were grown.
Page No.36
Q.15. Read the following sentences:-
Raju is as tall as a lamp post.
The children were as busy as bees.
The underlined expressions are examples of similes.
Now using words from circles A and B make similar similes. One has been done for you.
A B
Ans:-
a. as small as a plant b. …as big as an elephant…….
c. …as white as milk…….. d. …as tall as a palm tree…….
e. …as strong as a lion….. f ..…as heavy as an iron…….
g. …as beautiful as a fairy.. h. …as cold as ice…….
i. …as red as a rose….. j. …as fat as an elephant….
Page No.37
Q.16. Complete the following sentences by using similes you have made in the above exercise.
a) This flower is as red as a rose.
b) This tree is as big as a palm tree.
c) This child is as small as a plant.
d) This paper is as white as milk.
e) This girl is as beautiful as a fairy.
f) He is as strong as a lion.
g) This machine is as strong as an elephant.
h) This house is as big as a palace.
i) This water is as cold as ice.
j) This plate is as heavy as iron.
Page No.37
Q.17 a. Listen to the poem carefully and circle the names of the birds/animals that appear.
squirrel, snail, bird, tiger, mouse with mouselings, porcupine, cub of bear, toad, katydid, crow, parrot, snake, bats, sparrows
b. Your teacher will read the poem once again. Fill in blanks with adjectives that you listen in the poem
__________ little squirrel
__________ porcupine
__________
tree toad __________
__________ mouselings
Ans: Question out of context.
Page No.40
Q.20. Think about a big tree in your locality. Describe it keeping in mind the hints given below.
1. Name of the tree
2. Size (big/huge/tall/short)
3. Colour and size of flowers
4. Colour and size of fruits
5. Advantages of the tree (for the birds/animals/human being)
Ans:- 1)Name of the tree :- There is a huge neem tree in my locality, Scientific name of the tree is Azadirachta Indica, commonly known as neem or India Lilac. It belongs to the mahogany family Meliaceae.
2. Size (big/huge/tall/short) :- Neem is a fast growing tree, generally 15-20m tall (occasionally up to 40m), with a diameter of up to 20m. Neem is evergreen but shed most of its leaves under dry conditions. It will grow where rainfall is only 18 inches per year. Neem has a productive life span of 150-200 years.
3. Colour and size of flowers :- Neem flowers are white and fragrant. They bear from 150 to 250 flowers. An individual flower measures 5 to 6 mm long and 8 to 11 mm wide.
4. Colour and size of fruits :- The fruit is a smooth olive- like drupe which varies in shape from elongate oval to near roundish. The fruit skin is thin and turns yellow when ripe.
5. Advantages of the tree (for the birds/animals/human beings) :-
Neem yields a strong, coarse fibre used to make ropes in the villages.
In our country, the neem oil is used as a cure for diseases like chickenpox.
Neem coated urea is used as a fertiliser to have a better efficiency.
Ayurveda was the first to use the constituents of Neem tree as a medicine.
Neem leaves boiled water is a good bird repellent and this is very effective in case of Sparrocus. Neem is also useful for controlling some bacteria of veterinary importance and against intestinal worms in animals.