NCERT Solutions for Class 5th English Chapter 2 A. Answer the following questions — Let us Think

Gopi was sitting in the veranda and reading a book.

The story begins with this: “It was a summer afternoon. Gopi was sitting in the veranda, reading a book.” A veranda is the open, covered space just outside the rooms of a house. On a hot afternoon it is the coolest place to sit, because the roof keeps the sun off but the air still moves.

Gopi heard two sounds — first a rustling sound, and then a thud.

The story says, “Suddenly, he heard something rustling past and falling with a thud in the garden.”

• Rustling is a soft crackling sound, the sound dry leaves make when something moves through them.
• A thud is the dull, heavy sound something makes when it falls on the ground.

Gopi guessed that a mango had fallen from the tree, because that is what those two sounds usually mean in a garden in summer.

Gopi searched in three places, and found the ball only in the third one.

1. First he searched in between the thick grass near the garden fence. He found nothing.
2. Then he looked among the bushes. Again there was nothing there.
3. At last his eyes fell on a heap of dry leaves. A white ball was lying on the heap. He reached out and took it in his hands. It was a hockey ball.

The story tells it in these words: “He searched in between the thick grass near the garden fence. But, he found nothing. He looked among the bushes. Nothing was there again. Then, his eyes fell on a heap of dry leaves.”

Here is the completed table. Every blank is filled.

How we know — the proof from the story:

1. a. Deepak had just boasted about his new football. The story says: “‘The ball I found is a hockey ball,’ said Gopi.” So Gopi said it, and he said it to Deepak — he was answering Deepak’s boast.
2. b. “Another friend Deepak boasted that his father had bought him a brand-new football the previous day.” So Deepak said it, standing in the group, so he said it to Gopi and the other friends.
3. c. “Manoj said, ‘I lost a ball four months ago.’” He was answering Gopi’s question, so it was said to Gopi.
4. d. Gopi had asked Ramani what colour the ball was. “‘Show me the ball and I will tell you,’ said Ramani smilingly.” So Ramani said it to Gopi.

Manoj grabbed the ball from Gopi.

The story says: “Gopi took out the ball from his pocket. Manoj grabbed it and tossed it over to Deepak.” To grab means to take something suddenly and quickly.

How the game started, step by step:

1. Gopi saw the ball being thrown about and shouted at the top of his voice, “Stop! I say, stop! Let’s play before it gets dark.”
2. Manoj went to the goalpost, because he liked to be the goalkeeper.
3. Gopi stood at the centre of the field, holding the hockey stick.
4. Gopi passed the ball to Deepak. Deepak drove the ball towards Ramani. Ramani dribbled it with the stick and sent it to Jay.

Everyone laughed because the ball was lost all over again — and this time in the funniest way possible.

Here is what happened. Jay hit the ball so hard that it went past the playground gate and fell straight into the basket of a passing scooter. The scooterist did not know anything about it, so he simply drove on. “By the time the children ran to the gate, the scooter was gone … and so was the ball.”

Think of the whole day. Gopi found the ball, refused to keep it, carried it all the way to the playground and asked everybody about it. And after all that care, one big shot sent it away for ever, to a man who did not even know he was carrying it.