NCERT Solutions Poorvi Chapter 2 Animals, Birds, and Dr. Dolittle — Let us do these activities before we read

Book page 43 Updated on2026-09-05

Q1.

Do you have a pet or a domestic animal? If yes, why? If not, why not? How do people usually spend time with a pet or domestic animal? Share your thoughts with your classmates and the teacher.

Answer

This is a personal question, so answer in three clear parts — whether you have one, why (or why not), and how people spend time with pets.

If yes — say which animal, how it came to your house, and one thing you do for it every day.
If no — give an honest reason: a small flat, someone at home is allergic, no one free in the daytime, or your family feeds street animals instead of keeping one.
How people spend time: feeding and giving water, bathing and brushing, walking, playing fetch or with a ball of wool, talking to them, taking them to the vet, and simply sitting with them.

Sample answer: Yes, we have a dog called Moti. My grandfather brought him home as a puppy from a friend's farm. Every evening I fill his water bowl and take him for a walk to the park, and on Sundays I brush his coat. People usually spend time with pets by feeding them, playing with them and just sitting beside them — a pet does not need words to know you are happy or sad.

Sample answer (if you do not have one): No, we do not have a pet. We live in a small flat and both my parents leave early for work, so the animal would be alone all day. Instead, my sister and I keep a bowl of water outside our gate for the street dogs and birds in summer.

Q2.

You must have read stories where animals and birds talk. If you had a chance to communicate with an animal or a bird, who would you like to speak to and why? Share your thoughts with your classmates and the teacher.

Answer

Name one animal or bird, then give two reasons — one about what you would ask it, one about what you could do with the answer.

You could choose…	Because you could ask…
A street dog	Where it hurts, whether it has eaten, who is unkind to it
A migratory bird	Which countries it has seen and how it finds its way home
An elephant	What it remembers from years ago, and whether the forest has changed
A cow or buffalo at home	Whether the fodder is enough and where it likes to be scratched

Sample answer: I would like to speak to the crows that sit on our water tank. They watch the whole street from up there and would know exactly who leaves rubbish open, which cat is hunting the sparrows, and where the sparrows have disappeared to. I would ask them what a city looks like from above, and what we could put on our roof so that more birds come back.

Link to the lesson: Doctor Dolittle finds that once he can hear an animal's own words, curing it becomes easy — “they told him where the pain was and how they felt”. That is the real value of talking to animals.

Q3.

If we closely observe the body language of animals and birds, we can understand what they want to tell us. Work in pairs and study the pictures given below. Find out what emotions these animals and birds are trying to convey. Share your observations with your classmates and the teacher. (Pictures 1–4)

Answer

The four pictures on page 43 show a duck, a cat, a dog and a cockatoo. Read the body, not the face — wings, tail, back, crest and mouth all speak.

Picture	What you can see	Emotion conveyed
1. Duck	Wings spread wide, neck stretched forward, beak open, marching straight at you	Anger and warning — “Keep away from here!”
2. Cat	Back arched high, fur and tail standing on end, ears flat, mouth open and hissing	Fear turning into defence — it is frightened and ready to strike
3. Dog	Standing tall and relaxed, mouth open, tongue out, tail curved up, eyes bright	Happiness and friendliness — it wants to play
4. Cockatoo	Yellow crest raised, wings half-open, leaning forward on the perch	Excitement and alertness — it has noticed something and is showing off

Why it works: Animals make themselves look bigger when they are angry or afraid — spread wings, arched back, raised crest — and make themselves look loose and open when they are friendly. Polynesia says exactly this in the story: “They talk with their ears, with their feet, with their tails — with everything.”

Try this: Watch a street dog for two minutes and note three signals — tail height, ear position, and whether the mouth is open or tight. Then guess its mood.

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