NCERT Solutions Poorvi Chapter 2 Animals, Birds, and Dr. Dolittle — Let us learn

Book page 52 to 55 Updated on2026-09-05

Q1.

Read the following words from the text. Cat's-food-Man, bird language, flowerpots. Are all the words that are combined to form another word written the same way?

Answer

No, they are not. All three are compound words, but each is written in a different style.

Word	How it is written	Type of compound
Cat's-food-Man	Parts joined by hyphens	Hyphenated
bird language	Parts written separately, with a space	Open compound
flowerpots	Parts joined with no gap at all	Closed compound

Remember: A compound word is formed by combining two words of different parts of speech to make a new word with an entirely new meaning. The three types are hyphenated, open and closed.

Q2.

Complete the following table correctly by choosing words from the box given below. An example has been done for you. [Box: sailor song, teatime, check-in, plough horse, harvest mice, windowsill, well-bred] — Columns: Hyphenated Words / Open Compound Words / Closed Compound Words (example given: check-in)

Answer

Hyphenated Words	Open Compound Words	Closed Compound Words
check-in (example)	sailor song	teatime
well-bred	plough horse	windowsill
	harvest mice

How to sort them quickly: Look at the printing, not the meaning. A hyphen in the middle → hyphenated. A space in the middle → open. No gap at all → closed. That is the only test you need.

Tip: The same idea can appear in more than one style over time (tea time → tea-time → teatime). Always follow the spelling used in your textbook or dictionary.

Q3.

Create compound words from the table given below. A: 1. fun 2. high 3. never 4. early 5. song 6. over 7. tree — B: (i) head (ii) birds (iii) flying (iv) loving (v) risers (vi) tops (vii) ending

Answer

A	B	Compound word	Meaning
1. fun	(iv) loving	fun-loving	Enjoying life and amusement
2. high	(iii) flying	high-flying	Flying (or succeeding) at a great height
3. never	(vii) ending	never-ending	Going on and on without stopping
4. early	(v) risers	early risers	Those who get up early in the morning
5. song	(ii) birds	songbirds	Birds known for their musical calls
6. over	(i) head	overhead	Above one's head; in the sky
7. tree	(vi) tops	treetops	The uppermost branches of trees

Notice: the seven answers cover all three styles — hyphenated (fun-loving, high-flying, never-ending), open (early risers) and closed (songbirds, overhead, treetops).

Q4.

Now, complete the paragraph with suitable compound words from the table. An example has been done for you. After being treated by Doctor Dolittle, the A. fun-loving dolphins danced playfully in his sanctuary. The B. ______ chatter of monkeys echoed through the C. ______, their ailments cured. D. ______ eagles soared gracefully E. ______ their health restored. F. ______ among the G. ______ chirped joyfully from the branches. All creatures were happy with Doctor Dolittle's care.

Answer

The completed paragraph:

After being treated by Doctor Dolittle, the A. fun-loving dolphins danced playfully in his sanctuary.
The B. never-ending chatter of monkeys echoed through the C. treetops, their ailments cured.
D. High-flying eagles soared gracefully E. overhead, their health restored.
F. Early risers among the G. songbirds chirped joyfully from the branches.
All creatures were happy with Doctor Dolittle's care.

How each blank is decided:

B needs an adjective before ‘chatter' — monkey chatter that never stops is never-ending.
C needs a place for the sound to echo through — the treetops, where monkeys live.
D describes eagles, which fly very high — high-flying.
E tells where they soared — overhead.
F is the subject of the last sentence and G follows ‘among the', so the pair must be early risers and songbirds.

Also acceptable: “Songbirds among the early risers chirped joyfully…” Both readings use the same two words and make sense; check which one your teacher prefers.

Q5.

Underline the names of animals that are hidden in the sentences given below. Clues are given within the brackets. An example has been done for you. 1. Dr. Dolittle was eating oatmeal for his breakfast. (a farm animal) 2. Old ladies began to bring him their pets. (an insect) 3. The author sees the connection between humans and animals. (a farm animal) 4. The three baby dinosaurs are from ice age. (field animal) 5. The patients who came late didn't know where to go. (ship of the desert)

Answer

Each animal hides across a word boundary. Read the letters straight through, ignoring the spaces.

No.	Sentence (hidden letters marked)	Clue	Animal
1	Dr. Dolittle was eating oatmeal for his breakfast.	a farm animal	GOAT
2	Old ladies began to bring him their pets.	an insect	ANT
3	The author sees the connection between humans and animals.	a farm animal	HORSE
4	The three baby dinosaurs are from ice age.	field animal	MICE
5	The patients who came late didn't know where to go.	ship of the desert	CAMEL

Tip: To solve these puzzles, copy the sentence without spaces and then run your finger along, looking for the animal name. “eatingoatmeal” gives goat at once.

Q6.

Read the following sentence from the text. Study the highlighted words. But that stupid man over the hill never even looked at my eyes. The highlighted words spell and read the same backwards too. Read the sentences below and identify the palindrome words and sentences. 1. Step on no pets. 2. Naman saw a race car at the show. 3. Nitin speaks in Malayalam. 4. The engineer used a rotator to check the surface level. 5. The pilot relied on the radar to navigate safely. 6. Eva can I see bees in a cave?

Answer

In the sentence from the text — “But that stupid man over the hill never even looked at my eyes” — the highlighted words are never even. Written without the space they give nevereven, which reads exactly the same from either end.

Now the exercise. A palindrome is a word, phrase or sequence that reads the same backwards as forwards.

No.	Sentence	Palindrome(s)	Word or whole sentence?
1	Step on no pets.	Step on no pets	The whole sentence — steponnopets reversed is steponnopets
2	Naman saw a race car at the show.	Naman, racecar	Words
3	Nitin speaks in Malayalam.	Nitin, Malayalam	Words
4	The engineer used a rotator to check the surface level.	rotator, level	Words
5	The pilot relied on the radar to navigate safely.	radar	Word
6	Eva can I see bees in a cave?	Eva can I see bees in a cave	The whole sentence — evacaniseebeesinacave reads the same both ways

Did you know? Some famous palindromes are ‘Was it a car or a cat I saw?', ‘Madam, I'm Adam' and ‘A man, a plan, a canal—Panama'. In a palindrome sentence we ignore spaces, capitals and punctuation.

Q7.

Now, create your own palindrome and share it with your classmates and the teacher.

Answer

Method — build outwards from the middle:

Choose a short middle letter or word, e.g. d or a.
Add the same letters on both sides, one pair at a time: d → ada → madam.
For a sentence, write the first half, then reverse it and hunt for real words in the reversed letters.

Palindrome words to start with: madam, level, civic, refer, kayak, noon, radar, rotor, deified, racecar, Malayalam, Nitin, Naman, Anna.

Sample answers (my own):

No lemon, no melon.
Was it a rat I saw?
Never odd or even.
Star? Comedy by Democrats!

Write yours on a slip of paper, hand it to your partner, and let them check it letter by letter from the end.

Q8.

Underline the verbs and identify the tense form in the following sentences from the text. 1. He is asking you a question. 2. Oh, there are plenty of animal doctors. 3. I am going blind in one eye. 4. … the trouble is that anybody thinks he can doctor animals.

Answer

No.	Sentence (verbs in bold)	Tense
1	He is asking you a question.	Present continuous
2	Oh, there are plenty of animal doctors.	Simple present
3	I am going blind in one eye.	Present continuous
4	… the trouble is that anybody thinks he can doctor animals.	Simple present

How to tell them apart: The present continuous always has the shape am / is / are + verb + -ing and shows an action in progress. The simple present is the plain verb form (is, are, thinks) and states a fact or a habit.

Tip: In sentence 4 the modal can is followed by the bare verb doctor — here ‘doctor' is used as a verb meaning ‘to treat medically'.

Q9.

Read the following sentences from the text. • That man's (man has) got sense. • Can't you see that it has stopped raining? Fill in the blanks using the correct form of verbs (present perfect) given within brackets. Since becoming an animal doctor, Doctor Dolittle 1. ______ (learn) to communicate with all animals and birds. He 2. ______ (treat) countless farm animals and pets with care. The parrot, Polynesia, 3. ______ (teach) him bird-language, and he 4. ______ (write) books about his adventures. Many people 5. ______ (bring) their sick animals to his door. Over the years, Dolittle 6. ______ (become) renowned worldwide for his unique abilities.

Answer

The present perfect is formed as has / have + V3 (past participle).

1. has learnt (or has learned)
2. has treated
3. has taught
4. has written
5. have brought
6. has become

The whole paragraph reads:

Since becoming an animal doctor, Doctor Dolittle has learnt to communicate with all animals and birds. He has treated countless farm animals and pets with care. The parrot, Polynesia, has taught him bird-language, and he has written books about his adventures. Many people have brought their sick animals to his door. Over the years, Dolittle has become renowned worldwide for his unique abilities.

Verb (V1)	Past participle (V3)	Helping verb needed
learn	learnt / learned	has (Dolittle — singular)
treat	treated	has (He)
teach	taught	has (Polynesia)
write	written	has (he)
bring	brought	have (Many people — plural)
become	become	has (Dolittle)

Why the present perfect here: Every sentence links a past action to the present — “Since becoming an animal doctor…”, “Over the years…”. That is exactly what the present perfect is for: an action begun in the past whose result still matters now.

Watch out: Only blank 5 takes have, because its subject ‘Many people' is plural. All the others take has.

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