NCERT Solutions Poorvi Chapter 2 Animals, Birds, and Dr. Dolittle, Part I — Let us discuss
Book page 46 Updated on2026-09-05
Q1.
Complete the following sentence by selecting a suitable reason. The Cat's-food-Man suggests to Doctor Dolittle that he should become an animal doctor because he believes that Dolittle ______. 1. earns less fee by treating human patients 2. enjoys the company of animals as they speak less 3. dislikes spending time with human patients 4. knows more about animals than the local veterinarians
Answer
The correct option is 4. knows more about animals than the local veterinarians.
The Cat's-food-Man says it in so many words: “you know all about animals—much more than what these vets here do. That book you wrote—about cats, why, it's wonderful! … You might have been a cat yourself. You know the way they think.”
Why the others are wrong:
1. Money is never mentioned by the Cat's-food-Man; Polynesia later says people are foolish not to see Dolittle's worth, but that is a different point.
2. Nobody in the text says animals speak less — the whole story says the opposite, that animals talk all the time.
3. Dolittle does not dislike people; he simply gives them up later because they stop coming to him.
Q2.
Fill in the blanks by choosing the suitable option given in the brackets. Doctor Dolittle reacts to Polynesia's information about animal languages with both excitement and ______ (certainty/curiosity). He rushes to ______ (write/memorise) the bird words she provides and is interested in learning more.
Answer
The completed passage reads:
Doctor Dolittle reacts to Polynesia's information about animal languages with both excitement and curiosity. He rushes to write the bird words she provides and is interested in learning more.
Why these words:
curiosity — he keeps asking for more: “Good Gracious! … What does that mean?”, “Tell me some more.” Certainty is the opposite of what he feels; the whole idea is brand new to him.
write — the text says he “rushed over to the drawer and came back with a book and a pencil” and told her, “don't go too fast—and I'll write it down.” He does not try to memorise anything.
Q3.
Do you think Doctor Dolittle would be famous as an animal doctor? If yes, why? If not, why not?
Answer
Yes — he would certainly become famous, and the rest of the story proves it.
He has the one skill no other vet has: he can ask the patient where it hurts. The plough horse had been treated for six weeks by the vet over the hill, who kept giving it big pills, when all it needed was spectacles.
Animals themselves spread the news. “All these animals went back and told their brothers and friends that there was a doctor … who really was a doctor.”
Migrating birds carry his name abroad, so his fame crosses countries — “he became famous among the animals—all over the world.”
Why it happens: Fame follows results. Because Dolittle understands the complaint, his cure works the first time; word-of-mouth does the rest. A doctor who guesses may be lucky once, but a doctor who listens is trusted always.
A different, defensible view: Some readers argue that fame among animals is not fame in the human world — he loses his human patients and probably earns very little. That is true, but the story clearly counts him as famous and, more importantly, as happy: “He was happy and liked his life very much.”