NCERT Solutions Poorvi Chapter 5 Rani Abbakka — Let us learn

Book page 215 to 220 Updated on2026-09-05

Q1.

Study the following words from the text — seize, sovereign, their, soldiers. The spelling of the given words have ‘ei’ and ‘ie’ in them. Spelling tip: ‘i’ before ‘e’ except after ‘c’. For example: receive, deceive. Now, fill in the blanks with ‘ie’ or ‘ei’ for the following words. 1. c___ling 2. bel___ve 3. th___f 4. ach___ve 5. perc___ve 6. prot___n 7. soc___ty 8. sh___ld 9. w___ght 10. fr___nd

Answer

#	Word	ie / ei	Why
1.	ceiling	ei	After c — the rule applies
2.	believe	ie	‘i' before ‘e'
3.	thief	ie	‘i' before ‘e'
4.	achieve	ie	‘i' before ‘e'
5.	perceive	ei	After c
6.	protein	ei	Exception — not after c, yet spelt ei
7.	society	ie	Exception — comes after c, yet spelt ie (the two letters are sounded separately: so-ci-e-ty)
8.	shield	ie	‘i' before ‘e'
9.	weight	ei	Exception — ei when the sound is ‘ay', as in weigh, eight, neighbour
10.	friend	ie	‘i' before ‘e'

The fuller rule: “‘i' before ‘e', except after ‘c', or when sounded like ‘ay', as in neighbour and weigh.” Even then, protein, society, seize and weird have to be learnt by heart. And notice sovereign from the story — another one that breaks the rule.

Q2.

Study the highlighted word in the following sentence from the text. “…; and Bangadi too may have to face their wrath.” Was the initial letter ‘w’ pronounced? There are many words in the English language where certain letters are not pronounced but are spelt. They are called ‘silent letters’. For example: campaign, knowledge, pneumonia, honour, calm. Now, find more words with silent letters.

Answer

No — the ‘w' in wrath is not pronounced. The word is said “roth”, as the pronunciation table on page 221 shows.

Here are more words, grouped by the letter that stays silent:

Silent letter	Words
silent w	write, wrong, wrist, wrap, wreath, sword, answer, two
silent k	know, knife, knee, knock, knot, knight
silent b	doubt, lamb, comb, thumb, climb, debt, subtle
silent h	hour, honest, heir, ghost, rhyme, vehicle
silent t	listen, castle, whistle, fasten, often, ballet
silent l	half, calf, walk, talk, would, should, palm
silent g	sign, design, foreign, gnaw, champagne
silent p	psychology, receipt, cupboard, pseudonym
silent n	autumn, column, hymn, solemn
silent c	muscle, scissors, scene, science
silent d	Wednesday, handkerchief, sandwich, edge
silent u	guard, guess, guest, tongue, biscuit

Why English has them: most silent letters were once pronounced, or were added by scholars to show where a word came from. Knight was said with the k and the gh in Chaucer's time; debt got its b from Latin debitum. The spelling remembers a history the speech has forgotten.

Q3.

Read the following expressions from the text — laughing stock, last laugh. Use the dictionary page given below to find the meanings of the following: burst out laughing, don’t make me laugh, laugh until you cry, have a good laugh. Now, use these expressions in sentences of your own.

Answer

First, the two expressions that come from the story itself:

laughing stock — a person everybody laughs at. The Governor of Goa tells Ribero, “You have made us the laughing-stock of the local rulers.”
have the last laugh — to end up the winner after seeming to lose. Ribero says, “I will get help from Goa and we will yet have the last laugh.” (He did not.)

Now the four from the dictionary page on pages 216–217:

Expression	Meaning (from the dictionary entry)	A sentence of your own
burst out laughing	to suddenly start laughing	When the goat walked into the classroom, the whole class burst out laughing.
don't make me laugh	(informal) used to show that you think what somebody has just said is impossible or stupid	“You'll finish the whole project tonight? Don't make me laugh!”
laugh until you cry (laugh till/until you cry)	to laugh so long and so hard that there are tears in your eyes	Dadi told us about her first cycling lesson, and we laughed until we cried.
have a (good) laugh (about sth)	to find something amusing	We were annoyed at the time, but now we have a good laugh about the missed bus.

Dictionary skill: idioms are printed after the numbered meanings, under the label IDM, and phrasal verbs under PHR V. Look for the bold headword — laugh — and then read down to those labels instead of stopping at meaning 1.

Q4.

Rewrite the following sentences in direct speech to indirect speech. Remember to make the necessary changes. 1. The teacher said, “Women of valour have made significant contributions throughout history.” The teacher remarked that _________________________________.

Answer

The teacher remarked that women of valour had made significant contributions throughout history.

What changed: the present perfect (have made) shifts back to the past perfect (had made). Nothing else needs changing — there is no pronoun of the speaker and no word of time or place in the sentence.

Q5.

2. “I enjoy reading historical novels,” said Smitha. Smitha shared that _________________________________.

Answer

Smitha shared that she enjoyed reading historical novels.

Two changes: the pronoun I becomes she (the reporter's point of view), and the simple present enjoy becomes the simple past enjoyed.

Q6.

3. The captain said to the coach, “Our team won the championship last year.” The captain told the coach that _________________________________.

Answer

The captain told the coach that their team had won the championship the previous year.

Direct	Indirect	Why
Our	their	Person
won	had won	Past tense → past perfect
last year	the previous year	Time expression

Q7.

4. The class teacher said, “Please turn off the lights when you leave.” The class teacher requested _________________________________.

Answer

The class teacher requested the students to turn off the lights when they left.

Requests and orders drop ‘that': a command or request is reported with to + verb — requested them to turn off, not ‘requested that turn off'. The word please disappears because the reporting verb requested already carries the politeness.

Q8.

5. “Finish the work before dinner,” said mother to Ravi. Mother advised _________________________________.

Answer

Mother advised Ravi to finish the work before dinner.

Q9.

6. The vet said to the pet owner, “Take the dog for a walk.” The vet instructed _________________________________.

Answer

The vet instructed the pet owner to take the dog for a walk.

Pattern for all commands: reporting verb (told / asked / advised / instructed / requested) + the person + to + verb. For a negative command, use not to: “Don't touch the wires,” he said → He warned them not to touch the wires.

Q10.

Read the conversation between the Captain and the team. Captain: We need to focus on our strategy for the final match. / Player: I have some ideas on how we can improve our strategy. / Captain: Make sure to share those ideas with the team during practice. Complete the following paragraph by transforming the dialogue in the indirect form of speech. The Captain remarked that 1. ________________. To which one of the players replied that 2. ___________________. The Captain advised the player to 3. _________________________.

Answer

The Captain remarked that (1) they needed to focus on their strategy for the final match. To which one of the players replied that (2) he had some ideas on how they could improve their strategy. The Captain advised the player to (3) make sure to share those ideas with the team during practice.

Direct	Indirect	Change made
We need	they needed	Person + present → past
our strategy	their strategy	Person
I have	he had	Person + present → past
we can improve	they could improve	Person + present modal → past modal
Make sure to share those ideas	to make sure to share those ideas	An instruction → to + verb

Check it yourself: read your finished paragraph aloud. If any ‘I', ‘we', ‘our' or present-tense verb is left inside the reported part, a change has been missed.

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