NCERT Solutions Poorvi Chapter 1 –11The Wit that Won Hearts (prose) — Let us learn (I–III)

Book page 9 Updated on2026-09-05

Q1.

I. Fill in the blanks and complete the paragraph by choosing suitable expressions from the box given below. cast a shadow · murmur swept through the room · hush fell over · mind raced back · stormed off · rippled through My mother is quite witty, and her sense of humour always lightens stressful moments. Once, at a family dinner, an argument began over a minor issue, and 1. ______ , making everyone feel uncomfortable. Just as things were getting serious, she made a clever remark and laughter 2. ______ the gathering, making everyone relaxed. The person who started the argument 3. ______. Everyone disapproved of the action and a 4. ______. My 5. ______ to how my mother had saved other situations like this. Without her, such moments would have 6. ______ over the gatherings. I hope that I grow up to be as witty as my mother.

Answer

Blank	Expression	Why it fits
1	a hush fell over	An argument makes the table go silent — “hush” is the silence of discomfort, exactly what the next phrase describes.
2	rippled through	Laughter spreads outward from one remark, the way a ripple spreads from a stone. It takes an object: “rippled through the gathering”.
3	stormed off	The only phrase describing an action of one person, and the only one that fits an offended exit.
4	murmur swept through the room	The sentence supplies “a” before the blank, and “a murmur” is the only expression that begins with a noun.
5	mind raced back	Followed by “to how my mother had saved…” — memory moving backwards.
6	cast a shadow	Placed after “would have” and before “over”, so a past participle is needed: cast.

Tip: When a cloze paragraph gives a box, use grammar before meaning. Blank 4 is settled by the word a in front of it and blank 6 by the words would have … over around it — before you have thought about the story at all.

Q2.

II. The writer uses words like ‘roared’, ‘murmur’ in the text to indicate the sound produced. Fill in the blanks with suitable sound words from the box given below. You may refer to a dictionary. murmur · sighed · mumble · gasped · snickers · thud · groan · rattle · roared · whispered 1. As the teacher began the riddle challenge, a __________ of excitement spread through the classroom. 2. Anaya __________ in relief—she loved riddles more than solving Mathematics problems. 3. ‘Think carefully,’ the teacher began to ___________ , as she wrote a riddle on the board. 4. When the question was revealed, a few students __________ , realising it wasn’t as easy as they had expected. 5. Some exchanged ____________ , wondering if anyone at all would be able to solve it. 6. Just then, Anaya tapped her book on the desk with a small ___________ , deep in thought. 7. ‘Ah, I see it now!’ she said stretching with a ___________ , as if it had taken her great effort. 8. A small breeze made the windows __________ , adding to the suspense of the moment. 9. ‘So, what’s the answer?’ the students ___________ , their voices filled with playful enthusiasm. 10. Leaning forward with a smile, Anaya __________ , ‘Sometimes, the trickiest questions have the simplest answers.’

Answer

No.	Word	What the word makes you hear
1	murmur	a low, blended sound of many voices at once
2	sighed	one long breath let out — relief, not speech
3	mumble	to speak indistinctly, half to oneself, while doing something else
4	gasped	a sharp breath drawn in — surprise or dismay
5	snickers	small suppressed laughs, exchanged privately
6	thud	a dull knock of something solid on something solid
7	groan	a long low sound of effort, here of comic exaggeration
8	rattle	quick repeated knocking of loose panes
9	roared	many voices, loud and together
10	whispered	voice without tone, close to the listener

Why the writer chooses sound words: A sound word does two jobs in one syllable — it tells you what was heard and what the speaker felt. “The king roared” tells you he was furious without the writer saying so; “snickers rippled through the court” tells you the mockery was cowardly, because a snicker is a laugh someone is trying to hide. That is why the story is full of them.

Try This: Say gasped, thud and rattle aloud. Each one imitates the noise it names. Words made this way are called onomatopoeia.

Q3.

III. As you have learnt, a compound word is formed when two or more words are combined to create a new word with a distinct meaning. These are of three types: closed compounds (sunlight, courtroom), hyphenated compounds (well-planned), and open compounds (paddy seeds). 1. Create new compound words by matching words in Column 1 with those in Column 2. Column 1: (i) quick, (ii) soft, (iii) common, (iv) house, (v) book, (vi) ill, (vii) sky, (viii) dance Column 2: A. hall, B. tempered, C. spoken, D. blue, E. store, F. sense, G. witted, H. hold

Answer

Column 1	Column 2	Compound word	Type	Meaning
(i) quick	G. witted	quick-witted	hyphenated	able to think and reply fast — Tenali Rama exactly
(ii) soft	C. spoken	soft-spoken	hyphenated	speaking gently and quietly
(iii) common	F. sense	common sense	open	practical good judgement
(iv) house	H. hold	household	closed	all the people living together in one house
(v) book	E. store	bookstore	closed	a shop that sells books
(vi) ill	B. tempered	ill-tempered	hyphenated	easily angered
(vii) sky	D. blue	sky blue	open	the pale blue of a clear sky
(viii) dance	A. hall	dance hall	open	a large room used for dancing

Why a compound is more than two words stuck together: The new word carries a meaning neither part has alone. A household is not a house that holds; a person who is quick-witted is not merely quick. That shift of meaning is the test of a real compound.

Q4.

2. Fill in the blanks with the words created in the previous question. Ravi was (i) __________, always speaking calmly even in arguments. He grew up in a lively (ii) __________, where he learned to handle different personalities. His friend Arun, however, was (iii) __________ and often lost his patience. Despite this, Arun admired Ravi’s (iv) __________ thinking. One evening, as they passed a (v) __________, they saw some performers rushing out. Ravi noticed that one of them dropped a (vi) __________ book on the ground. “Is this yours?” he asked. “Oh thank you, young man!” the performer smiled. “It’s a recent purchase from the (vii) ________ round the corner.” True to his nature Arun promptly said to Ravi, “It’s (viii) ________ that it’s not from a bakery but bookshop!” Ravi smiled and they walked on.

Answer

Blank	Word	Clue in the sentence
(i)	soft-spoken	“always speaking calmly even in arguments”
(ii)	household	“lively …, where he learned to handle different personalities”
(iii)	ill-tempered	“often lost his patience”
(iv)	quick-witted	describes “thinking”, so an adjective of mind is needed
(v)	dance hall	“they saw some performers rushing out”
(vi)	sky blue	describes the colour of the book
(vii)	bookstore	“a recent purchase from the … round the corner”
(viii)	common sense	Arun’s joke: obviously a book comes from a bookshop

Tip: Every one of the eight compounds is used exactly once. If you find yourself repeating one, a different blank is wrong — go back rather than guess forward.

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