NCERT Solutions Poorvi Chapter 3 The Case of the Fifth Word — Let us learn

Book page 111 to 117 Updated on2026-09-05

Q1.

Match the phrasal verbs from the text given in Column 1 with their meanings in Column 2. You may refer to a dictionary. Column 1: 1. put on 2. cooled down 3. turned up 4. make of 5. figure out 6. got away with. Column 2: (i) appeared, been discovered (ii) solve a problem (iii) became normal or calmed (iv) wear (clothes, hat, etc.) (v) escaped without being punished (vi) have an idea or understanding of something

Answer

Phrasal verb	Meaning	The line it comes from
1. put on	(iv) wear (clothes, hat, etc.)	“He cleared his desk, put on his hat, and went home to dinner.”
2. cooled down	(iii) became normal or calmed	“…decided to hide the loot until things cooled down.”
3. turned up	(i) appeared, been discovered	“…no trace of the stolen jewellery ever turned up.”
4. make of	(vi) have an idea or understanding of something	“What do you make of the four words, Leroy?”
5. figure out	(ii) solve a problem	“Can you figure it out?”
6. got away with	(v) escaped without being punished	“They got away with a million dollars worth of jewellery.”

1 – (iv), 2 – (iii), 3 – (i), 4 – (vi), 5 – (ii), 6 – (v)

Why phrasal verbs are tricky: the particle changes the meaning completely, and you cannot work it out from the parts. Put + on has nothing to do with placing something on a surface; get away with is not about going away. Learn them as whole units, with a sentence attached — that is why the third column above matters more than the second.

Note on 6: in the story “got away with a million dollars worth of jewellery” carries both senses at once — they escaped and they carried the jewellery off. The dictionary sense asked for here is the first one.

Q2.

Now, fill in the blanks with the phrasal verbs given in Column 1. A. Finally, some important evidence about the case has _______________. B. After I _______________, I understood that I had made a big mistake. C. I couldn’t _______________ why he was angry with me. D. He _______________ his special coat and went to his friend’s birthday party. E. Ravi forgets to do his homework but he _______________ it as teacher didn’t ask for it that day. F. I do not know what to _______________ his behaviour.

Answer

	Sentence	Answer
A	Finally, some important evidence about the case has ______.	turned up
B	After I ______, I understood that I had made a big mistake.	cooled down
C	I couldn't ______ why he was angry with me.	figure out
D	He ______ his special coat and went to his friend's birthday party.	put on
E	Ravi forgets to do his homework but he ______ it as teacher didn't ask for it that day.	got away with
F	I do not know what to ______ his behaviour.	make of

Two grammar points worth noticing:

In C, D and F the form does not change with the tense signal: couldn't and to are followed by the bare form (figure out, make of), while D needs the past tense put on — and put looks the same in the present and the past.
Make of almost always appears in a question or a negative: What do you make of it? I don't know what to make of it. You would not normally say “I make of his behaviour.”

Q3.

Fill in the blanks in the following sentences by choosing the correct word pairs from the box given below. [Box: week/weak, dying/dyeing, fore/four, peace/piece, break/brake] 1. After running for 50 kilometres last _______, I felt _______ for two days. 2. When the committee met yesterday, they brought _______ local cases to the _______. 3. While learning to drive, Rina used too much force on the _______, causing the car to _______ down. 4. He has composed a beautiful _______ of music in order to bring _______ to thousands of people. 5. She was busy _______ her hair not caring about the _______ flowers in her garden.

Answer

No.	First blank	Second blank	The two words distinguished
1	week	weak	week = seven days; weak = not strong
2	four	fore	four = the number 4; to the fore = into public notice
3	brake	break	brake = the pedal that stops a vehicle; break down = stop working
4	piece	peace	piece = a part or a composition; peace = calm, freedom from trouble
5	dyeing	dying	dyeing = colouring with dye; dying = coming to an end of life

These are homophones — words that sound the same but are spelt differently and mean different things. Spelling alone carries the meaning, so a spell-checker will not save you: “a beautiful peace of music” is perfectly spelt and completely wrong.

Memory hooks: a week has seeven days · dyeing keeps the e of dye · a brake has an a, like a car · i before e in piece — you eat a piece of pie.

Q4.

Leroy solved the mystery of the missing fifth word with his critical thinking abilities. Work in pairs to solve the puzzles given in the illustrations below and infer what they say. One example has been done for you. [Example: SECRET / SECRET / SECRET with an arrow pointing at the top one — Answer: Top secret] 1. AGED AGED AGED (the middle one underlined) 2. Try stand over 2 3. an upward arrow with ‘uu’ 4. GO with ‘It It It It’ 5. ‘sense’ written six times, the last one circled 6. M1LLION 7. ONCE above a clock 8. R O A D S written across and R O A D S written downwards, crossing

Answer

Each picture is a rebus: the position, number, colour or size of the words is part of the message, not just the words themselves.

No.	What you see	How to read it	Answer
e.g.	SECRET three times, arrow at the top one	The arrow points at the top SECRET	Top secret
1	AGED · AGED · AGED, the middle one marked	The middle AGED is picked out	Middle-aged
2	Try, then ‘stand' written above ‘2'	2 (= to) is under stand → understand; and ‘to' also joins ‘Try'	Try to understand
3	An arrow pointing up, then ‘uu'	arrow = up; two u's = ‘to you'	Up to you
4	GO, then ‘It' written four times	four ‘it' = ‘for it'	Go for it
5	‘sense' six times, the last circled	the sixth sense is ringed	Sixth sense
6	M1LLION — the letter I replaced by 1	one standing inside the word million	One in a million
7	ONCE placed above a clock	once sits upon a time	Once upon a time
8	ROADS across and ROADS downwards, crossing each other	the two words cross	Crossroads

The four tricks that solve almost any rebus: position (top, middle, under, above), number (four ‘it', six ‘sense'), what is inside what (1 inside MILLION), and sound (2 = to, uu = to you). Leroy uses the same habit of mind on Nom Utes Sweden Hurts — he stops reading the words and starts reading their form.

Q5.

Spoonerism is a mistake made when speaking, where the first sounds of the words in a phrase or a sentence are exchanged with each other. This usually gives a funny meaning. Some examples of spoonerism are saying ‘wrong load’ instead of ‘long road’, ‘round of mice’ instead of ‘mound of rice’. Find the correct order for the following spoonerisms. 1. knowing sits 2. it’s roaring with pain. 3. plaster man 4. blarm wanket 5. tars and crucks 6. shake a tower 7. bead a rook 8. mardon me padam

Answer

Swap the opening sounds back again and the ordinary phrase appears.

No.	Spoonerism	Sounds exchanged	Correct phrase
1	knowing sits	s ↔ k	sewing kits
2	it's roaring with pain	r ↔ p	it's pouring with rain
3	plaster man	pl ↔ m	master plan
4	blarm wanket	bl ↔ w	warm blanket
5	tars and crucks	t ↔ cr	cars and trucks
6	shake a tower	sh ↔ t	take a shower
7	bead a rook	b ↔ r	read a book
8	mardon me padam	m ↔ p	pardon me madam

Why the swap is funny: the sentence stays perfectly grammatical while the sense collapses — “it's roaring with pain” is a real English sentence, just not the one anyone meant. The joke lives in that gap. The name comes from Reverend W. A. Spooner of Oxford, who was famous for such slips.

Note on 1: the swap gives ‘sowing kits'; since sowing and sewing sound exactly the same, the everyday phrase intended is sewing kits. Try your own: bunny phone → funny bone, dear old queen → queer old dean.

Q6.

Read the following sentences from the text and study the highlighted words. 1. Everyone thought that he must be the smartest police chief in the country. 2. She read what he had copied. 3. They tell where the jewellery is hidden. 4. “Nom is a shortening of nominative, a grammatical term,” stated Mrs. Brown, who had taught English and other subjects in high school. 5. “Nolan and Davenport had met,” Chief Brown said, “while both were in prison in South Carolina.” 6. When he came up against a case he couldn’t solve, he acted at once. 7. The code is simple, especially as it’s written on a sheet from a calendar. 8. They became friendly because of shared interests. 9. Encyclopedia solved the case for him before dinner was over.

Answer

The highlighted words are the little joining words that let one clause hang on another. They are of two kinds.

No.	Joining word	Kind	What it does
1	that	conjunction	Introduces the thing that was thought
2	what	relative pronoun	= ‘the thing which' — she read the thing which he had copied
3	where	relative adverb — place	Points to the place
4	who	relative pronoun — person	Adds extra information about Mrs. Brown
5	while	conjunction — time	Two things happening in the same period
6	when	relative adverb — time	Points to the moment
7	as	conjunction — reason	= because
8	because	conjunction — reason	Gives the cause
9	before	conjunction — time	Orders two events

The useful distinction: a relative pronoun or adverb (who, which, that, what, where, when, whose) points back to a noun and adds a clause about it — Mrs. Brown, who had taught English… A subordinating conjunction (because, as, while, before, though, if) links a whole clause to the main clause and tells you the relation — cause, time, condition, contrast.

Q7.

Now, fill in the blanks with the words in the box given below to complete the following sentences. There are two extra words that you do not need. [Box: where, why, who, though, which, when, because, whose, if, how] Detective stories are exciting, keeping readers guessing (i) ____________ the real culprit is. They take place in settings (ii) ____________ clues are hidden carefully. (iii) ____________ the mystery seems tricky, a clever detective always finds answers. Readers often wonder (iv) ____________ criminals leave small but important clues. The challenge is to decide (v) ____________ suspect is guilty. (vi) ____________ the truth is revealed, everything makes sense. But one may wonder (vii) ____________ they could have solved it themselves. These stories are fun (viii) ____________ they make readers think till the very end.

Answer

Blank	Answer	Why
(i)	who	The culprit is a person — guessing who the real culprit is.
(ii)	where	‘Settings' are places.
(iii)	Though	Contrast: the mystery is tricky, yet the detective succeeds.
(iv)	why	Readers wonder about the reason criminals leave clues.
(v)	which	Choosing one out of a known set of suspects — which, not who.
(vi)	When	Time: at the moment the truth is revealed.
(vii)	if	An indirect yes/no question — whether they could have solved it.
(viii)	because	Reason: they are fun for the reason that they make readers think.

The two extra words you do not need are whose and how.

The (i)/(v) pair is the one to watch. Use who when the person is completely unknown; use which when you are choosing from a limited group that has already been mentioned — here, the suspects.

Q8.

Combine the following pairs of sentences using the word given in brackets. One example has been done for you. 1. We gave him the signal. He was waiting for the signal. (that) — Answer: We gave him the signal that he was waiting for. 2. We went to a place. The incident occurred there. (where) 3. Teacher said she would retire soon. She is now nearly sixty. (who) 4. It was the day. Half the class was absent. (when)

Answer

No.	Combined sentence
2	We went to the place where the incident occurred.
3	The teacher, who is now nearly sixty, said she would retire soon.
4	It was the day when half the class was absent.

How to join two sentences into one:

Find the word the two sentences share — a place / there, teacher / she, the day / (that day).
Keep the sentence that carries the main news as the main clause.
Replace the repeated word in the second sentence with the joining word, and put the whole clause immediately after the noun it describes.

Notice how a place becomes the place in 2: once the clause identifies it, it is no longer just any place.

Commas matter in 3. “The teacher, who is now nearly sixty, said…” — the commas mark this as extra information about one particular teacher. Without commas, “The teacher who is now nearly sixty said…” would mean: of several teachers, the sixty-year-old one. Two commas, two very different meanings.

Q9.

Read the following sentences from the text. 1. “What’s suspicious about that?” Mrs. Brown asked. 2. “What do you make of the four words, Leroy?” 3. “Wasn’t he mixed up in a jewellery robbery a few years ago?” 4. “Didn’t you search Nolan’s house, dear?” 5. “Is there a young fir tree in Mr. Nolan’s palm-tree nursery?” … Now, follow these steps to transform the sentences given as examples from direct speech to indirect speech. Indirect Speech (i) Mrs. Brown asked ______________________________________________. (ii) Mrs. Brown questioned Leroy __________________________________. (iii) Mrs. Brown inquired __________________________________________. (iv) Mrs. Brown asked Chief Brown ________________________________. (v) Mrs. Brown inquired ___________________________________________.

Answer

	Indirect speech
(i)	Mrs. Brown asked what was suspicious about that.
(ii)	Mrs. Brown questioned Leroy what he made of the four words.
(iii)	Mrs. Brown inquired whether he had been mixed up in a jewellery robbery a few years before.
(iv)	Mrs. Brown asked Chief Brown whether he had searched Nolan's house.
(v)	Mrs. Brown inquired whether there was a young fir tree in Mr. Nolan's palm-tree nursery.

Follow the seven steps in the book and check each one:

Reporting verb: said → asked / questioned / inquired. Already given in the frames.
Question order becomes statement order: “What is it?” → “what it was”; “Did you search?” → “he had searched”.
Tense shifts back one step: is → was; do you make → he made; wasn't he mixed up → he had been mixed up; didn't you search → he had searched.
Pronouns move to the reporter's point of view: you → he.
Time words shift: a few years ago → a few years before.
No quotation marks and no question mark — the sentence is now a statement about a question.
Wh– question: keep the wh– word (what). Yes/No question: use if or whether.

Two things to notice. (a) In 3 and 4 the direct questions are negative — Wasn't he…? Didn't you…? Such negatives express surprise, not real negation, so the reported form is normally positive; you may also write “whether he had not searched…” if you wish to keep the surprise. (b) In the story, question 5 is asked by Encyclopedia, not by Mrs. Brown — the exercise simply reuses it under her name.

Q10.

Rewrite the following sentences in Reported Speech. 1. “Why did you stop talking to me?” asked Rohan. Rohan questioned __________. 2. “Did you enjoy the family gathering yesterday?” asked my aunt. My aunt asked __________. 3. “When will you visit us again?” asked my grandmother. My grandmother inquired __________. 4. Madavi said to Ravi, “Will you come with me to meet our old teacher tomorrow?” Madavi asked Ravi __________. 5. My friend said, “What gift are you planning to give your brother?” My friend inquired __________. 6. “Shall I carry these notebooks to the staffroom, Ma’am?” asked Veenu. Veenu asked her teacher __________.

Answer

No.	Reported speech	Main changes
1	Rohan questioned why I had stopped talking to him.	did you stop → I had stopped; me → him
2	My aunt asked whether I had enjoyed the family gathering the day before.	Yes/No → whether; did you enjoy → I had enjoyed; yesterday → the day before
3	My grandmother inquired when I would visit them again.	will → would; you → I; us → them
4	Madavi asked Ravi whether he would go with her to meet their old teacher the following day.	will → would; you → he; me → her; our → their; tomorrow → the following day; come → go
5	My friend inquired what gift I was planning to give my brother.	are you planning → I was planning; your → my
6	Veenu asked her teacher whether she should carry those notebooks to the staffroom.	Shall I → she should; these → those; the address ‘Ma'am' is dropped

The three changes that catch students out:

Word order. Once reported, the clause is a statement: not “why did I stop” but “why I had stopped”. Never leave the auxiliary in front of the subject.
Come / go, bring / take. In 4, Madavi was speaking at her own position (“come with me”); the reporter is elsewhere, so it becomes go with her.
Shall. “Shall I…?” asking for instructions becomes should, not would — Veenu was offering, not predicting.

Q11.

Read the conversation between Aditi and Rahul. Aditi: Did you see anyone leave a package near the lift? Rahul: I noticed a man wearing a blue jacket drop it off. Aditi: What time did you see this happen? Rahul: It was around 6:45 p.m. Aditi: Were you able to see his face? Rahul: He wore a hood and so I couldn’t see his face. Complete the following paragraph by transforming the dialogue in indirect speech. Aditi asked Rahul 1. ___________. Rahul replied that he had noticed a man wearing a blue jacket drop it off. Aditi asked Rahul 2. ___________. Rahul replied that it had been around 6.45 p.m. Aditi further inquired 3. ___________. Rahul said that he had worn a hood, so he couldn’t see his face.

Answer

No.	Completion
1	Aditi asked Rahul whether he had seen anyone leave a package near the lift.
2	Aditi asked Rahul what time he had seen that happen.
3	Aditi further inquired whether he had been able to see his face.

Read the answers that are already filled in — they set the pattern. Rahul's replies have all shifted into the past perfect (“he had noticed”, “it had been around 6.45 p.m.”). Your three questions must match that: did you see → he had seen, were you able → he had been able. And note this → that in 2, because the reporter is no longer standing where Aditi stood.

Did you notice the setting? The whole exercise is a witness being questioned about a suspicious package — a small detective scene, chosen to match the story.

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