NCERT Solutions Poorvi Chapter 3 The Case of the Fifth Word

Q1.

Read the following words from the text loudly with the help of pronunciation guide given in brackets. jewellery (jool-ree), clerk (claak), dessert (dih-zuht)—a sweet dish. Now, practise reading the following words. January (ja-nyoo-uh-ree), sour (sau-uh), pizza (peet-zaa), Wednesday (wenz-day), bowl (bol), buffet (buh-fay), pronunciation (pruh-nuhn-see-ay-shn)

Answer

Read each word aloud in three steps: say it slowly by syllables, find the stressed syllable, then say it at normal speed. The stressed syllable is shown in capitals below.

Word	Say it as	What to watch
jewellery	JOOL-ree (2 syllables)	Not ‘joo-wel-le-ry'. The middle e disappears.
clerk	CLAAK	British pronunciation: the er sounds like the a in ‘car'.
dessert	dih-ZUHT	Stress on the second syllable. Compare desert (DEZ-uht) = a dry land.
January	JA-nyoo-uh-ree	Four syllables; stress falls on the first.
sour	SAU-uh	One long gliding sound, like ‘hour' with an s.
pizza	PEET-zaa	The zz is said ts — an Italian word kept in English.
Wednesday	WENZ-day	The first d is silent; two syllables, not three.
bowl	BOL	Rhymes with ‘goal', not with ‘owl' or ‘howl'.
buffet	BUH-fay	The final t is silent — the word came from French.
pronunciation	pruh-nuhn-see-AY-shn	Note: pronounce but pronunciation — there is no ‘oun' in the noun.

Why these words were chosen: every one of them has a silent letter or a lost syllable — the d in Wednesday, the t in buffet, the middle e in jewellery. English spelling often records how a word was said centuries ago, not how it is said now. The Wednesday example is doubly apt: it is one of the four days hidden in Nolan's code.

Q2.

Work in groups of five or six. Conduct a group discussion on the topic, ‘The Interesting Aspects of a Mystery Story’. Guidelines: The moderator initiates the discussion inviting the speakers to share their views on the subject. The speakers take turns to put forth their viewpoint using polite expressions to agree or disagree. The speakers may interrupt by raising their hands to add or clarify a point. The moderator ensures equal participation of all the members in the group, consolidates views, and calls upon other speakers to respond. The moderator sums up the points of discussion, suggests guidelines for future action and thanks the members of the group. Note: Choose a moderator. Decide upon the duration of the discussion.

Answer

How to run it. Choose a moderator and fix a length (8–10 minutes is enough). Give each speaker one aspect to open with, so no two people say the same thing, and keep the turn-taking phrases from page 118 in front of you.

Points worth raising — six aspects that make a mystery story interesting:

Aspect	What to say about it	Example from this unit
A fair puzzle	The reader gets every clue the detective gets and can solve it too	We see Nom Utes Sweden Hurts at the same moment Encyclopedia does
Suspense	Information is released a little at a time; the answer is delayed	Two adults fail before the boy speaks; the story even stops to ask, “What Was The Fifth Word?”
Misdirection	The writer makes you look the wrong way	Mrs. Brown's learned explanations send everyone hunting for meanings
A striking detective	A method and a manner you remember	A boy who closes his eyes, asks one question, and never takes the credit
Ordinary settings	A dinner table, a nursery, a kitchen table — the extraordinary hides in the everyday	The million-dollar jewellery is in a jug of earth in a garden
The satisfying click	The solution must be surprising and, in hindsight, inevitable	“Why, under the fifth word” — a joke and an answer at once

Sample opening for the moderator: “Good morning, everyone. Our topic today is ‘The Interesting Aspects of a Mystery Story'. We have all just read ‘The Case of the Fifth Word', so let us begin there. Ananya, may I invite you to start by telling us what kept you reading?”

Sample turn from a speaker: “If I may say something — for me it is the fairness of the clue. Sobol shows us the four words on the same page as the detective, so the reader is not cheated. I would like to add to what Ravi mentioned a few minutes ago: the calendar sheet is the real key, and it is placed in plain sight.”

Sample disagreement, politely put: “I'm afraid I don't quite agree. Suspense matters more than fairness — I did not solve it, and I still enjoyed it. If you look at it this way, then the pleasure lies in being outwitted.”

What is being assessed: not who is loudest, but whether you respond to what the last speaker said, support a claim with an example, disagree without rudeness, and let others in. The moderator is judged on balance and on the closing summary.

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