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NCERT Solutions Poorvi Chapter 5 & 226Magnifying Glass — Let us learn

Book page 225 Updated on2026-09-05

Q1.
Fill in the blanks in the sentences with the words given in the box below. (woven, myriad, deft, stumble, surpass, marvellous) With his 1. ____________ description, the author has written the story beautifully 2. ____________ with fascinating details. When you read the story, you will surely enjoy the 3. ____________ storytelling technique that attracts all kinds of readers. What makes the story interesting is the superb way of describing the 4. ____________ emotions and feelings of the characters. The reader will 5. ____________ upon the unexpected twists and turns that 6. ____________ all our understanding and make us wonder at the narrative power of the author.
Answer
No.WordWhy it fits
1.deftAn adjective before ‘description'; deft = skilful and light-handed. In the poem: “the deft spider”.
2.woven‘Beautifully woven with details' — the story is pictured as cloth or a web. In the poem: “The woven web-silk”.
3.marvellousAn adjective before ‘storytelling technique'; marvellous = causing wonder.
4.myriadAn adjective of number before ‘emotions'; myriad = countless.
5.stumbleA verb after ‘will'; ‘stumble upon' = come across unexpectedly — which is what twists in a story are.
6.surpassA verb agreeing with the plural ‘twists and turns'; surpass = go beyond, exceed.

The finished paragraph: With his deft description, the author has written the story beautifully woven with fascinating details. When you read the story, you will surely enjoy the marvellous storytelling technique that attracts all kinds of readers. What makes the story interesting is the superb way of describing the myriad emotions and feelings of the characters. The reader will stumble upon the unexpected twists and turns that surpass all our understanding and make us wonder at the narrative power of the author.

Strategy for a cloze passage: decide the part of speech of each blank before you look at the box. Blanks 1, 3 and 4 sit before nouns, so only adjectives can go there — that leaves three candidates for three slots. Blanks 5 and 6 follow ‘will' and a plural subject, so only verbs fit. Grammar narrows the field before meaning has to decide anything.
Notice: five of the six words are lifted straight from the poem — deft, woven, marvellous, myriad, surpass. The exercise is quietly showing you that a poem's vocabulary is ordinary working English, useful far outside the poem.
Q2.
The collective noun ‘a hive of bees’, is used in the poem. Match the phrases in Column 1 with suitable words in Column 2 to make collective nouns. (Column 1: 1. a swarm of, 2. a constellation of, 3. a grove of, 4. a troupe of, 5. a battalion of, 6. a fleet of — Column 2: (i) ships, (ii) soldiers, (iii) dancers, (iv) locusts, (v) trees, (vi) stars)
Answer
Column 1Column 2Collective nounNote
1. a swarm of(iv) locustsa swarm of locustsUsed of small insects flying in a mass — also bees, flies, ants.
2. a constellation of(vi) starsa constellation of starsA named pattern of stars — Leo, in which the star ‘Bibha' lies.
3. a grove of(v) treesa grove of treesA small group of trees, often of one kind: a mango grove.
4. a troupe of(iii) dancersa troupe of dancersA company of performers travelling and working together.
5. a battalion of(ii) soldiersa battalion of soldiersA large army unit, usually several hundred strong.
6. a fleet of(i) shipsa fleet of shipsAlso used of aircraft, buses and taxis owned together.
Why English bothers with these: a collective noun does more than count — it tells you how the group is arranged. A swarm is disorderly and moving; a battalion is organised and commanded; a constellation is a fixed pattern; a grove is rooted in one place. Choosing the right one is choosing a picture.
Try this: supply the collective noun for — ______ of wolves, ______ of grapes, ______ of cattle, ______ of musicians, ______ of keys. (pack, bunch, herd, band/orchestra, bunch)
Q3.
The poet uses the expression ‘eyeing the moon’ in the poem. Match the idiomatic expressions with ‘eye’ given in Column 1 with their meanings in Column 2. You may refer to a dictionary. (Column 1: 1. apple of one’s eye, 2. in the blink of an eye, 3. keep an eye on something or somebody, 4. turn a blind eye, 5. see eye to eye, 6. bird’s-eye view — Column 2: (i) watch something or someone closely, (ii) act as if you do not see or notice, (iii) something that happens very quickly, (iv) an overall look at something, (v) a person who is very precious or important, (vi) agree with each other)
Answer
IdiomMeaningExample sentence
1. apple of one's eye(v) a person who is very precious or importantHer youngest grandson is the apple of her eye.
2. in the blink of an eye(iii) something that happens very quicklyThe monsoon shower was over in the blink of an eye.
3. keep an eye on something or somebody(i) watch something or someone closelyPlease keep an eye on the milk while I answer the door.
4. turn a blind eye(ii) act as if you do not see or noticeThe shopkeeper turned a blind eye to the boys taking shelter from the rain.
5. see eye to eye(vi) agree with each otherMy brother and I never see eye to eye about which team is better.
6. bird's-eye view(iv) an overall look at somethingFrom the top of the fort we had a bird's-eye view of the whole town.
Why the meanings cannot be guessed word by word: that is what makes them idioms. ‘Turn a blind eye' has nothing to do with blindness — the story goes that Admiral Nelson raised his telescope to his blind eye and said he could see no signal to retreat. ‘Bird's-eye view' is more transparent: it is the view a bird has from above, so it means seeing the whole rather than the parts — the exact opposite of what a magnifying glass gives you.
Link to the poem: ‘eyeing the moon' turns the noun eye into a verb meaning ‘to look at steadily, with intent'. English does this constantly — to eye, to elbow your way through, to head a committee, to shoulder a burden.
Q4.
The poet uses the adjective form ‘tigerish’ in the poem by adding the suffix -‘ish’ to the noun ‘tiger’. In the same way, we can make adjectives by adding the suffix -‘ish’ to some nouns. Choose the nouns to which you can add the suffix -‘ish’ to make adjectives. (girl, glass, book, silk, boy, water, moon, scrap)
Answer

The suffix -ish works with three of the eight:

Noun-ish?Adjective and meaning
girlYesgirlish — like a girl; playful, youthful
boyYesboyish — like a boy; his boyish grin
bookYesbookish — fond of books; knowing things from books rather than experience
glassNoThe adjective is glassy — a glassy stare, a glassy lake
silkNoThe adjective is silky — silky hair
waterNoThe adjective is watery — watery dal, watery eyes
moonNoThe usual forms are lunar or moonlit
scrapNoThe adjective is scrappy — a scrappy piece of work
Is there a rule? Largely, yes. -ish attaches to nouns naming living beings and gives ‘having the qualities of' — girlish, boyish, childish, foolish, tigerish, sheepish, selfish. Nouns naming substances and materials take -y instead — glassy, silky, watery, milky, sandy, rocky. That is why ‘tigerish claws' works in the poem: a tiger is a creature, and the spider is being given its nature, not its material.
Two more jobs for -ish: (1) approximation — He is fortyish; come at sevenish. (2) colour softening — a greenish sky, a reddish tinge. These uses take almost any word, which is why English speakers can invent bluish-greyish on the spot.
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