The Banyan Tree

The old banyan tree “did not belong” to grandfather, but only to the boy, because grandfather, at sixty-five, could no longer climb it.

The small gray squirrel became friendly when he found that the boy did not arm himself with a catapult or air gun.

When the boy started to bring him pieces of cake and biscuit the squirrel he grew quite bold and was soon taking the morsels from the boy’s hand.

In the spring, the banyan tree is full of small red figs, and birds of all kinds including the red-bottomed bulbul, parrots, mynas and crows would come there.

The banyan tree served the boy as a comfortable place where he could read peacefully.

The young boy spent his afternoons in the tree when it was not too hot.

(i)

(ii) The Cobra hissed defiance with his forked tongue darting in and out, he rose three of his six feet off the ground spreading his broad, spectacled hood.

The Mongoose, reacting to the situation, bushed his tail. As a result, the long hair on his spine stood up.

The other two spectators were the myna and the jungle crow who arrived on the battle scene and settled down on the cactus to watch the outcome of the fight.

No, the two spectators did not just sit and watch but hurled themselves as the Cobra struck swiftly.

(i) The crow flung nearly twenty feet across the garden when the cobra struck the crow with great force.

At first, it fluttered about for a while but ultimately lay still in the end.

(ii) The Myna finally dropped cautiously to the ground. In the hope to see what was happening, it hopped about, peered into the bushes from a safe distance, and then with a shrill cry of congratulation, flew away.

According to the story, the word ‘round’ refers to the different points of time during the fight between the cobra and the mongoose.

Hari leaves for work at nine every morning. He works in the local branch of the firm of which his uncle is the owner. Hari’s success is really the fruit of his own labour. He is happy, but he has a small problem. The root cause of his problem is a stray dog near his office. The dog welcomes Hari with a loud bark every day.

1. When he began to trust me, the squirrel began delving into my pockets for morsels of cake.

2. I saw a cobra gliding out of a clump of cactus.

3. The snake hissed his forked tongue darting in and out.

4. When the cobra tried to bite it, the mongoose sprang aside.

5. The snake whipped his head back to strike at the crow.

6. The birds dived at the snake.

1.The cobra struck the crow, his snout thudding against its body.

2. The crow and the myna collided in mid-air.

3. The birds dived at the snake, but bumped into each other instead.

1. Elephants could fly in the sky, like clouds. They could also change their shapes. They would fly behind clouds and frighten them. People would look up at the sky in wonder.

2. because there was no electricity, he would get up with the sun, and he would go to bed with the sun, like the birds.

3. like the owl, he could see quite well in the dark. He was could tell who was coming by listening to their footsteps.

1. Heights

● Zeba is as tall as Rani.

● Ruby is shorter than both Zeba and Rani.

2. Weight Lifters

● Vijay is as strong as Akshay.

● Anwar is stronger than both Vijay and Akshay.

3. City temperatures

● Shimla is as cold as Gangtok.

● Srinagar is colder than both Shimla and Gangtok.

4. Lengths

● Romi’s pencil is as long as Raja’s pencil.

● Mona’s pencil is longer than both Romi and Raja’s pencil.

5. City temperatures

● Delhi is as hot as Nagpur.

● Chennai is colder than both Delhi and Nagpur.

I also have a small mezzanine situated at my grandparent's place.

A mezzanine is a special place for me because I have many old memories attached to it. It not only provided me and my cousins with a place to laugh and play during our childhood days but also provided the warmth during the winter season when the rays of the sun used to come directly at the mezzanine floor.

Although many years have passed, this place is still the same bringing back all those mesmerizing memories every single time I visit my grandparents.

NOTE – The given answer is just an example. Students can illustrate it by sharing their own experiences which may be similar to this or different altogether.