
This is a story about what the author saw,
as a young boy, when he was sitting in an
old banyan tree.The author would often sit
in the banyan tree and read books.
Sometimes he would look down through
the leaves at the world below. A squirrel
would come to him fearlessly and eat
morsels from his hands.

In the spring season the banyan tree was
the noicest place in the garden with all
sorts of birds and sqirrels coming to eat
figs.

One particular afternoon he happened to
see a fight between a mongoose and a
cobra. He saw a huge black cobra gliding
out of a clumb of cactus. At the same time
a mongoose emerged from the bushes
and went straight for the cobra. Both the
snake and the mongoose came face to
face in a clearing.

The three feet long mongoose was a
superb fighter, clever and aggressive. The
cobra too was a skillful and experinced
fighter. It was to be a battle of champions.

Soon two spectators came there. One
was a myna and the other a jungle crow.
The fight went on for a long time. The
mongoose bit the snake on the back and
darted away.

The crow and the myna dived at the
snake, bumped into each other and
returned shrieking to the safety of the
cactus. The third time they came diving at
the cobra, the cobra whipped his head
back and struck with great force, his snout
thudding against the crow’s body.It
fluttered about for a while and then lay
dead.

By now the cobra had become very weak
and ceased to struggle. The mongoose
gripped it round the hood and dragged it
into the bushes.
I. Complete the following sentences
in a suitable way.
1) In the spring when the banyan tree was full of
red figs__________.
2)The small grey squirrel became friendly when
_________.
3) When the boy did not feel like reading
__________.
4)The banyan tree served the boy as a
____________.
5) Though the combatants were unaware of the
author’s presence in the tree ____________.
II. Fill in the blanks using the appropriate
form of adjectives given in the brackets.
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
Rani is as ________ as his sister. ( fat )
Nagpur is _____ than Mumbai. ( Hot )
Pranav is _______ than Madhu. ( heavy )
Paper is _______ than metal. ( light )
Rohit is as ______ as Vinay. ( smart )
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT
QUESTIONS
I. Read the extracts given below and answer the
questions that follow choosing the correct
option.
(i) Though the combatants were unaware of my
presence in the tree, they were soon made
aware of the arrival of two other spectators.
(i) Where was the speaker sitting ?
(a) in a library
(b) in a house
(c) in a tree
(d) in a school
(ii) who were the combatants here?
(a) myna and crow
(b) bulbul and parrot
(c) cobra and mongoose
(d) author and his grandfather
(iii) The spectators here were ____.
(a) bulbul and parrot
(b) myna and crow
(c) cobra and mongoose
(d) squirrel and parrot
(2) I saw the bird flung nearly twenty feet
across the garden. It fluttered about for a
while, then lay still.
(i) ‘I’ here is ______.
(a) squirrel
(b) crow
(c) author
(d) author’s grandfather
(ii) The bird mentioned here is _______.
(a) myna
(b) crow
(c) bulbul
(d) parrot
(iii) What caused the bird to flutter and then
lie still?
(a) It was scared to see the fight
(b) the cobra bit the bird
(c) the cobra struck it with its hood
(d) the mongoose bit the bird
3. He then smelt along its quivering
length, gripped it round the hood,
and dragged it into the bushes.
(i) Who is ‘he’ here?
(a) author
(b) snake
(c) myna
(d) mongoose
(ii) Whom did he smell?
(a) mongoose
(b) snake
(c) myna
(d) author
(iii) What did he do to the other at last?
(a) insulted
(b) congratulated
(c) dragged into the bushes
(d) eaten up
II. Fill in the blanks using the
appropriate words from the bracket.
(sprang, glided, darted, delved)
(a) The squirrel ____ into the pockets of the
author quite fearlessly.
(b) A cobra ____ out of a clump of cactus.
(c) The tongue of the snake ____in and out.
(d) When the cobra tried to bite, the
mongoose ____ aside.