7th Standard, English, Second Language, Chapter 3
EKALAVYA
1. “He who has done this, will one day be master of us all”- in this sentence
a. ‘he’ refers to the unknown painter slave Sebastian.
b. ‘this’ refers to a beautiful painting of the Blessed Virgin.
c. ‘us’ refers to Murillo and his students.
2 Choose the correct answer:
A. The passage is mainly about
a. the Blessed Virgin b. Sebastian c. Murillo d. father
Answer: b. Sebastian
B. Sebastian was Murillo’s
a. student
b. slave
c. friend
d. master
Answer: b. slave
C. The way Sebastian learnt his art secretly is similar to the story of ___________in the Mahabharata.
a. Arjuna b. Drona c. Ekalavya d. fawns
Answer: c. Ekalavya
Vocabulary
V1. Read the following sentence:
The girls in the class were quiet while the boys were noisy.
The underlined words are opposites.
V1. Match the words in list ‘A’ with their opposites in list ‘B’
One is done for you.
increase × decrease
A B
1. increase a. kind
2. worthy b. loss
3. gain c. decrease
4. humble d. unworthy
5. cruel e. short
6. long f. poor
7. rich g. proud
Answer:
1. increase × decrease
2. worthy × unworthy
3. gain × loss
4. humble × proud
5. cruel × kind
6. long × short
7. rich × poor
V2. Study the following sentence:
I must learn archery in order to protect the fawns in our surroundings. (surround)
In this sentence, the word ‘surrounding’ is the noun form of the verb ‘surround’.
Fill in the blanks with suitable noun forms:
Use a dictionary if needed.
One is done for you.
Is there any meaning (mean) in what you are saying?
Is there any meaning in what you are saying?
1. Children’s choosing (choose) is playing cricket.
2. The teaching (teach) of Krishna is found in the Bhagavad Geetha.
3. Don’t take hasty decision. (decide)
4. The teacher’s corrections (correct) in my homework helped me to score better than Peter.
5. I will be happy to have you as my teacher. (teach)
6. Narayan was considered the best boy for his intelligence. (intelligent) in solving the problem.
Now complete the following paragraph using the words given below:
Belling the Cat
The mice in the grocer’s shop ate plenty of grains and he had to suffer a great loss______ (lose). So, he bought a cat for the detection (detect) of the mice’s hiding place. During the meeting (meet) of the mice, one of them said that the cat’s movement (move) was soft and swift. So, there was a need for belling (bell) the cat. All the mice agreed that it was a good decision. (decide). Someone asked, “Who will bell the cat?” No answer came. As yet, the decision has not seen execution. (execute).
(movement, detection, meeting, loss, execution, belling, decision)
C2. Answer each of the following questions and compare your answers with those of your partner:
1. Why did Drona refuse to teach archery to Ekalavya?
Answer: Drona cannot take as his pupil anyone other than a Kshatriya or a Brahmin. That is why Drona refuse to teach archery to Ekalavya.
2. How did Ekalavya learn archery?
Answer: Ekalavya learned archery through self-practice and deep devotion by making a clay statue of Guru Dronacharya, treating it as his teacher, and practicing intensely every day. After Drona refused to teach him directly, Ekalavya made a clay image of Drona in the forest and treated it as his real teacher. Day after day, he worshipped the statue and practiced archery with immense faith, courage, and hard work. His deep respect and single-minded dedication turned him into an exceptional master of the art, capable of incredible feats like shabdavedhi (shooting by sound).
3. What made Drona appreciate Ekalavya’s skill?
Answer: Drona appreciated Ekalavya’s skill after witnessing his extraordinary ability to perform shabdavedhi (shooting an arrow by sound alone) specifically when Ekalavya silently filled a barking hunting dog’s mouth with arrows without hurting it.
4. How, according to Drona, did Ekalavya become a good archer?
Answer: According to Drona Ekalavya became a good archer solely through his devotion. His deep respect and single-minded dedication turned him into an exceptional master of the art, capable of incredible feats like shabdavedhi (shooting by sound).
C3. Answer the following questions after discussing with the other groups in the class:
1. Is it the duty of a student to protect the honour of the teacher?
Answer: Yes. It is considered the duty of a student to respect and protect the honour of their teacher. In traditional values, a Guru is held in the highest regard, akin to God. The teacher imparts wisdom, skills, and values, shaping a student’s life and character.
2. Narrate briefly the circumstances that made Ekalavya offer his right thumb as gurudakshina to Drona.
Answer: Ekalavya offered his right thumb because guru Drona requested it as his teacher’s fee (gurudakshina), aiming to protect his promise of making Arjuna the greatest archer. Drona and the princes found Ekalavya after seeing his amazing skill in silencing a dog with arrows without hurting it. When Drona learned Ekalavya treated him as his guru, Drona asked for his right thumb to stop him from becoming better than Arjuna. Ekalavya cut off his thumb and gave it to Drona without any hesitation.
3. Discuss with your partner/teacher about Ekalavya’s Gurudakshina.
Answer: Ekalavya’s Gurudakshina is a powerful story of extreme devotion and sacrifice, highlighting key aspects like: supreme respect for a guru, the pain of social unfairness, and the heavy cost of promises. Ekalavya treated a clay statue of Dronacharya as his real teacher. When Drona asked for his right thumb as a fee (gurudakshina), Ekalavya gave it instantly without any anger or hesitation.
G. Language work
Read the following sentences and see what kind of sentences they are:
a. The moon goes round the earth. (Assertive/Declarative)
b. Do you know his phone number? (Interrogative)
c. How lucky you are! (Exclamatory)
d. Switch off the TV. (Imperative)
e. Get me some water please. (Imperative)
There are mainly four kinds of sentences. They are:
i) Assertive /Declarative which states a fact and ends with a full stop.
ii) Interrogative a question which ends with question mark.
iii) Exclamatory expresses surprise, wonder or pity and ends with an exclamatory mark.
iv) Imperative expresses commands or requests and ends with a full stop.
G1. Look at these sentences. They have no punctuation marks at the end. Put the punctuation marks and classify the sentences. Write assertive, interrogative, exclamatory or imperative in the blanks given.
One is done for you.
1. Can you ride a motorbike? Interrogative
2. Open the window. – Imperative
3. Sugar is bad for your teeth. – Assertive/Declarative
4. Please be quiet – Imperative
5. How hot it is! – Exclamatory
6. We went to Shirdi last month. – Assertive/Declarative
7. What a rude man he is! – Exclamatory
8. What are you doing there? – Interrogative
9. Don’t speak to me like that again. – Imperative
10. How quickly the holiday has passed! – Exclamatory
11. Shall I help you with your shopping? – Interrogative
12. The flight for Mumbai takes off at 11.30 p.m. – Assertive/Declarative
13. Ekalavya went to the forest. – Assertive/Declarative
14. How happy he was to see Drona! – Exclamatory
15. Get out of the way, my boy. – Imperative
16. Clean the blackboard, please. – Imperative
Pronunciation
P1 A. Each word in this list contains a silent letter.
Underline the silent letter in each word. Practise saying the words aloud.
One is done for you.
K n i f e, w r i s t, c l i m b, d e b t, w r i t e, C o m b, k n o c k, T o m b, k n i t, W r e c k,
D o u b t, K n o b, W r o n g, W r i g g l e
P1 B. Now put each word in the right column in this table.
Silent ‘b’ – debt, comb, tomb, doubt,
Silent ‘k’ – knife, knack, knit, knob
Silent ‘w’ – wrist, write, wreck, wrong, wriggle
Writing Practice
Pair Work
W1. A friend of yours wants to apply for a bus pass and wants you to fill the form for him. What questions will you ask him to get the information needed?
Student’s Bus Pass
Name: Ramesh
Age: 12. Date of birth: 02.05.2014
Father’s name: Gangadhar
Residential address: 3/15, 2nd cross road, 1st main road, Pump well, Mangalore
Name of the school and address: Canara high School, Dongarakeri, Mangalore
Starting point of journey – Pump well. Destination – Hampanakatta
Bus route No.: 19
Signature of the student – Ramesh
Headmaster’s signature with seal – Headmaster
Ask your friend, and fill in the form.
W2. Look at the signboards.
How many grammatical and spelling and factual mistakes can you spot in these signboards? Correct and rewrite them.
1. By instead of Buy
2. Vegetable instead of Visitable
3. 11 AM to PM
4. Price text Rs 15/-
5. Their instead of there
6. Fair instead of Fare
Further reading
1. Epic Characters of Mahabharatha – Prof. Mudambadithaya
2. Read the story of Ekalavya – Shanta Rameshwar Rao
