Important Questions for CBSE Class 6 English Honeysuckle Chapter 10 - The Banyan Tree

A. Very Short Answer Questions:    1 Mark

1. Word – Meaning from the given chapter

(i) Mesmerise

Ans: Magically persuade.

(ii) Glistened

Ans: Shone.

(iii) Snout

Ans: The nose and mouth of an animal.

(iv) Combatants

Ans: Participants in a fight.

(v) Defiance

Ans: Rebellion, resistance.

2. Fill in the Blanks

i. The first friend of the boy was _____.

Ans: small grey squirrel.

ii. The boy had built a _____ on the banyan tree where he spent the afternoons when

it was not too hot.

Ans: crude platform

iii. The banyan tree was full of red figs, parrots, myna, and crows during the _____.

Ans: spring season.

iv. The cobra had sacs behind his long sharp fangs that were full of _____.

Ans: deadly poison.

v. The myna and the jungle crow were watching the fight sitting on the ____.

Ans: cactus.

3. True – False

i. The grandfather of the boy was sixty-five years old.

Ans: True

ii. During the fig season, the banyan tree was the quietest place in the garden.

Ans: False

iii. The snake won its fight with the mongoose.

Ans: False

iv. The boy befriended a small grey squirrel.

Ans: True

v. The crow died from the poisonous bite of the cobra.

Ans: True

4. Match the Following

Ans: 

5. How old was the boy’s grandfather?

Ans: The boy’s grandfather was 65 years old.

B. Short Answer Questions:      2 Marks

1. How did the cobra get ready for the battle?

Ans: The cobra rose three of his six feet off the ground, spread his broad, spectacled hood, and prepared to meet the mongoose, his forked tongue darting in and out.

2. While playing around the banyan tree became the first friend of the boy.

Ans: A small grey squirrel that used to sit on the banyan tree became friends with the boy only after it was sure that the boy does not carry any airgun or catapult.

3. Name some of the books that formed a part of the boy’s banyan tree library.

Ans: Some of the books in the boy's banyan tree library included Treasure Island, Huckleberry Finn, and The Story of Dr Dolittle.

4. Other than the boy, name the two other spectators who were watching the cobra and the mongoose.

Ans:  A Myna and a jungle crow were the other two observers who sat on the cactus to see the finale of the duel between the cobra and the mongoose.

5. In the end, who won the battle between the cobra and the mongoose, and what did it do?

Ans: In the end, the mongoose won, and the cobra died. The mongoose had smelt along its shaking length, wrapped it up around the hood, and hauled it into the bushes.

C. Short Answer Questions:      3 Marks

1. Describe the banyan tree.

Ans: The spreading branches of the banyan tree, which hung to the ground and then took root again, making various twisting pathways, provided me with endless delight. Among them were snails and squirrels and butterflies. The tree in the poem is supposed to be older than the house, older than the grandfather of the boy, as old as Dehradun itself.

2. Was the squirrel afraid of the boy?

Ans: No, the squirrel was not scared of the boy. Arching his back and sniffing into the air, he appeared at first to resent my invasion of his privacy.  But once he realised I didn't have an air gun or a catapult, he warmed up to me, and when I started bringing him biscuits and cake, he became friendlier, grew pretty bold and was soon taking morsels from hand.

3. Explain the features of the mongoose and the cobra.

Ans: The mongoose was grey in colour. It was three feet long. Being agile, it was a clever and aggressive fighter. The cobra was black in colour. Even though it was huge in size, it was an experienced and skilled fighter.  It could move quickly and strike in the blink of an eye. It had long sharp fangs and the sacs behind the fangs were full of deadly poison.

4. Why has the author described the banyan tree as the noisiest place in the garden during the spring season?

Ans: During the spring season, various types of birds such as the red-bottomed bulbul, parrots, crows, and myna would gather on the branches of the banyan tree. The small red figs that grow on the banyan tree used to be a source of contention for these birds. Hence, the banyan tree became the noisiest place in the garden during the spring season.

5. What was the fate of Myna and the jungle crow?

Ans: Myna and the crow were determined to get involved in the fight. They dove at the cobra, but they missed each other and their target this time. The myna continued on to its perch, while the crow attempted to land in mid-flight and turn around. The cobra swung his head back and struck with considerable force, his nose thudding against the crow's body in the fraction of a second it took the bird to do so. I saw the crow flung almost twenty feet across the garden. It fluttered about for some time, and then lay still.

D. Long Answer Questions:     5 Marks

1. How did the boy spend his afternoons?

Ans: Midway up the tree, the boy had built a crude platform in which he would spend the afternoons once it was not too hot. He could read there prop me up against the tree with a cushion from the drawing-room. Some of the books like Huckleberry Finn, Treasure Island, and The Story of Dr Dolittle were made up of his banyan tree library. Once he did not feel like reading, he could stare down through the leaves at the world below. From the platform, the boy watched the classic of the Indian wilds, a fight between a cobra and a mongoose.

2. How did the snake and the mongoose position themselves for the fight?

Ans: The cobra utilized the hissing defiance, his forked tongue flitting in and out, and raised up three of his six feet above the ground, after the spread of his broad, spectacled hood. The mongoose whacked his tail. The long hair on his spine was standing up. The cobra stood on the suspicious, influential gradually from side to side, trying to captivate the mongoose into making a false move. But the mongoose knew the power of his rival's glassy, unwinking eyes, and refused to give away. Rather, he fixed his gaze at a point just under the cobra’s hood before breaching the attack.

3. How did the boy and the squirrel become friends?

Ans: The first friend of the boy was a small grey squirrel. The squirrel arched his back and sniffed into the air and resented my invasion into his privacy. But when it found that the boy did not carry any arms with an air gun or a catapult, the squirrel became friendly, and once the boy began bringing it pieces of biscuits and cake, it grew quite bold and was soon taking pieces from hand. Before long, it was roaming into my pockets and helping himself to whatever it could find.

4. Discuss the third round of the fight between the snake and the mongoose.

Ans: The third round was the same as the first but with one dramatic difference. The myna and the crow were still adamant about participating in the festivities; they had dived at the cobra before, but this time they missed each other and their designated place.  The myna flew on and achieved its perch, but the crow attempted to pull up in mid-air and turn over. In the second that it had taken the bird to do this the cobra thrashed his head back and hit with great force, his snout clunking against the crow’s body. The boy saw the bird flung almost twenty feet around the garden. It trembled almost for a while, and then sat still.

5. How did the fight between the snake and the mongoose end after the three rounds of a fight?

Ans: The cobra was weakening, and the mongoose was gallantly approaching it. It elevated itself on his small legs and grabbed the large snake by the nose with a lightning strike. The cobra writhed and lashed about terrifyingly, and even twisted itself about the mongoose, but to no benefit. The little fellow hung relentlessly on until the snake had succumbed to struggle. He then smelt it down its quivering length, wrapped it around the hood, and dragged it into the undergrowth. The myna dropped carefully to the ground, leapt about, peered into the bushes from a safe distance, and then, with a shrill cry of congratulation, flew away.

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