NCERT Solutions Class 5 English Chapter 2 Gone with the Scooter

F R E E S T U D Y M AT E R I A L F O R E V E R Y S T U D E N T

CLASS 5 · ENGLISH

NCERT Solutions

Chapter 2: Gone with the Scooter

NCERT Textbook — Santoor

BOOK PAGES SECTIONS QUESTIONS MEDIUM

11 – 26 11 44 English

Solutions, notes, sample papers & more at 39 pages

Class 5 English Chapter 2 Gone with the Scooter AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

CLASS 5 · ENGLISH · SANTOOR

NCERT Solutions — Chapter 2: Gone with the Scooter
Chapter 2 of Santoor is the second chapter of Unit 1, Let’s Have Fun. Gone with the Scooter is a funny prose
story. The book does not name a writer. On a hot summer afternoon a boy called Gopi finds a hockey ball in
his garden, goes out to return it — and the ball is lost all over again in the funniest way. The chapter carries
these banners: Let us Read, New Words, Let us Think (A and B), Let us Learn (A, B, C), Let us Listen, Let us
Speak (A and B), Let us Write (A, B, C), Let us Do and Let us Explore (A, B, C). There is no Just for Fun in this
chapter.

TEXTBOOK BOOK PAGES

Santoor (Class 5) 11 – 26

SECTIONS QUESTIONS

11 44

MEDIUM

English

Let us Read — Pages 11–14
Gone with the Scooter (story)

LET US READ

Story Let us Read — Gone with the Scooter. Read the story and enjoy it.

Read the story once for the fun of it. Then read it again slowly, and notice how it moves from a
quiet veranda to a noisy playground.
The story in four parts:

1. Part 1 — The sound (page 11). It is a summer afternoon. Gopi is sitting in the veranda,
reading a book. He hears something rustling past and falling with a thud in the garden. He
thinks a mango has fallen from the tree. He puts his book aside and runs out. He searches in
the thick grass near the fence — nothing. He looks among the bushes — nothing. Then he
sees a heap of dry leaves with a white ball on it. He picks it up. It is a hockey ball.
2. Part 2 — The honest plan (page 12). Gopi wonders whose ball it is. He looks around and
peeps outside the gate, but no one is there. His mother calls him in because it is very hot. He
drinks a glass of water, lies down on the mat and says to himself, “I can’t keep this ball for
myself. I will ask around.” In the evening he goes to the nearby playground where his friends
gather to play hockey, and asks who has lost a ball.

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Class 5 English Chapter 2 Gone with the Scooter AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

3. Part 3 — The three answers (pages 12–13). Manoj says he lost a ball four months ago — so
it cannot be that one. Ramani says the ball is hers, but when Gopi asks what colour it is, she
smiles and says, “Show me the ball and I will tell you.” Deepak boasts that his father bought
him a brand-new football the day before — and Gopi reminds him that the ball he found is a
hockey ball. Everyone laughs. Manoj grabs the ball and tosses it to Deepak, and Gopi shouts,
“Stop! I say, stop! Let’s play before it gets dark.”
4. Part 4 — Gone (pages 13–14). Manoj goes to the goalpost as goalkeeper. Gopi stands at the
centre with the stick and passes to Deepak, who drives the ball to Ramani, who dribbles it to
Jay. Manoj shouts, “Come on Jay, play the shot and drive it towards the goalpost.” Jay tightens
his wrist, keeps the flat side of the stick on the ball, and hits it so hard that it flies past the
playground gate and falls into the basket of a passing scooter. The scooterist does not know
and drives on. By the time the children reach the gate, the scooter is gone — and so is the
ball. They look at each other and burst into laughter.

Why the title is clever: The title says the ball went away with the scooter. The
scooterist never took it on purpose. He did not even know it was there. The ball
simply dropped into his basket and rode away — so the ball is gone with the scooter.

The five children in the story: Gopi (who finds the ball), Manoj (the goalkeeper),
Ramani (who dribbles), Deepak (who boasts about his football) and Jay (who hits
the big shot).

Tip for reading aloud: The story has a lot of talking in it. Give each friend a different
voice. Say Gopi’s “Stop! I say, stop!” loudly, and read the last three lines slowly — that
is where the surprise sits.

Let us Think — Page 15
A. Answer the following questions

LET US THINK

A.1 What was Gopi doing on the veranda?

Gopi was sitting in the veranda and reading a book.
The story begins with this: “It was a summer afternoon. Gopi was sitting in the veranda, reading
a book.” A veranda is the open, covered space just outside the rooms of a house. On a hot
afternoon it is the coolest place to sit, because the roof keeps the sun off but the air still moves.

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Class 5 English Chapter 2 Gone with the Scooter AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Notice: Gopi liked his book, but he put it aside at once when he heard the sound.
That tells us he is a curious boy.

A.2 What sound did Gopi hear before he went to the garden?

Gopi heard two sounds — first a rustling sound, and then a thud.
The story says, “Suddenly, he heard something rustling past and falling with a thud in the
garden.”

Rustling is a soft crackling sound, the sound dry leaves make when something moves
through them.
A thud is the dull, heavy sound something makes when it falls on the ground.

Gopi guessed that a mango had fallen from the tree, because that is what those two sounds
usually mean in a garden in summer.

Why the writer used these two words: Together they tell us the whole event
without showing it. Something moved through the leaves (rustling), and then it
landed (thud). Our ears do the seeing.

A.3 Describe Gopi’s search for the ball.

Gopi searched in three places, and found the ball only in the third one.

1. First he searched in between the thick grass near the garden fence. He found nothing.
2. Then he looked among the bushes. Again there was nothing there.
3. At last his eyes fell on a heap of dry leaves. A white ball was lying on the heap. He reached
out and took it in his hands. It was a hockey ball.

The story tells it in these words: “He searched in between the thick grass near the garden fence.
But, he found nothing. He looked among the bushes. Nothing was there again. Then, his eyes
fell on a heap of dry leaves.”

Why he looked there: Gopi searched low down — in grass, in bushes, in leaves.
Something that falls with a thud will roll and stop somewhere on the ground, not
stay up in the air. He searched like a sensible person.

Page 3 of 39

as e
Class 5 English Chapter 2 Gone with the Scooter
a g l AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

co m
m.
Complete the table given below.
e
A.4

m l as
.co a g
a s emS.
a gl NO.
DIALOGUE THE DIALOGUE
WAS SAID BY
THE DIALOGUE
WAS SAID TO

co m
. ag
a. The ball I found is a

e m
as
hockey ball.

b. g l
a me a
My father bought
brand-new football.

co m
e m.
as
c. I lost a ball four months

m l
.co g
ago.

m d. a
l a se
g
Show me the ball and I

a will tell you.

m a s
.co agl
The table as printed on page 15. The last two columns are blank for you to fill in.

se m
g l a
a

co m
.
Here is the completed table. Every blank is filled.

se m
m l a
S.
m .co DIALOGUE THE DIALOGUE WAS
ag
THE DIALOGUE WAS

l a se
NO. SAID BY SAID TO

a g
m
a. The ball I found is a hockey ball. Gopi Deepak

a se
b. My father bought me a brand-new
.com Deepak Gopi and the other friends
a g l
m
ase
football.

c. agl
I lost a ball four months ago. Manoj Gopi

co m
.
d. Show me the ball and I will tell Ramani Gopi

em
as
you.

c o m g l
. a
sem
How we know — the proof from the story:
a
agl 1. a. Deepak had just boasted about his new football. The story says: “‘The ball I found is a
c
m .
e
hockey ball,’ said Gopi.” So Gopi said it, and he said it to Deepak — he was answering

o m la s
c g
Deepak’s boast.
.
m that his father had bought him a brand-new football the a
s e
2. b. “Another friend Deepak boasted

a g
previous day.” So Deepaklasaid it, standing in the group, so he said it to Gopi and the other
friends.

co m
m .
m ase
.co


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Class 5 English Chapter 2 Gone with the Scooter AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

3. c. “Manoj said, ‘I lost a ball four months ago.’” He was answering Gopi’s question, so it was
said to Gopi.
4. d. Gopi had asked Ramani what colour the ball was. “‘Show me the ball and I will tell you,’
said Ramani smilingly.” So Ramani said it to Gopi.

Tip: To find who said a line, look for the words just before or just after the quotation
marks — said Gopi, Manoj said, said Ramani smilingly. The writer always tells us.

Something to notice about d. Ramani did not say the colour. She wanted to see the
ball first and then say the colour, so that she would surely be right. That is a small
trick, and Gopi did not fall for it.

A.5 Who grabbed the ball from Gopi? How did the game start?

Manoj grabbed the ball from Gopi.
The story says: “Gopi took out the ball from his pocket. Manoj grabbed it and tossed it over to
Deepak.” To grab means to take something suddenly and quickly.
How the game started, step by step:

1. Gopi saw the ball being thrown about and shouted at the top of his voice, “Stop! I say, stop!
Let’s play before it gets dark.”
2. Manoj went to the goalpost, because he liked to be the goalkeeper.
3. Gopi stood at the centre of the field, holding the hockey stick.
4. Gopi passed the ball to Deepak. Deepak drove the ball towards Ramani. Ramani dribbled it
with the stick and sent it to Jay.

Why Gopi shouted: The friends were only throwing the ball to each other, and the
sun was going down. Gopi wanted them to use the little daylight that was left for a
real game instead of wasting it.

A.6 Why did everyone laugh at the end of the story?

Everyone laughed because the ball was lost all over again — and this time in the funniest
way possible.

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Class 5 English Chapter 2 Gone with the Scooter AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Here is what happened. Jay hit the ball so hard that it went past the playground gate and fell
straight into the basket of a passing scooter. The scooterist did not know anything about it, so
he simply drove on. “By the time the children ran to the gate, the scooter was gone … and so
was the ball.”
Think of the whole day. Gopi found the ball, refused to keep it, carried it all the way to the
playground and asked everybody about it. And after all that care, one big shot sent it away for
ever, to a man who did not even know he was carrying it.

Why they laughed instead of getting angry: Nobody had done anything wrong.
Jay only played a good, strong shot. Getting angry would not bring the ball back.
Laughing was the kindest and the easiest thing to do — and good friends do that.

Did you notice? The ball came to Gopi by accident at the start, and it left by accident
at the end. The story ends exactly where it began — with no ball.

Let us Think — Page 16
B. Think and answer

THINK AND ANSWER

B.1 What would you have done if, like Gopi, you had found a ball that did not belong to
you?

This is your own answer, so it will not be exactly the same as anybody else’s. But the story shows
you the right idea — Gopi said, “I can’t keep this ball for myself. I will ask around.”

What a good answer needs: say clearly that you would try to find the owner, then
say how you would try, and finish with what you would do if the owner never came.

Sample answer: I would do exactly what Gopi did. I would not keep the ball, because it is not
mine. First I would look outside my gate to see if any child was searching for it. Then I would
take it to the playground in the evening and ask my friends whether anyone had lost a ball. I
would ask them to describe it before I showed it, so that only the real owner could claim it. If
nobody claimed it in a week, I would hand it over to my class teacher and tell her where I found
it. Keeping something that belongs to another child would spoil my own game.

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Class 5 English Chapter 2 Gone with the Scooter AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Why asking for a description is clever: Ramani said the ball was hers, but she
could not say what colour it was. When you ask the owner to describe the thing first,
the true owner can, and a false one cannot.

B.2 Imagine what happens to the hockey ball after it is taken away by the scooter.
Where does it go? Who finds it?

This question asks you to imagine — so there is no single right answer. But a good imagined
story must still make sense with the real story: the ball is in the basket of a moving scooter, and
the rider does not know it is there.

What a good answer needs: say where the scooter goes, how the ball leaves the
basket, who picks it up, and what happens to it in the end. Write it as a small story, in
full sentences.

Sample answer: The scooter turned left at the corner and went down the main road. The ball
sat quietly in the basket among a packet of onions and a bundle of coriander. The scooterist
rode home, parked the scooter and carried the vegetables inside. He never once looked at the
ball. In the evening his little daughter, Meera, came out to take her cycle. She saw the white ball
in the basket and shouted, “Whose ball is this?” Her father was as surprised as she was. He said
it must have flown in from somewhere on the way. Meera was learning hockey at school, and
she had no ball of her own. So she kept it for two days and asked at her school about it. When
nobody claimed it there, her father took her back along the same road. They saw a playground
with a gate, and some children playing hockey inside. Meera walked in and held up the ball.
Gopi and his friends began to laugh all over again — and this time Meera stayed and played
with them.

What makes this a good imagined ending: It keeps every fact of the real story —
the basket, the rider who does not notice, the road past the playground. It only adds
what the story left out. An imagined answer should never break the facts you were
given.

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Class 5 English Chapter 2 Gone with the Scooter AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

B.3 Notice that the scooterist is wearing a helmet. Why is it important to wear a
helmet? Should the pillion rider also wear a helmet?

A helmet is important because it protects the head, and yes — the pillion rider must also
wear one.
The pillion rider is the person sitting behind the rider on a two-wheeler.
Why a helmet matters:

1. The head holds the brain, and the brain controls everything we do — walking, talking,
thinking, seeing.
2. The skull is strong, but it cannot take a hard knock on the road. A helmet has a hard shell
outside and a soft, thick layer inside. The shell spreads the blow, and the soft layer soaks it
up.
3. In a fall, a person is thrown forward and the head often hits the ground first. A helmet
stands between the head and the road.
4. A helmet with a clear visor also keeps dust, insects and rain out of the eyes, so the rider can
see the road properly.

Why the pillion rider needs one too: In a fall, the person sitting behind is thrown just as hard
as the person driving. The road does not know who was steering. Wearing a helmet is also the
law in India for both riders, and the helmet must be strapped under the chin — an unstrapped
helmet flies off and does nothing.

Sample answer: The scooterist in the picture is wearing a helmet because it
protects his head if he falls. Our head holds the brain, and a hurt brain is very hard
to mend. Yes, the pillion rider should also wear a helmet, because in an accident the
person sitting behind falls just as hard as the rider. In our family my father does not
start the scooter until my mother has fastened her helmet strap.

Other road-safety rules for a two-wheeler: never carry more than two people;
stop at every red light; do not use a mobile phone while riding; and always ride on
the correct side of the road.

Let us Learn — Page 16

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Class 5 English Chapter 2 Gone with the Scooter
a g l AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

A. Match the following
co m
e m.
m as
LET US LEARN

.co a g l
a s em the following. Word: Dribble, Boast, Rustle, Grab Meaning: a soft crackling
gl
Match
a
A
sound / take something with a sudden movement / moving a ball with small taps
while playing hockey / to speak too proudly

co m
e m . ag
g l as
Here are the four correct matches.a

co m
m.
WORD MEANING THE LINE IN THE STORY

m a ball with small taps while as e
Dribble
.coplaying hockey
moving
a g l
“Ramani dribbled the ball with the stick and it went to

a s em Jay.”

l
ag Boast to speak too proudly “Deepak boasted that his father had bought him a

s
brand-new football…”
m a
m.co “he heard something rustling past…” agl
se
Rustle a soft crackling sound

g l a
Grab
a
take something with a sudden
movement
“Manoj grabbed it and tossed it over to Deepak.”

co m
m .
m l a se
How to match without guessing: Go back to the line in the story and read it with
o
the.cmeaning put in its place. “Ramani moved the ball with a g taps with the stick” —
m small
asethat makes sense, so dribble is right. If the sentence sounds odd, the match is
agl wrong.

se m
com g l a
Now use them yourself:
m . a
e
asball past three players.
g l
Dribble — Ravi can dribble the
a
Boast — She never boasts about her marks, even when they are the highest.

m
Rustle — I heard the rustle of the newspaper behind me.

. co
m
Grab — He tried to grab the last laddoo from the plate.

o m l a se
m .cA word worth keeping: Boast is not the same as beingaghappy about something you
l a se
ag did. Telling a friend, “I scored a goal today,” is sharing good news. Saying it again
and again so that others feel small is boasting.
.c
s e m
m a
em . co agl
las
Let us Learn — Pageag17

com
m .
m ase
.co


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Class 5 English Chapter 2 Gone with the Scooter AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

B. Complete the story using the words in the box

LET US LEARN

B Complete the following story using the words given in the box. since, however,
because, when Gopi completed his work ................ he wanted to go outside and
play. ................ when he reached the playground nobody was there. ................ his
friends were yet to join him, he decided to take a walk. After 15 minutes, five of
them came and everyone started to discuss the games. They decided to play
hopscotch ................ they got to know that Ramani would not be joining them.

Here is the completed story. The four answers are in bold.

Gopi completed his work because he wanted to go outside and play. However, when he

reached the playground nobody was there. Since his friends were yet to join him, he decided

to take a walk. After 15 minutes, five of them came and everyone started to discuss the

games. They decided to play hopscotch when they got to know that Ramani would not be

joining them.

Now the reason for each blank:

BLANK ANSWER THE LITTLE RULE

1. Gopi completed his work ___ he because Use because to give the reason for something.
wanted to go outside and play. Why did he finish his work? So that he could go
and play.

2. ___ when he reached the playground However Use however when the next thing is a surprise, the
nobody was there. opposite of what you expected. He hurried — but
the ground was empty.

3. ___ his friends were yet to join him, Since Use since at the start of a sentence to give a
he decided to take a walk. reason. It means the same as “as” or “because”.

4. They decided to play hopscotch ___ when Use when to say at what time something
they got to know that Ramani would not happened. They chose hopscotch at the moment
be joining them. they heard about Ramani.

Page 10 of 39

Class 5 English Chapter 2 Gone with the Scooter AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Why because and since cannot swap places here: Both give a reason, and both are
correct English. But blank 3 begins the sentence, and since is the natural word at the
beginning of a sentence. Blank 1 joins two halves in the middle, where because sits
best. Also, each word in the box may be used only once — so once you have used
because, blank 3 must take since.

Check it yourself: All four words in the box are used, and each one only once. If a
word is left over, one of your blanks is wrong. Also remember the capital letters —
However and Since begin sentences, so they take a capital.

Let us Learn — Pages 17–18
C. Adverbs — encircle the adverbs in the sentences

LET US LEARN

C Read the following sentence. Gopi usually plays hockey at school but today he is
studying for his test. The adverb ‘usually’ tells us that an action happens many
times. This sentence tells us that the action of playing hockey happens most of the
time. The adverb ‘today’ tells us the time of the action (studying).

An adverb is a word that tells us more about an action. This box teaches you two kinds of
adverbs.

1. Adverbs that tell how many times an action happens — usually, often, always, never,
regularly, sometimes. Ask the question “How many times?” and this adverb answers it.
2. Adverbs that tell when an action happens — today, now, yesterday, tomorrow, immediately.
Ask the question “When?” and this adverb answers it.

Look again at the book’s own sentence: Gopi usually plays hockey at school but today he is
studying for his test.

How many times does Gopi play hockey? Usually — that is, most days.
When is he studying? Today.

Now here is the whole exercise, sorted into the two columns:

Page 11 of 39

Class 5 English Chapter 2 Gone with the Scooter AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

HOW MANY TIMES THE ACTION TIME OF THE ACTION
HAPPENS/HAPPENED

b. Shama often writes in her diary. a. Gopi immediately got up and ran into the
garden.

c. All his friends regularly gathered to play hockey. e. Yesterday I ate an ice cream after lunch.

d. I always complete my homework. g. Now they are going to sing their favourite
song.

f. Monika never eats junk food.

Note about the printed page: In the book all seven sentences a–g are printed
inside the right-hand column, and the left-hand column is left empty. Do not let that
confuse you. Your job is to encircle the adverb in each sentence and then decide
which column that sentence really belongs to — four go on the left and three go on
the right, as shown above.

The one test that always works: Cover the adverb with your finger and ask the
sentence a question. If “How many times?” gives the missing word, it is an adverb of
frequency. If “When?” gives it, it is an adverb of time.

a Encircle the adverb: Gopi immediately got up and ran into the garden.

Encircle immediately. It is an adverb of time.
Ask the sentence: When did Gopi get up? Immediately — that means at once, without waiting a
single moment. So the sentence belongs in the column “Time of the action”.

Meaning: Immediately = straight away, right then. Gopi did not finish his page, did
not stretch — he got up the very second he heard the thud.

Your own sentence: When the bell rang, we immediately stood up for the prayer.

Page 12 of 39

Class 5 English Chapter 2 Gone with the Scooter AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

b Encircle the adverb: Shama often writes in her diary.

Encircle often. It is an adverb of frequency.
Ask the sentence: How many times does Shama write in her diary? Often — that means many
times, again and again, though not every single day. So this sentence belongs in the column
“How many times the action happens/happened”.

A little ladder of frequency words: never → rarely → sometimes → often → usually
→ always. Often sits high up on this ladder, but always is still higher.

Your own sentence: My grandfather often tells us stories after dinner.

c Encircle the adverb: All his friends regularly gathered to play hockey.

Encircle regularly. It is an adverb of frequency.
Ask the sentence: How many times did the friends gather? Regularly — that means at the same
time again and again, like a habit. So this sentence goes in the column “How many times the
action happens/happened”.

Why this word matters in the story: Because the friends gathered regularly, Gopi
knew exactly where to go in the evening to find the ball’s owner. He did not have to
search the whole village.

Your own sentence: I regularly water the tulsi plant in our courtyard.

d Encircle the adverb: I always complete my homework.

Encircle always. It is an adverb of frequency.
Ask the sentence: How many times do I complete my homework? Always — that means every
single time, without missing even once. So this sentence goes in the column “How many times
the action happens/happened”.

Page 13 of 39

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Class 5 English Chapter 2 Gone with the Scooter
a g l AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

co m
m.
Careful: Always is a strong word. It leaves no room at all. Only use it when

m as e
l
something really happens every time.

m .co a g
l a se
g
Your own sentence: She always keeps her shoes near the door.
a

co m
e m .
Encircle the adverb: Yesterday I ate an ice cream after lunch. ag
as
e

a g l

Encircle Yesterday. It is an adverb of time.
. c om
s e m before today. So
Ask the sentence: When did I eat the ice cream? Yesterday — that is, on the day

. combelongs in the column “Time of the action”.
this sentence
a gla
a s em
agl Notice: This sentence also has the phrase after lunch, which tells the time too. But
the exercise asks for the single adverb, and that word is Yesterday. It comes at the
m a s
.co agl
very beginning of the sentence, so it wears a capital letter.

a s em
Your own sentence: Yesterday welplanted a mango sapling in the school garden.
ag

co m
m .
Encircle the adverb: Monika never eats junk food.
m as e
l
f

.co a g
a s em
gl
a Encircle never. It is an adverb of frequency.

se m
o m
Ask the sentence: How many times does Monika eat junk food? Never — that means not even
l a
m .c “How many times the action happens/happened”. ag
se
once. So this sentence goes in the column

l a
Why never is a frequency ag word: Zero is a number too. Never is the smallest possible
m
answer to “How many times?” — it means no times at all. Always and never are the
. co
m
two ends of the ladder.

o m l a se
g he leaves the room.
.c own sentence: He never forgets to switch off the fan when
a
se m
Your
a
agl c
m .
m a s e
co agl
Encircle the adverb: Now they are going to sing their favourite song.
.
g

em
g l as
a
Encircle Now. It is an adverb of time.

co m
m .
m ase
.co


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Class 5 English Chapter 2 Gone with the Scooter AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Ask the sentence: When are they going to sing? Now — that is, at this very moment. So this
sentence belongs in the column “Time of the action”.

Words that answer “When?”: now, then, today, tonight, yesterday, tomorrow, soon,
later, immediately, early, late.

Your own sentence: Now it is time to close our books and go home.

Quick check of the whole exercise: Frequency (how many times) — often,
regularly, always, never. Time (when) — immediately, Yesterday, Now. Four on
one side, three on the other.

Let us Listen — Page 19
A. Listen to your teacher and draw

LET US LISTEN

A Listen to your teacher. Follow the instructions and draw accordingly in the space
provided below. • Draw a few big dry leaves at the centre with no gap between the
leaves. Draw a ball in the middle of the leaves. • Draw a few twigs here and there. •
Colour the leaves yellow and brown. Colour the twigs brown. • Now you have found
the ball.

Your teacher will read the four instructions aloud, one at a time. You draw only what you hear —
so listen right to the end of each instruction before your pencil touches the paper.
Do it in this order:

1. Step 1. In the middle of the box, draw a few big dry leaves. Make them touch each other,
with no gap between them — they are lying in a heap, exactly as in the story.
2. Step 2. In the middle of those leaves, draw a ball — a plain round circle. This is Gopi’s hockey
ball.
3. Step 3. Draw a few twigs here and there around the leaves. A twig is a thin, small branch.
Draw them as short lines with tiny side lines.
4. Step 4. Colour the leaves yellow and brown — some leaves yellow, some brown, because
dry leaves are not all the same colour. Colour the twigs brown.
5. Step 5. Leave the ball white. The story says, “There was a white ball on the heap.”

Sample answer — your drawing should look something like this:

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Class 5 English Chapter 2 Gone with the Scooter AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

A white ball on a heap of dry leaves, with
twigs around

The leaves touch one another with no gap. The ball sits in the middle and stays white. The twigs are
brown and are scattered here and there.

What this task is really teaching: Listening is not the same as hearing. Here you
must catch the exact words — “big”, “no gap”, “in the middle”, “here and there”,
“yellow and brown”. Miss one word and your picture will be different from the one
your teacher described.

Tip: Draw very lightly with a pencil first. Colour only after all four instructions have
been read out. That way you can fix a mistake before it is coloured in.

Let us Speak — Page 20

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Class 5 English Chapter 2 Gone with the Scooter AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

A. Add a sentence to the story · B. The long ‘oo’ sound

LET US SPEAK

A The teacher starts a story with one sentence. Each student adds a sentence to
continue the story. For example: Teacher: “Once upon a time, a boy found a magic
key.” Student 1: “The key opened a door to a secret garden.” Student 2: “In the
garden, he saw a talking rabbit.”

How to play this game:

1. Sit in a circle so that everyone can hear everyone else.
2. The teacher says the first sentence. Listen to it carefully.
3. Each child adds one sentence — not two, not half a sentence.
4. Your sentence must join on to the sentence just before yours. Never start a brand-new story
of your own.
5. Speak loudly and slowly, so the next child knows exactly what to build on.
6. Keep going round the circle until everyone has had a turn.

What makes a good sentence in this game: it is short; it adds one new thing (a
person, a place, a problem or a surprise); and it leaves the door open for the next
child. A sentence like “Then everybody went home and slept” closes the story and
spoils the next turn.

Sample answer — one full round in a classroom:

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Class 5 English Chapter 2 Gone with the Scooter AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Teacher: “Once upon a time, a boy found a magic key.”

Student 1: “The key opened a door to a secret garden.”

Student 2: “In the garden, he saw a talking rabbit.”
Student 3: “The rabbit said that the garden had not seen rain for ten years.”

Student 4: “It asked the boy to find the old well behind the neem tree.”

Student 5: “The boy walked to the well, but it was covered with a heavy stone.”

Student 6: “He pushed the stone with all his strength, and it rolled away.”

Student 7: “A cloud came out of the well and floated up into the sky.”

Student 8: “Very soon, big drops of rain began to fall on the dry garden.”

Student 9: “The flowers opened one by one, and the rabbit began to dance.”

Student 10: “The boy put the key back in his pocket and promised to come again.”

Why this game is good practice: You cannot plan your sentence in advance,
because you do not know what the child before you will say. So you must listen first
and speak second — which is exactly what good speaking is.

B The title of this textbook is ‘Santoor’. Say the word ‘book’. Next, say the word
‘Santoor’. Do you notice the difference? Although, both the words have ‘oo’ in them,
the sound of ‘oo’ in ‘book’ is short; the sound of ‘oo’ in ‘Santoor’ is long. Say aloud the
following words. Encircle the words which have a long ‘oo’ sound. 1. Hood 2. School
3. Foot 4. Maroon 5. Scooter 6. Shook 7. Bloom 8. Food 9. Look 10. Moon 11. Book 12.
Took

Encircle these six words — they have the long ‘oo’ sound:
2. School · 4. Maroon · 5. Scooter · 7. Bloom · 8. Food · 10. Moon
Leave the other six alone. In Hood, Foot, Shook, Look, Book and Took the ‘oo’ is short.

Page 18 of 39

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Class 5 English Chapter 2 Gone with the Scooter
a g l AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

co m
m.
NO. WORD SHORT OR LONG ‘OO’? IT RHYMES WITH

m as e
1
.co
Hood Short
a g l
good, wood, stood

se m School
g l a cool, tool, pool
a
2 Long — encircle it

3 Foot Short put, soot

com
m . ag
se
4 Maroon Long — encircle it spoon, noon, soon

l a
5 Scooter
ag it
Long — encircle hooter, shooter

com
6 Shook Short book, cook, hook

.
a s em zoom
com l
7 Bloom Long — encircle it room, broom,

. a g
m
ase
8 Food Long — encircle it mood, brood

agl9 Look Short book, took, cook

m a s
.co agl
10 Moon Long — encircle it spoon, soon, noon

se m
g l a
a
11 Book Short look, cook, shook

12 Took Short book, look, hook

co m
m .
o m l a se
How to hear the difference: Say book. The sound is quick and it stops at once. Now
say.cSantoor. The sound is stretched — you could hold it for
a gtwo seconds if you
m
asewanted: San–toooor. That stretch is the long ‘oo’.
agl
se m
com g l a
. a
Watch your mouth in a mirror: For the long ‘oo’ your lips push forward into a small
m
ase
round shape, as if you were going to whistle. For the short ‘oo’ your lips stay flatter

agl
and relaxed. Try food and then foot, one after the other.

co m
Notice something useful: Look at the short words — hood, foot, shook, look, book,
m .
as e
om always short. l
took. Almost every one of them ends in -ook or -oot. When ‘oo’ is followed by k, it is
.cnearly a g
se m
g l a
a c
m .
m a s e
co agl
Let us Write — Pages 21–22
m .
as e
a g l

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Class 5 English Chapter 2 Gone with the Scooter AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

A. A conversation · B. Making new words · C. Words with ‘ai’

LET US WRITE

A By the time the children ran to the gate, the scooter was gone… and so was the ball.
They looked at each other and burst into laughter. Write a possible conversation
between Gopi and his friends after this incident? Gopi: ............... Ramani: ...............
Deepak: ............... Manoj: ............... Jay: ...............

How to write this conversation:

1. Write one line for each child — five lines in all, in the order the book gives: Gopi, Ramani,
Deepak, Manoj, Jay.
2. Each line must sound like that child. Gopi is honest and sensible. Deepak boasts. Manoj is
bossy on the field. Ramani is quick and playful. Jay is the one who hit the shot.
3. Make each line answer or follow the line before it. A conversation is a chain, not five separate
speeches.
4. Remember they are laughing, not fighting. Nobody blames Jay.
5. Put the name, then a colon, then the words. You do not need quotation marks in this kind of
writing.

Sample answer:

Gopi: I looked for that ball in the grass, in the bushes and in the dry leaves — and now it has

gone away on a scooter!

Ramani: At least now I can say what colour it was. It was white — I saw it going!

Deepak: Do not worry. Tomorrow I will bring my brand-new football, and we can all play

with that.

Manoj: Jay, that was the best shot of the evening. But next time please aim at the goalpost,

not at the gate.

Jay: I am sorry, friends. Let us go to the shop on Sunday and buy one ball together, so it

belongs to all of us.

Another way to end it: You could also make the last line funny instead of kind — for
example, Jay: “Somewhere in this town a man is riding home with onions, coriander
and one hockey ball, and he does not know it!”

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Class 5 English Chapter 2 Gone with the Scooter AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

What makes a conversation good: Each line should either add something new or
reply to the line before. Read your five lines aloud with friends. If it sounds like real
children talking, you have written it well.

B.1 Form new words by following the example given below: sun + rise = sunrise (word
web: sun → rise, set, shine, flower)

The word sun is in the middle of the web, and four words are joined to it. Put sun first and the
other word second.

sun + rise = sunrise

sun + set = sunset

sun + shine = sunshine

sun + flower = sunflower

A word made by joining two smaller words is called a compound word.

NEW WHAT IT MEANS A SENTENCE OF YOUR OWN
WORD

sunrise The time in the morning when the sun We reached the river just before sunrise.
comes up.

sunset The time in the evening when the sun goes The children played hockey until sunset.
down.

sunshine The light and warmth of the sun. My grandmother sits in the winter sunshine
every morning.

sunflower A tall plant with a big yellow flower that A sunflower grew taller than our gate.
turns towards the sun.

Why the order matters: Compound words cannot be turned round. Sunflower is a
flower; flowersun is not a word at all. The second word tells you what the thing really
is, and the first word tells you more about it.

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Class 5 English Chapter 2 Gone with the Scooter AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

B.2 Form new words by following the example given below: foot + ball = football (word
web: ball → base, foot, basket, volley)

Here the word ball is in the middle, and this time ball comes second, not first.

foot + ball = football

base + ball = baseball

basket + ball = basketball

volley + ball = volleyball

NEW WHAT THE GAME IS A SENTENCE OF YOUR
WORD OWN

football A game played by kicking the ball with the foot. Deepak’s father bought him a
brand-new football.

baseball A game in which players hit the ball and run round four I saw a baseball match on
bases. television for the first time.

basketball A game in which players throw the ball into a basket Our school won the district
high up on a pole. basketball match.

volleyball A game in which players hit the ball over a net with a We play volleyball on the sand
volley — a hit made before the ball touches the ground. near the village pond.

Look at what the first word does: In every one of these, the first word tells you how
the game is played or what is used — the foot, the bases, the basket, the volley. That
is how English builds names for games.

Try a few more of your own: hand + ball = handball, cricket + ball = cricket ball, snow
+ ball = snowball, eye + ball = eyeball.

B.3 Write a sentence using each of these words in your notebook.

You have made eight new words. Now write one sentence for each. A good sentence should
show the meaning of the word, not just contain it.

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Class 5 English Chapter 2 Gone with the Scooter AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

What a good answer needs: a full sentence with a capital letter at the start and a
full stop at the end; the new word used correctly; and enough around it that a reader
could guess the meaning even without knowing the word.

Sample answer — all eight sentences:

1. sunrise — At sunrise the whole sky above our field turns orange.
2. sunset — Gopi and his friends wanted to finish the game before sunset.
3. sunshine — After three days of rain, the warm sunshine felt wonderful.
4. sunflower — My uncle grows a whole row of sunflowers behind his house.
5. football — He kicked the football so hard that it crossed the wall.
6. baseball — In baseball, a player runs from one base to the next after hitting the ball.
7. basketball — Tall players often do well at basketball because the basket is very high.
8. volleyball — We hit the volleyball over the net six times without dropping it.

Compare these two sentences: “I saw a sunflower.” and “My uncle grows a whole
row of sunflowers behind his house.” Both use the word. Only the second one lets a
reader picture it. Always write the second kind.

C.1 Using the clues given below, write ten words that have ‘ai’ in the middle. 1.
Something that has four legs, on which you generally sit. (Answer given: chair)

chair — this one is already filled in for you in the book.
Look at where the letters sit: chair. The a and the i stand together in the middle of the word.
That is the pattern you must hunt for in all ten answers.
Your own sentence: Please put the chair back near the table.

The little rule: When a and i stand side by side, they usually make one long “ay”
sound — chair, rain, train, paint. Two letters, but only one sound.

C.2 2. Water that falls from clouds.

rain
Rain is the water that falls from the clouds. Spell it: r – a i – n, with the ‘ai’ right in the middle.
Your own sentence: The first rain of the year brought a lovely smell from the earth.

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Class 5 English Chapter 2 Gone with the Scooter
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co m
m.
A whole family of ‘ai’ words comes from this one: rain → rainy, raindrop, rainbow,

m as e
l
raincoat, rainfall.

m .co a g
l a se
a g
C.3 3. A vehicle that runs on tracks.

co m
e m . ag
l as

train a g
A train is the long line of coaches that runs on iron tracks. Spell it: tr – a i – n.

co m
m.
Your own sentence: Our train to Nagpur leaves from platform number four.

o m l a se
g — just add a t in
.c rain and train rhyme, and they are spelt almost the same
a
m
se When two words rhyme, their spellings are often close too. That is a good way
Notice:

g l a
front.
a to remember new words.

m a s
em
.co agl
4. You use this to colour g a s
l wall or pictures.
C.4
a your

co m
.

se m
m l a
paint
o g Spell it: p – a i – n – t.
Paint .isc the thick, coloured liquid we brush on to a wall or a picture.
a
m
se own sentence: We used green paint for the leaves on our chart.
g l a
a
Your

se m
com
The same word does two jobs: Paint is the thing in the tin (a naming word), and it is
g l a
. a
em
also the action — “I paint the wall.”
a s
agl

co m
.
C.5 5. The part of body that helps you think.

em
com g l as
. a
sem

a
agl
brain

.c
m
The brain sits inside the head. It helps us think, remember, speak and move. Spell it: br – a i – n.

m a s e
co agl
Your own sentence: A helmet protects the brain, so we must always wear one.

m .
as e
a g l

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Class 5 English Chapter 2 Gone with the Scooter AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

This links back to the chapter: In Let us Think B.3 you explained why the scooterist
wears a helmet. It is the brain he is protecting.

C.6 6. A slow moving creature with a shell.

snail
A snail is a small, soft creature that carries a hard shell on its back and moves very slowly. Spell
it: sn – a i – l.
Your own sentence: After the rain, a snail crept slowly across our wet courtyard.

Did you know? A snail can pull its whole body inside its shell when it is afraid. The
shell grows along with the snail, so it never becomes too small.

C.7 7. Letters and packages you send or receive.

mail
Mail means the letters and parcels that are sent through the post. Spell it: m – a i – l.
Your own sentence: The postman brought the mail just before lunch.

Careful — two words sound the same: mail is letters and parcels; male means a
boy or a man. They sound alike but mean quite different things, so check the
spelling before you write.

C.8 8. The movements of boats on water.

sail
To sail is to travel on water in a boat or a ship. The big sheet of cloth that catches the wind and
pushes the boat along is also called a sail. Spell it: s – a i – l.
Your own sentence: The fishermen sail out to sea before sunrise.

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Class 5 English Chapter 2 Gone with the Scooter AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Another look-alike pair: sail (on water) and sale (when things are sold cheaply).
Same sound, different spelling, different meaning — just like mail and male.

C.9 9. All animals have them, long or short.

tail
The tail is the part that grows at the back end of an animal’s body. A monkey has a long tail; a
rabbit has a very short one. Spell it: t – a i – l.
Your own sentence: Our dog wags his tail whenever I come home from school.

Look at these three together: mail, sail, tail. They all end in the same three letters
and they all rhyme. Change only the first letter and you get a new word — also nail,
rail, pail, fail, jail.

C.10 10. Steps that takes us from one floor to another.

stairs
Stairs are the steps that take us up from one floor of a building to the next. Spell it: st – a i – r –
s.
Your own sentence: We climbed the stairs to the terrace to fly our kites.

One step or many? We almost always say stairs, in the plural, because there is
never just one. A single step is called a stair or a step.

And one more look-alike: stairs (steps) and stares (looks hard at something). Say
them aloud — they sound the same.

C — All ten answers The complete list of ten words with ‘ai’ in the middle.

Here is the whole table, filled in.

Page 26 of 39

Class 5 English Chapter 2 Gone with the Scooter AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

NO. CLUE WORD

1 Something that has four legs, on which you generally sit. chair (given)

2 Water that falls from clouds. rain

3 A vehicle that runs on tracks. train

4 You use this to colour your wall or pictures. paint

5 The part of body that helps you think. brain

6 A slow moving creature with a shell. snail

7 Letters and packages you send or receive. mail

8 The movements of boats on water. sail

9 All animals have them, long or short. tail

10 Steps that takes us from one floor to another. stairs

Check every answer the same way: Cover the first letters with your thumb and
look at the middle of the word. In all ten, you should see the two letters a and i
standing next to each other. If you cannot see them, the word is wrong.

More ‘ai’ words to collect in your notebook: nail, jail, pail, wait, waist, faint, chain,
plain, praise, afraid, straight, painting, rainbow, mountain, curtain.

Let us Do — Pages 23–24

Page 27 of 39

Class 5 English Chapter 2 Gone with the Scooter AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Prepare and play the board game ‘Tigers and Goats’

LET US DO

Do.1 Prepare a board game to play ‘Tigers and Goats’.

tiger (3) goat (13) empty point

The pattern of the ‘Tigers and Goats’ board, page 23. Draw these lines on your chart
paper. The board has 23 points where the lines meet; the pebbles sit on the points.

1. Take a square piece of cardboard. 2. Paste a chart paper on it. 3. Draw the
pattern as shown in the picture. 4. Collect two different types of pebbles — three
big pebbles and thirteen smaller ones. Paint them red for tigers and green for
goats. Keep three similar pebbles for tigers and thirteen similar pebbles for goats.

What you need: a square piece of cardboard, a sheet of chart paper, glue, a ruler, a black sketch
pen, sixteen pebbles (three big and thirteen small), and red and green paint.
Make the board, step by step:

1. Step 1. Cut a square piece of cardboard, about the size of a large book — say 30 cm by 30
cm.
2. Step 2. Paste a chart paper neatly on top of it. Press out the air bubbles and let it dry.
3. Step 3. With a ruler and a sketch pen, draw the pattern exactly as shown in the book. Draw
the lines first, then put a clear dot at every place where two lines cross. Those dots are the
points. Count them — there must be 23.

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Class 5 English Chapter 2 Gone with the Scooter
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4. Step 4. Wash and dry your pebbles. Paint the three big pebbles red — these are the tigers.
co m
Paint the thirteen small pebbles green — these are the goats. Let them dry fully before you
em.
m l as
.co g
play.

m a
l a se
The pattern you must draw:

a g

co m
e m . ag
g l as
a

co m
em.
m l as
m .co a g
l a se
a g
m a s
m .co agl
l a se
ag

. com
a s em
. comtiger (3) goat (13) agl point (7)
empty
se m
l a
ag The board as it is printed on page 23 — a big triangle with three lines across it and a small block on
each side. There are 23 points in all. The picture shows a game already in progress: all 13 goats and
se m
com
all 3 tigers are on the board, and 7 points are still empty.
g l a
m . a
ase
agl
How to draw the pattern without mistakes:

1. Mark the top point (the apex) in the middle, near the top of your chart paper.

co m
.
2. Draw the bottom line — the base. Mark four points on it: the two corners and two points that

e m
m as
divide it into three equal parts.

.co a g l
em lines inside it.
3. Join the apex to each of those four base points. You now have the big triangle and the two

a s
agl
c
4. Draw three straight lines across, one below the other, going right through the triangle and a

m .
e
little way out on both sides.

om la s
. c g
5. Join up the left ends of the three lines with one short vertical line, and do the same on the

e mblocks. a
s
right. These make the two side

g a meet. Count: 1 at the top, 6 on each of the three cross lines, and
6. Put a dot wherever two llines
a
4 on the base — 1 + 6 + 6 + 6 + 4 = 23.

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Class 5 English Chapter 2 Gone with the Scooter AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Did you know? This is a very old Indian game. In Tamil Nadu it is called Aadu Puli
Aattam, in Karnataka Huli Gatta, and in Nepal a bigger board is used for Bagh Chal.
Children have played it with pebbles for hundreds of years — no batteries needed.

Do.2 How to play the game? • At least two players are needed to play the game. One
player represents the ‘Goat’ and the other represents the ‘Tiger’. • If you are
playing as the ‘Tiger’, your objective would be to ‘defeat’ five goats. If you are
playing as the ‘Goat’, your objective would be to surround all three tigers such
that the tigers cannot make a move. • Both the pebbles can be placed on the
intersecting points. The goat player places a pebble first on any intersection.
Next, the tiger places a tiger stone on any intersection, as indicated. • The tiger
may jump over the goat to the next intersection. If so, the goat is considered
‘captured’ and will be out of the board. • In order to prevent the tiger from
jumping over the goat, the next intersection has to be covered. So the goat player
places another pebble at that intersection. • The goat player places one goat on
the board at a time. The tiger player can either place the tiger stone or move. •
But, the goats cannot move until all thirteen of them are on the board. The tigers
must attempt to ‘capture’ the goats by jumping over them into a free space, the
goat is then taken off the board.

The game in short: Two players. One plays the three tigers, the other plays the thirteen goats.
All pieces sit on the dots, never inside the spaces.
How each side wins:

The tiger player wins by capturing five goats.
The goat player wins by surrounding all three tigers so that not one of them can move
anywhere.

The rules, step by step:

1. Step 1 — the goat starts. The goat player places one goat on any empty point.
2. Step 2 — the tiger answers. The tiger player places a tiger on any empty point, or (once all
three tigers are on the board) moves one tiger along a line to the next empty point.
3. Step 3 — one at a time. The two players keep taking turns. The goat player may only place
one goat per turn — goats may not move at all until every one of the thirteen is on the
board.
4. Step 4 — how a tiger captures. A tiger may jump straight over a goat along a line and land
on the empty point just beyond. That goat is captured and is taken off the board for good.
5. Step 5 — how a goat is saved. A jump only works if the point beyond the goat is empty. So
the goat player fills that point with another goat. Now the tiger has nowhere to land, and the
jump is blocked.

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Class 5 English Chapter 2 Gone with the Scooter AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

6. Step 6 — the end. The game ends when the tigers have taken five goats, or when all three
tigers are stuck with no move left.

TIGER PLAYER GOAT PLAYER

Number of pieces 3 (red) 13 (green)

Aim Capture 5 goats Trap all 3 tigers so none can move

Can it jump? Yes — over one goat into an empty point No — goats never jump

When can it move? As soon as the tiger is on the board Only after all 13 goats are placed

Why the two sides feel so different: The tigers are few but strong — they can jump
and capture. The goats are many but weak — they can only stand in the way. So the
tiger player must look for gaps, and the goat player must close them. It is a game of
strength against numbers.

Three tips for playing well:
As a goat: never leave an empty point directly behind a goat that stands beside a
tiger. Always look one step further along the line.
As a tiger: stay near the corners at the start, because a tiger pushed into a corner is
easy to trap.
For both: play the same game twice, once as each side. You learn far more that way.

Let us Explore — Pages 25–26
A. A chart of games · B. A mini biography · C. A famous hockey player

LET US EXPLORE

A Prepare a chart with the following categories. S. No. | Name of the game |
Outdoor/indoor | Players needed | Equipment needed 1. Kabaddi | outdoor | team
| nil (rows 2 to 10 are blank)

The book fills the first row for you — Kabaddi, outdoor, team, nil — and leaves nine rows
blank. Fill them with games you and your friends really play.

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Class 5 English Chapter 2 Gone with the Scooter AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

What the four columns mean:
Outdoor/indoor — is it played in the open or inside a room?
Players needed — a team, a pair, or any number?
Equipment needed — what things must you have? Write nil if you need nothing at
all.

Sample answer — a completed chart:

S. NAME OF THE OUTDOOR/INDOOR PLAYERS EQUIPMENT NEEDED
NO. GAME NEEDED

1. Kabaddi outdoor team nil

2. Hockey outdoor team (11 a side) sticks, ball, goalposts

3. Kho-kho outdoor team (9 a side) two poles

4. Cricket outdoor team bat, ball, stumps

5. Hopscotch (stapu) outdoor 2 or more chalk, a flat stone

6. Gilli danda outdoor 2 or more a gilli and a danda (two
sticks)

7. Lattoo (spinning outdoor 1 or more a top and a string
top)

8. Tigers and Goats indoor 2 a board and 16 pebbles

9. Carrom indoor 2 or 4 carrom board, coins,
striker, powder

10. Chess indoor 2 chessboard and 32 pieces

What the chart shows once it is full: Look down the last column. Several of our
oldest and best games — kabaddi, kho-kho, hopscotch — need almost nothing. A
flat piece of ground and some friends are enough. A game does not have to be
costly to be good.

How to make your own chart: Take a full sheet of chart paper. Draw the five
columns with a ruler. Write the headings in one colour and the games in another. If
you like, draw a small picture beside each game. Then put your chart up on the class
board.

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Class 5 English Chapter 2 Gone with the Scooter AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

B Write a mini biography about a famous sports person of your choice. You may use
the following hints: • Name of the sportsperson. • Name of the sport the person is
famous for. • When and where the person was born? • List one or two achievements.
• Why the person is famous/inspiring?

A biography is the story of a real person’s life, written by somebody else. A mini biography is a
short one — one paragraph is enough.
How to write it:

1. Choose a sportsperson you truly admire. It is easier to write about someone you have read
about or watched.
2. Take the five hints in the book in order. Each hint gives you one or two sentences.
3. Check your facts — the year of birth, the place, the medal. Ask your teacher or look in a
library book. Never guess a fact in a biography.
4. Write in the past tense for what has already happened, and the present tense for what is still
true.
5. End with the last hint — why the person inspires you. That line is yours, and it is the best
part.

Sample answer:

Major Dhyan Chand

Major Dhyan Chand is one of the greatest hockey players the world has ever seen. He was

born on 29 August 1905 in Allahabad, which is now called Prayagraj, in Uttar Pradesh. He

joined the Indian Army as a young man, and he practised his hockey at night by the light of

the moon — which is why his friends called him “Chand”, the moon.

He won three Olympic gold medals for India in hockey, at Amsterdam in 1928, at Los

Angeles in 1932 and at Berlin in 1936. He was the captain of the team in 1936. He controlled

the ball so closely with his stick that people used to joke that there was a magnet inside it.

Dhyan Chand is inspiring because he became the best in the world with very simple things

— an ordinary stick, a hard field and hours and hours of practice. India remembers him

every year on 29 August, which is our National Sports Day.

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Other sportspersons you could write about: P. T. Usha and Neeraj Chopra

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(athletics), Mary Kom (boxing), P. V. Sindhu and Saina Nehwal (badminton), Mithali
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Find out about a famous hockey player and talk about them.

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1. Choose one hockey player. It could be a player from long ago, like Dhyan Chand or Balbir

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2. Find out five things about the player: full name, where they come from, the position they
play, one big match or medal, and one thing about their early life.
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3. Look in the school library, in an old newspaper, or ask a teacher or an elder at home.

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Class 5 English Chapter 2 Gone with the Scooter AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Today I want to tell you about Rani Rampal.

Rani was born in 1994 in Shahabad Markanda, a small town in Haryana. Her father pulled

a cart for a living, and the family had very little money. She did not even have a proper

hockey stick at first — she began with a broken one she found near the ground.

She played her first match for India when she was only fifteen. She was the captain of the

Indian women’s hockey team at the Tokyo Olympics, where India reached the semi-finals

— the best the team has ever done. She plays as a forward, which means she is one of the

players who score the goals.

I chose Rani Rampal because she shows that where you start does not decide where you
finish. She had no money and no proper stick, but she had practice and patience. That is why

I admire her.

A tip for speaking in class: Say the player’s name clearly at the start and again at
the end. That is the one thing your listeners should remember when you sit down.

Prompt (Speech bubble, page 26) “I can name all the players of the Indian women’s
hockey team! Can you?”

This is the girl in the picture on page 26 challenging you. She is sitting on the grass with her
hockey stick beside her.
How to answer her: A hockey team has eleven players on the field — one goalkeeper, then
defenders, midfielders and forwards — with a few more waiting as substitutes. So to answer her
you need to find and learn eleven names.

1. Look up the Indian women’s hockey team in the sports page of a newspaper, or ask your
teacher to help you find the team list.
2. Write the eleven names in your notebook, and write beside each one the position that player
plays.
3. Learn them the way you learn a poem — say them aloud in the same order every day for a
week.

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Class 5 English Chapter 2 Gone with the Scooter AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

4. Now go back to your friend and answer her challenge.

Sample answer: “Not yet — but I know some of them! I know Savita Punia, who is
our goalkeeper, Rani Rampal, who was our captain, Vandana Katariya, Deep Grace
Ekka, Sushila Chanu and Salima Tete. Give me one week and I will name the whole
team.”

A better challenge back: Learn the names of your own school team as well, and the
position each one plays. It is a fine thing to know the famous players — and a finer
thing to know the players standing next to you.

Why the book puts this here: Boys’ teams are talked about far more often than
girls’ teams. This little speech bubble is a gentle nudge — the girls who play for India
deserve to be known by name too.

Chapter at a glance
The beginning — a sound in the garden. It is a summer afternoon. Gopi is sitting in the
veranda, reading a book. He hears something rustling past and falling with a thud in the
garden. He thinks it may be a mango falling from the tree, so he puts his book aside and
runs out.
The search. Gopi looks in between the thick grass near the garden fence — nothing. He
looks among the bushes — nothing again. Then his eyes fall on a heap of dry leaves. A
white ball is lying on the heap. He picks it up. It is a hockey ball.
The honest thought. Gopi wonders whose ball it can be. He looks around and peeps
outside the gate, but sees no one. His mother calls him in out of the heat. He drinks a glass
of water, lies down on the mat and says to himself, “I can’t keep this ball for myself. I will ask
around.” This one line is the heart of the story.
At the playground. In the evening Gopi goes to the nearby playground where his friends
gather to play hockey. He asks who has lost a ball. Manoj says he lost one four months ago
— too long ago, so it cannot be his. Ramani claims it at once, but when Gopi asks what
colour it is, she only says, “Show me the ball and I will tell you.” Deepak boasts that his
father bought him a brand-new football the day before — and Gopi points out that the ball
he found is a hockey ball. Everyone laughs.
The game. Manoj grabs the ball and tosses it to Deepak. Gopi shouts, “Stop! I say, stop!
Let’s play before it gets dark.” Manoj goes to the goalpost because he likes being
goalkeeper. Gopi stands at the centre with the stick, passes to Deepak, who drives it to
Ramani, who dribbles it to Jay.

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Class 5 English Chapter 2 Gone with the Scooter AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

The ending — the joke. Jay tightens his wrist, keeps the flat side of the stick on the ball and
hits it so hard that it flies past the playground gate and lands in the basket of a passing
scooter. The scooterist does not notice and drives away. By the time the children reach the
gate, the scooter is gone — and so is the ball. They look at each other and burst into
laughter.
What the story means. Two ideas sit inside this funny story. The first is honesty — Gopi
never even thinks of keeping a ball that is not his. The second is taking things lightly —
when the ball is lost again, nobody shouts or blames Jay. They laugh. A good day is not
spoilt by one lost ball.
New Words taught by the chapter: dribble, rustling, grab, boast, unaware, thud.
What the language work teaches. Let us Learn A matches four story words to their
meanings. B fills a small story with the joining words since, however, because, when. C
teaches adverbs — the ones that tell how many times an action happens (often, always,
never, regularly) and the ones that tell when it happens (now, yesterday, immediately). Let us
Speak B trains the ear on the short oo of book against the long oo of Santoor. Let us Write B
builds compound words (sunrise, football) and C hunts for ten words with ai in the middle.
Let us Do makes the old Indian board game Tigers and Goats, and Let us Explore ends with a
chart of games and a mini biography of a sportsperson.

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Class 5 English Chapter 2 Gone with the Scooter AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Quick revision

WORD WHAT IT MEANS WHERE IT APPEARS A SENTENCE OF YOUR
OWN

dribble To move a ball forward with “Ramani dribbled the ball She can dribble the ball
small taps of the stick while you with the stick” right up to the goalpost.
run.

rustling A soft crackling sound, like dry “he heard something rustling I heard the rustling of
leaves or paper moving. past” leaves in the night wind.

grab To take something suddenly and “Manoj grabbed it and tossed Do not grab the pencil
quickly. it over to Deepak.” from my hand; ask for it.

boast To speak too proudly about “Deepak boasted that his He likes to boast about his
yourself or your things. father had bought him a new cycle.
brand-new football”

unaware Not knowing that something has “The scooterist who was She was unaware that her
happened. unaware of what had bag was open.
happened, drove past.”

thud The dull, heavy sound of “falling with a thud in the The heavy book fell with a
something falling. garden” thud.

veranda The open, covered space just “Gopi was sitting in the We sit in the veranda on
outside the rooms of a house. veranda, reading a book.” hot evenings.

heap A pile of things lying on top of “his eyes fell on a heap of dry There was a heap of
one another. leaves” clothes on the bed.

peeped Looked quickly, often through a “peeped outside the gate” I peeped through the
small opening. window to see who had
come.

goalkeeper The player who stands at the “Manoj went to the goalpost Our goalkeeper stopped
goalpost and stops the ball going as he liked to be a five shots today.
in. goalkeeper.”

scooterist The person riding the scooter. “The scooterist who was The scooterist stopped at
unaware…” the red light.

pillion rider The person sitting behind the Let us Think, B.3 My pillion rider is my little
rider on a two-wheeler. brother, and he wears a
helmet too.

adverb A word that tells us more about Let us Learn, C In “She always sings”, the
an action — how often it word always is an adverb.

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Class 5 English Chapter 2 Gone with the Scooter
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