NCERT Textbook: Feathered Friend | English Poorvi Class 8 - New NCERT PDF Download

 Page 1


UNIT 5
SCIENCE AND CURIOSITY
FEATHERED FRIEND
Let us do these activities before we read.
I Work in pairs and discuss the questions given below. Share your 
answers with your classmates and teacher.
1. Who can a ‘feathered’ friend be? 
2. Which ‘feathered’ friend do you like? Why?
3. If you have a choice between a ‘feathered’ and a ‘furry’ friend, who 
would you choose? Why?
4. Do you think a ‘feathered’ or a ‘furry’ friend can accompany astronauts 
to space? If yes, why? If no, why not?
Unit 5.indd   205 20-05-2025   11:30:00
Page 2


UNIT 5
SCIENCE AND CURIOSITY
FEATHERED FRIEND
Let us do these activities before we read.
I Work in pairs and discuss the questions given below. Share your 
answers with your classmates and teacher.
1. Who can a ‘feathered’ friend be? 
2. Which ‘feathered’ friend do you like? Why?
3. If you have a choice between a ‘feathered’ and a ‘furry’ friend, who 
would you choose? Why?
4. Do you think a ‘feathered’ or a ‘furry’ friend can accompany astronauts 
to space? If yes, why? If no, why not?
Unit 5.indd   205 20-05-2025   11:30:00
Poorvi
206
II Complete the words given below by inserting vowels. Refer to their 
meanings given alongside. Share your answers with your classmates 
and teacher.
1. official rule that controls how something is done: R _ G _ L _ T _ _ N
2. to not allow something: F _ R B _ D
3. join or blend to form a single entity: F _ S _
4. suddenly: _ B R _ P T L Y
5. admit one’s mistake: C _ N F _ S S
6. a person who advises what to eat to keep healthy: D_ _ T _ T _ _ N
Let us read
Unit 5.indd   206 13-05-2025   15:41:40
Page 3


UNIT 5
SCIENCE AND CURIOSITY
FEATHERED FRIEND
Let us do these activities before we read.
I Work in pairs and discuss the questions given below. Share your 
answers with your classmates and teacher.
1. Who can a ‘feathered’ friend be? 
2. Which ‘feathered’ friend do you like? Why?
3. If you have a choice between a ‘feathered’ and a ‘furry’ friend, who 
would you choose? Why?
4. Do you think a ‘feathered’ or a ‘furry’ friend can accompany astronauts 
to space? If yes, why? If no, why not?
Unit 5.indd   205 20-05-2025   11:30:00
Poorvi
206
II Complete the words given below by inserting vowels. Refer to their 
meanings given alongside. Share your answers with your classmates 
and teacher.
1. official rule that controls how something is done: R _ G _ L _ T _ _ N
2. to not allow something: F _ R B _ D
3. join or blend to form a single entity: F _ S _
4. suddenly: _ B R _ P T L Y
5. admit one’s mistake: C _ N F _ S S
6. a person who advises what to eat to keep healthy: D_ _ T _ T _ _ N
Let us read
Unit 5.indd   206 13-05-2025   15:41:40
Science and Curiosity
207
I
To the best of my knowledge, there’s never been a regulation 
that forbids one to keep pets in a space station. No one ever 
thought it was necessary—and even had such a rule existed, 
I am quite certain that Sven Olsen would have ignored it.
Actually he was a wiry little fellow, like most of the early 
spacers, and managed to qualify easily for the 150-pound 
bonus that kept so many of us on a reducing diet. Had he been 
built otherwise, his chances of getting a job in space would 
have been very slim. 
Sven was one of our best construction men, and excelled at 
the tricky and specialised work of collecting assorted girders
as they floated around in free fall, making them do the 
slow-motion, three-dimensional ballet that would get them 
into their right positions, and fusing the pieces together when 
they were precisely dovetailed into the intended pattern: 
it was a skilled and difficult job, for a space suit is not the most 
convenient of garbs in which to work. However, Sven’s team 
had one great advantage over the construction groups you see 
putting up skyscrapers down on Earth. They could step back 
and admire their handiwork without being abruptly parted 
from it by gravity.
Don’t ask me why Sven wanted a pet, or why he chose the 
one he did. I’m not a psychologist, but I must admit that his 
wiry: thin but 
strong
assorted:
consisting of 
various types 
mixed together
girders: long, 
thick piece of 
steel or concrete 
that supports a 
large structure
precisely:
exactly
dovetailed:
fitted together
garbs: clothing 
of a special kind
handiwork:
creation
abruptly:
unexpectedly/ 
suddenly 
Unit 5.indd   207 13-05-2025   15:41:41
Page 4


UNIT 5
SCIENCE AND CURIOSITY
FEATHERED FRIEND
Let us do these activities before we read.
I Work in pairs and discuss the questions given below. Share your 
answers with your classmates and teacher.
1. Who can a ‘feathered’ friend be? 
2. Which ‘feathered’ friend do you like? Why?
3. If you have a choice between a ‘feathered’ and a ‘furry’ friend, who 
would you choose? Why?
4. Do you think a ‘feathered’ or a ‘furry’ friend can accompany astronauts 
to space? If yes, why? If no, why not?
Unit 5.indd   205 20-05-2025   11:30:00
Poorvi
206
II Complete the words given below by inserting vowels. Refer to their 
meanings given alongside. Share your answers with your classmates 
and teacher.
1. official rule that controls how something is done: R _ G _ L _ T _ _ N
2. to not allow something: F _ R B _ D
3. join or blend to form a single entity: F _ S _
4. suddenly: _ B R _ P T L Y
5. admit one’s mistake: C _ N F _ S S
6. a person who advises what to eat to keep healthy: D_ _ T _ T _ _ N
Let us read
Unit 5.indd   206 13-05-2025   15:41:40
Science and Curiosity
207
I
To the best of my knowledge, there’s never been a regulation 
that forbids one to keep pets in a space station. No one ever 
thought it was necessary—and even had such a rule existed, 
I am quite certain that Sven Olsen would have ignored it.
Actually he was a wiry little fellow, like most of the early 
spacers, and managed to qualify easily for the 150-pound 
bonus that kept so many of us on a reducing diet. Had he been 
built otherwise, his chances of getting a job in space would 
have been very slim. 
Sven was one of our best construction men, and excelled at 
the tricky and specialised work of collecting assorted girders
as they floated around in free fall, making them do the 
slow-motion, three-dimensional ballet that would get them 
into their right positions, and fusing the pieces together when 
they were precisely dovetailed into the intended pattern: 
it was a skilled and difficult job, for a space suit is not the most 
convenient of garbs in which to work. However, Sven’s team 
had one great advantage over the construction groups you see 
putting up skyscrapers down on Earth. They could step back 
and admire their handiwork without being abruptly parted 
from it by gravity.
Don’t ask me why Sven wanted a pet, or why he chose the 
one he did. I’m not a psychologist, but I must admit that his 
wiry: thin but 
strong
assorted:
consisting of 
various types 
mixed together
girders: long, 
thick piece of 
steel or concrete 
that supports a 
large structure
precisely:
exactly
dovetailed:
fitted together
garbs: clothing 
of a special kind
handiwork:
creation
abruptly:
unexpectedly/ 
suddenly 
Unit 5.indd   207 13-05-2025   15:41:41
Poorvi
208
selection was very sensible. Claribel weighed practically 
nothing, her food requirements were tiny—and she was not 
worried, as most animals would have been, by the absence 
of gravity.
I first became aware that Claribel was aboard when I was 
sitting in the little cubbyhole laughingly called my office, 
checking through my lists of technical stores to decide what 
items we’d be running out of next. When I heard the musical 
whistle beside my ear, I assumed that it had come over the 
station intercom, and waited for an announcement to follow. 
It didn’t; instead, there was a long and involved pattern of 
melody that made me look up with such a start that I forgot 
all about the angle beam just behind my head. When the stars 
had ceased to explode before my eyes, I had my first view 
of Claribel.
She was a small yellow canary, hanging in the air as motionless 
as a hummingbird—and with much less effort, for her wings 
were quietly folded along her sides. We stared at each other for 
a minute; then, before I had quite recovered my wits, she did 
a curious kind of backward loop I’m sure no earthbound 
canary had ever managed, and departed with a few leisurely 
flicks. It was quite obvious that she’d already learned how to 
operate in the absence of gravity, and did not believe in doing 
unnecessary work.
Sven didn’t confess to her ownership for several days, and 
by that time it no longer mattered, because Claribel was a 
general pet. He had smuggled her up on the last ferry from 
Earth, when he came back from leave—partly, he claimed, 
out of sheer scientific curiosity. He wanted to see just how a 
bird would operate when it had no weight but could still use 
its wings.
Claribel thrived and grew fat. On the whole, we had little trouble 
concealing our guest when VIPs from Earth came visiting. 
A space station has more hiding places than you can count; 
the only problem was that Claribel got rather noisy when she 
was upset, and we sometimes had to think fast to explain the 
curious peeps and whistles that came from ventilating shafts
and storage bulkheads.
There were a couple of narrow escapes—but then who would 
dream of looking for a canary in a space station?
aboard: on an 
aircraft
cubbyhole: a 
small enclosed 
space or room
ceased: stopped
canary: a 
popular bird 
which people 
love to keep as 
pets; found in 
open areas with 
small trees and 
shrubs  
wits: ability to 
think quickly
flicks:
sudden, quick 
movements
concealing:
hiding
ventilating 
shafts:
passageways or 
ducts that allow 
fresh air in a 
closed space
bulkheads:
dividing walls 
or barriers 
between 
separate 
compartments 
in an aircraft 
Unit 5.indd   208 13-05-2025   15:41:42
Page 5


UNIT 5
SCIENCE AND CURIOSITY
FEATHERED FRIEND
Let us do these activities before we read.
I Work in pairs and discuss the questions given below. Share your 
answers with your classmates and teacher.
1. Who can a ‘feathered’ friend be? 
2. Which ‘feathered’ friend do you like? Why?
3. If you have a choice between a ‘feathered’ and a ‘furry’ friend, who 
would you choose? Why?
4. Do you think a ‘feathered’ or a ‘furry’ friend can accompany astronauts 
to space? If yes, why? If no, why not?
Unit 5.indd   205 20-05-2025   11:30:00
Poorvi
206
II Complete the words given below by inserting vowels. Refer to their 
meanings given alongside. Share your answers with your classmates 
and teacher.
1. official rule that controls how something is done: R _ G _ L _ T _ _ N
2. to not allow something: F _ R B _ D
3. join or blend to form a single entity: F _ S _
4. suddenly: _ B R _ P T L Y
5. admit one’s mistake: C _ N F _ S S
6. a person who advises what to eat to keep healthy: D_ _ T _ T _ _ N
Let us read
Unit 5.indd   206 13-05-2025   15:41:40
Science and Curiosity
207
I
To the best of my knowledge, there’s never been a regulation 
that forbids one to keep pets in a space station. No one ever 
thought it was necessary—and even had such a rule existed, 
I am quite certain that Sven Olsen would have ignored it.
Actually he was a wiry little fellow, like most of the early 
spacers, and managed to qualify easily for the 150-pound 
bonus that kept so many of us on a reducing diet. Had he been 
built otherwise, his chances of getting a job in space would 
have been very slim. 
Sven was one of our best construction men, and excelled at 
the tricky and specialised work of collecting assorted girders
as they floated around in free fall, making them do the 
slow-motion, three-dimensional ballet that would get them 
into their right positions, and fusing the pieces together when 
they were precisely dovetailed into the intended pattern: 
it was a skilled and difficult job, for a space suit is not the most 
convenient of garbs in which to work. However, Sven’s team 
had one great advantage over the construction groups you see 
putting up skyscrapers down on Earth. They could step back 
and admire their handiwork without being abruptly parted 
from it by gravity.
Don’t ask me why Sven wanted a pet, or why he chose the 
one he did. I’m not a psychologist, but I must admit that his 
wiry: thin but 
strong
assorted:
consisting of 
various types 
mixed together
girders: long, 
thick piece of 
steel or concrete 
that supports a 
large structure
precisely:
exactly
dovetailed:
fitted together
garbs: clothing 
of a special kind
handiwork:
creation
abruptly:
unexpectedly/ 
suddenly 
Unit 5.indd   207 13-05-2025   15:41:41
Poorvi
208
selection was very sensible. Claribel weighed practically 
nothing, her food requirements were tiny—and she was not 
worried, as most animals would have been, by the absence 
of gravity.
I first became aware that Claribel was aboard when I was 
sitting in the little cubbyhole laughingly called my office, 
checking through my lists of technical stores to decide what 
items we’d be running out of next. When I heard the musical 
whistle beside my ear, I assumed that it had come over the 
station intercom, and waited for an announcement to follow. 
It didn’t; instead, there was a long and involved pattern of 
melody that made me look up with such a start that I forgot 
all about the angle beam just behind my head. When the stars 
had ceased to explode before my eyes, I had my first view 
of Claribel.
She was a small yellow canary, hanging in the air as motionless 
as a hummingbird—and with much less effort, for her wings 
were quietly folded along her sides. We stared at each other for 
a minute; then, before I had quite recovered my wits, she did 
a curious kind of backward loop I’m sure no earthbound 
canary had ever managed, and departed with a few leisurely 
flicks. It was quite obvious that she’d already learned how to 
operate in the absence of gravity, and did not believe in doing 
unnecessary work.
Sven didn’t confess to her ownership for several days, and 
by that time it no longer mattered, because Claribel was a 
general pet. He had smuggled her up on the last ferry from 
Earth, when he came back from leave—partly, he claimed, 
out of sheer scientific curiosity. He wanted to see just how a 
bird would operate when it had no weight but could still use 
its wings.
Claribel thrived and grew fat. On the whole, we had little trouble 
concealing our guest when VIPs from Earth came visiting. 
A space station has more hiding places than you can count; 
the only problem was that Claribel got rather noisy when she 
was upset, and we sometimes had to think fast to explain the 
curious peeps and whistles that came from ventilating shafts
and storage bulkheads.
There were a couple of narrow escapes—but then who would 
dream of looking for a canary in a space station?
aboard: on an 
aircraft
cubbyhole: a 
small enclosed 
space or room
ceased: stopped
canary: a 
popular bird 
which people 
love to keep as 
pets; found in 
open areas with 
small trees and 
shrubs  
wits: ability to 
think quickly
flicks:
sudden, quick 
movements
concealing:
hiding
ventilating 
shafts:
passageways or 
ducts that allow 
fresh air in a 
closed space
bulkheads:
dividing walls 
or barriers 
between 
separate 
compartments 
in an aircraft 
Unit 5.indd   208 13-05-2025   15:41:42
Science and Curiosity
209
Let us discuss
I Answer the following questions briefly.
1. Why did the narrator think Sven had sneaked a bird aboard? What 
was Sven’s scientific reason?
2. How did Claribel adjust to the new surroundings?
3. What made the narrator mistake the musical whistle for a sound from 
the intercom?
4. Do you think the presence of the canary would lead the spacers into 
trouble? If yes, why? If no, why not?
II
We were now on twelve-hour watches, which was not as bad as 
it sounds, since you need little sleep in space. Though of course 
there is no ‘day’ and ‘night’ when you are floating in permanent 
sunlight, it was still convenient to stick to the terms. Certainly 
when I woke that ‘morning’ it felt like 6:00 a.m. on Earth. I had 
a nagging headache, and vague memories of fitful, disturbed 
dreams. It took me ages to undo my bunk straps, and I was still 
only half awake when I joined the remainder of the duty crew 
in the mess. Breakfast was unusually quiet, and there was one 
seat vacant.
nagging:
persistently 
painful
Unit 5.indd   209 13-05-2025   15:41:43