Class 7 English Honeycomb Poem 7 Question Answers - Poem 7 - Dad and the Cat and the Tree

Q1: Plan C was a success. What went wrong then?
Ans: Even through Plan C was a success, it did not work out as planned. The moment the father reached the tree top, the cat jumped and touched the ground and was again out of father’s reach.

Q2: Describe the cat and Dad’s situation in the beginning and at the deft of the poem.
Ans: At the onset, the cat was stuck on the tree and father was confident to be able to drive it away. By the time the poem ended, the cat was free and the father got stuck in the tree.

Q3: Do you find the poem humorous? Read aloud lines which make you laugh.
Ans: Yes, the poem is humorous. It draws funny situation of Dad while climbing trees. Moreover, Dad over-confidence of climbing tree added more humour to the poem. The dialogue is written in more funny way.

Q4: The cat was very happy to be on the ground. Pick out the phrase used to express this idea.
Ans: The phrase used to express this idea is ‘pleased as punch to be’.

Q5: Why and when did Dad say each of the following?
(i) fall?
(ii) never mind
(iii) funny joke
(iv) rubbish
Ans:
(i) Dad said ‘fall?’ when Mum warned him about fall while climbing the tree. He said so scornfully.
(ii) Having fallen to the ground, the father did not give up and brushing the dirt from his hair and clothes said, “never mind”.
(iii) Dad said “funny joke” when mum warned him of falling again. He said so because he was over confident of the success of the his Plan B.
(iv) After the second fall. When his wife intervened saying that he might break his neck, he again dismissed her concern by saying “rubbish”.

Q6: This morning a cat got
Stuck in our tree.
Dad said, “Right, just
Leave it to me.”
The tree was wobbly,
The tree was tall.

Mum said, “For goodness’
Sake don’t fall!”
“Fall?” scoffed Dad,
“A clipiber like me?
Child’s play, this is!
You wait and see.”
Explanation
The narrator discusses that one morning a cat got stuck in the tree. His father told him that he will manage to drive away the cat. Since the tree was unstable, the narrator’s mother was full of doubts as to how easy would it be for her husband to climb the tree. Therefore, she warned him that he might fall. He dismissed away these warnings by saying that he was a good climber and climbing the tree was as easy as a child’s play.
(i) Who is ‘me’ in the above lines?
(ii) What was the information given about the tree?
(iii) Why was the mother scared?
(iv) How can you say that father was confident?
Ans:
(i) ‘Me’ is the poet in the above lines.
(ii) The tree was tall but wobbly.
(iii) The mother was scared because she knew that ‘Dad’ would hurt himself while saving the cat.(iv) He boasts of his climbing skills. He called it as a child’s play.

Q7: “Funny joke!”
Then he swung himself up
On a branch. It broke.
Dad landed wallop
Back on the deck.

Mum said, “Stop it,
You’ll break your neck!”
“Rubbish!” said Dad.
“Now we’ll try Plan C.
Easy as winking
To a climber like me!”
Explanation
The narrator father muses away his wife’s warning. Still laughing, he swung himself on a branch, but the branch broke and he again fell on the ground. The narrator’s mother begged him to stop as he might break his neck from falling again and again. The narrator’s father, then, decided to try plan C. He was still confident that being a great climber he would succeed.
(i) What was‘Funny joke’for dad?
(ii) What happened when he climbed again?
(iii) What was mother’s reaction when he fell?
(iv) How much easy was the ‘Plan C’?
Ans:
(i) ‘When mother was worried that he might fall again.
(ii) When ‘Dad’ climbed again, the branch broke and he fell down again.
(iii) Mother asked him to stop climbing again as he would hurt himself.
(iv) Dad called Plan C as easy winking of eyes.

Q8: He got out the ladder
From the garden shed.
It slipped. He landed
In the flower bed.
“Never Mind,” said Dad,
Brushing the dirt

Off his hair and his face
And his trousers and his shirt,
“We’ll try Plan B. Stand
Out of the way!”
Mum said, “Don’t fall
Again, O.K.?”
Explanation
The narrator’s father brings out a ladder from the garden shed. But, it slipped and father fell on the ground. The narrator’s father brushes off the dirt from his hair and clothes, cleans his face and begins to think about another plan to drive away the cat. His wife, however, again warns him, that he might fall again.
(i) From where did he bring the ladder?
(ii) Where did he land?
(iii) Why did Dad say ‘Nevermind’?
(iv) What was mother’s reaction when she heard about plan B?
Ans:
(i) He brought ladder from garden shed.
(ii) He landed in the flower bed.
(iii) Dad said ‘Never mind’ because he was not discouraged by falling.
(iv) Mother was worried when she heard of plan B.

Q9: Then he climbed up high
On the garden wall.
Guess what?
He didn’t fall!
He gave a great leap
And he landed flat
In the crook of the tree-trunk
Right on the cat!
The cat gave a yell
And sprang to the ground,

Pleased as Punch to be
Safe and sound.
So it’s smiling and smirking,
Smug as can be,
But poor old Dad’s
Still
Stuck
Up
The
Tree!
Explanation
The narrator’s father climbed up the high garden wall and this time he did not fall. The father, with a great leap, finally landed on the tree top, right on the cat. The moment the father landed on the cat, the cat screamed with fear and sprang to the ground. Landing smoothly on the ground, it seemed content with itself. While his father got stuck on the tree.
(i) Why do you think he climbed on the garden wall?
(ii) Where did he land?
(iii) What did the cat do to save itself?
(iv) Who turned out to be victorious?
Ans:
(i) He climbed on the wall to take a great leap to climb the tree.
(ii) He landed in the crooked part of the tree and on the top of the cat.
(iii) The cat shrieked and sprang on the ground to save itself.
(iv) The cat saved itself whereas ‘Dad’ was stuck on the tree trunk. So the cat would be called as victorious.