Poem - The Duck and The Kangaroo NCERT Solutions - English Honeydew Class 8

NCERT Solutions for Class 8th: The Duck and the Kangaroo (Poem) Honeydew English

Working with Poem

Q1. Taking words that come at the end of lines, write five pairs of rhyming words. Read each pair aloud
For example, pond – beyond
Answer
Five pairs of rhyming words are as follows:
(i) Hop − stop
(ii) Back − Quack
(iii) Duck − luck
(iv) Reflection − objection
(v) Bold – cold

Q2. Complete the dialogue.
Duck: Dear Kangaroo! Why don’t you ________
Kangaroo: With pleasure, my dear Duck, though __________
Duck: That won’t be a problem. I will __________

Answer
Duck: Dear Kangaroo! Why don’t you give me a ride on your back?
Kangaroo: With pleasure, my dear Duck, though your feet are unpleasantly wet and cold and I might catch rheumatism.
Duck: That won’t be a problem. I will wear worsted socks and cloak and smoke a cigar every day to keep out the cold.

Q3. The Kangaroo does not want to catch ‘rheumatism’. Spot this word in stanza 3 and say why it is spelled differently. Why is it in two parts? Why does the second part begin with a capital letter?
Answer
The word ‘rheumatism’ is spelled differently and is in two parts so that it can rhyme with ‘kangaroo’ in the following line. As a result of splitting the word into two and changing its spelling, ‘roo’ rhymes with ‘kangaroo’. The second part ‘Matiz’ begins with a capital letter because it is the first word of the line. In a poem, every line begins with a capital letter even if it is in continuation with the previous line. Hence, this has been done in order to enhance the poetic effect of the lines.