Class 8 English Chapter 6 Question Answers - This is Jody’s Fawn

Comprehension Check (Page 86)

Q1: What had happened to Jody’s father?
 Ans: Jody's father had been bitten by a rattlesnake.

Q2: How did the doe save Penny’s life?
 Ans: Jody's father killed the doe to save Penny's life. He used the doe's heart and liver to draw out the snake's poison after Penny was bitten. This act ensured that Penny survived the dangerous situation.

Q3: Why does Jody want to bring the fawn home?
 Ans: Jody wanted to bring the fawn home because his father had killed the doe. Without its mother, the young fawn was at risk of starvation in the forest. Jody felt a strong sense of responsibility and compassion, prompting him to rescue the fawn.

Q4: How does Jody know that the fawn is a male?
 Ans: Jody recognised that the fawn was a male because the spots on its body were arranged in a straight line. In contrast, a female fawn, or doe, has spots that are scattered in various directions.

Comprehension Check (Page 87) 

Q1: Jody didn't want Mill-wheel with him for two reasons. What were they?
 Ans: Jody didn't want Mill-wheel to accompany him during the search for the fawn for two main reasons. Firstly, he was concerned about the safety of the fawn and did not want to risk exposing Mill-wheel to any potential danger. Secondly, Jody feared that if he could not find the fawn, he would not want Mill-wheel to witness his disappointment.

Q2: Why was Mill-wheel afraid to leave Jody alone?
 Ans: Mill-wheel was concerned about leaving Jody alone because he feared that Jody might become lost in the jungle. He worried that Jody could encounter dangers, such as getting bitten by a snake, without anyone there to help him.

Comprehension Check (Page 90) 

Q1: How did Jody bring the fawn back home?
Ans: Jody picked up the fawn and carried it home. After walking for a while, he set the fawn down to rest. When he started moving again, the fawn followed him. This is how he brought the fawn back home.

Q2: Jody was filled with emotion after he found the fawn. Can you find at least three words or phrases which show how he felt?
 Ans: (i) (The fawn) shook him through with the stare of its liquid eye.
 (ii) The touch of the fawn made him delirious.
 (iii) As though the fawn were a china deer.

Q3: How did the deer drink milk from the gourd?
 Ans: Jody dipped his fingers into the milk and offered them to the fawn. The fawn eagerly sucked on his fingers, and Jody repeated this several times. Eventually, the fawn managed to drink all the milk from the gourd.

Q4: Why didn't the fawn follow Jody up the steps as he had thought it would?
Ans:The fawn did not follow Jody up the steps because it struggled to understand how to lift its feet to climb.

Working with the Text (Page 90) 

Q1: Why did Penny Baxter allow Jody to go find the fawn and raise it?
Ans: Penny allowed Jody to find and raise the fawn because he was persuaded by Jody's reasoning. Jody argued that it would be ungrateful to leave the fawn in the forest to starve. Penny recognised that Jody was correct in his thinking.

Q2: What did Doc Wilson mean when he said, “Nothing in the world ever comes quite free”?
Ans: Doc Wilson meant that Penny must repay the doe he killed for his own benefit by caring for her fawn.

Q3: How did Jody look after the fawn, after he accepted the responsibility for doing this?
Ans: Jody cared for the fawn as if it were his own child. He fed it by dipping his fingers in milk and letting it suckle, mimicking how a mother would feed her baby. This nurturing act filled Jody with joy, as he was delighted to have found the fawn.

Q4: How does Jody’s mother react when she hears that he is going to bring the fawn home? Why does she react in this way?
Ans: Jody's mother reacted negatively when she learned he was bringing home the fawn. She gasped in surprise and turned her nose up, as she did not want an animal in their home.

Jody's Farm

Working with Language (Page 90)   

Q1. Look at these pairs of sentences.
Penny said to Jody, “Will you be back before dinner?”
Penny asked Jody if he would be back before dinner.
“How are you feeling, Pa?” asked Jody.
Jody asked his father how he was feeling.

(Page No. 91)

Here are some questions in direct speech. Put them into reported speech.
(i) Penny said, “Do you really want it son?”
Ans: Penny asked his son if he really wanted the fawn.

(ii) Mill-wheel said, “Will he ride back with me?”
Ans: Mill-wheel enquired if Jody would ride back with him. 

(iii) He said to Mill-wheel, “Do you think the fawn is still there?”
Ans: Jody asked Mill-wheel if he thought the fawn was still there. 

(iv) He asked Mill-wheel, “Will you help me find him?”
Ans: He asked Mill-wheel if he would help him find the fawn. 

(v) He said, “Was it up here that Pa got bitten by the snake?”
Ans: Mill-wheel wanted to know if that was the place where Pa had got bitten by the snake.

Q2: Look at these two sentences.
He tumbled backward.
 It turned its head.
The first sentence has an intransitive verb, a verb without an object. The second sentence has a transitive verb. It has a direct object. We can ask: “What did it turn?” You can answer. “Its head. It turned its head.”
 Say whether the verb in each sentence below is transitive or intransitive. Ask yourself a ‘what’ question about the verb, as in the example above. (For some verbs, the object is a person, so ask the question ‘who’ instead of ‘what’).

(i) Jody then went to the kitchen.
Ans. intransitive

(ii) The fawn wobbled after him.
Ans. intransitive

(iii) You found him.
Ans. transitive

(iv) He picked it up. 
Ans. transitive

(v) He dipped his fingers in the milk.
Ans. transitive

(vi) It bleated frantically and butted him.
Ans. intransitive, transitive

(vii) The fawn sucked his fingers. 
Ans.  transitive

(viii) He lowered his fingers slowly into the milk. 
Ans.  transitive

(ix) It stamped its small hoofs impatiently.
Ans.  transitive

(x) He held his fingers below the level of the milk. 
Ans.  transitive

(xi) The fawn followed him.
Ans.  transitive

(xii) He walked all day.
Ans. intransitive.

(xiii) He stroked its sides. 
Ans.  transitive

(xiv) The fawn lifted its nose.
Ans.  transitive

(xv) Its legs hung limply. 
Ans. intransitive.

(Page No. 92)

Q3: Here are some words from the lesson. Working in groups, arrange them in the order in which they would appear in the dictionary. Write down some idioms and phrasal verbs connected to these words. Use the dictionary for more idioms and phrasal verbs.
close, draw, make, wonder, scrawny, parted, clearing, sweet, light, pick,
Ans: Idioms or phrasal verbs connected to the above words.
Clearing: clearing, campaign
Close: close shave, close up, close quarters
Draw: draw the curtain on/over, draw a blank
Light: in the light of, bring to light
Make: make the most of, make up
Part: part with, parted comparing
Pick: pick up, pick and choose
Scrawny: the scrawny neck
Sweet: have a sweet tooth, sweet seventeen, sweet tongued, sweet nothings
Wonder: wonder world, wonder load, nine day’s wonder, wonder about, do wonders.

Speaking (Page 92)   

Q1: Do you think it is right to kill an animal to save a human life? Give reasons for your answer.
Ans: Most of the animals are our friends. Dogs, horses, elephants, cows are a few such animals that serve us. But man has been killing codfish or the whales for oil. Tigers are killed for their skin and bones. This is not fair. But there is no harm if any of them are killed strictly to save human life, properly and agriculture. However, killing animals is a crime. It is wrong to kill wild life for their hide or for pleasure. 

Q2: Imagine you wake up one morning and find a tiny animal on your doorstep. You want to keep it as a pet but your parents are not too happy about it. How would you persuade them to let you keep it? Discuss it in groups and present your argu­ments to the class.
Ans: The young ones of cats, dogs and some birds attract us as does a human child. When I was a child, I wanted to adopt a kitten or a puppy as pet. I found a good breed puppy at my doorstep one day. But it created a commotion in the house. My mother got irritated at the veiy presence of pets in the house. They bite and bark, enter the kitchen or sit on our beds and make things dirty. But I assured her that I would look after my puppy and train it. The loyal dog would act as security guard and a playmate. My parents finally relented and let me have the poor puppy as a pet. 

Writing (Page 92)

Q1: Imagine you have a new pet that keeps you busy. Write a paragraph describing your pet, the things it does, and the way it makes you feel. Here are some words and phrases that you could use. 
frisky, smart, disobedient, loyal, happy, enthusiastic, companion, sharing, friend, rolls in mud, dirties the bed, naughty, lively, playful, eats up food, hides the newspaper, drinks up milk, runs away when called, floats on the water as if dead. 
Ans: I have taken a kitten as my pet. It is female with silky fur and skin. She keeps me busy. My mother does not take interest in my pet. She curses the little one for doing mischief, for moving about in the house, for making the bed and floor dirty. The kitten enters the kitchen and drinks up milk. She is naughty and disobedient also. She is most unlike a dog which is loyal, obedient and strong. Still I like my pet because it is lively, playful and frisky. 

Q2: Human life is dependent on nature (that’s why we call her Mother Nature). We take everything from nature to live our lives. Do we give back anything to nature? 
(i) Write down some examples of the natural resources that we use.
Ans: Man and nature are complementary to each other. Man for ages has been using forests, minerals and chemicals for his survival. Earth and nature are our lifelines. They help us directly or indirectly. Take for example the paper we print, our books and newspapers. They are products of trees. We get fruits, flowers and fodder from nature. We get water and air free from nature. It is unfortunate that we are over using the limited resources and are also polluting them.
Nature is our Mother. We must not use up anything to the extent that it is not restored naturally. By cutting down trees or killing whales we are, in a way, depriving our children of their share. Let us give back to nature for the benefits we get from it.

(ii) Write a paragraph expressing your point of view regarding our relationship with nature.
Ans:  Some of the natural resources that we use are water, coal, mineral oil, etc.

Q3: In This is Jody’s Fawn, Jody’s father uses a “home remedy’ for a snake bite. What
should a person now do if he or she is bitten by a snake? Are all snakes poisonous?
With the help of your teacher and others, find out answers to such questions. Then write a short paragraph on—What to do if a snake chooses to bite you.
Ans: Snakes are the most dreaded of wild creatures. This is why we use sticks to kill them. There are many poisonous snakes. Green snakes or water snakes are not poisonous. Still we cannot be sure of it. So we don’t take a chance. We call in a snake charmer to draw the cobra out of the house. A snake-bite can kill the victim in a few minutes. But the victim can be saved if he gets the first aid in the form of blood-letting and anti-venom serum. The cure for snake bite is prepared front the snake’s poison.
In case I am bitten by a poisonous snake, the first thing I would do is to put a band tightly over the bitten part. Then I shall use a blade or knife to make a small cut on the bitten part, and press the poisonous blood out. Then I shall go to hospital for medical help. I shall not go to sleep until I feel better and safe.