NCERT Solutions Class 8, English, Honeydew, Poem "The Duck and the Kangaroo".
Working with the poem
1. Taking words that come at the end of lines, write five pairs of rhyming words. Read each pair aloud
For example, pond – beyond
Solution:
Kangaroo — too; hop — stop
back — quack; pond — beyond;
duck — luck.;
2. 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
_____________
Solution:
Duck: Dear Kangaroo, why don’t you plan a world tour with-with me.
Kangaroo: With pleasure, my dear Duck though I am afraid your webbed feet would trouble me.
Duck: That won’t, be a problem. I will cover them with woollen socks.
3. The Kangaroo does not want to catch ‘rheumatism’. Spot this word in stanza 3 and say why it is spelt differently. Why is it in two parts? Why does the second part begin with a capital letter?
Solution:
roo — Matiz = rheumatism
The word ‘roo’ rhymes with the Kangaroo.
The other word ‘Matiz’ refers subtly to rheumatism. The word ‘rheumatism’ has been split in two parts for the sake of rhyme and a disease.
4. Do you find the poem humorous? Read aloud lines that make you laugh.
Solution:
Yes, the poem is humorous. Take for example:
“But quite at the end of my tail.”
“And every day a cigar I’ll smoke”.