Chapter 4 – A Day in the Zoo Solution

Content Structure

  • 1. About the author – Gerald Malcolm Durrell
  • 2. Theme of the A Day in the Zoo
  • 3. Summary of the A Day in the Zoo
  • 4. Word meanings
  • 5. Exercise Solutions
    • Exercise – 1
    • Exercise – 2
    • Exercise – 3
  • 6. Grammar in use
    • Exercise – 4
    • Exercise – 5
    • Exercise – 6
  • 7. Composition
    • Exercise – 7
    • Exercise – 8

Link for Extra Questions and Answers

1. About the author – Gerald Malcolm Durrell

Gerald Malcolm Durrell was a famous British nature lover, writer, and animal keeper. He was born on 7 January 1925 in Jamshedpur, India. Later, he lived in England and on the Greek island of Corfu, which gave him ideas for many of his books. He wrote funny and interesting books like My Family and Other Animals, where he told stories about his family and wildlife. He also started the Jersey Zoo and the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust to save animals in danger. His work taught people why protecting animals and nature is important. He died 30 January 1995.

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2. Theme of the A Day in the Zoo

  • The story shows that a zoo is not only for visitors to watch animals but also a home where animals live. The keepers clean cages, give food, and check their health every day.
  • The story shows the writer’s love for animals. He gently describes their habits, like the peacock dancing, parrots talking, and gorillas playing like children, which makes the zoo feel happy and alive.
  • The story compares animals with careless visitors while animals live peacefully, some people disturb them by throwing stones, poking, or giving harmful things like cigarettes. This shows humans can be the real danger.
  • The story explains that owning a zoo is hard work. The staff and the writer must watch over the animals day and night, from cleaning cages to caring for naughty gorillas.
  • The story celebrates the beauty of nature inside the zoo. Birds sing in the morning, animals move about, reptiles rest quietly, and owls wake at night together, they make the zoo full of life all day long.

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3. Summary of the A Day in the Zoo

The story shows the difference between visiting a zoo and living in one. Visitors come for fun, but the owner can watch the animals anytime, care for them, give them food, and check their health. The zoo day begins before sunrise, when birds like the robin, blackbird, thrush, and colorful touraco sing. Peahens walk on the grass, and a peacock dances, showing its bright tail in the sun. At eight o’clock, the staff comes with buckets and brushes. The gorillas are allowed to come out while their cages are cleaned, and they play like children, pulling at heaters and lights. The keepers Stephen, Mike, and Jeremy clean the cages with fresh sawdust. The monkeys, parrots, mongooses, and armadillos also get busy, and Suku, the parrot, proudly says, “I’m a very fine bird.” In the reptile house, snakes, frogs, and lizards rest in the warm air. At ten o’clock, the zoo opens for visitors, and the staff must protect the animals, not the people, because some visitors disturb animals by throwing stones or offering harmful things like cigarettes. The story ends with evening in the zoo, when the visitors leave and the golden sun shines on the pigeons’ cage. The robin goes to rest, the owls open their eyes, and the chimpanzees quarrel for straw to sleep on. At night, the lions cough, and soon the birds sing again to welcome the morning.

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4. Word meanings

 WordMeanings
1.Rush outGo quickly
2.TingedSlightly coloured
3.Robin singingBird’s song
4.HoarseRough voice
5. TouracosBrightly coloured African birds
6. ThrushA singing bird with a sweet voice
7. Dewy grassWet grass
8. MammalsAnimals that give birth to babies and feed them milk
9. GraniteHard stone
10. WrenchPull hard
11. SocketsOpenings where plugs or wires are fixed
12. FluorescentBright light
13. PlumpSlightly fat and round
14. ApesAnimals like monkeys but without tails
15. Sweep upClean
16. ScatterTo spread things around
17. CacophonyA mix of loud, unpleasant sounds
18. PatterQuick, light tapping sound
19. ArmadilloAn animal with a hard shell-like body
20. TwitchingSmall, quick movements
21. GulpingSwallowing quickly or noisily
22. ProdTo poke or push with something
23. SlantingSloping
24. ChorusMany sounds

5. Exercise Solutions

Link for Extra Questions and Answers

Exercise – 1

Tick the correct answer from the given alternatives:

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1. The average day in a zoo begins just before
(a) Dusk
(b) Dawn
(c) Afternoon
(d) Evening

Ans: (b) Dawn

2. The birds searching the dewy grass on the lawns were
(a) Peahens
(b) Peacocks
(c) Robins
(d) Thrushes

Ans: (a) Peahens

3. Stephen with a broom in his hand was guarding over the
(a) Bears
(b) Gorilla
(c) Apes
(d) Armadillo

Ans: (c) Apes

4. The name of the black Celebes ape was
(a) Etam
(b) Jeremy
(c) Mike
(d) Stephen

Ans: (a) Etam

5. The reptiles dozed in the temperature of
(a) Sixty degrees
(b) Seventy degrees
(c) Eighty degrees
(d) Ninety degrees

Ans: (c) Eighty degrees

Exercise – 2

Link for Extra Questions and Answers

Answer the following questions within fifteen words:

(a) How does the sky look as one is awakened by the birdsong?
Ans: The sky looks slightly tinged with yellow when one is awakened by the birdsong.

(b) How do the parrots and parakeets salute the people?
Ans: The parrots and parakeets salute people with a loud, noisy, and colourful chorus of sounds.

(c) What do all the animals do at the start of a new day?
Ans: The animals wake up and move around happily when a new day begins.

(d) Where does the robin go when evening comes?
Ans: The robin goes to rest in the mimosa tree when evening comes.

Exercise – 3

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Answer the following questions within twenty-five words:

(1) What work do Jeremy and Mike do in the gorillas’ cages?
Ans: Jeremy and Mike sweep the gorillas’ cages and spread fresh sawdust on the floor to keep them clean.

(2) Describe the state of the frogs and snakes in the reptile house?
Ans: In the reptile house, frogs make gulping sounds, and snakes lie quietly in the warm air, looking at the visitors with their lidless eyes.

(3) What would one see and hear while lying in bed at night?
Ans: At night, one can see the moon rise, hear the lions cough, and listen to the chimpanzees before the birds begin their morning song.

Link for Extra Questions and Answers

6. Grammar in use

Exercise – 4

Classify the underlined adverbs according to their functions in the chart given below:

(a) I have already done the job.
(b) Bappa can go anywhere for his work.
(c) Puja often comes to my place.
(d) Nargis sings Sweetly.

Functions of adverbs

MannerTimePlace Frequency
SweetlyAlreadyAnywhereOften

Exercise – 5

Underline the clauses in the following sentences and state what kind of clauses they are:

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(a) As he was not there, I spoke to his brother.
Ans: Adverb Clause

(b) The house where Nazrul was born in Churulia.
Ans: Adjective Clause

(c) She said that she would return soon.
Ans: Noun Clause

(d) have you read the book that you borrowed from me?
Ans: Adjective Clause

Exercise – 6

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Identify the following sentences as simple, complex or compound sentence:

(a) He is too tired to walk alone.
Ans: Simple

(b) I have a friend who lives in Mumbai.
Ans: Complex

(c) Priyam wrote a letter but he got no reply.
Ans: Compound

(d) Being ill, I could not attend school.
Ans: Simple

(e) She told me that she would enter a house which is believed to be haunted.
Ans: Complex

(f) The sun shines brightly and the flowers bloom.
Ans: Compound

7. Composition

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Exercise – 7

Write a letter to the Headmaster/Headmistress of your school within 100 words seeking leave for three days to visit your ailing grandmother.

To
The Headmaster/Headmistress
Delhi Public High School,

Respected Sir/Madam,

I am writing to request your kind permission to take leave from school for three days, from 17/05/2023 to 19/05/2023. My grandmother, who lives in Mumbai, has been very ill for the past few days. My parents and I have decided to visit her, as she needs care and attention during this time. I will also take help from my classmates to complete any homework or classwork given during those days. Kindly allow me to leave so that I may go with my family to see my grandmother.

I shall be grateful for your kind consideration.

Yours obediently,
Gita Saha
Class: V
Roll No: 5

Exercise – 8

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Write a letter to a friend within 100 words narrating your experience of visiting a wild life sanctuary.

Dear Rajat,

I hope you are doing well. I want to share with you my exciting trip to a wildlife sanctuary that I visited last week with my parents. It was one of the most memorable experiences of my life. The sanctuary was very large, filled with trees, grasslands, and water bodies. Animals moved freely in their natural areas.

I saw elephants bathing in the river, groups of deer running across the fields, and monkeys jumping from one tree to another. The most amazing sight was the peacock dancing with its colorful feathers spread out. We also saw many kinds of birds, like parrots, hornbills, and kingfishers.

It was peaceful and beautiful, far away from the noise of the city. I learned how important it is to protect animals and save their homes.

I really wish you were with me on this trip. We would have enjoyed it together.

Yours lovingly,
Suraj

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