Our Runaway Kite Solutions

Ch 5 – Our Runaway Kite Solutions

Content Structure

1. About the author – (Lucy Maud Montgomery)
2. Summary
3. Word meanings
4. Comprehension exercises
- Unit – 1
- Unit – 2
- Unit – 3
5. Grammar in Use
6. Writing activities

1. About the author – (Lucy Maud Montgomery)

Lucy Maud Montgomery was a Canadian author, born on November 30, 1874. She was well known for her series of novels beginning with Anne of Green Gables. She used clear and simple words in her writing and described people and places using everyday language. This made all her books feel real, beautiful, and interesting, readers could easily understand the emotions of the characters. She wrote many novels, poems, and short stories. In 1935, she was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. She passed away on April 24, 1942.

2. Summary

In the story, the writer talks about the value of family, which brings happiness and friendship to the children. The story is about a kite incident that helps bring a lost family back together. Philippa is the narrator of the story. She lived with her father, who was the lighthouse keeper and her brother Claude at the Big Half Moon Lighthouse where there were no other children to play with. In the winter, Philippa, Claude, and their father went to the mainland because the sea was frozen, when spring came they again returned to their beautiful lighthouse where life was calm and peaceful. People on the mainland often felt sorry for Philippa because they thought she must be lonely on the island. Philippa found this funny because she and Claude enjoyed their time together in the lighthouse more than on the mainland. She and Claude sometimes asked their father why they had no family like a mainland and he always replied, “It was my fault” but they did not understand what he meant. In summer, the island looked even more beautiful with the calm blue sea and soft winds, which made the children happy. Every summer they had a new hobby. The summer before Mimi and Dick came, they were busy making and flying kites. They made many kites with colorful paper and their favorite was a big one made with bright red paper. They decorated it with silver stars and wrote their full names on it: Philippa Leete and Claude Leete, Big Half Moon Lighthouse. One windy day, they wanted to fly the red kite but Philippa tripped over some rocks and tore a big hole in it. They quickly tried to fix it because they would not miss the perfect weather, but they had no red paper left. They used an old letter from the bookcase to patch it and dried it by the fire. The kite flew beautifully for a while but then the string snapped and the kite flew away to the mainland. About a month later, a letter came for their father after reading it, he looked very sad. Then he told them the truth: a long time ago, he had a brother and a sister. One day he had quarreled with his brother and left home, many years later he returned but his brother had died and no one knew where his sister had gone. The letter on the kite was the same one their father had received long ago. It was found by his sister, Aunt Esther, who was now a widow and lived far inland with her two children, Dick and Mimi. One day, Dick and Mimi found the kite stuck in a tree and took it home. When Aunt Esther saw the letter used to patch the kite and the names on it, she realized who the children were and wrote to the Big Half Moon Lighthouse about her own family. The next day, their father went to find Aunt Esther and he came back with her, Dick, and Mimi. Now Philippa and Claude had a bigger family and lived with their aunt, cousins, and father happily and joyfully.

3. Word meanings

1. Keeper – A person who takes care or guards something
2. Harbour – A safe place for boats
3. Island – A small land middle of the water
4. Lonesome – Alone
5. Pirate – A sea robber
6. Lighthouse – A tower with a light for boats.
7. Seem to – Appear to
8. A great deal of – Enough
9. Jolly – Cheerful
10. Sail – Go on A boat
11. Frozen – Changed into ice
12. Hobby – Fun free-time activity
13. Calm – Quiet
14. Shipwrecked – A ship that is wrecked by the accident
15. Tripped – Fell
16. Bookcase – A shelf for keeping books
17. Snap – Cut or torn with a sound
18. Tinsel – Shiny decoration
19. Plenty – Many
20. Mariners – Sailors
21. Signalling – Sending a message
22. Afterward – Later
23. Widow – A woman who lost her husband
24. Patched – Fixed a hole
25. Pale – Colorless or dull
26. Discovered – Found
27. Inland – Away from the sea
28. Quarrelled – Argued

4. Comprehension exercises

Unit – 1

1. Choose the correct alternative to complete the following sentences.

(a) The keeper of the Big Half Moon Lighthouse is
(i) Aunt Esther
(ii) Father
(iii) Claude
(iv) Dick

Ans: (ii) Father

(b) The family moved over to the mainland in
(i) summer
(ii) spring
(iii) monsoon
(iv) winter

Ans: (iv) winter

Ans: (iii) sorrowful

2. Fill in the chart with information from the text:

(a) name of the island	Big Half Moon
(b) age of Claude	Twelve
(c) the game played by Claude and the narrator	Playing pretend pirate games

3. State whether the following statements are True or False. Provide sentences/phrases/words in support of your answer:

(i) People felt that Claude and the narrator were lonesome in the island. (True)
S/S: The funny part used to be that people always pitied us when the time came for us to return. They said we must be so lonesome over there.

(ii) Claude and the narrator quarreled. (False)
S/S: We often quarrel with the mainland children, but never with each other.

(iii) Nobody on the mainland had relations. (False)
S/S: Everybody on the mainland had relations.

Unit – 2

4. Choose the correct alternative to complete the following sentences:

(a) In summer the Big Half Moon is always
(i) lovely
(ii) unpleasant
(iii) boring
(iv) dull

Ans: (i) lovely

(b) Back on the island, Claude and the narrator made plenty of
(i) puppets
(ii) masks
(iii) kites
(iv) envelope

Ans: (iii) kites

Ans: (ii) letter

5. Complete the following sentences with the information from the text:

(i) A boy on the mainland showed Claude how to make kites.
(ii) On the kite, Claude and the narrator pasted gold tinsel stars.
(iii) Claude was standing with a bit of cord in his hand, looking foolish.

6. Fill in the chart with information from the text:

Statement	Reason
(a) The narrator’s elbows went through the kite.	Because the narrator tripped and fell over the rocks.
(b) Claude and the narrator hurried to fix the kite.	Because they wanted to send it up before the wind stopped.
(c) The kite soared.	Because the wind was strong and perfect for flying.

Unit – 3

7. Choose the correct alternative to complete the following sentences:

(a) A letter came for father after a
(i) day
(ii) week
(iii) fortnight
(iv) month

Ans: (iv) month

(b) father left home after quarreling with his
(i) brother
(ii) sister
(iii) aunt
(iv) uncle

Ans: (i) brother

Ans: (ii) tree

8. Fill in the chart with information from the text:

(a) A person who sent letter	Aunt Esther
(b) name of Aunt Esther’s mother	Philippa
(c) total number of family members in the narrator’s family at present	Six (Father, Claude, Philippa, Aunt Esther, Dick, Mimi)

9. Answer the following questions:

(a) What did father find when he went back home years afterward?
Ans: Years later, when Father returned home, he found that his brother had died and his sister was missing.

(b) Where did Aunt Esther live?
Ans: Aunt Esther lived many miles away from the island in a calm, peaceful place with her two children, Dick and Mimi.

(c) Why did Aunt Esther turn pale?
Ans: Aunt Esther turned pale when she saw that the kite was patched with the letter she had written to her brother many years ago.

5. Grammar in Use

10. Change the following sentences into questions.

(a) Shankha lives in Alipurduar. (information question using “where”)
Ans: Where does Shankha live?

(b) They have gone to the picnic. (Interrogative sentence using “where”)
Ans: Where have they gone?

(c) I went to school yesterday. (Simple question using “did”)
Ans: Did you go to school yesterday?

(d) Tia studies in class X. (Information question using “which”)
Ans: Which class does Tia study in?

6. Writing activities

11. Suppose your bicycle has a sudden tyre puncture on your way to school. You have taken the cycle to a repair shop. Write an imaginary dialogue (within 100 words) between the shopkeeper and you.

Ans: This is a dialogue between a shopkeeper (Mr. Das) and Raju.

Raju: Hello, Mr. Das. Can you repair my bicycle?
Mr. Das: Yes, of course. What is wrong with your cycle?
Raju: The front tyre is punctured.
Mr. Das: Okay. Wait a minute. After I finish checking this other cycle I’ll work on yours.
Raju: Thank you. I just got a new tyre and tube with my cycle a week ago.
Mr. Das: It depends on how you use it. The roads are not in good condition these days.
Raju: That’s true.
Mr. Das: I’ve finished the work. It’s fine now.
Raju: How much is it?
Mr. Das: Rs. 10.
Raju: Here you go. (hands over a 10-rupee note)
Mr. Das: Thank you. Visit again.
Raju: Okay.

12. Write a story (within 100 words) using the given hints. Give a suitable title to the story.
Crow sitting on tree – piece of meat in his mouth – fox passing under the tree – wants the meat – asks the crow to sing – crow keeps meat under its feet and sings – fooled – fox leaves.

The clever fox and the crow

Once, a crow was sitting on a tree with a piece of meat in its beak. A fox was passing by under the tree when he saw the crow with the meat. He felt tempted and wanted to eat it, so he came up with a plan. The fox began to praise the crow especially its sweet voice. He asked the crow to sing a song. The crow flattered by the fox’s words and decided to sing. It placed the meat under its feet and started singing loudly. As it sang and moved with excitement the meat slipped from its feet and fell to the ground. The fox quickly picked it up and ran away happily.

Moral: Never trust someone who only says nice things to get something.