Students can Download English Poem 5 Somebody’s Mother Questions and Answers, Summary, Notes Pdf, Activity, KSEEB Solutions for Class 8 English helps you to revise the complete Karnataka State Board Syllabus and to clear all their doubts, score well in final exams.
Karnataka State Syllabus Class 8 English Poem Chapter 5 Somebody’s Mother
Somebody’s Mother Questions and Answers, Summary, Notes
Textbook Questions and Answers
C1. Answer the following questions and share your responses with your partner.
Question 1.
What kind of a woman do you find in this poem?
Answer:
She was an old, poor woman with grey hair. She was wearing torn clothes. She was very weak and slow.
Question 2.
Where was the woman standing? Why was she standing there?
Answer:
The old woman was standing at the crossing. She wanted to cross the street and go to the other side.
Question 3.
Why was the woman very anxious?
Answer:
She was anxious because she had been standing at the crossing for long, but no one cared to help her cross.
Question 4.
What are the children compared to?
Answer:
The children are compared to a flock of sheep.
Question 5.
Did the boys lend the old woman a helping hand?
Answer:
No. They did not.
Question 6.
Why was the old woman hesitating to cross the street?
Answer:
She was afraid that she would come under the wheels of a carriage or a horse’s feet, in that slippery street.
Read and Write:
C2. Read and discuss your responses with your partner. Then write.
Question 1.
How did the boy help the old woman?
Answer:
The boy stopped near the old woman and asked her if he could help her to cross the street. The old woman accepted his offer gladly and placed her hand on his arm. The boy led her carefully across the street.
Question 2.
What made the boy happy?
Answer:
The thought that he had helped an old woman made him very happy.
Question 3.
What did the boy tell his friends?
Answer:
The boy told his friends that the old woman was somebody’s mother. She was fragile, weak, and poor. He had helped her hoping that some person would help his mother when she became old, poor, and weak.
Question 4.
What did the old woman say in her prayers that night? Why?
Answer:
The old woman prayed to God to be kind to the boy who had helped her. She was greatly impressed by the noble character of the little boy.
Question 5.
Do you like this poem? Why or why not?
Answer:
Yes. I do like this poem. It teaches us to be kind to people who need help.
C3. Answer the following as directed.
1. Pick out the rhyming words in the poem, and read them aloud.
grey – day
snow – slow
long – throng
by – eye
shout ‘ – out
sheep – deep
grey – way
her – stir
grey – away
boy – joy
feet – street
troop – group
low – go
arm – harm
along – strong
went content
know – slow
hand – understand
head – said
2. Name the figure of speech in these lines.
a) ‘________came the boys __________
like a flock of sheep’ What are the boys compared to?
Simile: The boys are compared to a flock of sheep.
b) Her aged hand on his strong young arm.
Antithesis: There is a contrast of words (aged hand – strong young arm).
Comprehension:
Read the following extracts and answer the questions that follow:
Question 1.
Nor offered a helping hand to her, So meek, so timid, afraid to stir.
a) Who is ‘her’?
b) Who did not offer help to her?
c) Why was the lady afraid to stir?
Answer:
a) The old woman.
b) The children who came that way.
c) The lady was old and bent and her feet aged and slow. So, she was afraid to stir.
Question 2.
He guided the trembling feet along, Proud that his own were firm and strong.
a) Who guided the trembling feet?
b) Whose feet were trembling? Why?
c) Why was he proud?
Answer:
a) The happiest boy in the group.
b) The feet of the woman due to old age.
c) He was proud that he was strong enough to help an old woman.
Question 3.
God be kind to the noble boy Who is somebody’s son and pride and joy.
a) Who said this prayer?
b) Who is the noble boy referred to?
c) Why did she pray for him?
Answer:
a) The old woman.
b) The boy who had helped her cross the road.
c) Because of all the boys in the group, he was the only one who had helped her.
Multiple Choice Questions
Four alternatives are given for each of the following questions/ incomplete statements. Choose the most appropriate one.
Question 1.
The poem ‘Somebody’s Mother’ is written by
A) Mary Dow Brine
B) Isaac Watts
C) Sarojini Naidu
D) Rudyard Kipling
Answer:
A) Mary Dow Brine
Question 2.
Where was the woman standing in the poem ‘Somebody’s Mother’?
A) at the gate of a house
B) at the road crossing
C) under a tree
D) in front of a school
Answer:
B) at the road crossing
Question 3.
‘Hailing the snow, piled white and deep’. The word ‘hailing’ means
A) clearing
B) welcoming
C) attracting
D) digging
Answer:
B) welcoming
Question 4.
‘He guided the trembling feet along’ means
A) the feet started trembling as he crossed
B) the feet started trembling as he guided them
C) the feet trembled because the street was wet
D) he helped the old woman cross the street.
Answer:
D) he helped the old woman cross the street.
Somebody’s Mother Summary in English
Mary Dow Brine (1816-1913) was an American writer. She was a poet, author and lyricist. She is famous for her poems and books for children. ‘Somebody’s Mother’ is a poem which highlights the importance of helping the old and weak people. When all others neglect her, a boy helps an old woman to cross the street.
A poor old woman with grey hair and torn clothes was walking along the street on a very cold winter’s day. She was unable to walk quickly because she was old. The street was covered with snow. It was wet and slippery. She -stood at the crossing for a long time thinking that somebody would help her to cross the street. But, she stood in the midst of a crowd, alone and uncared for. Not even a single passerby looked at her.
After the school was over, a group of boys came running down the snow-covered street laughing and shouting like a flock of sheep. The children ran past the old woman at great speed. No boy stopped to help her. The old woman, who was mild, did not have the confidence to move even. She was afraid that she would be crushed under the carriage wheels or the horses’ feet in that slippery street. Finally, the happiest boy of that children’s group came. He saw her. He stopped by her and said to her if she wished he would help her to cross the street.
The old woman placed her aged hand on the boy’s strong arm. The boy guided her across the street. He took care that she was not hurt or harmed in any way. Satisfied with what he had done, the boy ran and joined his friends. He told his friends that the old woman was somebody’s mother. She was aged, poor and weak. So, he had helped her. He also hoped when he was far away some person would help his mother if she became poor and weak with age. On that night the old woman sat down to pray. She prayed to God to be kind to the noble boy who was somebody’s son and the pride and joy of his mother.
Somebody’s Mother Summary in Kannada
