Class:- 7 English (An Alien Hand) Chapter - 1 The Tiny Teacher Summary, Word Meanings, NCERT Solutions & Frequently Asked Questions

Class:- 7 English 

(An Alien Hand)

Chapter - 1

The Tiny Teacher 

Summary, Word Meanings, NCERT Solutions & Frequently Asked Questions  

-- Summary --

⭐ Summary in English 

The story of an ant’s life is too remarkable to be true. An ant is the smallest and the wisest creature that we have seen.

Ants have comfortable homes. Each home has hundreds of little rooms and passages. In some of these rooms the queen ant lays eggs. Others are nurseries for the young ants. Workers have their reserved quarters. Some rooms serve as storehouses for food. Soldiers have separate barracks. Ants in a house never quarrel with each other.

Each ant does its share of work intelligently and bravely. So the ants lead a very peaceful life. We know so many other facts about ant’s life. People have kept ants as pets. They have watched their daily behaviour closely. An ant uses its feelers or antennae to talk to or to greet other ants. There are many kinds of ants. The commonest among them are the black or red ones.

The queen ant is the mother of the entire population of ants of a colony. It has a pair of wings. After its wedding flight, it gets rid of its wings. After that it does nothing but lay eggs. Eggs hatch and grubs come out. Grubs take two or three weeks to become cocoons. Cocoons take three more weeks to become perfect ants. Thus it takes five or six weeks for a grub to become a complete ant. 

When the eggs become grubs, soldiers guard them. Worker ants carry the grubs about for airing, exercise and sunshine. New ants are trained for the jobs of workers like soldiers, builders, cleaners etc. After a few weeks’ training, the small ants are ready to go out for work.

Creatures other than the ants also live in the anthill. These are beetles, lesser breed of ants and the greenfly. Some of them give smell pleasant to the ants; others give various juices, and some are just pets or playthings. The ants train greenfly to give honeydew. They milk it just as we milk the cow.

Man can learn many things from the ant, the “tiny teacher”. Hard work, sense of duty, discipline, cleanliness and care for the young ones are some of them. Above all an ant has firm loyalty to the land where it lives. Hard work is easy to see as each ant does its duty most regularly. Sense of duty and discipline are the most important qualities of an ant’s life. That is why, the ants of a colony are never seen to fight each other. All ants together take care of the young ones. Queen ant lays the eggs and soldiers guard the grubs. Workers feed and clean them. They also carry them about for airing, exercise and sunshine. New ants are taught by the old ones.

⭐ Summary In Hindi

चींटी के जीवन की कहानी ऐसी अद्भुत है कि उस पर विश्वास करना कठिन है। जितने प्राणियों को हम जानते हैं। उनमें चौंटी सबसे छोटी और सबसे बुद्धिमान है।

चींटियों के घर आरामदेह होते हैं। हर घर में सैकड़ों रहने के छोटे कमरे और रास्ते होते हैं। इनमें से कुछ कमरों में रानी चींटी अंडे देती है। अन्य कमरे बच्चा चींटियों की नर्सरी हैं। कर्मियों के कमरे रिजर्व होते हैं। कुछ कमरों में भोजन भंडार होते हैं। सैनिकों की बैरकें अलग होती हैं। एक घर के अंदर रहने वाली चींटियाँ कभी आपस में नहीं लड़ती हैं।

हर चींटी अपने हिस्से का काम चतुराई और बहादुरी से करती है। इस प्रकार चींटियों का जीवन बड़ा शांतिपूर्ण होता है। हम चींटियों के जीवन के बारे में अन्य बहुत-सी बातें जानते हैं। लोगों ने चींटियों को पाला है। उन्होंने उनके दिन-प्रतिदिन के व्यवहार को निकट से देखा है। चींटी अपने ‘फीलर्स’ या ‘ऐंटीना’ का दूसरी चीटियों से बात करने या अभिवादन करने के लिए प्रयोग करती है। चींटियाँ कई प्रकार की होती हैं। उनमें सबसे साधारण (चींटियाँ), काली या लाल चींटियाँ हैं।

रानी चींटी कालोनी की सारी चींटियों की माता होती है। इसके पंखों की जोड़ी है। शादी की उड़ान के बाद यह अपने पंखों को छोड़ देती है। इसके बाद यह अंडे देने के अतिरिक्त कुछ नहीं करती है। अंडे देने पर ग्रब निकलते हैं। ग्रब को ककून बनने में दो या तीन सप्ताह लग जाते हैं। पूर्ण चींटी बनने में ककून को तीन सप्ताह और लग जाते हैं। इस प्रकार ग्रब को पूर्ण चींटी बनने में पाँच या छ: सप्ताह लग जाते हैं।

अंडे जब ग्रब बनते हैं तो सैनिक उनकी रक्षा करते हैं। कर्मी चींटियाँ ग्रब को हवा देने, कसरत कराने और धूप खिलाने ले जाती हैं। नई चींटियों को, सैनिक, भवन निर्माता, सफाई कर्मचारी आदि के काम सिखाए जाते हैं। कुछ सप्ताह के प्रशिक्षण के बाद नई चींटियाँ बाहर जाकर काम करने लायक हो जाती हैं।

चींटियों की बाँबी में चींटियों के अतिरिक्त कुछ अन्य प्राणी भी रहते हैं। ये भूग, चींटियों की निम्नतर नसलें और माहूँ हैं। इनमें से कुछ चींटियों की मनपसंद गंध छोड़ते हैं ; दूसरे तरह-तरह के रस देते हैं और कुछ केवल मात्र खिलौने होते हैं। माहूँ को चींटियाँ मधुरस देने के लिए प्रशिक्षित करती हैं। वे उसे इसी तरह दुहती हैं जैसे हम गाय दुहते हैं।

मनुष्य इस ‘नन्हे अध्यापक’ चींटी से बहुत-सी बातें सीख सकता है। इनमें से कुछ कठोर मेहनत, कर्तव्यनिष्ठा, अनुशासन, सफाई और बच्चों की देख-रेख हैं। सबसे ऊपर उस धरती के प्रति चींटी की दृढ़ वफादारी है जहाँ वह रहती है। कठोर मेहनत को देखना बड़ा आसान है क्योंकि हर चींटी अपना काम बड़े नियमित रूप से करती है। अनुशासन और कर्तव्यनिष्ठा चींटी के जीवन के सर्वाधिक महत्त्वपूर्ण गुण हैं। यही कारण है कि एक कालोनी में रहने वाली चींटियाँ कभी आपस में लड़ती नहीं हैं। सारी चीटियाँ मिल-जुल कर बच्चों की देखभाल करती हैं। रानी चींटी अंडे देती है और सैनिक ग्रब की देखभाल करते हैं। कर्मी उन्हें भोजन देते हैं और साफ करते हैं। वे उन्हें हवा देने, कसरत करने और धूप खिलाने भी ले जाते हैं। पुरानी चींटियाँ नई चींटियों को शिक्षित करती हैं।

-- Moral -- 

Hardwork & Discipline are the jewels of life.

-- Word Meanings -- 

• Tiny - छोटा

• Insect - किड़ा

• Wisest - ज्ञानी, समझदार

• Commonest - सबसे आम 

• Untrue - असत्य 

• Behaviour - व्यवहार

• Come from - से आना 

• Pay attention - देना 

• Anthill - बांबी

• Passage - गली 

• Lay eggs - अंडे देना 

• Barracks - कमरे

• Peaceful - शांतिपूर्ण 

-- NCERT Solutions -- 

Comprehension Check (Page 3)

Question 1:- "The story of an ant’s life sounds almost untrue."

The italicised phrase means

a) highly exaggerated.

b) too remarkable to be true.

c) not based on facts.

Answer:- a) highly exaggerated.

Question 2:- Complete the following sentences.

a) An ant is the smallest____________________________

b) We know a number of facts about an ant’s life because___________________________

Answer:-

a) insect we have seen.

b) people have kept the ants as pets and watched their behaviour closely.

Question 3:- In what ways is an ant’s life peaceful?

Answer:- The ants live in peace because each one does its share of work honestly, wisely and bravely. They don’t interfere in the work given to others. They never fight in their group.

Comprehension Check (Page 5)

Question 1.- How long does it take for a grub to become a complete ant?

Answer:- The grubs take in three to six weeks to become cocoons and then to be a complete ant.

Question 2.- Why do the worker ants carry the grubs about?

Answer:- The grubs are carried about daily for airing, exercise and sunshine.

Question 3.- What jobs are new ants trained for?

Answer:- The new ants learn their duties from old ants as workers, soldiers, builders, cleaners, etc. 

Question 4.- Name some other creatures that live in anthills.

Answer:- Some other creatures that live in anthills are beetles, lesser breeds of ants and the open fly.

Question 5.- Mention three things we can learn from the ‘tiny teacher’. Give reasons for choosing these items.

Answers:- We can learn from the tiny ants the lessons of hard work, sense of duty and discipline, cleanliness, loyalty and care for the young ones. These lessons are necessary for the happiness and smooth working of the society.

-- Exercise -- 

Discuss the following topics in groups.

Question 1:- 

a) What problems are you likely to face if you keep ants as pets?

Answer:- Keeping ants as pets is very uncommon or rare. The reason is that they don’t take orders. They follow their own rules. Above all, they bite and spoil the food.

b) When a group of bees finds nectar, it informs other bees of its location, quantity, etc. through dancing. Can you guess what ants communicate to their fellow ants by touching one another’s feelers?

Answer:- By touching one another’s feelers, the ants give message to others about new-found food.

Question 2:- Complete the following poem with words from the box below.

Soldiers live in barracks

And birds in (a)___________________ ,

Much like a snake that rests

In a (b)__________________ . No horse is able

To sleep except in a (c)____________________ .

And a dog lives well,

Mind you, only in a (d)____________________ .

To say *hi’ to an ant if you will,

You may have to climb an (e)____________________ .

 hole, kennel, nests, anthill, stable 

Answer:-

(a) nests

(b) hole

(c) stable

(d) kennel

(e) anthill.

-- Previous Year Questions --

Question 1:- Who looks after the grubs and how?

Answer:- Soldiers and workers look after the grubs. Soldiers guard them. Workers feed and clean them, and also carry them about daily for airing, exercise and sunshine.

Question 2:- How much time do grubs take for becoming cocoons? What do the cocoons do after that?

Answer:- Grubs take two or three weeks for becoming cocoons. After that cocoons lie with- out-food or activity for three weeks more. Then they break and perfect ants ap­pear.

Question 3:- Why do ants want alien creatures to live in their nests?

Answer:- Some give off smell pleasant to the ants’ senses; others give sweet juices; and some are just pets or playthings like cats and dogs to human beings.

Question 4:- Why do the ants train the greenfly?

Answer:- The greenfly is the ants’ cow. The ants train it to give honeydew (like milk) with a touch of their antennae. They milk it just as we milk the cow.

Question 5:- What are the functions of feelers or antennae for an ant?

Answer:- An ant uses its feelers or antennae to talk to other ants. It passes messages through them. It greets other ants by touching one another’s feelers.

Question 6:- What do you know about worker ants?

Answer:- Worker ants live in their reserved quarters. They search for food most of their time. They do only their own share of work.

Question 7.- What do you know about the homes of the ants?

Answer:- The homes of the ants are called ‘nests’ or ‘anthills’. Each nest has hundreds of little rooms and passages. The queen ant lays eggs in some of the rooms. Other rooms serve as nurseries for the gurbs ( young ants). Some rooms serve as store houses for food. Some rooms serve as reserved quarters for workers or barracks for soldiers. Cleaners also live in the nests.

Question 8.- What do you know about the queen ant?

Answer:- The queen ant is known as the ‘Mother Ant’. It has a pair of wings. It bites them off after its ‘wedding fight’. This fight takes place on a hot summer day. The queen leaves the nest and goes out to meet a male ant, or drone, high up in the air. On its return to earth, it gets rid of its wings and then does nothing but lay eggs.

-- By Durgesh Pandey

(Eklavya Coaching Institute)

📞 8376976688, 9310533915

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