NCERT Solutions for Class 7 English Honeycomb Chapter 6 Expert Detectives is available here. These solutions are prepared by our subject expert to help students in their exams and homework. NCERT Solutions for Class 7 English Chapter 6 Expert Detectives questions and answers are very helpful for CBSE exam. Students of Class 7 can study the answers provided here to score well in their school exams.
Comprehension Check
Question 1: What did Nishad give Mr Nath? Why?
Answer: Nishad gave a bar of chocolate to Mr. Nath because he thought that Mr. Nath was poor and starving.
Question 2: What is “strange” about Mr Nath’s Sundays?
Answer: The strange about Mr. Nath’s Sundays is that there was a particular visitor who used to visit every Sunday and both of them used to have lunch together.
Question 3: Why did Nishad and Maya get a holiday?
Answer: It was raining heavily and the streets were flooded with the downpour. The traffic was blocked and the children got a holiday because of all this.
Working with the Text
Question 1: What does Nishad find out about Mr Nath from Ramesh?
Arrange the information as suggested below.
• What he eats
• When he eats
• What he drinks, and when
• How he pays
Answer: Ramesh told Nishad that Mr Nath was not very particular about what he ate. It was always the same food—two chapattis, some dal and a vegetable. He used to have this food in the morning and in the evening. Mr Nath would drink tea once in the morning and once in the afternoon. Ramesh said that Mr Nath would pay in cash and was also a generous tipper.
Question 2: Why does Maya think Mr Nath is a crook? Who does she say the Sunday visitor is?
Answer: Maya thought that Mr. Nath was a crook because of his strange appearance and he did not work. He never talked to anyone at Shankar House though he had been living there for more than a year. He had scars on his face which according to Maya, must have been the burn scars which would have got when police had set his house on fire. Moreover, he didn’t receive any letters and had only one visitor to visit him. She said that the Sunday visitor must be his accomplice in crime and he came every now and then to give part of it to his partner.
Question 3: Does Nishad agree with Maya about Mr. Nath? How does he feel about him?
Answer: No, Nishad does not agree with Maya about Mr. Nath. He thinks that Mr. Nath is lonely and poor person who is starving. He thinks that Mr. Nath is a kind person who despite having less money for himself, gives tips to Ramesh.
Working with Language
Question 1: Match the word with its meanings below.
The word ‘tip’ has only three letters but many meanings. Match the word with its meanings below.
| (i) finger tips | − be about to say something |
| (ii) the tip of your nose | − make the boat overturn |
| (iii) tip the water out of the bucket | − the ends of one’s fingers |
| (iv) have something on the tip of your tongue | − give a rupee to him, to thank him |
| (v) tip the boat over | − empty a bucket by tilting it |
| (vi) tip him a rupee | − the pointed end of your nose |
| (vii) the tip of the bat | − if you take this advice |
| (viii) the police were tipped off | − the bat lightly touched the ball |
| (ix) if you take my tip | − the end of the bat |
| (x) the bat tipped the ball | − the police were told, or warned. |
Answer:
| (i) finger tips | − the ends of one’s fingers |
| (ii) the tip of your nose | − the pointed end of your nose |
| (iii) tip the water out of the bucket | − empty a bucket by tilting it |
| (iv) have something on the tip of your tongue | − be about to say something |
| (v) tip the boat over | − make the boat overturn |
| (vi) tip him a rupee | − give a rupee to him, to thank him |
| (vii) the tip of the bat | − the end of the bat |
| (viii) the police were tipped off | − the police were told, or warned |
| (ix) if you take my tip | − if you take this advice |
| (x) the bat tipped the ball | − the bat lightly touched the ball |
Question 2: The words helper, companion, partner and accomplice have very similar meanings, but each word is typically used in certain phrases. Can you fill in the blanks below with the most commonly used words? A dictionary may help you.
(i) business _________
(ii) my _______ on the journey
(iii) I’m mother’s little ______.
(iv) a faithful ________ such as a dog
(v) the thief’s ________
(vi) find a good ________
(vii) tennis/ golf / bridge ________
(viii) his ________ in his criminal activities
Answer: (i) business partner
(ii) my companion on the journey
(iii) I’m mother’s little helper
(iv) a faithful companion such as a dog
(v) the thief’s accomplice
(vi) find a good helper
(vii) tennis/ golf / bridge partner
(viii) his accomplice in his criminal activities
Question 3: Now let us look at the uses of the word break. Match the word with its meanings below. Try to find at least three other ways in which to use the word.
| (i) The storm broke | − could not speak; was too sad to speak |
| (ii) daybreak | − this kind of weather ended |
| (iii) His voice is beginning to break | − it began or burst into activity |
| (iv) Her voice broke and she cried | − The beginning of daylight |
| (v) The heat wave broke | − changing as he grows up |
| (vi) broke the bad news | − end it by making the workers submit |
| (vii) break a strike | − gently told someone the bad news |
Answer:
| (i) The storm broke | − it began or burst into activity |
| (ii) daybreak | − the beginning of daylight |
| (iii) His voice is beginning to break | − changing as he grows up |
| (iv) Her voice broke and she cried | − could not speak; was too sad to speak |
| (v) The heat wave broke | − this kind of weather ended |
| (vi) broke the bad news | − gently told someone the bad news |
| (vii) break a strike | − end it by making the workers submit |
Speaking
Question 1. Play detectives with each other. Find a person in your class (or some other acquaintance) to speak to. Find out the answers to the questions given below. Be careful to ask your questions in a polite and inoffensive way. Do not force the person to answer you. Then allow the person to ask you the same questions.
(i) Name?
(ii) What newspapers or magazines does the person read?
(iii) How long has the person lived at the current address?
(iv) What does she/he do during the day, i.e. the daily routine?
(v) What do neighbors and friends say about the person?
(vi) Who are his/her visitors and what are his/her eating habits? (You can ask a few others about this.)
(vii) What do you think about the person?
Answer: Do it yourself.
Writing
Question 1. Who do you think Mr. Nath is? Write a paragraph or two about him.
Answer: It seems that Mr Nath is undergoing treatment of the scars. These scars on the face were caused by burning. Perhaps, he has to undergo some plastic surgery to get rid of the scars.
The scars have made him appear ugly. Perhaps, he looks a little frightening too. So people are not attracted towards him. They do not want to be his friend. Mr Nath understands his problem and so keeps aloof. He likes to meet only his doctor. However, he has a brother who comes to see him every Sunday.
Question 2. What else do you think Nishad and Maya will find out about him? How? Will they ever be friends? Think about these questions and write a paragraph or two to continue the story.
Answer: I think Nishad and Maya will find out that Mr. Nath is a good person but an introvert. They might even get to know that Mr. Nath is working from home because he does not keep well. That is the reason he prefers being at home and not having visitors.
They might become friends later, especially Nishad can be a good friend to him because he was anyway in his favor from the beginning. Maya would have regretted to have doubted him to be a criminal.
Question 3. Conducting a Survey
Step I: Study the following questionnaire and discuss the points in small groups.
Step II : Collect information. Contact people in the school/your locality and put these questions to them. Tick-mark their answers in the relevant column.
Step III : Analyse the results in the group by asking
• How many people think that a home is a place where you feel secure and happy ?
• How many people think that a home isn’t a place where you feel secure and happy ?
• How many people don’t know about it?
Step IV : Present a brief oral report on the result of your survey. Use phrases such as the following
• Most people think that …
• Few people think that …
• Hardly anyone thinks that …
• No one thinks that …
Answer: Do it yourself.