Q4 of 17 Page 133

Look at these sentences.












● In the spring, birds of all kinds would flock into the banyan tree’s branches.


● I would spend the afternoons there.



● Grandfather, at sixty-five, could no longer climb the banyan tree.


● I could hide myself in its branches


I could look down through the leaves at the world below.


● I could read there.



‘Would’ tells us what the author used to do, or what used to happen.



‘Could’ tells us what the author was usually able to do, or grandfather is now not able to do.



Choose would and could to replace the italicized words in the following sentences.


Grandfather says, in the old days,


1. elephants were able to fly in the sky, like clouds. They were also able to change their shapes. They used to fly behind clouds and frighten them. People used to look up at the sky in wonder.


2. because there was no electricity, he used to get up with the sun, and he used to go to bed with the sun, like the birds.


3. like the owl, he was able to see quite well in the dark. He was able to tell who was coming by listening to their footsteps.


1. Elephants could fly in the sky, like clouds. They could also change their shapes. They would fly behind clouds and frighten them. People would look up at the sky in wonder.


2. because there was no electricity, he would get up with the sun, and he would go to bed with the sun, like the birds.


3. like the owl, he could see quite well in the dark. He was could tell who was coming by listening to their footsteps.


More from this chapter

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2

The words in the box are all words that describe movement. Use them to fill in the blanks in the sentences below.






dived, gliding, sprang, darting, whipped…back, delving






1. When he began to trust me, the squirrel began ______ into my pockets for morsels of cake.


2. I saw a cobra _____ out of a clump of cactus.


3. The snake hissed, his forked tongue _____ in and out.


4. When the cobra tried to bite it, the mongoose _____ aside.


5. The snake _____ his head _____ to strike at the crow.


6. The birds _____ at the snake.


 3

Find words in the story, which show things striking violently against each other.

1. The cobra struck the crow, his snout th_ _ _ ing against its body. (15)


2. The crow and the myna c_ ll _ _ _ _ in mid-air. (13)


3. The birds dived at the snake, but b _ _ _ _ d into each other instead. (14)

 1

Use the words in the box to speak about the people and the things below, using as … as or –er than






tall – taller, cold – colder, hot – hotter,


strong – stronger, short – shorter



[Notice that in the word ‘hot’, the letter ‘t’ is doubled when –er is added.)


1. Heights


______________


2. Weight Lifters


_____________


3. City temperatures


______________


4. Lengths


______________


5. City Temperatures


______________

 1

Read again the paragraphs of the story in which the author describes the banyan tree and what he used to do there. Is there a place in your house, or in your grandparents’ or uncles’ or aunts’ houses, that you especially like? Write a short paragraph about it, saying

● where it is


● what you do there


● why you like it


You may instead write about a place you dislike, or are afraid of.