Balbharti Maharashtra State Board Class 7 English Solutions Chapter 3.6 Think Before You Speak Notes, Textbook Exercise Important Questions and Answers.
Maharashtra State Board Class 7 English Solutions Chapter 3.6 Think Before You Speak
Class 7 English Chapter 3.6 Think Before You Speak Textbook Questions and Answers
1. The same word can be used as a noun in some sentences and as a verb in others.
Question 1.
For example,
1. Many are the empty remarks …………….. Noun.
2. A wise man once remarked, ………….. Verb.
Make two sentences of your own with each of the words given below, using the same word as a noun in one and as a verb in another.
1. change
2. show throw
3. return
4. benefit
Answer:
1. Change:
- Picnics are a welcome change from the daily routine. (Noun)
- Change the way you think. (Verb)
2. Show:
- The students put up a grand musical show. (Noun)
- You need not show me your tickets. (Verb)
3 Throw:
- That was an easy throw. (Noun)
- You must throw garbage in the trash can. (Verb)
4 Return:
- She promised to take me for a movie on her return from the market. (Noun)
- Please return my book, as I need to complete it. (Verb)
5 Benefit:
- I advice you for your own benefit. (Noun)
- Children benefit from parents’ advice. (Verb)
2. Complete the following.
Question 1.
Our ears are like funnels because …………..
Answer:
they are open all the time and there is no door with which you can close them.
Question 2.
The two rows of teeth are like a fence because ……………..
Answer:
if we wish to speak our words have to pierce through them.
Question 3.
The two lips are like fence because ……………….
Answer:
before a word is spoken, it has to pass through it.
Question 4.
Harsh words are like scattered bits of paper carried away by the wind because ………………
Answer:
once you have spoken them aloud, it is very difficult to take them back.
3. Write a brief summary of the story of the young man and his spiritual teacher, making the young man the narrator.
Question 1.
You may begin as given below.
“I went quickly to my spiritual teacher for advice because I had ………….”
Answer:
I went quickly to my spiritual teacher for advice because I had hurt and insulted my dear friend with unkind and harsh words. When I asked him for the solution, he gave me a fresh sheet of blank paper and a pen and instructed me to write down on that paper all the harsh things I had told my friend. I obeyed. He then asked me to tear it into as many bits as I could and throw the bits out of the window.
The tiny bits scattered far and wide in no time. But to my surprise, he then asked me to collect as many bits as possible. I ran to collect them, but in vain. I couldn’t get hold of even in a single bit of paper. I returned all exhausted. He then revealed to me that spoken words are like those bits of paper, easy to scatter but difficult to take back. What was done, was done, and could not be altered. I learnt that I should think before I speak.
4. Language study.
Adverbial:
An adverbial is something that is used as an adverb. An adverbial is often one word, an adverb, as in the following example:
1.You have run fast.
But, it can also be a phrase or a clause.
2. We played on the playground.
3. I will go home when the bell rings.
In sentence 2, the phrase ‘on the playground’ is used as an adverb. In
sentence 3, the clause ‘when the bell rings’ Is used as an adverb.
Class 7 English Chapter 3.6 Think Before You Speak Additional Important Questions and Answers
Answer the following questions.
Question 1.
Was Disraeli trying to give a scientific reason?
Answer:
No, Disraeli wasn’t trying to give a scientific reason, but a logical one. He just wanted to draw our attention to the fact, that human physiology suggests that we should speak less and listen more.
Question 2.
Was he only trying to give a message in a light-hearted but effective way?
Answer:
Yes, he was only trying to give a message in a light-hearted but effective way.
Question 3.
Have you ever passed an empty remark or win statement that might hurt someone? What can you do to avoid it again?
Answer:
Yes, I have passed a vain statement about a classmate’s dressing sense only to realize later that she came from a poor financial background. I was lucky she didn’t hear it or else she would have been hurt. From that day I decided not to pass such remarks because often we do not know the complete background.
Answer the following in one or two sentences.
Question 1.
What did the wise teacher ask the young man to do?
Answer:
The wise teacher asked the young man to write down on a paper all the harsh things he had told his friend.
Question 2.
What did the wise teacher ask the young man to do with the sheet of paper?
Answer:
The wise teacher asked the young man to tear the sheet of paper into a hundred tiny pieces and throw the bits out of the window.
Question 3.
What is the similarity between the bits of paper scattered in the wind and spoken words?
Answer:
Just as bits of paper scattered in the wind are difficult to gather, similarly spoken words are impossible to take back.
Reading Skills, Vocabulary and Grammar.
Simple Factual Questions.
Question 1.
- Benjamin Disraeli was a great
- To speak eve one single words, it must
- We must think at least
Answer:
- Britsh Statesman
- pass through two walls – two fences,
- twice before we utter a word.
Complex Factual Questions.
Question 1.
How do we become slaves of words spoken by us?
Answer:
Once we have spoken a word we become slaves as we cannot take it back, no matter how hard we try. You cannot retrieve it.
Question 2.
What are unspoken words?
Answer:
Unspoken words are things one wants to say, but remain unsaid as thoughts in the mind.
Question 3.
How do spoken words make you a slave?
Answer:
Spoken words are meant to be honoured which means we have to stand by it. We say something and do not follow it, then we lose our credibility. Hence we need to think before we speak and become slave to our own words.
Question 4.
Two rows of teeth’. Thinks of similar expressions.
Answer:
- Two sets of five fingers.
- Two sets of five toes.
- A pairs of eyes
- A pair of ears are similar expression.
Vocabulary.
Question 1.
Use the words ‘left’ in separate sentences and show the difference in the meaning.
Answer:
My’sister uses her left hand efficiently. After the function, a lot of food was left behind. She lift without telling anybody.
Question 2.
Man was meant to listen more and talk less similarly make a sentence using words of opposite meaning.
Answer:
We breathe in oxygen and breath out carbon dioxide.
Grammar.
Question 1.
The wise teacher gave him a fresh sheet of blank paper and pen. (Rewrite ending with ‘the wise teacher’)
Answer:
He was given a fresh sheet of blank paper and pen by the wise teacher.
Question 2.
You cannot change them or control them. (Make affirmative)
Answer:
You can hardly change them or control them.
Question 3.
Spoken – unspoken
Write two similar antonyms using a prefix.
Answer:
1. able – unable
2. happy – unhappy
Form adjectives.
Question 1.
- thought
- remark
- nature
- man
- time
Answer:
- thoughtful/thoughtless
- remarkable
- natural
- manual/ manly
- timely
Personal Response.
Question 1.
Do you remember someone else speaking to you angrily, without thinking? What did you do on that occasion? Did you also speak angrily?
Answer:
Yes, I do remember a few occasions. When people have spoken to me angrily without a valid reason. Though I was angry, I did not speak angrily as I did not want an angry exchange in public.
Simple Factual Questions.
Question 1.
1. Socrates had influenced the lives of many youths for the better.
2. According to Socrates, one must never open one’s mouth to speak.
Answer:
1. True
2. False.
Complex Factual Questions.
Question 1.
What are three questions one needs to ask before speaking?
Answer:
Before speaking one needs to ask three questions such as – ‘Is it true?’, ‘Is it pleasant?’, ‘Is it useful?’.
Question 2.
Why should one ask the question ‘Is it true?’ before speaking?
Answer:
One must ask the question ‘Is it true?’ before speaking because if we are not sure about the truth of what we are saying, it is better we do not speak. When we speak words carelessly, we become transmitters of the untruth.
Question 3.
What is the importance of asking the question ‘ ‘Is it useful?’
Answer:
It is important to ask ‘Is it useful?’ before speaking because only if our words benefit the listener and comfort someone, they should be spoken.
Vocabulary.
Question 1.
Pick out a word from the extract that means ‘useless’.
Answer:
vain
Question 2.
Give antonyms.
1. ancient
2. affirmative
Answer:
1. recent / contemporary
2. negative
Grammar.
Question 1.
Socrates was one of the wise men of the ancient world. (Rewrite using ‘as … as’)
Answer:
Very few men of the ancient world were as wise as Socrates.
Question 2.
“O wise one, how may we know when it is right to speak?” they asked him. (Write in indirect speech)
Answer:
Addressing him as a wise one, they asked him how they might know when it was right time to speak.
Personal Response.
Question 1.
Do you agree that thinking before speaking saves one from many troubles? Explain.
Answer:
Yes, I definitely agree that thinking before speaking saves one from many troubles as we get time to analyse our thoughts and decide whether we should speak or not. Many a times when we are angry, if we think before speaking we will not have to regret what we have said. This saves many relationships.
Do as directed.
Question 1.
Write down on this paper all the harsh things you said to him. (Add a question tag)
Answer:
Write down on this paper all the harsh things you said to him, will you?
Question 2.
“Throw the bits out of this window” the teacher told him. (Write in indirect speech)
Answer:
The teacher instructed him to throw the bits out of that window.
Question 3.
It will be difficult indeed. (Make negative)
Answer:
It will not be easy indeed.
Question 4.
It will be difficult indeed, but do give it a try. (Rewrite using although)
Answer:
Although it will be difficult, give it a try.
Question 5.
Speak only when absolutely necessary. (Frame a Wh-question)
Answer:
When should one speak?
Question 6.
The young man went out. (Rewrite in question form)
Answer:
Didn’t the young man go out?
Question 7.
He returned half an hour later. (Rewrite using modal auxiliary of compulsion)
Answer:
He must return half an hour later.
Question 8.
Now tear up this sheet of paper into as many small bits as you can. (Rewrite beginning with ‘Let’)
Answer:
Let this sheet of paper be torn into as many small bits as you can.
Question 9.
Fill in the blanks with the appropriate phrases / idioms given below. Change the form where necessary to fill in the blanks. (far and wide, to make amends, taken aback, bring comfort)
- His reassuring words ………….. to my troubled mind.
- People come to see flamingos from …………… .
- Mishti ……………. by his brother’s arrogance.
- She ………….. for her rudeness by apologizing.
Answer:
- brought comfort
- far and wide
- was taken aback
- made amends.
Question 10.
Underline the adverbial in the following sentence.
- The birds flew over the trees.
- She speaks in a self tone.
- The workers left without permission
- The king promised to give then food to eat.
- Seema walked behind them briskly.
- The young man did as he was told.
Answer:
- over the trees
- food to eat
- without permission
- behind them briskly
- behind them briskly
- as he was told.
Think Before You Speak Summary in English
The great British statesment Benjamin Disraeli argued, that as man is endowed with two ears and one mouth it indicates that we should listen more and talk less. We are masters of unspoken words and slaves of the spoken ones.
The lesson narrates a story of a young man who had hurt his friend with his harsh words. Worried that he might lose his friend, he goes to a wise man who teaches him a lesson that words spoken are like scattered bits of paper thrown out in the wind. Easy to blow but difficult to collect. The advice of Socrates in the end nails the message quite forcefully. Socrates once told his disciples that when you wish to speak, ask three questions. If the answer to all of them is ‘Yes’, then go ahead and speak. The questions are – ‘Is it true?’, ‘Is it pleasant?’ and ‘Is it useful?’.
The lesson is a practical tip on how one can earn respect, happy relationships and peace of mind by speaking less and only when needed.
Introduction:
The lesson ‘Think Before You Speak!’ carries the message “speak only when necessary”.
Glossary:
- statesman (n) – a person experienced in the art of governance
- endowed (v) – to be provided with something
- funnels (n) – a tube or pipe that is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom
- pierce (v) – go into something
- stammer (v) – speak with sudden involuntary pause and repeat some letters
- exhausted (adj) – very tired
- counselled (v) – advised, guided
- affirmative (adj) – answer which is ‘yes’
- veracity (n) – truth
- transmitters (n) – persons who spread something, in this case, untruth
- vain (adj) – useless