Important Questions for CBSE Class 8 English Honeydew Chapter 8 - A Short Monsoon Diary

A. Very Short Answer Questions: (1 Marks)

1. Word – Meaning from the given chapter

i. Insectivorous 

Ans: Plants or animals that eat insects are known as Insectivorous.

ii. Dearth 

Ans: An excessively small amount of something: a scarcity.

iii. Hailstorm 

Ans: A hailstorm is a rare weather occurrence in which ice balls.

iv. Suffused

Ans: Gradually diffused over or through.

2. Of which great lady, the diary was published as a book?

Ans: Anne Frank's diary was turned into a book called "The Diary of Anne Frank."

3. “A short Monsoon Diary” is an extract from whose diary?

Ans: “A brief Monsoon Diary” is an excerpt by Ruskin Bond, a brilliant novelist.

4. Name the flowers mentioned in the lesson.

Ans: Wild balsam, dahlias, begonias, ground orchids, cobra lies, and other flowers are discussed in the class.

5. What does the author see on its way to the bank and post office on June 25?

Ans: On his walk to the bank and post office, the author notices the first cobra lily emerging from the ferns.

B. Short Answer Questions: (2 Marks)

1. What happens when the mist climbs up the hill?

Ans: The time the mist rises the hill, the birds fall silent. As a result, the mist appears melancholy as it blankets the hills. At midnight, the woodland becomes as ominous as it gets.

2. Bijju is calling whom? And who cannot see Bijju?

Ans: Through the mist, Bijju is calling to his sister. The author can only hear him racing down the hillside since he cannot see him.

3. How is the weather on June 25 mentioned by the author?

Ans: On June 25, the author wrote in his diary that there is early monsoon rain, warm and humid, and the temperature is not as cold as the inhabitants of the mountains have experienced in the past.

4. How does the condition change on June 27?

Ans: Seasonal visitors have arrived, including a leopard and thousands of leeches, scarlet minivets, and drongos, as indicated by the rains.

5. What does the author have to say about the leeches during the monsoon?

Ans: There was no other option, the author let the leeches suck his blood during the rainstorm.

C. Short Answer Questions: (3 Marks)

1. What does the leopard do to domestic animals?

Ans: During the monsoon, the leopard would emerge. It had attacked a dog from the servants' section below the school on the afternoon of June 27. It attacked one of Bijju's cows in the evening, but when Bijju's mother shouted, it flew away.

2. What does the author observe about the creepers?

Ans: A treecreeper climbed quickly up the trunk of the oak tree as soon as the monsoon began, snapping any insects in its path, according to the author. The birds would not go hungry because the monsoon season is also an insect-filled season.

3. What can the mist afford? What does the schoolboy ask about the hill? What does the author tell him?

Ans: The mist, according to the author, provides some privacy. When a student asked him to characterize the hill station and valley in one line, the author could only say, "A paradise that might have been."

4. What does the author observe about scarlet minivets and the drongos?

Ans: Scarlet minivets flitted through the leaves like pearls, softly. He sees that the brightly coloured birds cannot hide in the green trees, but they can sometimes hide by remaining silent. The minivets are chased away by a pair of ferocious drongos.

5. What does the author write in his diary on August 2?

Ans: The rain that poured down all night on the tin roof was reported in the author's diary on August 2nd. There was no thunder or storm, simply the screech of a tropical downpour. The rain both kept the author awake and helped him sleep.

D. Long Answer Questions: (5 Marks)

1. How was the weather different on August 3 from August 12 according to the author’s diary?

Ans: The weather has been somewhat unpredictable, according to the author. The rain ceased and the clouds parted on August 3, and the sun shone out on the left. Cowbells were grazed by a woman who came chopping sticks. The bird thrush whistled tunes from the ravine's depths, like a dark sweet secret. On August 12, it's raining nonstop and there's a constant mist. For over eight or nine days, the sun remained buried once more. People were unable to leave their homes because the land was damp and soggy. However, because it was late summer, flowers such as wild balsam, dahlias, begonias, and ground orchids bloomed.

2. What changes does the author see in the environment and the weather on the last day of August?

Ans: August 31 is the last day of the month. The lush monsoon growth has reached its apex, according to the author. The cobra lily's seeds turned red, signalling that the rains were coming to an end. On the grassy slopes of Landour, the ferns turned yellow, the ground orchids, mauve lady's slippers, and white butterfly orchids put on a fashion show. Reptiles and rats crawled out of their tunnels and holes, seeking refuge in roofs, attics, and godowns. Shrews are lucky and bring luck, according to the author's grandmother. When the author receives a check, he believes her.

3. In what way has the author Ruskin Bond described January 26? Elaborate what he has written in simple words.

Ans: Ruskin Bond wrote a poem called "Winter Rains in the Hills'' to represent the 26th of January. He's mentioned the house's silence when he's alone and his pal has gone. How lonely and quiet the house has become. He is surrounded by the rhythm of rain and the steady flow of water on leaves, lemons, and the roof, as well as how the water is drowning the dahlias and window panes. When he glances out the window, he notices the rain stopping and starting. The trees, which had been green, had turned grey and scared him with their loneliness.

4. What do you understand from diary writing?

Ans: A diary is a written record of personal happenings in one's life. People keep diaries for a lengthy period to record their everyday activities and experiences. A person can be honest about his or her feelings, thoughts, and opinions in a diary. It is a secure environment in which to share your belongings. Only one person has access to one's diary. It's for and about you. Someone's thoughts, feelings, and ideas that they pour into their diary are expressed and assembled in a diary entry.

5. Write a summary of the poem “On the Grasshopper and Cricket”.

Ans: The grasshopper represents summer, and the cricket represents winter in the poem "On the Grasshopper and Cricket." The earth, according to John Keats, is continually chanting tunes. The grasshoppers come out chirping and soaring from the hedge in the hot summers when the birds stop singing and leave to a cooler spot. And when the birds remain mute in the cold, the ground communicates its joy by becoming a cricket. The soil sings wonderful songs through the stones, as the temperature rises with each passing instant.