Important Questions for CBSE Class 8 English It So Happened Chapter 2 - Children at Work

A. Very Short Answer Questions: (1 Marks)

1.  Word – Meaning from the given chapter.

i.  Wobbly

Ans: Unsteady

ii. Puddles

Ans: A small pool of liquid

iii. Gulped down

Ans: To swallow immediately

iv. Trickle

Ans: Flow of liquid

2. Who is Velu?

Ans: Velu is an eleven-year-old boy.

3. What train does Velu board?

Ans: Velu boarded the Kanyakumari Express.

4. At what station did the train pulled in?

Ans: The train pulled in at Chennai Central.

5. How did Velu feel when he stood on the platform?

Ans: Velu felt wobbly as if the train was still moving.

B. Short Answer Questions: (2 Marks)

1. What did he do after getting off the train?

Ans: Velu got off the train and sat on a bench on the platform. He kept his small bundle down and was astonished to see a huge crowd.

2. How was Velu while sitting at the platform?

Ans: Velu felt miserable and so kept his head down on his knees. He felt exhausted as it had been nearly two days when he ran away from his village.

3. What did Velu eat since he had left from his house?

Ans: As Velu had less money, so he ate only peanuts and jaggery for two days.

4. How did Velu got on the train without a ticket?

Ans: Velu remained in the unreserved compartment, where the ticket collector had not yet arrived to check the tickets. Velu slept on the compartment's floor near the door.

5. What does Velu see when he opens his eyes?

Ans: Velu heard a voice that asked him if he was new to town. He looked behind and saw a girl of his age standing behind him.

C. Short Answer Question: (3 Marks)

1. How did the girl look to Velu?

Ans: Velu sees the girl standing behind her in a long banian that reached her knees. Her hair was stiff and brownish and she was carrying a big sack on one shoulder. Velu noticed her picking up the plastic cups from the floor and stuffing them into her sack.

2. What does the girl give Velu to eat and how?

Ans: Velu pressed his stomach and so the girl understood that he was hungry. She then took him behind the hall where there was a big garbage bin overflowing with rubbish. The girl picked up a banana, a vada and gave them to Velu to eat.

3. What does the girl tell Velu about eating something more?

Ans: The girl told Velu that they arrived earlier as the people had eaten the only tiffin but if Velu felt hungry, they’ll have to wait for the people to finish.

4. What does the girl do later?

Ans: After telling Velu to wait, the girl started picking up bottles from the heap and threw them into the sack which she was carrying, and then walked off.

5. What did Velu do when he saw that the girl was walking off?

Ans: When Velu saw the girl walking off he felt helpless and so decided to stick to her as she knew the area. He then ran after her.

D. Long Answer Questions: (5 Marks)

1. Where do the two children go to?

Ans: Velu and Jaya got along well. Jaya’s bag filled up and so she wanted another one. Both of them walked along the road for half an hour and reached a bridge below which dirty water was flowing. Jaya claimed to be at the Triplicane.

2. What were the huts made of? What does Velu ask Jaya?

Ans: Velu saw the huts and thought them to be made up of materials such as metal sheets, tires, bricks, wood, and plastic. They stood still but looked fragile that they might fall off easily. Velu asked Jaya if she lived in those huts, and was left surprised. He also told Jaya about the huts in his village which used only mud and palm leaves.
 

3. What does Jaya tell her Velu about the work she does?

Ans: Jaya gave Velu a pair of unlaced shoes, a sack to help her but, Velu got confused as he had no experience of doing any such work earlier. Jaya then told him that she works as a ragpicker and explained it further as Velu had no idea about the same. She told him that she collected materials like paper, plastic, glass from the garbage and sold them to Jam Bazaar Jaggu, who later sold them to the factory for recycling.

4. What work did Velu do in his village? Was he happy to get the job Jaya gave him?

Ans: Velu did only some work on landowner’s farm, weeding or taking cows to graze. He was shocked to see that children picked up garbage and sold it to people.

Velu was not happy to work as a ragpicker but he accepted the job offer for some time and also told Jaya that he would leave this rag-picking work as soon as he gets into a better job.
 

5. Write the Summary of the story “Children at Work”.

Ans: The story “Children at Work” is an excerpt from Trash by Gita Wolf, Anushka Ravishankar, and Orijit Sen. 

It revolves around a boy who ran away from his family in Kannur and boarded a train to Chennai. As he gets off the train, with an empty stomach, he comes in contact with a girl of his age standing behind him. The girl asked Velu to follow her to fill up his stomach. She took him to a garbage area where they ate a banana and a vada. Velu then followed as he was alone and reached her house. She then offered him a pair of unlaced shoes, a sack to help in the rag-picking work which Velu took up for some time.