CBSE Class 8 English A Concrete Example Worksheet Set 01

Fill in the Blanks

Question. The speaker can't imagine how she gets the plants in, unless she uses a ________.
Answer: pin
Explanation: The plants are so tiny that the poet jokes Mrs. Jones must use a tiny sewing pin to put them in the ground.

Question. The ground of the garden includes a ________ with a strange device.
Answer: sundial
Explanation: A sundial stands on the ground and uses the sun's shadow to show the time of day.

Question. A ________ is a repeated line or phrase that occurs in each stanza.
Answer: refrain
Explanation: When the same line is repeated in every part of a song or poem, it is called a refrain.

Question. The garden includes a strange path, a lily ________, a rockery, and a sundial.
Answer: pond
Explanation: A lily pond is a small pool of water where pretty water lily flowers grow.

Question. Mrs. Jones places ________ plants between the stones.
Answer: little
Explanation: Instead of big bushes, Mrs. Jones puts tiny little plants into the small cracks between her rocks.

Question. The word 'concrete' can relate to ________ in Mrs. Jones’ garden.
Answer: stones
Explanation: Concrete is made from hard rocks and cement, just like the hard stones all over Mrs. Jones's garden.

Question. The sundial is something Mrs. Jones considers is rather ________.
Answer: nice
Explanation: Mrs. Jones is very fond of her special sundial and thinks it looks lovely in her yard.

Question. The mood of the poem is described as humorous, amusing, and ________.
Answer: light-hearted
Explanation: The poem is not sad or serious; it is funny, playful, and written to make people smile.

Question. When the speaker asks where the lovely flower is, Mrs. Jones answers, “You’re standing on ________.”
Answer: it
Explanation: The flower was so small that the visitor did not notice his own feet were right on top of it.

Question. The garden has a ________ walkway and a lily pond.
Answer: crazy
Explanation: The walkway is called crazy because it does not go straight; it twists and turns in fun, crooked shapes.

Question. A ________ is a figure of speech that employs words with multiple meanings or words that sound alike but have different meanings.
Answer: pun
Explanation: A pun is a clever word joke that uses one word that can mean two completely different things.

Question. The poem “A Concrete Example” was composed by ________.
Answer: Reginald Arkell
Explanation: Reginald Arkell is the talented writer and poet who wrote this humorous poem.

Question. Mrs. Jones plants small, ________ plants between the stones.
Answer: delicate
Explanation: Delicate means soft, fine, and easy to break or hurt, just like these tiny green plants.

Question. The speaker thinks the tiny plants must be planted with a ________.
Answer: pin
Explanation: The poet makes a funny guess that regular gardening tools are too large, so she must use a needle or pin.

Question. Mrs. Jones has a garden full of delicate and ________ blossoms.
Answer: stones
Explanation: Her garden is unique because instead of just beds of soil, it is filled with lots of stones and rocks.

True or False

Question. The narrator in the poem is Mrs. Jones.
Answer: False
Explanation: The narrator is her next-door neighbour who comes over to visit and look at her garden.

Question. The sundial in Mrs. Jones’s garden has an “unusual device.”
Answer: True
Explanation: The poem specifically mentions that the sundial has a strange and curious object attached to it.

Question. The word ‘concrete’ in the title merely refers to a type of building material.
Answer: False
Explanation: It has two meanings: the hard stones in the garden and a clear, definite example of gardening style.

Question. The speaker was shocked when Mrs. Jones told them where the “lovely thing” (flower) was.
Answer: True
Explanation: The speaker cried out in big surprise because he was standing right on top of the flower without knowing it.

Question. Mrs. Jones’s garden is mainly filled with colorful flowers.
Answer: False
Explanation: Her garden is mostly packed with rocks, stones, and a rockery, not large beds of bright flowers.

Question. A pun is a figure of speech that contains words with multiple meanings or words that sound alike.
Answer: True
Explanation: A pun plays with words that have more than one meaning to make people laugh.

Question. The poem’s tone is mainly mournful and gloomy.
Answer: False
Explanation: The poem is cheerful, amusing, and playful, not sad or gloomy.

Question. Irony involves a situation where the result is the opposite of what is expected.
Answer: True
Explanation: Irony happens when you expect one thing to happen, but the exact opposite happens instead.

Question. The speaker thinks Mrs. Jones’s small plants are very significant.
Answer: False
Explanation: The speaker says the tiny plants are so little that “they don't mean anything at all.”

Question. The writer and Mrs. Jones chatted about stones in the garden.
Answer: False
Explanation: They stood and talked for fifteen minutes about a single tiny flower, not about the stones.

Questions / Short Question Answers

Question. What kind of pond is described in the garden?
Answer: Lily
Explanation: Mrs. Jones has a small lily pond that holds water and pretty water plants in her garden.

Question. Assertion (A): The poem “A Concrete Example” uses a literary device called a pun.
Reason (R): A pun involves words with multiple meanings or words that sound alike but have different meanings, often creating a humorous effect.
Answer: Both (A) and (R) are true, and (R) is the correct explanation of (A).
Explanation: The title plays with the word "concrete," which means both hard stone and a clear real-life example.

Question. Who is 'My' being pointed to in the line "My next-door neighbour, Mrs. Jones"?
Answer: The speaker/poet.
Explanation: The word 'My' belongs to the person who is visiting Mrs. Jones and telling the story.

Question. Describe how the ending of the poem adds a twist to the speaker's quest for the flower.
Answer: The speaker is looking for something he's already found – it highlights the surprise of the poet.
Explanation: The speaker spent a long time searching for the flower, only to discover his own foot was stepping on it.

Question. What kind of garden object is 'just beyond' the rockery?
Answer: Sundial
Explanation: Right past the pile of rocks, Mrs. Jones has set up a sundial to catch the sunlight.

Question. Provide any two words that rhyme with 'flower'.
Answer: power, tower
Explanation: Words rhyme when their end sounds are the same, like flower, power, and tower.

Question. How does the speaker portray the small plants?
Answer: Delicate
Explanation: The speaker calls them delicate because they are very tiny, tender, and soft.

Question. Assertion (A): Mrs. Jones’s garden is described as being “full of stones” and having a “crazy path.”
Reason (R): The poet uses imagery to help readers visualise the unusual nature of the garden.
Answer: Both (A) and (R) are true, and (R) is the correct explanation of (A).
Explanation: Describing the stones and winding path helps us paint a clear, funny picture of the garden in our minds.

Question. Write down the rhyme scheme of the given stanza:
"My next-door neighbour, Mrs. Jones,
puts little plants between the stones
They are so delicate and small,
they don't mean anything at all.
I can't think how she gets them in,
unless she plants them with a pin."
Answer: AABBCC
Explanation: Lines 1 and 2 end in Jones/stones (AA), lines 3 and 4 end in small/all (BB), and lines 5 and 6 end in in/pin (CC).

Question. What is the poet's attitude in the poem?
Answer: Humorous
Explanation: The poet shares the story with a cheerful smile and uses funny jokes to entertain us.

Question. Who is the poem mostly about?
Answer: Mrs. Jones' garden
Explanation: The whole poem describes the interesting and funny features found inside Mrs. Jones's yard.

Question. Reflect on the poet's use of humour to describe Mrs. Jones's gardening practices.
Answer: The poet's use of humour comes from exaggeration, playful curiosity and the unexpected ending.
Explanation: Saying she uses a sewing pin to plant flowers and ending with a stepped-on flower makes the poem very funny.

Question. Describe the mood created by the poet in the opening lines.
Answer: The mood created by the poet is light, humorous and curious.
Explanation: The poet wonders with amusement how someone can grow plants inside hard stone cracks.

Question. Name the poetic device in the lines where a sentence runs over into the next line without a pause:
"We stood and talked about a flower
for quite a quarter of an hour."
Answer: Enjambment
Explanation: Enjambment is when a thought flows from one line of poetry into the next without stopping at the end of the line.

Question. What does this extract suggest about the speaker’s curiosity in the flower?
Answer: The extract suggests that the speaker was deeply engaged or curious about the flower.
Explanation: Talking about one little plant for fifteen whole minutes shows he was really interested in seeing it.

Question. Pick out any two sets of rhyming words from the first stanza.
Answer: stones-Jones, small-all
Explanation: Both pairs end in the exact same sounds, making them rhyming word partners.

Question. Express your views about the line ‘I can’t think how she gets them in’.
Answer: It expresses the poet’s amazement and confusion at how such tiny plants are inserted between stones.
Explanation: The rocks are packed tight together, so the poet is amazed that anyone could fit green plants in between them.

Question. Comment on the creativity displayed by Mrs. Jones in her gardening style.
Answer: Mrs. Jones uses stones decoratively and manages to grow small plants creatively in narrow spaces.
Explanation: Even though her yard is full of hard rocks, she turns it into an artful garden with tiny green plants.

Question. Identify the two verbs from the lines: "We stood and talked about a flower".
Answer: stood, talked
Explanation: Verbs are action words. Standing and talking are actions done by the speaker and Mrs. Jones.

Question. How does this event lead to the poem’s humorous twist?
Answer: After spending time admiring and discussing the flower, the speaker learns he was unknowingly standing on it all along, creating an amusing surprise which was the humorous twist.
Explanation: It is funny because the speaker spent so long praising the flower while crushing it beneath his shoes.

Question. Use any three of the terms (neighbour, crazy path, delicate) in your own sentences.
Answer: (i) My neighbour shares her garden flowers with me. (ii) The path was quite crazy, twisting through the trees. (iii) That vase holds delicate glass flowers.
Explanation: Each sentence uses the vocabulary word correctly to build a clear and meaningful thought.

Match the Following

Question. Match the words from the poem in Column A with their correct definitions in Column B.

Answer:

Explanation: Each garden term is paired with its exact meaning so we can easily understand the story of the poem.

Vocabulary Activity - "Guess the Word"

Question. She has a ________ that shows the time with shadows!
Answer: device
Explanation: A device is a special tool or gadget made to do a specific job, like telling time using shadows.

Question. There is a lily ________ right in the center.
Answer: pond
Explanation: A pond is a calm, small body of water where water lilies float happily.

Question. The path through the ________ is curving and fun.
Answer: stones
Explanation: Stones are placed along the ground to create the winding garden walkway.

Question. Mrs. Jones is my next-door ________ who adores her garden.
Answer: neighbour
Explanation: A neighbour is someone whose house is right next to or near your own home.

Question. The seedlings are so ________ that they look like they were planted with a pin.
Answer: tiny
Explanation: Tiny means very, very small, like a little grain of rice or a baby plant.

Question. The most lovely ________ turned out to be under my feet!
Answer: flower
Explanation: The flower was Mrs. Jones's special plant that the visitor accidentally stood upon.

Question. Her ________ is full of stones, plants and paths.
Answer: garden
Explanation: A garden is an outdoor area set aside for growing flowers, plants, and rocks.

Question. A ________ little plant looks out from between the stones.
Answer: delicate
Explanation: Delicate means soft and fragile, needing careful handling so it doesn't get damaged.