Samacheer Kalvi Class 7 English Solutions Term 1 Chapter 3 A Prayer to the Teacher

Warm Up (Text Book Page No. 138)

Read the clues, guess the profession and fill in the crossword puzzle.
Across:
2. Teaches students
4. Helps doctors and patients
6. Builds houses according to a plan
9. Protects the country
10. Gives ticket to passengers
Down:
1. Gives treatment to animals
3. Grows crops
5. Flies an aircraft
7. Plays a musical instrument
8. Stitches clothes
Answer:

🎯 Exam Tip: When solving crosswords, read all clues first, then fill in the obvious answers. This helps uncover letters for the trickier words.

Which is the role of a farmer in society? Discuss and answer.
Answer: Farmers play a very important role in society. They grow crops and provide food for the entire country. Without farmers, we would not have enough food to eat, making their work essential for everyone's well-being.
In simple words: Farmers are very important because they grow all the food that people eat.

🎯 Exam Tip: When discussing societal roles, always mention the primary function and its impact on the community.

When you grow up, what do you want to become? Why?
Answer: When I grow up, I want to become a soldier. I choose this path because serving my mother country is the best service one can offer. A soldier protects the nation and its people, which is a noble duty.
In simple words: I want to be a soldier to serve and protect my country.

🎯 Exam Tip: When answering personal ambition questions, clearly state your choice and provide a strong, positive reason for it.

Textual Exercise (Text Book Page No. 144)

I. Which of these statements do you find in the speech?
1. Inclusion is essential for us to do well in life.
2. We should neglect others.
3. Communicate politely with the less privileged.
4. Teachers teach us to communicate well.
5. Effective Communication is inessential to excel in life.
Answer: 1, 3, 4
In simple words: Out of the given statements, numbers 1, 3, and 4 are found in the speech. This means those ideas are part of what the speech teaches.

🎯 Exam Tip: Always refer back to the source text (the speech in this case) to confirm which statements are actually present.

II. Read the statements. Tick the correct words. You can tick more than one.
1. We should develop the ability to learn from
(a) self
(b) others
(c) books
Answer: (a) self
In simple words: We should learn to gain knowledge and skills by ourselves first. This helps us grow independently.

🎯 Exam Tip: Self-learning is a core skill; many questions emphasize its importance in personal growth.

2. Teachers help me to learn things.
(a) new
(b) bad
(c) difficult
Answer: (c) difficult
In simple words: Teachers guide us through challenging subjects or topics that might be hard to understand on our own. They make tough learning easier for us.

🎯 Exam Tip: Recognize the role of teachers in making complex topics accessible, especially for new learners.

3. Teach me to appreciate
(a) nature
(b) destruction
(c) small creatures
Answer: (a) nature
In simple words: This means we should learn to value and respect the environment, including plants, animals, and natural places. It teaches us to see the beauty around us.

🎯 Exam Tip: Environmental appreciation and respect for living things are common themes in educational content.

4. We should learn to questions.
(a) ask
(b) answer
(c) discard
Answer: (b) answer
In simple words: It is important to know how to respond to questions properly. Learning to answer questions helps us share our knowledge and thoughts clearly.

🎯 Exam Tip: Good communication involves both asking and answering questions effectively. Answering shows understanding.

Textual Questions

III. Answer the following questions in a sentence or two.

1. What is inclusion? Why is it important?
Answer: Inclusion means valuing everyone, no matter their differences. It is important for us to be successful in life and helps build a fair society where everyone feels welcome and respected.
In simple words: Inclusion means accepting everyone as they are. It is vital for success in life.

🎯 Exam Tip: Define inclusion clearly, then explain its two main benefits: personal success and a better society.

2. What is good or effective communication?
Answer: Good communication teaches us how to speak and write clearly to express what we feel. It helps us convey our thoughts and ideas accurately to others, ensuring our message is understood well.
In simple words: Good communication means saying or writing what we think clearly. It helps others understand us.

🎯 Exam Tip: Focus on clarity and accurate expression as key elements of effective communication.

3. What should we learn from our teachers?
Answer: We should learn new and more challenging things from our teachers. They guide us to expand our knowledge and develop new skills that will help us in the future.
In simple words: We should learn new and hard things from our teachers. They help us grow smarter.

🎯 Exam Tip: Emphasize that learning from teachers involves acquiring both new and complex knowledge.

4. What kind of learning brings joy to you?
Answer: The process of learning newer and more challenging things, especially beyond what we already know, brings joy. It feels good to discover and master new concepts, giving a sense of accomplishment.
In simple words: Learning new and difficult things, especially things we didn't know before, makes us happy.

🎯 Exam Tip: Connect the joy of learning with the challenge of mastering new or difficult topics, showing a growth mindset.

5. In what ways are we doing injustice to nature?
Answer: We harm nature by cutting down trees, killing small animals, and causing cities to decay. These actions damage the natural world around us, leading to environmental problems like pollution and habitat loss.
In simple words: We hurt nature by cutting trees, killing small animals, and making cities dirty.

🎯 Exam Tip: When listing ways humans harm nature, include deforestation, animal cruelty, and urban decay.

6. What do you need to learn to live a good life in this world?
Answer: To live a good life in this world, we need to learn the power of humility. Being humble helps us stay grounded, understand others better, and avoid arrogance, which contributes to a more peaceful life.
In simple words: To live well, we need to learn to be humble. Humility helps us in life.

🎯 Exam Tip: Humility is a key virtue for a good life; explain its role in self-awareness and relationships.

7. How does the ability to question help us?
Answer: The ability to ask questions helps us find answers, create better systems, be responsible, and ultimately discover the truth. It encourages deeper thinking and understanding, leading to new insights.
In simple words: Asking questions helps us get answers, make things better, be responsible, and find out what is true.

🎯 Exam Tip: Highlight the multi-faceted benefits of questioning: problem-solving, order, accountability, and truth-seeking.

8. What do you think are the two most important lessons that the speaker mentions?
Answer: The speaker mentions that the power of humility and the power of silence are the two most important lessons. These help us to learn and grow, allowing for self-reflection and wisdom.
In simple words: The speaker says humility and silence are the two most important lessons.

🎯 Exam Tip: Remember these two core lessons from the speech; they are often highlighted for character development.

IV. Answer the following questions in detail.

1. What are the skills/values a teacher should teach their students to live in this competitive world?
Answer: In today's competitive world, teachers should teach students important skills and values. These include the value of inclusion, clear written and spoken communication, and the ability to learn new and difficult things. These qualities help students succeed and thrive.
In simple words: Teachers should teach students to be inclusive, communicate well, and keep learning new things to succeed in the competitive world.

🎯 Exam Tip: List key 21st-century skills like communication, learning agility, and empathy (inclusion) when discussing teacher's roles.

2. What kind of a life do you want to lead in this world?
Answer: I want to live a life in this world with inclusion, good communication, appreciation for nature, humility, silence, and tolerance. These values help create a meaningful and peaceful existence, allowing for personal growth and positive interactions with others.
In simple words: I want to live a life that includes everyone, communicates well, respects nature, is humble, quiet, and accepting of others.

🎯 Exam Tip: When describing an ideal life, focus on a blend of personal virtues and positive social and environmental interactions.

Vocabulary (Text Book Page No. 145)

A. Match the suitable prefix and suffix to create new words of your own. One has been done for you.
Answer:

🎯 Exam Tip: Practice identifying common prefixes (like 'con-', 'in-') and suffixes (like '-ity', '-ism', '-ness') to build vocabulary. Understanding their meanings helps guess new words.

B. Refer to your dictionary. Add a prefix or suffix to the following words and find their antonyms.
Answer: Here are the words with their prefixes or suffixes, along with their antonyms or related forms as provided:
1. privileged – unprivileged
2. animate – inanimate
3. discriminate – discrimination
4. empty - emptiness
5. communicate – communication
6. learn - learned
In simple words: We can add small parts to words (prefixes or suffixes) to change their meaning or form. Sometimes this makes an opposite word, like 'unprivileged' for 'privileged'.

🎯 Exam Tip: Focus on how prefixes like 'un-', 'in-', and suffixes like '-tion', '-ness', '-ed' transform words into antonyms or different grammatical forms.

Listening

C. Listen to the story and fill in the blanks by selecting the right option. Text for listening is in (Text Book Page No. 146)
1. Raj was upset as he had done (well/poorly) in his English test.
Answer: poorly
In simple words: Raj felt sad because he did not perform well in his English exam.

🎯 Exam Tip: When listening for blanks, pay close attention to adjectives describing feelings or performance.

2. His grandmother gave him a (pen/pencil).
Answer: pencil
In simple words: Raj's grandma gifted him a pencil.

🎯 Exam Tip: Listen for specific nouns that are being given or received in the story.

3. Granny compared (Raj/Ravi) with a pencil.
Answer: Raj
In simple words: Granny compared Raj to a pencil, teaching him a lesson through this comparison.

🎯 Exam Tip: In comparison questions, identify the two items being compared and the person involved in the comparison.

4. Raj's pain of not doing well in his test was compared with of pencils. (sharpening/writing)
Answer: sharpening
In simple words: Raj's sadness about his test was like the sharpening of a pencil, meaning it could make him better in the end.

🎯 Exam Tip: Understand metaphors or similes in the story. Pain often leads to growth, like sharpening improves a pencil.

5. Raj understood that failures are stepping stones to (success/climbing).
Answer: success
In simple words: Raj learned that making mistakes or failing can actually help you learn and get closer to succeeding.

🎯 Exam Tip: This phrase emphasizes resilience. Failures are often lessons that lead to future achievements.

E. Look at the pictures. Pick out the right preposition and fill in the speech bubbles given below.
Answer: Here are the prepositions that fill the speech bubbles in the pictures, based on the provided solution:
1. Girl jumping onto a box: Under
2. Girl standing on a box: on
3. Boy jumping down from a box: down from
4. Boy jumping over a box: over
5. Girl getting inside a box: inside
6. Boy sitting in front of a box: in front of
7. Boy sitting between two boxes: between
8. Boy getting into a box: into
In simple words: Look at each picture to see what the person is doing in relation to the box. Then choose the correct word from the list that tells you where they are or how they are moving.

🎯 Exam Tip: Prepositions describe position and movement. Visualizing the action in each picture helps choose the correct preposition.

Use Grammar (Text Book Page No. 150)

F. Read the following sentences carefully and underline the preposition.
Answer: Here are the sentences with the prepositions underlined:
1. Julian placed her lunchbox inside her bag.
2. Vinothini left the house before sunrise.
3. Ben saw Daisy playing across the road.
4. Hema keeps all her teddy bears on top of her wardrobe.
5. Divya hid the sweets behind her back.
6. Sudha fell over during the basketball match.
7. Madhusudhan checked to see if his keys had fallen underneath his chair.
8. Mrs. Meena asked the children to go into her classroom.
9. After lunch, the children were allowed to play.
10. Saravanan climbed onto the horse.
In simple words: A preposition is a word that shows where something is, when something happens, or how something is related to something else. We look for words like 'inside', 'before', 'across' that link the noun to another part of the sentence.

🎯 Exam Tip: To identify prepositions, look for words that indicate location, direction, time, or relationship between a noun/pronoun and other words in a sentence.

G. Complete the following sentences using appropriate prepositions.
1. Is your mother home?
(a) in
(b) at
(c) on
Answer: (b) at
In simple words: We use 'at' when talking about someone being in a general location, like home.

🎯 Exam Tip: Remember common prepositional phrases: "at home" is standard for location, while "in home" and "on home" are incorrect.

2. There is unity in the diversity of the people.
(a) among
(b) between
(c) within
Answer: (a) among
In simple words: When talking about many people or things, we use 'among' to show a relationship or presence within that group.

🎯 Exam Tip: Use 'among' for three or more items/people and 'between' for two items/people when expressing relationships.

3. He discussed the problem with his parents.
(a) with
(b) to
(c) for
Answer: (a) with
In simple words: We use 'with' to show that someone is included in an action or conversation. He talked to his parents.

🎯 Exam Tip: The verb 'discuss' usually takes 'with' to indicate the person or people involved in the conversation.

4. Lithisha was praised by her father.
(a) with
(b) for
(c) by
Answer: (c) by
In simple words: When we want to show who performed an action, especially in a passive sentence, we use 'by'.

🎯 Exam Tip: In passive voice sentences, 'by' indicates the agent (who performed the action), such as "praised by her father."

5. Can you finish work tomorrow?
(a) by
(b) in
(c) within
Answer: (a) by
In simple words: 'By' is used here to mean 'no later than' a certain time. You need to finish the work before or on tomorrow.

🎯 Exam Tip: 'By' is often used to express a deadline or the latest point in time something must happen.

6. He has been absent last week.
(a) since
(b) for
(c) by
Answer: (a) since
In simple words: 'Since' is used to show a starting point in time for an action that continues until now. He started being absent last week and is still absent.

🎯 Exam Tip: Use 'since' for a specific point in time (e.g., 'since last week', 'since Monday') and 'for' for a duration (e.g., 'for a week', 'for three days').

H. Fill in the blanks using suitable prepositions from the box. Some options can be used more than once.
1. What do you do weekends?
Answer: during
In simple words: 'During' tells us what happens within a certain period, like the time span of weekends.

🎯 Exam Tip: 'During' is used to specify a period of time when something occurs. Common phrases include "during the day" or "during the holidays."

2. I am going to my village Sunday.
Answer: on
In simple words: We use 'on' when talking about specific days of the week or dates.

🎯 Exam Tip: Always use 'on' for specific days (e.g., 'on Sunday') and specific dates (e.g., 'on 1st January').

3. I haven't met my friends December.
Answer: since
In simple words: 'Since' shows that something started in the past (December) and is still true now.

🎯 Exam Tip: 'Since' connects a past starting point to the present, indicating an action or state that has continued.

4. Run the street and get me the ribbon.
Answer: to
In simple words: 'To' is used to show movement towards a place or a goal.

🎯 Exam Tip: 'To' indicates direction or destination. Distinguish it from 'on' (position) or 'across' (movement over a surface).

5. He told me in detail the incident.
Answer: about
In simple words: 'About' is used to talk about the topic or subject of a conversation.

🎯 Exam Tip: 'About' introduces the subject matter of a discussion or a story, indicating what it is concerned with.

6. This picture was drawn the girl charcoal.
Answer: by, with
In simple words: 'By' shows who did the action, and 'with' shows what tool was used. The girl used charcoal to draw the picture.

🎯 Exam Tip: In passive constructions, 'by' names the agent and 'with' names the instrument or tool used for the action.

7. The car was travelling a great speed.
Answer: at
In simple words: 'At' is often used to describe the specific rate or speed of something.

🎯 Exam Tip: Use 'at' to denote specific points in time, location, or rates, such as "at a high speed" or "at 5 p.m."

8. The ball fell the lake.
Answer: into
In simple words: 'Into' is used to show movement from outside to inside something, like an object falling into water.

🎯 Exam Tip: 'Into' implies motion towards the inside of something, differentiating it from 'in' which indicates a static position inside.

9. There is a bridge the river.
Answer: across
In simple words: 'Across' means from one side to the other side of something, like a bridge over a river.

🎯 Exam Tip: 'Across' is used for movement or placement from one side to the other, often spanning a gap or surface.

I. Fill up the blanks using suitable prepositions on your own.

Question 1. The soldier climbed ............ a horse and rode away.
Answer: onto
In simple words: A soldier got onto a horse and rode off. 'Onto' shows moving to a surface.

🎯 Exam Tip: Prepositions describe position or direction; 'onto' specifically implies movement to the top of something.

Question 2. They have been here ............ a long time.
Answer: for
In simple words: They have stayed here for a long time. 'For' shows a period of time.

🎯 Exam Tip: 'For' is used for a duration, while 'since' is used for a starting point in time.

Question 3. Kumaravel has lived in this city ............ 2012.
Answer: since
In simple words: Kumaravel has lived in this city starting from the year 2012. 'Since' shows a starting point in time.

🎯 Exam Tip: 'Since' is used when talking about a point in time in the past until now.

Question 4. The paper was published ............ an International journal.
Answer: in
In simple words: The research paper came out in an international magazine. 'In' indicates the medium or publication.

🎯 Exam Tip: Use 'in' for publications or containers.

Question 5. When will you return ............ home?
Answer: to
In simple words: When will you come back to your house? 'To' shows movement towards a place.

🎯 Exam Tip: 'To' indicates direction or destination.

Question 6. One ............ the four students wrote the answers correctly.
Answer: of
In simple words: Only one out of the four students got the answers right. 'Of' indicates belonging or selection from a group.

🎯 Exam Tip: 'Of' is used to show a part of a whole or selection from a group.

Question 7. This fruit is ............ the Mexican capital.
Answer: from
In simple words: This fruit comes from the main city of Mexico. 'From' indicates origin.

🎯 Exam Tip: 'From' is used to show the origin or starting point of something.

Question 8. The head office is ............ Nungambakkam. It is ............ College Road. As you go ............ the station, the office is ............ the right side.
Answer: in, at, to, at
In simple words: The main office is located in Nungambakkam, specifically on College Road. When you walk towards the station, you will find the office on your right. 'In' for general area, 'at' for specific address/side, 'to' for direction.

🎯 Exam Tip: Remember 'in' for larger areas, 'at' for specific points, and 'to' for movement towards a destination.

Question 9. The sailors were taken ............ the forest and made to walk ............ 10 miles.
Answer: to, for
In simple words: The sailors were brought into the forest and then had to walk a distance of 10 miles. 'To' shows destination, 'for' shows duration/distance.

🎯 Exam Tip: Use 'to' for the destination of movement and 'for' to indicate duration or distance.

Question 10. The girl standing ............ me was sneezing.
Answer: beside
In simple words: The girl who was standing next to me started sneezing. 'Beside' means next to.

🎯 Exam Tip: 'Beside' indicates being next to someone or something.

J. Fill in the value trees with the best qualities you like to follow in your life from the given list. Write a few lines about your favourite quality in the box.
Answer: My favorite quality is to always be brave. This is because many things happen in our lives that are difficult. Being brave helps us stay positive and strong when things are tough. It gives us the courage to face challenges head-on.
In simple words: I like to be brave the most. It helps me stay positive and strong during hard times.

🎯 Exam Tip: When writing about your favorite quality, explain why it is important to you and how it helps you in life.

Creative Writing (Text Book Page No. 153)

Question K. Fill in the template given for limerick.
Answer:
There once was a boy named Ben
Who sat in his den with a pen?
He plays this video game
That is very lame
The game he plays is called Ben Ten
In simple words: This is a short, funny poem where the first, second, and fifth lines rhyme, and the third and fourth lines rhyme.

🎯 Exam Tip: Remember the AABBA rhyme scheme and the rhythm for writing limericks effectively.

A Prayer to the Teacher Summary in English
To live a good and helpful life, we need to learn specific things. We should have important good qualities like being inclusive, communicating well, always learning, valuing nature, being able to ask questions, being humble, understanding the strength of silence, seeing the world in a broad way, appreciating different people, and being tolerant. These virtues help us navigate life successfully and meaningfully.

🎯 Exam Tip: Summaries should capture the main points of the text in your own words, making it easy to understand the core message.

A Prayer to the Teacher Summary in Tamil
பயனுள்ள வாழ்க்கை வாழ்வதற்கு நாம் சில காரியங்களை கற்க வேண்டும். சில மதிப்பீடுகளை பெற்றுக் கொள்ள வேண்டும். அந்த மதிப்பீடுகள் பின்வருமாறு எல்லோரையும் சேர்த்துக் கொள்தல் பயனுள்ள பேச்சு, தொடர் கற்றல், இயற்கையை நேசித்தல், கேள்வி கேட்கும் திறன், அமைதியின் சக்தியை உணர்தல், உலகளாவிய பார்வை, வேற்றுமையில் ஒற்றுமை, உணர்வு, சகிப்புத்தன்மை.

🎯 Exam Tip: When providing summaries in a different language, ensure the translation accurately conveys all the original ideas and nuances.