Clouds by Intizar Hussain (Class - 8) With All Exercises and Activities

Clouds

By - Intizar Hussain

Let's do :

Activity - 1

Rearrange the following sentences in the correct order and put the numbers in the given boxes:

(1) He saw a grass-cutter coming from the other direction. IV

(2) The grass-cutter was surprised. VI

(3) He reached the old mud hut. II

(4) He wandered in search of the clouds. I

(5) He asked the grass-cutter if he had noticed the clouds. V

(6) He turned onto the dirt track. III

 Activity - 2

Complete the following sentences with information from the text:

(a) The grass-cutter had a bundle of freshly cut grass balanced on his head.

(b) He was disappointed to see that the grass-cutter was still mystified.

(c) The farmer could not make sense of the boy’s question.

(d) He was asking for the clouds like a man who has lost his child and asks wayfarers if they have seen a child wandering.

Activity - 4

Write 'T' for true and 'F' for false statements in the given boxes. Give supporting statements for each of your answers:

(a)In the morning, the boy asked the first question to his father. 🅵

S.S. : His mother was the first he had asked in the morning, "Ammaji, where have the clouds gone?"

(b) The boy's mother asked him to go to school. 🆃

 S.S. : "Wash quickly, eat your breakfast and go to school."

(c) When the boy got up in the morning, he saw that the sky was cloudless. 🆃

S.S. : The sky was clear and empty!

(d) The boy was happy to think that he had fallen asleep. 🅵

S.S. : And it saddened him to think that he had fallen asleep.

Activity - 5

Answer the following questions:

(a) Which question haunted the boy?

Ans :- The question was “where the clouds had gone?”.

(b) What did the boy see in the middle of the night?

Ans :- The boy saw dense, black clouds in the occasional flashes of lighting.

 (c) How did he feel as he walked between the fields?

Ans :- The boy felt that his body was on fire and his throat was dry in the fierce heat of the sun.

(d) What did he do after reaching the shelter of the tree?

Ans :- The boy splashed the cool water from the Persian face, and drank to his satisfaction.

Activity - 6

Fill in the chart with information from the text:

What	Why
(i) The boy was open-mouthed	The old man told the boy that he had once lived in a place where it had not rained for ten years.
(ii) The earth was damp underfoot.	It had rained hard a while ago.
(iii) The boy hurried home.	He wanted to see how fresh and clean the jamun tree in his courtyard looked.
(iv) When he got home, he saw everything had changed	There had been a good shower during his absence.

Activity - 7

Answer the following questions:

(a) What did the old man say about the place where he once lived?

Ans :- The old man told the boy that he had once lived in a place where it had not rained for ten years.

(b) How did the boy feel as he reached the mud-hut?

Ans :- The boy felt a chill in the air and the damp earth undertook.

(c) What did the boy do as he stood under the jamun tree?

Ans :- The boy let the raindrops fall on his head and face when he stood under the jamun tree.

(d) Why did the clouds shed rain in the absence of the boy?

Ans :- The boy walked far from his village in search of the clouds. The clouds in the meantime condensed and shed rain in the boy's village. It happened naturally. The author suggested that it was the fulfillment of the wish of the boy.  

Activity - 8(a)

(a) Underline the verbs that denote actions which will be in progress at a time in the future:

(i) I shall be reading a book next week.

(ii) You will be going to school tomorrow.

(iii) They will be visiting our house next month.

The verbs you have underlined are in the Future Continuous Tense.

A Future Continuous Tense is a form of a verb that denotes an action that will be in progress at a time in the future.

Activity - 8(b)

Underline the verbs that denote actions that will be completed in the future:

(i) shall have written the story by then.

(ii) He will have left before you go to see the doctor.

(iii) You shall have gone to the fair.

The verbs you have underlined are in the Future Perfect Tense. 

A Future Perfect Tense is a form of a verb that denotes an action that will be completed by a certain time in the future.

Activity - 8(c)

Read the following sentences. Identify the future continuous tense and future perfect tense and fill in the table given below:

(i) I shall be playing in the field.

(ii) She will have recited the poem.

(iii) You will have enjoyed the picnic.

(iv) They will be coming soon.

Future Continuous Tense	Future Perfect Tense
shall be playing	will have recited
will be coming	will have enjoyed

 Activity - 9

Write the antonyms of the underlined words by using the prefixes from the Help Box:

(a) It is possible for him to lift the chair.

Ans : It is impossible for him to lift the chair.

(b) His handwriting is legible.

Ans : His handwriting is illegible.

(c) Their claim is not reasonable.

Ans : Their claim is not unreasonable.

(d) He believes his friend.

Ans :  He disbelieves his friend.

[Help Box: dis-, un-, im- ,il- ]