NCERT Class 7 English A Bicycle in Good Repair

Before you read

If you wish to go on a long bicycle ride, the bicycle should be in good condition. If possible, an expert mechanic should overhaul it. But what happens if the machine has a will of its own and the mechanic knows next to nothing?

A Bicycle in Good Repair

A man I knew proposed one evening we should go for a long bicycle ride together on the following day, and I agreed. I got up early, for me; I made an effort, and was pleased with myself. He came half an hour late; I was waiting for him in the garden. It was a lovely day. He said, “That’s a good-looking machine of yours. How does it run?”

“Oh, like most of them!” I answered; “easily enough in the morning; goes a little stiffly after lunch.”

He caught hold of it by the front wheel and the fork, and shook it violently. 

I said, “Don’t do that; you’ll hurt it.”

I did not see why he should shake it; it had not done anything to him. Besides, if it wanted shaking, I was the proper person to shake it. I felt much as I should had he started whacking my dog.

He said, “This front wheel wobbles.” I said, “It doesn’t if you don’t wobble it.” It didn’t wobble, as a matter of fact—nothing worth calling a wobble.

He said, “This is dangerous; have you got a hammer?” I ought to have been firm, but I thought that perhaps he really did know something about the business. I went to the tool shed to see what I could find. When I came back he was sitting on the ground with the front wheel between his legs. He was playing with it, twiddling it round between his fingers; the remnant of the machine was lying on the gravel path beside him.

He said, “It looks to me as if the bearings were all wrong.”

Working with the Text

Answer the following questions.

1. Did the front wheel really wobble? What is your opinion? Give a reason for your answer.

2. In what condition did the author find the bicycle when he returned from the tool shed?

3. “Nothing is easier than taking off the gear-case.” Comment on or continue this sentence in the light of what actually happens.

4. What special treatment did the chain receive?

5. The friend has two qualities — he knows what he is doing and is absolutely sure it is good. Find the two phrases in the text which mean the same.

6. Describe ‘the fight’ between the man and the machine. Find the relevant sentences in the text and write them.

Please refer to attached file for NCERT Class 7 English A Bicycle in Good Repair