NCERT Class 7 English Gopal and the Hilsa fish

Before you read

Have you ever read a comic book? A comic book contains stories told mainly through pictures.

Gopal and the Hilsa-fish

Working with the Text

Answer the following questions.

1. Why did the king want no more talk about the hilsa-fish?

2. What did the king ask Gopal to do to prove that he was clever?

3. What three things did Gopal do before he went to buy his hilsa-fish?

4. How did Gopal get inside the palace to see the king after he had bought the fish?

5. Explain why no one seemed to be interested in talking about the hilsa-fish which Gopal had bought.

6. Write ‘True’ or ‘False’ against each of the following sentences.

(i) The king lost his temper easily.

(ii) Gopal was a madman.

(iii) Gopal was a clever man.

(iv) Gopal was too poor to afford decent clothes.

(v) The king got angry when he was shown to be wrong.

Working with Language

1. Notice how in a comic book, there are no speech marks when characters talk. Instead what they say is put in a speech ‘bubble’. However, if we wish to repeat or ‘report’ what they say, we must put it into reported speech. Change the following sentences in the story to reported speech. The first one has been done for you.

(i) How much did you pay for that hilsa? The woman asked the man how much he had paid for that hilsa.

(ii) Why is your face half-shaven?

    Gopal’s wife asked him____________________________________

(iii) I accept the challenge, Your Majesty. 

     Gopal told the king________________________________________

(iv) I want to see the king. 

    Gopal told the guards_____________________________________

(v) Bring the man to me at once. 

    The king ordered the guard_________________________________

Please refer to attached file for NCERT Class 7 English Gopal and the Hilsa-fish