Ashraf and Bhai

Ashraf lives in a village near Agra. His parents are farmers. They grow maize, urad daal, and soya beans in their fields. They also grow marigolds. They plant spinach and cauliflower in the winter.

Ashraf is 12 years old. He goes to the village school. He is in Class 7. His favourite subject is maths. When he sells the vegetables and the flowers in the market, he adds up the cost very quickly. The customers all like him because he is polite and honest. He plays Hindi film tunes on his flute. People always stop to listen to him. He plays beautifully.

He takes the flowers and the vegetables to the weekly market on a cart pulled by a donkey. He feeds the donkey kaala chana (black chickpeas), grass, and hay. Ashraf calls the donkey Bhai since he has no brothers and sisters. Bhai loves carrots. Ashraf gives him a few carrots sometimes as a treat. Ashraf fills Bhai’s drinking bowl with fresh water. Before filling the bowl with water, Ashraf makes sure that the bowl is clean.

They have a special friendship.

A) Questions
1. How old is Ashraf?
2. Does he live in a big city?
3. Are his parents schoolteachers?
4. What do Ashraf’s parents grow in their fields?
5. What is Ashraf’s favourite subject?
6. What does Ashraf call the donkey? Why?
7. What does Bhai love to eat?
8. Does Ashraf play the flute well?

B) Fill in the correct form of the verb. Choose from the following words: live, lives, is, are, has, have, grows, grow, makes, make, plays, play, buys, buy, goes, go.

1. Sahil ___ a notebook from the shop.
2. My grandparents ___ in Malda.
3. My uncle has a farm. He ___ rice.
4. I ___ two sisters.
5. They ___ to school.
6. Today ___ Republic Day. We ___ a holiday.
7. Ashraf ___ in a village near Agra.
8. My brothers ___ both farmers.
9. Ananya ___ a headache.
10. We ___ tomatoes in pots on our balcony.
11. I ___ kabaddi with my friends.
12. Asha ___ badminton with Ratna.
13. My uncles ___ seeds from the seed shop.
14. Asha ___ a cold and cough.
15. Her mother ___ herbal tea for her.
16. ___ a sentence with the word ‘farm’.
17. Disha ___ to school.
18. My brother ___ in a hostel in Chandigarh.
19. He ___ an engineering student.
20. Every Sunday he ___ cricket with his friends.

C) POEM
When I Grow Up
Someday soon when I grow up
I’ll have a job to do
I’ll write a book or be a cook
Or work inside a zoo.
I may drive a bus
Or teach children to read and write
Maybe I’ll fight a fire or fly a plane
Or build a house or sew a blouse
Or sail the ocean blue.

D) Exercise
1. Underline all the verbs (action words) in the poem.
2. Make sentences of your own with the underlined verbs in the simple present tense.
For example: My father works in an office.

E) Occupations
Fill in the blanks with the following words: chef, tailor, sailor, farmer, teacher, fire fighter, pilot, construction worker, bus driver, zookeeper, writer/author, poet.

1. I cook in a restaurant. I am a ___.
2. I sail in a ship. I am a ___.
3. I have a farm in which I grow vegetables. I am a ___.
4. I like to write stories. I will be a ___ when I grow up.
5. My sister writes poems. She is a ___.
6. Sahil feeds the giraffes in the zoo. He also keeps the zoo clean. He is a ___.
7. A ___ drives a bus.
8. The ___ wears a hard hat when he builds a house.
9. I want to learn how to fly a plane. I want to be a ___.
10. A ___ makes/sews clothes.
11. My mother is a ___ in the government school.
12. The ___ needs a tall ladder to fight a fire on the top floor of the building.