St. Francis Academy
Kestopur/Kanthelberia Kolkata -102.
English II CLASS 5
My puppy plays piano.
It’s the strangest thing to see.
It seems, while I was practicing, he learned by watching me.
He started out on chopsticks, then he learned to play some Bach.
It wasn’t long before he knew
the blues and classic rock. He also taught my kitten how so they could play duets,
and then they taught guitar and drums to all my other pets.
They formed a band and practiced hard and traveled all around,
and instantly got famous
for their catchy “Pet Rock” sound.
They made a smash hit record
and it wasn’t very long
before my pets were millionaires because they wrote this song.
- Kenn Nesbitt.
The Poem “My Puppy plays Piano” is a beautiful creation of the famous poet Kenn Nesbitt. The poem consists of five stanzas
,where each stanza has four lines. The poet simply fancies that his pet the little puppy had learned to play his piano, while he was practicing it. In the next stanza the poet describes how the puppy had started to learn it by practicing with chopsticks first and then on a bach. Within a short time it learnt to play rock music. In the third stanza the aspect of fun much increases when he says that the puppy taught even the kitten and started playing duets with it. Then they learned to play guitar and drums as well and taught the skill to all the other pets. In the fourth stanza the aspect of humar is added when the poet says that the pets had formed a band and travelled all over the world and became very famous for their “Pet Rock Sound”. In the fifth stanza it is amazing to know that the pets make a great record within a very short time with their hit music and turn to become millionaires with their musical
compositions.
Chopsticks – a pair of thin sticks used for eating food. Bach – Johann Sebastine Bach, a German composer and
musician.
The blues – a type of slow sad music with strong rhythms. Rock – a type of loud popular music , played on electric
Guitars and Drums. Questions and Answers :
Q1.What is the strangest thing to see according to the poet ? WORD POWER
Ans. According to the poet, the strangest thing to see is that his puppy does play piano.
Q2.How did the puppy learn ?
Ans. Whenever the poet used to practice, his puppy watched him carefully and in this way the puppy learned.
Q3.How did the puppy start out ?
Ans. The puppy started out on chopsticks. Q4. “It wasn’t long before he knew….” ~ What did he knew ?
Ans. The puppy knew to play blues and classic rock. Q5. What did the puppy teach the poet’s kitten ? Ans. The puppy taught the poet’s kitten to play duets.
Q6. What did the puppy teach the other pets ?
Ans. The puppy taught the other pets to play guitars and drums. Q7. How did the puppy and the other pets get fame ?
Ans. Having formed a band and travelled all around, the puppy and the other pets got famous for their unique and catchy “Pet Rock” sound.
Q8.What were the financial position of the pets after they made a record ?
Ans. The pets soon became millionaires after they made a record.
EXERCISE :
St. Francis Academy
Kestopur/Kanthelberia Kolkata -102.
English II CLASS 5
The story “The Aunt and Amabel” is an excerpt from the book “The Magic World” by Edith Nesbit. Amabel is a small girl who is visiting her aunt. To make her aunt happy Amabel plucks flowers from the greenhouse and sticks them into the ground in front of her aunt’s window. When her aunt sees this , she is upset and stops talking to her. In this extract, Amabel is alone in her aunts bedroom. She is looking for something to read and finds a magical book. At first she thought it to be an Alphabet book, then she
thought it to be a dictionary.
She started reading the words in the book .It had names of places she knew like – Brington, Rugby, Whitby and she saw times
written when the trains left for these places. Then she saw an extraordinary name that is “whereyouwantogoto”. The name of the station from which the train started was still more
extraordinary – “Bigwardrobeinspareroom”. Amabel went straight to the bigwardrobe. She reached a station and immediately a
porter took Amabels luggage inside the crystal train. In the train their little buttons and on them it was written –
“whatyouwantoeat” , whatyouwantodring”, whatyouwantoread” in silver letters.
Amabel pressed all of them and enjoyed the services.When she just finished reading her book , the train stopped and the railway
THE AUNT AND AMABEL
officials started shouting “Whereyouwantogoto!”get off
here!”When she came out a porter informed her that it was the Mayor, who welcomed her and told her that it was not her fault as she only tried to please her aunt. Then their was a concert
followed by a grand dinner all in the honour of Amabel. Everyone waited for her speech and cheered her and she just said-“Thank you”. Then when she wished her aunty was there. Suddenly her aunty stood beside her. They both said sorry to each other and hugged each other.
When the stars were out Amabel feel asleep and when she woke up she found herself in her aunts arms. Then aunty told her to come down for supper after that when Amabel looked for the magic book it was nowhere around anymore.
Greenhouse – a glass house where where plants are grown and kept protected.
Extraordinary – uncommon , unusual.
Porter – a person whose job is to carry luggage or other
Things.
Satin – smooth , silky shiny cloth. Grinning – smiling.
Mayor – a person who is elected as the head of a City or Town and is responsible for its government. Bowed low – bent forward to greet and show respect.
WORD POWER
Q1. Where was Amabel’s home and where did her brother go to school?
Ans. Amabel home was in Whitby and her brother went to a school in Amberley.
Q2. What made Amabel smile when the porter in white satin spoke to her?
Ans. When the porter said that he was glad that Amabel was going
and told her that she was “a nice little girl” , Amabel smiled.
Q3. What were written in the little buttons in the train?
Ans. In the little buttons in the train it was written –
“whatyouwantoeat” , whatyouwantodring”, whatyouwantoread”.
Q4. Who said –“Thank you,’ and to say – to say –to say. . .”? Ans. Amabel said this.
