The Bees
English Workshop
1. Honey-bees live an organised life like human beings. Discuss what work the following honey-bees do, as per the poem. Write it down in your own words in your notebook.
(a) King / Emperor bee
(b) Magistrate bees
(c) Merchant bees
(d) Soldier bees
(e) Mason bees
(f) Civilian bees
(g) Porter bees
(h) Judge bee
Answer:
(a) King / Emperor bee: The emperor bee is the leader who oversees all the activities in the hive. He stays busy in his royal tent, observing and managing the work of the other bees, like a ruler ensuring everything runs smoothly.
(b) Magistrate bees: These bees maintain order within the hive. They correct and discipline the bees at home, similar to how magistrates enforce laws and rules.
(c) Merchant bees: These bees go out into the world to gather resources. They venture abroad to trade, collecting nectar and other materials to bring back to the hive.
(d) Soldier bees: The soldier bees protect the hive and gather resources by force if needed. They use their stings as weapons to raid flowers for nectar, which they bring back home.
(e) Mason bees: These bees are the builders of the hive. They construct the golden roofs, shaping the structure of the hive with their skills.
(f) Civilian bees: The civilian bees are responsible for processing the nectar. They knead it into honey, working together as productive members of the hive.
(g) Porter bees: These bees act as carriers, bringing heavy loads of resources into the hive. They crowd around the narrow gate, delivering their burdens to support the community.
(h) Judge bee: The judge bee enforces justice in the hive. With a serious attitude, it hands over the lazy drone to the executors for punishment.
2. Complete the following choosing the appropriate option.
(a) Human beings can learn from honey bees ………
(i) how too make food
(ii) how to live joyfully
(iii) how to lead an organised nation.
Answer: (iii) how to lead an organised nation.
(b) The soldier-bees carry home ………….
(i) the velvet buds
(ii) nectar looted from flowers
(iii) their weapons.
Answer: (ii) nectar looted from flowers.
(c) The emperor-bee supervises the building of …………
(i) the bee hive
(ii) bridges
(iii) a tower.
Answer: (i) the bee hive.
(d) The ……………. bees make honey from nectar.
(i) officer
(ii) civilian citizen
(iii) magistrate
Answer: (ii) civilian citizen.
(e) The drone is given a death sentence because he ……..
(i) attacked the emperor
(ii) killed other bees
(iii) does not do any work.
Answer: (iii) does not do any work.
3. (A) Complete the phrases using words from the poem.
(i) ……… march
(ii) ……… tent
(iii) ….. masons
(iv) ……… porters
(v) ……. burdens
(vi) ………. executors
Answer:
(i) merry march
(ii) tent royal tent
(iii) singing masons
(iv) mechanic porters
(v) heavy burdens
(vi) pale executors
(B) (i) Find any two Alliterative lines.
Answer:
- “Make boot upon the summer’s velvet buds” (repetition of “b” sound).
- “The singing masons building roofs of gold” (repetition of “s” sound).
(ii) Pick out the line that contains an Onomatopoetic word.
Answer: “The sad eyed Justice, with his surly hum” (“hum” mimics a sound).
(C) Pick out three lines that create an image in your mind of bees busy at work.
Answer:
- “The singing masons building roofs of gold” (bees constructing the hive).
- “The civil citizens kneading up the honey” (bees processing nectar).
- “The poor mechanic porters crowding in” (bees carrying loads into the hive).
4. (A) Refer to a good dictionary that carries phonetic transcriptions printed next to words. The words below are familiar to you. Copy their phonetic transcriptions from the dictionary and say them aloud as you write. (You may take your teacher’s help, if needed.)
(1) work ……..
(2) bees ……..
(3) boot ……..
(4) home ……..
(5) mason ……..
(6) citizen …….
(7) porters ……..
Stress – Stress is the extra force we use when pronouncing a syllable in a word.
For example: In the word ‘king-dom’ the syllable ‘king’ is stressed.
In the word ‘re-li-gion’ the second syllable is stressed.
The stress upon a syllable can be shown with a short vertical line above the
syllable that is stressed.
For example: com-pu-ter / ‘fa-ther/ en-cou-rage
Answer:
- work: /wɝːk/
- bees: /biːz/
- boot: /buːt/
- home: /hoʊm/
- mason: /ˈmeɪ.sən/
- citizen: /ˈsɪt.ɪ.zən/
- porters: /ˈpɔːr.tɚz/
(B) Say the following words aloud and put the stress mark on the stressed syllables.
crea-tures
me-cha-nic
de-li-ve-ring
bur-den
e-xe-cu-tor
ma-gis-trate
Answer:
- crea-tures: ˈcrea-tures
- me-cha-nic: me-ˈcha-nic
- de-li-ve-ring: de-ˈli-ve-ring
- bur-den: ˈbur-den
- e-xe-cu-tor: ˈe-xe-cu-tor
- ma-gis-trate: ˈma-gis-trate
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