Class 11 English Chapter 3 Poem NCERT Solutions The Laburnum Top Free PDF Download
NCERT Solutions for Class 11 English
Find Laburnum Top
Question 1.
What is Laburnum called in your language?
Answer:
Laburnum tree is called Amaltas tree in Hindi.
Question 2.
Which local bird is similar to the goldfinch?
Answer:
A local bird similar to the goldfinch is called the Indian lutino ringneck.
Laburnum Top Think It Out
Question 1.
What do you notice about the beginning and end of the poem?
Answer:
The same thing at the beginning and end of the poem is that the Laburnum tree remains calm and silent on both occasions.
Question 2.
What is the speed of the bird compared to? What is the basis of comparison?
Answer:
The speed of the bird (goldfinch) is compared to that of a lizard. The basis for comparison is that the goldfinch’s movements are sudden and abrupt, similar to the movements of a lizard.
Question 3.
Why has the poet evoked the image of an engine?
Answer:
The poet highlights the image of the engine as it is a source of energy for a machine. The poet compares the bird to an engine because it is the source of energy for the machine i.e. the nest where the chicks are resting.
Question 4.
What do you like most about poetry?
Answer:
I like the description of the laburnum tree laden with yellow flowers. Also, I love the arrival of the goldfinches which transforms the silent tree into a noisy one. And activity.
Question 5.
What does the phrase “his forbidden facial recognition mask” mean?
Answer:
The flowers of the Laburnum tree fall like bars and when the bird sits behind the flowers, the shadow of the flowers on its face looks as if it is wearing a mask with bars on it. Thus, ‘forbidden’ is actually an adjective for flowers and has been transferred and applied to the bird. ,
Laburnum Top Extract Based Questions and Answers (2 Marks)
I. Read the extract given below and answer any two questions that follow.
The Laburnum top is quiet, absolutely quiet, in the yellow sunshine of a September afternoon, some of the leaves have turned yellow, all its seeds have fallen.
Question 1.
What does ‘laburnum top’ mean here?
(a) It means the top part of any tree
(b) It means the top part of Laburnum tree
(c) It means the top part of an imaginary tree
(d) It doesn’t make any sense
Answer:
(b) It means the top part of Laburnum tree
Question 2.
What happened to the tree?
(A) The tree is being worshipped.
(b) the tree has been cut down
(c) The leaves of the tree have turned purple and are falling down
(d) The leaves of the tree have turned yellow and the seeds are falling down.
Answer:
(d) The leaves of the tree have turned yellow and the seeds are falling down.
Question 3.
Find the word from the quotation which is the antonym of ‘noise’.
(Calm
(b) absolutely
(c) quietly
(d) silence
Answer:
(d) silence
Second. Read the extract given below and answer any two questions that follow.
Then smooth as a lizard, and alert, and sudden,
She enters the thicket, and a machine starts
Chirping and vibration of wings, and trilling
The whole tree trembles and becomes thrilled.
Question 1.
Who is ‘he’ in the second line? Where does she enter?
(A) That is the baby goldfinch entering the thicket of the laburnum tree
(b) ‘He’ is a squirrel who enters the thicket of the laburnum tree
(c) ‘He’ is a lizard that enters the thicket of the laburnum tree
(d) ‘She’ is the mother goldfinch who enters the thicket of the laburnum tree
Answer:
(d) ‘She’ is the mother goldfinch who enters the thicket of the laburnum tree
Question 2.
What is ‘machine’ referred to in the quote?
(a) If refers to a machine used to make holes in trees
(b) It refers to a machine used for cutting trees
(c) It refers to the goldfinch’s nest where its babies are living.
(d) It refers to the squirrel’s nest
Answer:
(c) It refers to the goldfinch’s nest where its babies are living.
Question 3.
Find the word from the quotation which is a synonym of ‘complete’.
(a) suddenly
(b) hole
(c) complete
(d) shiver
Answer:
(c) complete
Third. Read the extract given below and answer any two questions that follow.
Then with an eerie delicate whistling-chirp whisper she goes off into the infinite
And the laburnum becomes empty.
Question 1.
What does ‘launch’ mean in quotes?
(A) It means gold
(b) It means to fly
(c) It means diving
(d) It means fluttering
Answer:
(b) It means to fly
Question 2.
What effect does the last line have?
(a) It creates a contrast between the liveliness of the tree and its silence
(b) It creates a contradiction between seasonal changes
(c) It creates an opportunity to plant more Laburnum trees
(d) It creates the scene for the arrival of new bird species on the tree
Answer:
(a) It creates a contrast between the liveliness of the tree and its silence
Question 3.
……….Ark means similar to ‘strange’ and ‘mysterious’.
(A) delicate
(b) strange
(c) infinite
(d) terrible
Answer:
(d) terrible
Laburnum Top Short Questions and Answers (2 Marks)
Question 1.
Why is the poem titled ‘The Laburnum Top’?
Answer:
The poem is named ‘The Laburnum Top’ because the top of the laburnum tree is described in detail in the poem. It is at the top of the Laburnum tree where the goldfinch’s nest is located and it is here that all the activity takes place when the goldfinches arrive to nest.
Question 2.
What is the significance of ‘yellow’ in the poem?
Answer:
Both the flowers of the Laburnum tree and its leaves (in autumn) are yellow. Apart from this, the feathers of goldfinch are also yellow in color. The poem highlights the high protection that the mother bird (goldfinch) ensures for her children and the yellow color that helps to hide the children. Therefore they avoid being noticed by any hunter.
Question 3.
How does the tree change during bird visits?
Answer:
After the goldfinch arrives at the tree, the calm and peaceful laburnum tree suddenly begins to tremble and shake. The whole tree comes alive as the baby goldfinches make a lot of noise as they chirp and scream when they see their mother.
Question 4.
What is the speed of the goldfinch compared to? What is the basis of comparison?
Answer:
The gait of a goldfinch has been compared to that of a lizard. The basis of comparison is the lizard’s smooth, alert and sudden movements. When the goldfinch reaches the Laburnum tree, it makes similar movements to avoid the attention of any predator.
Question 5.
‘Then smooth and alert like a lizard and suddenly, he enters the thicket.’ Explain the given line.
Answer:
Lizard is a fast moving animal. It is also very alert and its movements are sudden. The given line describes the arrival of the goldfinch at the Laburnum tree. The poet describes its movements as alert and sudden, like that of a lizard. This is done to avoid attracting the attention of predators.
Question 6.
What is the engine of the machine? What is its fuel?
Answer:
The goldfinch has been called the engine of his family. As soon as the engine starts the machine, the machine starts suddenly due to the arrival of goldfinches in the nest, that is, the children present in the nest have started making noise. The fuel for the engine is the food that goldfinches bring to their chicks.
Question 7.
How does Laburnum ensure safety for the chicks?
Answer:
According to popular belief, the bark and seeds of the Laburnum tree are poisonous. Therefore, hunters usually do not come near the tree. Additionally, its yellow flowers and yellow leaves in the fall combine with the goldfinch’s yellow feathers to help conceal the nest from predators.
Question 8.
Explain the line, ‘And the laburnum becomes empty’.
Answer:
This is the last line of the poem. It is said that as soon as the goldfinch leaves the laburnum tree, it becomes silent. When the goldfinch came to feed its chicks the tree was noisy and lively, but after leaving the tree it returned to its previous state.
Laburnum Top Long Questions and Answers (6 Marks)
Question 1.
The arrival of the goldfinch at Laburnum Top brings about a change in the poem. How do you explain this change? Is change in life good or bad?
Answer:
At the beginning of the poem, the top of the laburnum tree in the poem is calm and still. There is hardly any activity on it as the sunlight falls on it during the September afternoon. However, with the arrival of the goldfinches, it suddenly becomes a place of furious activity. The silence of the place is broken by the chirping and chirping of chickadees and goldfinches.
I think the change brought about by the arrival of the goldfinches on the laburnum top is good, as it breaks the monotony. The tree becomes alive and vibrant with the movements of the goldfinches and the chirping and chirping of the chicks.
Changes in life can be good or bad depending on the circumstances. However, the fact is that change is the only constant in life. Therefore, even if a change is bad, we have to accept it and move forward in life.
Question 2.
‘What value do you learn from the goldfinch in the poem ‘The ‘Laburnum Top”?
Answer:
In the poem ‘The Laburnum Top’ the goldfinch’s nest is at the top of the laburnum tree. Her babies stay in the nest while she (the mother goldfinch) goes out at regular intervals to collect food to feed her babies. It reflects her caring nature and highlights the values of care and affection of a mother towards her offspring.
Another aspect of the Goldfinch that is captured in the poem is its speed. She suddenly arrives at Laburnum Top and is very alert to her surroundings. The poet has compared his gait to the smooth gait of a lizard. However, there is a reason why he moves like this (in a cautious and sudden manner). She is moving in this way so that she can avoid the sight of any hunter. She does not want any hunters to know that her children are resting in her nest on Laburnum Peak, because then hunters could kill or harm them. This action of the Goldfinch highlights the values of safety and security for its offspring.
