The World in a Wall: Meanings Summary and Solutions Class 8

‘The World in a Wall’ Class 8 English question answers are here with summary and meanings also. ‘The World in a Wall’ is written by Gerald Durrel (1925-1995) He was a naturalist, author, conservationist and television presenter. He founded the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and Durrell Wildlife (earlier Jersey Zoological Park) on the Channel Island of Jersey in 1958. He wrote a number of books based on his life as an animal collector and enthusiast. His first book ‘The Overloaded Ark’ was published in 1953. His best-selling includes ‘The Bafut Beagles’, ‘A Zoo in My Luggage’, ‘Catch Me a Colo busy’ and ‘The Stationary Ark’.

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Summary

‘The World in a Wall’ is about a scorpion and the reactions of family members towards it. A boy spots a scorpion on a wall near his home. Since he was tempted to take it but knew that his mother would not allow it, he placed the scorpion and the babies in the matchbox. In the home, he carefully placed the matchbox on the table and sat down for lunch. Larry, having finished already, picked up the matchbox and opened it. This led to a chaos on the dining table as the female scorpion tried to escape with her babies. Since Lugaretzia was the only stranger in the house, Roger, their dog, thought that she was responsible and bit her on the ankle. After a lot of panic in the family, the author was made to round up the scorpions and leave them out of the house on the wall. The family retired to the drawing room, and the author and Roger spent the afternoon on the hillside. They release the scorpion in the wild.

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Meanings

first glance – looked for the first time (पहली नज़र में – पहली बार में ही )
cling – to stick to, to hold on tightly (कसकर पकड़े या चिपके हुए )
enraptured – filled with great pleasure and joy
manoeuvre – move skillfully
unfortunate – unpleasant and unlucky
surreptitiously – secretly
oblivious– unaware or forgetful
trifle – a little, of low value or low importance
scuttled – move quickly
thumbed – moved with thumbs
scream – to give a loud high cry
bewildered – confused
chaos – a state of complete confusion and lack of order,
pandemonium – chaos
advance – move ahead
drench – to make wet
promptly – without delay
mystified – confused, not understanding
hysterically – behaving wildly with uncontrolled emotions
bellowed – shouted loudly
imploring – asking
look out – be careful
impassioned – emotional and forceful
quashed – stopped
prudent – sensible and understanding things and situations

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Textbook Solutions

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Comprehension

A. Answer these questions briefly.

1. What did the female scorpion look like?
2. Why did Gerry think that the scorpion had a fur coat on?
3. Why did Gerry smuggle the scorpion into the house?
4. Where did Gerry keep the scorpion in the house?
5. Why did Gerry have to feed Roger ‘surreptitiously’ under the table?
6. What happened once Larry realised that the scorpion was crawling on the back of his hand?
7. Why was the scorpion agitated?
8. What does Gerry refer to as ‘the impending doom’?
9. In what way did Roger add to all the confusion?
10. Why did Gerry think that it was prudent to allow the scorpion family to have a siesta? What does it reveal about Gerry?

Answers

1.The scorpion appeared to be having a pale fawn fur coat.  

2. The babies of the scorpion were clinging to the mother’s back and it looked like as pale fawn fur coat. 

3. Gerry wanted to see the babies grow. His mother would not allow it, so, he had to smuggle the scorpion into the house.

4. He kept the scorpion in a matchbox which he placed on the mantelpiece in the drawing room.

5. He did not want the others to see that he was giving the food that was meant for him away to Roger.  

6. Larry uttered a roar of fright that made Lugaretzia drop a plate and brought Roger out from beneath the table, barking wildly. Larry flicked his hand and the scorpion and the babies scattered like confetti as she thumped on the cloth. It all created a chaos and pandemonium. Margo hurled a glass of water at the scorpion. The water drenched mother who could not stand getting wet.  

7. The scorpion was agitated because it had been shut up in the matchbox for so long. The sudden release made her extremely excited. All the commotion that followed agitated her.  

8. Gerry Here, the ‘impending doom’ refers to the commotion that starts after Larry opens the match box.  

9. Lugaretzia was the only stranger in the room. Roger thought that she was responsible for all the commotion. He thought that the family was attacked and out of duty he bit her in the ankle.  

10. The scorpion family had really tried hard to keep them away and safe from the family members. So, Gerry thought they needed a siesta. It reveals that Gerry really was caring toward the scorpion and wanted to see them at peace and this is the reason he released them on the wall.

B. Answer these questions with reference to the context.

1. He uttered a roar of fright that made Lugaretzia drop a plate and brought Roger out from beneath the table, barking wildly.
   a. Who was Lugaretzia?
   b. Who uttered a roar of fright?
   c. What did Roger do to Lugaretzia?
2. Eventually, after impassioned pleas on my part, backed up by Mother, Leslie’s suggestion that the whole lot be slaughtered was quashed.
   a. Who is the speaker of these lines?
   b. What does the ‘whole lot’ refer to here?
   c. What was the speaker and Mother’s plea?
3. As Lugaretzia was the only stranger in the room, he came to the logical conclusion that she must be the responsible party.
   a. Who is ‘he’ here?
   b. Why was Lugaretzia considered ‘responsible’? And for what?
   c. What did ‘he’ do to Lugaretzia?

Answers

1. a. Lugaretzia was the family’s helper.
   b. Larry uttered a roar of fright.
   c. Roger bit her ankle.
2. a. Gerry is the speaker here.
   b. The ‘whole lot’ is the scorpion family.
   c. The plea was that the lives of the scorpions be spared.
3. a. He is Roger here.
   b. She was considered responsible for all the commotion as she was the only stranger in the room.
   c. He bit her ankle.

C. Answer these questions.

1. How did Gerry rescue the scorpions after they escaped from the matchbox?
2. What made Roger think that the family had been attacked?
3. Whom did Roger attack in all the chaos? Why?
4. Who seemed the most calm through the entire episode with the scorpions? What gives you that impression?
5. Explain the line: I completely forgot about my exciting new captures.
6. Why did Larry roar with fright? Comment on the way he reacted.
7. Why did the mother lose her breath and sat gasping?
8. What did Gerry finally do with the scorpions?
9. Comment on the title of the story ‘The World in a Wall’.
10. Leslie’s suggestion that the entire lot of scorpions be slaughtered was not accepted by the rest of the family. What do you think could have been the reason for this?

Answers

1. After the family finally retired to the drawing room, Gerry took half an hour to gather the babies. Carefully, he scooped them up in a teaspoon and returned them to their mother’s back. Then, he carried them outside on a saucer and released them on the garden wall.
2. The house was filled with chaos. Leslie and Larry screamed, causing Lugaretzia to drop a plate in fright. The scorpion babies scattered like confetti, and as Leslie leapt to his feet, he accidentally overturned his chair. Desperately, he flicked out his napkin, sending the scorpion rolling across the cloth towards Margo, who let out a piercing scream. Margot quickly threw water at the scorpions, inadvertently drenching her mother and leaving her breathless.
3. Thinking that Lugaretzia was responsible for the commotion, Roger attacked her as she was the only stranger in the room.
4. Gerry remained remarkably calm throughout the incident. Unlike the others, he didn’t shout or scream in fright when the scorpions crawled around. Instead, he took charge, managing to save them in the end and releasing them on the garden wall.
5. While the family was gathered around the dining table engaged in conversation, Gerry became lost in the discussion and completely forgot about the scorpion he had brought home.
6. Larry opened the matchbox where the scorpion was trapped. As soon as it emerged, it scuttled onto the back of Larry’s hand, its sting poised and ready. Feeling the movement of its claws, Larry glanced down and was startled by the unexpected sight of scorpions crawling out of the matchbox and landing on his hand, causing him to roar in fright.
7. The cold water thrown by Margot at the scorpions splashed onto Mother, leaving her drenched and gasping for breath.
8. Gerry released the scorpions onto the garden wall.
9. All the scorpions were set free on the garden wall by Gerry. As he observed them, he could see their entire world on that wall. In addition to the scorpions, there were other creatures residing in the nooks and crannies of the wall that Gerry could observe.
10. Leslie suggested slaughtering all the scorpions, but the rest of the family did not accept the idea for several reasons.
    Firstly, some members may have ethical concerns about unnecessarily killing living creatures and believe that all beings have a right to life.
    Secondly, they may understand the importance of scorpions in the ecosystem, as they control the population of other pests. Killing scorpions could disrupt the balance and lead to ecological issues.
    Moreover, scorpions are not necessarily a threat to humans if left alone, and killing them could create safety risks if done without proper knowledge.
    Lastly, family values and differing opinions within the family could also have played a role in the rejection of Leslie’s suggestion.
    Ultimately, any decision should consider ethical, safety, and environmental factors to be responsible.

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Vocabulary

A. Match the words in Column A with their meaning in Column B.

Answers

1. i,  2. g, 3. b, 4. c, 5. e, 6. h, 7. d, 8. a, 9. f 

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Grammar

A. Fill in these blanks such that the subjects and verbs agree in number.

1. The books we bought ………………………………………. in the classroom.
2. The woman who is standing under that tree ………………………………………. my aunt.
3. Dolly and Girish ………………………………………. playing the piano.
4. The boys ………………………………………. back home in the afternoon.
5. The teachers ………………………………………. being awarded today.

Answers

1. are 2. is 3. are 4. are 5. are 

B. Fill in these blanks with the correct forms of the verbs given in brackets.

1. Neither the cat nor the rat ………………………………………. (to eat)
2. Neither Mr Mehta nor his wife ………………………………………. to attend the meeting. (to plan)
3. Either Garfield or his friend ………………………………………. dinner every evening. (to cook)
4. Neither my mother nor my father ………………………………………. to go home early. (to want)
5. Neither this argument nor that ………………………………………. (to make)

Answers

1. eats 2. plans to 3. cooks 4. wants 5. makes

C. Use appropriate auxiliary verbs to complete these sentences. Make sure that the verb agrees with the subject.

1. Every parent and guardian ………………………………………. asked to come to the PTA meeting.
2. Neither Malini nor Meenal responsible for what happened.
3. The selection committee ………………………………………. divided in their opinion.
4. The furniture ………………………………………. imported from the USA.
5. Rupees fifty ………………………………………. too much for a plate of rice.
6. A number of students ………………………………………. opted to study Sanskrit.
7. The Indian team ………………………………………. all out for 200 runs.
8. The police ………………………………………. arrived and the situation will soon be under control.
9. One of the children ………………………………………. not had lunch.
10. There ………………………………………. two possible answers to this question.

Answers

1. was 2. is 3. is 4. is 5. is 6. have 7. was 8. has 9. has 10. are 

D. Complete this paragraph using the correct tense forms of the verbs given in the brackets.

When I ……………………………… (to be) little, I loved to go outdoors and play. Even if the Sun ……………………………… (shine) hot and bright, I ……………………………… (want) to go out. Mother would stop me from ……………………………… (go), but I did not listen. One day, I ……………………………… (play) all by myself in the garden outside when I ……………………………… (hear) some sound in the bushes. At first, I did not pay any attention, but the sound ……………………………… (persist). I (stop) my play and ……………………………… (walk) cautiously towards the bush. My eyes ……………………………… (search) for some movement, but I could see nothing. Suddenly, the back door ……………………………… (open) and my mother ……………………………… (call) out, ‘Rohan, what ……………………………… (to be) you ……………………………… (do) there all alone? Come in at once! You ……………………………… (fall) sick if you ……………………………… (play) in the hot Sun.’ I (turn) around to look at her and at the same time she screamed, ‘Run to me, quick! There ……………………………… (to be) a huge snake in that bush!’ I ran for my life, but as I ……………………………… (run) towards Mom, I ……………………………… (trip) and ……………………………… (fall). Scrambling quickly to my feet, I lunged towards Mom and she ……………………………… (bang) the mesh door shut. ‘Thank God you ……………………………… (to be) safe. From now on, you ……………………………… (listen) to what I say. No more playing alone in the garden, you hear me?’ I ……………………………… (sit) in a park now ……………………………… (watch) my son play. I still like to be outdoors. But I ……………………………… never (forget) that hot afternoon when I almost got bitten by a snake.

Answers

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