The Cop and the Anthem NCERT Solutions for Class 7 English An Alien Hand Chapter 4

The Cop and the Anthem NCERT Text Book Questions and Answers
The Cop and the Anthem Exercises Question and Answer 

Answer the following questions:

Question 1.

What are some of the signs of approaching winter referred to in the text ?

Answer:

Birds begin to fly south. People want new warm coats. A dead leaf fell at Soapy’s feet. There were the signs of approaching winter.

Question 2.

Write ‘True’ or ‘False’ against each of the following:

(i) Soapy did not want to go to prison

(ii) Soapy had been to prison several times.

(iii) It was not possible for Soapy to survive in the city through the winter……

(iv) Soapy hated to answer questions of a personal nature

Answer:

(i) False

(ii) True

(iii) True

(iv) True

Question 3.

What was Soapy’s first plan ? Why did it not work?

Answer:

Soapy's initial strategy was to have a nice supper at a nice restaurant and then claim that he didn't have enough money to pay the bill. He even attempted to enter a restaurant, but the plot failed since the head water refused to let him in because he was wearing damaged and outdated shoes.

Question 4.

“But the cop’s mind would not consider Soapy”. What did the cop not consider, and why?

Answer:

Soapy was homeless and unemployed. He hoped to spend three months in jail on Blackwell Island to avoid the winter months. So he smashed a shop window with a large stone. However, the officer did not believe he was the perpetrator. He assumed that persons who shatter windows do not stop to speak with cops.

Question 5.

“We have orders to let them shout.” What is the policeman referring to ?

Answer:

The officer is referring to college students who yell after consuming alcohol. He stated that as Soapy was yelling and making noise after impersonating a drunk. According to the officer, college kids just injure and yell. So he has orders to allow them to yell.

Question 6.

Write “True” or “False” against each of the following.

(i) Soapy stole a man’s umbrella…………….

(ii) The owner of the umbrella offered to give it to Soapy………

(iii) The man had stolen the umbrella that was now Soapy’s. ……………

(iv) Soapy threw away the umbrella ……………

Answer:

(i) True

(ii) True

(iii) True

(iv) True

Question 7.

“There was a sudden and wonderful change in his soul”. What brought about the change in Soapy ?

Answer:

The change came about in Soapy when he came near his old home. He could hear a song coming from the room and it sounded familiar to him. He remembered that when he lived there, his life contained such things as mothers, flowers, high hopes, friends, clean thoughts and clean clothes. At that moment, there was a sudden and wonderful change in his soul. He saw with sick fear how he had fallen. He saw his worthless days, his wrong desires, his dead hopes, and the lost power of his mind.

Discuss the following topics in groups :

Question 1.

Suppose no cop came at the end. What would Soapy’s life be like through the winter ?

Answer:

When the officer caught Soapy at the end of the narrative, a startling and magnificent shift occurred in Soapy. He resolved to get a job someplace and live a completely new life. Soapy would have gotten a job if the officer hadn't detained him. Even in the cold, his life would be made simpler. He may get some warm garments. He may find some refuge. So his life would be better than a life in the Blackwell's Island jail.

Question 2.

Retell an episode in the story which is a good example of irony in a situation.

Answer:
Soapy wanted to go to Blackwell’s Island prison to spend the coldest three months of the winter season . He tried five times to do unlawful action . But each time his plan failed . The cops were not going to arrest him . But in the end of the story when he did nothing wrong and resolved to change himself , he was arrested by the policeman for hanging out in a street and then arguing with a cop of New York police . This is a good example of irony in a situation.