Free Bihar Board Class 8 English Reader Chapter 2 Solutions are available here. You will get written answers for all questions asked in chapter 2 – “Children at Work”, from the English Reader book – It So Happened.
This story is about Velu, an 11-year-old boy who runs away from home to escape his cruel father. He reaches Chennai city but finds life very difficult there. A girl named Jaya helps him survive by teaching him to collect waste materials and sell them. The story shows the hard life that many poor children face in big cities. It will help you understand the problems of child labor and feel sorry for children who cannot go to school.
Bihar Board Class 8 English Reader Chapter 2 Solutions
Contents
| Chapter | 2. Children at Work |
| Subject | English Reader (It So Happened) |
| Class | 8th |
| Board | Bihar Board |
COMPREHENSION CHECK
From Page No 9
1. Velu stood on the platform but he felt “as if he was still on a moving train”. Why?
Ans: Velu felt like he was still on a moving train because he had just gotten off the Kanyakumari Express after a long journey from his village to Chennai. The train’s motion made his legs feel wobbly and unsteady, as if the ground was shaking. This happens sometimes after a long train ride, and Velu was feeling this effect when he stood on the platform.
2. What made him feel miserable?
Ans: Velu felt miserable because he was hungry and tired. He hadn’t eaten anything except some peanuts and a piece of jaggery for two days. He was also scared and confused in the big, unfamiliar city of Chennai. On top of that, he had run away from home because of his cruel father, which made him feel sad and alone.
3. (i) Velu travelled without a ticket. Why?
Ans: Velu travelled without a ticket because he had no money to buy one. He ran away from home to escape his father, who used to take all the money Velu and his sisters earned, leaving them with nothing.
(ii) How did he escape the ticket collector’s attention?
Ans: Velu escaped the ticket collector’s attention because he was in the unreserved compartment of the train, sitting on the floor. Luckily, the ticket collector didn’t check that compartment, so Velu wasn’t caught.
3. Why had Velu run away from home?
Ans: Velu ran away from home because his father was a drunkard who beat him every day. His father also took the money Velu and his sisters earned from working, spending it on alcohol. Tired of this treatment and the struggle to survive, Velu decided to leave home.
4. Why did he decide to follow the ‘strange’ girl?
Ans: Velu followed the strange girl because he was lost and hungry in Chennai. He didn’t know where to go or what to do in the big city. The girl seemed confident and offered to help him find food, so he trusted her and followed her.
COMPREHENSION CHECK
From Page No 13
1. Can Velu read Tamil and English? How do you know?
Ans: Velu can read Tamil but not English. We know this because he could read the Tamil signboard that said “Central Jail,” but he couldn’t understand the English signboards at the station. This shows he was familiar with Tamil but not with English.
2. “If you are not careful, you will soon be counting bars there,” the girl said.
(i) What is she referring to?
Ans: The girl was referring to the Central Jail, which they passed by. She was warning Velu about the jail building.
(ii) What does she mean when she says “If you are not careful…”? (She says something a little later which means the same. Find that sentence.)
Ans: When the girl says, “If you are not careful,” she means that Velu could get into trouble with the police and end up in jail if he does something wrong. Later, she says, “You don’t have to do anything. Just don’t get caught, that’s all,” which means the same thing—warning Velu to stay out of trouble to avoid being arrested.
3. (i) Where did the girl lead Velu to?
Ans: The girl led Velu to the back of a wedding hall. There, they found leftover food thrown away in a garbage bin, which they could eat.
(ii) What did they get to eat?
Ans: Velu got a banana and a vada to eat, while the girl took only a banana from the garbage bin.
4. What work did she do? Think of a one-word answer.
Ans: Ragpicker
COMPREHENSION CHECK
From Page No 15
1. (i) What material are the ‘strange’ huts made out of?
Ans: The strange huts were made of metal sheets, tyres, bricks, wood, and plastic.
(ii) Why does Velu find them strange?
Ans: Velu found the huts strange because they were different from the houses in his village, which were made of mud and palm leaves. These huts in the city were built with odd materials like metal, tyres, and plastic, which he had never seen used for houses before.
2. What sort of things did Jaya and children like her collect and what did they do with those things?
Ans: Jaya and other children collected things like paper, glass, and plastic from the streets and garbage bins. They sold these items to a person named Jam Bazaar Jaggu, who then sold them to a factory for recycling or reuse.
3. Is Velu happy or unhappy to find work? Give a reason for your answer.
Ans: Velu was unhappy to find work as a ragpicker. He didn’t like the idea of digging through garbage bins to collect items because it was very different from the work he did in his village, like weeding farms or grazing cows. However, he agreed to do it for now until he could find a better job in the city.
EXERCISE
Discuss the following questions in small groups. Write their answers afterwards.
1. Is Velu a smart boy? Which instances in the text show that he is or isn’t?
Ans: Yes, Velu is a smart boy. At just twelve years old, he made the brave decision to run away from home to escape his cruel father, showing he could think for himself. When he arrived in Chennai, he was scared and lost but smart enough to follow Jaya, the girl who offered to help him find food. Even though he didn’t know English, he could read Tamil, which helped him understand the “Central Jail” signboard. At first, he hesitated to eat food from a garbage bin, but he was practical and ate it because he was starving.
Finally, he showed his intelligence by accepting the ragpicking job, even though he didn’t like it, planning to do it only until he found something better. These actions show Velu is quick to adapt and make smart choices in tough situations.
2. Do you think Jaya is a brave and sensitive child with a sense of humour? Find instances of her courage, kind nature and humour in the text.
Ans: Yes, Jaya is a brave, sensitive, and humorous child. She is brave because she survives in the big city of Chennai as a ragpicker, knowing how to find food and avoid trouble with the police. For example, she confidently led Velu through busy streets and warned him to stay out of trouble so he wouldn’t end up in jail.
Her kind nature shows when she helps Velu, a stranger who was hungry and lost. She took him to the wedding hall to find food and even gave him an old pair of shoes when his feet were burning from the hot road. This shows she cared about his comfort.
Jaya’s sense of humour comes out in her playful teasing. When she first saw Velu at the station, she jokingly asked if he came to Chennai to get rich. Later, when Velu was scared to cross the busy road, she pulled him across and teased, “What do you think you’re doing? Grazing cows? If you stand around in the middle of the road like that, you’ll become chutney!” These moments show Jaya’s ability to stay cheerful despite her hard life.
3. What one throws away as waste may be valuable to others. Do you find this sentence meaningful in the context of this story? How?
Ans: Yes, this sentence is very meaningful in the story. It shows how things that some people throw away as useless can be important to others, especially those who are poor. In the story, Jaya and other children collect items like paper, plastic, and glass from garbage bins, which they sell to earn money for food. The huts they live in are made from scraps like metal sheets, tyres, and plastic, which others might see as junk but are used to build homes. Even leftover food from the wedding hall, thrown away as waste, becomes a meal for Velu and Jaya.
This shows that what one person discards can be a treasure for someone else, helping them survive in tough times.
