NCERT Solutions for Class 5 English Chapter 1 Papa s Spectacles (PDF) – 2027

Read the poem aloud twice. The second time, read it as if you are telling the story to a friend.

Papa is searching for his spectacles.

The poem tells us this in the very first stanza: “He has lost his spectacles, / It was his only pair!” Spectacles are the glasses he wears to see clearly. He had only one pair, so when they went missing he had nothing else to wear.

Papa can look inside his pockets, under his chair, near the window and everywhere else in the house. These are the places named in the third stanza. In the end, the spectacles are on his own head.

At last Papa finds his spectacles on his own head.

His child says, “Papa, your spectacles / Are right there on your head!”

Without his spectacles Papa cannot watch TV or cut the vegetables — the poem itself names these two. He also cannot:

• thread a needle to sew a button,
• read the labels on medicine bottles,
• see the numbers on his phone,
• check my homework or sign my school diary.

My papa is happy when I finish my homework on my own. He is happy when the whole family sits together for dinner. On Sundays he is happiest with a cup of hot tea and the newspaper, because that is his quiet time after a week of work.

(write the things that really go missing in your own home):

I would say “Thank you” to them with a smile. I would tell everyone that my mother found the keys, so she gets the credit. I would share my sweets with my sister. I would also keep things in their fixed places, so that nobody has to search for them again.

(think of your classroom, your bag and the playground):

I would thank my bench partner at once and lend her my eraser when she needs one. I would thank the librarian politely and return the book on time. For our school helper I would write a short thank-you note.

Handkerchief, Towel, Sari, Bedsheet.

A handkerchief is the smallest and lightest. A bedsheet, which covers a whole bed, is usually the biggest and heaviest.

Cherry, Strawberry, Apple, Watermelon.

A cherry is the smallest, and a watermelon is the biggest and heaviest.

Fourteen, Twenty-nine, Forty-seven, Ninety-one.

These are numbers, so we simply put them in order from the smallest to the biggest:

Sparrow, Crow, Hen, Eagle.

A sparrow is the lightest, and an eagle is the biggest bird here.

Squirrel, Rabbit, Ox, Elephant.

1. Squirrel — the smallest. It runs up a tree trunk.
2. Rabbit — bigger than a squirrel, but you can still lift it.
3. Ox — a large, heavy animal that pulls a cart.
4. Elephant — the biggest land animal of all.

Sample answer — two more groups:

a pair of scissors

The book prints seven pictures around the phrases but does not number them, so you may fill the seven blanks in any order. Here, one picture is taken for each number.

a pair of trousers

The picture on the left of page 4 shows a pair of green trousers.

a pair of spectacles

The picture shows a pair of dark blue spectacles — the very thing Papa loses in the poem.

a pair of socks

The picture shows two matching green-and-yellow striped socks.

a pair of gloves

The picture shows two pink gloves.

a pair of earrings

The picture on the left shows two matching golden earrings hanging side by side.

a pair of racquets

The picture shows two racquets crossed over each other, with red handles.

water — this one is already done for you in the book.

• watter is wrong — it has a double t, which is not there.
• weter is wrong — the first vowel is a, not e.

vegetables

• vegatables is wrong — the second vowel is e, not a.
• veggetables is wrong — there is only one g.

Papa could not cut the vegetables without his spectacles, so this word comes from the poem itself.

balloon

• baloon is wrong — it is missing one l.
• ballon is wrong — it is missing one o.

house

• hause is wrong — the vowels are ou, not au.
• houze is wrong — it ends with se, not ze.

elephant

• elefant is wrong — the “f” sound here is written ph, not f.
• ellephant is wrong — there is only one l.

spectacles

• spactacles is wrong — the first vowel is e, not a.
• spektacles is wrong — the “k” sound is written with c, not k.

carpenter

• karpenter is wrong — the word begins with c, not k.
• carpainter is wrong — there is no ai in it. That spelling has crept in from the word painter, which is a different job.

fruit

• fruitt is wrong — there is only one t at the end.
• friut is wrong — the i and the u have swapped places. The correct order is u first, then i.

receive

• recieve is wrong — the e and the i are the wrong way round.
• raceive is wrong — the first vowel is e, not a.

principal

• prinsipal is wrong — the “s” sound in the middle is written with c, not s.
• princpal is wrong — a vowel is missing. There must be an i after princ.

Answers in order: in, around, above, among, on, before, after. The completed story:

NEARBY (6 letters)

Full sentence: Not far, it’s nearby.

Your own sentence: The chemist shop is nearby, so we can walk there.

CLEAN (5 letters)

Full sentence: I want clean clothes, not the dirty ones.

Your own sentence: Wash your hands and keep your nails clean.

OUTSIDE (7 letters)

Full sentence: Not inside, play outside.

Your own sentence: It has stopped raining, so we can play outside.

DARK (4 letters)

Full sentence: When it’s not bright, it’s dark.

Your own sentence: The sky turned dark before the storm.

YES (3 letters)

Full sentence: I said no but he said yes.

BIG (3 letters)

Full sentence: Something small is not big.

HAPPY (5 letters)

Full sentence: Don’t be sad, be happy.

FAST (4 letters)

Full sentence: You are slow, she is fast.

COLD (4 letters)

Full sentence: Not hot, she likes cold coffee.

SOLD (4 letters)

Full sentence: Not bought, but sold.

The finished puzzle. The small purple numbers are the clue numbers printed in the book.

Sample answer — words for ‘father’ collected in one classroom:

Say your own word aloud, write it in your notebook, and add your classmates’ words.

Encircle these eight pairs — in each one the two words sound different:

pair–peer, bed–bad, knot–note, fair–fear, where–were, cold–could, dare–dear, fill–feel.

Leave the other eight alone. In those, the two words sound exactly the same. Words that sound the same but are spelt differently are called homophones.

Keep the top-left and bottom-right squares. Move three sticks to make a new square on the right:

1. Move the top-row, right stick so it lies flat to the right of the top-right corner.
2. Move the left-side, lower stick and stand it up at the far end of that stick.
3. Move the bottom-row, left stick across to close the bottom of the new square.

Now there are exactly 3 squares, and all 12 matchsticks are still used.

When your nose touches the red star and you look at the candle, the flame seems to jump onto the wick — the candle looks lit.

1. Hold the book up in front of your face.
2. Bring it closer until the tip of your nose touches the red star.
3. Without moving the book, look at the candle and keep looking.

Yes. The ‘d’ is in the fourth row, second column — counting the rows from the top and the columns from the left.

The answer is an onion.

We buy onions at the market and bring them home. When we sit down to cut an onion, our eyes fill with tears — so we “cry, cry, cry”.