Raintree 3 The Sweet Tooth

 Summary: The Sweet Tooth

The Sweet Tooth is about a boy who loved eating sweets. His mother tries her

best to stop him but fails every time. One day, she hears that Mahatma Gandhi

is going to visit a nearby town. He is the boy’s hero. The mother thinks Gandhi

might be able to help her. She goes to see Gandhi along with the boy. It is a

long walk. On meeting Gandhi, the mother tells him her problem. Gandhi

listens to her and asked her to come after two weeks. The mother is confused,

but she does come back to meet Gandhi after two weeks. Gandhi then tells the

boy to stop eating sweets because they are not good for the boy’s health. The

boy nods and promises he will not continue this habit any longer. The boy’s

mother is puzzled. She turns to Gandhi and asks, why he did not advise the boy

earlier. Gandhi smiled and tells her that two weeks ago, he was eating a lot of

sugar himself. 

UNIT 9: THE SWEET TOOTH

Warm Up

Mahatma Gandhi / Gandhiji (Answers vary)

Embedded Questions

● If you have a ‘sweet-tooth’, it means that you like to sweets all the time.

● The boy’s hero was Mahatma Gandhi

● Free response

● Because Bapu could have said the same words to the boy two weeks ago.

Comprehension

A. 1. True 2. Not True 3. Not True 4. Not True

B. 1. The boy’s mother was worried because he had a terrible sweet-tooth. He ate sweets all the time.

He even ate plain sugar if he did not find anything sweet! His mother did everything possible to

break his habit, but nothing worked. She tired but kept thinking of different ways to change her

son’s habits.

2. The boy’s mother told Gandhi that her son eats too many sweets. It’s not good for his health. He

just does not listen to her. She requested him to advise the boy.

3. The woman is the boy’s mother. Gandhi heard her request and asked her to come back after two

weeks. She was disappointed because Gandhi did not help her immediately. She was confused

because she did not know why he asked her come back after two weeks.

4. After two weeks, the mother and son went back to meet Gandhi. When they arrived, Gandhi took

the boy aside, gently patted his head and explained the harmful effects of sugar and asked him to

give up his bad habit. The boy promised he would stop immediately.

C. 1. a. As we learn at the end of the story, Gandhi used to eat a lot of sweets himself. He thought it is

not right to ask the boy to stop eating sweets at such a time. He took two weeks to stop the

habit. Only after he did that, he advised the boy to stop eating sweets.

 b. It tells us that Gandhi always advised people only if he followed the same advice.

 c. We must learn that we must always be an example before we advise anyone.

2. The mother came back all the way because she knew Gandhi will definitely help her. It shows she

trusted Gandhi completely.

3. Yes, the boy will definitely keep his word because his Gandhi was his idol. The boy always followed

Gandhi’s thoughts and actions.

D. (Suggested answers. Accept any logical answer)

1. Teja is talking to his friend and is not maintaining silence himself. He tells his classmates not to talk

but his friend and he are talking to each other.

2. He can tell Sudeep not to talk.

3. If I were in Teja’s class, I would feel very angry. Before he tells the class to stay quiet, he should also

follow the advice.

Grammar

A. 2. Is it a bird or is it an airplane? 3. He can use colour pencils or crayons.

4. This bag is small but heavy. 5. On Sundays, I watch TV or read books.

B. 2. Please buy apples, grapes and bananas when you come home.

3. I want to sing but I am shy.

4. I don’t know if it is a cheetah or a leopard.

5. Can you please wash and cut the carrots?

C. 2. S 3. I 4. I 5. S

Vocabulary

2. b; c 3. a; c 4. a; b 5. b; c

Writing

1. very sad 2. threw a net 3. got caught 4. got an idea 5. came out

6. jumped into 7. that she was tiny

Listening

Listening Text (to be read twice slowly)

1. I live in the sky. I am bright. I disappear at night.

2. I am round. I go up and down. You can throw me. You can catch me. But be careful with me.

3. I am green and brown. I can live for many years. Birds build their homes on me. Children like to

climb me.

4. I twinkle. I have hundreds of friends. I come out at night. You cannot see me when it rains.

5. I run on a track. I carry people and things. I travel to far-off places. I can show you beautiful fields

and rivers.

Answer: 1. sun 2. ball 3. trees 4. star 5. train

THE SWEET TOOTH

A. Answer in brief.

1. In The Sweet Tooth, what did the young boy eat all the time?

 Ans: The young boy had a terrible sweet-tooth and he ate sweets all the time. He even ate plain

sugar if he did not find anything sweet.

2. Why did the boy’s mother take him to meet Mahatma Gandhi?

 Ans: Gandhiji was the boy’s idol and he always followed Gandhiji’s ideas and teachings. So his

mother wanted Gandhiji to advise him against eating sugar.

3. What did Gandhiji tell the boy and what did the boy promise him?

 Ans: Gandhiji explained the harmful effects of sugar and asked him to give up his bad habit.

 The boy nodded eagerly and promised he would stop immediately.

B. Answer in detail.

1. Where and when did the incident in The Sweet Tooth take place?

 Ans: This incident took place many years ago in a little town in India when Indians were busy

fighting for their independence from the British. Freedom fighters and leaders were looked up as

heroes and Gandhiji was one such hero for the young boy.

2. What reason did Gandhiji give the woman for not advising her son when he first met him? What

do you think Gandhiji did in those two weeks?

 Ans: Gandhi told the boy’s mother that on that day he was not fit to advise the little one because,

like him, he too was eating a lot of sweets. I think, in those two weeks, Gandhi gave up eating

sweets so that he could advise the boy not to eat too.

C. Read the lines and answer the questions.

1. “Bapu, my son eats too many sweets. It’s not good for his health.”

 a. Who said this and to whom?

 b. Why did she not want her son to eat too many sweets?

 c. What did Gandhiji ask her to do?

 Ans: a. The woman said this to Gandhiji.

 b. She did not want her son to eat too many sweets as they were bad for his health.

 c. Gandhiji asked her to come after two weeks so that he could talk to her son.

2. “Mother, on that day I was not fit to advise the little one.”

 a. Who was not fit to advise whom?

 b. Why could he not advise the boy?

 c. Did he advise the boy after two weeks?

 Ans: a. Gandhiji was not fit to advise the little boy.

 b. He himself ate a lot of sweets, so he could not advise the boy.

 c. Yes, he explained the harmful effects of sweets to the boy and asked him to give up the

bad habit.