Raintree 5 Mina and the Dinosaurs

 Summary: Mina and the Dinosaurs

This is the story of a girl called Mina. Her mother takes her to watch the

film Jurassic World, which she really enjoys. When she comes home, she

wants to talk about the dinosaurs to her grandmother, who says that they

can watch the older film Jurassic Park together. Mina wants to know more

about dinosaurs because she plans to make a chart on dinosaurs. Grandma

explains to her that Jurassic is the name of a time period, millions of years

ago, and that the animals which lived on the Earth at that time are referred

to as Jurassic animals.

Grandma is also reading a book called The Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan

Doyle, which features dinosaurs. The book is about four men who travel to

South America to find out whether dinosaurs still live there. Grandma reads

out a part to Mina where the four men watch a family of iguanodons. There

are two adult iguanodons and three younger ones. They are enormous and

extremely strong. The narrator of the story compares them to other

animals like kangaroos, elephants and crocodiles. After she has listened to

the passage, Mina is very impressed. She tells her mother that to work on

her science project they must go to South America.

This story is told from the point of view of a young girl. The events take

place mostly in a domestic setting, where she is conversing with her

mother and grandmother, but the text also take off to a distant time and

place, as their topic of conversation is dinosaurs. Mina is fascinated after

watching a film on dinosaurs and cannot stop thinking about it. She shares

a close bond with her grandmother, as she is eager to share what she

watched with Grandma, and Grandma also knows that she will want to

know more about it. Grandma herself is reading a book about dinosaurs,

which is also Mina’s mother’s favourite book, so an interest in dinosaurs

seems to run in the family. This reflects the continuing interest people

seem to have in these prehistoric animals.

In the second part of the text, Grandma reads out from a story to Mina,

simplifying the text to help her understand. It is a classic adventure story.

Mina listens to the story with rapt attention and believes what she hears.

This shows how powerful an impact films and literature can have on

children.

UNIT 2 MINA AND THE DINOSAURS

Embedded Questions 1:

Indominus rex is the name of an enormous dinosaur in the film Jurassic World.

Embedded Questions 2:

Not true

Embedded Questions 3:

 The book is called ‘The Lost World’ because it tells about dinosaurs and other animals that lived on

this Earth a long time ago, when the world was a very different place.

Embedded Questions 4:

Not true

Embedded Questions 5:

‘I do not know how long we stayed still, looking at this marvellous sight.’

Comprehension

A. 1. Mina had gone to watch Jurassic World.

2. Mina wanted to learn more about dinosaurs because she wanted to make a chart about dinosaurs

for a science exhibition at her school.

3. Mina’s Grandma was reading The Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

4. Jurassic is the name of a certain time period, millions of years ago. The animals, like dinosaurs, that

lived on this earth at that time are called Jurassic animals.

5. Indominus rex, tyrannosaurus, velociraptor, stegosaurus, pterodactyl and iguanodon.

6. a. Mina said this to her mother.

 b. Mina wanted to go to South America.

B. 1. We know that Mina liked the film she had gone to watch because although she felt really

frightened many times, she could not take her eyes off the screen. She had even forgotten to ask

for popcorn. She was also eager to talk about it with her Grandma when she returned home.

2. The dinosaurs in the book were sitting up, balancing on their tails and their hind-feet, pulling

down the branches of the trees. From time to time the little ones played round their parents

awkwardly. They jumped up into the air and fell down on the earth with a dull thud.

3. The dinosaurs in the book are compared to elephants, lizards, kangaroos and crocodiles. The

babies were as big as elephants. Their skin was scaled like lizard skin and looked like the skins of

black crocodiles. They looked like huge kangaroos.

4. a. The wind helped the men to hide by blowing towards them. If the wind had blown from the

men to the dinosaurs, then it would have carried their smell to the animals and given them

away.

 b. It was necessary for the men to hide so that they could watch the animals carefully. Since the

animals were so huge, they could be dangerous and the men did not want to face them.

5. We know that the iguanodons were really strong because when one of them could not reach a

bunch of leaves on a big tree, he put his front legs round the trunk and tore down the tree as if it

had been a sapling.

6. a. Mina was ‘wide-eyed’ because she was amazed and excited to hear about the dinosaurs in the

book.

 b. We know that she believed the story because after listening to it, she wanted to go to South

America to see real dinosaurs. The story was about four men who met dinosaurs in South

America.

C. Suggested answer (accept any logical answer):

 We know that people are still interested in dinosaurs because they still read books and watch films

about dinosaurs, and enjoy them. Dinosaurs lived on this earth a very long time ago. Dinosaur bones

have been discovered in different parts of the world. No one has ever seen an actual dinosaur, but

it is fascinating to imagine what that time and those animals may have been like. People are also

interested in them because some stories suggest that dinosaurs may still be living in this world.

Grammar

A. 2. the 3. this 4. an 5. those 6. that 7. these 8. this

B. 2. slightly 3. completely 4. almost 5. enough 6. Quite

C. 2. always 3. usually 4. rarely 5. often 6. never

Vocabulary

2. for the time being 3. From time to time 4. at the same time 5. all the time

6. behind time

Writing

Suggested answer (accept any logical answer):

Dear Masha,

 How are you? I am writing to tell you about a wonderful film that I watched recently. It’s called Kung

Fu Panda. I watched it with Baba and Ma last weekend. All of us loved it.

 The film is set in a land where different kinds of animals live. The story is about Po, a big panda who is

very sweet, and who wants to learn kung fu, a type of fighting. By chance, he is declared the Dragon

Warrior, the greatest kung fu fighter in all the land. His teacher is Shifu, and his friends are a tigress, a

snake, a monkey and two other animals. I loved to see so many different kinds of animals on screen.

But Po was the biggest, sweetest and funniest of them all.

 Though everyone thought that Po would not be able to learn kung fu, he not only learned it, but he

also defeated Tai Lung. Ma said Tai Lung is a snow leopard. Please do watch the film if you haven’t. I’m

sure you’ll love it. Then we can talk about all the beautiful animals in it.

Best wishes,

Surbhi

Listening

Listening text

 Hi, I’m Mina. Last week, Ma took me to watch Jurassic World. It’s the first film I have watched in a

cinema hall. I was so excited that I wanted to reach there an hour before the show and wait inside the

hall. But Ma said that they would not let us in so early. Other shows would be running in the same hall.

Finally, we reached the cinema hall fifteen minutes before the show. Many other children had come to

watch it with their parents. I saw Sayak, a boy from my class, and waved at him. When we were buying

the tickets, I wanted to get a seat in the first row, but Ma said that in a cinema hall, the further you

sit, the better you can watch the film. We sat in the fourth row from the back. I thought the film was

wonderful! When we were leaving the hall, I saw posters of some other films. One of them, which was

really colourful, was for a film called Inside Out. I hope Ma will take me to watch it one day.

Answer:

1. it was the first time she was watching a film in a cinema hall

2. other shows would be running in the same hall

3. many other children had come to watch it with their parents

4. in a cinema hall, the further you sit, the better you can watch the film

5. she was hoping that her mother would take her to watch Inside Out

Punctuation

 “Pterodactyls used to live in the Jurassic period,” said Mina. She thought for a minute and added,

“They are a kind of pterosaur.” “What is a pterosaur?” asked Sayak. “All I know about them is that

pterosaurs could fly,” said Mina. “So they were a kind of bird,” said Sayak. “No. Grandma says they

were flying reptiles,” said Mina. “I wonder if they were dangerous,” said Sayak. Then he exclaimed,

“Maybe they still live in some corner of this world!” “I wish I could see them,” said Mina. “Don’t you?”

“No, thank you,” said Sayak. “I think they would be scary.”

MINA AND THE DINOSAURS

A. Answer in brief.

1. How did Mina feel after watching the film, Jurassic World? Why did Mother feel that Grandma also

could share more information about dinosaurs?

 Ans: Mina was very excited after watching the movie on dinosaurs because looking at scary

enormous dinosaurs on screen fascinated her. After returning, she expressed her wish that

Grandma should have joined her. Mother said that a few years back Grandma had taken her to

Jurassic Park and so she also could share some information about dinosaurs.

2. Whose favourite book was The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle? What was the story about?

 Ans: The book The Lost World which Grandma was reading was Mina’s mother’s favourite book. As

per the story, some hundred years ago Professor Challenger and his companions set off on a trip

to South America to Jurassic Park to find out whether dinosaurs still lived there. There they saw

some Jurassic animals like stegosaurus and pterodactyl.

B. Answer in detail.

1. What are iguanodons? How does the author of The Lost World describe them?

 Ans: Iguanodons are also a type of dinosaur. The Professor and his companions saw a family

of iguanodons. The iguanodons were enormous in size. Even the baby iguanodons were as big

as elephants. The large ones were far bigger than any creature seen on Earth. Their skin was

scaled like that of lizards and was slate coloured. The hind feet had three toes and on their

front feet there were five fingers. They looked like monstrous kangaroos, twenty feet long with

skins like black crocodiles and jumped like the kangaroos into the air and fell on the earth

with a thud.

2. What relationship did the parent iguanodons and the little ones share?

 Ans: The parent iguanodons and the babies behaved like any human parent and children. The

Professor and his companions saw a whole family of them. There were two adults and three

young ones. It was clear that the adults were the parents of the young ones. The young ones

played around their parents from time to time and jumped up into the air and fell down like

children would do while playing. The parents seemed very strong and protective of their young

ones. When one of them could not reach a bunch of leaves on a big tree, one of the parents put

his front legs round the trunk and tore down the tree so that his child could reach the leaves.

C. Read the lines and answer the questions.

1. I’ll never find anything more interesting. What was the name of the dinosaur in Jurassic Park?

 a. Who speaks the above lines? To whom?

 b. What does the speaker want from the person?

 c. What does the word Jurassic mean?

 Ans: a. The above lines are spoken by Mina to her grandmother.

 b. She wanted her grandmother to tell her more about dinosaurs as she had to make a

chart about them for the science exhibition at school.

 c. Jurassic is the name of a certain time period, millions of years ago.

2. “I know where we must go for my science project, Ma!”

 a. Where did Mina’s mom think that Mina would want to go for the science project?

 b. Where did Mina actually want to go?

 c. Why did she say so?

 Ans: a. Mina’s mom thought Mina would want to watch the film, Jurassic Park.

 b. Mina said they should go to South America.

 c. Mina said so because she was fascinated by the story Grandma had read her, in which

the Professor sees some dinosaurs in the Jurassic Park. Jurassic Park was in South

America.

D. Answer in brief. (Think and answer)

What do you understand about the character of Mina? Do you possess similar qualities?

 Ans: From the text I can understand that Mina is a very curious girl. She is eager to learn and wants

to know everything about dinosaurs because she had to make charts for her school science project.

[Free response for the 2nd part]

E. Answer in detail. (Think and answer)

What role does Grandma play in helping Mina learn about dinosaurs?

 Ans: Grandma was very loving and patiently spoke about different dinosaurs that she had read

about. She wanted to take Mina to the film which she had seen along with Mina’s mom. She knew

that her little granddaughter would have a lot of questions about the fascinating animals. So

she agreed to read for her from the book, The Lost World, which is a story about different types of

dinosaurs. She was patient enough to make the story a little simple so that Mina would understand.

Mina was so drawn to the story and the way it was told by Grandma that she almost believed that

there was a real Jurassic Park in South America and wanted to travel there to see the dinosaurs.