What is financial infrastructure?

The network of banks, payment systems and stock markets that helps manage money

What are the main things a bank does?

Holds deposits and lends money as loans

How do banks make money?

They pay lower interest on deposits and charge higher interest on loans

Earning interest on previous interest as well as on the original amount

Who narrates 'My Brother's Great Invention' and who is the inventor?

The story is narrated by fourteen-year-old Anita; the inventor is her younger brother Anand, who loves building gadgets.

How did Anand's father become the target of the burglar alarm?

Anand's home-made 'burglar alarm' misfired and dropped a bag of water on his father, who walked in and got soaked, causing an uproar.

What did Anand believe his time machine had done?

When a real burglar broke in and disappeared near the machine, Anand was convinced his time machine had sent the intruder into the past.

Why does the child in 'Paper Boats' write his name and village on the boats?

He hopes that someone in an unknown faraway land will find the boats and come to know who he is and where he lives.

How does 'Paper Boats' blend imagination and reality?

It mixes the real act of floating boats with dreamy fancy, as the child imagines fairies of sleep sailing his boats laden with dreams under the stars.

What form is 'North, South, East, West' written in?

It is written as a travel diary of dated letters that Shaana writes about her journey across different parts of India.

What does Shaana learn about the Sundarbans?

She learns that the Sundarbans is a wetland where mangrove trees grow in seawater, and that the area floods much more than it used to.

Which observations by Shaana point to climate change?

She notices less snow on the glaciers and increased flooding in the Sundarbans, both signs of a changing environment.

What quality links Anand, the child in 'Paper Boats' and Shaana?

All three are driven by imagination and curiosity — about invention, about the wider world, and about the diversity of their own country.

What is the main theme of Unit 3, 'Dreams and Discoveries'?

It celebrates the dreams, curiosity and inventive spirit that lead to discovery, whether through science, imagination or exploration.

CBSE Class 7 Annual Assessment

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Dreams and Discoveries — Class 7 English

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English · 5 chapters

Summary, key terms, important questions and a practice quiz with AI diagnosis for each.

CBSE Class 7English Poorvi

Chapter 3: Dreams and Discoveries

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Summary

Unit 3 of Poorvi celebrates imagination, invention and the wonder of discovery. The opening prose, 'My Brother's Great Invention', is narrated by fourteen-year-old Anita, whose younger brother Anand is a self-styled inventor forever building gadgets. One of his contraptions, a 'burglar alarm', misfires and drenches their father, sparking a family uproar; later Anand shuts himself away to build what he calls a time machine. When a real intruder breaks in one night and mysteriously vanishes near the device, Anand is convinced his machine sent the burglar into the past, leaving the question playfully unresolved. The unit's poem, 'Paper Boats' by Rabindranath Tagore, captures a child's imagination as he floats paper boats down a stream, writing his name and village on each, loading them with dawn flowers, and dreaming that fairies of sleep sail them under the midnight stars. The third reading, 'North, South, East, West' by C.G. Salamander, is a travel diary of dated letters in which a curious girl named Shaana journeys across India with her parents, marvelling at deserts, lakes, beaches and the mangrove wetlands of the Sundarbans while noticing worrying signs of climate change. Together the readings honour childhood curiosity, the inventive spirit, and the dreams that drive both science and exploration.

My Brother's Great Invention (prose) — Anand the young inventorPaper Boats (poem) — Tagore and a child's imaginationNorth, South, East, West (prose) — Shaana's travels across IndiaTheme: dreams, invention, curiosity and discoveryLiterary devices: onomatopoeia, symbol and epistolary form

Key terms

Anand

The young aspiring inventor in 'My Brother's Great Invention' whose gadgets, including a burglar alarm and a 'time machine', drive the story.

Anita

The fourteen-year-old narrator and Anand's elder sister, who observes his inventing with humour and affection.

Onomatopoeia

A device taught in this unit — words that imitate sounds (such as banging or clattering), used to bring the inventions to life.

Paper boats (symbol)

In Tagore's poem, the boats symbolise a child's hopes, imagination and longing to reach the wider world.

Shaana

The curious young letter-writer in 'North, South, East, West' who travels across India and records its diversity and changing climate.

Epistolary form

A narrative told through dated letters or diary entries, used in 'North, South, East, West' to follow Shaana's journey.

Important questions

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Practice quiz · Dreams and Discoveries

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Dreams and Discoveries

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