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

How did Doctor Dolittle come to understand animal languages?

His parrot Polynesia revealed that animals have their own languages and taught him their words, which he eagerly wrote down and learned.

Why did Doctor Dolittle stop being a people's doctor?

Once he could talk with animals, he found he understood them far better than human patients, so he became an animal doctor instead.

What makes Polynesia a good teacher of animal language?

She patiently dictates bird and animal words, explains how creatures communicate through sounds and movements, and helps the Doctor become fluent.

What unusual things does the funny man do in the poem?

He wears a shoe on his head and hats on his feet, lifts the shoe like a hat, calls a currant bun a rose, and sings a strange song.

How does the funny man's behaviour affect the mood of the poem?

His absurd, reversed actions make the poem light, playful and full of nonsense humour, leaving the reader amused.

In the play, what advice does the mother give Mary before the guests arrive?

She tells Mary to be kind and pleasant, to flatter people, to laugh, and never to say anything that might offend the visitors.

What kind of blunders does Mary make with the guests?

She insists a guest has children she does not have, criticises a banker, mocks a neighbour's clothes, and insults talkative women.

What does the repeated stage direction 'No one speaks' show?

It shows the embarrassed, awkward silence that follows each of Mary's tactless remarks, deepening the comedy of the scene.

What lesson does the humorous play teach?

It shows the importance of tact and of knowing what to say at the right time, because honesty without sensitivity can embarrass others.

What is the overall theme that links the three readings in this unit?

They all explore wit and humour — arising from curiosity, nonsense and reversed behaviour, and from the comic gap between intention and result.

CBSE Class 7 Annual Assessment

Annual assessment for Class 7 students under CBSE, building on core subjects to enhance critical thinking and conceptual understanding.

Wit and Humour — 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 2: Wit and Humour

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Summary

Unit 2 of Poorvi is a lighthearted celebration of wit, nonsense and the comedy of everyday life. The main prose extract, 'Animals, Birds, and Dr. Dolittle' by Hugh Lofting, tells how a people's doctor learns from his clever parrot Polynesia that animals have languages of their own. Fascinated, Doctor Dolittle begins noting down bird and animal words, becomes fluent enough to talk with every creature, and gives up treating humans to become a much-loved animal doctor. The unit's poem, 'A Funny Man' by Natalie Joan, describes a comical stranger who wears a shoe on his head and hats on his feet, calls a currant bun a rose, and addresses the speaker as 'Your Highness', creating gentle nonsense humour through reversed, absurd behaviour. The third reading is a humorous play by G.C. Thornley in which a mother coaches her outspoken daughter Mary to make polite conversation before two important guests arrive; despite all the advice, Mary blunders disastrously with tactless remark after tactless remark, each met with embarrassed silence. Together the readings show how humour arises from imagination, exaggeration and dramatic irony, while the play gently teaches the value of tact and knowing the right thing to say.

Animals, Birds, and Dr. Dolittle (prose) — Doctor Dolittle and PolynesiaA Funny Man (poem) — nonsense humour and inversionThe humorous play (drama) — Mary and the comedy of tactlessnessTheme: wit, humour and dramatic ironyLiterary devices: inversion, phrasal verbs and dialogue

Key terms

Doctor Dolittle

A kind human physician who learns animal languages from his parrot and happily becomes an animal doctor.

Polynesia

Doctor Dolittle's clever parrot who reveals that animals can speak and teaches him their languages.

The funny man

The eccentric figure in the poem whose reversed, absurd actions (shoe on head, hats on feet) create nonsense humour.

Mary Shaw

The outspoken young girl in the play whose blunt, tactless remarks cause one comic blunder after another.

Dramatic irony

A device in the play where the audience sees Mary doing the very opposite of the polite advice she was given.

Inversion

A poetic device in 'A Funny Man' where normal word order and object roles are reversed for comic, nonsensical effect.

Important questions

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Practice quiz · Wit and Humour

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Wit and Humour

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