Class 6 English · Original EZT practice
The Winner (Class 6 English Chapter 11): a game that only night can end
Children play ball next to the creek, running so fast they cannot catch their breath - until the blue sky turns black, the grass grows cold, and the game has to end. Who wins? Night does. Georgia Heard's lively poem from Poorvi Unit 4, Sports and Wellness, captures the joy of evening play. Below: a summary, line meanings and practice questions. (Note: this is original practice, not a textbook exercise key.)
6 original worked examples, 6 fresh self-check questions and 4 mixed questions, with explained answers. These are not copied textbook exercises, an official chapter index or a full answer key. No affiliation with NCERT is claimed.
Official sources for topic and edition context, checked 23 October 2026:
1. Poem summary and central idea
Every evening the children play ball in their neighbour's field next to the creek; they run breathlessly till dark, when 'game's over' - and the playful twist is that Night is the winner of their game.
2. Line-by-line meanings
'Next to the creek' - beside a small body of water; 'I can't even catch my breath' - the child has been running so fast; 'when blue dark turns to black' - the sky's colour changes as night falls; 'trees creep close' - in the dim evening light the trees seem to come nearer.
3. Word meanings
The poem builds evening-play words - creek, breath, aches, creep - and the playful personification of night as a player who wins.
4. Reading a poem - practice
The poem is short and fast like the game itself; reading it aloud with the single-word lines spoken quickly helps students feel the breathlessness the poet describes.
Choose, solve, check, then try a fresh question.
Before calculating, read the method prompt and name the condition that makes it useful. Write your own attempt. Open the steps only when you need them, and use the check to catch a wrong sign, unit or interpretation. Finish with the fresh question before reading its answer.
Identify the winner
Choose the method: The twist is in the last line.
EZT practice question
Who is 'the winner' in the poem, and why?
Show the worked solution
- The children play as long as they can.
- When the blue dark turns to black, they must stop.
- 'Game's over. / Night wins!' - Night ends their game, so Night is the winner.
Answer: Night. The children play as long as they can, but when the blue dark turns to black they must stop - 'game's over. / Night wins!' Night ends their game, so Night is the winner.
Check: Calling Night the winner treats it like one more player - that personification is the poem's joke.
Watch for this: Do not name a child or a team as the winner - the poem gives the title to Night itself.
Now try it yourself
Who wrote 'The Winner'?
Check your answer
Georgia Heard.
The textbook names her as the poet.
Fix the setting
Choose the method: Place and time in two details.
EZT practice question
Where and when do the children play?
Show the worked solution
- Place: their neighbour's field.
- Beside it runs a creek - a small body of water.
- Time: in the evenings, until dark.
Answer: Next to the creek, in their neighbour's field, in the evenings.
Check: Field, creek, evening - the three setting words all appear in the poem's opening lines.
Watch for this: Do not place the game in a playground or street - the poem says the neighbour's field by the creek.
Now try it yourself
Complete: the children play ___ in the neighbour's ___, next to the creek.
Check your answer
ball; field.
Straight from the poem's opening.
Read the falling lines
Choose the method: The layout does the running.
EZT practice question
Why does the speaker need to 'catch my breath', and how does the poem show it?
Show the worked solution
- The children run so fast they are left breathless.
- The poet breaks 'I can't even catch my breath' into one word per line.
- Reading those tumbling lines, we run out of breath too.
Answer: Running fast leaves them breathless - and the poet shows it by breaking the line into single words that tumble down the page, so we run out of breath reading it, just as the children do playing.
Check: The one-word lines are the poem's most famous trick - layout imitating breathlessness.
Watch for this: Do not treat the broken lines as a printing accident - the shape is deliberate and meaningful.
Now try it yourself
Use 'breathless' in a sentence of your own.
Check your answer
After the race, I was too breathless to speak.
Breathless means out of breath from effort.
Read the signs of nightfall
Choose the method: Cold feet, creeping trees.
EZT practice question
What do 'cold grass aches our feet' and 'trees creep close' tell us about the time of day?
Show the worked solution
- The grass has grown cold under their feet.
- In the fading light, the trees look as if they are creeping closer.
- Both are late-evening signs - night is arriving.
Answer: It is late evening turning to night - the grass has grown cold under their feet, and in the fading light the trees look as if they are creeping closer.
Check: These details come just before 'game's over' - they are the warning that Night is about to win.
Watch for this: Do not read the trees as actually moving - it is how dim light tricks the eye.
Now try it yourself
Which line tells us the sky is getting dark?
Check your answer
'When blue dark turns to black'.
The colour shift marks nightfall.
Match poem words to meanings
Choose the method: Fix each word to one plain meaning.
EZT practice question
Match: creek, ache, creep - with their meanings.
Show the worked solution
- creek - a small body of water.
- ache - hurt with a dull pain.
- creep - move slowly and quietly (here, seem to come closer).
Answer: creek - a small body of water; ache - hurt with a dull pain; creep - move slowly and quietly (here, seem to come closer).
Check: All three appear in the poem's evening scene - the creek they play beside, feet that ache, trees that creep.
Watch for this: Do not give creep its 'crawl on hands and knees' meaning here - the trees only seem to come closer.
Now try it yourself
What does 'game's over' signal at the end of the poem?
Check your answer
The children must stop playing and go home because night has come.
That is the moment Night wins.
Describe how the poem feels
Choose the method: Short and fast, like the game.
EZT practice question
How does the poet make us feel the children's tiredness and the game's speed?
Show the worked solution
- The poem is short and quick, like the game itself.
- Single-word lines make reading breathless.
- Sound and shape together put us inside the running.
Answer: By breaking 'I can't even catch my breath' into one word per line - we run out of breath reading it, just as the children run out of breath playing; the whole poem is short and fast like the game.
Check: Read it aloud quickly - the effect is immediate.
Watch for this: Do not look for a long description of tiredness - the poet shows it through form, not explanation.
Now try it yourself
Do you think the children are sad when the game ends? Give a reason.
Check your answer
Open response - e.g. they played till the last minute of light, so they made the most of their game even though Night won.
The poem's tone stays joyful to the end.
Try a mixed set
Choose a method or explanation before opening each answer.
1. Who is the winner?
Show answer and reason
Night - it ends the children's game.
'Game's over. / Night wins!'
2. Where do the children play?
Show answer and reason
Next to the creek, in their neighbour's field.
Evenings, until dark.
3. Poet of 'The Winner'?
Show answer and reason
Georgia Heard.
A poem in Poorvi Unit 4.
4. What shows breathlessness in the layout?
Show answer and reason
'I can't even catch my breath' tumbles one word per line.
We run out of breath reading it.
Try it yourself
Work these on paper before checking any notes. Answers are deliberately not shown here.
- Complete: 'When blue dark turns to ___.'
- Match: creek, ache, creep - with their meanings.
- Describe your own favourite evening game in two or three lines, like the poem.
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Questions about this practice page
- What is 'The Winner' about?
- Children playing ball in a neighbour's field every evening, running till they are breathless, until nightfall ends the game.
- Why is night called the winner?
- Because night finally stops the children's game - 'game's over. / Night wins!' - as if night were a player who beat them.
- Where do the children play?
- Next to the creek, in their neighbour's field, in the evenings.
- Who is the poet of 'The Winner'?
- Georgia Heard.
- Are these the NCERT exercise questions for Class 6 English Chapter 11?
- No. EZT pages are original practice following the chapter's section order - use them to prepare for the textbook exercises, not as a substitute for your book.