Class 7 English · Original EZT practice
The Day the River Spoke (Class 7 English Chapter 1): Jahnavi finds her way to school
Jahnavi sits by the river crying - she wants to go to school like her brothers, but her family says she is too small, and now she must mind little Ramu. Then a sleepy, murmuring voice speaks to her: it is the River. This story from Poorvi Unit 1, Learning Together, shows how encouragement and courage can open the school door. This page gives a summary, word 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. Story summary and central idea
The River listens to Jahnavi's wish, laughs at her fears ('you're not afraid of the green lizard, or the snake in the bamboo clump, or the big trains'), and gives its advice - 'Try going to school first. Remember - it's up to you!' Jahnavi follows it; the teacher promises to find a way and talks to her father, and Jahnavi starts school, dreaming of becoming a teacher herself.
2. Character - Jahnavi
Jahnavi is curious (she asks what ships are), brave (she is not scared of lizards or trains, but she is scared of trying school alone), and determined (she takes the River's advice and goes).
3. Word meanings
The story's nature and feeling words - splashed, slithered, murmuring, startled, thicket, shrieked, wailed.
4. The River's world
The River loves ships more than noisy trains, and suggests Chandu's catamaran could take Jahnavi to see a ship one day - a gentle way of widening her world before sending her to school.
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.
State the central idea
Choose the method: A wish to learn deserves a chance.
EZT practice question
What is the central idea of the story The Day the River Spoke?
Show the worked solution
- Jahnavi wants to go to school but is kept home to mind the little ones.
- The River encourages her to take the first step herself.
- She does - and with the teacher's support, she joins school.
Answer: A child's wish to learn deserves a fair chance - with a little courage and support, Jahnavi gets to school, and the story celebrates girls' education.
Check: Her mother's line seals it: 'Girls should learn as much as they want.'
Watch for this: Do not read it as a fantasy about a talking river only - the River's words push a real change in Jahnavi's life.
Now try it yourself
What did Jahnavi say she would do when she grew up?
Check your answer
Become a teacher and go from house to house in the village asking all the little girls to come to her school.
Her own struggle becomes her mission.
Explain Jahnavi's wish
Choose the method: Like Ettan and Meena.
EZT practice question
Why did Jahnavi want to go to school, and what stopped her?
Show the worked solution
- Her brothers Ettan and Gopi and sister Meena went - she wanted to learn to read like them.
- Her mother said she was 'too small'.
- Later she was asked to mind little brother Ramu, and then Little Appu.
Answer: She wanted to learn like her brothers Ettan and Gopi and sister Meena; her mother said she was 'too small', and later asked her to mind little brother Ramu.
Check: Ettan means 'elder brother' - his real name was Gopi.
Watch for this: Do not say she did not want to learn - she says clearly, 'I want to go. I want to learn to read.'
Now try it yourself
Who spoke to Jahnavi by the river?
Check your answer
The River itself - in a sleepy, murmuring voice.
She first thinks it might be the lizard or the parrots.
Quote the River's advice
Choose the method: One thing she can do.
EZT practice question
What was the River's advice to Jahnavi?
Show the worked solution
- The River says little girls can do as much as little boys.
- It tells her to slip along one morning and sit in the school and listen.
- 'Try going to school first,' said the River. 'Remember - it's up to you!'
Answer: 'Try going to school first... it's up to you!' - slip along one morning, sit in the school and listen, and maybe the teacher will let her stay.
Check: The advice puts the first step in Jahnavi's own hands.
Watch for this: Do not say the River took her to school - it only gave advice; Jahnavi gathered courage and went herself.
Now try it yourself
How did Jahnavi reach the school the next day?
Check your answer
She gathered courage, reached the school panting and out of breath, and stood by the door listening.
She carried Little Appu, asleep on her shoulder.
Judge Jahnavi's fear
Choose the method: Brave in some ways, scared in one.
EZT practice question
Was Jahnavi really a scared child? Give reasons from the story.
Show the worked solution
- She was not afraid of the green lizard.
- Nor of the snake in the bamboo clump, or the noisy trains on the bridge.
- She was only afraid of going to school without permission - and she overcame that fear.
Answer: No - she was not afraid of the green lizard, the snake in the bamboo clump, or the noisy trains on the bridge; she was only afraid of going to school without permission, and she overcame that fear.
Check: The River laughs at exactly this point: 'You? Scared?'
Watch for this: Do not miss that she never knew the snake lived in the bamboo clump - the River's teasing startles her.
Now try it yourself
What did the River say about trains and ships?
Check your answer
'Trains are noisy; I prefer ships' - ships are big boats that can take hundreds of people, sailing along the sea with lights all night.
Ships could not come to the river - they are too large.
Match story words to meanings
Choose the method: Fix each word to one plain meaning.
EZT practice question
Match: slithered, murmuring, startled, wailed - with their meanings.
Show the worked solution
- slithered - moved by sliding from side to side.
- murmuring - speaking in a low voice.
- startled - surprised; wailed - complained in a loud voice.
Answer: slithered - moved by sliding from side to side; murmuring - speaking in a low voice; startled - surprised; wailed - complained in a loud voice.
Check: The lizard slithered, the River's voice was murmuring, Jahnavi was startled, and she wailed 'They'd never let me!'
Watch for this: Do not confuse shrieked with wailed - shrieked is a high-pitched sound (the parrots), wailed is loud complaint.
Now try it yourself
What is a 'thicket'?
Check your answer
A dense group of bushes and trees.
The kingfisher was up in the thicket of bamboo.
Trace the happy ending
Choose the method: Teacher, father, mother.
EZT practice question
How does the story end for Jahnavi?
Show the worked solution
- The teacher said, 'If you really, really want to come to my school, Jahnavi, we'll talk to your father about it. Don't you worry. We'll find a way.'
- The teacher came and talked to her father.
- Her mother happily agreed - 'Girls should learn as much as they want' - and Jahnavi went to school.
Answer: The teacher promises to find a way and talks to her father; her mother agrees gladly, and Jahnavi starts school, hoping to become a teacher for village girls.
Check: Her mother was herself not allowed to go to school - that is why she is glad.
Watch for this: Do not say her father agreed instantly on his own - the teacher's visit is what settles it.
Now try it yourself
How does the River help Jahnavi beyond giving advice?
Check your answer
It listens patiently, makes her laugh at her fears, shares stories of ships and the sea, and gives her the confidence to take the first step herself.
'Come again, little girl, and I'll tell you all about the ships that sail the sea.'
Try a mixed set
Choose a method or explanation before opening each answer.
1. Who spoke to Jahnavi?
Show answer and reason
The River - in a sleepy, murmuring voice.
She was crying by the riverbank.
2. The River's advice?
Show answer and reason
'Try going to school first. Remember - it's up to you!'
The first step was hers to take.
3. What did the teacher promise?
Show answer and reason
To talk to her father and find a way.
'Don't you worry.'
4. Jahnavi's dream?
Show answer and reason
To become a teacher and bring all the little girls of the village to her school.
She tells her mother at the end.
Try it yourself
Work these on paper before checking any notes. Answers are deliberately not shown here.
- Why did Jahnavi's mother ask her to mind little Ramu?
- Name two things Jahnavi was not afraid of.
- Do you think Jahnavi would have gone to school without the River's advice? Why or why not?
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Questions about this practice page
- What is The Day the River Spoke about?
- Jahnavi, a village girl kept out of school, is encouraged by the River to go to school; the teacher talks to her father, and she finally joins school.
- What advice does the River give Jahnavi?
- 'Try going to school first. Remember - it's up to you!'
- How does the story end?
- The teacher talks to Jahnavi's father, her mother happily agrees, and Jahnavi goes to school, hoping to become a teacher for village girls.
- What does the story say about girls' education?
- It supports it - 'Girls should learn as much as they want,' says Jahnavi's mother, who herself was not allowed to go to school.
- Are these the NCERT exercise questions for Class 7 English Chapter 1?
- 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.