Class 7 English · Original EZT practice
Animals, Birds, and Dr. Dolittle (Class 7 English Chapter 4): the Doctor learns animal language
Doctor Dolittle is sitting in his kitchen talking with the Cat's-food-Man when an extraordinary idea comes up: why not become an animal doctor? Then Polynesia the parrot reveals a secret - animals have a language of their own, and she can teach it. This delightful story from Hugh Lofting opens Poorvi Unit 2, Wit and Humour. 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 Cat's-food-Man suggests to Doctor Dolittle that he become an animal doctor; Polynesia the parrot then tells the astonished Doctor that animals talk to one another, and begins teaching him the Birds' A.B.C., word by word, as he writes everything down in a book. The Doctor learns that animals speak 'with their ears, with their feet, with their tails - with everything'.
2. How animals talk - understanding
When Jip the dog scratches his ear at teatime, Polynesia explains he is 'talking' - animals do not always speak with their mouths; they use ears, feet, tails, everything, and sometimes they choose not to make any sound at all.
3. Word meanings
The story's fun, old-fashioned words - cat's-food-man, astonished, proudly, dusting (crumbs), A.B.C.
4. Wit and humour
The humour comes from treating the impossible as ordinary - a parrot giving language lessons at the kitchen table, a doctor rushing for a pencil like an excited schoolboy.
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: Curiosity and respect.
EZT practice question
What is the central idea of the story Animals, Birds, and Dr. Dolittle?
Show the worked solution
- The Doctor accepts that animals have a language of their own.
- He patiently begins to learn it from Polynesia, starting with the Birds' A.B.C.
- His life changes the moment curiosity meets respect for other creatures.
Answer: Curiosity and respect for other creatures - Doctor Dolittle's life changes the moment he accepts that animals have their own language and patiently begins to learn it.
Check: 'This is interesting - very interesting - something quite new.'
Watch for this: Do not make the story only about becoming famous - its heart is the Doctor's eagerness to understand animals.
Now try it yourself
Who is Polynesia?
Check your answer
The Doctor's parrot, who tells him about animal languages and teaches him the Birds' A.B.C.
She sits in the window singing a sailor song before she starts to listen.
Trace the idea's origin
Choose the method: The Cat's-food-Man first.
EZT practice question
Who suggests that Doctor Dolittle become an animal doctor, and why?
Show the worked solution
- The Cat's-food-Man, who had come to see him with a stomach-ache.
- He says the Doctor knows all about animals - much more than the vets.
- He has read the Doctor's wonderful book about cats (his wife Theodosia read it to him).
Answer: The Cat's-food-Man suggests it, because the Doctor knows all about animals - much more than the vets - and wrote a wonderful book about cats.
Check: Polynesia agrees at once: 'That man's got sense... Be an animal doctor.'
Watch for this: Do not credit Polynesia with the idea - she seconds it; the Cat's-food-Man says it first.
Now try it yourself
Who is the Cat's-food-Man?
Check your answer
The man who sells food for cats - he visits the Doctor's kitchen and gives him the idea of becoming an animal doctor.
He cannot read or write; his wife Theodosia is the scholar.
Explain the Birds' A.B.C.
Choose the method: Book, pencil, slowly.
EZT practice question
What is the 'Birds' A.B.C.', and how does the Doctor begin learning it?
Show the worked solution
- It is the basic vocabulary of the language that birds speak.
- The Doctor rushes to the drawer for a book and a pencil, 'all excited'.
- 'Give me the Birds' A.B.C. first - slowly now' - and Polynesia dictates bird words all rainy afternoon.
Answer: The Birds' A.B.C. is the basic vocabulary of the language birds speak; the Doctor writes it down word by word in a book as Polynesia dictates it slowly.
Check: 'Ka-ka oiee, fee-fee?' means 'Is the porridge hot yet?' in bird language.
Watch for this: Do not say he learnt it in a day - Polynesia teaches slowly, and he writes everything down.
Now try it yourself
Why had Polynesia never spoken to the Doctor in bird language before?
Check your answer
'You wouldn't have understood me if I had.'
She dusts cracker crumbs off her left wing as she says it.
Read Jip's 'talking'
Choose the method: Not always with mouths.
EZT practice question
Why does the Doctor think Jip is only scratching his ear? What does Polynesia explain?
Show the worked solution
- At teatime Jip the dog comes in and scratches his ear.
- The Doctor sees just a dog scratching.
- Polynesia explains Jip is talking - animals speak with their ears, feet, tails, with everything, not only their mouths.
Answer: The Doctor sees just a dog scratching; Polynesia explains that Jip is talking to him - animals speak with their whole bodies, not only their mouths.
Check: 'They talk with their ears, with their feet, with their tails - with everything.'
Watch for this: Do not forget her last point - sometimes animals do not want to make any sound at all.
Now try it yourself
What does this story suggest about watching animals carefully?
Check your answer
Open response - animals communicate constantly if we learn to notice.
Jip's 'scratch' was really a question.
Fix the old-fashioned words
Choose the method: Story words in plain meanings.
EZT practice question
What do these story words mean: cat's-food-man, astonished, proudly, A.B.C.?
Show the worked solution
- cat's-food-man - the man who sells food for cats.
- astonished - greatly surprised.
- proudly - with pride; A.B.C. - the beginner's set of words of a language.
Answer: cat's-food-man - the man who sells food for cats; astonished - greatly surprised; proudly - with pride; A.B.C. - the beginner's set of words of a language.
Check: Polynesia speaks 'proudly' of knowing two languages - people's and bird.
Watch for this: Do not read A.B.C. as the English alphabet here - it is the bird language's first words.
Now try it yourself
Use 'proudly' in a sentence about Polynesia.
Check your answer
'I can talk bird language,' said Polynesia proudly.
She is proud of knowing two languages.
Find the humour
Choose the method: The impossible treated as ordinary.
EZT practice question
Find two humorous details in the story.
Show the worked solution
- The Cat's-food-Man seriously advises a people's doctor to switch to animals.
- Polynesia sits on the kitchen table all rainy afternoon, dictating bird words.
- The Doctor scribbles them down 'all excited', like a schoolboy with a new discovery.
Answer: The Cat's-food-Man seriously advising a people-doctor to switch to animals; and Polynesia sitting on the kitchen table all rainy afternoon dictating bird words while the Doctor scribbles them down 'all excited'.
Check: The humour is deadpan - everyone treats a talking parrot as perfectly normal.
Watch for this: Do not look for jokes with punchlines - the wit lies in the calm absurdity.
Now try it yourself
Do you think Doctor Dolittle will be a good animal doctor? Give a reason.
Check your answer
Open response - yes, because he is patient and eager to understand animals in their own way.
He learns slowly, writing every word down.
Try a mixed set
Choose a method or explanation before opening each answer.
1. Who suggests the animal-doctor idea?
Show answer and reason
The Cat's-food-Man.
Polynesia seconds it at once.
2. Who teaches the Doctor bird language?
Show answer and reason
Polynesia, his parrot - starting with the Birds' A.B.C.
She knows two languages.
3. How do animals talk?
Show answer and reason
Not only with their mouths - with their ears, feet, tails, with everything.
Jip 'talks' by scratching his ear.
4. What does the Doctor write with?
Show answer and reason
A book and a pencil from the drawer.
'Don't go too fast - and I'll write it down.'
Try it yourself
Work these on paper before checking any notes. Answers are deliberately not shown here.
- Why is the Doctor 'all excited' when he rushes for his book and pencil?
- What is Polynesia doing when she dusts cracker crumbs off her left wing?
- If you could learn one animal's language, which would you choose and why?
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Questions about this practice page
- What is Animals, Birds, and Dr. Dolittle about?
- Doctor Dolittle learns from his parrot Polynesia that animals have their own language, and begins learning it, starting with the Birds' A.B.C.
- Who tells Dr. Dolittle about animal languages?
- Polynesia, his parrot; the idea of becoming an animal doctor comes from the Cat's-food-Man.
- How do animals talk, according to Polynesia?
- Not only with their mouths - with their ears, feet, tails, 'with everything'.
- What is the story's message?
- Curiosity and patience open new worlds - understanding animals begins with respecting how they communicate.
- Are these the NCERT exercise questions for Class 7 English Chapter 4?
- 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.