COMPREHENSION CHECK PAGE 79
1. Standing on Everest, the writer was
(i) overjoyed.
(ii) very sad.
(iii) jubilant and sad.
Choose the right item.
Answer: (i) jubilant and sad.
2. The emotion that gripped him was one of
(i) victory over hurdles.
(ii) humility and a sense of smallness.
(iii) greatness and self importance.
(iv) joy of discovery.
Choose the right
item.
Answer: (ii) humility and a sense of smallness.
3. “The summit of the mind” refers to
(i) great intellectual achievements.
(ii) the process of maturing mentally and spiritually.
(iii) overcoming personal ambition for common welfare.
(iv) living in the world of thought and imagination.
(v) the triumph of mind over worldly pleasures for a noble cause.
(vi) a fuller knowledge of oneself.
Mark the item(s) not relevant.
Answer:
(i) great intellectual achievements.
(iv) living in the world of thought and imagination.
WORKING WITH THE TEXT PAGE 80
1. Answer the following questions.
(i) What are the three qualities that played a major role in the author’s climb?
Answer: Endurance, virtue, and will power were the three qualities that played a major role in the author’s climb
(ii) Why is adventure, which is risky, also pleasurable?
Answer: No doubt adventure is risky. Climbing a mountain, for instance, is not a child’s play. No doubt adventure is risky. Nonetheless, the adventure also proves to be pleasurable primarily because in the end it gives us a sense of having fought a battle and won.
(iii) What was it about Mount Everest that the author found irresistible?
Answer: It is the peak of Mount Everest that drew the author towards it. Its beauty, aloofness, might, ruggedness and the difficulties caused a feeling of irresistibility in the author.
(iv) One does not do it (climb a high peak) for fame alone. What does one do it for, really?
Answer: Indeed, one does not climb a high peak for fame alone, for there are various reasons why one takes up such a daring adventure. Not only does the conquest of a mountain give a high sense of fulfillment to the climber, but there is also the satisfaction of a deep urge to rise above one’s surroundings. Moreover, the experience is spiritually and mentally elevating.
(v) “He becomes conscious in a special manner of his own smallness in this large universe.” This awareness defines an emotion mentioned in the first paragraph. Which is the emotion?
Answer: The emotion mentioned in the first paragraph that defines the given statement is ‘humility’.
(vi) What were the “symbols of reverence” left by members of the team on Everest?
Answer: The symbols of reverence left by the members of the team on Everest were a picture of Goddess Durga, a relic of Buddha, and a cross.
(vii) What, according to the writer, did his experience as an Everester teach him?
Answer: The experience as an Everester taught the author the inspiration to face life’s ordeals resolutely. While climbing the mountain was a worthwhile experience for him, he learnt that the conquest of the ‘internal summit’, that is the mind, was equally worthwhile.
2. Write a sentence against each of the following statements. Your sentence should explain the statement. You can pick out sentences from the text and rewrite them. The first one has been done for you.
(i) The experience changes you completely.
Ans: One who has been to the mountains is never the same again.
(ii)
Man takes delight in overcoming obstacles.
Ans: There is the satisfaction of a deep urge to rise above one’s surroundings.
(iii)
Mountains are nature at its best.
Ans: The beauty and majesty of mountains pose a great challenge, and mountains are a means of communion with God.
(iv)
The going was difficult but the after-effects were satisfying.
Ans: And once the summit is climbed, there is the exhilaration, the joy of having done something, the sense of a battle fought and won.
(v) The physical conquest of a mountain is really a spiritual experience.
Ans: The experience of climbing a mountain is not merely physical, but emotional and spiritual.
WORKING WITH LANGUAGE PAGE 81
Fill in the blanks in the following dialogues choosing suitable phrases from those given in the box.
|
at
hand at once
at all at a low ebb
at first sight |
Answers:
(i) Teacher: You were away from school without permission. Go to the principal at once and submit your explanation.
Pupil: Yes, Madam. But would you help me write it first?
(ii) Arun: Are you unwell?
Ila: No, not at all. Why do you ask?
Arun: If you were unwell, I would send you to my uncle. He is a doctor.
(iii) Mary: Almost every Indian film has an episode of love at first sight.
David: Is that what makes them so popular in foreign countries?
(iv) Asif: You look depressed. Why are your spirits at such a low ebb today? (Use such in the phrase)
Ashok: I have to write ten sentences using words that I never heard before.
(v) Shieba: Your big moment is close at hand.
Jyoti: How should I welcome it?
Shieba: Get up and receive the trophy.
2. Write the noun forms of the following words adding -ance or -ence to each.
(i) endure ___________ (ii)
persist ___________
(iii) signify ___________ (iv) confide ___________
(v) maintain ___________ (vi) abhor ___________
Answer:
(i) endure - endurance (ii)
persist - persistence
(iii) signify -
significance (iv) confide - confidence
(v) maintain - maintenance (vi) abhor - abhorrence
3. (i) Match words under A with their meanings under B.
Answer:
remote -
far away from
means -
method(s)
dominant -most
prominent
formidable - difficult
to overcome
overwhelmed - be overcome/overpowered.
(ii) Fill in the blanks in the sentences below with appropriate words from under A.
Answer:
(a) There were formidable obstacles on the way, but we reached our destination safely.
(b) We have no means of finding out what happened there.
(c) Why he lives in a house remote from any town or village is more than I can tell.
(d) Overwhelmed by gratitude, we bowed to the speaker for his valuable advice.
(e) The old castle stands in a dominant position above the sleepy town.
Poem: The
School Boy by
William Blake
WORKING WITH THE POEM PAGE
84
1. Find three or four words/phrases in
stanza 1 that reflect the child's happiness and joy.
Answer:
The
phrases ‘love to rise in the summer morn’, ‘sings with me’ and ‘what sweet
company’ reflect the child’s happiness and joy in stanza 1.
2. In stanza 2, the mood changes. Which
words/phrases reflect the changed mood?
Answer:
The
phrases ‘drives all joy away’ and ‘under a cruel eye outworn’ and the words
‘sighing’ and ‘dismay’ reflect the changed mood in stanza 2.
3. ‘A cruel eye outworn’ (stanza 2)
refers to
(i) the classroom which is shabby/noisy.
(ii) the lessons which are difficult/uninteresting.
(iii) the dull/uninspiring life at school with lots of
work and no play.
Mark the answer that you consider right.
Answer:
(iii) the dull/uninspiring life at school with lots of work and no play.
4. ‘Nor sit in learning’s bower worn
thro’ with the dreary shower’
Which of the following is a close
paraphrase of the lines above?
(i) Nor can I sit in a roofless classroom when it is
raining.
(ii) Nor can I learn anything at school though teachers
go on lecturing and explaining.
(iii) Nor can I sit in the school garden for fear of
getting wet in the rain
Answer: (ii) Nor can I learn anything at school though teachers go on lecturing and explaining.
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