Part I
Santosh
Yadav
THINKING
ABOUT THE TEXT PAGE
6
I. Answer these questions in one or two sentences each.
(The paragraph numbers within brackets provide clues to the answers.)
1. Why was the ‘holy man’ who gave
Santosh’s mother his blessings surprised? (1)
Answer:
The
‘holy man’ who gave Santosh’s mother his blessings was surprised because the
unborn child’s grandmother made it clear that they did want a son.
2. Give an example to show that even as a
young girl Santosh was not ready to accept anything unreasonable. (2)
Answer: Santosh,
being not content in a traditional way of life, never wore transitional
dresses. She preferred shorts.
3. Why was Santosh sent to the local
school? (3)
Answer:
Santosh
was sent to the local village school in accordance with the prevailing family
custom.
4. When did she leave home for Delhi, and
why? (4)
Answer:
She
left for Delhi at the age of sixteen to get herself enrolled in a school in
Delhi.
5. Why did Santosh’s parents agree to pay
for her schooling in Delhi? What mental qualities of Santosh are brought into light
by this incident? (4)
Answer:
Santosh’s
parents agreed to pay for her education since she informed them that she would
earn money by working part time to pay her school fees. Santosh’s strong will
and grit to fight all odds and obtain what she hankered for is brought into
light by this incident.
II. Answer each of these questions in a short paragraph
(about 30 words).
1. How did Santosh begin to climb
mountains?
Answer:
Santosh
began climbing mountains in Jaipur where she stayed in Kasturba Hostel while
attending classes in Maharani College. She used to watch villagers from her room, going up the
hill and suddenly vanishing after a while.
When she checked, she found a few mountaineers. She asked if she could
join them, and they responded in the affirmative. Soon after she joined
Uttarkashi’s Nehru Institute of Mountaineering and began going on expeditions
every year.
2. What incidents during the Everest
expedition show Santosh’s concern for her team-mates?
Answer:
Santosh
provided special care to a climber who lay dying at the South Col during the
1992 Everest Mission. Unfortunately, she couldn't succeed in saving his life.
Nonetheless, she could save Mohan Sinh, another climber, with whom she happened
to share her oxygen. Had she not done so, he too would have died.
3. What shows her concern for the
environment?
Answer:
Santosh
was not only a fervent mountaineer but she was also an environmentalist. Her
concern for the environment is shown by her act of bringing down 500 kilograms
of garbage from the Himalayas.
4. How does she describe her feelings at
the summit of the Everest?
Answer:
Santosh
says that she felt as if she was ‘on top of the world’ at the summit of Mount
Everest, She stresses that it took some time for the enormity of the moment to
sink in and that when she unfurled the Indian tricolour she had a feeling that
was indescribable. She says she felt proud as an Indian.
5. Santosh Yadav got into the record
books both times she scaled Mt Everest. What were the reasons for this?
Answer:
In
1992, Santosh Yadav became the youngest woman to scale Mount Everest. And when
she scaled the highest peak the second time, she set a record as the only woman
to have scaled Mount Everest twice. This is how she got into the record books
both times she scaled Mt Everest.
III. Complete the following statements.
1. From her room in Kasturba Hostel,
Santosh used to ______________
2. When she finished college, Santosh had
to write a letter of apology to her father because ___________________
3. During the Everest expedition, her
seniors in the team admired her _______________ while _____________ endeared
her to fellow climbers.
Answer:
1. see villagers going
up the hill and vanishing after a while
2. she had got herself
enrolled at Uttarkashi’s Nehru Institute of Mountaineering without his
permission
3. climbing skills,
physical fitness and mental strength,concern for others and desire to work
together
IV. Pick out words from the text that mean the same as the
following words or expressions. (Look in the paragraphs indicated.)
1. took to be true without proof (1):
____________________________
2. based on reason; sensible; reasonable
(2): _____________________
3. the usual way of doing things (3):
___________________________
4. a strong desire arising from within
(5): _______________________
5. the power to endure, without falling
ill (7): ____________________
Answer:
1. Assumed
2. Rational
3. Custom
4. Urge
5. Resistance
Part II
Maria Sharapova
THINKING ABOUT THE TEXT PAGE
11
• Match the following.
Answer:
something disarming - something that makes you feel friendly, taking away
your suspiciousness
at odds with -
in contrast to; not agreeing with
glamorous attire - attractive and exciting clothes
in almost no time - quickly, almost immediately
poised beyond her years - more calm, confident
and in control than people of her age usually are
packed off -
started
launched -
sent off
heart wrenching - causing strong feelings of sadness
• As you read, look for the answers to these questions.
- Why was Maria sent to the United States?
Answer: Maria was sent to the United States so she may attain success and stardom in the sport of tennis.
- Why didn’t her mother go with her?
Answer: Her mother could not go with her because of visa restrictions.
- What are her hobbies? What does she like?
Answer: Her hobbies include fashion, singing and dancing. She likes reading novels by Arthur Conna Doyle. She also likes wearing sophisticated evening gowns and eating pancakes with chocolate spread and fizzy orange drinks.
- What motivates her to keep going?
Answer: It is money that motivates her to keep going, but the most important thing for her to stay on top.
THINKING
ABOUT THE TEXT PAGE
11
Working in small groups
of 4–5 students, go back over the two passages on Santosh Yadav and Maria
Sharapova and complete the table given below with relevant phrases or
sentences.
Answer:
|
Points of Comparison/Contrast |
Santosh Yadav |
Maria Sharapova |
|
1. Their humble
beginning |
Born in the small
village of Joniyawas in Rewari District, Haryana. |
My
father was working as much as he could to keep my tennis-training going. |
|
2. Their parents’
approach |
Her parents refused
to pay for her education. |
I missed my mother
terribly. My father was working as much as he could to keep my
tennis-training going. |
|
3. Their will power
and strong desire to succeed |
When her parents
refused to pay for her education, she politely informed them of her plans to
earn money by working part time to pay her school fees. |
I am very, very
competitive |
|
4. Evidence of their
mental toughness |
Equipped with an
iron will, physical endurance and an amazing mental toughness, she proved
herself repeatedly. |
I would have put up
with much more humiliation and insults than that to steadfastly pursue my
dream |
|
5. Their patriotism |
The Indian flag was
flying on top of the world. It was truly a spiritual moment. I felt proud as
an Indian. |
My blood is totally
Russian. |
THINKING ABOUT LANGUAGE PAGE 11
Look at the following sentences. They each have two clauses, or two parts each with their own subject and verb or verb phrase. Often, one part (italicised) tells us when or why something happened.
• I reached the market when most of the shops had closed. (Tells us when I reached.)
• When Rahul Dravid walked back towards the pavilion, everyone stood up. (Tells us when everyone stood up.)
• The telephone rang and Ganga picked it up. (Tells us what happened next.)
• Gunjan has been with us ever since the school began. (Tells us for how long he has been with us.)
I. Identify the two parts in the sentences below by underlining the part that gives us the information in brackets, as shown above.
1. Where other girls wore traditional Indian dresses, Santosh preferred shorts. (Contrasts her dress with that of others)
2. She left home and got herself enrolled in a school in Delhi.(Tells us what happened after the first action.)
3. She decided to fight the system when the right moment arrived.(Tells us when she was going to fight the system.)
4.
Little Maria had not yet celebrated her tenth birthday when she was packed off
to train in the United States. (Tells us when Maria was sent to the U.S.)
Answer:
1. Where other girls wore traditional Indian dresses, Santosh preferred shorts. (Contrasts her dress with that of others)
2. She left home and got herself enrolled in a school in Delhi.(Tells us what happened after the first action.)
3. She decided to fight the system when the right moment arrived.(Tells us when she was going to fight the system.)
4. Little Maria had not yet celebrated her tenth birthday when she was packed off to train in the United States. (Tells us when Maria was sent to the U.S.)
II. Now rewrite the
pairs of sentences given below as one sentence.
1. Grandfather told me
about the old days. All books were printed on paper then.
2. What do you do after
you finish the book? Perhaps you just throw it away.
3. He gave the little girl an apple. He
took the computer apart.
4. You have nothing. That makes you very
determined.
5. I never thought of quitting. I knew what I wanted.
Answers:
1. Grandfather told me about the old days when all
books were printed on paper.
2. After you finish the book, perhaps you just
throw it away.
3. He gave the little girl an apple before he took
the computer apart.
4. You have nothing, and that makes you very
determined.
5. I never thought of quitting since I knew what I wanted.
WRITING PAGE 13
I. To be done by the student.
II. Which of these words would you use to describe Santosh Yadav? Find reasons in the text to support your choices, and write a couple of paragraphs describing Santosh’s character.
Contented determined resourceful polite adventurous considerate
weak-willed fearful independent pessimistic patient persevering
Answer:
The words that I would
use to describe Santosh Yadav are determined, resourceful, polite, adventurous,
independent, and persevering. Santosh is determined to get what she wants and
feels that if she is right then it is the others around her who will have to
change. She is also polite in telling her parents that she would be willing to
work full-time and earn money. She is independent, for shae makes all the
life-changing decisions without asking for others’ opinions. And most
importantly, she perseveres without giving up. She is also quite resourceful as
she helps her fellow climbers, saving one man’s life by sharing her oxygen with
him.
Poem: On Killing a Tree by Gieve Patel
THINKING ABOUT THE POEM PAGE
15
I. 1. Can a “simple jab of the knife” kill a
tree? Why not?
Answer: No. A simple jab of the knife cannot kill a tree because a
tree is strong. It has, after all, grown consuming the earth and rising out of
it.
2. How has the tree grown to its full size? List the
words suggestive of its life and activity.
Answer: A tree grows to its full size by getting its food or
nourishment from the earth and by taking in sunlight, water and air for several
years. The words suggestive of the tree’s life and activity are:
grown
slowly
consuming
the earth
rising out
of it
feeding
absorbing
sprouting
leaves
3. What is the meaning of “bleeding bark”? What makes it bleed?
Answer: Bleeding bark is that part of a tree that has been hot with
an axe. The woodcutter’s act makes the tree bleed.
4. The poet says “No” in the beginning of the third stanza.
What does he mean by this?
Answer: By ‘no’ the poet intends to contradict what he has said in
the previous paragraph. As in, he wants to state that it’s not that easy to
chop a tree.
5. What is the meaning of “anchoring earth” and “earth
cave”?
Answer: Anchoring earth refers to the soil that lays a tree’s
foundation. Earth-cave means the part where a hollow is left after a tree is
uprooted.
6. What does he mean by “the strength of the tree
exposed”?
Answer: By ‘the strength of the tree exposed’ means the root of the
tree is pulled out of the earth and thrown open at the mercy of harsh weather.
7. What finally kills the tree?
Answer: It is the uprooting of the roots that finally kills the
tree.
|
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