Working with the text (Pages 30-31)
Question 1: When he
felt the earthquake, do you think Ignesious immediately worried about a
tsunami? Give reasons for your answer. Which sentence in the text tells you
that the Ignesious family did not have any time to discuss and plan their
course of action after the tsunami struck?
Answer: No, Ignesious did not realise a
tsunami had struck when he felt the earthquake initially. He got up and
carefully took his television set off its table and put it down on the ground
so that it would not fall and break. Then the family rushed out of the house.
Ignesious’s family did not have any
time to discuss and plan their course of action after the tsunami struck due to
chaos and confusion. When the tremors stopped, they saw the sea rising. In the
chaos and confusion, two of his children caught hold of the hands of their
mother’s father and mother’s brother and rushed in the opposite direction.
Question 2: Which words in the list below describe
Sanjeev, in your opinion? (Look up the dictionary for words that you are not
sure of.)
|
Cheerful |
Ambitious |
Brash |
Brave |
Careless |
|
Heroic |
Selfless |
Heartless |
Humorous |
Use words from the list to complete the
three sentences below.
(i) I don’t know if Sanjeev was cheerful,
___________ or ___________.
(ii) I think that he was very brave,
___________ and___________.
(iii) Sanjeev was not heartless,
___________or___________.
Answer:
In my opinion, the words that
describe Sanjeev are brave, heroic and selfless.
(i) I don’t know if Sanjeev was
cheerful, ambitious or humorous.
(ii) I think that he was very
brave, heroic and selfless.
(iii) Sanjeev was not
heartless, brash or careless.
Question 3: How are Meghna and Almas’s stories
similar?
Answer: Both Almas’ and Meghna’s families were swept away by the tsunami
waves, and they were the only survivors in their respective families. Both of
them floated in the sea for many days. Meghna spent two days floating in the
sea, holding on to a wooden door and was brought to the shore by a wave.
Similarly, Almas also climbed onto a log of wood and fainted. Later she woke up
in a hospital in Kamorta and was brought to Port Blair thereafter. Both the
girls were so traumatized by the incident that Meghna was found walking on the
seashore in a daze, and Almas did not want to discuss the tragic incident with
anyone.
Question 4: What are the different ways in which
Tilly’s parents could have reacted to her behaviour? What would you have done
if you were in their place?
Answer:
Tilly could foresee that a tsunami
had struck them. Seeing her frightened and hysterical, her parents understood
that something serious was likely to happen. They took both their daughters
away from the beach to the swimming pool at the hotel. Seeing them, a number of
other tourists also left the beach along with them. Tilly also shouted to
everyone around the beach to run for safety.
However, Tilly’s parents could have
also reacted in a different manner by not paying heed to her frightened
behaviour. If they had tried to calm her down, probably they would have got
washed away along with the tsunami waves.
If I had been in a similar situation,
I would have carefully listened to Tilly and realised that danger was
approaching and immediately rush to the hotel by running away from the beach.
Question 5: If Tilly’s award was to be shared, who do
you think she should share it with — her parents or her geography teacher?
Answer: In my opinion, Tilly should have
shared her award with her geography teacher, who made her aware of what a
tsunami is and its various effects. Due to this awareness, she was able to save
the lives of so many people.
Question 6: What are the two different ideas about
why so few animals were killed in the tsunami? Which idea do you find more
believable?
Answer: Not many animals were killed by the
tsunami because most of them have a sixth sense working in them. It is believed
that animals know when the earth is going to shake. Some experts also believe
that animals have an acute sense of hearing that helps them to hear or feel the
earth’s vibration. They have the ability to sense an approaching disaster long
before humans realise what’s going on and they are able to move to safer
places.
Animals have a better sense of
hearing and gut feeling, and this is scientifically proven that they can sense
disturbances and hear low-frequency sounds which are not within the hearing
range of humans. Although this sounds incredible, it’s true!
Working with language (Page 31-32)
Question 1: Go through Part-I carefully, and make a
list of as many words as you can find that indicate movement of different
kinds. (There is one word that occurs repeatedly — count how many times!) Put
them into three categories.
|
fast movement |
slow movement |
neither slow nor fast |
Can you explain why there are many
words in one column and not in the others?
Answer:
|
Fast movement |
Slow movement |
Neither slow nor fast |
|
Earthquake |
Recede |
Floating |
|
Fall |
Rising |
|
|
Rushed |
||
|
Tremors |
||
|
Swept away |
||
|
Washed away |
||
|
Ran |
The ‘fast
movement’ has more words than the other two columns, i.e., ‘slow movement’ and
‘neither slow nor fast’. This indicates that there are fast movements in a
tsunami, because of which it is extremely difficult to instantly avert such a
critical situation for both men and animals. Although people were fast in their
movements such as running or climbing, most of them got washed away by the
tsunami waves.
Question 2: Fill in the blanks in the sentences below
(the verbs given in brackets will give you a clue).
(i) The earth trembled, but not many
people felt the _________. (tremble)
(ii) When the zoo was flooded, there
was a lot of _________ and many animals escaped into the countryside. (confuse)
(iii) We heard with _________ that
the lion had been recaptured. (relieve)
(iv) The zookeeper was stuck in a
tree and his _________ was filmed by the TV crew. (rescue)
(v) There was much _________ in the
village when the snake charmer came visiting. (excite)
Answer:
(i) The earth trembled, but not many
people felt the trembling.
(ii) When the zoo was flooded, there
was a lot of confusion and many animals
escaped into the countryside.
(iii) We heard with relief that the lion had been recaptured.
(iv) The zookeeper was stuck in a
tree and his rescue was filmed by the TV
crew.
(v) There was much excitement in the village when the snake charmer
came visiting.
Question 3: Say whether the following sentences are
in the Active or the Passive voice. Write A or P after each sentence as shown
in the first sentence.
(i) Someone
stole my bicycle. __A__
(ii) The tyres
were deflated by the traffic police. ___P____________
(iii) I found
it last night in a ditch near my house. ____A___________
(iv) It had
been thrown there. ____P___________
(v) My father
gave it to the mechanic. ____A___________
(vi) The
mechanic repaired it for me. ______A_________