Ques. 1 Why was the young seagull afraid to fly? Do you think all young birds are afraid to make their first flight or are some birds more timid than others? Do you think a human baby also finds it a challenge to take its first steps?
Answer: It is very well said that challenges make you strong and let you face your fear. The young seagull also had a challenge to face, and he was afraid because it was his first flight. I think mostly all young birds must be afraid to make their first flights but exceptions are always there as they might not find it much challenging. Similarly, a human baby would also find it a challenge to take their first step.
Ques2. “The sight of the food maddened him.” What does this suggest? What compelled the young seagull to finally fly?
Answer: The young seagull was very hungry. It was this hunger that ultimately compelled and encouraged him to fly. When he saw his mother tearing at a piece of fish that lay at her feet, his hunger intensified. He cried and begged her to give him some food. When he saw her coming towards him with food in her beak, he screamed with joy and anticipation.
However, she stopped midway. Not being able to resist his hunger any longer, he dived at the food in her beak. At that moment, his hunger overpowered his fear of the great expanse of sea beneath the cliff. Finally, this plunge was followed by the seagull’s first flight.
Ques 3. “They were beckoning to him, calling shrilly. “Why did the seagull’s father and mother threaten him and cajole him to fly?
Answer: The young seagull was afraid to fly. Even when he saw his parents, teaching and helping his brothers and sisters to fly, he still could not gather enough courage to make that first flight. That is why his father and mother were scolding and taunting him of his cowardice. They threatened to let him starve on the ledge if he did not fly. They did so because they wanted him to overpower his fear and take his first flight
Ques 4. What made the woman in the control centre look at the narrator strangely?
Ans: The woman in the control room was surprised and looked at him strangely when the narrator asked about the other aeroplane and its pilot. She said that no other aeroplane was seen on the radar during that time as the storm had already begun.
Ques 5. Who do you think helped the narrator to reach safely? Discuss this among yourselves and give reason for your answer.
Answer: Probably, it was the narrator’s own self that helped him through the storm. There was no other plane in the storm as the woman at the control centre could see only his plane on the radar. Also, no other plane was flying that night. In his fear, he might have been hallucinating. He was a good pilot, and it might have been his own self that came to his help.
Try to guess the meanings of the word ‘black’ in the sentences given below. Check the meanings in the dictionary and find out whether you have guessed right.
- Go and have a bath; your hands and face are absolutely black_______.
- The taxi-driver gave Ratan a black look as he crossed the road when the traffic light was green._____
- The bombardment of Hiroshima is one of the blackest crimes against humanity._____
- Very few people enjoy Harold pinter’s black comedy_____
- Sometimes shopkeepers store essential goods to create false scarcity and then sell these in black._____
- Villagers had beaten the criminal black and blue.____
Ans.
- The meaning of ‘black’ in this sentences is that the face and hands are dark with dust and heat.
- Here, ‘black’ refers to an angry look.
- Here, ‘blackest’ refers to the darkest and heinous crime against humanity.
- Here, ‘ black’ refers to dark and gloomy comedy.
- The meaning of ‘black’ in this sentence is that the shopkeepers sell these goods ‘at a higher price’.
- Here, ‘black’ means that the criminal was beaten badly by the villagers.
