Nelson Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom Extra

Questions and Answers Class 10 English First Flight

Extract Based Questions [3 Marks each]

Read the following extracts carefully and answer the questions that follow.

Question 1.
10th May dawned bright and clear. For the past few days 1 had been pleasantly
besieged by dignitaries and world leaders who were coming to pay their respects
before the inauguration. The inauguration would be the largest gathering ever of
international leaders on South African soil. The ceremonies took place in the
lovely sandstone amphitheater formed by the Union Buildings in Pretoria. For
decades this had been the seat of white supremacy, and now it was the site of a
rainbow gathering of different colours and nations for the installation of South
Africa’s first democratic, non-racial government. [CBSE2015]
(a) Who were coming and for what before the inauguration?
(b) What happened on the inauguration?
(c) Find out the word that means the same ‘commencement’ from the passage.
(d) Find the word from the passage which means ‘an open space surround by
sloping land’.

Answer:
(a) Dignitaries and world leaders were coming to pay their respects before the
inauguration.
(b) On the inauguration the first ever democracy, a non-racial government was
installed as a victory of good or evil.
(c) The word is ‘inauguration’.
(d) The word is ‘ampitheater’.
Question 2.
On that lovely autumn day I was accompanied by my daughter Zenani. On the
podium, Mr de Klerk was first sworn in as second Deputy President. Then Thabo
Mbeki was sworn in as first Deputy President. When it was my turn, I pledged to
obey and uphold the Constitution and to devote myself to the well-being of the
republic and its people.
(a) Who accompanied Nelson Mandela on the inauguration?
(b) Who took the oath before Mandela? For what?
(c) Find out the word from the passage that has the same meaning as ‘maintain’.
(d) ……. means a small platform that a person stands on when giving a speech etc.
Answer:
(a) Zenani, the daughter of Nelson Mandela accompanied him on the
inauguration.
(b) Mr Deklerk and Mr Thabo Mbeki took oath before Nelson Mandela as the
second and first deputy president respectively.
(c) The word is ‘uphold’.
(d) The word is ‘podium’.

Question 3.
We, who were outlaws not so long ago, have today been given the rare privilege
to be host to the nations of the world on our own soil.
We thank all of our distinguished international guests for having come to take
possession with the people of our country of what is after all a common victory
for justice, for peace, for human dignity.
We have, at last, achieved our political emancipation. We pledge ourselves to
liberate all our people from the continuing bondage of poverty, deprivation,
suffering, gender and other discrimination.
(a) What does ‘we’ refer in the first line of the passage?
(b) What did the people of South Africa achieve at last?
(c) The word ‘bondage’ means …… in the passage.
(d) Give a synonym of ’emancipation’.

Answer:
(a) ‘We’ refers to the people of South Africa in the first line of the jpassage.
(b) The people of South Africa achieved their political emancipation at last.
(c) The word bondage means slavery in the passage.
(d) ‘Freedom/liberation’ is a synonym of emancipation.
Question 4.
A few moments later we all lifted our eyes in awe as a spectacular array of South
African jets, helicopters and troop carriers roared in perfect formation over the
Union Buildings.
It was not only a display of pinpoint precision and military force, but a
demonstration of military’s loyalty to democracy, to a new
government that had been freely and fairly elected. Only moments before, the
highest generals of South African defence force and police, their chests bedecked
with ribbons and medals from days gone by, saluted me and pledged their
loyalty. I was not unmindful of the fact that not so many years before they would
not have saluted but arrested me. Finally a chevron of Impala jets left a smoke
Trail of the black, red, green, blue and gold of the new South African flag.
(a) What did the highest generals do in the event?
(b) What did the smoke trail of Impala symbolise?
(c) Pick out the word from the passage that means the same as adorned.
(d) is a line or pattern in the shape of ‘V’ signifying victory.
Answer:
(a) The highest generals of defence and police saluted Mandela and pledged
their loyalty to him.
(b) The smoke trail of Impala symbolised the new national flag of South Africa.
(c) The word is ‘bedecked’.
(d) Chevron.

Question 5.
On the day of the inauguration, I was overwhelmed with a sense of history. In the
first decade of the 20th century, a few years after the bitter Anglo-Boer war and
before my own birth, the white-skinned people’s of South Africa patched up their
differences and created a system of racial domination against the dark-skinned
people of their own land. The structure they created formed the basis of one of
the harshest, most inhumane societies the world has ever known. Now, in the last
decade of the 20th centuryrand my own eighth decade as a man, that system had
been overturned for ever and replaced by one that recognised the rights and
freedoms of all peoples, regardless of the colour of their skin. That day had come
about through the unimaginable sacrifices of thousands of my people, people
whose suffering and courage can never be counted or repaid.
(a) What happened after Anglo-Boer war?
(b) On what basis the structure of new government created?
(c) Pick the word in the passage which has the same meaning as ‘submerged’.
(d) What is the meaning of the phrase ‘to patch up the differences’?

Answer:
(a) After Anglo-Boer war, the white people of South Africa erected a system of
racial discrimination against the black people of their own land.
(b) New government was created as the recognition of the rights and freedoms
of all peoples regardless of the colour of their skin.
(c) The word is ‘overwhelmed’.
(d) The meaning is ‘to settle some dispute’.

Question 6.
The policy of apartheid created a deep and lasting wound in my country and my
people. All of us will spend many years, if not generations, recovering from that
profound hurt. But the decades of oppression and brutality had another,
unintended, effect, ‘ and that was that it produced the Oliver Tambos, the Walter
Sisulus, the Chief Luthulis, the Yusuf Dadoos, the Bram Fischers, the Robert
Sobukwes of our time-men of such extraordinary courage, wisdom and
generosity that their like may never be known again. Perhaps it reguires such
depths of oppression to create such heights of character. My country is rich in the
minerals and gems that lie beneath its soil, but I have always known that its
greatest wealth is its people, finer and truer than the purest diamonds.
(a) What did the policy of apartheid create?
(b) According to Mandela, what is the greatest wealth?
(c) Find out the word in the passage which means ‘large-heartedness.’
(d) Pick out the word from the passage which means to treat
somebody/something cruelly and unfairly.

Answer:
(a) The policy of apartheid created a deep and lasting wound in the country and
its people.
(b) According to Mandela the people of his nation are the greatest wealth, not
the gems or minerals.
(c) The word is ‘generosity’.
(d) The word is ‘to oppress’.

Question 7.
“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The
brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear. No
one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin or his
background or his religion. People must learn to hate and if they can learn to
hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human
heart than its opposite. Even in the grimmest times in prison, when my comrades
and I were pushed to our limits, I would see a glimmer of humanity in one of the
guards, – perhaps just for a second, but it was enough to reassure me and keep
me going. Man’s goodness is a flame that can be hidden but never extinguished.”
(a) How does Mandela define the brave?
(b) Which was the grimmest time for Mandela?
(c) Find a word similar in meaning to ‘victory’.
(d) Explain Man’s goodness is flame that can be hidden but never extinguished.
Answer:
(a) Mandela defines the brave as the one who has the courage to conquer fear.
(b) When Mandela and his comrades were pushed to their limit behind the bars,
it was the grimmest time for him.
(c) The word is ‘triumph’.
(d) It means goodness flows through the human heart constantly: under
compulsion, the shadow of selfishness may stop it for a while but it can never be
altogether removed.

Question 8.
In life, every man has twin obligations- obligations to his family, to his parents, to
his wife and children; and he has an obligation to his people, his community, his
country. In a civil and humane society, each man is able to fulfil those obligations
according to his own inclinations and abilities. But in a country like South Africa, it
was almost impossible for a man of my birth and colour to fulfil both of those
obligations. In South Africa, a man of colour who attempted to live as a human
being was punished and isolated. [CBSE 2014 ]
(a) What are the obligations that every man has in life?
(b) Why was it impossible for a coloured man to discharge his obligations?
(c) Find the word in the passage which has same meaning as ‘duty’.
(d) A word synonymous with intentions’ is ……… in the passage.
Answer:
(a) Every man has two obligations one is to his family and second to his
community and country.
(b) In South Africa if a coloured man tried to fulfil his obligations, he was
punished and isolated.
(c) The word is.‘obligation’.
(d) Inclinations.

Question 9.
“I was not born with a hunger to be free. I was born free — free in every way that
I could know. Free to run in the fields near my mother’s hut, free to swim in the
clear stream that ran through my village, free to roast mealies under the stars and
ride the broad backs of slow-moving bulls. As long as I obeyed my father and
abided by the customs of my tribe, I was not troubled by the laws of man or God.
It was only when I began to learn that my boyhood freedom was an illusion,
when I discovered as a young man that my freedom had already been taken from
me, that I began to hunger for it. At first, as a student, I wanted freedom only for
myself, the transitory freedoms of being able to stay out at night, read what I
pleased and go where I chose. Later, as a. young man in Johannesburg, I yearned
for the basic and honourable freedoms of achieving my potential, of earning my
keep, of marrying and having a family—the freedom not to be obstructed in a
lawful life.”
(a) In what ways was Mandela free?
(b) What kind of freedom did Mandela yearn for as a man?
(c) Give the meaning of the word ‘illusion’?
(d) What do you mean by ‘transitory’.

Answer:
(a) Mandela was free to run in the fields, free to swim in the stream, free to roast
mealies and ride the backs of slow moving bulls.
(b) Mandela yearned for the basic and honourable freedoms of achieving his
potential of earning his life, of marrying and having a family.
(c) Something which appears to be real but isn’t actually so.
(d) Transitory means ‘momentary or impermanent’

Question 10.
“But then I slowly saw that not only was I not free, but my brothers and sisters
were not free.
I saw that it was not just my freedom that was curtailed, but the freedom of
everyone who looked like I did. That is when I joined the African National
Congress and that is when the hunger for my own freedom became the greater
hunger for the freedom of my people.
It was this desire for the freedom of my people to live their lives with dignity and
self-respect that animated my life, that transformed a frightened young man into
a bold one, that drove a law-abiding attorney to become a criminal, that turned a
family-loving husband into a man without a home, that forced a life-loving man
to live like a monk. I am no more virtuous or self-sacrificing than the next man,
but I found that I could not even enjoy the poof and limited freedoms I was
allowed when I knew my people were not free. Freedom is indivisible; the chains
on anyone of my people were the chains on all of them, the chains on all of my
people were the chains on me.”
(a) Why did Mandela join the African National Congress?
(b) Why did Mandela say that freedom was indivisible?
(c) Find out the word in the passage with the same meaning ‘worthy’.
(d) Which word of English can replace the word ‘animated’ given is the passage
without altering its sense.
Answer:
(a) Mandela joined the african national congress because he wanted to fight for
the freedom of his people.
(b) Mandela knew that freedom is indivisible because the chains on anyone of his
people were chains on all of them.
(c) the word is ‘virtuous’.
(d) the word is compelled/forced.

Short Answer Type Questions [2 Marks each]

Question 1.
What promise does Mandela make in the beginning of opening of his oath-
taking speech?
Answer:
Mandela thanks all the international leaders and guests as he calls it an occasion
of joy and victory for Justice. He promises that the country shall not again
experience the oppression of one by another.

Question 2.
What freedom meant to Mandela in childhood? [CBSE 2015]
Answer:
During childhood the meaning of freedom for Mandela was quite limited he
considered it to be free to run in the fields, to swim in the clear stream, free to
roast mealies and ride the board backs of slow moving bulls.
Question 3.
Why did inauguration ceremony take place in the amphiteatre formed by the
Union Building in Pretoria?
Answer:
It was the first democratic, non-racial government taking oath in South Africa.
The ceremony was attended by dignitaries from more than 140 countries around
the world and thousands of the people of South Africa of all the races to make
the day memorable. So, it took place in, the amphiteatre formed by the Union
Building in Pretoria.

Question 4.
What are the ideals which Mandela set for the future of South Africa in his
swearing- in ceremony?
Answer:
Mandela emphasised to liberate all the people from poverty, deprivation,
suffering, gender and other discriminations in his swearing-in ceremony.

Question 5.
What did Mandela think for oppressor and oppressed? [CBSE 2011]
Answer:
Mandela always thought that both oppressor and oppressed are deprived of their
humanity. Oppressor is a prisoner of hatred while oppressed has no confidence in
humanity so both of them need to be liberated.

Question 6.
What do you understand by Apartheid’?
Answer:
‘Apartheid’ is a political system that divides people according to their race. In this
system black-coloured people in South Africa were not free even to discharge
their personal and social obligations of being parents, sons and husbands, etc.

Question 7.
Describe the effect of the policy of apartheid on the people of South Africa.
Answer:
The policy of apartheid could not be considered fortunate for the people of
South Africa. It created distance and a deep wound in the country and the
people. Many great men like Oliver Tambo, Walttr Sisulu, Yusuf Dadoo, Bram
Fischer, etc were produced due to the brutality and oppression. They were men
of great character

Question 8.
How is courage related to the brave man according to the author of the lesson?
Answer:
The author believes that courage is not the absence of fear, but it is the triumph
over it. The brave man is not the one who does not feel fear of any kind but he is
the one who has the courage to conquer it.

Question 9.
Could everyone fulfil the obligations personal or social in South Africa?
Answer:
No, everyone was not free to fulfil their obligations because of colour of the skin.
If a persoti tried to fulfil their obligations, they were punished and isolated for
being a rebellion.

Question 10.
What did Mandela realise about his brothers and sisters? [CBSE 2012]
Answer:
Mandela realised that his brothers and sisters were not free in their own country
due to their colour. The freedom of everyone in his society was curtailed. He
joined the African National Congress and fought for the freedom.

Question 11.
Why was Nelson Mandela changed into a bold man?
Answer:
Nelson Mandela was changed into a bold man due to his . desire of the freedom
for his country and his countrymen. He wanted to live a life with dignity as he
could not enjoy the limited freedom.

Long Answer (Value Based) Type Questions [8 Marks each]

Question 1.
What does Nelson Mandela refer to as “an extraordinary human disaster”?
Answer:
Nelson Mandela refers to the apartheid policy of the white race against the black
people as “an extraordinary human disaster”. White people snatched freedom
from the coloured people of South Africa to whom the country belonged. The
black people were subjected to oppression for long. They were not even allowed
to discharge their obligations to their own families, community and their country.
White people had no compassion for them and oppressed their own people and
put them in prison. If they had some freedom, it was curtailed. The black people
lived the life of a slave.

Question 2.
Describe the views of Mandela for the black people who fought and sacrificed
their likes for the country’s political independence?
Answer:
Mandela always said that the political freedom was the result of sacrifices of
thousands of the black people who fought for that. He said that it could not be
repaid. He thought himself as the sum of all of those African patriots. He
regretted that he could not thank them. He cursed the policy of apartheid that
wounded the people of his country, which would take centuries to heal.
He also said that the oppression and brutality of the white people produced
great freedom fighters like Oliver Tambo, Walter Sisulu, Luthuli, Dadoo, Fischer,
Sobukwe and many more. They were the men of courage, wisdom and large
heartedness. They really suffered a lot for the political freedom of the country.

Question 3.
What does Mandela mean to say that the oppressor and the oppressed alike are
robbed of their humanity?
Answer:
Mandela is right in saying that the oppressor and the oppressed alike are robbed
of their humanity. Both of them are actually the victim of hatred. Everyone is
obliged to discharge their duties whether personal or social but without freedom
a man cannot do so. The person who snatches this freedom of a man is really an
oppressor and a prisoner of hatred. He has lack of humanity. But this is the same
with a person who is oppressed by other.

Question 4.
Describe the obligations which the author is talking about and also describe his
feelings for them?
Answer:
In the chapter the author has talked about two obligation for every man. The first
obligation is towards his family, parents, his wife and children. The second is
towards his community and his country. Being a social person one has to fulfil
these obligations.
But being a black coloured person in South Africa, a man was not free to perform
his obligations and got punished if he tried to do that.
Being a child the author never thought of such obligations but after he did so, he
fought for the people and the country to be free and enjoy their freedom of
performing their duties personal and social.

Question 5.
Describe the value of freedom for the human beings and how it is important for
the growth of civilisation and humanism as described in the lesson ‘Nelson
Mandela : Long Walk to Freedom’. [CBSE2014]

Answer:
Everybody whether human or other creatures wants to live free as freedom is
natural to all living beings. The value of freedom is better known to that human
being who has not tasted it till he gets it. A person who is chained with the limits
and not allowed to perform his duties freely, values freedom more than anyone
else. For instance the value of freedom is known better to Mandela who remained
behind the bars most of his life. Think about a bird or animal which is caged as
they have the habit of living with full freedom but in the cage they are not free
and their conditions are very pitiable. Similarly, life becomes a hell if we are
deprived of freedom. There is no growth of civilisation as it grows only when one
has freedom. Similarly, humanism grows in the atmosphere of freedom.