Nelson Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

Long Walk to Freedom is an autobiography written by South African

President Nelson Mandela, and first published in 1994 by Little Brown &
Co.[1] The book profiles his early life, coming of age, education and 27
years in prison. Under the apartheid government, Mandela was regarded
as a terrorist and jailed on the infamous Robben Island for his role as a
leader of the then-outlawed African National Congress (ANC).
Nelson Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

Extract Based Questions

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.
(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.
(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

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?
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?
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?
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

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’.

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.

Two Stories about Flying

Extract Based Questions

Story I His First Flight

Read the following extracts carefully and answers the questions that follow.
Question 1.
The young seagull was alone on his ledge. His two brothers and his sister had
already flown away the day before. He had been afraid to fly with them. Somehow
when he had taken a little run forward to the brink of the ledge and attempted to
flap his wings he became afraid. The great expanse of sea stretched down beneath,
and it was such a long way down miles down. He felt certain that his wings would
never support him; so he bent his head and ran away back to the little hole under
the ledge where he slept at night.
(a) Why was the young seagull afraid?
(b) What did the young seagull feel about his wings?
(c) Pick out the word from the passage that means the same as ‘the verge’.
(d) Pick out the word from the passage which means ‘a narrow flat piece of rock
that sticks out from a cliff’.
Answer:
(a) The young seagull was afraid of flying over the sea.
(b) The young seagull felt that his wings would never support him.
(c) The word is ‘brink’.
(d) The word is ‘ledge’.

Question 2.
That was twenty-four hours ago. Since then nobody had come near him. The day
before, all day long, he had watched his parents flying about with his brothers and
sister, perfecting them in the art of flight, teaching them how to skim the waves
and how to dive for fish. He had in fact, seen his elder brother catch his first
herring and devour it, standing on a rock, while his parents circled around raising a
proud cackle. And all the morning the whole family had walked about on the big
plateau midway down the opposite cliff taunting him for his cowardice.
(a) The young seagull had been alone for how much time?
(b) Why was the whole family taunting the young seagull?
(c) Find the word which can be replaced by ‘consume’ in the passage?
(d) The word ‘bravery’ is an antonym of ……….

Answer:
(a) For twenty four years, the young seagull was alone.
(b) The whole family was taunting the young seagull for his cowardice.
(c) The word is ‘devour’.
(d) The word is ‘cowardice’.

Question 3.
He stepped slowly out to the brink of the ledge, and standing on one leg with the
other leg hidden under his wing, he closed one eye, then the other, and pretended
to be falling asleep. Still they took no notice of him. He saw his two brothers and
his sister lying on the plateau dozing with their heads sunk into their necks. His
father was preening the feathers on his white back.
Only his mother was looking at him. She was standing on a little high hump on the
plateau, her white breast thrust forward.
Now and again, she tore at a piece of fish that lay at her feet and then scrapped
each side of her beak on the rock.
(a) What did the young seagull do out of his ledge?
(b) What was seagull’s father doing?
(c) Find out the word in the passage which mean the same as ‘to sharpen’.
(d) What does plateau mean?

Answer:
(a) The young seagull pretended to be falling asleep and watched his brothers and
sister lying on the plateau.
(b) The seagull’s father was preening the feathers on his white back.
(c) The word is ‘preening’.
(d) A plateau is an area of land that is higher than the land around it.
Question 4.
Then a monstrous terror seized him and his heart stood still. He could hear nothing.
But it only lasted a minute. The next moment he felt his wings spread outwards.
The wind rushed against his breast feathers, then under his stomach, and against
his wings. – He could feel the tips of his wings cutting through the air. He was not
falling headlong now. He was soaring gradually downwards arid outwards, He was
no longer afraid.
He just felt a bit dizzy. Then he flapped his wings once and he soared upwards.
“Ga, ga, ga, Ga, ga, ga, Gaw-col-ah,” his mother swooped past him, her wings
making a loud noise. He answered her with another scream. Then his father flew
over him screaming. He saw his two brothers and his sister flying around him
curving and banking and soaring and diving.
(a) What did the young seagull feel the next moment?
(b) What did the young seagull’s mother do?
(c) Find out the word from the passage that means the same as ‘fly high in the air’.
(d) Find out from the passage a word that means ‘to grab’.

Answer:
(a) The next moment young seagull felt his wings spread outwards.
(b) The young seagull’s mother swooped past him and made a loud noise with her
wings.
(c) The word is ‘soaring’.
(d) The word in ‘seized’.

Question 5.
His parents and his brothers and sister had landed on this green flooring ahead of
him. They were beckoning to him, calling shrilly. He dropped his legs to stand on
the green sea. His legs sank into it. He screamed with fright and attempted to rise
again flapping his wings. But he was tired and weak with hunger and he could not
rise, exhausted by the strange exercise. His feet sank into the green sea, and then
his belly touched it and he sank no farther. He was floating on it, and around him
his family was screaming, praising him and their beaks were offering him scraps of
dog-fish.
(a) What does the phrase, ‘this green flooring’ refer to?
(b) What made the young seagull tired?
(c) Find out the word that means the same as ‘inviting’.
(d) The word ……… means a small piece/amount of something.

Answer:
(a) ‘The green flooring’ refers to the green surface of the sea.
(b) The young seagull was tired because he was weak with hunger and he made a
successful attempt for his first flight.
(c) Beckoning.
(d) Scrap.

Answer the following questions in short:

Question 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 step?
Answer:
The young seagull was afraid to fly because it was his first flight and he
feared of falling and hurting himself. He thought that his wings would not
support him while flying. Yes, it is natural that doing something for the first
time is a bit challenging and fearful. All birds must be afraid to make their
first flight.
Similarly, a human baby is also afraid of taking the first step and find it
challenging when he learns to crawl or stand up without support.’

Question 2.
“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 it to fly. Its hunger intensified when it saw its mother tearing at a
piece of fish that lay at her feet. It cried to her, begging her to get some
food. When its mother came towards it with food in her beak, it screamed
with joy and anticipation. However, she stopped midway. It wondered why
she did not come nearer. Not being able to resist or controfits hunger any
longer, it dived at the food in its mother’s 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 natural reaction of its body, i.e. to fly.
Question 3.
They were beckoning to him, calling shrilly.” Why did the seagull’s father
and mother threaten him and cajole him to fly?
Answer:
Seagull’s parents had tried everything but he was reluctant to fly due to fear
of falling down. He looked at his brothers and sister but wouldn’t make any
efforts. Thats why the whole family had left him alone and threatened and
cojoled him to come but every effort went in vain.

Question 4.
Have you ever had a similar experience, where your parents encouraged
you to do something that you were too scared to try? Discuss this in pairs
or groups.
Answer:
(Suggested Answer) Yes, I had a similar experience while leaning to ride a
bicycle in class VI. In my initial attempts, I fell down everytime and
developed a fear of cycling which was difficult to overcome.
No amount of provoking and cajoling could let me try it again, but my father
encouraged me to overcome the fear and helped me as he was adamant
on my learning cycling. He took me on a mound near village and made me
sit and asked me to put my hands on the handle and feet on the paddle. It
sped down and I enjoyed it without fear which developed my confidence.
Thus, I overcame my fear of cycling and started riding a cycle after a few
practice

Question 5.
In the case of a bird flying, it seems a natural act, and a foregone
conclusion that it should succeed. In the examples you have given in
Answer to the previous question, was your success guaranteed, or was it
important for you to try, regardless of a possibility of failure?
Answer:
We face some problems in the initial stage while learning new skill. Due to
the fear of failure, we hesitate to perform a task or to do something new. In
case of the seagull his parents cajoled him to fly. In the example I have
given in the answer of previous question, I was cajoled by my father to
learn cycling. So, at that stage, I was to learn cycling as it was very
important for me to overcome my fear.
Yes, my success was guaranteed because if someone is determined to do
something then success is assured. Moreover as said, practice, makes a
man perfect.

II. The Black Aeroplane

Thinking about the Text

(Page 40)

Question 1.
“I’ll take the risk”. What is the risk? Why does the narrator take it?
Answer:
A huge storm was brewing up and the author was
keen to reach his home to spend his holiday with his family. So, he decided
to fly through the storm as he did not want to miss the chance to meet his
family at breakfast. Thus he took the risk even when the visibility was
almost zero in the storm.

Question 2.
Describe the narrator’s experience as he flew the aeroplane into the storm.
Answer:
As the pilot (author) entered the storm, his plane started jumping and
twisting. He could not see anything outside the plane as it was black. When
he looked at compass and other instruments they had stopped to function
due to storm. It was a terrible and fearsome experience for him. The fuel
tank was almost empty and he could not fly more than ten minutes. Then
he saw another black aeroplane by his side and the pilot of the plane
signalled him to follow. It was a surprise for the narrator as the other black
plane was having no light. He followed him without any choice and landed
safely on the runway.

Question 3.
Why does the narrator say, “I landed and was not sorry to walk away from
the old Dakota…”?
Answer:
Seagull’s parents had tried everything but he was reluctant to fly due to fear
of falling down. He looked at his brothers and sister but wouldn’t make any
efforts. Thats why the whole family had left him alone and threatened and
cojoled him to come but every effort went in vain.
Question 4.
What made the woman in the Control Centre look at the narrator strangely?
Answer:
The woman in the Control Centre looked at the
narrator strangely because the narrator asked him about the black
aeroplane and she saw no one except the narrator’s in the sky during the
storm. Even the radar showed only the narrator’s plane that night in the
sky.

Question 5.
Who do you think helped the narrator to reach safely? Discuss this among
yourselves and give reasons for your answer.
Answer:
It is very difficult to say about the unknown pilot who helped the narrator.
But probably it was the narrator himself that helped him to overcome the
fear in the storm as no other plane was seen in the radar except the
narrator’s Dakota plane. In that fearsome situation, he might have been
hallucinating. He himself was a good pilot and brave enough who helped
himself land safely.

Thinking about Language

(Page 40)

Question 1.
Study the sentences given below.
(a) They looked like black mountains.
(b) Inside the clouds, everything was suddenly black.
(c) In the black clouds near me, I saw another aeroplane.
(d) The strange black aeroplane was there.
The word ‘black’ in sentences (a) and (c) refers to the very darkest colour.
But in (b) and (d) (here) it means without light/with no light.
‘Black’ has a variety of meanings in different contexts. For example:
(a) ‘I prefer black tea’ means ‘I prefer tea without milk’.
(b) ‘With increasing pollution the future of the world is black’ means With
increasing pollution the future of the world is very depressing/without hope’.
Now, 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.