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Question 1: His First Flight Thinking about the Text

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?

2. "The sight of the food maddened him." What does this suggest? What compelled the young seagull to finally fly?

3. "They were beckoning to him, calling shrilly." Why did the seagull's father and mother threaten him and cajole him to fly?

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.

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 1:

1. The young seagull was all alone on the ledge and afraid to fly because it was its first flight. Doing something for the first time is a challenging task in itself for anyone. Therefore, all young birds must be afraid to make their first flights the same way a human baby would finds it challenging to take its first step.

2.       The young seagull was very hungry. The hunger ultimately compelled the young seagull to make its first flight. He saw its mother tearing at a piece of fish that lay at her feet and its hunger only intensified. It cried to its mother, begging her to get some food. Whenever its mother came towards it with some food in her beak, the young seagull screamed with joy and anticipation, but she stopped midway. The young seagull wondered why she did not come nearer. Unable to resist or control its hunger any longer, it dived at the food in its mother’s beak. For that moment, his hunger ha d overpowered the fear of the great expanse of sea beneath the cliff. Finally, this plunge was followed by the natural reaction of its body, which was to fly.

3.       The young seagull was frightened. It was afraid to fly. Even though it saw its parents helping and teaching its brothers and sisters flying, it could never gather enough courage to make the first flight. This was the reason why its father and mother were calling to it shrilly and scolding it. They threatened to let it starve on its ledge if it did not fly. They did so because they wanted it to leave its fear behind and learn the art of flying.

4. One feels scared in learning any adventurous activity. It is because one has never come across such thing earlier. In learning one requires skill. During my childhood, I was much afraid to swim in the river. Though my elder brother tried to encourage me time and again. We both went to the river and he taught me how to move the legs and push the water through the hands by keeping mouth above the water level. In the beginning, I failed to do but gradually after day's practice I became perfect in it.

5. A bird flying is natural as well as taught to the young ones by their parents or their elder ones. So, one has to learn it through some of the properties which m ay breed in them naturally. Without any attempt and learning, nothing comes automatically. But it can be concluded that it should succeed. Our success was never guaranteed until to try again and again. In some cases, all results may not be favorable. But it is always essential to practice, try and put every efforts to get success.

Speaking

Question 1: We have just read about the first flight of a young seagull. Your teacher will now divide the class into groups. Each group will work on one of the following topics. Prepare a presentation with your group members and then present it to the entire class.

•        Progression of Models of Airplanes

•        Progression of Models of Motorcars

•        Birds and Their Wing Span

•        Migratory Birds -Tracing Their Flights

Answer 1:

This is an activity. So, do this under the guidance of your subject teacher.

Writing

Question 1: Write a short composition on your initial attempts at learning a skill. You could describe the challenges of learning to ride a bicycle or learning to swim. Make it as humorous as possible.

Answer 1:

Learning to ride a Bicycle

In every type of learning an art or skill is required. After learning traffic rule, we should enter into the process of learning a bicycle. Practice in balancing our body on bicycle and controlling the handle plays an important role. Last week I was learning to ride a cycle. All of a sudden, I was to fall because of misbalance of my body on cycle. My friend helped me and saved me from being hurt. I had proceeded ahead then I collided with an old man. He became angry but did not shout on me. Gradually, I got control in such a way that I had no chance of any collision. In this way I used my skills in learning to ride a bicycle.

Question 2: The Black Aero plane thinking about the Text

1.       "I'll take the risk." What is the risk? Why does the narrator take it?

2.       Describe the narrator's experience as he flew the aero plane into the storm.

3.       Why does the narrator say, "I landed and was not sorry to walk away from the old Dakota..."?

4.       What made the woman in the control center look at the narrator strangely?

5.       Who do you think helped the narrator to reach safely? Discuss this among yourselves and give reasons for your Answer.

Answer 2:

1.       The narrator was flying the old Dakota towards Paris. He saw storm clouds looking like black mountains. He knew he could not fly over them nor he had the fuel to fly around to north or south. The risk was to fly through the black storm clouds. The narrator took the risk because he wanted to reach Paris to celebrate Christmas with his family.

2.       As the narrator flew into the storm, everything went black. It became almost impossible to see anything outside the plane. The aero plane jumped and twisted in the air. When he looked at his compass, he couldn't believe what he saw. The compass was turning round and round. It was dead. Along with it, the other instruments, including the radio, were also dead. He saw another aero plane with no lights on its wings, but was flying through the storm. Its pilot waved at him, asking him to follow. He was glad to find help. It was the last fuel tank and there was only enough fuel to fly five or ten minutes. Then, the other pilot started to go down and he followed. He suddenly came out of the clouds and saw the runway, on which he then landed his plane safely.

3.       The pilot was delighted to land safely out of dark stormy black cloud, therefore, he was not sorry to walk away for his plane. He felt bad, when he was not able to thank his guide, his mentor who saved him from the frightening situation, but he was so happy after landing that he didn't feel sorry for not being able to thank the guide pilot.

4. The Women in control center was surprised when the narrator asked about the other aero plane and its pilot. She was surprised because she did not see any other aero plane on the radar.

5.       According to me, it was the narrator's own self that helped him through the storm. As the woman at the control center saw only his plane on the radar, there was no other plane in the storm. The narrator might have been hallucinating. He was a good pilot, and it might have been his own self that came to his help.

Thinking about Language

Question I: 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 aero plane.

(d)     The strange black aero plane was there.

The word 'black' in sentences (a) and (c) refers to the very darkest color. 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.

1. Go and have a bath; your hands and face are absolutely black.         _

2.       The taxi-driver gave Ratan a black look as he crossed the road when the traffic light was green.

3.       The boom barmen of Hiroshima is one of the blackest crimes against humanity.     _

4.       Very few people enjoy Harold Pinter's black comedy.      _

5.       Sometimes shopkeepers store essential goods to create false scarcity and then sell these in black.

6.       Villagers had beaten the criminal black and blue.

Answer me:

1.       The meaning of 'black' in this sentence is that the face and hands are dark with dust and heat.

2.       Here, 'black' refers to an angry look.

3.       Here, 'blackest' refers to the darkest, cruel and inhuman crime.

4.       Here, 'black' refers to dark and gloomy comedy.

5.       The meaning of 'black' in this sentence is that the shopkeepers sell the described goods 'at a higher price'.

6.       Here, 'black' means that the criminal suffered excessive beating at the hands of the villagers.

Question II: Look at these sentences taken from the lesson you have just read:

(a)     I was flying my old Dakota aero plane.

(b)     The young seagull h ad been afraid to fly with them.

In the first sentence the author was controlling an aircraft in the air. Another example is: Children are flying kites. In the second sentence the seagull was afraid to move through the air, usi ng its wings. Match the phrases given under Column A with their meanings given under Column B:

Question III: We know that the word 'fly' (of birds/insects) means to move through air using wings. Tick the words which have the same or nearly the same meaning.

Swoop        flit     paddle         flutter

Ascend        float  ride    skim

Sink  dart   hover glide

Descend stay        soar fall       shoot sail     spring flap

Answer III:

The words which have the same or nearly the same meaning as 'fly' are as follows:

>        Swoop

) -      Flit

>        Soar

>       Hover

>        Sail

>        Skim

>       Flap

>       Glide

>        Flutter

>        Spring

Writing

Question 1: Have you ever been alone or away from home during a thunderstorm? Narrate your experience in a paragraph.

Answer:

Experiencing a Thunderstorm

On the last Monday, I was going to school form my house. It is situated about 7 kilometers. All of a sudden there came a sand storm full of dust. Gradually it became too violent to move about. I decided to stay under the roof of Tiwari Academy (an education institute). Very soon it turned very fierce and took away many roofs of huts in the open. It became dark with dust and sand. Nothing was visible in that atmosphere. The storm was trying to blow away the people, standing in the open. Many trees were uprooted. After an hour, it receded but I did not find my bicycle. Later on, it was seen on a tree. Many of the people lost their things in that storm.

Thinking about the Poem

Question 1: Does 'dying' really rhyme with 1ion'? Can you say it in such a way that it does?

Answer 1:

Yes, 'dying' somehow rhyme with 'lion'. We can rhyme 'dying' properly with the words 'fine' or 'sign' etc.

Question 2: How does the poet suggest that you identify the lion and the tiger? When can you do so, according to him?

Answer 2:

The poet suggests that if a huge and yellowish-brown beast in the jungle in the east makes a move

Towards us, then it is an Asian lion. We can identify it when it roars at us while we are dying with terror. When we come across a wild beast that is yellow in color with black stripes, it is a Bengal tiger. We can identify it when it eats us.

Question 3: Do you think the words 'let' and 'lap' in the third stanza are spelt correctly? Why does the poet spell them like this?

Answer 3:

No, the words 'lept' and 'lep' are spelt incorrectly. The poet has spelled them like this so that he can keep the rhythm of the poem. When spelled this way, they rhym e with the first part of 'leopard', thus giving emphasis to 'leopard' in each line.

Question 4: Do you know what a 'bear hug' is? It's a friendly and strong hug -such as bears are thought to give, as they attack you! Again n, hyenas are thought to laugh, and crocodiles to weep ('crocodile tears') as they swallow their victims. Are there similar expressions and popular ideas about wild animals in your own language(s)?

Answer 4:

'A bear hug' pertains to an action which shows actual love by the core of its heart. It is always friendly. On the other hand a hyena and crocodile do not spare human beings. Hyenas never laugh. But their faces look like that. Crocodiles do not weep but tears come when they swallow their prey. In every language we get similar expressions and popular ideas about wild animals.

Question 5: Look at the line "A novice might nonplus". How would you write this 'correctly'? Why is the poet's 'incorrect' line better in the poem?

Answer 5:

The line "A novice might nonplus" can be correctly written as "A novice might be nonplussed". The poet's incorrect line is better in the poem as it keeps the rhyme scheme of the poem intact. By writing it incorrectly, 'nonplus' rhymes with 'thus'.

Question 6: Can you find other examples of poets taking liberties with language, either in English or in your own language(s)? Can you find examples of humorous poems in your own language(s)?

Answer 6:

Yes, many poets take such liberties to create proper rhyming. These are for example: Kirk is used for 'church' to rhyme with 'work'. Ken is used for 'see' to rhyme with 'pen'.

Question 7: Much of the humor in the poem arises from the way language is used, although the ideas are funny as well. If there are particular lines in the poem that you especially like, share these with the class, speaking briefly about what it is about the ideas or the language that you like or find funny.

Answer 7:

The following lines show humour in this poem:

>       A true chameleon is small.

>       He roars at you as you're dying.

>       Hyena comes with merry smiles.

>       Twill do no good to roar with pain.

Thinking about the Poem

Question  1: Why does the poet say, "I would not intrude on him"? Why doesn't he offer him money to buy another ball?

Answer 1:

The poet wants the boy to understand the loss. He wants him to learn that it is a part of life. That's why the poet doesn't want to get in the way of the boy and doesn't want to offer him money to buy another ball.

Question  2: "…staring down/All his young days into the harbor where/ His ball went ..." Do you think the boy has had the ball for a long time? Is it linked to the memories of days when he played with it?

Answer 2:

Yes, I t looks like the boy had the ball with him from a long time. When it bounced into the water, all

His reminiscences of the childhood days flashed in front of him. This led to an understanding that those moments would not come back now, just like the ball. He can buy new balls and can likewise create new moments, but those which have gone would not return now.

Question 3:

What does "in the world of possessions" mean?

Answer 3:

In the world of possessions' means people like to own all type of things in the world. Money is external because it can buy only materialistic objects; it cannot buy memories or anything that one loses and never gets them back.

Question 4: Do you think the boy has lost anything earlier? Pick out the words that suggest the Answer.

Answer 4: The poem indicates that the boy has lost something earlier. He is much troubled now. The following words indicate the same:

>       The epistemology of loss, how to understand.

) -      No use to say, 'O! There are other balls.'

Question 5: What does the poet say the boy is learning from the loss of the ball? Try to explain this in your own words.

Answer 5:

The poet says that the boy is learning to cope up with the loss of the ball. He is going through grief but still learning to grow up in this world of assets. He learns that there are so many things in life that are to be lost forever and cannot be brought t back. It is useless to feel distressed for them.

Question 6: Have you ever lost something you liked very much? Write a paragraph describing how you felt then, and saying whether -and how -you got over your loss.

Answer 6:

Grieving over the lost a pen

It is the time when I was studying in class V. My father was a teacher in the same school. I was awarded for the best Performa nice in Math’s Olympiad conducted by Tiwari Academy. I got a prize of 1000 and a golden pen set. I liked that pen very much. One day, while leaving for the house from the school, I bought t some eatables from the shop. The shopkeeper gave me so many items that I put in my bag. During the sharing of items with our friends, somewhere I lost my lovely pen. I could not contain myself and a river of tears started rolling from my eyes. I hesitate tingly uttered ...pen. One of my best friends understand the loss of the pen since it had a great value for me.

Immediacy tell my m other showered me deep affection and promised me to prove a similar pen. I got relief and felt happiness.

Chapter 3: Two Stories about Flying

Part - I

The story "His First Flight" by "Liam O' Flaherty" is about a young seagull .The seagull is afraid to fly. All his younger siblings regardless of their much shorter wings fly courageously while he is unable to gather the guts to fly and have faith in his own wings. The young seagull became sad on seeing his parents making his younger siblings perfect in the art of flying. His parents rebuke and tease him for not even trying. They even call him a "coward" and force him to at least try. They also pressurize him and tell him that they will leave him alone and starving if he does not learn how to fly. Next day, he is even left in isolation and on feeling hungry; he tries to look for the attention of his family members. Only the mother, who is withering a fish trying to eat it, notices his son. The young seagull starts crying out of hunger hoping his mother would help him. When his mother came near him with the fish, he got thrilled. But when his mother stopped in between, he got enraged out of hunger and took a jump at the fish, forgetting that he is afraid of flying. Finally, he took his first flight. All the family members celebrated his victory by encouraging him and dancing around him. He also attempted floating in the sea that he was once afraid of. Thus, he could overcome his fright and realize that it is all in the mind.

Part - II

The story "Black Aero plane" is about a pilot who is glad and contended flying over a city that is sleeping (at the night time). He is flying from Paris to London. While taking his flight, he dreams about a long vacation with his family. He also fantasizes about the delectable breakfast he would have on landing. When he crosses Paris, he notices the dark clouds which were a sign of an upcoming storm. The right decision was to turn back to Paris to be safe. But as he was taken away by his dreams and did not want to delay achieving them, he risked the life of his passengers and headed directly into the storm. Everything got dark, he was unable to see anything, all his direction instruments stopped working and he lost control of the plane. When all the hopes were lost, he saw another plane whose pilot was keen to rescue them. The author was panicking as there was very less fuel left. The unidentified pilot guided them and took them out of the storm and vanished as soon as they saw light. Upon landing, when he asked the lady in the control room about the other pilot, he got a shock of his life when she says that there was no other plane in the sky except for the one he was flying. It was actually the author's own self that helped him through the storm He was a good pilot, and it might have been his own self that came to his help.

Chapter 3: Poem 1: How to tell wild Animals

The poet is describing the different wild animals that are very dangerous. She has introduced them in a very funny way. First of all she tells us about an Asian lion. She says that if you are visiting the jungles of the east and there you see an animal with yellowish-brown skin and he roars so vociferousl y that you will die out of fear. This means that you have seen an Asian lion. Next in the line is the Bengal tiger, a royal animal that at once attacks and kills a man. She adds wittiness that if this attractive black striped animal kills you and eats you, then you have definitely met a Bengal tiger. Then she says that if the reader meets an animal that has black spotted skin and it at once jumps on him, then he has met a leopard. Moreover, she says that even if you will cry out in pain, it will be of no use as the leopard will not stop attacking you.

Then she describes a bear and says that it will hug you very tightly and that this is the way to recognize a bear as it kills a person by hugging him very tightly. She asks a Question to the readers that do they know how to be acquainted with beasts that hunt their prey and explains about hyenas have a smiling face and the crocodiles have tears in their eyes. This can be seen when they are killing their prey. The last one in the list is the Chameleon which is a lizard - like creature and doesn't have ears and wings. It has the quality of changing its color according to the surface. She explains that if the reader looks at the tree and if he can only see the tree, this means that there is a chameleon sitting on it which has to rend its color to brown just like the branches of the tree.

Chapter 3: Poem 2: The Ball Poem

The poet is talking about a little boy who has lost his ball while playing with his ball. The ball skipped from his hand and went into the close by water body. The poet is describing this sight of the boy losing his favourite ball made him think about the boy and his reaction in such a situation. The boy was vulnerably looking into the water body where his ball had gone. He was gloomy and was shaking with fear. He got so engrossed in sorrow that he kept standing near the harbour for a very long time and kept on looking for his ball. The poet wanted to comfort him by saying that he will get new balls or would give him some money to buy another ball. But he stopped himself from doing so because he thought that money may bring a new ball but will not bring the reminiscences and feelings attached to the lost ball. He further says that the time has come for the boy to learn his errands. The poet wants to say that now the boy will learn the toughest lesson of life, of accepting the cruel realities of life that one day we might lose our loved ones and our loved things.