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THINKING ABOUT THE TEXT

Q1. Why was the young seagull afraid to fly? Do you think all young birds are afraid to make thier first flight, or are some birds more timid than others? Do you think a human baby also finds it a challange to take its first steps?

Answer:. The young seagull was afraid to fly because he thought that his wings would not support him. Yes, all young birds are afraid to make thier first flight. This is besause it is a new experince for them. Some birds might be more timid than others. However, it depends on invidual also. For example, the young seagull could not muster up courage to fly wheareas his two brothers and sister flew away from the ledge. A human baby certainly finds it a challenge to take its first steps.

Q2."The sight of the food maddened him." what does this suggest? what compelled the young seagull to finally flly?

Answer: The young seagull was very hungry. It was this hunger that ultimately compelled it to fly. Its hunger only 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 control its 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.

Q3. “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 it saw its brothers and sisters flying, and its parents helping and teaching them, it could not gather enough courage to make that first flight. That is 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 to fly.
 

THE BLACK AEROPLANE

Q1. i"ll take the risk. "What is the risk? Why does the narrator take it?

Answer: The risk was to fly trhrough the black strom clouds. The narrator took the risk because he wanted to reach Paris to celebrate Christmas with his family.

Q2. Describe the narrator's exeperince as he flew the aeroplane into the strom.

Answer: As he flew into the strom, everthing went black. It was impossible to see anything outside the plane. It jumped and twisted in the air, he saw that it was at dead. Along with it, the other instruments, including the radio, were also dead. Suddenly, he saw another aeroplane. Its pilot waved at him, asking him to follow. He was glad to find a helper. He was using his last fuel tank and there was only enough fuel to 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 safety. 

Q3 why does the narrator say, “I landed and was not sorry to walk away from the old Dakota…….”?

Answer: The women in the control room were surprised when the narrator asked about the other aeroplane and its pilot. She said that there was no aeroplane seen on the radar.

Q4 what made the woman in the control centre look at the narrator strangely?

Answer: The women in the control room was surprised when the narrator asked about the other aeroplane and its pilot. She said that there was no aeroplane seen on the radar.

Q5. Who do you think helped the narrator to reach to safety? Discuss this among yourselves and give reasons 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.  

Thinking About The Language

Q1. 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 bombardment 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.

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 and cruellest crime against humanity.
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.

 

 

	A		B
1.	Fly a flag	−	Move quickly/suddenly
2.	Fly into rage	−	Be successful
3.	Fly along	−	Display a flag on a long pole
4.	Fly high	−	Escape from a place
5.	Fly the coop	−	Become suddenly very angry

 

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	A		B
1.	Fly a flag	−	Display a flag on a long pole
2.	Fly into rage	−	Become suddenly very angry
3.	Fly along	−	Move quickly/suddenly
4.	Fly high	−	Be successful
5.	Fly the coop	−	Escape from a place

 

1. 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	soar	shoot	spring
stay	fall	sail	Flap

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  The words which have the same or nearly the same meaning as ‘fly’ are as follows:
  swoop, flit, float, dart, soar, hover, sail skim, glide, flutter