Chapter 7. A Visit to Cambridge

Working with the text

Answer the following questions.

Q1. (i) Did the prospect of meeting Stephen Hawking make the writer nervous? If so, why?

Ans: Yes, he felt nervous when he went to meet Stephen Hawking because he was feed up with people asking him to be brave.

(ii) Did he at the same time feel very excited? If so, why?

Ans: Yes, he felt very excited at the same time because Stephen Hawking was also totally paralyses, still he had made great achievement. This gave him strength to do still better.

Q2. Guess the first question put to the scientist by the writer.

Ans: “You have been very brave, haven’t you?” said the narrator.

Q3. Stephen Hawking said, “I’ve had no choice.” Does the writer think there

was a choice? What was it?

Ans: Yes, the writer thought that Stephen Hawking had a choice. He chose to live creatively despite his paralysis.

Q4. “I could feel his anguish.” What could be the anguish?

Ans: Stephen’s anguish was that he found it difficult to find the right words on his computer. He felt frustrated and tried.

Q5. What endeared the scientist to the writer so that he said he was looking atone of the most beautiful men in the world?

Ans: What endeared Hawking to the writer was his frankness. Without being sentimental and silly, he declared that he was annoyed when somebody came to disturb him in his work.

Q6. Read aloud the description of ‘the beautiful’ man. Which is the most beautiful sentence in the description?

Ans: Before, you, like a lantern whose walls are worn so thin you glimpse only the light inside, is the incandescence of a man.

Q7. (i) If ‘the lantern’ is the man, what would its ‘walls’ be?

Ans: The walls of the lantern are formed by the body.

(ii) What is housed within the thin walls?

Ans: The eternal soul is housed within the walls.

(iii) What general conclusion does the writer draw from this comparison?

Ans: The writer draws the conclusion that each of us is an eternal soul, the body is not such as essential thing.

Q8. What is the scientist’s message for the disabled?

Ans: Stephen Haw king’s message for the disabled people is that they should concentration on what they are good at. Olympics for the handicapped and disabled people are a waste of time.

Q9. Why does the writer refer to the guitar incident? Which idea does it support?

Ans: The writer supports Hawking’s idea that the disabled people must not try to overreach themselves. The writer once tried to play a big guitar he felt defeated. So he destroyed it one night.

Q10. The write expresses his great gratitude to Stephen Hawking. What is the gratitude for?

Ans: The writer expressed his gratitude to hawking’s for giving him strength and confidence to be brave and live creatively.

Chapter 7. A Visit to Cambridge

Comprehension Check

Which is the right sentence?

Q1. “Cambridge was my metaphor for England.” To the writer,

(i) Cambridge was a reputed university in England.

(ii) England was famous for Cambridge.

(iii) Cambridge was the real England.

Ans: (iii) Cambridge was the real England.

Q2. The writer phoned Stephen Hawking’s house

(i) from the nearest phone booth.

(ii) from outside a phone booth.

(iii) from inside a phone booth.

Ans: (ii) from outside was the real England.

Q3. Every  time  he  spoke  to  the  scientist,  the  writer  felt  guilty because

(i) he wasn’t sure what he wanted to ask.

(ii) he forced the scientist to use his voice synthesiser

(iii) he was face to face with a legend.

Ans: (ii) he forced the scientist to use his voice synthesiser

Q4. “I felt a huge relief... in the possibilities of my body” In the given context, the highlighted words refer to

(i) shifting in the wheelchair, turning the wrist.

(ii) standing up, walking.

(iii) speaking, writing.

Ans: (i) shifting in the wheelchair, turning the wrist.