Chapter 3 Two Stories about Flying

Chapter 3 Two Stories about Flying | Question and Answers |
NCERT | Class 10 | English | First Flight

I) His First Flight

Thinking about the Text (Page 36)

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 steps?

Answer 1 The young seagull was afraid to fly because it was his first flight. It is natural that doing something for the first time is a bit challenging and fearful. He feared of falling and hurting himself. All birds must be afraid to make their first flight. Similarly, a human baby is also afraid of taking the first step.

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

Answer 2 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 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.

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 3 The seagull was afraid to fly. He looked at his brothers and sister but wouldn’t make any efforts. Its parents helping and teaching could not gather enough courage to make first flight. The whole family had left him alone and threatened him because they wanted him to leave his fears behind and learn to fly.

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 4 Yes, I had a similar experience while learning to ride a bicycle. In my initial trials, I fell down every time and thought that cycling is very difficult and i can not learn it in my life. No amount of provoking could let me try it again, but my father encouraged me to overcome the fear and helped me in learning bicycle. He took me to a playground and made me sit and asked me to put my hands on the handle and feet on the paddle. I did the way he says, and then i learned and  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 5 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.I have given in the answer of previous question, I was supported 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.

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 1 A huge storm was blowing up and the narrator wants to fly through the black storm cloud.The narrator took the risk because he wanted to spend his holiday with his family. 

Question 2. Describe the narrator’s experience as he flew the aeroplane into the storm.

Answer 2 As he flew into the storm everything went black. His plane started jumping and twisting and he could not see anything outside the plane. When he looked at his compass and other instruments , they were not functioning. Then he saw another black aeroplane by his side and the pilot of the plane signalled him to follow them. He was using his last fuel tank and he could not fly more than ten minutes. The other pilot started to go down and he followed. He suddenly saw the runway and landed his plane safely.

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

Answer 3 He was so happy after landing safely that he did not feel sorry for not thanking the pilot to save him from frightening situation.

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

Answer 4 The woman in the Control Centre looked at the narrator strangely because the narrator asked him about the other aeroplane and its pilot. She said that there was no aeroplane seen on the radar.

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

Answer 5  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 plane. He was a good pilot and it might have been his own self that came to his help.

Thinking about Language (Page 40)

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 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.

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 I.

1. The meaning of ‘black ’ in this sentence is that the face and hands are dark because of dust and dirt.
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.

Question II. Look at these sentences taken from the lesson you have just read:
(a) I was flying my old Dakota aeroplane.
(b) The young seagull had 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, using its wings.

Match the phrases given under Column A with their meanings given under Column B:

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

Answer II

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

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	soar	shoot	spring
stay	fall	sail	flap

Answer III The words which have the same or nearly the same meaning as fly are swoop, flit, float, dart, soar, hover, sail, skim, glide, flutter