u.1.,1 ,....
- ----
ag ul l;s m ot he r ev en tu al ly he lp ed he r ch ild
P h e se
m m en t.
ov er co m e his fe ar of flying. Co
yo un g se ag ul l w as fa m ish ed . It wa s this hu ng er
.ns. Th e
fly. Its hu ng er be ca m e
th at ul tim at el y co m pe lle d it to
er w he n it sa w its m ot he r te ar in g at a pi ec e of
ke en
d to her, be gg in g he r
fish th at la y at he r feet. It cr ie
t so m e fo od . W he n its m ot he r ca m e to wa rd s
to ge
re am ed wi th jo y an d
it w ith food in he r be ak , it sc
ip at io n. H ow ev er , sh e st op pe d m id w ay . It
an tic
m e nearer. N ot be in g
w on de re d w hy sh e di d no t co
le to co nt ro l its hu ng er an y longer, it di ve d at
ab
in its m ot he r's be ak . A t th at moment, his
th e fo od
th e great expanse of
hu ng er ov er po w er ed his fear of
be ne at h th e cli ff. Fi na lly , he to ok his first flight
se a
nct. Th us his m ot he r l
an d fu lfi lle d hi s na tu ra l insti
d th ou gh t of a pe rfe ct str at eg y to enable th e yo un g
ha j
s ~ ll to ta ke hi s fir st fli gh t.
ce stop on e from learning
~ a r an d la ck of co nf id en
th in gs . D o yo u ag re e? H ow did these tw o traits
ne w
un g se ag ul l m ak e hi m co wa rd? H ow di d he
of th e yo
?
ov er co m e th es e sh or t co m in gs
s, it is tru e th at fe ar an d la ck of confidence sto p
An s. Ye
m le ar ni ng ne w th in gs as in th e story, th e
on e fro
ag e an d confidence.
yo un g se ag ul l la ck ed th e co ur
s to o sc ar ed of fly in g. Hi s fa mily tri ed ha rd to
H e wa
do so be ca us e of his
m ak e hi m fly bu t he re fu se d to
of sin ki ng in th e se aw ate r. Th ey ev en sc ol de d .
fear
ed to te m pt hi m w ith
hi m for his cowardice. Th ey tri
bu t he wa s no t wi lli ng to le arn flying. O nc e he
food
d he en jo ye d his first
dived, his fear di sa pp ea re d an
flight.
ct th at un le ss w e try fo r so m et hi ng an d
It is a fa
er co m e ou r fe ar , w e ca n' t le ar n an yt hi ng new.
ov
en ce an d m ot iv at io n ar e tw o m os t im po rta nt
Co nf id
possible.
tra its th at m ak e any le ar ni ng
T- II: THE BLACK AEROPLANE
. ow did the wr ite r ge t ou t of the sto rm in the nig ht
to lan d safely?
Ans. Th e wr ite r wa s flying his old Da ko ta ae rop lan e fro m
Pa ris to England, wh en he saw huge, bla ck clo ud s.
He wa s los t in the storm. Suddenly, he sa w a bla ck
ae rop lan e by his side, wh ich ha d no lights, on its
.
wings.
.
Th e pi lo t loo ke d at hi m an d wa ve d at .him. He. _
mo tio ne d to the wr ite r to follow him as he ha d los t
the way. Lo st in the sto rm y clouds an d ru nn ing ou t
of fuel, he ha pp ily ob ey ed him lik e a child. Af ter
so me tim e the pil ot of the oth er pla ne sta rte d to lan d.
Th e wr ite r followed him blindly thr ou gh the sto rm
an d ca me ou t of the clouds. He wa s ov erj oy ed wh en
he sa w the lights of the ru nw ay an d fin all y lan de d
safely.
/.co~ ent on the surreal experience of the narrator.
'Ans. The writer was flying his old Dakota aeroplane from
Paris to England, when he saw huge, black clouds.
\ He was lost in the storm. Suddenly, he saw a black
aeroplane by his side, which had no lights, on its wings.
The pilot looked at him and waved at him. He
motioned to the writer to follow him as he had lost
the way. Lost in the stormy clouds and running out
of fuel, he happily obeyed him like a child. After
some time the pilot of the other plane started to land.
The writer followed him blindly through the storm
and came out of the clouds. He was overjoyed when
he saw the lights of the runway and_ finally landed
safely. On landing he wanted to thank the kind pilot
who had helped him navigate a difficult situation,
but to his horror, he was informed by the woman at
the air traffic control that there was no other airplane
flying at that time. Thus he had a surreal experience
which was beyond explanation and left him shocked
and speechless.
REFERENCE TO CONTEXT (OBJECTIVE
TY PE QUESTIONS)
Read the extracts and answer the following questions:
slow ly out to the brin k of the ledg e, and stan ding on one leg with the other leg hid~en und~r his wing,
/ He stepped asle ep. Still they took no notice of him. He saw
the othe r, and pret end ed to be faili ng
h~ closed one eye, then the ir hea ds sun k into their necks. His father was
lyin g on the plat eau doz ing with
his two brothers and his sister ing at him. She was standing on a little high
rs on his whi te bac k. Onl y his mot her was look
preening the feathe aga in, she tore at a piece of fish that lay at her
te bre ast thru st forw ard . Now and
hump on the plateau, her whi (1 x 4 = 4 Marks)
d eac h side of her bea k on the rock .
feet and then scrappe
(i) Where did the seagull family live?
ntai n (c) On th ledg e (d) Near the seashore
(a) On a hill (b) On a mou
(ii) What did the young seagull try to attract?
(b) The attention of his family
(a) Other birds
(d) A dog fish
(c) His brothers
(iii) The young seagull pretended .....................
.
............... .
(iv) The mother of the young seagull was concerned ......
or seiz ed him and his hea rt stoo d still . He cou ld hear nothing. But it only lasted a minute.
_jT he n a monstrous terr win d rush ed aga inst his breast feathers, then under his
win gs spre ad outw ards . The
The next moment he felt his wings cutting through the air. He was not falling
and aga inst his win gs. He cou ld feel the tips of his
stomach, outw ard s. He was no longer afraid. He just felt a bit
He was soa ring gra dua lly dow nwa rds and
headlong now. . .,Ga , ga, ga, Ga, ga, ga, Gaw-col-ah," his mother
his win gs onc e and he soa red upw ards
dizzy. Then he flapped ed her with ano ther scream. Then his father flew
mak ing a loud nois e. He ans wer
swooped past him, her wings ring
screami ng. He saw his two bro ther s and his sist er flying around him curveting and banking and soa
over him (1 x 4 = 4 Marks)
and diving.
(i) Who does 'he' refer to?
(b) Sister (c) Brother (d) Father
(a) The young seagull
(ii) What was the young seagull trying for?
(b) Swimming (c) Running (d) Flying
(a) Floating
(ii,) The young seagull was overjoyed at ..................
... .
(iv) Courage helped the young seagull over come ......
............... .
REFERENCE TO CONTEXT (OBJEC TIVE TYPE QUESTIONS)
Read the extracts and answer the following questions:
1. 'He knows that I am lost; I thought. 'He's trying to help me:
H_e turned his aeroplane slowly to the north, in front of my Dakota, so that it would be easier for me to follow
him. I was very happy to go behind the strange aeroplane like an obedient child.
After half an _hour the strange black aeroplane was still there in front of me in the clouds. Now there was only
enough fuel m the old Dakota's last tank to fly for five or ten minutes more. I was starting to feel frightened
again. But then he started to go down and I followed through the storm. (1 x 4 = 4 Marks)
(i) Who does 'he' refer to?
(a) The narrator (b) The strange pilot (c) The woman (d) The black aeroplane
(ii) Where did the strange aeroplane fly?
(a) Behind the narrator (b) Beside the narrator (c) In front of the narrator (d) Down the narrator
(iii) The phrase 'to feel frightened' here means ..................... .
(iv) The narrator, as a human being, was ..................... .
2. f landed· and was not sorry-to walk away from the old Da_kota near the control tower. I went and asked a woman
in the control centre where I was and who the other pilot was. I wanted to say 'Thank you'.
She looked at me very strangely, and then laughed.
•Another aeroplane? Up there in this storm? No other aeroplanes were flying tonight. Yours was the only one I
could see on the radar:'
So who helped me to arrive there safely without a compass or a radio, and without any more fuel in my tanks?
Who was the pilot on the strange black aeroplane, flying in the storm, without lights? (1 x 4 = 4 Marks)
(i) Which control centre is referred to?
(a) Paris (b) London (c) New York (d) Burn
(ii) What was the Dakota? .
(a) A car (b) A helicopter (c) An aeroplane (d) A ship
(iii) The narrator felt obliged to ..................... .
(iv) The phrase 'up there', here means ..................... .
