Unit
- 06
TRUE HEIGHT
Shall we talk about this
story?
1) Talk
about the points raised in these questions. Write them down in your notebook.
Discuss the answers with your partner.
a) Which was the competition that Michael
Stone participated in at the age of 17?
Ans: Michael Stone participated in National
Junior Olympics competition at the age of 17.
b) What was the height at which the pole was
set for vaulting?
Ans: The pole was set at 17 feet height for
vaulting.
c) What was Michael Stone’s best personal
record in pole vaulting?
Ans: 16 feet 9 inches was Michael Stone’s
best personal record in pole vaulting.
d) What kind of stories did Michael’s mother
read to him when he was growing up?
Ans: Numerous stories about flying were read
by Michael’s mother when he was growing up.
e) Who monitored Michael’s training?
Ans: Michael’s father Bert Stone was
monitored Michael’s training.
f) When did Michael’s mother ask him to take
deep breaths?
Ans: Michael’s mother asked him to take deep
breaths when he felt tensed, anxious or even scared.
g) “He was sure the crowd did, too” What was
the crowd sure of?
Ans: Michael’s victory was the crowd sure of.
2) Answer the following questions in two or three
sentences each. Discuss the answers with your partner. Write them down in your
notebook.
a) Why is “pole vaulting” referred to as a
glamour event?
Ans: Pole vaulting is referred to as a
glamour event because the sportsman combines the grace of a gymnast with the
strength of a bodybuilder.
b) What kind of dream did Michael have
repeatedly?
Ans: Michael had always dreamed of flying.
c) What sort of a man was Bert Stone?
Ans: Michael’s father Bert was not a dreamer,
he was realist. He believed in hard work and sweat.
d) When did Michael realize that it was time
for his final jump to win the National Junior Olympics medal?
Ans: Michael realized that it was time for
his final jump to win the National Junior Olympics medal as he heard the
singing of some distant robins in flight.
e) Why do you think he remembered his mother
just before his final jump?
Ans: He remembered his mother just before his
final jump because his mother always told him to take deep breaths when he felt
tensed, anxious or scared.
f) “With all the media attention and hearty
congratulations, Michael’s life would never be the same.” Why?
Ans: Michael had won the National Junior
Olympics medal and he had set a new world’s record so, Michael’s life would
never be the same.
3) There are some jumbled words and phrases given
below. Write them in the correct order to make sentences.
a) at the National Junior Olympics / he faced
today / the Astroturf / was as hot as / he sat on / the competition
Ans: The Astroturf he sat on was as hot as
the competition he faced that day at the National Junior Olympics.
b) the golden lined wheat fields/passing by/
he would always / as he raced down / outrun the locomotive
Ans: He would always outrun the locomotive
passing by as he raced down the golden lined wheat fields.
4) Read the given extracts and answer the
questions that follow. Work with your partner to do this.
a) “Then out of nowhere, and from the deepest
depths of his soul, he imagined his mother.”
i) Who is the “he” referred to here?
Ans: “he” is referred to Michael Stone.
ii) Why did he think of his mother?
Ans: Michael thought of his mother because
his mother always told him to take deep breaths when he felt tensed, anxious or
scared.
iii) How did it help him?
Ans: It helped him to win the National Junior
Olympics.
b) “As he began sprinting down the runway,
something felt wonderfully different, yet familiar.”
i) Who began sprinting down the runway?
Ans: Michael Stone began sprinting down the
runway.
ii) Why was he doing that?
Ans: He was doing that because he won the
National Junior Olympics.
iii) What felt wonderfully different, yet
familiar?
Ans: Michael felt surface below him
wonderfully different like country road and it was familiar to him.
5) Fill
in the blanks choosing suitable words given in brackets.
[take-off, soaring, flying, breath, slow motion]
When
Michael Stone took a deep breath it
happened. He began to fly. His takeoff was
effortless. Michael Stone was now flying, just like in
his childhood dreams. But this was real. Everything was in slow motion Michael was soaring with the majesty of an eagle.
6) Work with your partner and do these
exercises.
(Use a good dictionary to find the meanings)
Circle the odd man out:
i) hammer ii) discuss iii) javelin iv)
shot
i) bat ii)
stick iii) club iv) pole
i) scorer ii)
bowler iii) fielder iv) keeper
Read to your partner the phrases given below.
They are jumbled. Record them to make a sentence. Write down the sentence and
punctuate it.
·
and tucked
·
a shuttlecock
·
with a string
·
of identical length
·
usually of duck or goose
·
into a rounded cork base
·
glued and bound together
·
is made of 16 feathers
A shuttlecock is made of 16 feathers of identical length usually of duck or goose and the tucked into a rounded cork base, glued and bound together with a string.
Exercise
Word Order
1) Put in the given adjectives in the proper
order and write this story in your notebook. Add necessary punctuation marks.
Begin like this –
One fine day, a long time ago,
a girl (little, beautiful) in a coat (red)
was walking through a forest (dark) with a bag (big) of apples (red wonderful)
to see her grandmother (old) under a tree (tall green) she saw a wolf (big bad)
with teeth (white long).
Ans: One fine day, a long time ago, a beautiful little girl in a red
coat was walking through a dark forest with a big bag of wonderful red apples
to see her old grandmother under a tall green tree. She saw a big bad wolf with
white long teeth.
2) Put the words in the correct order and
continue the story.
“good little girl morning.” / said big the
bad wolf / “going you where are / that with bag heavy/day this fine on?” /
“going to see my grandmother” / girl they said little / “lives small she in
house a new the supermarket near”
“Good morning little girl”, said the big bad wolf’. Where are you going with
that heavy bag on this fine day?” The little girl said, “Going to see my
grandmother”, she lives in a house near the new supermarket”.
3) Put in adjectives from the box to finish
the story.
(new,
friendly, stupid, little, red, dark)
“OK” said the wolf in a friendly voice,
but thought, “I’ll eat her up on her way back.” The little girl was not stupid. She thought, “I will not walk back through
this dark forest at all. I will drive back with my
uncle in his new red car.”
Comparatives and superlatives:
4) Study these sentences:
a) Shreyas is older than Amogh.
b) Shreyas is the oldest of all his brothers.
Notice that we use comparatives. (+er for
one-syllable adjectives and more for longer adjectives) and superlative (+est
for one-syllable adjectives and most for longer adjectives).
We use comparatives to compare people and
things with other people and things.
We use superlatives (with ‘the’) to compare people and wings with all of the
group that they are in.
Exercise:
1) Insert a comparative or a superlative:
a) My new car is faster than my
old car. (fast)
b) My mother and her sisters are all shorter than
their children, (short)
c) I think Arathi is the most intelligent person
in out class (intelligent)
d) Let’s meet in the library. It’s quieter than
all the other rooms (quiet)
e) My bedroom is the coldest room
in the house (cold)
2) Compare each pair of things in the bracket.
Write two sentences for each pair. The adjectives are given to help you.
(the sun and the moon; dogs and cat; the Sahara and the Thar deserts; train
travel and air travel)
(Adjectives: bright, cold, friendly, hot, cheap, intelligent, small,
fast)
Eg: The sun is brighter than the moon.
The moon is smaller than the sun
a) The dogs are more friendly than the cats.
b) The cats are less friendly than the does.
c) The Sahara desert is hotter than the Thar desert.
d) The Thar desert is smaller than Sahara desert.
e) The train travel is cheaper than air travel.
f) The air travel is faster than train travel
Comparatives: Use of as…. as
1) Read these sentences.
a) Sana is as tall as Satvik.
b) Hyderabad is as hot as Chennai in summer.
We use ‘as………as’ to compare two people or
things.
2) Use the clues and make sentences with
as…….as
a) Nayana / shy / Srujan
Ans: Nayand is not as shy as Srujan.
b) Her feet / cold / ice
Ans: Her feet are as cold as ice.
c) Anudeep / intelligent / Anurag
Ans: Anudeep is as intelligent as Anurag.
