NCERT SOLUTIONS FOR CLASS 10 - ENGLISH NOTES - TWO STORIES ABOUT FLYING - HIS FIRST FLIGHT - LIAM O’FLAHERTY - QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS - CBSE

 

TWO STORIES ABOUT FLYING 

HIS FIRST FLIGHT

LIAM O’FLAHERTY

 

THINKING ABOUT THE TEXT

 

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?

Ans:  The young seagull was hesitating to fly since it was his first flight. He questioned that his wings would not have the option to help him. We are very much aware that every first step would be difficult to take it first. Hence, I figure all birds should be hesitating to taking their first flight, some more than others. Indeed, actually like young birds, human children also hesitate while venturing out first step.

 

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

 

Ans: On not having the option to accumulate courage to fly and behaving like a quitter, the young seagull's family let him be alone. Thus, he was starving since he was unable to fly to get his own food. At the point when he saw his mom drawing close to him with fish, he got energized and plunged directly at the fish, forgetting briefly that he scared of flying. In this manner, he got so infuriated by seeing food since he was starving, which constrained him to take his first flight.

 

3)  “They were beckoning to him, calling shrilly.” Why did the seagull’s father and mother threaten him and cajole him to fly?

Ans:  In contrast to his younger siblings, the helpless seagull couldn't accumulate sufficient boldness to take his first flight. Along these lines, his parents provoked him for being a coward. They even undermined it to allow it to starve on the off chance that he didn't attempt. They figured hunger would make him fly searching for his food. They did the entirety of this since they needed him to fly.

 

4)  Why was the young seagull afraid to fly?

Ans: The young seagull was alone from everyone else on his ledge. His siblings had effectively taken off the other day. At the point when he attempted to fly, fear vanquished him. The sea extended down underneath him. He expected that it was miles down. He imagined that his wings could never uphold him. So he bowed his head and ran back to the little hole where he slept.

 

5)  What did the parents do to motivate the young bird when it failed to muster up enough courage to fly?

Ans: The parents came around calling to him loudly. They yelled him and surprisingly took steps to starve him.

 

6) How did the parents support and encourage the young seagull’s brothers and sister?

Ans: They flew about with them, attempting to perfect them in the art of flight. They showed them how to skim the waves and how to plunge for fish.

 

7) Cite an instance which shows the pathetic condition of the young bird?

Ans: The young seagull felt the warmth of the sun as he had not eaten anything since the earlier night. At the point when he tracked down a dried piece of mackerel's tail at the furthest end of his ledge he hurried to get it. Nonetheless, there was not a single piece of food left in it. He looked through each inch, even the straw nest. He looked even the pieces of eggshell. It resembled eating a piece of himself. This was the despicable state of the young bird.

 

8) How did the bird try to reach its parents without having to fly?

Ans:  He trotted back and forth from one end of the ledge to the next, attempting to discover a few methods for reaching at his parents without flying. But on each side of him the ledge finished in a sheer fall of cliff with the sea under. There was a deep, wide crack between him and his parents.

 

 SUMMARY

 

On a ledge a young seagull is alone, his usual resting place. His head is down, he’s discouraged. The reason is that his sisters and brother had learned out how to fly, however they didn’t. His attempts have never been effective. Some way or another, the dread of disappointment and absence of trust have cut him down.

 

The young seagull had already thought that his wings could never uphold him, despite the fact that his wings were bigger and stronger than the others. He can't dare to dive in or jump that rouses flying. His parents scolded him, threatening him with starvation on the ledge on the off chance that he didn't fly. In any case, this was nothing by any means. He was reluctant to bite the dust. Presently it's been twenty four hours of pressure. His parents have made an honest effort to urge him to fly, however they have fizzled. He had additionally seen his parents perfect his siblings in the art of flying, training them to skim the waves and plunge for the fish. The seagull was desirous of seeing his elder brother caught a fish and ate it.

 

The parents sought him to feel desirous; they sought to show him their fury when he wouldn't fly. He shouldn't be a coward, a dolt. Birds are destined to fly, and if this seagull didn't set out to fly, it would be a disappointment. Different birds will ridicule him. He would have passed on of starvation. It was evening, and he was hungry. Not a single piece of food on the ledge. His stomach hurt due to starvation. Yet, he wasn't prepared to attempt to fly. In any case, incidentally, the entertaining thing was that he burned his head, thinking about an approach to arrive at his parents without flying. There was a deep crack among him and his parents.

 

He attempted to get his parents to see his presence. He remained on one leg, with the other leg covered up under the care of him, shut his eyes, and claimed to be sleeping. In any case, nobody had seen him. Once more, he saw his siblings lying and dozing after their first day of flying. His dad was holding his feathers. In any case, his mom, she was the one in particular who was as yet stressed over it.

 

She took a gander at her young lady. She wanted to give him some more motivation, so she began to peck a piece of fish. At the point when she scoured her beak on a stone, the young seagull got frantic. “Food, Goodness, God, it's been for such a long time since I had some food.” His mom knew his necessities. She crackled a ga, ga, ga. He yelled so anyone can hear, as well. Incredibly, he saw his mom get a piece of fish and fly toward him. His heart hopped with energy as he came ever nearer. The food thought had bought some water in his mouth.

 

She halted as she came nearer to the stone. Unconsciously, he plunged at the food, and he fell into open space. What's more, he felt frightened. In any case, the fear just went on briefly. He spread his wings outward and started to fly. He was taking off up. He was so cheerful about that. He has cried with satisfaction. His family also came to go with his delight. The whole family exploded and sank through the air. He had failed to remember his fear. Then, he went to the sea. His feet had fallen into the water. He thought he planned to fall, yet his belly contacted the water. He felt great balanced. He should fly and float. So he did his first flight.

 

 

 

 

BLACK AEROPLANE

FREDRICK FORSYTH

 

 

THINKING ABOUT THE TEXT

 

1)  "I will take the risk." What kind of risk was there? Why did the narrator take him?

Ans:  The "risk" here refers to not making the right thing, which is flying back to Paris when he came to think about the storm. In spite of monitoring the awful climate, the pilot went directly into the storm and took a chance with the existences of his fellow passengers. The pilot's decision was blurred by his desire to meet his family. He so frantically needed to be with his family and have that English breakfast he had been longing for the entire day, that he faced the challenge of not returning.

 

2)  Describe the narrator's experience as he flew into a storm.

Ans: The narrator was scared as he failed to keep a grip on the plane. He felt helpless as the compass and different instruments had quit working. Nothing outside the plane was apparent when unexpectedly amidst no place, an obscure plane was noticeable and the pilot was anxious to help him. The narrator was freezing in light of the fact that there was extremely less fuel left however some way or another, he figured out how to get away from the storm with the assistance of the strange pilot who he was unable to thank.

 

3)  Why did the narrator say, "I landed and was not sorry to walk away from the old Dokota?

Ans: The author was not self-reproachful from old Dakota. Since, it had saved his life. It and the mysterious plane had saved his life.

 

4)  Why did the lady in the control room give the pilot a stern look? 

Ans: The narrator got some information about the mysterious plane yet the woman didn't see any such plane as the narrator was disclosing to her. So she gave a harsh look to the narrator's question.

 

5) "They looked like black mountains." To whom the narrator compared black mountain with and why?

Ans: The narrator was discussing the storm. It was looking hazardous. It was totally black and enormous so the narrator contrasted it and Black Mountain.

 

6)  Who do you think helped the narrator securely access? Discuss this and give reasons for your answer.

Ans: I think some supernatural power has assisted the narrator with arriving at it safely. In any case how is it possible that he would fly safely through those dark clouds. It may be the spirit of some other pilot who had died in a similar circumstance and now he was assisting different pilots with being protected in such circumstances.

THINKING ABOUT THE LANGUAGE

 

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……………..

Ans:  The meaning of ‘black’ in this sentence is that the face and hands are dark with dust and heat.

2. The taxi-driver gave Ratan a black look as he crossed the road when the traffic light was green. ……………..

Ans: Here, ‘black’ refers to an angry look.

3. The bombardment of Hiroshima is one of the blackest crimes against humanity. ……………..

Ans: Here, ‘blackest’ refers to the darkest and cruelest crime against humanity.

4. Very few people enjoy Harold Pinter’s black comedy. ……………..

Ans: Here, ‘black’ refers to dark and gloomy comedy.

 

5. Sometimes shopkeepers store essential goods to create false scarcity and then sell these in black. ……………..

Ans: The meaning of ‘black’ in this sentence is that the shopkeepers sell the described goods ‘at a higher price’.

 

6. Villagers had beaten the criminal black and blue. ……………..

Ans: Here, ‘black’ means that the criminal suffered excessive beating at the hands of the villagers.

 

 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:

Ans:

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

 

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.

Ans:

 

Swoop	flit	Paddle	Flutter	ascend
Float	ride	Skim	Sink	Dart
Hover	Glide	Descend	Soar	Shoot
Spring	Stay	Fall	Sail	Flap

 

 

 SUMMARY

"The Black Aeroplane" was by Frederick Forsyth is about an excursion of a pilot and one snag where he discovered another pilot who saved his life. It was the excursion from France to England in a plane. The pilot was longing for being with his family and to have the English breakfast. The plane was Dakota DS-088 and was flying around night time. After the journey of 150 Km, out of nowhere the pilot saw storm mists with the size of a huge mountain. It was simply before him and he was in a confusion whether he should return back or should confront the storm to get the outcome as the England breakfast. He saw that the cloud was looking so dangerous, yet at long last he entered the mists and tracked down that the compass and the radio had stopped working. He was totally helpless. Out of nowhere he saw that a black plane was flying just alongside his plane. He saw that the pilot inside it was attempting to give him the clue to follow him. He started to follow him and to do same as taught, actually like a faithful kid. After at some point he saw that the fuel in the subsequent tank was left uniquely for the Journey for 5 to 10 minutes. He started to feel terrified however was following the other plane constantly. Out of nowhere he saw that he was out of the storm and the runway of an air terminal was being seen. In the wake of watching that he got loose and set down his plane. He was attempting to discover the other pilot and the black plane yet couldn't see them. In the wake of setting down his plane, he went to the one who was sitting in the control place and got some information about the dark plane. Yet, when he discovered the appropriate response in the negative, he was stunned by who really saved him. Then, at that point shockingly, he started to ponder the episode lastly couldn't reach to any resolution whether the black plane was his imagination or some other supernatural occurrence happen.