1. Answer these questions in one or two sentences each. (The
paragraph numbers within brackets provide clues to the answers.)
Question
1.
Why was the ‘holy man’ who gave Santosh’s mother his blessings surprised?
Answer:
The ‘holy man’ who gave Santosh’s mother his blessings was surprised because
her grandmother sought blessings for a daughter. In this society most of the
people ask the seers to bless for a son.
Question
2.
Give an example to show that even as a young girl Santosh was not ready to
accept anything unreasonable.
Answer:
She used to wear shorts and not the traditional dresses meant for girls.
Question 3.
Why was Santosh sent to the local school?
Answer:
She was sent to the local school in line with the prevailing custom in the
family.
Question 4.
When did she leave home for Delhi, and why?
Answer:
She left home for Delhi to get proper education. She was sixteen at that time.
Question 5.
Why did Santosh’s parents agree to pay for her schooling in Delhi? What mental
qualities of Santosh are brought into light by this incident?
Answer:
Her parents got ready because she informed them of her plans to earn money by
working part time to pay her school fees.
II. Answer each of
these questions in a short paragraph (about 30 words).
Question 1.
How did Santosh begin to climb mountains?
Answer:
She wished to climb mountains when she watched villagers from her room, going
up the hill and suddenly vanishing after a while. One day, she decided to check
it out herself. She found nobody except a few mountaineers. Later she saved
money and enrolled in a course at Uttarkashi’s Nehru Institute of
Mountaineering. Then she began climb mountains every year.
Question 2.
What incidents during the Everest expedition show Santosh’s concern for her
team-mates?
Answer:
Santosh Yadav provided special care to a climber who lay dying at the south
pole in 1992 Everest Mission. She saved Mohan Singh, who would have lost his
life had she not shared her oxygen with him.
Question 3.
What shows her concern for the environment?
Answer:
Santosh was really concerned for the environment. She collected and brought
down 500 kilograms of garbage from the Himalayas.
Question 4.
How does she describe her feelings at the summit of the Everest?
Answer:
She said that it took some time for the enormity of the moment to sink in. She
was delighted at this moment and proudly unfurled the Indian tricolour.
Question 5.
Santosh Yadav got into the record books both times she scaled Mt. Everest. What
were the reasons for this?
Answer:
She is the youngest woman who scaled the Everest. She is the only woman who
climbed the Everest twice.
III. Complete the
following statements:
1.
From her room in
Kasturba Hostel, Santosh used to ………………
2.
When she finished
college, Santosh had to write a letter of apology to her father because ………………
3.
During the Everest
expedition, her seniors in the team admired her ……………… while ……………… endeared
her to fellow climbers.
Answers:
1.
… see the villagers
going up the hill and suddenly vanishing after a while.
2.
… she was going
directly for training and not home which she should have done.
3.
… climbing skills,
physical fitness and mental strength while working together endeared her to
fellow climbers.
IV. Pick out words
from the text that mean the same as the following words or expressions. (Look
in the paragraphs indicated.)
1.
took to be true
without proof
………………………………
2.
based on reason;
sensible; reasonable
………………………………
3.
the usual way of doing
things (para 3):
………………………………
4.
a strong desire
arising from within (5):
5.
the power to endure,
without falling
ill (7): …………………….
Answers:
1.
blessing
2.
rational
3.
custom
4.
urge
5.
resistance/endurance
Thinking about the
text
(Page 107)
Working in small
groups of 4-5 students, go back over the two passages on Santosh Yadav and
Maria Sharapova and complete the table given below with relevant phrases or
sentences.
|
Points
of Comparison/Contrast |
Santosh
Yadav |
Maria
Sharapova |
|
|
1. |
Their
humble beginning |
||
|
2. |
Their
parents’ approach |
||
|
3. |
Their
will power and strong desire to succeed |
||
|
4. |
Evidence
of their mental toughness |
||
|
5. |
Their
patriotism |
Answer:
|
Santosh Yadav |
Maria Sharapova |
|
|
1. |
Santosh’s
parents were affluent landowners who could afford … |
My
father was working as much as he could to keep …. |
|
2. |
Wishing
always to study ‘a bit more’, and with her father slowly getting used to her
urge … |
The
latter (her mother) was compelled to stay back in Siberia …. [My father
working as much … either.] |
|
3. |
Equipped
with an iron will, physical endurance and an amazing mental… |
Instead
of letting that depress me, I became more quietly determined and mentally
tough. |
|
4. |
The
culmination of her hard work and sincerity came in 1942 … |
And
that something in her lifted her on Monday, 22 August 2005 to the world
number one position in women’s tennis. |
|
5. |
Then
I unfurled the Indian tricolour and held it….. indescribable…… I felt proud
as an Indian … |
My
blood is totally Russian. I will play the Olympics for Russia if they want
me. |
Thinking about
language
(Page 107)
Look at the following
sentences. They each have two clauses, or two parts each with their own subject
and verb or verb phrase. Often, one part (italicised) tells us when or why
something happened.
·
I reached the market
when most of the shops had closed. (Tells us when I reached.)
·
When Rahul Dravid
walked back towards the pavilion, everyone stood up. (Tells us when everyone
stood up.)
·
The telephone rang and
Ganga picked it up. (Tells us what happened next.)
·
Gunjan has been with
us ever since the school began. (Tells us for how long he has been with us.)
I. Identify the two
parts in the sentences below by underlining the part that gives us the
information in brackets, as shown above.
Question 1.
Where other girls wore traditional Indian dresses, Santosh preferred shorts.
(Contrasts her dress with that of others.)
Answer:
Where other girls wore traditional Indian dresses, Santosh preferred shorts.
Question 2.
She left home and got herself enrolled in a school in Delhi. (Tells us what
happened after the first action.)
Answer:
She left home and got herself enrolled in a school in Delhi.
Question 3.
She decided to fight the system when the right moment arrived. (Tells us when
she was going to fight the system?)
Answer:
She decided to fight the system when the right moment arrived.
Question 4.
Little Maria had not yet celebrated her tenth birthday when she was packed off
to train in the United States. (Tells us when Maria was sent to the US?)
Answer:
Little Maria had not yet celebrated her tenth birthday when she was packed off
to train in the United States.
II. Now rewrite the
pairs of sentences given below as one sentence.
Question 1.
Grandfather told me about the old days. All books were printed on paper then.
Answer:
Grandfather told me about the old days when all books were printed on paper.
Question 2.
What do you do after you finish the book? Perhaps you just throw it away.
Answer:
Perhaps you just throw the book away after reading it.
Question 3.
He gave the little girl an apple. He took the computer apart.
Answer:
After giving the little girl an apple, he took the computer apart.
Question 4.
You have nothing. That makes you very determined.
Answer:
You have nothing which makes you very determined.
Question 5.
I never thought of quitting. I knew what I wanted.
Answer:
I never thought of quitting as I knew what I wanted.
Reach for the Top Extra Questions and Answers Short Answer
Type
Question
1.
What made Santosh Yadav achieve fame and greatness?
Answer:
Santosh Yadav is the only woman in the world who has scaled Mt Everest twice.
Santosh Yadav scaled Mt Everest when she was barely twenty years of age,
becoming the youngest woman in the world to achieve the feat. Within twelve
months, Santosh scaled the Everest a second time as a member of an
Indo-Nepalese Women’s Expedition. She thus set a record as the only woman to
have scaled the Everest twice.
Question
2.
Why was the ‘holy man’, who gave Santosh’s mother his blessings, surprised?
Answer:
The holy man expected that like all other families in the villages, the family
would also wish for the birth of a son. However, when he was told by Santosh’s
grandmother that they wanted to have a daughter, he was surprised.
Question
3.
What kind of society was Santosh born in?
Answer:
Santosh was born in Joniyawas, a small village in the Rewari District in
Haryana. The society in this region was very conservative and orthodox. People
were rigidly patriarchal and gender-biased. The birth of a girl was generally
unwelcome and people strictly adhered to conservative traditions.
Question
4.
The grandmother wished her daughter-in-law give birth to a daughter. What light
does this throw on her character?
Answer:
Despite being the member of a conservative family, the grandmother wished to be
blessed with a granddaughter. This was because there were already five boys in
the family. Hence, the family now wished for a daughter. This also shows her as
a woman of progressive views.
Question
5.
What do you know about Santosh’s family?
Answer:
Santosh was born into an affluent family of landlords in a village, Joniyawas,
in the Rewari district of Haryana. She was the sixth child in a conservative
family, the only sister to five brothers. Though financially well-off, her
family was orthodox and conservative in matters related to the education and
upbringing of girls.
Question
6.
Why was Santosh sent to the local school?
Answer:
Santosh’s parents were affluent and could afford to send Santosh to a school in
Delhi. But they sent her to the local village school because they strictly
followed tradition and it was customary in their society to send girls to the
local school only.
Question
7.
How was Santosh different from the other girls of her village?
Answer:
Unlike other girls of her village, Santosh was not content with the traditional
way of life. She used to wear shorts and went on to study further at Delhi. She
did not get married at sixteen as most of the girls of her village did.
Question
8.
Why was Santosh Yadav not content with a traditional way of life? What path did
she choose and why?
Answer:
Right from childhood, Santosh was not content with a traditional way of life
and felt that if she chose a correct and a rational path, the others around her
had to change, not she. She wanted to chart her own course in life, rather than
following the age-old customs and traditions. She wore shorts instead of
traditional attire, went to study in Delhi when girls in her village got
married. When her parents refused to pay for her education, she got them to
agree by informing them of her plans to earn money by working part time to pay.
her school fees. She chose the path of excellence through education, rational
thinking and hard work and achieved unparalleled success as a woman
mountaineer.
Question
9.
When did Santosh leave home for Delhi, and why?
Answer:
Santosh left home for Delhi when she turned sixteen because her parents had
begun to pressurize her to get married in keeping with the traditional practice
in their community. She decided that it was the right moment to rebel and she
quietly got herself enrolled in a school in Delhi to continue her studies.
Question
10.
Why did Santosh’s parents agree to pay for her schooling in Delhi? What mental
qualities of Santosh are brought to light by this incident?
Answer:
At the age of sixteen, Santosh got herself enrolled in a school in Delhi. When
her parents refused to pay for her schooling in Delhi, she politely informed
them that she planned to work part time in order to pay her fees. Her parents
realized that their daughter was independent, had a strong will-power and firm
self-belief. She could take her decisions and also stand by them. They saw her
strong sense of conviction and her passion for education. So, they agreed to
pay for her schooling in Delhi.
Question
11.
In what ways did Santosh show her dissatisfaction with the traditional life in
the family?
Answer:
Santosh Yadav always opposed traditional ways. She wore shorts rather than
wearing traditional dresses. She refused to give up her studies and get married
at the age of sixteen. Though her parents put great pressure on her, she left
her home and came to Delhi for high school, informing her parents she would
earn her own money by working part-time if they refused to pay her fees.
Question
12.
How did Santosh develop a liking for mountain climbing?
Answer:
From the window of her room in the Kasturba Hostel, Jaipur, Santosh used to
watch the villagers going up the hills and then suddenly vanishing after a
while. It inspired her to explore the hills. One day when she decided to check
it out herself, she met a group of mountaineers. The mountaineers allowed her
to join them and encouraged her to take up climbing. Thus, she developed liking
for climbing.
Question
13.
Why did Santosh decide to take up mountaineering?
Answer:
Santosh Yadav began to climb mountains when she met some mountaineers in the
Aravalli Hills, who not only let her join them but also motivated her to take
up mountaineering.
Question
14.
What did Santosh do after being motivated by the mountaineers to take to
climbing?
Answer:
Santosh saved money and enrolled herself in a course at Uttarkashi’s Nehru
Institute of Mountaineering and after completion of her semester in the
college, headed straight for the Institute to be able to reach for her training
in time.
Question
15.
Why did Santosh write a letter of apology to her father?
Answer:
Santosh had got herself enrolled in the Uttarkashi Nehru Institute of
Mountaineering without seeking her father’s permission. She had thought of
talking to her family about this during her holidays. But because her college
term was extended by a few days, there was hardly any time between the end of
the semester and her reporting date at the Institute. Due to her inability to
go home, she wrote a letter of apology to her father.
Question
16.
What is the secret of Santosh’s success as a mountaineer?
Answer:
Santosh had a strong will power, great physical endurance and an amazing mental
toughness. The single- minded determination and dedication helped her overcome
all hurdles to emerge as a winner. She possessed a remarkable resistance to
cold and high altitude. Her climbing skills and hard working nature made it
easy for her.
Question
17.
When did Santosh get an opportunity to scale Mt. Everest?
Answer:
Santosh got an opportunity to scale Mt. Everest in 1992, just four years after
she had met the mountaineers climbing the Aravalli Hills. She was hardly twenty
years of age at that time when she became the youngest woman in the world to
scale the highest peak.
Question
18.
How did Santosh’s seniors and fellow climbers appreciate her?
Answer:
Santosh’s her climbing skills, physical fitness, and mental strength impressed
her seniors, while her concern for others and desire to work together with them
found her a special place in the hearts of fellow climbers.
Question
19.
What incidents during the Everest expedition show Santosh’s concern for her
team-mates?
Answer:
During the 1992 Everest expedition, one of her team-mates lay dying at the
South Col. Santosh made all efforts to look after him. Unfortunately, the
climber could not be saved. However, she did succeed in saving the life of
another fellow-climber, Mohan Singh. Santosh shared her oxygen with him and
saved his life. These incidents show her concern for her team mates.
Question
20.
When did Santosh scale the Mt. Everest for a second time?
Answer:
Santosh was invited by an Indo-Nepalese Women’s expedition to scale Mt. Everest
within a year of her first expedition in 1992. Santosh joined them to climb the
Everest for the second time. Thus, she scaled the Everest twice setting a
record as the only woman to have scaled the Everest two times.
Question
21.
Why is Santosh Yadav’s name recorded twice for climbing Mount Everest?
Answer:
When she scaled the Mount Everest for the first time in 1992, Santosh Yadav, at
the age of twenty, earned the credit for being the youngest woman in the world
to climb the peak. She then scaled the Everest a second time just a year later,
thus setting a record as the only woman to have scaled the Everest twice.
Question
22.
How did the government of India honour Santosh Yadav?
Answer:
Santosh Yadav, by the age of twenty-two had climbed Mt Everest, the highest
mountain peak in the world twice, the only woman in the world to have done so.
In recognition of her achievements, the Indian government bestowed upon her one
of the nation’s top honours, the Padmashri.
Question
23.
What shows Santosh’s concern for the environment?
Answer:
As a fervent environmentalist, Santosh showed her concern for the environment
by collecting and bringing down as much as 500kg of refuse that littered the
mountains.
Question
24.
How did Santosh feel when she found herself on the ‘top of the world’ at the
summit of the Everest?
Answer:
While standing on the “top of the world,” Santosh Yadav was overwhelmed with
emotions of patriotism and bliss. She felt proud as an Indian when she unfurled
the tricolour on Mount Everest. She was so happy that she experienced a kind of
spiritual bliss. She found it hard to articulate her feelings and termed them
as “indescribable”.
Question
25.
How did Santosh Yadav get into the record books?
Answer:
Santosh Yadav got into the record books for the first time when she scaled Mt.
Everest at the age of twenty. She became the youngest woman in the world to
climb Mt. Everest. She scaled the Everest for the second time next year, thus
becoming the only woman in the world to do so.
Question
26.
How did Santosh Yadav set records both the times when scaled Mount Everest?
Answer:
Santosh Yadav set records both the times when scaled Mount Everest. When she
scaled the peak for the first time she was the youngest woman to scale the
Everest and when she climbed it the second time she was the only woman to scale
it twice.
Question
27.
Describe Santosh’s fight against the system?
Answer:
Santosh came from a family that was conservative and orthodox. The society was
patriarchal and the birth of a daughter, though not considered a curse, was not
generally welcome. Girls were educated at the local school, and married off at
the age of sixteen. Right from the beginning Santosh had to fight the system to
assert for her right to equality and education. She never lost her spirit and
determination. She defied all the customs and traditions which limit the girls
within the spheres of family, marriage and children. She ventured into a man’s
domain to become a role model for others.
Reach for the Top Extra Questions and Answers Long Answer
Type
Question
1.
Briefly write what you learn about Santosh Yadav’s parents.
Answer:
Santosh Yadav’s parents were affluent but conservative people. Her father was a
wealthy landlord from Joniyawas village of Rewari District in Haryana. Though
they lived according to the prevailing customs in the village, their love for
their daughter made them often give in to her wishes. They yielded to their
daughter’s demands because they loved her dearly, and knew that she was
sensible enough to have chosen a correct and a rational path. Thus, Santosh got
full support from her parents, which in the long run helped her reach to the
top.
Question
2.
Write a brief note on Santosh’s journey from her local village school to the
Nehru Institute of Mountaineering at Uttarkashi.
Answer:
Born in an affluent but traditional and conservative landowners’ family in a
small village of Rewari district in Haryana, Santosh was a rebel from early
childhood. The local village school, but when her parents insisted she get
married at the age of sixteen, she refused as she wanted to get a proper
education first.
She
got admission in Delhi school, despite her parents’ reluctance to send her
there and informed them politely that she would earn by working part time.
Santosh persuaded her parents to send her to Jaipur for higher studies after
finishing high school. She got admission in Maharani College, Jaipur. She got a
room in Kasturba Hostel which faced the Aravalli hills. She used to see the
villagers going up the hill and disappearing.
This
aroused her curiosity about the mountains. One day, when Santosh went near the
hills, she met some climbers. They encouraged her to take to climbing. This
whetted her interest in climbing and she saved money and took admission in
Nehru Institute of Mountaineering at Uttarkashi.
Question
3.
“If I chose a correct and a rational path, the others around me had to change,
not me”, said Santosh Yadav. How does her life justify her words?
Answer:
Born to conservative parents, Santosh did not want to let the norms of the
patriarchal, gender-biased and rigidly conventional society dictate her life.
Though her name means contentment, Santosh was not always content with her
place in a traditional way of life and wanted to live life on her own terms. In
fact, she believed that if she chose a correct and a rational path, others
would have to change and align themselves to her choices, not her.
She
wore shorts instead of traditional dresses as a child. Santosh resisted the
pressure to get married at the young age of sixteen, declaring that she would
not marry at all if denied proper education. Defying tradition, she got
enrolled in a school in Delhi.
When
her parents refused to pay for her schooling, she informed them that she would
work part-time to manage her school fees. Seeing their daughter’s
determination, her parents had to give in. Taking up mountaineering as her
career was also an independent decision. However, she tried her best not to
hurt her parents and wrote a letter of apology to her father for not having
sought his permission before joining the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering in
Uttarkashi. Thus, despite all odds, Santosh chose for herself a path which was
absolutely unthinkable and unheard of for girls in an orthodox society.
Question
4.
Santosh “decided to fight the system in her own quiet way when the right moment
arrived”. Elaborate.
Answer:
Santosh was a very rational and progressive girl, who wished to shape her life
herself. She says, “From the very beginning I was quite determined that if I
chose a correct and a rational path, the others around me had to change, not
me.” Though it was not easy for a girl who came from a rigid patriarchal and
traditional environment, she decided to fight the system in her own quiet way
when the right moment arrived. And the right moment came when she turned
sixteen. At sixteen, most of the girls in her village used to get married.
Santosh,
too, was under pressure from her parents to do the same. Instead of giving in,
she opposed her parents’ decision to marry her off at the early age of sixteen
and got herself enrolled in a school in Delhi. When her parents refused to pay
for her education in the city, she told them politely that she would earn money
for her fees by working part-time. She politely but firmly made it clear that
she was determined to overcome all obstacles.
Finally,
her parents had to surrender. Her decision to take up mountaineering as a
career was also handled very boldly by her. She took admission in Uttarkashi’s
Nehru Institute of Mountaineering without seeking the permission of her parents
leaving them with no choice but to accept her decision. Thus, Santosh rebelled
against the orthodox, conservative system in a quiet but firm way.
Question
5.
Santosh had all the qualities of a good mountaineer. Comment.
Answer:
Mountaineering is a challenging career which demands great physical and mental
strength. It requires boldness, fearlessness, sturdiness and faith in one’s
abilities. Equipped with an iron will, physical endurance and an amazing mental
toughness, Santosh Yadav was, in fact, made for mountaineering. Just within a
span of four years of her training in mountain climbing, Santosh successfully
scaled Mt. Everest” setting a record for being the youngest woman to climb Mt Everest.
She
repeated this feat in less than a year’s time again and became the only woman
in the world to have scaled the Everest twice. All this was made possible with
her climbing skills, physical fitness and mental strength. Her resistance to
cold and altitude proved to be added advantages. All these qualities, coupled
with her team-spirit and her concern for her fellow climbers made her not only
a good mountaineer but also a very popular one among her superiors and her
fellow climbers.
Question
6.
Santosh is not only a good mountaineer but also a genuinely good human being.
Discuss.
Answer:
Santosh Yadav proved her mountaineering skills quite early in her career. She
displayed an unflinching will and a fearless mind that fought a rigid, orthodox
society to rise to the top. But the iron will and mental toughness did not
overshadow her qualities of co-operation and concern for others. That Santosh
is endowed with a caring heart is obvious from the fact that she took great
care of a climber who lay dying at the South Col. Though, the climber could not
be saved, Santosh’s concern for him was really commendable.
In
another incident, she saved the life of a fellow climber, Mohan Singh, by
sharing her own oxygen with him. This sense of sacrifice and team-spirit won
for her the esteem of her team-mates. Moreover, Santosh’s heart overflowed with
patriotism when she unfurled the national flag on the top of Mt. Everest. Her
concern for the purity of the environment also proves that she is a good human
being. Such is her love for nature that she brought down five hundred kilograms
of rubbish from the Everest. Thus, Santosh is blessed with the human qualities
of both head and heart.
Reach for the Top Extra Questions and Answers Reference to
Context
Read
the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
Question
1.
The only woman in the world who has scaled Mt Everest twice was born in a
society where the birth of a son was regarded as a blessing, and a daughter,
though not considered a curse, was not generally welcome. When her mother was
expecting Santosh, a travelling ‘holy man ’, giving her his blessing, assumed
that she wanted a son. But, to everyone’s surprise, the unborn child’s
grandmother, who was standing close by, told him that they did not want a son.
(a)
Name the only woman in the world who has climbed Mt Everest twice.
Answer:
The only woman to climb Mt Everest twice is Santosh Yadav.
(b)
What blessing did the holy man give her mother when she was expecting Santosh?
Answer:
The holy man blessed her mother that she give birth to a son.
(c)
Why was the holy man, who gave Santosh’s mother his blessings, surprised?
Answer:
The holy man was surprised when the grandmother requested blessing for a girl.
(d)
What does this show about her grandmother?
Answer:
Santosh’s grandmother was a progressive person who did not believe in
conservative views.
Question
2.
The girl was given the name ‘Santosh ’, which means contentment. But Santosh
was not always content with her place in a traditional way of life. She began
living life on her own terms from the start.
(a)
What was the girl named? How was she different from her name?
Answer:
The girl was named Santosh, which means contentment. She was not content with a
traditional way of life.
(b)
What kind of society was Santosh born in?
Answer:
Santosh was born in a society where the birth of a son was regarded as a
blessing, and that of a daughter was not generally welcome.
(c)
How did she began living her life from the beginning?
Answer:
Santosh lived her life on her own terms from the beginning.
(d)
Give an instance of her unconventional behaviour from her childhood?
Answer:
While other girls wore traditional Indian dresses, Santosh preferred shorts.
Question
3.
“From the very beginning I was quite determined that if I chose a correct and a
rational path, the others around me had to change, not me. ”
(a)
Who speaks these words?
Answer:
Santosh Yadav, the mountaineer from Haryana, speaks these words.
(b)
What kind of choices did the speaker make?
Answer:
Santosh Yadav always chose the correct and rational path.
(c)
How was the speaker able to change those around her?
Answer:
Santosh Yadav was able to change those around her by making them yield to her
firm decision through logic and rational argument.
(d)
What light do these words throw on the speaker?
Answer:
These words show that right from her childhood, Santosh did not wish to follow
conventions and tradition blindly, but had a logical and rational approach.
Question
4.
Santosh’s parents were affluent landowners who could afford to send their
children to the best schools, even to the country’s capital, New Delhi, which
was quite close by. But, in line with the prevailing custom in the family,
Santosh had to make do with the local village school.
(a)
What was Santosh’s family background?
Answer:
Santosh belonged to a wealthy landowning family of Haryana.
(b)
Where did Santosh’s parents send their daughter to study? Why?
Answer:
Santosh’s parents sent their daughter to the local village school to study as
it was customary to do so.
(c)
What light does this throw on Santosh’s family?
Answer:
Santosh’s family members were conservative in their thought.
(d)
At what age did Santosh begin to fight the prevailing customs?
Answer:
Santosh began to fight the system at the age of sixteen.
Question
5.
So, she decided to fight the system in her own quiet way when the right moment
arrived. And the right moment came when she turned sixteen.
(a)
Who is ‘she’ in this extract and which system did she decide to fight?
Answer:
‘She’ in the extract refers to Santosh Yadav, the famous mountaineer. She
decided to fight the system of conservative traditions which blocked the
progress of a person, especially a girl.
(b)
How and why did she decide to fight the system?
Answer:
Santosh Yadav decided to fight the system in her quiet but firm way because she
did not want to insult those who supported the traditions nor did she want to
give in to the system.
(c)
What was ‘the right moment’?
Answer:
The right moment was when she turned sixteen and was under pressure from her
parents to get married like other girls of her village.
(d)
What did’ she’ do at this moment?
Answer:
Santosh Yadav did not wish to get married at such a young age, so she
threatened her parents that she would never marry if she was denied proper
education.
Question
6.
A marriage as early as that was the last thing on her mind. She threatened her
parents that she would never marry if she did not get a proper education. She
left home and got herself enrolled in a school in Delhi.
(a)
What is meant by “a marriage as early as that”?
Answer:
In Santosh’s village girls were married off at the age of sixteen.
(b)
What did her parents want Santosh to do?
Answer:
Santosh’s parents wanted her to get married at the age of sixteen.
(c)
What did Santosh do the escape parental pressure?
Answer:
Santosh Yadav left home and got herself enrolled in a school in Delhi.
(d)
What light does this throw on Santosh’s character?
Answer:
Santosh was a person with a progressive way of thought and strong
determination.
Question
7.
When her parents refused to pay for her education, she politely informed them
of her plans to earn money by working part time to pay her school fees.
(a)
Where did Santosh go for her education?
Answer:
Santosh decided to go to Delhi for her education.
(b)
Why did her parents refuse to pay for her education?
Answer:
Her parents refused to pay for her education because Santosh did not follow the
family tradition of getting married early and got herself enrolled in a school
in Delhi against their wishes.
(c)
What does this tell you about her parents?
Answer:
They were conservative and traditional in their thought and tried to pressurise
their daughter into following the same path.
(d)
How did she react to her parents’ decision?
Answer:
Santosh refused to give up her studies and told her parents that she would
manage to pay her school expenses by working part time.
Question
8.
“I used to watch villagers from my room, going up the hill and suddenly
vanishing after a while. One day I decided to check it out myself. I found
nobody except a few mountaineers. I asked if I could join them. To my pleasant
surprise, they answered in the affirmative and motivated me to take to
climbing. ”
(a)
From where did the speaker see people going up the hill?
Answer:
The speaker saw people going up the hill from her room in Kasturba Hostel,
Jaipur.
(b)
Where did she see the villagers going?
Answer:
She saw the villagers going up the hill.
(c)
What did she decide to do one day?
Answer:
One day she decided check out climbing the hill for herself.
(d)
How did this prove a turning point in her life?
Answer:
This climb up the hill with some mountaineers motivated her to take to
mountaineering.
Question
9.
Then there was no looking back for this determined young girl. She saved money
and enrolled in a course at Uttarkashi’s Nehru Institute of Mountaineering.
(a)
What does the word ‘then’ imply?
Answer:
The word ‘then’ implies the point of time from when she took the decision to
take up mountaineering.
(b)
Why did she enrol herself at Uttarkashi’s Nehru Institute of Mountaineering?
Answer:
She enrolled herself at Uttarkashi’s Nehru Institute of Mountaineering to train
for mountaineering.
(c)
How did she pay for the course?
Answer:
She saved money and paid for the course.
(d)
What light does this throw on Santosh’s character?
Answer:
This shows her strong determination and strength of purpose in her desire to
pursue her goals.
Question
10.
I had to write a letter of apology to my father without whose permission I had
got myself enrolled at Uttarkashi.
(a)
Why did Santosh have to write a letter of apology to her father?
Answer:
Santosh Yadav had to write a letter of apology to her father because she had
got herself enrolled for a mountaineering course without seeking his
permission. Moreover, she did not have time to visit her parents as her course
started immediately after her semester exams.
(b)
Where had she enrolled herself and why?
Answer:
She had enrolled herself at the Uttarkashi’s Nehru Institute of Mountaineering
in order to get proper training to pursue her interest in mountain climbing.
(c)
Why didn’t Santosh seek her father’s permission before getting enrolled in the
Institute?
Answer:
Santosh knew that her father would not allow her to pursue a career in
mountaineering, so she decided to let her parents know about it after joining
the institute.
(d)
What light does this extract reflect on the speaker’s character?
Answer:
The extract shows that Santosh was adamant and determined to live life
according to her choices. She did not mean to insult her parents in any way but
at the same time did not wish to let go of her dreams and ambition.
Question
11.
Thereafter, Santosh went on an expedition every year. Her climbing skills
matured rapidly. Also, she developed a remarkable resistance to cold and the
altitude. Equipped with an iron will, physical endurance and an amazing mental
toughness, she proved herself repeatedly.
(a)
On what expedition did Santosh go every year?
Answer:
Santosh went on a mountaineering expedition every year.
(b)
What skills did Santosh develop during her time at the Institute?
Answer:
At the Institute Santosh’s climbing skills matured rapidly. Also, she developed
a remarkable resistance to cold and the altitude.
(c)
What inherent skills did Santosh helped that helped her achieve success in
mountaineering?
Answer:
Santosh possessed an iron will, an immense capacity for physical endurance and
an amazing mental toughness that helped her achieve success in mountaineering.
(d)
At what age did she climb Mt Everest for the first time?
Answer:
Santosh climbed Mt Everest in 1992, at barely twenty years of age, becoming the
youngest woman in the world to do so.
Question
12.
If her climbing skills, physical fitness, and mental strength impressed her
seniors, her concern for others and desire to work together with them found her
a special place in the hearts of fellow climbers.
(a)
Why were her seniors impressed with Santosh?
Answer:
Santosh’s seniors were impressed with her because of her climbing skills,
physical fitness, and mental strength.
(b)
What endeared her to her fellow climbers?
Answer:
Her team-spirit and her concern for her fellow climbers endeared her to them.
(c)
Give an example of Santosh’s concern for others.
Answer:
Santosh Yadav tried her best to save the lives of two fellow climbers. She
succeeded in saving the life of one, Mohan Singh, by sharing her oxygen with
him.
(d)
What great honour was given to Santosh by the Indian government in recognition
of her achievements?
Answer:
In recognition of her achievements the Indian government bestowed upon her one
of the nation’s top honours, the Padmashri.
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