NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English First Flight Chapter 3 Two Stories About Flying
THINKING ABOUT THE TEXT (Page 40)
1. “I’ll take the risk.” What is the risk ? Why does the narrator take it ?
Answer: The ‘risk’ is flying the old Dakota aeroplane straight into the storm. The narrator took the risk because he wanted to be with his family desperately and have English breakfast.
2. Describe the narrator’s experience as he flew the aeroplane into the storm.
Answer: The narrator found that suddenly there was blackness around him inside the clouds. He could see nothing outside the aeroplane. The aeroplane jumped and twisted in the air. The instruments like the compass and the radio did not work. He was lost in the storm. Then he saw another aeroplane. It guided him ahead. Then it disappeared when the author was safe.
3. Why does the narrator say, “I landed and was not sorry to walk away from the old Dakota…” ?
Answer: The author was not sorry to walk away from the old Dakota because it had saved his life. He was filled with gratitude for the pilot in the other aeroplane and desperately wanted to thank him for helping him in such a fearsome situation.
4. What made the woman in the control centre look at the narrator strangely ?
Answer: The narrator asked the lady about the mysterious aeroplane that had guided him through the dark clouds to land on the runway safely. But there was no such aeroplane over there except the narrator’s Dakota DS 088 in the radar. So the narrator’s question about that aeroplane startled her. She gave him a puzzled look.
5. Who do you think helped the narrator to reach safely ? Discuss this among yourselves and give reasons for your answer.
Answer: I think that the narrator himself landed the aeroplane safely on the runway. It seems that the narrator was quite tensed as the instruments had stopped working in the storm. The appearance of the mysterious aeroplane was perhaps a fantasy at that particular time. Later the narrator had overcome his fear and landed his Dakota DS 088 safely on the runway.
THINKING ABOUT 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. (Page 40)
1. Go and have a bath ; your hands and face are absolutely black. _______
Answer: black refers to black colour—guessed right
2. The taxi-driver gave Ratan a black look as he crossed the road when the traffic light was green. _______
Answer: black refers to angry look—guessed right
3. The bombardment of Hiroshima is one of the blackest crimes against humanity. _______
Answer: black means here a very horrible crime—guess appropriate
4. Very few people enjoy Harold Pinter’s black comedy. _______
Answer: black here means ‘dark’ (dark colour)—guess wrong
5. Sometimes shopkeepers store essential goods to create false scarcity and then sell these in black. _______
Answer: black here means charging more—guess right means more money than the actual price
6. Villagers had beaten the criminal black and blue. _______
Answer: black and blue means black and blue colours—guess wrong
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:
| 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 |
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: The following words have same or nearly same meaning of ‘move through air using wings’ :
- Swoop
- Flit
- Flutter
- Float
- Skim
- Hover
- Glide
- Soar
- Sail
WRITING
Have you ever been alone or away from home during a thunderstorm ? Narrate your experience in a paragraph.
Answer:
When I was Caught in a Thunderstorm
Last Sunday was a memorable rainy day in my life. I along with my friends was going to the Lataguri Forest on a day tour. The day was unbearably hot and uncomfortable. But as we started our journey, the sky became overcast with deep and dark clouds. There were thunders followed by flashes of lightening. We felt scared at this sudden change of weather. We feared for our safety as movement was almost impossible. The sky rained heavily for more than an hour. It grew dark soon and temperature suddenly dropped down low. We found ourselves completely drenched as we took shelter in an old temple shed. We had to postpone our tour because of the heavy downpour but I was quite happy. When the rain stopped, we returned home. The roads, the lands and the trees were looking new and fresh. I changed my clothes after reaching home and had a cup of hot tea. It filled me with an indefinable joy as I looked the changed landscape outside my window.
