Solution of Chapter 3. Two Stories about Flying (First Flight - English Book)

Why was the young seagull afraid to fly? Do all young birds are afraid to make their first flight or are some birds more timid than the others? Do you think a human baby also finds it a challenge to take its first step?

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

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

Have you ever had a similar experience, where your parents encouraged you to do something that you were too scared to try? Discuss this in pairs or groups.

In the case of a bird flying, it seems a natural act and a foregone conclusion that it should succeed. In the examples you have given in answer to the previous question, was your success guaranteed or was it important for you to try, regardless of a possibility of failure?

We have read about the first flight of a young seagull. Your teacher will now divide the class into groups. Each group will work on one of the following topics. Prepare a presentation with your group member’s and then present it to the entire class.

A) Progression of models of Airplane

B) Progression of models of Motor cars

C) Birds and their wing span

D) Migratory birds-tracing their flights

Write a short composition on your initial attempt at learning a skill. You could describe the challenges of learning to ride a bicycle or learning to swim. Make it as humorous as possible.

“I’ll take the risk.” What is the risk? Why does the narrator take it?

Describe the narrator’s experience as he flew the aeroplane into the storm.

Why does the narrator say, “I landed and was not sorry to walk away from the Old Dakota”?

What made the woman in the control center look at the narrator strangely?

Who do you think helped the narrator to reach safely? Discuss this among yourself and give reasons for your answer.

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 aero plane.

(d) The strange black aero plane was there.

The word ‘black’ in sentences (a) and (c) refer to a very dark colour i.e. the colour of the clouds mentioned in both these sentences.

Whereas

In sentences (b) and (d) it means lack of light or without light.

Thus, the word ‘Black’ has a variety of meanings in different contexts.

Now, consider the following sentences for example:

(a) ‘I prefer black tea’ means ‘I prefer tea without milk’.

(b) ‘With increasing pollution the future of the world is Black ‘which means ‘with increasing pollution the future of the world is very depressing/without hope.”

In sentence (a) the person is conveying his preference by saying that he prefers Black Tea which is a Tea without milk.

Whereas

In sentence (b) the person is conveying the hazards of pollution which is making the future of the world Black. By using the word black here, he is referring to the bleak and depressing future of the world.

Consider the following sentences and guess the meanings.

1. Go and have a bath; your hands and face are absolutely black…………………

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

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

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

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

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

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 (a) the author was controlling an aircraft in the air.

In the second sentence (b) the seagull was afraid to move through the air, using its wings.

Another example can be: Children are flying kites

III. Match the phrases given under column A with their meanings given under column B.

We know that the bird ‘fly’ (of birds/insects) means to move through the air using wings. Tick the words which have the same or nearly the same meaning.

Have you ever been alone or away from home during a thunderstorm? Narrate your experience in a paragraph.

Does ‘dyin’ really rhyme with ‘lion’? Can you say it in such a way that it does?

How does the poet suggest that you identify the lion and the tiger? When can you do so, according to him?

Do you think the word ‘lept’ and ‘lep’ in the third stanza are spelt correctly? Why does the poet spell them like this?

Do you know what a ‘bearhug’ is? It’s a friendly and strong hug- such as bears thought to give, as they attack you! Again, hyenas are thought to laugh, and crocodiles to weep (‘crocodile’s tears’) as they swallow their victims. Are there similar expressions and popular ideas about wild animals in your own language(s)?

Look at the line “A novice might nonplus”. How would you write this correctly’? Why is the poets ‘incorrect’ line better in the poem?

“A novice might nonplus”

Can you find other examples of poets taking liberties with language, either in English or in your own language(s)? Can you find examples of humorous poems in your own language(s)?

Much of the humor in the poem arises from the way language is used, although the ideas are funny as well. If there are particular lines in the poem that you especially like, share these with the class, speaking briefly about what it is about the ideas or the language that you like or find funny.

Why does the poet say, “I would not intrude on him”? Why doesn’t he offer him money to buy another ball?

“……………starting down/All his young days into the harbor where/his ball went…’ Do you think the boy has had the ball for a long time? Is it linked to the memories of days when he played with it?

What does “in the world of possessions” mean?

Do you think the boy has lost anything earlier? Pick out the words that suggest the answer?

What does the poet say the boy is learning from the loss of the ball? Try to explain this in your own words.

Have you ever lost something you liked very much? Write a paragraph describing how you felt then, and saying whether-and how-you got over your loss.