Read the extracts and answer the questions that follow:

'I do not admit that the bee would have been justified in stinging even the human being – who after all, is master of this partially civilized planet.' (Para 1)

i) Who is 'the human being' mentioned here?

ii) Explain the reference to a 'partially civilized planet'?

iii) Why does he describe it as 'partially civilized'?

i) The human being referred here is the man the author has used in one of his examples – a retired policeman situated five miles away who had whipped the bee with the help of a spade and had enraged the bee so much that it set out on a rage seeking to sting any creature it finds on its way – be it humans or animals or even birds.

ii) The author describes human beings as the master of our ‘partially civilized planet’. Ours is a planet that has a wide assortment of living beings. Some of them live in harmony with each other like a civilised world. However, a majority of creatures are rather discordant among each other and cause harm knowingly.

It seems the author has deliberately referred to a ‘partially civilized planet’, because he wishes to present an irony on ‘civilization’ – a word humans use to describe their way of life. The author is perhaps seeking to question the very basis of their civilised state, as even if we omit out animals and birds, human beings among themselves have failed to learn to live in harmony. This is the reason the author has referred to the planet as ‘partially civilized’.

iii) The author describes human beings as the master of our ‘partially civilized planet’. Ours is a planet that has a wide assortment of living beings. Some of them live in harmony with each other like a civilised world. However, a majority of creatures are rather discordant among each other and cause harm knowingly. Even if we omit out animals and birds, human beings among themselves have failed to learn to live in harmony.

Creatures such as mosquitoes cause deliberate harm and seem rather selfish in doing nothing but spreading fatal diseases. Only a small number of human beings remain in harmony among each other and with nature, and so is the case with other creatures. This is the reason the author has referred to the planet as ‘partially civilized’.