What difference did you notice between the reaction of the adults and the children when faced with danger?
There are some differences between the adults and children reaction when they found themselves in scary and tough times. When the weather started worsening then as a responsible captain Gordon took the necessary precautions. And did whatever he could to handle the situation and to save themselves. They equipped everyone with lifelines, water proof clothes, and life jackets. Larry and Herb were continuously pumping out the water from the ship. When Gordon had to go to the cabin to children then Mary controlled the wheel when ship got smashed by the giant wave. And they got their first meal in 2 days. The narrator repaired the holes and found the electric pump circuit and connected it to the pipe. Then Sue and Jon showed the courage and adulthood in that difficult situation. Sue saw that everybody was panic and doing everything to save themselves so she didn’t tell about her pain and serious injury to her daddy. And Jon showed courage by saying we are not afraid to die, if we all can be together.
How does the story suggest that optimism helps to endure “the direst stress”?
Why do you think people undertake such adventurous expeditions in spite of the risks involved?
Describe the shifts in the narration of the events as indicated in the three sections of the text. Give a subtitle to each section.
What lessons do we learn from such hazardous experiences when we are face-to-face with death?
List the steps taken by the captain
(i) to protect the ship when rough weather began.
(ii) to check the flooding of the water in the ship.
Here are the terms for different kinds of vessels: yacht, boat, canoe, ship, steamer, schooner. Think of similar terms in your language.
Describe the mental condition of the voyagers on 4 and 5 January.
Have you heard any boatmen’s songs? What kind of emotions do these songs usually express?
We have come across words like ‘gale’ and ‘storm’ in the account. Here are two more words for ‘storm’: typhoon, cyclone. How many words does your language have for ‘storm’?
‘Catamaran’ is a kind of a boat. Do you know which Indian language this word is derived from? Check the dictionary.
Give reasons for the following.
(i) King Tut’s body has been subjected to repeated scrutiny.
(ii) Howard Carter’s investigation was resented.
(iii) Carter had to chisel away the solidified resins to raise the king’s remains.
(iv) Tut’s body was buried along with gilded treasures.
(v) The boy king changed his name from Tutankhaten to Tutankhamun.
The three phases of the author’s relationship with his grandmother before he left the country to study abroad.
(i) Contrast the Chinese view of art with the European view with examples.
(ii) Explain the concept of shanshui.
Locate the lines in the text that support the title ‘The Ailing Planet’.
Comment on the attitude shown by Taplow towards Crocker-Harris.
(i) List the deeds that led Ray Johnson to describe Akhenaten as “wacky”.
(ii) What were the results of the CT scan?
(iii) List the advances in technology that have improved forensic analysis.
(iv) Explain the statement, “King Tut is one of the first mummies to be scanned — in death, as in life...”
Three reasons why the author’s grandmother was disturbed when he started going to the city school.
(i) What do you understand by the terms ‘outsider art’ and ‘art brut’ or ‘raw art’?
(ii) Who was the “untutored genius who created a paradise” and what is the nature of his contribution to art?
What does the notice ‘The world’s most dangerous animal’ at a cage in the zoo at Lusaka, Zambia, signify?
Does Frank seem to encourage Taplow’s comments on Crocker-Harris?
Which language do you think the author and his grandmother used while talking to each other?
Three ways in which the author’s grandmother spent her days after he grew up.
Why does the author aver that the growth of world population is one of the strongest factors distorting the future of human society?
The way in which the sparrows expressed their sorrow when the author’s grandmother died.
(i) What do you understand by the terms ‘outsider art’ and ‘art brut’ or ‘raw art’?
(ii) Who was the “untutored genius who created a paradise” and what is the nature of his contribution to art?
Discuss the following in groups of two pairs, each pair in a group taking opposite points of view.
1. Scientific intervention is necessary to unearth buried mysteries.
2. Advanced technology gives us conclusive evidence of past events.
3. Traditions, rituals and funerary practices must be respected.
4. Knowledge about the past is useful to complete our knowledge of the world we live in.
What is the language spoken in Flanders?
Describe the changing relationship between the author and his grandmother. Did their feelings for each other change?
Comment on the attitude shown by Taplow towards Crocker-Harris.
(i) List the deeds that led Ray Johnson to describe Akhenaten as “wacky”.
(ii) What were the results of the CT scan?
(iii) List the advances in technology that have improved forensic analysis.
(iv) Explain the statement, “King Tut is one of the first mummies to be scanned — in death, as in life...”