9 english reach for the top

8/14/2019 9 English Reach for the Top

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Finish Line & Beyond

Reach for the Top

I. Answer these questions in one or two sentences each.

1. Why was the holy man who gave Santoshs mother his blessings sur-prised?

Answer: The part of India where Santosh was born has a negative bias against girlchild. So the holy man was surprised because Santoshs grandmother wished for agirl child. 2. Give an example to show that even as a young girl Santosh was not ready

to accept anything unreasonable.

Answer: Santosh liked to wear shorts instead of traditional dress prevalent in hervillage. This shows her rebellious attitude and shows that since early age she had amind of her own.

3. Why was Santosh sent to the local school?

Answer: It is a customary to send a girl child to local school because the aim is tomake them literate enough to enable them to read and write. The purpose is noteducation but literacy.

4. When did she leave home for Delhi, and why?

Answer: When she turned 16 she wanted to pursue higher education so she left forDelhi.

5. Why did Santoshs parents agree to pay for her schooling in Delhi? Whatmental qualities of Santosh are brought into light by this incident?

Answer: Santosh threatened to work part time to manage her school fees. ON hear-ing this her parents agreed to pay for her schooling in Delhi. This incidence showsSantosh level of determination towards her goal.

II. Answer each of these questions in a short paragraph (about 30 words).

1. How did Santosh begin to climb mountains?

Answer: While she was staying at her hostel in Jaipur, she used to see people climb-ing the Arawali hills. When her curiosity compelled her to go for looking for thosepeople she found them to be mountaineers. On her request they agreed to let her

join them in mountain climbing. This is how her journey to become a great moun-taineer began.

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2. What incidents during the Everest expedition show Santoshs concern forher team-mates?

Answer: During her Everest expedition she tried save her fellow climbers lives. Sheshared her oxygen cylinder with her team mates. Although one of her team matescould not be saved but another one could be saved because of Santoshs help. 3. What shows her concern for the environment?

Answer: While returning from the Everest she brought back 500 kgs of rubbish fromthere. Many mountaineers go for conquering the Everest every year. They leave lotsof garbage in their trail. This is threatening the ecology of the Everest. Sontoshs actof bringing back some garbage shows her concern for the environment.

4. How does she describe her feelings at the summit of the Everest?

Answer: She describes that she was overawed by the experience of reaching at thetop of the world. The feeling took its own time to sink in. Then she unfurled the tri-colour on the roof of the world. This was a spiritual experience for her.

5. Santosh Yadav got into the record books both times she scaled MtEverest. What were the reasons for this?

Answer: When she scaled the Everest for the first time she became the youngestwoman to reach there. When she went there next time she became the only womanto achieve the feat twice.



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On Killing a Tree

It takes much time to kill a tree,Not a simple jab of the knifeWill do it. It has grownSlowly consuming the earth,Rising out of it, feedingUpon its crust, absorbingYears of sunlight, air, water,And out of its leprous hideSprouting leaves.

This poem is appreciating the resilient qualities of a tree. It takes years for a tree togrow into a full sized one. A tree grows at a slow pace consuming the earth. It keepson absorbing water, air and sunlight for years and sprouts leaves from its skin in the

process. In a sense a tree contains all the powerful energy which the mother earthprovides. So this is very difficult to kill a tree. A simple knife injury wont do thetrick. This is opposite to frail human beings who can be killed by a knife.

So hack and chopBut this alone wont do it.Not so much pain will do it.The bleeding bark will healAnd from close to the groundWill rise curled green twigs,Miniature boughsWhich if unchecked will expand againTo former size.

One needs to chop the full tree, but even this wont be enough. The tree heals it in- jured bark and from the ground it will once again rise with another miniature replicaof its original self, which will ultimately grow to a full size tree. This is a great qualityof rising from the ashes which we should try to learn. No matter how much adversityis around the corner one should never say it quits.

No,The root is to be pulled out Out of the anchoring earth;It is to be roped, tied,And pulled out snapped outOn Killing a TreeOr pulled out entirely,Out from the earth-cave,And the strength of the tree exposedThe source, white and wet,The most sensitive, hiddenFor years inside the earth.Then the matterOf scorching and chokingIn sun and air,



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Browning, hardening,Twisting, withering,And then it is done.

More than cutting the outer tree one needs to strangulate the real source of life of the tree. This is the root of the tree. This is the pure white and most sensitive part of the tree, which remains hidden inside the earth. The hidden root gives all the susten-ance to a tree. One needs to snap this source of life to kill a tree.

Trees go on to live on for years. There are some trees in the Amazon forest which aresaid to be more than five hundred years old. We may take some lesson from them tospread our roots deep inside the earth. There had been some great people of yes-teryears who still live in our memories. They had spread their roots inside our con-sciousness and as a result refuse to die.

GIEVE PATEL

Trees

I think that I shall never seeA poem lovely as a tree.A tree whose hungry mouth is prestAgainst the earths sweet flowing breast;A tree that looks at God all dayAnd lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wearA nest of robins in her hair;Upon whose bosom snow has lain;Who intimately lives with rain.Poems are made by fools like me,But only God can make a tree.

The poet appreciates the ultimate beauty of a tree and says that a poem is nothingin terms of beauty when compared with a tree. The tree keeps its hungry mouthpressed against the breast of the earth. The earths breast is perpetually flowing withsweet life giving energy. A tree always looks towards heaven as if praying to the Godby lifting her leafy arms. During summer a tree wears a birds nest like an ornamentin its hair. This is all about following the philosophy of live and let live. A tree wel-comes both snow and rain with equal zest. The quality of being happy in all condi-tions, good and bad, is what makes a tree the real beauty.

Poems are made by mere mortals like you and me, so it cannot stand against a treewhich is made by the God.

JOYCE KILMER


9 english reach for the top

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