Comprehension Check (Page 69)

Question 1:
How does Tilloo manage to find his way to the ‘forbidden passage’?

Question 2:
What did Tilloo hope to see once he emerged from his underground home?

Question 3:
Why did Tilloo’s father advise him not to try to reach the surface of the planet?

Question 4:
What changes had occurred, which forced people to live in underground homes?

Answers:

1. One day Tilloo’s daddy was asleep. The boy picked up daddy’s I-card. Then he walked towards
the forbidden secret passage. The card helped him open the door and enter the passage.
2. Tilloo hoped to see the sun or the stars after getting out of his underground home.
3. Tilloo’s father told him not to try to go to the surface of the planet because he won’t be able to
breathe in the thin air or withstand the low temperature there.
4. The changing heat of the sun created conditions that killed all animals and birds. The air became
thin and human beings could freeze to death.

Comprehension Check (Page-71)

Question 1:
Why was everyone in the Control Room greatly excited?

Question 2:
Was the spacecraft manned or unmanned? How do you know it?

Question 3:
What did Number One and Number Two suggest should be done about the alien spacecraft?

Answers:

1. Everyone in the Control Room was greatly excited because they had seen two spacecrafts coming
towards their planet.
2. The spacecraft that landed on the surface was unmanned. It contained only instruments. A
mechanical hand tried to collect samples of soil.
3. The Number One was in charge of defence. He suggested that they should wait till the craft landed
on the surface. Then they could easily make it ineffective. Number Two also suggested that they
should wait and watch. It would be unwise to reveal their existence by attacking the spacecraft.

Comprehension Check (Page-73)

Question 1:
What do you think the mechanical hand was trying to do?

Question 2:
Tilloo pressed the red button and “the damage was done”. What was the damage?

Question 3:
Where had the spacecraft come from?
Question 4:
On which planet do Tilloo and his parents live?

Answers:

1. The mechanical hand that emerged from the alien spacecraft, was trying to collect samples of soil
from the surface of Mars. The purpose was to study if there was life on it.
2. Tilloo pressed the red button. It is dad who made it neutral again. But the damage was done. The
mechanical hand stopped working. It became inactive.
3. The spacecraft had come from the planet Earth. It was sent by NASA (National Aeronautics and
Space Administration, America).
4. Tilloo and his parents live on a planet with thin air, freezing cold and no animals on surface.

Exercises (Page-73)

Discuss the following topics in groups.

Question 1:
If you had to live in a home like Tilloo’s , what parts of life would you find most difficult? What
compensations might there be?
Answer:
Living underground in artificial conditions without the light/warmth of the stars and the sun, must be very
troublesome and dull. The only compensation of such a home is safety and security, controlled light and
heat.

Question 2:
What, if anything, might drive mankind to make their homes underground?
Answer:
If the Sun grows cold, life on earth would be in danger of extinction. The temperature will go below freezing
point. People will be forced to live underground with assured supply of oxygen, light and heat.

Question 3:
Do you think there is life on other planets? Can you guess what kind of people there may be on them? In
what ways are they likely to be different from us?
Answer:
Scientists are trying hard to find out if there is any form of life on planets around the sun. So far they have
sent spacecrafts to the moon and Mars, collected samples of soil and taken snapshots. But they have not
found definite proof of life on them.
The kind of people, if they exist at all on any other planet, would be quite different from us. They must have
adjusted themselves to strange and unfriendly environment there.

MORE QUESTIONS SOLVED

I. SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS

Question 1:
What do you know about the Viking Mission to Mars?
Answer:
The National Aeronautics and Space Administrator’s (NASA) Viking Mission to Mars was composed of two
spacecraft, Viking 1 and Viking 2. Viking 1 was launched, on 20 August 1975 and arrived at Mars on 19
June 1976. Viking 2 was launched on 9 September 1975. It entered Mar’s orbit on 7 August 1976 Both
consisted of an orbiter and a lander.

Question 2:
What were the primary objectives of the NASA Viking Mission to Mars?
Answer:
The primary objectives of the NASA Viking Mission to Mars were-
(i) To obtain images and samples of the Martian surface and soil,
(ii) To search for any possible signs of life there,
(iii) To search the presence of living microorganisms in the soil near the landing sites.

Question 3:
What do you know about ‘That way*?
Answer:
That way’ was an underground passage. Tilloo’s father went for work and returned from there along that
passage. The people were curious to know what lay at the end of that forbidden route. Only select few
persons were permitted to go that way. Tilloo’s father was one of them.

Question 4:
What was the metal door’s function? How did it open?
Answer:
The metal door’s function was to bar the entry to the underground passage. Tilloo slipped his father’s
security ( magic ) card into a slot. The door opened noiselessfy.

Question 5:
Why was Tilloo escorted back home?
Answer:
Tilloo had slipped his father’s security card into the slot. It came out of another slot. The invisible
mechanical devices detected and photographed Tilloo. His picture was sent to the Central Bureau. The
security persons caught him and escorted him back home.