Story I His First Flight

EXTRA QUESTIONS:
1. How did the seagull feel when his belly touched the green sea ? [
Ans:When the seagull’s belly touched the green sea, he was scared that he would sink.
He tried to fly but could not. He was exhausted and weak due to hunger.

2.“Still they- took no notice of him.” What did the seagull do to draw the attention of
his family?
Ans:The young seagull stepped slowly out to the extreme edge of the ledge. He was
standing on one leg with the other leg hidden under his wing. He closed one eye, then
the other, and pretended to be asleep and they took no notice of him.
3.What did the young seagull do to attract his mother’s attention ?
Ans.In order to attract his mother’s attention, the young seagull stood on one leg and
pretended to be falling asleep on the brink of the ledge.
4.Do you think that the seagull’s family loved him? Justify their attitude towards him?
Ans:The young seagull had two brothers and a sister. His parents flew with them to
leave him alone on the ledge as he could not muster up the courage to fly with them.
His parents could have fed him.
But, they refused to give him any food. They wanted him to fly and dive for his food.
They threatened to let him starve. They did so because they loved him.
The parents were right in what they did because they wanted to teach him the
importance of confidence and self-reliance. One can’t depend on their parents all his
life to be fed. Thus, it was important for him to learn to fly, dive and search his own
food. So, the attitude the seagull family showed to him was actually their love, care
and concern for him.

5.Fear and lack of confidence stop one from learning new things. Do you agree? How
did these two traits of the young seagull make him coward? How did he overcome
these short comings?
Ans:Yes, It is true that fear and lack of confidence stop one from learning new things
as in the story, the young seagull lacked the value of courage and confidence in his
character. He was too scared of flying. His family tried hard to make him fly but he
refused to do so because of his fear of sinking in the seawater. They even scolded him
for his cowardice. They tried to tempt him with food but he was not willing to learn
flying. Once he dived, his fear disappeared and he enjoyed his first flight.
It is a fact that unless we try for something and overcome our fear, we can’t learn
anything. Confidence and motivation are two most important traits that make any
learning possible.

6.Did upbraiding and threatening of his parents help him in flying?

Answer: The parents of the young seagull did try to teach his young one the art of
flying. He wouldn’t simply move from his ledge. They would fly around him
encouraging and challenging him to follow them. When he wouldn’t budge, his
parents would fly around calling him shrilly. They would upbraid and threaten to let
him starve unless he flew away.
7.Compare and contrast the young seagull in the beginning and at the end of the
lesson.
Ans: In the beginning, the seagull is a coward. He lacks confidence. The time has
come when he should fly. His parents try to teach him how to fly. But he is too afraid
to fly. He refuses to fly. His parents leave him alone on the ledge. They threaten him
that he would starve. His brothers and sisters make fun of him. They call him a
coward. Even then the seagull does not fly. However, he falls from the rock when he
tries to get the fish from his mother.The next moment he flaps his wings and starts
flying. Now he is full of confidence. He starts crying with joy. He flies higher and
higher. He is no longer afraid. He overcomes his fear of the water also. He finds that
he can float on the surface of the seta. His family members praise him and give him
pieces of fish to eat. In this way, there is a difference in the behaviour of the seagull at
the beginning and end of the story.

STORY 2-THE BLACK AEROPLANE

1.Explain the statement: ‘I was very happy to go behind the strange aeroplane like an
obedient child.

Answer: The pilot came across huge storm clouds. He could neither go above them
nor go around them due to lack of fuel. Then, he saw a black plane without lights on
wings, flying near his plane. Its pilot waved and signalled him to follow him. The
author did not have much choice but to follow him.

2. “I’ll take the risk.” What is the risk? Why does the pilot of the old Dakota take it?

Answer: The risk is that of going through the storm in the narrator’s old Dakota
aeroplane. He flew through as he did not have fuel to fly around them, and couldn’t
fly over them. Also, he wanted to get home for a big English breakfast.

3.Recount the experience of the pilot of the Dakota inside the black clouds.

Ans: The pilot found that everything was black inside the clouds. It was impossible to
see anything outside the aeroplane. The old aeroplane rolled and jumped in the air.
The compass and other instruments stopped working. Suddenly his radio also went
dead.

4.How did the black aeroplane rescue the first pilot?

Ans: The pilot of the black aeroplane waved his hand. He gestured the first pilot to
follow him. The writer followed him. He followed the black plane for half an hour.
Suddenly, his plane was out of the clouds. He could see the lights of the airport and
landed his aeroplane. In this way, the black aeroplane rescued the first pilot
5.The narrator had two options of avoiding the terrible storm clouds. Why didn’t he
use them? Was his decision of flying straight into storm clouds a sound decision?
Give a reasoned answer.

Ans: The narrator could see black mountains of clouds all around him. They were
storm clouds. He had two options and by using them he could avoid the terrible storm
clouds. He could go back to Paris. He had left Paris 150 kilometres behind. He wanted
to go back but the temptation of having an early breakfast at home stopped him. He
couldn’t fly up and above the storm clouds either. He didn’t have enough fuel to fly
around them to the north or south.

It seems that flying back to Paris would have been the best option in those
circumstances. He couldn’t fly north and south of the storm as he hadn’t enough fuel
in the second tank. His decision of flying straight into the storm clouds was motivated
by his having an early English breakfast with his family. It was rather a bold but risky
decision. He would have been in deep trouble, had the pilot of the strange black
aeroplane not helped him to safety.

6.The pilot wanted to thank another pilot after his safe landing. Why? What values of
the writer are reflected from his action?
Ans:The pilot (writer) of the old Dakota was caught in the storm. He lost his contact
with the control room. In this troubling situation, his fuel tank was also empty. He lost
all his hopes but suddenly a black strange plane appeared. The pilot of the black place
asked writer to follow him. The writer landed safely. After his safe landing, he wanted
to thank the pilot of the black plane. This shows his gratitude towards the pilot of the
Black Plane. He was thankful to him for saving his life. It shows that the pilot of
Dakota had a value of gratefulness in his character