NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Beehive Chapter 8 Reach for the Top

 
Thinking about the Text
(Page 102)

I. Answer these questions in one or two sentences each. (The paragraph numbers within brackets provide clues to the answers.)

Question 1.
Why was the ‘holy man’ who gave Santosh’s mother his blessings surprised? (1)
Answer:
The ‘holy man’ who gave Santosh’s mother his blessings was surprised because her grandmother sought blessings for a daughter. In this society most of the people ask the seers to bless for a son.

Question 2.
Give an example to show that even as a young girl Santosh was not ready to accept anything unreasonable. (2)
Answer:
She used to wear shorts and not the traditional dresses meant for girls.

Question 3.
Why was Santosh sent to the local school? (3)
Answer:
She was sent to the local school in line with the prevailing custom in the family.

Question 4.
When did she leave home for Delhi, and why? (4)
Answer:
She left home for Delhi to get proper education. She was sixteen at that time.

Question 5.
Why did Santosh’s parents agree to pay for her schooling in Delhi? What mental qualities of Santosh are brought into light by this incident? (4)
Answer:
Her parents got ready because she informed them of her plans to earn money by working part time to pay her school fees.

II. Answer each of these questions in a short paragraph (about 30 words).
Question 1.
How did Santosh begin to climb mountains?
Answer:
She wished to climb mountains when she watched villagers from her room, going up the hill and suddenly vanishing after a while. One day, she decided to check it out herself. She found nobody except a few mountaineers. Later she saved money and enrolled in a course at Uttarkashi’s Nehru Institute of Mountaineering. Then she began climb mountains every year.

Question 2.
What incidents during the Everest expedition show Santosh’s concern for her team-mates?
Answer:
Santosh Yadav provided special care to a climber who lay dying at the south pole in 1992 Everest Mission. She saved Mohan Singh, who would have lost his life had she not shared her oxygen with him.

Question 3.
What shows her concern for the environment?
Answer:
Santosh was really concerned for the environment. She collected and brought down 500 kilograms of garbage from the Himalayas.

Question 4.
How does she describe her feelings at the summit of the Everest?
Answer:
She said that it took some time for the enormity of the moment to sink in. She was delighted at this moment and proudly unfurled the Indian tricolour.

Question 5.
Santosh Yadav got into the record books both times she scaled Mt. Everest. What were the reasons for this?
Answer:
She is the youngest woman who scaled the Everest. She is the only woman who climbed the Everest twice.

III. Complete the following statements:
From her room in Kasturba Hostel, Santosh used to ………………
When she finished college, Santosh had to write a letter of apology to her father because ………………
During the Everest expedition, her seniors in the team admired her ……………… while ……………… endeared her to fellow climbers.
Answers:
… see the villagers going up the hill and suddenly vanishing after a while.
… she was going directly for training and not home which she should have done.
… climbing skills, physical fitness and mental strength while working together endeared her to fellow climbers.

IV. Pick out words from the text that mean the same as the following words or expressions. (Look in the paragraphs indicated.)
took to be true without proof
………………………………
based on reason; sensible; reasonable
………………………………
the usual way of doing things (para 3):
………………………………
a strong desire arising from within (5):
the power to endure, without falling
ill (7): …………………….
Answers:
blessing
rational
custom
urge
resistance/endurance


Thinking about language
(Page 107)

Look at the following sentences. They each have two clauses, or two parts each with their own subject and verb or verb phrase. Often, one part (italicised) tells us when or why something happened.
I reached the market when most of the shops had closed. (Tells us when I reached.)
When Rahul Dravid walked back towards the pavilion, everyone stood up. (Tells us when everyone stood up.)
The telephone rang and Ganga picked it up. (Tells us what happened next.)
Gunjan has been with us ever since the school began. (Tells us for how long he has been with us.)

I. Identify the two parts in the sentences below by underlining the part that gives us the information in brackets, as shown above.

Question 1.
Where other girls wore traditional Indian dresses, Santosh preferred shorts. (Contrasts her dress with that of others.)
Answer:
Where other girls wore traditional Indian dresses, Santosh preferred shorts.

Question 2.
She left home and got herself enrolled in a school in Delhi. (Tells us what happened after the first action.)
Answer:
She left home and got herself enrolled in a school in Delhi.

Question 3.
She decided to fight the system when the right moment arrived. (Tells us when she was going to fight the system?)
Answer:
She decided to fight the system when the right moment arrived.

Question 4.
Little Maria had not yet celebrated her tenth birthday when she was packed off to train in the United States. (Tells us when Maria was sent to the US?)
Answer:
Little Maria had not yet celebrated her tenth birthday when she was packed off to train in the United States.

II. Now rewrite the pairs of sentences given below as one sentence.
Question 1.
Grandfather told me about the old days. All books were printed on paper then.
Answer:
Grandfather told me about the old days when all books were printed on paper.

Question 2.
What do you do after you finish the book? Perhaps you just throw it away.
Answer:
Perhaps you just throw the book away after reading it.

Question 3.
He gave the little girl an apple. He took the computer apart.
Answer:
After giving the little girl an apple, he took the computer apart.

Question 4.
You have nothing. That makes you very determined.
Answer:
You have nothing which makes you very determined.

Question 5.
I never thought of quitting. I knew what I wanted.
Answer:
I never thought of quitting as I knew what I wanted.

NCERT Solutions