10th English Unit 1 - 1.1 Prose (His First Flight) Text Book & Additional Solutions

Content Description
Class	Tenth Standard (10th)
Subject	English
Unit	1
Section	1.1 Prose - His First Flight

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Textual Questions

Book Inside Questions

1 [a - j]

Book Inside Questions & Answers

(a) Why did the seagull fail to fly ?
The young seagull hesitated and feared to fly. He thought that his wings would not support him. Hence the sea gull failed to fly.
(b) What did the parents do, when the young seagull failed to fly ?
The young sea gull’s parents regularly taunted him for his cowardice and threatened to leave him alone starving at the ledge unless he flew away.
(c) What was the first catch of the young seagull’s older brother ?
The first catch of the young seagull’s older brother was herring, a type of fish.
(d) What did the young seagull manage to find in his search for food on the ledge ?
The young seagull managed to find a dried piece of mackerel’s tail at the far end of his ledge.
(e) What did the young bird do to seek the attention of his parents ?
The young bird stepped slowly out to the brink of the ledge and standing on one leg with the other leg hidden under his wing, he closed one eye, then the other, and pretended to be falling asleep. He would trot back and forth from one end of the ledge to the other, his long gray legs stepping daintily to seek the attention of his parents.
(f) What made the young seagull go mad ?
The young sea gull’s mother tore at a piece of fish that lay at her feet, and then scraped each side of her beak on the rock. The sight of the food on the mother’s beak maddened the young seagull.
(g) Why did the young bird utter a joyful scream ?
The seagull was quite hungry and yearned for food. When he saw a piece of fish in the beak of his mother, the sight was quite tempting and suddenly dived at the fish forgetting that he didn’t know how to fly and uttered a joyful scream falling outwards and downwards into space.
(h) Did the mother bird offer any food to the young bird ?
Yes, the mother bird offered a piece of fish to the young bird.
(i) How did the bird feel when it started flying for the first time ?
The bird was seized with fear for a moment and could feel the tips of his wings cut through the air. The next moment he was fearless, though felt a bit dizzy, flapped his wings to soar up and down with a joyous scream.
(j) What did the young bird’s family do when he started flying ?
The family saw the young seagull making his first flight and floating on the ocean. They flew and landed on the water just ahead of him. They were beckoning to him with a shrill voice. They were praising and rewarding him by offering scraps of fish to him.

Book Back Questions

Section A [Qns 1 - 7]

Answer the following questions in a sentence or two.

1. How was the young seagull’s first attempt to fly ?
The young seagull was very hungry. So he dived at the fish that was in his mother’s beak. But he fell into space and became terribly afraid. His heart stood still. He could hear nothing for just a minute. The next moment he felt his wings spread outwards and began to fly up and down fearless into the sky.
2. How did the parents support and encourage the young seagull’s brothers and sister ?
The young seagull’s parents flew about with his brothers and sister perfecting them in the art of flight. They taught them how to skim the waves and how to dive for fish. When his older brother caught his first herring and devoured it, his parents circled around raising a proud cackle.
3. Give an instance that shows the pathetic condition of the young bird .
The young bird, starving for a day, finds a dried piece of mackerel’s tail at the far end of his ledge. He searches in vain the area where he was hatched and gnaws at the dried pieces of eggshell. He is in a pathetic state calling plaintively when he isn’t unable to reach his mother tearing at a piece of fish.
4. How did the bird try to reach its parents without having to fly ?
The young bird trotted back and forth from one end of the ledge to the other with his long grey legs stepping daintily, trying to find some means of reaching his parents without having to fly.
5. Do you think that the young seagull’s parents were harsh to him? Why ?
No, the young seagull’s parents weren’t harsh to him. They were just teaching him a lifetime learning experience which is vital for his survival.
6. What prompted the young seagull to fly finally ?
The young seagull was extremely hungry and felt the heat because of starvation. His mother was standing on a little high hump on the plateau on the other side and tore at a piece of fish that lay at her feet, and then scraped each side of her beak on the rock and even flew across to him with it. He leaned out eagerly, tapping the rock with his feet, trying to get nearer to her as she flew across. The mother was very near to him with the fish in her beak. Maddened by hunger, he dived at the fish and managed to fly up and down into space with a loud scream.
7. What happened to the young seagull when it landed on the green sea ?
When the young seagull landed on the green sea, he completely forgot that he had not always been able to fly and shrieked shrilly, turning his beak sideways and crowed amusedly. He screamed with fright when he dropped his legs to stand on the green sea and sank into it.

Section B

Answer each of the following questions in a paragraph of about 100 – 150 words.

1

Describe the struggles underwent by the young seagull to overcome its fear of flying.

The Young Seagull was afraid to fly and was alone on his ledge. He was more frightened than his siblings. His attempts failed. He had taken a little run forward and tried to flap his wings. But that was all he could do. He felt that his wings would not support him. He failed to muster up the courage and fly. His parents taunted, scolded and threatened him to leave him starving at the ledge unless he flew away.

But nothing could make him fly. The seagull helplessly watched his parents flying with his brothers and sisters. The whole family went on taunting him for his cowardice. Only his mother was looking at him. She had picked a piece of fish and was flying across to him with it. He leaned out eagerly. The mother was very near to him with the fish in her beak. Maddened by hunger, he dived at the fish. With a loud scream, he fell outwards and downwards into space. A terror seized him.

His heart stood still. His mother swooped past him. He answered her with another scream. He saw his two brothers and sister flying around him. The seagull completely forgot that he was not able to fly. He let himself free to dive, soar and curve at will. He was shrieking shrilly. He saw a green sea beneath him.

He was tired and weak with hunger. His feet sank into the green sea and his belly touched it. He sank no farther. Now, his family was praising him and their beaks were offering him scraps of fish. He had made his first flight.

Flying is learning how to throw yourself to the ground and miss.

2

Your parents sometimes behave like the young bird’s parents. They may seem cruel and unrelenting. Does it mean that they do not care for you? Explain your views about it with reference from the story.

There is no doubt that sometimes parents do behave the same way like the young bird’s parents. ‘However all parental acts are for the betterment of the children though they may seem cruel and unrelenting. It doesn’t mean they do not care for us. It is the ardent wish of every parent that they may teach all skills to their young ones so that they may succeed in life. If the young ones don’t act then they also indulge in scolding, taunting and humiliating them to shed off their hesitations and fears.

This is exactly what the parents of the young seagull did when he failed to fly. They were successful in teaching the art of flying to his two brothers and sister. They also tried their best to embolden him to take the plunge. Particularly, the mother-seagull went on flying around him with a piece of fish in her beak. It was her attempt to tempt her starving son to dive at the fish and succeeded in her aim.

At the end of the day, the most overwhelming key to a child's success is the positive involvement of parents.

Addtional Questions

Section A [Qns 1 - 18]

Answer the following questions in a sentence or two.

1. Why was the young seagull afraid to fly ?
The young seagull hesitated and feared to fly. He thought that his wings would not support him.
2. Do you think all young birds are afraid to make their first flight, or are some birds more timid than others ? Do you think a human baby also finds it a challenge to take its first steps ?
Yes, all young birds are afraid to make their first flight. It is quite possible that some of them may be more timid than the others. A human baby also finds it a challenge to take the first step. Only after trials and errors of many months, the baby learns to take its first step.
3. “The sight of the food maddened him…” What does this suggest ? What compelled the young seagull to finally fly ?
The seagull was quite hungry and yearned for food. When he saw a piece of fish in the beak of his mother, the sight was quite tempting for him. He was maddened at the sight of the food and suddenly dived at the fish forgetting that he didn’t know how to fly. It compelled the young seagull to finally fly into space.
4. “They were beckoning to him, calling shrilly.” Why did the seagull’s father and mother threaten him and cajole him to fly ?
His parents, two brothers and his sister regularly taunted him for his cowardice. The seagull’s father and mother threatened that they would leave him alone starving at the ledge unless he flew away. In this way, they tried to cajole him to fly.
5. Have you ever had a similar experience, where your parents encouraged you to do something that you were too scared to try ? Discuss this in pairs or groups.
Everyone has such experience at some time. I too had such an experience when my parents encouraged me when I was learning cycling. I hesitated and feared. I thought that I would not be able to hold and balance it properly. One day, my father made me sit on the bicycle and gave a push from behind. I cried but soon handled it properly and completed a circle without falling down. I learnt how to ride a bicycle on that very day.
6. In the case of a bird flying, it seems a natural act, and a foregone conclusion that it should succeed. In the examples you have given as answer to the previous question, was your success guaranteed or was it important for you to try, regardless of a possibility of failure ?
In the case of a bird flying, it seems a natural act. Actually, it is not so. Every young bird has to learn how to fly. After constant efforts, he becomes perfect in flying. Even in my case, success was not a foregone conclusion. Constant encouragement by my parents and my own practice made me a perfect cyclist.
7. Where did the young seagull sit alone ? What did he watch from there ?
The young seagull was alone on his ledge. In the whole family, he was the only one who didn’t know how to fly. Only the day before, his two brothers and his sister had flown away with their parents. When he tried to flap his wings, he was seized with fear. Hence, he sat alone on the ledge watching his family flying over the sea.
8. Why didn’t the young seagull take the plunge ? What stopped him from doing so ?
The young seagull was the only one in the family who couldn’t fly in the air. His brothers and sister had far shorter wings than his wings but they had already learnt the art of flying. He felt certain that his wings would never support him. So he was hesitant and afraid of flapping his wings and go deep in the air.
9. Did upbraiding and threatening of his parents help him in flying ?
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 to him shrilly. They would upbraid and threaten to let him starve unless he flew away.
10. How were his two brothers and sister different from the young seagull ?
His two brothers and. his sister had far shorter wings than he had. But still they had flown away only the day before. He would watch his parents perfecting them in the art of flying. They were taught how to skim the waves and dive for the fish. The young seagull had seen his older brother catch his first herring and devour it.
11. How did the hungry seagull try to pretend to attract his mother’s attraction ?
The whole family had flown away. Only the young seagull sat alone on the ledge. He had not eaten anything since the previous nightfall. He stepped slowly out to the brink of the ledge. He stood on one leg. He closed his eyes pretending to be falling asleep. But all his tactics failed. Only his mother took notice of him. All others ignored him.
12. What was the mother doing standing on a little high hump on the plateau ?
All others ignored the hungry young seagull. Only his mother was looking at him. She was standing on a little high hump. Now and again, she tore a piece of fish. The fish lay at her feet. Then she scrapped each side of her beak on the rock. She loved to tear the food that way.
13. Why did the young seagull cry “Ga, ga, ga” ? Did her mother oblige him ?
When he saw his mother holding a piece of a fish in her beak, the young seagull became almost mad with hunger. He cried “Ga, ga, ga”. He begged her mother to bring him some food. When he saw his mother flying across to him with a piece of fish, he uttered a joyful scream. He started tapping the rock with his feet impatiently. He was almost within the reach of the fish but failed to get at it.
14. What did the young seagull do when he was maddened by hunger ? Did hunger motivate him to dive at the fish in the air ?
The young seagull saw his mother flying around him with a piece of fish in her beak. Maddened by hunger, he dived at the fish. With a loud scream, he fell outwards and downwards into space. Then he was seized with fear and his heart stood still. But the fear lasted only for a minute. The very next moment he felt his wings spread outwards. Truly, hunger motivated him to dive at the fish and flap his wings into the space.
15. How did the young seagull overcome his fear and soared gradually towards the sea during his first flight ?
The young seagull had taken the final plunge. Maddened by hunger, he dived at the fish which his mother was carrying in her beak. With a loud scream he fell outwards and downwards. He was seized with fear and his heart stood still. But the fear lasted only for a minute. He overcame it. The next moment he felt his wings spread outwards. Now he was soaring downwards over the blue sea.
16. Describe the seagull’s first flight.
The young seagull was very hungry. So he dived at the fish that was in his mother’s beak. But he fell into space and became terribly afraid. His heart stood still. He could hear nothing. But it only lasted for a minute. The next moment he felt his wings spread outwards. He began to fly and was no longer afraid.
17. How did his parents, two brothers and sister celebrate the first flight of the young seagull ?
The family saw the young seagull making his first flight. When they saw him floating on the ocean, they flew and landed on the water just ahead of him. They were beckoning to him calling shrilly. They were praising and rewarding him by offering scraps of fish to him.
18. What is the message that Liam O’ Flaherty wants to give to the readers through the lesson, ‘His first Flight’ ?
Success can’t be taken for granted. One has to struggle to see success. The story of the young seagull is the story of overcoming hesitations, doubts and fears that stand between us and our success. Hunger makes him take the final plunge. This leads him to make his first flight and soar into the space.