Question 3 - Chapter 3 - Two Stories About Flying - First Flight - Chapters (Literature) - English Class 10

Read the extract and answer the following questions.

Extract:

He felt he was made of nothing but hunger. One day he saw his mother with a piece of fish in her beak for him. He leaned out eagerly, tapping the rock with his feet, trying to get nearer to her as she flew across. But when she was just opposite to him, she halted. Her wings motionless, the piece of fish in her beak almost within reach of his beak. He waited a moment in surprise, wondering why she did not come nearer, and then maddened by hunger, he dived at the fish. With a loud scream he fell outwards and downwards into space. Then a monstrous terror seized him and his heart stood still. He could hear nothing. But it only lasted a minute. The next moment he felt his wings spread outwards. The wind rushed against his breast feathers, then under his stomach, and against his wings. He could feel the tips of his wings cutting through the air. He was not falling headlong now. He was soaring gradually downwards and outwards. He was no longer afraid. He just felt a bit dizzy. Then he flapped his wings once and he soared upwards.

   (Two Stories About Flying)

Question (i)

 Where did the young seagull see his mother with a piece of fish in her beak?

Answer:

 As written by the student: 

The young seagull saw his mother with a piece of fish in her beak in the air across his ledge.

Step-by-step explanation: 🐟

• The young seagull was very hungry and had not eaten anything since the previous night.
•  He felt he was made of nothing but hunger and he wanted some food desperately.
•  One day he saw his mother flying towards him with a piece of fish in her beak.
•  He thought that she had brought the fish for him to eat.
•  He saw her in the air across his ledge , which means he saw her flying in the space opposite to his narrow horizontal shelf on the cliff.

Question (ii)

 State TRUE or FALSE.

The young seagull's mother came nearer to him with the fish in her beak.

Answer:

 As written by the student:  

FALSE

Step-by-step explanation: ❌

•  The statement is false because the young seagull's mother did not come nearer to him with the fish in her beak.
•  She halted in mid-air with the fish in her beak, which means she stopped flying and stayed still in the air with the fish in her mouth.
•  She did this when she was just opposite to him, which means when she was directly facing him across the gap.
•  She wanted to tempt him to fly and catch the fish, which means she wanted to make him feel a strong desire to fly and get the food.

Question (iii)

How did the young seagull's wings help him to fly?

Answer:

 As written by the student:  

The young seagull's wings helped him to fly by spreading outwards and cutting through the air.

Step-by-step explanation: 🕊️

• The young seagull was maddened by hunger, which means he was driven crazy by hunger.
•  He dived at the fish in his mother's beak, which means he jumped or plunged at the fish in her mouth.
•  With a loud scream he fell outwards and downwards into space, which means he made a loud noise as he dropped away from his ledge and towards the sea below.
•  Then a monstrous terror seized him, which means a huge or extreme fear took hold of him.
•  His fear only lasted a minute, which means it did not last long.
•  The next moment he felt his wings spread outwards, which means he felt his wings open wide or extend fully.
•  He could feel the tips of his wings cutting through the air, which means he could sense or experience the ends of his wings moving through or dividing the air.
•   His wings helped him to fly by spreading outwards and cutting through the air, which means his wings supported him and enabled him to move or glide in the air.

Question (iv)

 What did the young seagull do after he flapped his wings once?

Answer:

 As written by the student:  

The young seagull soared upwards after he flapped his wings once.

Step-by-step explanation: 😊

•  The young seagull was no longer afraid, which means he had overcome or lost his fear.
•  He just felt a bit dizzy, which means he only felt a slight sensation of spinning around or losing balance.
•  Then he flapped his wings once, which means he moved or waved his wings once.
•  He soared upwards after he flapped his wings once, which means he flew or glided upwards after he moved or waved his wings once.