Reach for the Top (Question and Answers) 9th class

REACH FOR THE TOP

1.           How did Santosh Yadav get into the record books?

Ans. Santosh Yadav got into the record books for the first time when she scaled Mt. Everest at the age of twenty. She became the youngest woman in the world to climb Mt. Everest. She scaled the Everest for the second time next year, thus becoming the only woman in the world to do so.

2.           Describe Santosh’s fight against the system?

Ans. Right from the beginning Santosh had to fight the system to assert for her right to equality and education. She never lost her spirit and determination. She defied all the customs and traditions which limit the girls within the spheres of family, marriage and children. She ventured into a man’s domain to become a role model for others.

3.           How did Santosh make her parents pay for her education once again?

Ans. Santosh threatened her parents that she would start working part time to earn for her school fees. Her strong sense of conviction and dedication enabled her parents to understand her passion. Thus, she made them pay for her education once again.

4.           How did Santosh develop liking for climbing?

Ans. Santosh got to spend some time witnessing the wonderful nature around the Aravalli Hills. She used to watch the villagers going up the hills and then suddenly vanishing after a while. It inspired her to explore the hills. She met a mountaineering group. The mountaineers allowed her to join them and encouraged her to take up climbing. Thus, she developed liking for climbing.

5.           What is the secret of Santosh’s success?

Ans. Santosh had a strong will power, great physical endurance and an amazing mental toughness. The single-minded determination and dedication helped her overcome all hurdles to emerge as a winner. She possessed a remarkable resistance to cold and high altitude. Her climbing skills and hard working nature made it easy for her.

6.           What made Santosh popular among her teammates?

Ans. Santosh’s dedication and determination made her a role model for others. Her climbing skills, physical fitness and mental strength impressed her seniors. Her concern for others, her will to help others by going out of the way and desire to work together with them made her popular among her teammates.

7.           What made Santosh scale Mt. Everest the second time? How was it important?

Ans. Santosh scaled Mt. Everest the second time as a member of an Indo-Nepalese Women’s Expedition. It was important as it secured a unique place for her and India by becoming the only woman to have scaled the Everest twice.

8.           How did Santosh feel when she was literally ‘on top of the world’?

Ans. It looks Santosh sometime to understand the enormity of her achievement. She unfurled the Indian tricolor there. She felt proud as an Indian. It had a spiritual significance for her. She described her feelings as ‘indescribable’.

9.           How did Santosh begin to climb mountains?

Ans. Santosh accompanied some mountaineers on an expedition of the Aravali hills out of curiosity. She liked that and thus she began to climb mountains.

10.       What incidents during the Everest expedition show Santosh’s concern for her teammates?

Ans. During the Everest expedition, Santosh tried to save a dying team mate by providing him special care and saved another by sharing her oxygen. It shows Santosh’s concern for others.

11.       What kind of society was Santosh Yadav born in? How was her grandmother different from others?

Ans. Santosh Yadav was born in a society where the birth of a son was regarded as a blessing and a daughter was generally not welcomed. Her grandmother wanted a girl instead of a boy.

12.       What surprised the travelling ‘holy man’? Did his blessings work?

Ans. The travelling ‘holy man’ assumed that like everyone they also wanted a son. When Santosh’s grandmother requested her for a daughter, he was surprised. Yes, his blessings seemed to work.

13.      Why did Santosh’s grandmother ask the holy man for the blessings of a daughter?

Ans. Santosh’s mother already had five sons. So they no longer had a wish for a son. That’s why, her grandmother asked the holy man for the blessings of a daughter.

14.      How was Santosh unlike other girls of her village?

Ans. Santosh, unlike other girls of her village, was not contended with the traditional way of life. She used to wear shorts and did not get married at sixteen as most of the girls of her village did.

15.       Why did Santosh want to fight the system?

Ans. Santosh’s parents were affluent. They could have sent her to best schools but as per the tradition, she was sent to the local village school. She felt discontented and decided to fight the system.

16.      What was the right moment? What did Santosh do at the moment?

Ans. The right moment to rebel against the custom came when she turned sixteen. At that moment Santosh refused to marry like other girls at sixteen and left home to pursue higher education.

17.      How did Santosh fulfill her wish to study in Delhi?

Ans. Santosh’s wish to study in Delhi was fulfilled when she threatened her parents to never getting married if she didn’t get proper education. She left home and enrolled herself in a school in Delhi.

18.      What happened when Santosh’s parents refused pay for her fees?

Ans. When her parents refused to pay for her fees, she politely informed them of her plans to earn money by working part time to pay her school fees. Then they agreed to pay for that.

19.      What inspired Santosh to climb Aravali hills?

Ans. From the room of Kasturba Hostel, Santosh used to watch villagers climb up the Aravali hills and vanishing after sometime. The curiosity made her join a mountaineers group and climb Aravali hills.

20.      Why and how did Santosh get enrolled in Nehru institute of Mountaineering, Uttarkashi?

Ans. Santosh wanted to pursue climbing as a hobby and as a profession. To get trained in climbing, she got herself enrolled in the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Uttarkashi by saving money.

Part II: MARIA SHARAPOVA

1.     Describe Maria Sharapova.

Ans. Maria Sharapova is a famous woman tennis player. She has won the women’ singles at Wimbledon is 2004 and became the world’s No. 1 woman tennis player in 2005. She is a Russian by birth. She got the professional training in United States of America. She loves singing, dancing, reading novels and is very hardworking and dedicated.

2.     Why did Maria have to stay away from her mother? How did she feel about that?

Ans. Maria had to go to the United States of America for her training. She was to live there for years. While her father accompanied Maria, her mother could not come with her due to the independently away from her mother.

3.     What does Maria declare to be her ‘mantra for success’?

Ans. Maria works really hard to fulfill her dreams. She does not shy away from any kind of separation. She does not allow herself to be emotional and sentimental. She is very competitive and works hard to be the best in whatever she does. She is led by the dream of becoming the No. 1 in the world. This is her mantra for success.

4.     Maria possesses some contradictory characteristics. What are they?

Ans. Maria appears to be highly fashionable as far as her exterior looks are considered. But she possesses a specifically disarming nature that proves her to be friendly and simple. She appears to be sophisticated and delicate but is a hard worker with never-die-spirit. Her love for pancakes and orange drinks appears odd with her fondness for evening gowns.

5.     How does Maria describe her journey from Siberia to United States?

Ans. Maria was just nine years old when she had to leave her home, mother and even country to go to the United States. She had to sacrifice many-a-things. She also had to face a lot of humiliation and insults. But she did not give in before the adverse and challenging conditions. Her competitive nature and hard work helped her become No. 1 tennis player in the world.

6.     Why did Maria not retaliate against the humiliation at the hands of the other pupils?

Ans. Maria was working hard to become world’s No. 1 tennis player. She had no time to retaliate to others discouraging tactics. She also had no time for sentiments. So, instead of retaliating against the humiliation at the hands of the other pupils, she took it as a challenge and worked harder to achieve success.

7.     Describe Maria’s struggle to reach at the top of the world in the field of the women tennis.

Ans. Maria started working to achieve her goal at a very young age. She had to face separation from her mother and stay in completely unfamiliar and hostile surroundings for years. She also faced humiliation but never let it affect negatively. She took it as a challenge and with her mental toughness and competitive nature, she succeeded in achieving her goal.

8.     How are Maria’s achievements significant?

Ans. Maria exemplifies the success achieved through hard work and dedication. Her patience and persistence and her success make her an ideal role model for the girls all over the world. Her winning Wimbledon and then becoming world’s No. 1 woman tennis player also makes her achievement significant.

PACKING Question and Answer

PACKING

1.     How did Harris and George irritate the speaker/Jerome?

Ans. Jerome wanted to make Harris and George work under his supervision. So, when he had to work alone while Harris and George sat easily and found faults with his packing, it irritated him. Besides, Harris reminded about the shoes only after the bag had been strapped. Moreover, George’s senseless laughter also irritated him.

2.     How did the speaker say he was different from Harris and George? Do you agree with him? Why/why not?

Ans. According to the speaker, he was the best packer in the world while George and Harris were the worst. Secondly, Jerome could not sit idle doing nothing at all but watching people work while Harris and George were doing just that. But actually, Jerome wasn’t a good packer himself. He liked to supervise and not to work himself. So, he was just like Harris and George.

3.           What kind of a packer the speaker Jerome was? Give reasons in support of your answer.

Ans. The speaker was proud of his packing skills but he forgot to pack the boots and had to reopen the bag. Then, the speaker’s anxious search for his toothbrush resulted in complete mess. Later, he had to reopen the bag to take out his tobacco pouch. Thus, he had to reopen it thrice. It shows him to be an average packer.

4.           How did Harris and George irritate Jerome while Jerome was packing the bag?

Ans. Harris and George settled themselves comfortably on the chair and the table. They watched Jerome doing the packing all alone. They were smoking and were finding faults with Jerome’s packing. They made him reopen the packing. They also made fun of him. All this irritated Jerome.

5.           What ‘horrible idea’ haunted the speaker/Jerome? Why did he call it as ‘horrible’?

Ans. Jerome had packed the bag again when he was haunted by a horrible idea if he had packed his toothbrush or not. He called it horrible because it always made him undo his packing to check it and then once again, to use it. It was always left out and was forgotten. He had to search for it at the last moment and carry it wrapped up in his pocket-handkerchief.

6.           What did Harris blame Jerome for? Why?

Ans. Harris blamed Jerome for encouraging Montmorency to disturb them while packing. He blamed him because Jerome’s constant watching their packing made them conscious, nervous and excited. It irritated them. As such he put all the blame of miserable packing on Jerome.

7.           ‘I never saw two men do more with one-and two pence worth of butter…’. Why did the speaker say so?

Ans. Harris and George had a tough time packing the butter. At first, George trod on it. Getting it off his slipper, they tried to keep it in the kettle. It won’t go in or come out of it. They scraped it out and kept it on a chair. Then Harris sat on it. It stuck to his back and could not be found. They searched for it for a long time and then they kept it in the teapot.

8.           ‘Packing’ is a humorous story about inexperienced packing. Pick up any two humorous elements from the extract to prove it so.

Ans. In the extract ‘Packing’ the inexperienced packers create a lot of confusion and mess. As a result, the tomatoes are ‘squashed’. Montmorency further amuses the readers with his antics. His ‘worrying’ the teaspoons and ‘killing’ lemons also prove it humorous.

9.           What was Jerome’s real intention when he offered to pack?

Ans. When Jerome offered to pack, he intended to say that George and Harris should do as he would say. He wanted to supervise their work, helping by touching and otherwise with his hands in his pockets.

10.      What did Harris say after the bag was shut and strapped? Why do you think he waited till then to ask?

Ans. When the bag had been shut and strapped, Harris reminded Jerome about the shoes which were left out. He waited till then to irritate Jerome, to make him open his packing and then to repack it again.

11.       What ‘horrible idea’ occurred to Jerome a little later?

Ans. The ‘horrible idea’ was whether he had packed his toothbrush in the bag or not. He used to forget it and then had to bring it to the station in his hand wrapped in handkerchief. So it was horrible.

12.       What did George and Harris offer to pack and why?

Ans. After packing and unpacking and again packing the bag for three times, Jerome was tired. Still hampers were to be packed and there was scarcely twelve hours time left. So they offered to pack hampers.

13.       What does the author pride himself on for? Does he deserve that pride?

Ans. The author prides himself on for knowing about packing much more than anyone else. He considers himself to be the best packer of all the persons living No, he does not deserve that pride.

14.       Why do George and Harris blame Jerome for encouraging Montmorency?

Ans. Montmorency disturbs packing when George and Harris are packing. He gratifies their already existing problems. They blame him to prove that they would have packed in a better way if Montmorency has not disturbed them.

15.       Give any two differences between the author’s and his friend’s packing.

Ans. The author packs the bag neatly and seriously while his friends pack the hampers roughly white laughing, playing, fighting and breaking things.