Reach for the Top Class 9 English NCERT Solutions Beehive

 Reach for the Top Class 9 English NCERT Solutions Beehive

Thinking about the Text

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 - Because her grandmother wished blessings for a daughter. In this society most of the people wants blessings 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 – As she used to wear shorts and not the traditional dresses for girls.

Question  3.      Why was Santosh sent to the local school? (3)

Answer - She was sent to the local school in because it was prevailing custom in the family not to send outside.

Question  4.      When did she leave home for Delhi, and why? (4)

Answer - She left home for Delhi at the age of sixteen to get proper education.

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 her plans to earn money by working part time to pay her school fees.

She was tough, bold and hard working having strong will power.

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 hills. She found they were 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 helped Mohan Singh, who would have lost his life.But she shared her oxygen with him and saved 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 felt her spiritual pleasure. She was delighted at the 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 – Because she is the youngest woman who scaled the Everest.

She is the only woman who climbed the Everest twice

 III. Complete the following statements. 

1.      From her room in Kasturba Hostel, Santosh used to…..

Answer – see the villagers going up the hill and suddenly vanishing after a while.

2.      When she finished college, Santosh had to write a letter of apology to her father because…..

Answer – she was going directly for training and not home which she should have done.

3.      During the Everest expedition, her seniors in the team admired her while endeared her to fellow climbers….

Answer – 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.)

1.      took to be true without proof (1):

Answer – blessing

2.      based on reason; sensible; reasonable (2):

Answer – rational

3.      the usual way of doing things (3):

Answer – custom

4.      a strong desire arising from within (5):

Answer – urge

5.      the power to endure, without falling ill (7):

Answer – resistance/endurance