First Flight ch02 Long Walk to Freedom

CBSE Test Paper 01
Long Walk to Freedom

What did Mandela mean by saying, " I was born free"?
How did Mandela’s ‘hunger for freedom’ change his life?
How does Mandela describe the systems of government in his country
1. in the first decade
2. in the final decade, of the twentieth century?
How did Nelson Mandela become the first black President of South Africa?
What pained Nelson Mandela on becoming the President of South Africa?
What does courage mean to Mandela? How did he learn the meaning of courage?
Nelson Mandela in his inaugural speech used these two words an extraordinary human disaster and so glorious a human achievement. What did he mean by that?
What were the two obligations that Mandela described in this lesson? What was the reason that he was not able to fulfill those obligations?
Read the extract given below carefully and answer the questions that follow:
Tenth May dawned bright and clear. For the past few days, I had been pleasantly besieged by dignitaries and world leaders who were coming to pay their respects before the inauguration. The inauguration would be the largest gathering ever of international leaders on South African soil. The ceremonies took place in the lovely sandstone amphitheatre formed by the Union Buildings in Pretoria. For decades this had been the seat of white supremacy, and now it was the site of a rainbow gathering of different colours and nations for the installation of South Africa's first democratic, non-racial government.
1. What was the significance of tenth May?
2. How was the ceremony site looking like?
3. Which word in the passage means the same as 'placement of person in office with ceremony'?
4. Where did the ceremonies take place?
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow: (1 $\times$ 4 = 4)
But then I slowly saw that not only was I not free, but my brothers and sisters were also not free. I saw that it was not just my freedom that was curtailed, but the freedom of everyone who looked like I did. That is when I joined the African National Congress, and that is when the hunger for my own freedom became the greater hunger for the freedom of my people. It was this desire for the freedom of my people to live their lives with dignity and self-respect that animated my life, that transformed a frightened young man into a bold one, that drove a law-abiding attorney to become a criminal, that turned a family-loving husband into a man without a home, that forced a life-loving man to live like a monk. I am no more virtuous or self-sacrificing than the next man, but I found that I could not even enjoy the poor and limited freedoms I was allowed when I knew my people were not free.
1. Why did the author join the African National Congress?
2. What was the only wish of the author?
3. Find out a word from the passage that is similar in meaning to 'reduced'.
4. How did the desire for freedom change the author's life?

CBSE Test Paper 01
Long Walk to Freedom

Solution

Mandela felt he was born free in his childhood as he was free to run in the fields near his mother's hut. He was free to swim in the streams and was free to roast mealies under the stars at night. Besides, at that time, he felt that he was not troubled by God's laws.
Mandela realized in his youth that it was not just his freedom that was being curtailed, but the freedom of all blacks. The hunger for his own freedom became the hunger for the freedom of his people. This desire of a non-racial society transformed him into a virtuous and self-sacrificing man. Thus, he joined the African National Congress and this changed him from a frightened young man into a bold man.
1. In the first decade of the twentieth century, the white-skinned people of South Africa patched up their differences and erected a system of racial domination against the dark-skinned people of their own land, thus creating the basis of one of the harshest and most inhumane societies the world had ever known.
2. In the last decade of the twentieth century, the previous system had been overturned forever and replaced by one that recognized the rights and freedoms of all peoples, regardless of the colour of their skin.
Nelson Mandela was a South African. He fought a life-long fight against racial discrimination. The first democratic elections were held in South Africa’s history. His party won 252 seats out of the 400 seats. He became the first black President there. But he credits his victory to the great freedom fighters of the land who lost their lives struggling for freedom for their people.
Nelson Mandela was sad for not able to thank those African patriots who had fought for independence and sacrificed their lives for it. This pained him that they were not able to see what their sacrifices had brought. He called himself to the sum of all the struggle and suffering that those great men went through with a common vision in their eyes: freedom for their people. He wished they could see that finally the ill practice of apartheid had come to an end and a new democratic non-racial government was formed which would provide equal rights and opportunities to all.
Nelson Mandela said that he learnt the meaning of courage from the comrades, who were the purest diamonds of their country. They did not care about their lives. He saw those people who had sacrificed their life's for the country. Mandela saw men stand up to attacks and torture without breaking, showing strength and resilience that defies the imagination. According to Mandela, courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. In other words, the brave man is not the one who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear. In Mandela’s opinion, no man is born to hate another man on the basis of skin colour or religion. Taught them to love because love comes more naturally to the human heart than from its opposite.
The extraordinary disaster was the rule of Apartheid in South Africa. This disaster of racial discrimination brought oppression, deprivation, cruelty and suffering for the black people of South Africa. Blacks were not allowed to visit the places reserved for the whites. They led a life of humiliation. He remembered the history - the birth of apartheid, its effect on his people and the long fight for freedom. He remembered the freedom fighters that suffered and sacrificed for freedom. He also remembered what freedom meant to him at different stages of life and his hunger for freedom.
At last on 10th May 1994, after more than three centuries of white rule, Nelson Mandela’s African National Congress party won the elections. Nelson Mandela became the first black President of South Africa. This coming into power of the non-racial government was a glorious human achievement.
In the lesson, Mandela described two obligations that everyone had to perform. One obligation is to his family, children, and wife and second obligation for his people, country and community. One has to fulfil these obligations according to their own inclinations and abilities. But due to the apartheid policy in South Africa, Mandela was not able to fulfil his obligations. So, it was impossible for blacks to fulfil those obligations. When Mandela tried to fulfil them for his family, he was cut off from his family. He was forced to live the life of separation or isolation. When he tried to serve his country, he was put into prison. Thus, Mandela was not able to fulfil the obligations.
1. The tenth May was the day of the inauguration of South Africa's first democratic, non-racial government.
2. 'The ceremony site looked like a rainbow gathering of different colours and nations.
3. 'Installation' means the 'placement of a person in the office with ceremony'.
4. The ceremonies took place at sandstone amphitheatre formed by the union buildings in Pretoria.
1. Because he came to know that the freedom of everyone who looked like him was curtailed.
2. The only wish of the author was to get freedom of his people.
3. Curtailed.
4. A life- loving person to like a monk.

First Flight ch02 Long Walk to Freedom - CBSE Test Papers