First Flight ch03 Two Stories about Flying - CBSE Test Papers

CBSE Test Paper 01
Two Stories about Flying
  1. How did the author describe the young seagull’s fear of flying and how did he come out of it?
  2. While flying his Dakota aeroplane, the narrator was thinking about risk. What type of risk it was and why did he take it?
  3. How did the young seagull’s family enjoy his first flight?
  4. “They were beckoning to him, calling shrilly.” Why did the seagull’s father and mother threaten him and cajole him to fly?
  5. What happened when the young seagull dived at the fish picked up by his mother?
  6. Did the young seagull overcome his fear? How did he enjoy his first flight then?
  7. What was the young seagull watching from the ledge? What were his family members doing at that time? Describe.
  8. All parental acts are for the betterment of the children. Justify this statement by taking points from the lesson- "The First Flight".
  9. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.
    His father and mother had come around calling to him shrilly, upbraiding him, threatening to let him starve on his ledge unless he flew away. But for the life of him, he could not move. That was twenty-four hours ago. Since then nobody had come near him, The day before, all day long, he had watched his parents flying about with his brothers and sister, perfecting them in the art of flight, teaching them how to skim the waves and how to dive for fish. He had, in fact, seen his older brother catch his first herring and devour it, standing on a rock, while his parents circled around raising a proud cackle.
    1. Why were his parents reproaching him?
    2. Why could the young seagull not move from the ledge?
    3. Find a word from the extract that means 'to eat'.
    4. What did the parents do in pride?
  10. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.
    They were beckoning to him, calling shrilly. He dropped his legs to stand on the green sea. His legs sank into it. He screamed with fright and attempted to rise again flapping his wings. But he was tired and weak with hunger and he could not rise, exhausted by the strange exercise. His feet sank into the green sea, and then his belly touched it and he sank no farther. He was floating on it, and around him his family was screaming, praising him and their beaks were offering him scraps of dog-fish. He had made his first flight.
    1. What was the 'green flooring' on which his brothers and sister had landed?
    2. How was the young seagull's first experience of the sea?
    3. Which word in the passage means the same as 'summoning or luring by silent signal'?
    4. Why was the seagull exhausted?
Two Stories about Flying TP 01
Class 10 - English Language and Literature
Solution
  1. Section A
  2. The young seagull was scared of flying. He felt that his wings would never support him. He failed to muster up the courage to take that plunge which appeared so desperate to him. At last, his mother diverted his focus from fear to food. Maddened by the sight of food, he dived at the fish. Thus, he succeeded to take his first flight.
  3. While flying his old Dakota aeroplane, the narrator saw that the sky was full of dark clouds. There was not enough fuel to fly to the north or south. It was impossible to see anything inside the black cloud and his aeroplane might crash. Nevertheless, the narrator took the risk as he wanted to go home and have a big breakfast in England.
  4. The young seagull saw his brothers and his sister flying around him curveting, banking, soaring and diving. Then he completely forgot that he had not always been able to fly, and commended himself for his dive. His feet sank into the green sea. He was floating on it, and around him, his family was screaming, praising him and their beaks were offering him scraps of dog-fish. 
  5. The young seagull was afraid to fly as he thought his wings would not support him. So, he was left alone and hungry on the ledge. His father and mother were beckoning to him to fly shrilly, upbraiding him, threatening to let him starve. So, they threatened to let him starve because learning the art of flight was very necessary for him.
  6. When the young seagull dived at the fish, he fell outwards and downwards with a scream. His heart stood still with fear. Soon his wings spread outwards and he could feel the tips of his wings cutting through the air. After some time he realised that he had begun to fly.
  7. When the young seagull was all alone on the ledge, he was very unhappy there. Young seagull was afraid of heights and did not want to fly. He did not have the confidence to be in the heights of the sky. He even thought that his wings would not support him at all. His brothers, sisters and parents encouraged him to fly. They played many tricks on him. Sometimes they flew away from the ledge and left him alone. He came out and tried to flap his wings, but his fear seized him and again he went inside. His parents threatened him to die of hunger and did not feed him for a few days. Even then he could not gather the courage for flying. But this trick worked and he tried to make his first attempt. Soon he started flying. He was very happy. He was screaming with joy. He was feeling it as a victory over his fear. Now he did not want to remember about his past. He wanted to enjoy heartily, his first flight. He joined his family and landed on the sea water. Thus, he got over his fear of flying.
  8. The young seagull was all alone on the ledge. He felt that he was going to starve to death on his ledge. Even his mother was not looking at him. She was tearing a piece of fish with her beak. The sight of food maddened him. He cried at her but she just screamed back mockingly. His brothers and sister had already flown away the day before. Throughout the day, he had watched his parents flying with his siblings. His parents taught them different techniques and made them perfect in the art of flying. They were teaching them how to skim the waves and how to dive for fish. He had seen his elder brother catching his first herring. His parents circled around him raising a loud cackle. All the morning the whole family had walked about on the big plateau midway down the opposite cliff. The family members were taunting him for his cowardice act. The young seagull was very nervous and unhappy after watching the family members flying in the sky.
  9. The young seagull's family tried every possible method to encourage him to fly. His parents understood that their little one needed a little more motivation to achieve his goal of flying. Initially, they tried to threaten the young seagull in many ways but to no avail. The mother gull realized that the need to fly would make the little one do so. She took a piece of fish and started approaching him. But, the mother stopped just beyond his reach. In his eagerness to get the food, the young bird started diving. That made the young seagull fall from the ledge while trying to get the fish. He was able to fly. Thus, the purpose was served. His mother's efforts made him fly. Even though the young seagull's parents starved him, they were succeeded to make his first flight and proved that 'All parental acts are for the betterment of the children'.
    1. His parents were reproaching him because he was not ready to fly. His father and mother had come around calling to him shrilly, upbraiding him, threatening to let him starve on his ledge unless he flew away.
    2. The seagull could not move from the ledge because he was afraid of losing his life. He failed to muster up the courage to make his first flight. So, he stayed on the ledge. 
    3. 'Devour' means to eat.
    4. They were raising a proud cackle when his older brother caught his first herring and devoured it, standing on a rock. They expected the young seagull to make his first flight. 
    1. The green flooring on which the young seagull's brothers and sisters had landed was the green sea.
    2. He thought the sea was hard like land. He tried to stand on it but his legs sunk into it.
    3. The word 'beckoning' means the same as 'summoning or luring by silent signal'.
    4. The seagull dropped his legs to stand on the green sea, but his legs sank into it. He screamed with fright and attempted to rise again flapping his wings. But he was tired and weak with hunger and he could not rise. This exercise exhausted the seagull.