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NCERT Solutions for class 9 English Beehive chapter 7 – Reach for the Top by Santosh Yadav

Back Exercise

Thinking about the Text

I. Answer these questions in one or two sentences each. (The paragraph numbers within brackets provide clues to the answers.)

1. Why was the ‘holy man’ who gave Santosh’s mother his blessings surprised? (1)
2. Give an example to show that even as a young girl Santosh was not ready to accept anything unreasonable. (2)
3. Why was Santosh sent to the local school? (3)
4. When did she leave home for Delhi, and why? (4)
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

1. The ‘holy man’ was surprised because he had assumed that Santosh’s mother wanted a
son. But grandmother told him that they did not want a son.
2. Santosh, from the very beginning, lived life on her own terms. She was not content with the traditional way of life and was not ready to accept anything unreasonable. Where other girls wore traditional Indian
dresses, Santosh preferred shorts.

3. Even though Santosh’s parents could afford to send their children to the best schools, she was sent to the local village school due to the prevailing custom in the family.

4. When she turned sixteen and was under pressure to get married, Santosh threatened her parents that she would never marry if she did not get a proper education. Therefore, she left home and got herself enrolled in a school in Delhi.
5. When Santosh's parents refused to pay for her education, she politely informed them of her plans to earn money by working part time to pay her school fees. Then, her parents agreed to pay for her schooling in Delhi. This shows that Santosh was a mentally-strong girl and was determined to work very hard to get herself properly educated.

Page No: 103

II. Answer each of these questions in a short paragraph (about 30 words).

1. How did Santosh begin to climb mountains?
2. What incidents during the Everest expedition show Santosh’s concern for her team-mates?
3. What shows her concern for the environment?
4. How does she describe her feelings at the summit of the Everest?
5. Santosh Yadav got into the record books both times she scaled Mt Everest. What were the reasons for this?

Answer

1. From her room in Kasturba Hostel, she watched people going up the Aravalli Hills and vanishing after a while. On investigating, she found nobody except a few mountaineers, and she asked if she could join them. They agreed and even motivated her to take to climbing and so she later accompanied them on their climbing expedition. This was how she began climbing mountains.

2. During the Everest mission, Santosh showed immense concern for her fellow climbers. Though she was unsuccessful in saving the life of one of them, she did manage to save another climber through artificial respiration.
3. Santosh was a fervent environmentalist. Her concern for the environment is evident from the fact that she collected and brought down 500 kilograms of garbage from the Himalayas.

4. Santosh asserted that her feeling at the summit of the Everest was “indescribable”. Unfurling the Indian flag on the top of the world was a spiritual moment for her and she felt proud as an Indian.

5. When Santosh Yadav first scaled Mt Everest, she became the youngest woman in the world to achieve the feat. When she scaled the Everest the second time, she became the only woman to have scaled it twice.

III. Complete the following statements.

1. From her room in Kasturba Hostel, Santosh used to _________
2. When she finished college, Santosh had to write a letter of apology to her father because _________ 3. During the Everest expedition, her seniors in the team admired her _________ while _________endeared her to fellow climbers.

Answer

1. From her room in Kasturba Hostel, Santosh used to watch villagers going up the hill and suddenly vanish after a while.
2. When she finished college, Santosh had to write a letter of apology to her father because she had got herself enrolled at Uttarkashi’s Nehru Institute of Mountaineering without his permission.
3. During the Everest expedition, her seniors in the team admired her climbing skills, physical fitness and mental strength while her concern for others and desire to work together with them 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): _________
2. based on reason; sensible; reasonable (2): _________
3. the usual way of doing things (3): _________
4. a strong desire arising from within (5): _________
5. the power to endure, without falling ill (7): _________

Answer

1. took to be true without proof (1): Assumed
2. based on reason; sensible; reasonable (2): Rational
3. the usual way of doing things (3): Custom
4. a strong desire arising from within (5): Urge
5. the power to endure, without falling ill (7): Resistance

Page No: 107

Thinking about the Text

Working in small groups of 4−5 students, go back over the two passages on Santosh Yadav and Maria Sharapova and complete the table given below with relevant phrases or sentences.

Points of Comparison/Contrast Santosh Yadav Maria Sharapova
1. Their humble beginning
2. Their parents’ approach
3. Their will power and strong desire to succeed
4. Evidence of their mental toughness
5. Their patriotism

Answer:

Points of Comparison/Contrast Santosh Yadav Maria Sharapova
1. Their humble beginning She was born in the small village of Joniyawas of Rewari District in Haryana. “My father was working as much as he could to keep my tennis-training going.”
2. Their parents’ approach But, in line with the prevailing custom in the family, Santosh had to make do with the local village school. “My father was working as much as he could to keep my tennis-training going.”
3. Their will power and strong desire to succeed “And I was supposed to be in Uttarkashi on the twenty-first. So, I did not go back home; instead, I headed straight for the training.” “When you come from nothing and you have nothing, then it makes you very hungry and determined…”
4. Evidence of their mental toughness Equipped with an iron will, physical endurance and an amazing mental toughness, she proved herself repeatedly. “Instead of letting that depress me, I became more quietly determined and mentally tough.”
5. Their patriotism “Then I unfurled the Indian tricolour and held it aloft on the roof of the world. The feeling is indescribable. The Indian flag was flying on top of the world. It was truly a spiritual moment. I felt proud as an Indian.” “My blood is totally Russian. I will play the Olympics for Russia if they want me.”