CHAPTER - 2
THE TSUNAMI
Comprehension check I
Question 1:
Ignesious lost his wife, two children, his father-in-law, and his brother-in-law in the tsunami.
Answer: TRUE.
Because Ignesious's wife was taken away by the monstrous waves of the sea as was his two children along with his father- in-law and brother-in-law. He could not find them ever again.
Question 2:
Sanjeev made it to safety after the tsunami.
Answer: FALSE.
Sanjeev initially helped his wife and their child to a safe place. Afterwards, when he tried to help the wife of his colleague, both of them were engulfed by the waves.
Question 3:
Meghna was saved by a relief helicopter.
Answer: FALSE
Meghna saw several relief helicopters but because of the great distance between them, the people in the helicopter were unable to see her afloat. Later on, she was hauled to the shore by another surge of water.
Question 4:
Almas's father realized that a tsunami was going to hit the island.
Answer: TRUE
It is apparent from the lesson that Almas's family lived near the sea and her father had some knowledge about the ways of the sea; so when he saw the water retreat suddenly, he realized that a tsunami was about to hit the island.
Question 5:
Her mother and aunts were washed away with the tree that they were holding on to.
Answer: TRUE
Almas's mother and aunts grasped the leaves of a coconut tree to save themselves from being overwhelmed by the tsunami waves. But the tree gave way to the thrust of the waves and her mother and aunts were washed away with the tree that they were holding on to.
Comprehension Check (Page No. 28-29)
Question 1:
Why did Tilly's family come to Thailand?
Answer 1:
Tilly's family had come to Thailand to celebrate Christmas.
Question 2:
What were the warning signs that both Tilly and her mother saw?
Answer 2:
Both of them saw the sea rise and how it started foaming and forming whirlpools.
Question 3:
Do you think Tilly's mother was alarmed by them?
Answer 3:
No, Tilly's mother was not alarmed by them
Question 4:
Where had Tilly seen the sea behaving in the same strange fashion?
Answer 4:
Tilly had seen the sea behaving in a strange way in a video.
Question 5:
Where did the Smith family and the others on the beach go to escape from the tsunami?
Answer 5:
The Smith family and the others on the beach went to the third floor of the hotel to save themselves from the Tsunami.
Question 6:
How do you think her geography teacher felt when he heard about what? Tilly had done in
Phuket?
Answer 6:
The geography teacher felt proud and was very pleased and satisfied when he came to know what Tilly had done in Phuket.
Comprehension Check (Page No. 30)
Answer using a phrase or a sentence.
Question 1:
In the Tsunami 150,000 people died. How many animals died?
Answer 1:
During Tsunami very few animals had died.
Question 2:
How many people and animals died in Yala National Park?
Answer 2:
Sixty visitors and two animals died in the park.
Question 3:
What do people say about the elephants of Yala National Park?
Answer 3:
People said that the elephants ran from the beach an hour before the Tsunami had hit the coast.
Question 4:
What did the dogs in Galle do?
Answer 4:
The dogs in Galle were reluctant to go to the beach for their daily exercise. So they refused to move and go there.
Working with with Text
Discuss the following questions in class. Then write your own answers.
Question 1:
When he felt the earthquake, do you think Ignesious immediately worried about a Tsunami? Give reasons for your answer. Which sentence in the text tells you that the Ignesious family did not have any time to discuss and plan their course of action after the tsunami struck?
Answer 1:
No, Ignesious did not think about the tsunami. He felt that it was just an earthquake. He removed the television from the table and put it on the ground. He and his family did not have ample time to discuss and plan the course of action which needed to be followed. The following sentence makes it clear that there was chaos and confusion. "...two of his children caught hold of the hands of their mother's father and mother's brother, and rushed in the opposite direction."
Question 2:
Which words in the list below describe Sanjeev, in your opinion?
cheerful, ambitious, brash, brave, careless, heroic, selfless, heartless, humorous
Answer:
In my opinion brave, heroic and selfless in the list are the words that describe Sanjeev.
Use words from the list to complete the three sentences below.
I don’t know if Sanjeev was cheerful, ambitious or humorous.
I think that he was very brave, heroic and selfless.
Sanjeev was not heartless, careless or brash.
Question 3:
How are Meghna and Almas’s stories similar?
Answer:
Meghna and Almas—both were lucky. Meghna was carried away with her parents and other people. But she alone survived. She was washed ashore by a wave. Almas climbed on to a log of wood. When she opened her eyes, she found herself in a hospital in Kamorta.
Question 4:
What are the different ways in which Tilly’s parents could have reacted to her behaviour? What would you have done if you were in their place?
Answer:
Tilly foresaw the danger of tsunami at once. She became hysterical. Her parents didn’t ignore her. They were sure that something wrong must be going to happen. So they all left the beach and were saved. If I were in place of Tilly's parents, I might not have believed her. I might have scolded her for making a nonsense situation.
Question 5:
If Tilly’s award was to be shared, who do you think she should share it with— her parents or her geography teacher?
Answer:
It is very obvious. Tilly’s award should be shared with her geography teacher. Her parents could not guess the tsunami was coming.
Question 6:
What are the two different ideas about why so few animals were killed in the tsunami? Which idea do you find more believable?
Answer:
Very few animals were killed in the tsunami. Perhaps they feel the tremor much before humans do. Secondly, the animals have sixth sense. They can guess the coming disaster and so run away to safer places/higher ground. The idea that the animals are gifted with the sixth sense is more believable. They move fast to get over the crisis.
Working with Language
Question 1:
Go through Part-I carefully, and make a list of as many words as you can find that indicate movement of different kinds. (There is one word that occurs repeatedly-count how many times!). Put them into three categories.
fast movement slow movement neither slow nor fast.
Can you explain why there are many words in one column and not in the others?
There are more words in column A. These are related to fast movements of escape from the tsunami. It was natural for men and animals to make fast movements in such situation. The waves also overtook some people very fast and washed them away.
Question 2:
Fill in the blanks in the sentences below (the verbs given in brackets will give you a clue).
The earth trembled, but not many people felt the trembling/tremors.
When the zoo was flooded, there was a lot of confusion and many animals escaped into the countryside,
We heard with relief that the lion had been recaptured, (relieve)
The zookeeper was stuck in a tree and his rescue was filmed by the TV crew.
There was much excitement in the village when the snake charmer came visiting.
Question 3:
Study the sentences in the columns A and B.
Compare the sentences in A to the ones in B. Who is the ‘doer’ of the action in every case? Is the ‘doer’ mentioned in A, or in B?
Notice the verbs in A: ‘was swept away’, ‘was hit’, ‘were washed away’, ‘were found’. They are in the passive form. The sentences are in the Passive Voice. In these sentences, the focus is not on the person who does the action.
In B, the ‘doer’ of the action is named. The verbs are in the active form. The sentences are in the Active Voice.
Say whether the following sentences are in the Active or the Passive voice. Write A or P after each sentence as shown in the first sentence.
(i) Someone stole my bicycle. A
(ii) The tyres were deflated by the traffic police. P
(iii) I found it last night in a ditch near my house. A
(iv) It had been thrown there. P
(v) My father gave it to the mechanic. A
(vi) The mechanic repaired it for me. A
Speaking And Writing
Question 1:
Suppose you are one of the volunteers who went to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands for relief work after the tsunami. You work in the relief camps, distributing food, water and medicine among the victims. You listen to the various stories of bravery of ordinary people even as they fight against odds to bring about some semblance of normalcy in their lives. You admire their grit and determination. Write a diary entry.
You may start in this way.
31 December, 2004
The killer tsunami struck these islands five days ago. But the victims are being brought in even now. Each one has a story to tell….
Answer:
The killer tsunami struck these islands five days ago. But the victims are being brought in even now. Each one has a story to tell. Their stories are hair raising as well as heartening or inspiring. Many were determined to start a new life. They don’t want to stay in the camp for long. They feel small because living on charity was disgraceful. Most of them want to return to their cottages which are no more there, and to get a fishing boat to earn their livelihood. One woman, though old, recalled how she had saved a child from drowning.
Question 2:
The story shows how a little girl saved the lives of many tourists when a tsunami struck the beach, thanks to the geography lesson that she had learnt at school. She remembered the visuals of a tsunami and warned her parents.
Do you remember any incident when something that you learnt in the classroom helped you in some way outside the classroom?
Write your experiences in a paragraph of about 90-100 words or narrate it to the whole class like an anecdote.
Answer:
I learned in my biology class that if a person faints, there are a few steps that should be taken immediately by people who are near him or her. That includes things like loosening any tight garments they are wearing, splashing water on their faces etc. A few days ago, when I was travelling to a relative's place, an old man in the bus suddenly fainted. The man sitting next to the old man helped him lie down and I took out my water bottle to splash some cool water on his face. I also noticed that he was wearing loose cotton clothes that did not need any further loosening. After a minute or two, the man regained his senses and I was happy to apply something that I learnt in the classroom to help the old man.
Geography Lesson
Working with the poem
Question 1:
Find three or four phrases in stanzas one and two which are likely to occur in a geography lesson.
Answer:
The three of four phrases in stanzas one and two which are likely to occur in a geography lesson are:
(i) six inches to the mile
(ii) on ground
(iii) ten thousand feet
(iv) rivers ran
(v) valleys
(vi) were populated; land and water
Question 2:
Seen from the window of an Aeroplane, the city appears
(i) as haphazard as on ground.
(ii) as meat as a map.
(iii) as developed as necessary.
Explanation:
The clear planning of the cities, their locations besides rivers mostly, all were visible from the heights of an Aeroplane. That is why the city appears developed as necessary.
Question 3:
Which of the following statements are examples of "the logic of geography"?
(i) There are cities where there are rivers.
(ii) Cities appear as they are not from six miles above the ground.
(iii) It is easy to understand why valleys are populated.
(iv) It is difficult to understand why humans hate and kill one another.
(v) The earth is round, and it has more sea than land.
Explanation:
Rivers are a source of water and water is necessary for life. From ancient times, humans have been living along the banks of rivers for that reason and many more like the land being fertile etc. So, it fits the logic of geography, that the cities are located near rivers.
Question 4:
Mention two things that are
(i) clear from the height.
(ii) not clear from the height
Answer:
(i) When the aeroplane was six miles from the ground, it was clearly visible that the earth was round. Also, because of the
general blue hue and view of sea, it was evident that the earth had more sea than land.
(ii) The boundaries that divides places geographically, e.g. walls after cities, borders of countries were not visible from that height and the poet wondered why people fight over such petty matters.
Inaya
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