CBSE Class 11

Here we are providing NCERT Solutions for Class 11 English Hornbill Chapter 5 The Ailing Planet: the Green Movement’s Role. Students can get Class 11 English The Ailing Planet: the Green Movement’s Role NCERT Solutions, Questions and Answers designed by subject expert teachers.

The Ailing Planet: the Green Movement’s Role NCERT Solutions for Class 11 English Hornbill Chapter 5

The Ailing Planet: the Green Movement’s Role NCERT Text Book Questions and Answers

The Ailing Planet: the Green Movement’s Role Understanding the text

Question 1.
Locate the lines in the text that support the title ‘The Ailing Planet’.
Answer:
(a) “The earth’s vital signs reveal a patient in declining health.”
(b) a new awareness has now dawned upon the most dangerous animal (man) in the world.”
(c) “Are we to leave our successors a scorched planet of advancing deserts, impoverished landscapes and ailing environment?”
(d) “.. .In large areas of the world, human claims on these systems are reaching an unsustainable level, a point where their productivity is being impaired.”
(e) “When this happens, fisheries collapse, forests disappear, grasslands are converted into barren wastelands, and croplands deteriorate.”
(f) “…several species of life face extinction as a result of its destruction.”
(g) “It has been well said that forests precede mankind; deserts follow.”
(h) “The world’s ancient patrimony of tropical forests is now eroding at the rate of forty to fifty million acres a year, and the growing use of dung for burning deprives the soil of an important natural fertiliser.”
(i) “The World Bank estimates that a five-fold increase in the rate of forest planting is needed to cope with the expected fuel wood demand.” “….We were saying that we are losing the forests at an acre a second, but it is much closer to an acre-and-a-half to a second.”
(j) “.. .highlighted the near catastrophic depletion of India’s forests over the last four decades.”
(k) “India, according to reliable data, is losing its forests at the rate of 3.7 million acres a year.. .The actual loss of forests is estimated to be about eight times the rate indicated by government statistics.”
(l) “A three-year study warns that the environment has deteriorated so badly that it is ‘critical’ in many of the eighty- eight countries investigated.”
(m) “For the first time in human history we see a transcending concern—the survival not just of the people but of the planet.”
(n) “The environmental problem does not necessarily signal our demise, it is our passport for the future.”

Question  2.
What does the notice ‘The world’s most dangerous animal’ at a cage in the zoo at Lusaka, Zambia, signify?
Answer:
In the zoo at Lusaka, Zambia, outside a cage there is a notice that reads, “The world’s most dangerous animal.” Inside the cage there is no animal but a mirror where one can see oneself. It is an endeavour to make humans realise how destructive they are. They are the cause of the destruction of thousands of species. We have done this by destroying their habitats. This is an attempt to make human beings introspect about their destructive deeds. It is an attempt to help us realise the wisdom of shifting from a system based on domination to one based on partnership.

Question  3.
How are the earth’s principal biological systems being depleted?
Answer:
Mr Lester R. Brown in his book, The Global Economic Prospect, points out that the earth’s four principal biological systems fisheries, forests, grasslands, and croplands form the foundation of the global economic system. In addition to supplying our food, these four systems provide virtually all the raw materials for industry.

Human claims on these systems are reaching an unsustainable level, a point where their productivity is being impaired. As a result, fisheries collapse, forests disappear, grasslands are converted into barren wastelands, and croplands deteriorate. Since tropical forests are, in the words of Dr Myers, “the powerhouses of evolution”, several species of life face extinction as a result of their destruction.

Question 4.
Why does the author aver that the growth of world population is one of the strongest factors distorting the future of human society?
Answer:
Growing population is one of the strongest factors distorting the future of human society. A three-year study using satellites and aerial photography conducted by the United Nations, warns that the environment has deteriorated so badly that it is ‘critical’ in many of the eighty-eight countries investigated. India is losing its forests at the rate of 3.7 million acres a year. The actual loss of forests is estimated to be about eight times the rate indicated by government statistics.

The Ailing Planet: the Green Movement’s Role Talking about the text

Discuss in groups of four.

Question 1.
Laws are never respected nor enforced in India.
Answer:
Article 48 A of the Constitution of India makes available that “the State shall endeavour to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wildlife of the country”. But the cause of unending distress is the fact that laws are never respected nor imposed in India.

For example, the Constitution says that “casteism, untouchabitity and bonded labour” shall be eradicated, but this has not happened even after several years of the functioning of the Constitution. A recent report of our Parliament’s Estimates Committee has highlighted the appalling exhaustion of India’s forests over the last four decades. India is losing its forests at the rate of 3.7 million acres a year but the actual loss of forests is likely to be about eight times more than this, despite laws.

Question 2.
“Are we to leave our successors a scorched planet of advancing deserts, impoverished landscapes and an ailing environment?”
Answer:
The earth’s four principal biological systems fisheries, forests, grasslands, and croplands form the foundation of the global economic system. In large areas of the world, human claims on these systems are reaching an unsustainable level, a point where their productivity is being impaired. According to Dr Myres, the tropical forests that are the powerhouses of evolution, as they house innumerable species, are facing extinction.

It has been said that forests pave the way for man’s survival while deserts come after the annihilation of life. The world’s tropical forests are now wearing away at the rate of forty to fifty million acres a year. Expressing his concern, Mr L.K. Jha, raised this question in the first Brandt report. He felt it was unfair to leave for our future generations a seared planet with a growing number of deserts, a landscape deprived of nutrients and natural beauty.

Question 3.
“We have not inherited this earth from our forefathers; we have borrowed it from our children”.
Answer:
For the first time in human history we see an excessive worry about the survival not just of the people but also of the planet. We have begun to take a holistic view of the very passport for the future. The emerging new world vision has ushered in the Era of Responsibility. It is a holistic view, an ecological view, seeing the world is not something to be exploited for our good but as an inheritance to be preserved for future generations.

Question 4.
The problems of overpopulation that directly affect our everyday life.
Answer:
Growing population is the main factor changing the future of human society. In 1800, the population was merely one billion. Another billion was added to it by 1900. By the twentieth century the population increased by another 3.7 billion. The present world population is estimated at 5.7 billion.

Every four days, the world population increases by one million. Controlling the population growth will improve our general health. Moreover, development may not be possible if increase in numbers continues. The rich get richer, and the poor produce children, which is the cause of their poverty. It adds to the number of unemployed persons. If this is not checked, the poor will die of starvation.

The Ailing Planet: the Green Movement’s Role Thinking about language

The phrase ‘inter alia’ meaning ‘among other things’ is one of the many Latin expressions commonly used in English.
Find out what these Latin phrases mean.

• prima facie – at first glance
• ad hoc – done for a particular purpose and not planned in advance
• in camera – in private; in a closed court
• ad infinitum – endlessly
• mutatis mutandis – including necessary changes
• caveat – warning or proviso; request to court
• tabula rasa – mind prior to experience; chance to start afresh

The Ailing Planet: the Green Movement’s Role Working with words

I. Locate the following phrases in the text and study their connotation.

• gripped the imagination of – captured someone’s interest
• dawned upon – became apparent
• ushered in – heralded or introduced something
• passed into current coin – invent or devise a word or phrase that is used in the present
• passport of the future – authorisation to take us to a brighter future

II. The words ‘grip’, ‘dawn’, ‘usher’, ‘coin’, ‘passport’ have a literal as well as a figurative meaning. Write pairs of sentences using each word in the literal as well as the figurative sense.

1. grip: The baby gripped my finger with her tiny hand.

• She would not loosen her grip on my arm.
• The suspense in the film held me in grip throughout the two hours.
• I found the book so gripping that I couldn’t put it down.
• The intruder turned towards me and I was suddenly gripped by fear.
• Rebels have tightened their grip on the city.
• I have packed a day’s change of clothing in the grip.

2. dawn:

• They walked all night and reached the village at dawn.
• Gradually the truth about him dawned on us.

3. usher:

• She ushered us into her office and offered us coffee.
• The new legislation should usher in a host of new opportunities for school leavers
• He works as an usher

4. coin:

• I asked for ten pounds in 20p coins.
• Allen Ginsberg coined the term ‘flower power’.

5. passport:

• Many refugees have arrived at the border without passports.
• Many students opt for business studies simply because it sounds like a passport to
  a good job.
• Beauty alone can be a passport to success.

The Ailing Planet: the Green Movement’s Role Things to do

1. Make posters to highlight the importance of the Green Movement.
2. Maintain a record of the trees cut down and the parks demolished in your area, or any other act that violates the environment. Write to newspapers reporting on any such acts that disturb you.

32/4, Mehrauli, New Delhi
12 February 20XX
The Editor
Navyug Times
Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi-1
Subject: Malls trampling Delhi’s green belt
Dear Sir,

Part of the Aravalli range, the Delhi Ridge, is an icon of greenery and part of the capital’s heritage. But over the years, much of the Ridge has disappeared, with the most recent threat coming from swanky hotels and malls.

The Ridge is home to many endemic plant species and still remains an important visiting stop to many migratory birds as they journey onwards to other parts of the subcontinent. Moreover, it cools the hot winds from the deserts of the neighbouring state of Rajasthan before they reach the city and stashes away welcome raindrops to boost dipping groundwater levels.But over the years, much of the Ridge has disappeared under the brick and mortar that now define most Indian cities.

A worst-case scenario is on display in the Ridge area in Vasant Vihar, where trees are being cut down to build swanky hotels and malls. Such expansion that puts more soil under cement and replaces forested areas with concrete is profoundly altering the environmental landscape. The health of our natural endowments has now become the source of much anxiety and consternation amongst the residents of the area.

We remain unclear as to both the quality and the quantity of our ecological footprint and whether we have taken actions that will lead to negative short-term and long-term environmental consequences. It is essential to halt this march towards destruction of the Ridge. The Ridge forest is protected under the master plan and must remain so. Residents must actively protest against this degradation of their environment.

Yours sincerely,
(Name …)

Here we are providing NCERT Solutions for Class 11 English Snapshots Chapter 7 Birth. Students can get Class 11 English Birth NCERT Solutions, Questions and Answers designed by subject expert teachers.

Birth NCERT Solutions for Class 11 English Snapshots Chapter 7

Birth NCERT Text Book Questions and Answers

Question 1.
“I have done something; oh, God! I’ve done something real at last.” Why does Andrew say this? What does it mean?
Answer:
Andrew Manson, a graduate from a medical school, had just begun his medical practice. At almost midnight, Joe Morgan came for him, looking visibly disturbed as his wife was to deliver. Andrew accompanied him. The night was an ordeal. At half-past three, after an hour’s difficult struggle, the child was bom lifeless and the mother’s condition was failing. Impulsively, he gave the child to the nurse and turned his concentration towards Susan Morgan who lay collapsed and almost pulse-less. He struggled to restore the lifeless woman and after a few minutes of intense effort, her heartbeat became steady.

Realising that she was safe, he quickly turned for the perfectly formed, but lifeless body of the child. He inferred that this unconscious condition was caused by a lack of oxygen and an excess of carbon dioxide in the blood. He continued struggling to resuscitate the child. However, after half an hour of laborious effort, the tiny chest began heaving. The recovery was miraculous. Finally, Andrew walked out tired, but relieved at having “done something real at last.” He had put the theories, he had studied, into practice and had saved a life.

Question 2.
There lies a great difference between textbook medicine and the world of a practising physician. Discuss.
Answer:
Hints Textbook medicine

• tough and tedious but like any other field of study
• deals with learning and examination
• thrust on getting a degree
• focus on theory

Practising physician

• responsible for lives
• quick decisions
• service before self
• spirit of dedication
• judicious application of theory

Question 3.
Do you know of any incident when someone has been brought back to life from the brink of death through medical help. Discuss medical procedures such as organ transplant and organ regeneration that are used to save human life.
Answer:
Organ Transplants

Heart, kidney and liver transplants are used when a person’s own organs are irreparably damaged, such as by a heart attack, severe kidney disease, or cirrhosis of the liver. The cornea is transplanted to cure blindness from comeal opacities. A comeal transplant will not cure any other form of blindness.

Bone marrow is transplanted to people with cancer of the blood-forming tissues, or leukaemia. The most widely practised transplants are those of kidneys and corneas, but heart and liver transplants are also routinely done. Transplants of hearts and bone marrow are mainly performed at centres that specialise in such surgery.

Autografting involves the transplanting or implanting of living tissue from one part of the body to another in order to make the tissue adhere and grow to supply a missing part. Skin and bone grafting, which involve advanced plastic surgery techniques, are prime examples of autografts; in cases of severe bums, however, the patient will receive donor skin tissue which, although temporarily valuable, will always eventually be rejected by the patient’s immune system.

In most types of transplants, the difficulties that arise are not ones of surgical technique. Instead, they are due to rejection of the new organ by the recipient’s immune system. This occurs because each person’s tissue cells bear a unique set of surface markers called HLA antigens. These substances are recognised as foreign by the recipient’s immune system, which mounts an attack against them. The success of a transplant depends on the donor and recipient having as many HLA antigens in common as possible.

Organ Regeneration

Regeneration, in biology, is the ability of a living organism to regrow a portion of its body that has been injured or lost. So far, only reptiles could regenerate on a very limited scale, for example, lizards shedding their tails. Mammals have no regenerating ability; they are more complex creatures and their ability to regenerate was lost because of complexity. Now, scientists have successfully created a miracle mouse that can regenerate amputated or badly damaged parts of its body.

The new ability can keep a mouse alive after sustaining a deadly wound. It can look unreal to you yet a mouse can regenerate not only its tail or a damaged joint, it can also restore its heart. Brain is the only organ the mouse cannot regenerate. In other words, the future holds dramatic changes in store for science if the discovery is confirmed.

Though speech is essentially an essay, it is significantly different. Whereas an essay or an article is read by people at a distance in time and place, a speech is delivered ‘live’ to an audience. This fact determines, to a great extent, the language and style of the composition.

A speech consists of the words spoken by a person to a gathering. The speaker could be a leader, a learned man, a man in a position of power and authority or an ordinary person, a student. The ‘address’, the language and style are determined by the occasion and the audience.

This grammar section explains English Grammar in a clear and simple way. There are example sentences to show how the language is used. NCERT Solutions for Class 11 English will help you to write better answers in your Class 11 exams. Because the Solutions are solved by subject matter experts.

Speech Writing Format CBSE Class 11 Examples, Samples, Topics

♦ Format:

(a) Address the gathering, e.g., Respected Principal, teachers, students, Good Morning.
(b) Speech in three or four paragraphs.
(c) A speech ends with Thank you. The speaker thanks the listeners for their patient hearing. Content:

♦ Content:

According to the occasion, you may include quotations. Organise the speech into introduction, main points and conclusion.

Language and style should be a mingling of the serious and conversational modes.

Question 1.
You are Mukesh/Mukta of Saket. You have been reading the news items on Nithari killings. Write a speech in 150-200 words to be given in the morning assembly, stressing the need of keeping a close vigil on the anti-social elements of the locality and taking care of young children of the area so that they don’t fall prey to bad characters.
Answer:

Crimes Against Children
by Mukta (XIA)

Respected Principal, teachers and dear friends. Good Morning. I am Mukta of Class XI. Today I would like to share my views with you on crimes against children. It is a horrifying reality with which we have to contend.

Some recent tragic events have opened our eyes to the magnitude of crimes against children. Mostly, children are kidnapped for ransom if they are from rich families, or for begging and stealing if they are from ordinary families. Cases of child abuse are growing in alarming proportions.

The most disgusting and horrifying of these cases was the one discovered at Noida, where the owner- servant team carried out dastardly crimes against children behind closed doors. Investigations are unveiling horrible acts.

In such a scenario, it is imperative that parents take good care of their children. Children should be trained not to.trust strangers.

The security of a neighbourhood depends on the alertness of the citizens. We have a tremendous responsibility towards our youngsters.

I hope my words will make you think about the matter.
Thank you

Question 2.
Children usually come to school without taking breakfast in the morning and eat junk food from the school canteen. This habit affects adversely the performance of students in academics and sports. Write a speech in 150-200 words to be given in your school assembly about ‘How Health is Affected by Lifestyle’.
Answer:

How Health is Affected by Lifestyle

Respected Principal, teachers and dear friends,

Good morning, I am Mamta of XI A, and I wish to speak to you on a very important matter. I wish to speak to you on how our health is affected by our lifestyle.

Yesterday, a class VI student fainted in the assembly. The reason was that she had not taken her breakfast of porridge, fruit and milk. She wanted noodles only with coffee!

Friends, the breakfast her mother had prepared was nutritious, it would have given her energy for the whole day. If we fill our stomach, meal after meal, with junk food, how shall we grow tall and strong? How will we get the energy for mental work?

Like food, rest is an important part of our lifestyle. My friend Roshan was unable to answer his English paper in the unit test; he was feeling sleepy. He had studied till 3 a.m. because he thought English could be studied in a few hours. Had he been regular in work and study, he would have done well, for he is very intelligent.

My last word is for my obese friends who form almost 30% of our student body. Exercise, exercise and regular exercise is the answer to your problems.

I sincerely hope you will improve your lifestyle to be healthier and stronger.

Thank You.

♦ Analysis:

1. Notice that the speech opens with an address to the listeners. They are addressed in order of importance. Do not forget to address the student audience.
2. Notice the conclusion. The speech ends with thanking the audience.
3. Notice that the language and style are more conversational than that of an article.
4. The structure of the content of a speech is very similar to that of an article/essay, i.e., having an introduction, main body and conclusion.

Question 3.
A recent survey by the Ministry of Health shows that the growing tendency of obesity among children today is caused by addiction to junk food and lack of physical exercise, and it adversely affects their learning power. Write a speech in 150-200 words to be delivered in the morning assembly of the school highlighting the importance of good health and motivating the children to eat healthy, balanced diet.
Answer:

Side Effects of Junk Food

Respected Principal, Vice Principal, teachers, and dear friends. Good morning.

I am grateful to the Principal, Dr N. Ravi, for giving me this opportunity to speak on a matter that is close to the heart of all teenagers.

As I stand here, I can see about eight to ten overweight students in each class line. Surely, they are embarrassed and have become the butt of jokes. To look fit and trim is vital for a good personality.

Friends, I want you to look at your daily routine and see what you are doing to get this bulky figure. Are you excessively fond of cold drinks, pizzas and hamburgers? Do you love to sit before TV and munch wafers and packaged chips of all brands ? Is your favorite snack during the long break everyday a spicy oily ‘samosa’ or ‘bread pakora’?

Later in the evening do you just sit indoors and work on your computer, complete your homework or watch TV ?

If the answer to these questions is ‘Yes’, you know why you have this ungainly figure. In order to be slim and athletic, you need to eat right, exercise briskly in fresh air and live a disciplined life. The food that your mother prepares is what you should consume rather than junk food.

Thank you

Question 4.
With the visual media technology overtaking the print-media, you have observed a decline in the people’s interest in reading books. You are disturbed by this excessive dependence of the young on television and computer games as the source of entertainment. Write a speech in 150-200 words for your school magazine on the “Pleasures of Reading” or “The Company of Books. ”
Answer:

The Pleasures of Reading
by ABC

Reading affords pleasure like no other activity. It is deeply fulfilling and satisfying. While reading, the reader is in direct communication with the writer, however distant he may be in time or space. The reader is fully focussed and enjoys the content as well as the beauty and power of language. Reading offers an infinite variety according to one’s taste. Knowledge, imagination and the reader’s own appreciation of the written word are some of the rewards of reading. If one is adventurous, one can venture into unknown cultures through books. For example, a reading of Tolstoy or Chekhov gives us an insight into the life of the Russians as a reading of Dickens gives us of the British, particularly of London dwellers.

Reading makes us more sensitive to human greatness as well as human suffering. A reading of Premchand’s short stories acquaints us with the strengths and weaknesses of human character. The classics of literature are eternal in their appeal.

Unfortunately, today most of us visit the celluloid version of Sharat Chandra’s ‘Devdas’ three four times, and the original printed one not even once.

Question 5.
The world that we are living in is under a great threat of extinction. Large scale pollution, deforestation and industrialization are suffocating the environment. You, as a concerned citizen, want to share the causes and effects of global warming. You would also like to give a few suggestions on how to contribute to the making of a better world. As Vivek/Vineeta Arora, Head Boy/Girl of the school, prepare a speech on this issue for the morning assembly under the heading “The Hazards of Global Warming”. (150-200 words)
Answer:

The Hazards of Global Warming

Respected Principal, teachers and dear friends,

This morning, I wish to draw your attention to the catastrophe that is slowly and surely coming towards us. I am talking about the hazards of global warming.

Some of my friends may not be aware of ‘global warming’. This term means the rise of the temperature of the atmosphere surrounding our planet. This is happening because of over industrialisation, large-scale pollution and deforestation. Hot emissions from industry and release of chemicals in the air are making the atmosphere of the earth warmer.

What are the hazards of global warming? Already, the polar ice caps have started melting. This can bring disaster to the world. Huge glaciers in the Himalayas and other mountains are shrinking. This will cause a rise in the sea level and will eventually lead to the flooding of coastal areas. Global warming will also bring about changes in the world climate. There will be excess rains, floods, unbearable heat and cold. These changes will surely bring disaster to the flora and fauna of our planet.

What can we do about this problem? The countries need to exercise discipline ajpout putting up industries. Effective measures to control pollution are needed.

Friends, I have tried to acquaint you with the problem the whole world is facing.

Thank you.

Question 6.
You are the Class Representative, Class XI of Gandhi Memorial School, Pushp Vihar. You have been asked to prepare a speech on the need to imbibe principles of truthfulness, gentleness and cooperation to counter the growing violence in today’s world. Write this speech in 150-200 words.
Answer:

Respected Principal, teachers and dear friends,

Today, I wish to speak to you on the very familiar subject of values like truthfulness, gentleness and cooperation. If we wish to counter the growing violence around us, these values are the only recourse open to us. (Develop these points).

Truthfulness – the basis of social stability – will rid society of deceit and fraud – example of Gandhiji! who could defeat the mighty British with the weapon of truth.

Gentleness – tolerance of the other colour, religion and caste, patience and compassion advocated by Buddha and Mahavir.

Cooperation – inevitable in the era of globalization.

Thank you

Question 7.
You are Rajini/Rajat Gaur. After seeing some obese children in your school, you are worried about
the craze for junk food and electronic gadgets in students. Write a speech to be read out in the morning assembly highlighting the need to have good eating habits and the benefits of outdoor activities. (Word limit: 150-200 words)
Answer:

Respected principal, teachers and dear friends. Today I am standing before you to express my views on the topic “obesity among school children”. Obesity has become a cause of concern for one and all. With the entry of companies like McDonalds, Kentucky chicken, wimpeys, Pizza Huts, etc. the concept of fast food has spread like a wild fire. More and more school children have taken to chocolates and soft drinks without worrying for colories. The result is obesity increasing by leaps and bounds among school children.

‘Junk food’ appeals to our taste buds but our digestive system repels it. Oil and extra fat harm our liver. We put on flesh and increase our weight. Fresh home cooked meals are hygenic, better and full of vitamins. Minerals can be easily digested. Our food should consist of coarse cereals, green and leafy vegetables, fruits, and pulses, etc. To keep ourselves agile, energetic and robust, we must do physical exercises, play games like football, badminton, kabbaddi, volleyball, etc.

By eating healthy food, doing regular physical activities not only our body will be healthy and toned our minds would remain active. I hope you all will give some consideration to my suggestion and try to instil it in your daily routine.

Thank you all for giving me a patient hearing.

Question 8.
Yoga is beneficial. Speak about the benefits of yoga in the morning assembly. (Word limit: 150-200)
Answer:

Respected Principal, teachers and friends, a very good morning to one and all. Today I am standing before you to express my views on the benefits of practising yoga.

Many of us perform yoga but do we know what this entails and why is it performed? Basically yoga is a means to attain balance in our body, i.e., gaining strength, increasing flexibility and attaining spirituality. Postures and asanas are an indispensable part of yoga. These are performed keeping in mind all the body parts, combining breathing practices, and include guided mediation, Yoga is a union between body and mind. In other words, we can say it is a balance between mind and helps us keep ourselves fit and fine.

Yoga has the potential to cure many diseases like respiratory problem, abdominal problem and diseases related to the nervous system. Yoga helps in releasing toxins, reduces stress and increases concentration. In short, yoga helps us keep disease-free, happy, wealthy, wise and toned up. Yoga is a never-ending process. The deeper you delve into it the more fruitfull will be the results.

I would like to end my speech on this note.

Here we are providing NCERT Solutions for Class 11 English Hornbill Poem 5 Father to Son. Students can get Class 11 English Father to Son NCERT Solutions, Questions and Answers designed by subject expert teachers.

Father to Son NCERT Solutions for Class 11 English Hornbill Poem 5

Father to Son NCERT Text Book Questions and Answers

Father to Son Think it out

Question 1.
Does the poem talk of an exclusively personal experience or is it fairly universal?
Answer:
‘Generation gap’, as termed now, is a fairly universal phenomenon. Children in their effort to keep abreast with changing values lose track of their roots. They find the values, they inherit from their parents, overbearing. Parents are protective and try to guard them from making mistakes. This leads to a clash of ideologies.

Question 2.
How is the father’s helplessness brought out in the poem?
Answer:
This poem is a lament of the father because the chasm between his son and him has grown over the years. He recalls moments of his son as a child and laments how he has become a stranger to him. Their preferences and ideologies have alienated them. He wishes to rebuild their relationship and start afresh.

Question 3.
Identify the phrases and lines that indicate distance between father and son.
Answer:

• I do not understand this child
• I know Nothing of him,
• Yet have I killed
  The seed I spent or sown it where
  The land is his and none of mine?
• We speak like strangers, there’s no sign
  Of understanding in the air.
• Yet what he loves I cannot share.
  Silence surrounds us.
• He speaks: I cannot understand
• We each put out an empty hand

Question 4.
Does the poem have a consistent rhyme scheme?
Answer:
Yes the poem does have a consistent rhyme scheme. The rhyme scheme is ABBABA.

Here we are providing NCERT Solutions for Class 11 English Snapshots Chapter 6 The Ghat of the Only World. Students can get Class 11 English The Ghat of the Only World NCERT Solutions, Questions and Answers designed by subject expert teachers.

The Ghat of the Only World NCERT Solutions for Class 11 English Snapshots Chapter 6

The Ghat of the Only World NCERT Text Book Questions and Answers

Question 1.
What impressions of Shahid do you gather from the piece?
Answer:
Agha Shahid Ali was a poet of life. He was lively in the face of an impending death. He loved people, food, poetry, teaching, music and kept himself engaged in all these so he did not have time to be depressed about his approaching death. He was true to his vocation as a poet and believed that art and form should be as important to a poet as his subject.

He wrote poems, perhaps the finest ones, about the political condition and violence in Kashmir, but he did . not embrace the role of victim, proving himself a true poet at heart and not a political personality. He was an ardent believer of the separation of politics and religion and believed that people could be happy with food, clothes, music and everything that was available to them; everything that was beautiful and good.

Question 2.
How do Shahid and the writer react to the knowledge that Shahid is going to die?
Answer:
There are two instances in the text when the author and Agha Shahid Ali talk about the latter’s impending death. Incidentally both the times they talk over phone. In both the instances, the author is dejected and at a loss as to how to respond to such a thing. Although he has known about Ali’s illness all the while, he finds it difficult to face, albeit not literally, the person who is going to die. But Ali seems quite in peace with this fact.

In both the instances, his voice sounds ‘quiet and untroubled’. In fact, in the first instance, his voice was, as the author puts it, ‘completely at odds with the content of what he had just said, light to the point of jocularity.’ This shows that Ali accepts his death and is at peace with his approaching end. In his last meeting with the author, he even says that he loves to think that he will meet his mother in the afterlife.

Question 3.
Look up the dictionary for the meaning of the word ‘diaspora’. What do you understand of the Indian diaspora from this piece?
Answer:
The meaning of the word ‘diaspora’ is dispersion or spread of people from their original country to other countries. From the piece, we get a glimpse of the Indian diaspora living in the US. Agha Shahid Ali, his brother and two sisters, the writer Suketu Mehta and the author of the piece, Amitav Ghosh, are some of the names mentioned in the text who form part of the Indian diaspora in the US.

Bom in India, the people of the diaspora settle down in different countries for various reasons. But they often rekindle their memory of the country they left in the social gatherings. They talk and write about their homeland. Like this piece, which is full of references to India, the diaspora consciousness is shaped by the sense of a home one left behind, a nostalgia one often indulged in and an unforgettable love one can only talk about but not go back to