Understanding the text
I. Give reasons for the following statements.
1. The article has been titled ‘Silk Road.’
2. Tibetan mastiffs were popular in China’s imperial courts.
3. The author’s experience at Hor was in stark contrast to earlier
accounts of the place.
4. The author was disappointed with Darchen.
5. The author thought that his positive thinking strategy worked
well after all.
II. Briefly comment on
1. The purpose of the author’s journey to Mount Kailash.
2. The author’s physical condition in Darchen.
3. The author’s meeting with Norbu.
4. Tsetan’s support to the author during the journey.
5. “As a Buddhist, he told me, he knew that it didn’t really matter
if I passed away, but he thought it would be bad for business.”
Talking about the text
Discuss in groups of four
1. The sensitive behaviour of hill-folk.
2. The reasons why people willingly undergo the travails of difficult
journeys.
3. The accounts of exotic places in legends and the reality.
Thinking about language
1. Notice the kind of English Tsetan uses while talking to the author.
How do you think he picked it up?
2. What do the following utterances indicate?
(i) “I told her, through Daniel …”
(ii) “It’s a cold,” he said finally through Tsetan.
3. Guess the meaning of the following words.
kora drokba kyang
In which language are these words found?
Working with words
1. The narrative has many phrases to describe the scenic beauty
of the mountainside like:
A flawless half-moon floated in a perfect blue sky.
Scan the text to locate other such picturesque phrases.
2. Explain the use of the adjectives in the following phrases.
(i) shaggy monsters
(ii) brackish lakes
(iii) rickety table
(iv) hairpin bend
(v) rudimentary general stores
Noticing form
1. The account has only a few passive voice sentences. Locate them.
In what way does the use of active voice contribute to the style
of the narrative.
2. Notice this construction: Tsetan was eager to have them fixed.
Write five sentences with a similar structure.
Things to do
“The plateau is pockmarked with salt flats and brackish lakes,
vestiges of the Tethys Ocean which bordered Tibet before the
continental collision that lifted it skyward.”
Given below is an extract from an account of the Tethys Ocean
downloaded from the Internet. Go online, key in Tethys Ocean in
Google search and you will find exhaustive information on this
geological event. You can also consult an encyclopedia.
Today, India, Indonesia and the Indian Ocean cover the area
once occupied by the Tethys Ocean. Turkey, Iraq, and Tibet
sit on the land once known as Cimmeria. Most of the floor of
the Tethys Ocean disappeared under Cimmeria and
Laurasia. We only know that Tethys existed because
geologists like Suess have found fossils of ocean creatures
in rocks in the Himalayas. So, we know those rocks were
underwater, before the Indian continental shelf began
pushing upward as it smashed into Cimmeria. We can see
similar geologic evidence in Europe, where the movement of
Africa raised the Alps.
