Chapter 2
Comprehension Check (Page 27)
1:Say whether the following are true or false.
1. Ignesious lost his wife, two children, his father-in-law, and his brother-in-law in the tsunami.
Answer:True
2. Sanjeev made it to safety after the tsunami.
Answer:False
3. Meghna was saved by a relief helicopter.
Answer:False
4. Almas’s father realised that a tsunami was going to hit the island.
Answer:True
5. Her mother and aunts were washed away with the tree that they were holding on to.
Answer:True
Comprehension Check (Page 29)
Answer the following in a phrase or sentence.
1:Why did Tilly’s family come to Thailand?
Answer:Tilly Smith and her family had travelled from South-East England to spend their Christmas holidays at a beach resort in southern Thailand.
2:What were the warning signs that both Tilly and her mother saw?
Answer:On the morning of 26 December 2004, after a huge earthquake struck off northern Sumatra, Tilly and her mother observed unusual changes at the beach. Her mother noticed the sea water swelling and moving inland while the shoreline kept shrinking. At the same time, Tilly observed the sea rising gradually, bubbling, foaming, and even forming whirlpools.
3:Do you think Tilly’s mother was alarmed by them?
Answer:At first, Tilly’s mother could not make sense of the strange happenings. But when she noticed her daughter’s panic and heard her crying out that a tsunami was coming, she realised the gravity of the situation.
4:Where had Tilly seen the sea behaving in the same strange fashion?
Answer:Tilly had earlier come across the same unusual behaviour of the sea in one of her geography lessons, where her teacher had shown the class a video explaining that tsunamis may occur due to earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, or landslides.
5:Where did the Smith family and the others on the beach go to escape from the tsunami?
Answer:To save themselves from the tsunami, the Smith family along with the other people on the beach rushed back to their hotel and moved up to the third floor. The hotel structure remained strong and endured the force of three giant tsunami waves.
6:How do you think her geography teacher felt when she heard about what Tilly had done in Phuket?
Answer:Tilly’s geography teacher must have been overwhelmed with pride and joy on learning what her student had accomplished in Phuket. Knowing that the lesson and video she had once shown in class helped Tilly recognise the danger and save many lives, including her own family’s, would have made her extremely happy and proud.
Comprehension Check (Page 30)
Answer using a phrase or a sentence.
1:In the tsunami, 150,000 people died. How many animals died?
Answer:While the tsunami claimed the lives of over 150,000 people across several countries bordering the Indian Ocean, reports of animal deaths were very few. Unlike the heavy human casualties, the number of animals that perished was never clearly recorded.
2:How many people and animals died in Yala National Park?
Answer:In Yala National Park, around sixty people who were on the Patanangala beach lost their lives to the tsunami. Interestingly, apart from the bodies of two water buffaloes, no other dead animals were discovered there.
3:What do people say about the elephants of Yala National Park?
Answer:According to those who were at Yala National Park, about an hour before the tsunami struck, three elephants were seen moving quickly away from the Patanangala beach.
4:What did the dogs in Galle do?
Answer:On the day the tsunami struck, the dogs in Galle did not go out for their usual run along the beach.
Working with the text (Pages 30-31)
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:Initially, Ignesious did not realise that a tsunami was approaching when he felt the earthquake. His first reaction was to get up and carefully place his television set on the floor to prevent it from falling and breaking. After that, the family hurriedly left the house.
The Ignesious family had no time to discuss or plan their next steps after the tsunami struck because of the confusion and panic. As soon as the tremors ceased, they saw the sea rising, and in the midst of the chaos, two of the children grabbed the hands of their mother’s father and mother’s brother and ran in the opposite direction.
2:Which words in the list below describe Sanjeev, in your opinion? (Look up the dictionary for words that you are not sure of.)
Use words from the list to complete the three sentences below.
(i) I don’t know if Sanjeev was cheerful, ___________ or ___________.
(ii) I think that he was very brave, ___________ and___________.
(iii) Sanjeev was not heartless, ___________or___________.
Answer:
In my opinion, the words that describe Sanjeev are brave, heroic and selfless.
(i) I don’t know if Sanjeev was cheerful, ambitious or humorous.
(ii) I think that he was very brave, heroic and selfless.
(iii) Sanjeev was not heartless, brash or careless.
3:How are Meghna and Almas’s stories similar?
Answer:Meghna and Almas had similar experiences during the tsunami. Both lost their families to the waves and were the sole survivors. Meghna floated in the sea for two days, holding onto a wooden door until a wave carried her ashore. Almas, likewise, clung to a log of wood and fainted, later waking up in a hospital in Kamorta before being taken to Port Blair. The trauma affected both girls deeply—Meghna was found wandering the seashore in a daze, while Almas avoided talking about the tragic event.
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 sensed that a tsunami was about to hit. Seeing her panic and fear, her parents quickly recognised the seriousness of the situation. They took both their daughters away from the beach and moved them to the hotel’s swimming pool. Observing this, several other tourists also left the beach, and Tilly shouted to everyone nearby to run to safety.
Alternatively, Tilly’s parents could have ignored her frightened behaviour or tried to calm her down, which might have put them at risk of being caught by the tsunami waves.
If I were in their position, I would have paid close attention to Tilly, understood the impending danger, and immediately run away from the beach to reach a safe place like the hotel.
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:I believe Tilly should share her award with her geography teacher, as it was the teacher who taught her about tsunamis and their dangers. This knowledge enabled Tilly to act wisely and save numerous lives.
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:There are two main ideas explaining why so few animals died in the tsunami. One is that animals possess a kind of sixth sense, allowing them to detect when the earth is about to shake. Another idea is that animals have highly sensitive hearing, enabling them to feel or hear vibrations in the ground and sense approaching danger long before humans notice it.
I find the second idea more believable, as it is scientifically supported that animals can detect low-frequency sounds and disturbances beyond the range of human perception, which helps them move to safety in time.
Working with language (Page 31-32)
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.
Can you explain why there are many words in one column and not in the others?
Answer:
The ‘fast movement’ has more words than the other two columns, i.e., ‘slow movement’ and ‘neither slow nor fast’. This indicates that there are fast movements in a tsunami, because of which it is extremely difficult to instantly avert such a critical situation for both men and animals. Although people were fast in their movements such as running or climbing, most of them got washed away by the tsunami waves.
2:Fill in the blanks in the sentences below (the verbs given in brackets will give you a clue).
(i) The earth trembled, but not many people felt the _________. (tremble)
Answer:The earth trembled, but not many people felt the trembling.
(ii) When the zoo was flooded, there was a lot of _________ and many animals escaped into the countryside. (confuse)
Answer: When the zoo was flooded, there was a lot of confusion and many animals escaped into the countryside.
(iii) We heard with _________ that the lion had been recaptured. (relieve)
Answer: We heard with relief that the lion had been recaptured.
(iv) The zookeeper was stuck in a tree and his _________ was filmed by the TV crew. (rescue)
Answer: The zookeeper was stuck in a tree and his rescue was filmed by the TV crew.
(v) There was much _________ in the village when the snake charmer came visiting. (excite)
Answer: There was much excitement in the village when the snake charmer came visiting.
3: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__
Answer:Someone stole my bicycle. __A__
(ii) The tyres were deflated by the traffic police. _______________
Answer: The tyres were deflated by the traffic police. ______P________
(iii) I found it last night in a ditch near my house. _______________
Answer: I found it last night in a ditch near my house. _____A__________
(iv) It had been thrown there. _______________
Answer: It had been thrown there. ______P_________
(v) My father gave it to the mechanic. _______________
Answer: My father gave it to the mechanic. _____A__________
(vi) The mechanic repaired it for me. _______________
Answer: The mechanic repaired it for me. _____A__________
Answer by Mrinmoee
