Chapter 12
RISKS
Tick the correct alternative:
1. What does the line "To hope is to risk despair" express?
(a) fear about failure
(b) fear about discouragement
(c) fear about some losses
(d) fear to being hopeless
Answer: (b) fear about discouragement
2. Who composed the poem "Risks"?
(a) Oliver Goldsmith.
(b) Charles Mackay
(c) Janet Rand
(d) Alfred Tennyson.
Answer: (c) Janet Rand
Answer the following questions not exceeding 30-40 words each:
1.What is success?
Answer: Success is the outcome of taking risks, facing challenges, and not being afraid of failure. It involves growth, learning, and living life fully, rather than avoiding difficulties.
2.Who is truly free?
Answer: A person who dares to take risks, express emotions, love, hope, and face failures is truly free. They live without fear and grow through experience, unlike those who avoid risks and become emotionally imprisoned.
3.What is the greatest hazard in life?
Answer: The greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing. A life without risk leads to no growth, learning, or fulfillment. It results in emotional stagnation and the loss of freedom and purpose.
4.When is a man filled with despair?
answer: A man is filled with despair when his hopes are shattered. Hoping involves emotional investment, and when expectations fail, it can lead to deep discouragement and hopelessness.
5.How can freedom be enjoyed?
answer: Freedom can be truly enjoyed by embracing life’s uncertainties, taking risks, and being open to change, love, and learning. It comes from living authentically and not being confined by fear or inaction.
Answer the following questions not exceeding 60 words each:
1. Why should we take risk?
Answer: We should take risks because they lead to growth, learning, love, and true freedom. Without risks, life remains stagnant and unfulfilled. Taking risks helps us experience life fully, overcome fears, and discover our true potential.
2. What is immediate advantage of avoiding risks?
Answer: The immediate advantage of avoiding risks is the prevention of pain, failure, sorrow, or disappointment. It gives a temporary sense of safety and emotional comfort, but in the long run, it limits personal growth and life experiences.
3. "Chained by their certitude". Explain this phrase.
Answer: This phrase means being bound by one’s need for certainty or security. People who avoid risks become mentally and emotionally restricted, unable to grow or explore life freely. Their fear of the unknown enslaves them.
4. Write main theme of the poem.
Answer: The main theme of the poem is the necessity of taking risks to truly live and grow. It emphasizes that avoiding risks may prevent pain but leads to a life without meaning, freedom, or fulfillment.
5. What is the importance of opposite images in the poem?
Answer: The poem uses opposite images like hope–despair, love–rejection, life–death to highlight that every meaningful action involves risk. These contrasts emphasize that without facing the negatives, we cannot enjoy the positives in life.
