Chapter 6                                              Tiger Hills


1. Complete the following sentences:

Answer: (a) Ajay reported about the strategy of the game, the performance of the players and the way the game had ended.

(b) Sujoy reported about their feeling of missing their other two friends Vinay and Sunay and also about their eagerness to tell them how much they had enjoyed watching the cricket match.


2. The word ‘report’ means –

(a) Give a spoken or written account of something.

(b) Cover an event or subject as a journalist or reporter.

Answer: (a) Give a spoken or written account of something.


3. Find out the meaning of the following words:

Answer: (a) Reportage: The reporting of news by the press and the broadcasting media.

(b) Reporter: A person employed to find out informations about the news events and describe them for a newspaper, magazine, radio or television.

(c) Reported Speech: When a speaker’s words are reported in subordinate clauses governed by a reporting verb and the necessary changes of person and tense.

(d) Reportorial: A writer, investigator or presenter of news stories.


4. Make a list of the factors which make war stories or war-movies interesting.

Answer: (a) They are usually based on historical facts.

(b) They need to have a gripping story line.

(c) They help us to understand the risks and sacrifices of the soilders.

(d) They make us realize the importance of peaceful co-existence and the futility of war.


5. Enlist any four facts which made the capturing of Tiger Hill a national challenge.

Answer: a. The top of the Tiger Hill appeared almost impossible to capture since the enemy position on this mountaintop dominated parts of Srinagar-Kargil-Leh highway.

b. Bad weather and a poor visibility due to darkness were two major hindrances for the Indian Army.

c. Accurate firing by the well-trained enemy soldiers from the southernmost high ground was stalling the Indian Army for some time.

d. Prevention of enemy reinforcements was an urgent necessity to evict the enemy from the Tiger Hill.

6. Different arms and ammunitions are mentioned in the excerpt. Find their names. Answer:

Answer:

a. The arms and ammunitions mentioned are:


b. Bofors Guns


c. Individual Guns


d. Multi-barrelled Grad Rocket Launchers


e. Mortars


f. Artillery


g. Grenades


h. Field and Medium Guns


7. “Wars are not fought only on the battlefield’. Comment.

Answer: This statement is true. Since in every walk of life, people have to fight to get their demands fulfilled and justice to prevail. The military war is, of course, fought in the battlefield but the family of the soldiers and the civilians also get involved since the country goes through a difficult phase.

In our day to day life also, we have to fight a number of battles. War against corruption, diseases, price-rise, natural disasters causing immense suffering and the fight one has to do to combat that, are all the wars that are not fought in the actual battlefield. They also have to be fought on the battlefield of life and they are the struggles for survival.


8. Make a list of the preparations made for an assault on Tiger Hill.

Answer:

(a) Throughout the last week of June 1999, 18 Grenadiers probed to establish the extent of the enemy’s defences.

(b) They also explored to find out suitable routes for the assault.

(c) After confirming the multidirectional assault as the best strategy, the commanding officer drew up an elaborate artillery fire plan.

(d) Individual guns were ranged so as to cover each objective.

(e) Bofors guns were used in a direct firing role.

9. Rewrite the given statements in their order of occurrence.

The most difficult task of maintaining the hold on Tiger Hill was achieved in this way :

(a) 8 Sikh was ordered to attack and capture Helmet and India Gate.

(b) Bodies of the Pakistani soldiers were collected and buried appropriately.

(c)During the ferocious artillery duels the Grenadiers hung on their precarious perch with grit and determination.

(d) 8 Sikh fought back successfully two counterattacks with forty to fifty personnel.

(e) An adhoc column of 8 Sikh climbed the steep rock and captured India Gate.

(f) In spite of heavy casualties, 8 Sikh captured Helmet on 5 July.

Answer: (a) During the ferocious artillery duels the Grenadiers hung on their precarious perch with grit and determination.

(b) 8 Sikh was ordered to attack and capture Helmet and India Gate.

(c) An adhoc column of 8 Sikh climbed the steep rock and captured India Gate.

(d) In spite of heavy casualties, 8 Sikh captured Helmet on 5th July.

(e) 8 Sikh fought back successfully two counterattacks with forty to fifty personnel.

(f) Bodies of Pakistani soldiers were collected and buried appropriately.

10. Find words from the text related to the war affairs.

Answer:

Brigadier, commander, capture, evicting, enemy, defense, mission, Mountain Brigade, artillery, combat, Grenadiers, strategy, assault, field, regiment, guns, The Air Force, military, target, company, infantry, captain, firefighting, duels, commando, hand-to-hand fight, bombardment, counterattack, battle, courage, reinforcements, Major, Lieutenant, soldiers, Subedar, casualties, Naib, Subedar, recapture, outcome, valour, victory.

11. Find out the sentence with ‘Though, Although, Even though or But’ from the text and say its purpose.

Answer:

Although 18 Grenadiers held the top now, linking up with them was not so easy. Though/Although are subordinating conjunction which is used to introduce a subordinate clause and it needs a main clause to make it complete.

12. During the war the soldiers need to plan strategies.

1. Find the strategies planned.

2. Find some words related with such strategies.

Answer:

1. The strategies planned were:

(a) A thorough investigation to find out the extent of the enemy’s defenses

(b) To look out for the probable routes of the attac k

(e) Drawing of a detailed fire plan of the heavy weapons by the commanding officers

(d) Individual guns were ranged to cover each target

(e) Bofors guns were used in a direct firing with accuracy


13. Rewrite the given statements in their order of occurance:

(i) 18 Grenadiers probed to scout for suitable routes for the assault.

(ii) A crack team assisted both 18 Grenadiers and 8 Sikh.

(iii) Air Force joined Tiger Hill Mission on 2-3 July.

(iv) Media Projected Mission Tiger Hill as a national challenge.

Answer:

(iv) Media Projected Mission Tiger Hill as a national challenge.

(ii) A crack team assisted both 18 Grenadiers and 8 Sikh.

(i) 18 Grenadiers probed to scout for suitable routes for the assault.

(iii) Air Force joined Tiger Hill Mission on 2-3 July.


14. a. The bodies of the Pakistani Soldiers were handed over to the Pakistani authorities.

Answer:

False. The bodies of the Pakistani soldiers were collected and buried appropriately.


b. The writer got the news of the captured hill in the early morning.

Answer:

True


c. When the Defence Minister landed at the New Delhi airport, the writer gave him the exciting news.

Answer:

False. The Defense Minister landed at the Amritsar airport


d. The Indians were in a gloomy mood when the war was going on.

Answer:

True

Answer by Dimpee Bora