Chapter 3

TWO STORIES ABOUT FLYING

His First Flight (Questions and Answers)

Q1. Why was the young seagull afraid to fly? Do you think all young birds are afraid
to make their first flight, or are some birds more timid than others? Do you think a
human baby also finds it a challenge to take its first steps?
The young seagull was afraid to fly because it was his first flight. He lacked self-
confidence and doubted that his wings would not be able to support him. We are well
aware that “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” and it is very
difficult to take that first step. Thus, I think all birds must be hesitating before taking
their first flight, some more than others.
Yes, just like young birds, human babies also hesitate while taking their first step.

Q2. “The sight of the food maddened him.” What does this suggest? What compelled
the young seagull to finally fly?
Hunger is a driving force and can make any living being desperate. On not being able
to gather courage to fly and acting like a coward, the young seagull’s family left him
alone. As a result, he was starving since he could not fly to get his own food. When
he saw his mother coming near him with fish, he got excited and dived straight at the
fish, forgetting for a moment that he was afraid of flying. Thus, he got so maddened
by the sight of food because he was starving and feeling famished, which compelled
him to take his first flight.

Q3. “They were beckoning to him, calling shrilly.” Why did the seagull’s father and
mother threaten him and cajole him to fly?
Parents of all living creatures love their young ones and try to train their children in the
art of survival. In doing so, they love, encourage, cajole, scold, pat, upbraid and even
threaten. Unlike his younger siblings, the poor seagull could not gather enough
courage to take his first flight. Thus, his parents taunted him for being a coward. They
even threatened him to let him starve if he did not try. They thought hunger would
make him fly looking for his food. They did all of this because they loved him and
wanted him to take his first flight.

Question 4. (Extract based)

The young seagull was alone on his ledge. His two brothers and his sister had
already flown away the day before. He had been afraid to fly with them.
Somehow when he had taken a little run forward to the brink of the ledge and
attempted to flap his wings, he became afraid. The great expanse of sea
stretched down beneath, and it was such a long way down miles down. He felt
certain that his wings would never support him; so, he bent his head and ran
away back to the little hole under the ledge where he slept at night.

(a) Why was the young seagull afraid?

(b) What did the young seagull feel about his wings?
(c) Pick out the word from the passage that means the same as ‘the verge’.
(d) Pick out the word from the passage which means ‘a narrow flat piece of
rock that sticks out from a cliff’.
Answer:
(a) The young seagull was afraid of flying over the sea because he feared
failure and loss of life.
(b) The young seagull felt that his wings would never support him.
(c) The word is ‘brink’.
(d) The word is ‘ledge’.

Question 5.
That was twenty-four hours ago. Since then nobody had come near him. The
day before, all day long, he had watched his parents flying about with his
brothers and sister, perfecting them in the art of flight, teaching them how to
skim the waves and how to dive for fish. He had in fact, seen his elder brother
catch his first herring and devour it, standing on a rock, while his parents
circled around raising a proud cackle. And all the morning the whole family
had walked about on the big plateau midway down the opposite cliff taunting
him for his cowardice.

(a) For how long had the young seagull been alone?
(b) Why was the whole family taunting the young seagull?
(c) Find the word which can be replaced by ‘consume’ in the passage?
(d) The word ‘bravery’ is an antonym of ……….

Answer:
(a) For twenty-four hours, the young seagull had been alone.
(b) The whole family was taunting the young seagull for his cowardice.
(c) The word is ‘devour’.
(d) The word is ‘cowardice’.
Question 6.
He stepped slowly out to the brink of the ledge, and standing on one leg with
the other leg hidden under his wing, he closed one eye, then the other, and
pretended to be falling asleep. Still they took no notice of him. He saw his two
brothers and his sister lying on the plateau dozing with their heads sunk into
their necks. His father was preening the feathers on his white back. Only his
mother was looking at him. She was standing on a little high hump on the
plateau, her white breast thrust forward.
Now and again, she tore at a piece of fish that lay at her feet and then
scrapped each side of her beak on the rock.

(a) What did the young seagull do out of the ledge?

(b) What was seagull’s father doing?
(c) Find out the word in the passage which mean the same as ‘to sharpen’.
(d) What does plateau mean?

Answer:
(a) The young seagull pretended to be falling asleep and watched his brothers
and sister lying on the plateau.
(b) The seagull’s father was preening the feathers on his white back.
(c) The word is ‘preening’.
(d) A plateau is an area of land that is higher than the land around it.

Question 7.

Sometimes one needs to be unkind to be kind. Discuss this statement with

reference to ‘His First Flight’.

In the story ‘His First Flight’, despite several attempts, the young seagull cannot
overcome his fear of flying. His brothers and little sister have left the ledge on
the cliff and flown away, but he cannot muster the courage to do so. His parents
scold him, threaten to starve him out, and taunt him for being a coward. But it
has no effect on him. His family stops taking notice of him and keep him without
food for a day. Hungry, the seagull calls for his mother to bring him food when
he sees her picking at a fish on the opposite cliff. But she ignores him. Finally,
to his great joy, she comes with a piece of fish, but rather than give it to him,
she hovers in front of him, keeping the fish out of reach. Mad with hunger, the
seagull dives for the fish and falls off the ledge. Though the mother seagull’s act
might seem unkind, it is this action of hers that makes the seagull overcome his
fear and fly. So an act of unkindness can sometimes be helpful.
The Black Aeroplane (Questions and Answers)
Q1. “I’ll take the risk.” What is the risk? Why does the narrator take it?
The “risk” here refers to not doing the right thing, which is flying back to Paris
when he came to know about the storm. Despite being aware of the bad
weather, the pilot headed straight into the storm. The pilot’s decision making
was clouded by his wish to meet his family. He so desperately wanted to be with
his family and have that English breakfast he had been dreaming of all day, that
he took the risk of not going back.

Q2. Describe the narrator’s experience as he flew the aeroplane into the storm.
The narrator was frightened as he lost control of the plane. He felt helpless as
the compass and other instruments had stopped working. Nothing outside the
aeroplane was visible when suddenly in the midst of nowhere, an unknown
plane was visible and the pilot was eager to help him. The narrator was
panicking because there was very less fuel left but somehow, he managed to
escape the storm with the help of the strange pilot who he could not thank.

Q3. Why does the narrator say, “I landed and was not sorry to walk away from
the old Dakota…”?
The narrator had had a brush with death and had landed at an unknown place
as his compass and radar had stopped functioning in the storm. He was not
scared to leave the plane unattended and go to the control centre to inquire
about the mysterious plane which had helped him out of the storm as he wished
to convey his gratitude.

Q4. What made the woman in the control centre look at the narrator strangely?
The woman in the control centre looked at the narrator strangely when he asked
her about the other pilot that helped him escape the storm. This is because there
was no other plane in the sky during such bad weather.

Q5. Who do you think helped the narrator to reach safely? Discuss this among
yourselves and give reasons for your answer.
It was the pilot’s own conscience which helped him out of the storm. There was
no other plane out on that stormy night. So, probably, he was hallucinating. It
was his own capability as a pilot and his faith which led him out of that black
cloud. (the answer may vary)
 Question 6. (Extract based)
“He knows that I am lost”, I thought ‘He’s trying to help me.
He turned his aeroplane slowly to the north, in front of my Dakota, so that it
would be easier for me to follow him. I was very happy to go behind the
strange aeroplane like an obedient child.
After half an hour the strange black aeroplane was still there in front of me in
the clouds. Now, there was only enough fuel in the old Dakota’s last tank to fly
for five or ten minutes more. I was starting to feel frightened again. But then he
started to go down and I followed through the storm.

(a) Why was the pilot happy to find his aeroplane behind another aeroplane in
the black clouds?
(b) Why was the pilot frightened again?
(c) Find the opposite of ‘insufficient’ from the passage.
(d) What does a ‘storm’ mean?

Answer:
(a) The pilot was happy to find his aeroplane behind another aeroplane in the
black clouds because another pilot was helping him come out of the stormy
clouds.
(b) The pilot felt frightened again because the fuel was not sufficient to reach
the destination as it was only enough for the next five or ten minutes.
(c) Enough.
(d) A storm is a very bad weather with strong winds and rain, thunder and
lightning.

Q7. Do you think the author was brave and daring? Or do you think he was
foolish and impractical? Justify your answer.

I think the author was a bit of both. It was brave and daring of him to take the
risk and fly straight into the storm clouds. He took his chances as he did not
have adequate fuel to fly around or over the clouds. He did not want to fly back
to Paris as he was looking forward to going home and being with his family. For
a moment, he did think that he ought to go back to Paris. He would have done
the wise and practical thing if he had. In deciding to go against his good sense,
he had been impractical and foolish. One cannot say what can happen inside
storm clouds. The author was lucky that he found help and landed safely at the
airport.
TO BE DONE IN THE ENGLISH NOTEBOOK (Fair part)

Q1. The young seagull “failed to muster up courage to take that plunge”.
In what way can the reference to the ‘plunge’ here be both literal and
metaphorical? Explain. (30-40 words)

Q2. Based on your reading of the story ‘Black Aeroplane’, develop a short
character sketch of the narrator. (30-40 words)

Also, attempt all the MCQs of both the lessons from KV Question Bank in
the notebook. (DO NOT COPY THE QUESTIONS FOR MCQs)