CBSE Class 8 English The Tsunami Assignment

SUMMARY OF THE CHAPTER

In tsunami Ignesious , the manager of a cooperative society, lost two of his children, wife and father-in-law as he could not get alarmed by the tremor.
Sanjeev was a policeman. He jumped into the water to rescue his cook’s wife, but they were both swept away.
Both Meghna’s and Almas’ families were washed away. Both of them kept floating in the sea for days. Meghna floated in the sea for two days holding on to a wooden door. She was brought to the shore by a wave. Similarly, Almas climbed on to a log of wood and fainted. She woke up in a hospital. Both the girls were traumatized after the incident. While Meghna was seen walking on the seashore in daze, Almas does not talk about the incident to anyone. Both of them were not noticed by relief helicopters.
Tilly Smith (a British school girl ) was able to save many lives when the tsunami struck Phuket beach in Thailand as she had seen the sea behaving in the same way in a video in her class of a tsunami that had hit the Hawaiian islands in 1946. She had won a number of awards. The tourist thanked Tilly and her geography lesson that had warned her.
Before tsunami in India and SriLanka, wild and domestic animals fled to safety, elephants ran for higher grounds; dogs refuse to go outdoors; flamingoes abandoned their low-lying breeding areas as seemed to know what was about to happen.
It is believed that animals either posses a sixth sense or have more acute hearing that helps them to hear or feel earth’s vibration. Near about 150,000 people killed in tsunami in a dozen countries but not many animals reported dead.

Write and learn the word meanings :-
1) Archipelago - a group of many islands and the surrounding sea.
2) Tremor - a slight shake
3) Chaos - complete disorder or confusion
4) Recede - move back from where it was
5) Traumatised - greatly shocked and distressed
6) Resort - a place where people go on holiday
7) Surge - force or momentum
8) Refuge - shelter or protection from danger
9) Withstood - endured without collapsing
10) Triggered - caused

Short Question Answers:-

Question. Why did Tilly’s family come to Thaliand?
Answer : Tilly’s family came to Thailand to celebrate Christmas.

Question. What were the warning sign that both Tilly and her mother saw?
Answer : Both Tilly and her mother saw the sea rising and swelling up.

Question. Do you think Tilly’s mother was alarmed by them?
Answer : Tilly’s mother could not understand what was happening and only realised that it was serious when Tilly got frightened and mentioned what a Tsunami was.

Question. Where had Tilly seen the sea behaving in the same strange fashion?
Answer : Tilly had seen the sea behaving in the same strange fashion in a video of a tsunami (shown in her geography class) which had hit the Hawaiian Islands in 1946.

Question. Where did the Smith family and the others on the beach go to escape from the tsunami?
Answer : The Smith family and the others on the beach took refuge on the third floor of a hotel.

Question. How do you think her geography teacher felt when he heard about what Tilly had done in Phuket?
Answer : Tilly’s geography teacher must have felt proud of her as she had made use of what she had learnt in class to help save so many lives.

Question. In the tsunami 150,000 people died. How many animals died?
Answer : Not many animals died.

Question. How many people and animals died in Yala National Park?
Answer : Sixty visitors and only two water buffaloes died at the Yala National Park.

Question. What do people say about the elephants of Yala National Park?
Answer : The people at the Yala National Park had seen three elephants running away from the Patanangala beach about an hour before the tsunami hit.

Question. What did the dogs in Galle do?
Answer : The dogs at Galle refused to go out for their daily run on the beach.

Long Question answers:-

Question. How are Meghna and Almas’s stories similar?
Answer : Both Meghna’s and Almas’ families were washed away. Both of them kept floating in the sea for days. Meghna floated in the sea for two days holding on to a wooden door. She was brought to the shore by a wave. Similarly, Almus climbed on to a log of wood and fainted. She woke up in a hospital. Both the girls were traumatised after the incident. While Meghna was seen walking on the seashore in daze, Almus does not talk about the incident to anyone.

Question. What are the different ways in which Tilly’s parents could have reacted to her behavior? What would you have done if you were in their place?
Answer : Not taking her seriously, Tilly’s parents could have tried to calm her down thinking that she had been frightened by something. As a result, they could have been washed away by the tsunami waves.
If I were in their place, I too would have listened to her and realised that there was a danger approaching. Consequently, I too would have rushed away from the beach.

Question. If Tilly’s award was to be shared, who do you think she should share it with — her parents or her geography teacher?
Answer : If Tilly’s award was to be shared, she should share it with her geography teacher who made her aware of tsunami in the first place. It was this awareness that helped her save so many lives.
HOMEWORK - Make sentences by using the following words :-
Traumatised, beach, islands, Tsunami, incident