NCERT Solutions Class 10 English Chapter 3 Two Stories About Flying

Thinking about the Text

1. “I’ll take the risk.” What is the risk? Why does the narrator take it?
Answer 
The risk was to fly through the black storm clouds. The narrator took the risk because he wanted to reach Paris to celebrate Christmas with his family.

2. Describe the narrator’s experience as he flew the aeroplane into the storm.
Answer 
As he flew into the storm, everything went black. It was impossible to see anything outside the plane. It jumped and twisted in the air. When he looked at his compass, he saw that it was turning round and round. It was dead. Along with it, the other instruments, including the radio, were also dead. Suddenly, he saw another aeroplane. Its pilot waved at him, asking him to follow. He was glad to find a helper. He was using his last fuel tank and there was only enough fuel to fly five or ten minutes. Then, the other pilot started to go down and he followed. He suddenly came out of the clouds and saw the runway, on which he then landed his plane safely.

3. Why does the narrator say, “I landed and was not sorry to walk away from the old Dakota…”?
Answer 
He was delighted to land safely out of dark stormy clouds, therefore, he was not sorry to walk away for his plane. He felt bad, when he was no able to thank his guide, his mentor who saved him from from frightening situations, but he was so happy after landing that he didn't feel sorry for not being able to thank the guide pilot.

4. What made the woman in the control centre look at the narrator strangely?
Answer
The women in the control room was surprised when the narrator asked about the other aeroplane and its pilot. She said that there was no areoplane seen on the radar.

5. Who do you think helped the narrator to reach safely? Discuss this among yourselves and give reasons for your answer.
Answer 
Probably, it was the narrator’s own self that helped him through the storm. There was no other plane in the storm as the woman at the control centre could see only his plane on the radar. Also, no other plane was flying that night. In his fear, he might have been hallucinating. He was a good pilot, and it might have been his own self that came to his help.

Thinking about the Language

1. Try to guess the meanings of the word ‘black’ in the sentences given below. Check the meanings in the dictionary and find out whether you have guessed right. 
1. Go and have a bath; your hands and face are absolutely black __________.
2. The taxi-driver gave Ratan a black look as he crossed the road when the traffic light was green. __________
3. The bombardment of Hiroshima is one of the blackest crimes against humanity. __________
4. Very few people enjoy Harold Pinter’s black comedy. __________
5. Sometimes shopkeepers store essential goods to create false scarcity and then sell these in black. __________
6. Villagers had beaten the criminal black and blue. __________
Answer
1. The meaning of ‘black’ in this sentence is that the face and hands are dark with dust and heat.
2. Here, ‘black’ refers to an angry look.
3. Here, ‘blackest’ refers to the darkest and cruellest crime against humanity.
4. Here, ‘black’ refers to dark and gloomy comedy.
5. The meaning of ‘black’ in this sentence is that the shopkeepers sell the described goods ‘at a higher price’.
6. Here, ‘black’ means that the criminal suffered excessive beating at the hands of the villagers.

2.Match the phrases given under Column A with their meanings given under Column B:
 

	A		B
1.	Fly a flag	−	Move quickly/suddenly
2.	Fly into rage	−	Be successful
3.	Fly along	−	Display a flag on a long pole
4.	Fly high	−	Escape from a place
5.	Fly the coop	−	Become suddenly very angry

Answer

	A		B
1.	Fly a flag	−	Display a flag on a long pole
2.	Fly into rage	−	Become suddenly very angry
3.	Fly along	−	Move quickly/suddenly
4.	Fly high	−	Be successful
5.	Fly the coop	−	Escape from a place

3. We know that the word ‘fly’ (of birds/insects) means to move through air using wings. Tick the words which have the same or nearly the same meaning.

swoop	flit	paddle	flutter
ascend	float	ride	skim
sink	dart	hover	glide
descend	soar	shoot	spring
stay	fall	sail	flap

Answer
The words which have the same or nearly the same meaning as ‘fly’ are as follows:
swoop, flit, float, dart, soar, hover, sail skim, glide, flutter

Short Answer Type Question

1. Why was the young Seagull afraid to fly, how did he feel?
Answer
The young Seagull was alone on his ledge, after his brothers, and sister had already flown away. However, he had been afraid to fly with them as he failed to muster up the courage. When he attempted to make his first flight, he became afraid on seeing the vast expanse of sea beneath him – miles down. He felt certain that his wings would never support him, even though his brothers and sister, whose wings were shorter than his, had already flown away.

2. “ The sight of the food maddened him”. what does this suggest compelled the young seagull to fly?
Answer
The young Seagull was too afraid to fly. His parents, tried to coerce him,scolding him but nothing seemed to work. Finally, they started to ignore him and didn’t give him food. The young Seagull had not eaten since last night, and seeing his siblings catch their first herring and devour it. his mother was looking at him and eating the fish, tearing at it, then scrapping each side of her beak on the rock. This sight maddened him, as he too loved to do the same. The mother picked up a piece of fish and flew towards him. However, she stopped just before the young Seagull could take the food, and jumped forward in a desperate attempt to do so. As a result, he fell down the cliff and had his first flight.

3. describe the experience of the first flight for the young Seagull.
Answer
After the young Seagull’s mother lured him into flying, he fell outwards and downwards into space with a loud scream. A terror seized him, and his heard stood. he could hear nothing. However, as if instinctively, he felt his wings spread outwards. The wind rushed against his breast feathers, then under his stomach and against his wings. He could feel the tips of his wings cut in the air. He was soaring downwards and outwards. He was no longer afraid, though he felt a bit dizzy. He flipped his wings once and soared upwards. His parents were praising him and he became very excited to try new things – dive, sore and curve.

4. Describe the role of his family in taking his first flight.
Answer
When he was unable to fly, his family was encouraging him to fly – scolding him, calling to him shrilly. they threatened to let him star on the ledge if he did not fly. His siblings had taken of the day before, and his older brother has even got his first herring and devoured it. All morning the whole family had walked about on the big plateau on the opposite cliff, taunting him with cowardice.
On the other hand, when he was able to fly, his parents appreciated him. They were encouraging him, applauding him by screaming, soaring, banking and diving. They taught him how to skim the waves. He sank his feet into the sea. His parents, proud of him, offered him scraps of dog fish.

CHAPTER II THE BLACK AEROPLANE- FREDRICK FORSYTH

1. What tough decisions did the pilot have to make while flying the old Dakota?
Answer
The pilot, the narrator was flying, his old Dakota to England from Paris. Every thing seemed to be going well, and he felt he would be in time for a good English breakfast. However, things took a turn for the worse as he saw big black clouds. He had two choices – either to go back or to fly through the clouds, as he did not have enough fuel to fly around it. You also wanted to reach home to get the English breakfast and be with his family. It was a tough decision. He decided to fly through the storm.

2. Which situation let him to panic during the flight?
Answer
When the pilot flew the aeroplane through the storm, every thing turned black. It was impossible to look and see anything outside the plane. The old aeroplane jumped and twisted in the storm. The compass was malfunctioning and spinning round and round. The other instruments were suddenly dead too. The radio was not working and he was not able to connect to Paris control. He was lost in the storm which led him to panic.

3. Why does the narrator say? I landed and was not sorry to walk away from the old Dakota?
Answer
The narrator, the pilot was lost in the storm, when suddenly a black aeroplane showed up out of the year to guide him safely out of the storm. When he landed, he was not sorry to walk away from the old Dakota. This was because he could have died in the storm if it weren’t for the mysterious aeroplane. The Dakota had started malfunctioning once it entered the cloud – radio, compass, and other instruments were suddenly dead due to which he was lost and almost died.

4. What made the woman at the control centre look at the narrator strangely?
Answer
After the strange black aeroplane, help the pilot to land, the pilot looked to thank him for the kindness, but to his surprise, nothing was there. After landing, he went to the control centre and asked the woman there, where he was, and who the other pilot was, as he wanted to thank him. However, she looked at him, strangely, and informed him that his was the only one that she could see on the radar. There were no other aeroplanes flying that night.

5. Who do you think help the pilot reach safely?
Answer
There cannot be a concrete answer to this question, as there are many different possibilities. Perhaps he started imagining things because of the fear of dying and just imagine another plane which guided him out. Perhaps it was his intuition and experience which guided him.

6 . Explain the statement” I was very happy to go behind the strange aeroplane like an obedient child”.
Answer
After the pilot entered the storm clouds, he soon realised it was a bad decision. He could see nothing out of the window, and no instrument was working – the compass, Radio and other instruments were malfunctioning. On top of that he was on his last fuel tank. Now he knew he was as good as dead, but he suddenly saw another black aeroplane in the sky. He could see the pilot of the strange aeroplane who motion him to follow him. The pilot of the strange aeroplane turned his aeroplane slowly to the north, so it would be easier for the narrator to follow him. Since the narrator had nothing to lose and was lost, he was very happy to follow him. He was also happy to see another person in the storm.

7. “I will take the risk”. What is the risk, why does the writer take it?
Answer
When the pilot was flying from France to England in his old Dakota, he encountered a big black storm cloud in his path. However, he had not anticipated this and did not have enough fuel to fly around them to the north or south. He was going to England to be with his family and wanted to have a good English breakfast with them. He really did not want to miss it. Thus ,he took the risk of going into the storm cloud so he could be with his family instead of going back to Paris because of lack of fuel.