Two Stories about Flying
Part 1 His First Flight by Liam O' Flaherty
(Important Questions & Their Answers)
REFERENCE I
“The young seagull was alone on his ledge.”
Q.1) Why was the seagull standing alone on his ledge?
Ans:- The seagull’s two brothers and sister had flown away the day before. Thus, the seagull was alone on his ledge.
Q.2) Why was he unable to fly?
Ans:- The seagull had been afraid to fly with his brothers and sister. Somehow when he had taken a little run forward, to the brink of the ledge, and attempted to flap his wings, he became afraid and did not have the courage to leave the safety of the ledge. The great expanse of the sea stretched down beneath which seemed 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.
Q.3) Why had his father and mother scolded and threatened to let him starve on his ledge?
Ans:- Even when each of his brothers and his little sister – whose wings were far shorter than his own – ran to the brink, flapped their wings and flew away, he failed to muster up the courage to take that plunge. So his father and mother had come around calling to him shrilly, scolding him, threatening to let him starve on his ledge unless he flew away. But for the life of him, he could not move.
REFERENCE I I
“That was twenty- four hours ago. Since then nobody had come near him.”
Q.1) What had happened on the previous day?
Ans:- The day before, all day long, the seagull had watched his parents flying about with his brothers and sisters, perfecting them in the art of flight, teaching them how to skim the waves and how to dive for fish. All morning the whole family had walked about, on the big plateau midway down the opposite cliff, taunting him with his cowardice.
Q.2) What did he find on the far end of his ledge? What did he do next?
Ans:- The seagull had found a dried piece of mackerel’s tail at the far end of his ledge.
As the mackerel’s tail was the last scrap of food, he searched every inch of the ledge digging among the rough straw nest where he and his brothers and sister had been hatched.
Q.3)How did he try to reach his parents?
Ans:- The seagull had been trotting back and forth from one end of the ledge to the other for the last two hours, his long grey legs stepping daintily, trying to find some means of reaching his parents without having to fly. But on each side of him, the ledge ended in a sheer fall, with the sea beneath. Between him and his parents, there was a deep, wide chasm. There was no ledge on which to walk and above him, he could see nothing.
REFERENCE I I I
“ONLY HIS MOTHER WAS LOOKING AT HIM.”
Q.1) What was his family doing, when he stepped slowly out to the edge of the ledge?
Ans:- The seagull’s two brothers and his sister were lying on the plateau dozing with their heads sunk into their necks. His father was preening the feathers on his white back. His mother was standing on a little high hump on the plateau. Now and again she tore at a piece of fish that lay at her feet, and then scraped each side of her beak on the rock.
Q.2) Did his mother notice him move to and fro on the ledge?
Ans:- Yes, his mother was looking at him and noticed him move to and fro.
Q.3) Why did the sight of food madden him?
Ans:- The seagull had not eaten since the previous nightfall and now he saw his mother tearing at a piece of fish that lay at her feet and then scraped each side of her beak on the rock. The sight of the food maddened him. How he loved to tear food that way, scraping his beak now and again to whet it!
Q.4) Why did he keep calling out to his mother?
Ans:- The seagull kept calling out to his mother as he wanted her to bring some food to him.
REFERENCE IV
“He waited a moment in surprise, wondering why she did not come nearer and then, maddened by
hunger, he dived at the fish.”
Q.1) Why did the seagull utter a joyful scream?
Ans:- The seagull uttered a joyful scream when he saw that his mother had picked up a piece of the fish and was flying across to him with it.
Q.2) What did the mother do when she was just opposite him?
Ans:- When she was just opposite him, alongside the ledge, she halted, her legs hanging limp, her wings motionless, the piece of fish in her beak almost within reach of his beak.
Q.3) How did he react to this action of his mother?
Ans:- Seeing the piece of fish he was maddened by hunger and dived at the fish. With a loud scream, he fell outwards and downwards into space. His mother had soared upwards. As he passed beneath her, he heard the swish of her wings. Then a monstrous terror seized him and his heart stood still. He could hear nothing. But it only lasted a moment. The next moment, 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 cutting through the air. He was not falling headlong now. He was soaring gradually downwards and outwards.
Q.4) What effect did the gradual soaring have on his fear?
Ans:- The seagull was no longer afraid. He just felt a bit dizzy. Then, he flapped his wings once and he soared upwards. He uttered a joyous scream and flapped them again. He soared higher.
Q.5) How did his parents reward him?
Ans:- As he soared higher, he raised his breast and banked against the wind. His mother swooped past him, her wings making a loud noise. Then his father flew over him screaming.
Q.6) Did his brothers and sister notice him flying?
Ans:- As he was soaring in the sky, he saw his two brothers and his sister flying around him, banking soaring and diving, in appreciation of his first attempt at flying and encourage him to fly further.
REFERENCE V
“Then he completely forgot that he had not always been able to fly…..”
Q.1) How did the seagull feel as he neared the sea now?
Ans:- The seagull completely forgot that he had not always been able to fly, and began to dive and soar, shrieking shrilly. He was near the sea now, flying straight over it, facing straight out ever the ocean. He saw a vast, green sea beneath him, with little ridges moving over it.
Q.2) What did he still have to learn?
Ans:- The seagull had to learn to get used to landing smoothly on water without sinking.
Q.3) What made him ‘scream with fright’?
Ans:- The seagull screamed with fright when he dropped his legs to stand on the green sea and his legs sank into it.
Q.4) Finally how did the young seagull learn to float?
Ans:- As he was exhausted by the strange exercise, his feet sank into the green sea, and then his belly touched it and then he sank no further. He was floating on it.
Part 1 His First Flight by Liam O' Flaherty
(Important Questions & Their Answers)
REFERENCE I
“The young seagull was alone on his ledge.”
Q.1) Why was the seagull standing alone on his ledge?
Ans:- The seagull’s two brothers and sister had flown away the day before. Thus, the seagull was alone on his ledge.
Q.2) Why was he unable to fly?
Ans:- The seagull had been afraid to fly with his brothers and sister. Somehow when he had taken a little run forward, to the brink of the ledge, and attempted to flap his wings, he became afraid and did not have the courage to leave the safety of the ledge. The great expanse of the sea stretched down beneath which seemed 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.
Q.3) Why had his father and mother scolded and threatened to let him starve on his ledge?
Ans:- Even when each of his brothers and his little sister – whose wings were far shorter than his own – ran to the brink, flapped their wings and flew away, he failed to muster up the courage to take that plunge. So his father and mother had come around calling to him shrilly, scolding him, threatening to let him starve on his ledge unless he flew away. But for the life of him, he could not move.
REFERENCE I I
“That was twenty- four hours ago. Since then nobody had come near him.”
Q.1) What had happened on the previous day?
Ans:- The day before, all day long, the seagull had watched his parents flying about with his brothers and sisters, perfecting them in the art of flight, teaching them how to skim the waves and how to dive for fish. All morning the whole family had walked about, on the big plateau midway down the opposite cliff, taunting him with his cowardice.
Q.2) What did he find on the far end of his ledge? What did he do next?
Ans:- The seagull had found a dried piece of mackerel’s tail at the far end of his ledge.
As the mackerel’s tail was the last scrap of food, he searched every inch of the ledge digging among the rough straw nest where he and his brothers and sister had been hatched.
Q.3)How did he try to reach his parents?
Ans:- The seagull had been trotting back and forth from one end of the ledge to the other for the last two hours, his long grey legs stepping daintily, trying to find some means of reaching his parents without having to fly. But on each side of him, the ledge ended in a sheer fall, with the sea beneath. Between him and his parents, there was a deep, wide chasm. There was no ledge on which to walk and above him, he could see nothing.
REFERENCE I I I
“ONLY HIS MOTHER WAS LOOKING AT HIM.”
Q.1) What was his family doing, when he stepped slowly out to the edge of the ledge?
Ans:- The seagull’s two brothers and his sister were lying on the plateau dozing with their heads sunk into their necks. His father was preening the feathers on his white back. His mother was standing on a little high hump on the plateau. Now and again she tore at a piece of fish that lay at her feet, and then scraped each side of her beak on the rock.
Q.2) Did his mother notice him move to and fro on the ledge?
Ans:- Yes, his mother was looking at him and noticed him move to and fro.
Q.3) Why did the sight of food madden him?
Ans:- The seagull had not eaten since the previous nightfall and now he saw his mother tearing at a piece of fish that lay at her feet and then scraped each side of her beak on the rock. The sight of the food maddened him. How he loved to tear food that way, scraping his beak now and again to whet it!
Q.4) Why did he keep calling out to his mother?
Ans:- The seagull kept calling out to his mother as he wanted her to bring some food to him.
REFERENCE IV
“He waited a moment in surprise, wondering why she did not come nearer and then, maddened by
hunger, he dived at the fish.”
Q.1) Why did the seagull utter a joyful scream?
Ans:- The seagull uttered a joyful scream when he saw that his mother had picked up a piece of the fish and was flying across to him with it.
Q.2) What did the mother do when she was just opposite him?
Ans:- When she was just opposite him, alongside the ledge, she halted, her legs hanging limp, her wings motionless, the piece of fish in her beak almost within reach of his beak.
Q.3) How did he react to this action of his mother?
Ans:- Seeing the piece of fish he was maddened by hunger and dived at the fish. With a loud scream, he fell outwards and downwards into space. His mother had soared upwards. As he passed beneath her, he heard the swish of her wings. Then a monstrous terror seized him and his heart stood still. He could hear nothing. But it only lasted a moment. The next moment, 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 cutting through the air. He was not falling headlong now. He was soaring gradually downwards and outwards.
Q.4) What effect did the gradual soaring have on his fear?
Ans:- The seagull was no longer afraid. He just felt a bit dizzy. Then, he flapped his wings once and he soared upwards. He uttered a joyous scream and flapped them again. He soared higher.
Q.5) How did his parents reward him?
Ans:- As he soared higher, he raised his breast and banked against the wind. His mother swooped past him, her wings making a loud noise. Then his father flew over him screaming.
Q.6) Did his brothers and sister notice him flying?
Ans:- As he was soaring in the sky, he saw his two brothers and his sister flying around him, banking soaring and diving, in appreciation of his first attempt at flying and encourage him to fly further.
REFERENCE V
“Then he completely forgot that he had not always been able to fly…..”
Q.1) How did the seagull feel as he neared the sea now?
Ans:- The seagull completely forgot that he had not always been able to fly, and began to dive and soar, shrieking shrilly. He was near the sea now, flying straight over it, facing straight out ever the ocean. He saw a vast, green sea beneath him, with little ridges moving over it.
Q.2) What did he still have to learn?
Ans:- The seagull had to learn to get used to landing smoothly on water without sinking.
Q.3) What made him ‘scream with fright’?
Ans:- The seagull screamed with fright when he dropped his legs to stand on the green sea and his legs sank into it.
Q.4) Finally how did the young seagull learn to float?
Ans:- As he was exhausted by the strange exercise, his feet sank into the green sea, and then his belly touched it and then he sank no further. He was floating on it.
TEXTUALQUESTIONS&ANSWERS
Q.1) 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?
Ans:- The young seagull was afraid to fly
because it was its first flight. It is a well known fact that doing something
for the first time is challenging. Therefore, all young birds must be afraid to
make their first flights. Similarly, a human baby would also find it a
challenge to take its first step.
Q.2) “The
sight of the food maddened him.” What does this suggest? What compelled the
young seagull to finally fly?
Ans:- The
young seagull was very hungry. It was this hunger that ultimately compelled it
to fly. Its hunger only intensified when it saw its mother tearing at a piece
of fish that lay at her feet. It cried to her, begging her to get some food.
When its mother came towards it with food in her beak, it screamed with joy and
anticipation. However, she stopped midway. It wondered why she did not come nearer.
Not being able to resist or control its hunger any longer, it dived at the food
in its mother’s beak. At that moment, his hunger overpowered his fear of the
great expanse of sea beneath the cliff. Finally, this plunge was followed by
the natural reaction of its body, i.e., to fly.
Q.3) “They
were beckoning to him, calling shrilly. “Why did the seagull’s father and
mother threaten him and cajole him to fly?
Ans:- The
young seagull was afraid to fly. Even when it saw its brothers and sisters
flying, and its parents helping and teaching them, it could not gather enough
courage to make that first flight. That is why its father and mother were
calling to it shrilly and scolding it. They threatened to let it starve on its
ledge if it did not fly. They did so because they wanted it to leave its fear
behind and learn to fly.
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