Class 10 English

Chapter 3 Solutions — Two Stories about Flying

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Solutions

Overview

Step-by-step NCERT solutions for Two Stories about Flying (Chapter 3, CBSE Class 10 English) — the full working for every question, not just the final answer. You can also read the Two Stories about Flying textbook chapter.

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What these solutions cover

All 20 questions in Two Stories about Flying are solved in the PDF. Here's what's inside, exercise by exercise:

His First Flight — Thinking about the Text

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 sight of the food maddened him.” What does this suggest? What compelled the young seagull to finally fly?
“They were beckoning to him, calling shrilly.” Why did the seagull’s father and mother threaten him and cajole him to fly?

The Black Aeroplane — Thinking about the Text

“I’ll take the risk.” What is the risk? Why does the narrator take it?
Describe the narrator’s experience as he flew the aeroplane into the storm.
Why does the narrator say, “I landed and was not sorry to walk away from the old Dakota…”?
What made the woman in the control centre look at the narrator strangely?

Thinking about Language

Guess the meanings of the word ‘black’ in the sentences given below: (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…
Match the phrases given under Column A with their meanings given under Column B: 1. Fly a flag; 2. Fly into rage; 3. Fly along; 4. Fly high; 5. Fly the coop. (B: Move quickly/suddenly; Be successful; Display a flag on a long pole; Escape from a place; Become suddenly very angry.)
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.

Thinking about the Poem — How to Tell Wild Animals

Does ‘dyin’’ really rhyme with ‘lion’? Can you say it in such a way that it does?
How does the poet suggest that you identify the lion and the tiger? When can you do so, according to him?
Do you think the words ‘lept‘ and ‘lep’ in the third stanza are spelt correctly? Why does the poet spell them like this?
Do you know what a ‘bearhug’ is? It’s a friendly and strong hug — such as bears are thought to give, as they attack you! Again, hyenas are thought to laugh, and crocodiles to weep (‘crocodile tears’) as they swallow their victims. Are there similar expressions and popular ideas about wild animals in your own language(s)?
Look at the line “A novice might nonplus”. How would you write this ‘correctly’? Why is the poet’s ‘incorrect’ line better in the poem?

Thinking about the Poem — The Ball Poem

Why does the poet say, “I would not intrude on him”? Why doesn’t he offer him money to buy another ball?
…
What does “in the world of possessions” mean?
Do you think the boy has lost anything earlier? Pick out the words that suggest the answer.
What does the poet say the boy is learning from the loss of the ball? Try to explain this in your own words.

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