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NCERT Class 8 English Chapter 5 The Summit Within
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The Summit Within
Chapter: 5
HONEYDEW: PROSE
Textbook Questions With Their Answers
COMPREHENSION CHECK – I
Q. 1. Standing on Everest, the writer was
(i) overjoyed.
(ii) very sad.
(iii) jubilant and sad.
Choose the right item.
Ans. (c) jubilant and sad.
Q. 2. The emotion that gripped him was one of
(a) victory over hurdles.
(b) humility and a sense of smallness.
(c) greatness and self importance.
(d) joy of discovery.
Choose the right item.
Ans. (b) humility and a sense of smallness.
Q. 3. Choose the right item: “The summit of the mind’ refers to
(i) great intellectual achievements.
(ii) the process of maturing mentally and spiritually.
(iii) overcoming personal ambition for common welfare.
(iv) living in the world of thought and imagination.
(v) the triumph of mind over worldly pleasures for a noble cause.
(vi) a fuller knowledge of oneself.
Mark the item (s) not relevant.
Ans. (vi) a fuller knowledge of oneself
WORKING WITH THE TEXT
Q. 1. Answer the following questions:
(i) What are the three qualities that played a major role in the author’s climb?
Ans. The three qualities that played a major role in the author’s climb were persistence; endurance and will power. Without these qualities, climb to Everest would not have been possible.
(ii) Why is adventure, which is risky, also pleasurable?
Ans. Adventure means a risky and dangerous activity which is performed because of own will power. Only those people undertake adventurous activity who have physical as well as spiritual urge to do this. Facing the hurdles and difficulties is risky while overcoming the obstacles gives pleasure. It gives unbeatable sense of achievement.
(iii) What was it about Mount Everest that the author found irresistible?
Ans. The author found the beauty, aloofness, might, ruggedness and the difficulties on the way to the Mount Everest irresistible.
(iv) One does not do it (climb a high peak) for fame alone. What does one do it for, really?
Ans. No doubt, one does not climb high mountains for fame alone. It is the feeling of satisfaction of deep urge within him to rise above the surroundings. The physical, emotional and spiritual call for communion with god helps one to do it.
(v) “He becomes conscious in a special manner of his own smallness in this large universe”. This awareness defines an emotion mentioned in the first paragraph. Which is the emotion?
Ans. The emotion of ‘humility’ is described in the first paragraph. This awareness is only got when the mountaineer reaches the peak.The might of peak reminds him of his own smallness before the mighty god. The mountaineer thanks god for his own achievement. He developes a sense of humility which makes all the more great.
(vi) What were the ‘symbols of reverence’ left by members of the team of Everest?
Ans. Following were the symbols of reverence offered by the members of climbing expedition on the top of Everest:
(i) A picture of Guru Nanak left by H.P.S. Ahluwalia himself.
(ii) A picture of Goddess Durga left by Mr. Rawat.
(iii) A relic of Buddha left by Phu Dorji, and
(iv) A cross left by Edmund Hillary.
(vii) What, according to the writer, did his experience as an Everester teach him?
Ans. The writer frankly admits that as an Everester, his experience taught him the sense of inspiration to face the difficulties with strong determination. This experience was purposeful. It also taught him to look within i.e at the internal summit which is higher than the Everest.
Q. 2. Write a sentence against each of the following statements. Your sentence should explain the statement. You can pick out sentences from the text and rewrite them. The first one has been done for you.
(i) The experience changes you completely.
One who has been to the mountains is never the same again.
(ii) Man takes delight in overcoming obstacles.
(iii) Mountains are nature at its best.
(iv) The going was difficult but the after-effects were satisfying.
(v) The physical conquest of a mountain is really a spiritual experience.
Ans. (ii) Climbing presents difficulties. It requires endurance, persistence and will-power. It makes him, elated.
(iii) Beauty and majesty of mountains pose a great challenge as they are the means of communion with god.
(iv) The achievement was praised highly all over the world. The author gains a lot emotionally and spiritually by taking this dual.
(v) It is not only physical, it encourages spiritual love to rise above the surroundings to accept challenge for going forward and upward on the mountain. It shakes our spirit and takes us to victory up to the top.
WORKING WITH THE LANGUAGE
Q.1. Look at the italicized phrases and their meanings given in brackets:
- Mountains are nature of its best. (nature’s best form and appearance)
- Your life is at risk. (in danger: you run the risk of losing your life)
- He was at his best / worst in the last meeting. (It was his best / worst performance)
Fill in the blanks in the following dialogues chossing suitable phrases from those given in the box.
| at hand at once at all at a low ebb at first sight |
I. TEACHER: You were away from school without permission. Go to the principal __________ and submit your explanation.
Ans. at once,
PUPIL: Yes, Madam. But would you help me write it first?
II. ARUN: Are you unwell?
ILA: No, not ________ . Why do you ask?
Ans. at all
ARUN: If you were unwell, I would send you to my uncle. He is a doctor.
III. MARY: Almost every Indian film has an episode of love ____________.
Ans. at first sight
DAVID: Is that what makes them so popular in foreign countries?
IV. ASIF: You look depressed. Why are your spirits ___________ today (Use such in the phrase)
Ans. at a low ebb
ASHOK: I have to write ten sentences using words that I never heard before.
V. SHIERA: Your big moment in close _____________.
Ans. at hand.
JYOTI: How should I welcome it?
SHIEBA: Get up and receive the trophy.
Q. 2. Write the noun forms of the following words adding-ance or -ence to each:
(i) endure ____________.
Ans. endure endurance
(ii) persist ____________.
Ans. persist persistence
(iii) signify ____________.
Ans. signity significance
(iv) confide ____________.
Ans. confide confidence
(v) maintain ____________.
Ans. maintain maintenance
(vi) abhor _____________
Ans. abhor abhorrence.
Q. 3. (i) Match words under A with their meanings under B.
| A | B |
| remote | difficult to overcome |
| means | most prominent |
| dominant | be overcome/overpowered |
| formidable | method (s) |
| overwhelmed | for away from |
Ans.
| A | B |
| remote | for away from |
| means | method (s) |
| dominant | most prominent |
| formidable | difficult to overcome |
| overwhelmed | be overcome/overpowered |
(ii) Fill in the blanks in the sentences below with appropriate words from under A.
(a) There were ___________ obstacles on the way, but we reached our destination safely.
Ans. formidable.
(b) We have no __________ of finding out what happened there.
Ans. means.
(c) Why he lives in a house _______ from any town or village is more than I can tell.
Ans. remote.
(d) _______ by gratitude, we bowed to the speaker for his valuable advice.
Ans. overwhelmed.
(e) The old castle stands in a ________ position above the sleepy town.
Ans. dominant.
SPEAKING AND WRITING
Write a composition describing a visit to the hills, or any place which you found beautiful and inspiring.
Before writing, work in small groups. Discuss the points given below and decide if you want to use some of these points in your composition.
- Consider this sentence:
Mountains are a means of communion with God.
- Think of the act of worship or prayer. You believe yourself to be in the presence of the divine power. In a way, you are in communion with that power.
- Imagine the climber on top of the summit- the height attained, limitless sky above, the climber’s last ounce of energy spent, feeling of, gratitude, humility and peace.
- The majesty of the mountains does bring you close to nature and the spirit and joy that lives there, if you have the ability to feel it.
Some composition may be read aloud to the entire class afterwards.
Ans. A VISIT TO HILLS
A VISIT TO MATA VAISHNO DEVI
“Mata Vaishno Devi” is the sacred temple of the believers. It is situated in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Lacs of people visit this holy temple every year. The believers, the Hindus, the Muslims and the Sikhs touch the feet of the Shrine of Holy Goddess and pray for their spiritual peace.
It is surrounded by slanting hills and mountains with calmly standing green trees. Once I was fortunate to have the Darshan of this holy place. Its mountainous climb is about 14 km distance from Katra. Visitors go there on foot or on hired ponies. They sing beautiful tunes of worship in chorus in praise of the Goddess. They offer Parsad at her feet. I also enjoyed the climb on foot. There is a complete peace of mind. During the walk, climber’s last ounce of energy is spent. There was peace, gratitude and humility when I attained the height. My eyes fell on the Bhawan. The long green coloured trees gave me a feeling of my nearness to God. I was close to nature and spirit and got joy that was conspicuous by its presence I was undoubtedly benefited by this visit. My kind Mata blessed me and natural hills pacified my spirit in peaceful surroundings.
After performing the act of worship or prayer, accompanied by all the members of the family, we returned home and thanked the worthy Goddess for being kind to us.
COMPREHENSION PASSAGES
PASSAGE – 1
Once having granted this, the question remains: Why Everest? Because it is the highest, the mightiest and has defied many previous attempts. It takes the last ounce of one’s energy. It is a brutal struggle with rock and ice. Once taken up, it cannot be given up halfway even when one’s life is at stake.
The passage back is as difficult as the passage onwards. And then, when the summit is climbed, there is the exhilaration, the joy of having done something, the sense of a battle fought and won. There is a feeling of victory and of happiness.
Questions
(a) Which word in the passage means ‘excitement?
Ans. exhilaration.
(b) Why are the mountaineers attracted towards Everest than any other summit?
Ans. The mountaineers are attracted towards Everest than any other summit because it is the highest, the mightiest and has defied many previous attempts.
(c) How does the climb take all the energy of the mountaineer?
Ans. The climb takes up all the energy of the mountaineer because the path up to the summit is very rugged, icy and rocky. It is a very difficult path.
(d) Why is climbing the summit compared to the battle fought and won?
Ans. Climbing the summit is compared to the battle fought and won because it is like an inhuman struggle with rocks and ice. And when the summit is climbed, it gives immense pleasure.
PASSAGE – 2
Consider a typical climb, towards the summit on the last heights. You are sharing a rope with another climber. You firm in. He cuts the steps in the hard ice. Then he belays and you inch your way up. The climb is grim.
You strain every nerve as you take every step. Famous climbers have left records of the help given by others. They have also recorded how they needed just that help. Else they might have given up. Breathing is difficult.
You curse yourself for having let yourself in for this. You wonder why you ever undertook the ascent. There are moments when you feel like going back. It would be sheer relief to go down, instead of up.
Questions
(a) What does ‘firm in’ mean?
Ans. dig yourself strongly.
(b) Which word in the passage means ‘fixes a rope’?
Ans. belays.
(c) When does the climber curse himself for having let himself in for the climb?
Ans. When it becomes very difficult to climb and even breathing is difficult.
(d) How does the climber take a step up when he shares rope with another?
Ans. The climber cares himself when the climber shares rope with other one; he digs himself strongly. Other climber cuts the steps in the hard ice and fixes a rope. Then the climber takes a step (an inch) up.
PASSAGE – 3
The experience of having climbed to the summit changes you completely.
There is another summit. It is within yourself. It is in your own mind. Each man carries within himself his own mountain peak. He must climb it to reach to a fuller knowledge of himself. It is fearful, and unscalable. It cannot be climbed by anyone else. You yourself have to do it.
The physical act of climbing to the summit of a mountain outside is akin to the act of climbing the mountain within. The effects of both the climbs are the same. Whether the mountain you climb is physical or emotional and spiritual, the climb will certainly change you. It teaches you much about the world and about yourself.
I venture to think that my experience as an Everester has provided me with the inspiration to face life’s ordeals resolutely. Climbing the mountain was a worthwhile experience. The conquest of the internal summit is equally worthwhile. The internal summits are, perhaps, higher than Everest.
Questions
(a) Name the lesson and the writer.
Ans. The name of the lesson is ‘The Summit Within’ and the name of the writer is H.P.S. Ahluwalia.
(b) What other ‘summit’ the writer talks about?
Ans. The writer talks about the summit that is in mind. Climbing this summit brings a faller knowledge of himself.
(c) What adjectives the writer has used to describe other summit?
Ans. fearful, unscalable.
(d) Which summit is even higher than Everest?
Ans. The summit which is within one’s mind is even higher than Everest.
SOME OTHER QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION
Q.1. How is the title of the lesson, ‘The Summit Within’ appropriate?
Ans. The title of lesson ‘The Summit Within’ is appropriate. The writer was a member in the expedition to Mount Everest. He was successful but he realised that it was not a very great achievement. He did not feel heroic. He explains that the conquest of Mount Everest was just a physical experience, when you climb the summit, you realise your smallness in the universe. There is another summit, ‘Summit Within’; the climbing it is very essential. One has to climb it to get fuller knowledge of oneself.This exercise is very difficult. It change oneself completely. Hence the title ‘The Summit Within’ is very appropriate.
Q.2. How did Ahluwalia feel standing on the summit?
Ans. Standing on the summit, Ahluwalia felt that though adventure was risky, it was worthwhile. The surrounding peaks looked like a jewelled necklace. It was an ennobling and enriching experience. He was filled with humility. He left on Everest a picture of Guru Nanak. This was not a symbol of conquest but of reverence.
Q.3. What are the problems faced by climber on the way to reach the peak of Mount Everest?
Ans. The path to climb up is risky and heart-breaking. The path is rugged, rocky and icy. The climber sometimes even curses himself for undertaking such a risky task. At certain moments, even breaking is difficult. But there is something that does not let him give up the struggle.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
Tick (✔) the correct option
1. Which of the following words means ‘main’?
(a) formidable.
(b) dominant.
(c) surged.
(d) ultimate.
Ans. (b) dominant.
2. Major H.P.S. Ahluwalia was a member of the first successful expedition in _______.
(a) 1955
(b) 1960
(c) 1965
(d) 1970
Ans. (c) 1965
3. What does ‘communion’ mean?
(a) State or feeling of close relationship.
(b) Fatigue.
(c) Very happy.
(d) Frustrate.
Ans. (a) State or feeling of close relationship
4. Which of the following statements does Ahluwalia tell about internal summit?
(a) The internal summit is within mind.
(b) The internal summits are, perhaps, higher than Everest.
(c) Each man carries within himself his own mountain peak.
(d) All of these.
Ans. (d) All of these.
5. The obstacles in climbing a mountain are __________ .
(a) spiritual.
(b) financial.
(c) physical.
(d) all of these.
Ans. (d) all of these
MAKE SENTENCES
Make sentences of your own with the help of words given below:
(i) mystical.
(ii) completely.
(iii) adventure.
(iv) conscious.
(v) knowledge.
Ans. (i) mystical: The hermit revealed some mystical secrets to the king.
(ii) completely: My mother has completely involved herself in the new project.
(iii) adventure: Life is full of adventures, try it.
(iv) conscious: My conscious pricks me even if I tell a very small lie.
(v) knowledge: A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
The School Boy
HONEYDEW: POEM
Textbook Questions With Their Answers
WORKING WITH THE POEM
Q. 1. Find three or four words/phrases in stanza 1 that reflect the child’s happiness and joy.
Ans. (a) I love to rise in summer morn ___
(b) O! what sweet company.
(c) ________ sings with me.
Q. 2. In stanza 2, the mood changes. Which word/phrases reflect the changed mood?
Ans. (a) O! It drives all joy away.
(b) In sighing and dismay.
Q. 3. ‘A cruel eye outworn’ (stanza 2) refers to
(i) the classroom which is shabby/noisy
(ii) the lessons which are difficult/ uninteresting
(iii) the dull/uninspiring life at school with lots of work and no play
Mark the item that you consider right.
Ans. (iii) the dull/uninspiring life at school with lots of work and no play.
Q. 4. ‘Nor sit in learning’s bower worn thro’ with the dreary shower’
Which of the following is a close paraphrase of the lines above?
(i) Nor can I sit in a roofless classroom when it is raining.
(ii) Nor can I learn anything at school though teachers go on lecturing and explaining.
(iii) Nor can I sit in the school garden for fear of getting wet in the rain.
Ans. (ii) Nor can I learn anything at school though teachers go on lecturing and explaining.
Q. 5. Read the following poem and compare it with ‘The School Boy’.
The One Furrow
When I was young, I went to school
With pencil and footrule
Sponge and slate,
And sat on a tall stool
At learning’s gate.
When I was older, the gate swung wide;
Clever and keen-eyed
In I pressed,
But found in the mind’s pride
No peace, no rest.
Then who was it taught my back to go
To cattle and borrow,
field and plough:
To keep to the one furrow,
As I do now?
—– R .S. Thomas
Ans. The School Boy is a poem where the narrator considers his going to school dull and boring. The poem by ‘R.S. Thomas’ implicates this realization at a later stage in the societal life of the narrator as even after getting educated and going to school, the narrator still has to keep to his furrow.
COMPREHENSION STANZAS
Read the stanzas carefully and answer the questions that follow:
STANZA – 1
I love to rise in a summer morn,
When the birds sing on every tree;
The distant huntsman winds his horn,
And the skylark sings with me.
O! what sweet company.
Questions
(a) Who sings with the poet?
Ans. The skylark sings with the poet.
(b) What is the sweet company of the child?
Ans. The birds, the distant huntsman and the skylark is the sweet company of the child.
(c) How does the poet greet the summer morn?
Ans. The poet loves to rise in the summer morn.
STANZA – 2
Ah! then at times I drooping sit,
And spend many an anxious hour.
Nor in my book can I take delight,
Nor sit in learning’s bower,
Worn thro’ with the dreary shower.
Questions
(a) Name the poem and the poet.
Ans. ‘The School Boy’, William Blake.
(b) How does he react to his school life?
Ans. He spends hours of worry and anxiousness at school and is neither delighted to read books nor sit in the school.
(c) What is the meaning of ‘drooping’?
Ans. ‘Drooping’ means ‘sadness’ or ‘sadly’.
STANZA – 3
O! Father and Mother, if buds are nip’d,
And blossoms blown away,
And if the tender plants are strip’d
of their joy in the springing day,
By sorrow and care dismay,
How shall the summer arise in joy,
Or the summer fruits appear?
Questions
(a) Pick out the idiom from the stanza.
Ans. Buds are nip’d.
(b) What time of season is replicated?
Ans. It is the summer season and spring is nearing.
(c) Complete the sentence: Plants are stripped of ________
Ans. joy.
SOME OTHER QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION
Q. 1. Why does the child compare himself to the bird in a cage?
Ans. A bird in a cage resembles a creature who is devoid of his liberty and freedom.
Similarly, the boy is not free to learn neither from his books nor in his school. For him, his school is like a cage that is the bondage of his wisdom. According to the poet, the school boy does not get chance to widen his horizons into thinkings and intellect.
Q. 2. What is the rhyme scheme of the poem?
Ans. ababb.
Q. 3. What do the following refer to?
(a) cruel eye outworn.
Ans. teacher or invigilator who according to the poet makes his life uninspiring
(b) learning’s bower
Ans. the school
(c) dreary shower.
Ans. continuous lecture
Q. 4. What will happen if the tender plants are stripped of joy?
Ans. If the tender plants are stripped of joy, unhappiness spreads. As spring is the season of flowers, everything shall bloom to its best and not be succumbed to the elements to spread sorrow, fear and dismay.
MAKE SENTENCES
Frame your own sentences from given words:
(a) dismay.
(b) delight.
(c) anxious.
(d) youthful.
Ans. (a) dismay: To my dismay, the case is not yet solved.
(b) delight: It is my honour and delight to announce the winner of the competition.
(c) anxious: I am very anxious about my result.
(d) youthful: All the students managed the youthful evening party.
