Solution of Chapter 2. We’re Not Afraid to Die (NCERT - English Hornbill Book)

List the steps taken by the captain

(i) to protect the ship when the rough weather began.

(ii) to check the flooding of the water in the ship.

Describe the mental condition of the voyagers on 4 and 5 January.

Describe the shifts in the narration of the events as indicated in the three sections of the text. Give a subtitle to each section.

Discuss the following questions with your partner.

What difference did you notice between the reaction of the adults and the children when faced with danger?

Discuss the following questions with your partner.

How does the story suggest that optimism helps to endure “the direst stress”?

Discuss the following questions with your partner.

What lessons do we learn from such hazardous experiences when we are face-to-face with death?

Discuss the following questions with your partner.

Why do you think people undertake such adventurous expeditions in spite of the risks involved?

We have come across words like ‘gale’ and ‘storm’ in the account. Here are two more words for ‘storm’: typhoon, cyclone. How many words does your language have for ‘storm’?

Here are the terms for different kinds of vessels: yacht, boat, canoe, ship, steamer, schooner. Think of similar terms in your language.

‘Catamaran’ is a kind of a boat. Do you know which Indian language this word is derived from? Check the dictionary.

Have you heard any boatmen’s songs? What kind of emotions do these songs usually express?

The following words used in the text as ship terminology are also commonly used in another sense. In what contexts would you use the other meaning?

The following three compound words end in -ship. What does each of them mean?

The following are the meanings listed in the dictionary against the phrase ‘take on’. In which meaning is it used in the third paragraph of the account:

take on sth: to begin to have a particular quality or appearance; to assume sth

take sb on: to employ sb; to engage sb to accept sb as one’s opponent in a game, contest or conflict

take sb/sth on: to decide to do sth; to allow sth/sb to enter e.g. a bus, plane or ship; to take sth/sb on board

Given on the next page is a picture of a yacht. Label the parts of the yacht using the terms given in the box.

Locate Ile Amsterdam on the world map.