The Tsunami
Comprehension Check
Question 1:
Say whether the following are true or false.
1. Ignesious lost his wife, two children, his father-in-law, and his brother-in-law in the tsunami.
2. Sanjeev made it to safety after the tsunami.
3. Meghna was saved by a relief helicopter.
4. Almas’s father realised that a tsunami was going to hit the island.
5. Her mother and aunts were washed away with the tree that they were holding on to.
Answer:
- True
- False
- False
- True
- True
Comprehension Check
Answer the following in a phrase or sentence.
Question 1:
Why did Tilly’s family come to Thailand?
Answer:
Tilly Smith came with her family from South-East England to celebrate Christmas at a beach resort in southern Thailand.
Question 2:
What were the warning signs that both Tilly and her mother saw?
Answer:
Tilly and her family had already experienced a massive earthquake off northern Sumatra earlier in the morning of 26 December 2004. Her mother saw that the water was swelling and coming closer, and the beach was getting smaller and smaller. Meanwhile, Tilly also noticed that the sea slowly started to rise, foam and bubble and form whirlpools in it.
Question 3:
Do you think Tilly’s mother was alarmed by them?
Answer:
Tilly’s mother initially didn’t understand what was happening, but when she saw her frightened daughter hysterically screaming that it was a tsunami, she understood the seriousness of the condition.
Question 4:
Where had Tilly seen the sea behaving in the same strange fashion?
Answer:
Tilly had seen the sea behaving in the same strange fashion during her geography lesson when her geography teacher had shown her class the video and told them that tsunamis could be caused by earthquakes, volcanoes and landslides.
Question 5:
Where did the Smith family and the others on the beach go to escape from the tsunami?
Answer:
The Smith family and the others on the beach ran back and took refuge on the third floor of the hotel to escape from the tsunami. The building withstood the surge of three tsunami waves.
Question 6:
How do you think her geography teacher felt when she heard about what Tilly had done in Phuket?
Answer:
Tilly’s geography teacher must have felt very proud of her when she heard about what Tilly had done in Phuket. She was happy that because of her lesson and video, the young girl was able to save her family and the lives of many others by warning them of the tsunami waves.
Comprehension Check
Answer using a phrase or a sentence.
Question 1:
In the tsunami, 150,000 people died. How many animals died?
Answer:
Although the giant waves that rolled through the Indian Ocean killed more than 150,000 people in a dozen countries, not many animals have been reported dead. The exact count of dead animals is not known compared to human casualties.
Question 2:
How many people and animals died in Yala National Park?
Answer:
Sixty visitors were swept off the Patanangala beach inside the Yala National Park. No animal carcasses were found, except for that of two water buffaloes.
Question 3:
What do people say about the elephants of Yala National Park?
Answer:
The people present at the Yala National Park observed three elephants running away from the Patanangala beach about an hour before the tsunami hit that place.
Question 4:
What did the dogs in Galle do?
Answer:
The dogs in Galle refused to go for their daily run on the beach on the day the tsunami hit the coast.
Working with the text
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Question 1:
When he felt the earthquake, do you think Ignesious immediately worried about a tsunami? Give reasons for your answer. Which sentence in the text tells you that the Ignesious family did not have any time to discuss and plan their course of action after the tsunami struck?
Answer:
No, Ignesious did not realise a tsunami had struck when he felt the earthquake initially. He got up and carefully took his television set off its table and put it down on the ground so that it would not fall and break. Then the family rushed out of the house.
Ignesious’s family did not have any time to discuss and plan their course of action after the tsunami struck due to chaos and confusion. When the tremors stopped, they saw the sea rising. In the chaos and confusion, two of his children caught hold of the hands of their mother’s father and mother’s brother and rushed in the opposite direction.
Question 2:
Which words in the list below describe Sanjeev, in your opinion? (Look up the dictionary for words that you are not sure of.)
| cheerful | ambitious | brash | brave | careless |
| heroic | selfless | heartless | humorous |
Use words from the list to complete the three sentences below.
(i) I don’t know if Sanjeev was cheerful, ___________ or ___________.
(ii) I think that he was very brave, ___________ and___________.
(iii) Sanjeev was not heartless, ___________or___________.
Answer:
In my opinion, the words that describe Sanjeev are brave, heroic and selfless.
(i) I don’t know if Sanjeev was cheerful, ambitious or humorous.
(ii) I think that he was very brave, heroic and selfless.
(iii) Sanjeev was not heartless, brash or careless.
Question 3:
How are Meghna and Almas’s stories similar?
Answer:
Both Almas’ and Meghna’s families were swept away by the tsunami waves, and they were the only survivors in their respective families. Both of them floated in the sea for many days. Meghna spent two days floating in the sea, holding on to a wooden door and was brought to the shore by a wave. Similarly, Almas also climbed onto a log of wood and fainted. Later she woke up in a hospital in Kamorta and was brought to Port Blair thereafter. Both the girls were so traumatized by the incident that Meghna was found walking on the seashore in a daze, and Almas did not want to discuss the tragic incident with anyone.
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Question 4:
What are the different ways in which Tilly’s parents could have reacted to her behaviour? What would you have done if you were in their place?
Answer:
Tilly could foresee that a tsunami had struck them. Seeing her frightened and hysterical, her parents understood that something serious was likely to happen. They took both their daughters away from the beach to the swimming pool at the hotel. Seeing them, a number of other tourists also left the beach along with them. Tilly also shouted to everyone around the beach to run for safety.
However, Tilly’s parents could have also reacted in a different manner by not paying heed to her frightened behaviour. If they had tried to calm her down, probably they would have got washed away along with the tsunami waves.
If I had been in a similar situation, I would have carefully listened to Tilly and realised that danger was approaching and immediately rush to the hotel by running away from the beach.
Question 5:
If Tilly’s award was to be shared, who do you think she should share it with — her parents or her geography teacher?
Answer:
In my opinion, Tilly should have shared her award with her geography teacher, who made her aware of what a tsunami is and its various effects. Due to this awareness, she was able to save the lives of so many people.
Question 6:
What are the two different ideas about why so few animals were killed in the tsunami? Which idea do you find more believable?
Answer:
Not many animals were killed by the tsunami because most of them have a sixth sense working in them. It is believed that animals know when the earth is going to shake. Some experts also believe that animals have an acute sense of hearing that helps them to hear or feel the earth’s vibration. They have the ability to sense an approaching disaster long before humans realise what’s going on and they are able to move to safer places.
Animals have a better sense of hearing and gut feeling, and this is scientifically proven that they can sense disturbances and hear low-frequency sounds which are not within the hearing range of humans. Although this sounds incredible, it’s true!
Working with language
Question 1:
Go through Part-I carefully, and make a list of as many words as you can find that indicate movement of different kinds. (There is one word that occurs repeatedly — count how many times!) Put them into three categories.
| fast movement | slow movement | neither slow nor fast |
Can you explain why there are many words in one column and not in the others?
Answer:
| Fast movement | Slow movement | Neither slow nor fast |
| Earthquake | Recede | Floating |
| Fall | Rising | |
| Rushed | ||
| Tremors | ||
| Swept away | ||
| Washed away | ||
| Ran |
The ‘fast movement’ has more words than the other two columns, i.e., ‘slow movement’ and ‘neither slow nor fast’. This indicates that there are fast movements in a tsunami, because of which it is extremely difficult to instantly avert such a critical situation for both men and animals. Although people were fast in their movements such as running or climbing, most of them got washed away by the tsunami waves.
Question 2:
Fill in the blanks in the sentences below (the verbs given in brackets will give you a clue).
(i) The earth trembled, but not many people felt the _________. (tremble)
(ii) When the zoo was flooded, there was a lot of _________ and many animals escaped into the countryside. (confuse)
(iii) We heard with _________ that the lion had been recaptured. (relieve)
(iv) The zookeeper was stuck in a tree and his _________ was filmed by the TV crew. (rescue)
(v) There was much _________ in the village when the snake charmer came visiting. (excite)
Answer:
(i) The earth trembled, but not many people felt the trembling.
(ii) When the zoo was flooded, there was a lot of confusion and many animals escaped into the countryside.
(iii) We heard with relief that the lion had been recaptured.
(iv) The zookeeper was stuck in a tree and his rescue was filmed by the TV crew.
(v) There was much excitement in the village when the snake charmer came visiting.
Question 3:
Say whether the following sentences are in the Active or the Passive voice. Write A or P after each sentence as shown in the first sentence.
(i) Someone stole my bicycle. __A__
(ii) The tyres were deflated by the traffic police. _______________
(iii) I found it last night in a ditch near my house. _______________
(iv) It had been thrown there. _______________
(v) My father gave it to the mechanic. _______________
(vi) The mechanic repaired it for me. _______________
Answer:
(i) Someone stole my bicycle. __A__
(ii) The tyres were deflated by the traffic police. ______P________
(iii) I found it last night in a ditch near my house. _____A__________
(iv) It had been thrown there. ______P_________
(v) My father gave it to the mechanic. _____A__________
(vi) The mechanic repaired it for me. _____A__________
Geography Lesson
Working with the poem
Question 1:
Find three or four phrases in stanzas one and two which are likely to occur in a geography lesson.
Answer:
Some of the three or four phrases which are likely to occur in a geography lesson are listed below:
- “the city had developed the way it had”
- “it scaled six inches to the mile”
- “the country had cities where the rivers ran”
- “the valleys were populated”
- “land and water attracted man”
Question 2:
Seen from the window of an aeroplane, the city appears
(i) as haphazard as on the ground.
(ii) as neat as a map.
(iii) as developed as necessary.
Mark the right answer.
Answer:
(iii) as developed as necessary.
Question 3:
Which of the following statements are examples of “the logic of geography”?
(i) There are cities where there are rivers.
(ii) Cities appear as if they are not from six miles above the ground.
(iii) It is easy to understand why valleys are populated.
(iv) It is difficult to understand why humans hate and kill one another.
(v) The earth is round, and it has more sea than land.
Answer:
Statements (i), (iii) and (v) are examples of the “logic of geography”.
Question 4:
Mention two things that are
(i) clear from the height.
(ii) not clear from the height.
Answer:
- From the height, it is clear that the cities and valleys of the various countries are populated near the rivers. Besides, it also implies that the earth is round and that it has more sea than land.
- From this height, it is difficult to understand why the men on the earth find reasons to hate each other build walls across cities and want to kill. This implies that Nature does not restrict itself in boundaries, but human beings are always trying hard to divide the beautiful planet by building walls among themselves.