Class 8 English Honeydew Chapter 2 Extract Based Question Answers - The Tsunami

Q1: Read the extract given below and answer the following questions. 
Tilly saw the sea slowly rise, and start to foam, bubble and form whirlpools. She remembered that she had seen this in class in a video of a tsunami that had hit the Hawaiian islands in 1946. Her geography teacher had shown her class the video, and told them that tsunamis can be caused by earthquakes, volcanoes and landslides. Tilly started to scream at her family to get off the beach. “She talked about an earthquake under the sea. She got more and more hysterical,” said her mother Penny. “I didn’t know what a tsunami was. But seeing my daughter so frightened, I thought something serious must be going on.”

(i) What was unusual that Tilly observed?
Ans: Tilly observed that the waves in the sea slowly rose and whirlpools were formed.

(ii) What was the video about?
Ans: The video was about a tsunami that hit the Hawaiian Islands in 1946.

(iii) What were the reasons behind the occurrence of a Tsunami?
Ans: Tsunamis can be caused by earthquakes, volcanoes and landslides.

(iv) Why did Tilly start screaming?
Ans: Tilly was aware of the impending disaster in the form of a Tsunami as she had already observed a video in her classroom.

(v) Give the meaning of hysterical.
Ans: Hysterical – crying or shouting loudly, losing control over oneself.

Q2: Read the extract given below and answer the following questions. 
Thirteen-year-old Meghna was swept away along with her parents and seventy-seven other people. She spent two days floating in the sea, holding on to a wooden door. Eleven times she saw relief helicopters overhead, but they did not see her. She was brought to the shore by a wave, and was found walking on the seashore in a daze.

(i) How was Meghna swept away?
Ans: Meghna was swept away by high sea waves due to the Tsunami.

(ii) How did she manage to save herself?
Ans: Meghna holds on to a wooden door floating in the sea for two days. Relief helicopters even ignored her. It pushed her towards the shore. Thus, she was saved.

(iii) How many times did the helicopter miss her?
Ans: The relief helicopter hovered over the sea about eleven times. Every time, it missed her because it couldn’t trace her.

(iv) What was unusual about her survival?
Ans: She was swept away by higher waves. She survived two days floating in the sea by holding onto a wooden door. Rescue helicopters couldn’t save her. It was her destiny that pushed her towards the shore. She was found walking on the seashore in a daze.

(v) Give the meaning of overhead as (adverb) and (noun).
Ans:
(a) Overhead (adverb) – above the level of the head.
(b) Overhead (noun) – an overhead cost or expense

Q3: Read the extract given below and answer the following questions. 
Almas’s mother and aunts stood clinging to the leaves of a coconut tree, calling out to her. A wave uprooted the tree, and they, too, were washed away. Almas saw a log of wood floating. She climbed onto it. Then she fainted. When she woke up, she was in a hospital in Kamorta. From there, she was brought to Port Blair.

(i) What did Almas’s mother and aunts do to save themselves?
Ans: Almas’s mother and aunt stood clinging to a coconut tree. However, a rave uprooted the tree and was washed away.

(ii) Were they able to save themselves?
Ans: Almas’s mother and aunts tried to hold fast a coconut tree, which was uprooted, leaving them in water.

(iii) How did Almas reach Kamorta?
Ans: Almas was making efforts to save herself. Then she climbed a log of wood and fainted. She was taken to a hospital in Kamorta through some unknown source.

(iv) What stopped her from discussing the incident?
Ans: Almas was traumatised by the incident. She had faced tough times in the Tsunami. So, she was traumatized, which stopped her from talking about the incident.

(v) Change the verb into a noun for the following word: ‘traumatize’.
Ans: Trauma.