Short & Long Answer Question - Silk Road | English Class 11 PDF Download

Short Answer Type Questions

Q1. What prompted the author to opt for the shortcut despite the presence of high mountain passes? 

Ans. The shortcut offered a more direct route towards Mount Kailash in the southwest direction while traversing the mountain passes could have resulted in breathing difficulties. Furthermore, the absence of snow along the shortcut ensured a smoother journey.

Q2. After departing from Ravu, what did the author observe in the vast open plains?
Ans. These expansive plains were characterized by dry pastures, with only a few gazelles spotted grazing on the grass. As the plains transitioned into rockier terrain, the author came across a sizable herd of wild asses.

Q3. What sights did the author and his companions encounter in the rocky wilderness?
Ans. They encountered shepherds tending their flocks, who, upon noticing their car, would pause and stare, sometimes waving at them. As the track approached the sheep, the animals would alter their direction.

Q4. How did the author respond to the Tibetan mastiff? 
Ans. The Tibetan mastiff, a colossal black dog, stood guard outside the dark tents of nomads. The dogs would hold their heads high and fix their gaze on the approaching car, barking and running swiftly toward it. They exhibited no fear of the car and only relented after chasing it away from their territory.

Q5. Why did Tsetan stop the car and jump out of it? 
Ans. There was snow on about fifteen meters of the road ahead. Then there was a dirt trail. There was snow on either side of the road. The bank was too steep for the vehicle to pass. The icy layer could prove slippery. Tsetan threw handfuls of dirt on the ice. Others followed suit. 

Q6. Why did the author complain of headaches? How did he get relief? 
Ans. The author was not used to high-altitude climbing. He complained of a headache when they had crept past 5,400 meters. He took gulps from his water bottle. This helped somewhat. His headache cleared as they moved down the other side of the pass. 

Q7. Give, according to the author, a description of the top of the pass. 
Ans. They reached the top of the pass at 5,515 meters. The top was marked by a pile of stones. These were decorated with white silk scarves and ragged prayer flags. The author and his companions took a turn around the cairn, in a clockwise direction as it was a tradition among the Buddhists. 

Q8. Why, do you think was the author perturbed at the loud hiss emitted by the car? 
Ans. Tsetan partially unscrewed the top of the car. It emitted a loud hiss. The lower atmospheric pressure was allowing the fuel to expand. The author was perturbed. He considered it dangerous. 

Q9. What do you learn about the salt lake on the other side of the pass? 
Ans. The salt lake was dry. It was on the other side of the pass. The plateau was covered with hollow areas of low flat lands near water and brackish lakes. These were the remnants of the Tethys Ocean. This ocean bordered Tibet before the great continental collision lifted it skyward.

Q10. What activities were going on at the dry salt lake? 
Ans. The shining white lake was dry. It had lot of layers of salt. Workers were busy loading trucks with piles of salt. They carried pickaxes and shovels. They had put on long sheepskin coats and salt-covered boots. They wore sunglasses to avoid the glare caused by a steady stream of trucks. 

Q11. Which incident does the author remember as they reached a small town, Hor? 
Ans. They had suffered two punctures in quick succession on the drive from the salt lake. Tsetan was eager to have them fixed as they left him with no spares. So they stopped outside a tyre repair shop. Daniel was returning to Lhasa. He found a ride in a truck. So the author and Tsetan bade Daniel farewell at the tyre repair shop. 

Q12. What is the importance of Hor? How did the author feel there? 
Ans. Hor was a small town on the main east-west highway that followed the old trade route from Lhasa to Kashmir. The town was on the shore of Lake Manasarovar. But the author does not feel impressed by it. He found Hor a grim, miserable place. It had no vegetation but only dust and rocks. There were heaps of garbage too. 

Q13. Why is Lake Manasarovar Tibet’s most venerated stretch of water? 
Ans. Lake Manasarovar is considered to be the source of four great Indian rivers. These are the Indus, the Ganges, the Sutlej, and the Brahmaputra. Actually, only the Sutlej flows from the lake. The headwaters of the others all rise nearby on the flanks of Mount Kailash. Being the source of great rivers, lake Manasarovar is considered Tibet’s most respected stretch of water. 

Q14. Why did the night at the guest house in Darchen turn out to be another troubled one? 
Ans. The author had to kill time at Hor. It was an open-air rubbish dump. He went from one place to another without any particular purpose. This set off his cold once again. One of his nostrils was blocked again as he laid down to sleep in Darchen. He could not get enough oxygen to breathe. He had to pass a sleepless night.

Q15. How does the author recount his experience at the Darchen medical college?
Ans. The Tibetan doctor had no white coat or other apparatus. He looked like any other Tibetan in his thick pullover and woolly hat. He felt the veins in the author’s wrist and asked him a few questions. He diagnosed his malady as ‘‘a cold and the effects of altitude.’’ He prescribed a five-day course of Tibetan medicines. The author had a sound sleep after his first full day’s course.

Q16. The author says, ‘‘I’d timed my arrival for the beginning of the season, but it seemed I was too early.’’ How does Darchen appear at the height of the pilgrimage season?
Ans. The author did not have a personal experience of it. He was told that the town was bustling with visitors in the pilgrimage season. Many brought their own accommodation. They would set up their tents at the boundary of Darchen. These tents spread out to the plains.

Q17. What options did the author have after Tsetan left him?
Ans. His only option was to wait for some other pilgrims. The route of pilgrimage was well trodden. But he did not want to go alone. Parts of the route were liable to blockage by snow. He had no idea whether the snow had cleared or not. He hadn’t come across any English-speaking person to answer this basic question.

Q18. ‘‘The author gives a picturesque description of Darchen’s only cafe.’’ How far do you agree with this statement?
Ans. The cafe was small, dark, and cavernous. It had a long metal stove that ran down the middle. The walls and ceiling were covered in striped, multicolored plastic. This cafe had a single window and a rickety table.

Q19. What did the author learn about Norbu? How did he feel?
Ans. Norbu was a Tibetan. He worked in Beijing at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. He had come to do the ‘Kora’. He had been writing academic papers about the Kailash Kora and its importance in various works of Buddhist literature. He had never actually done Kora himself. The author felt happy. They could do Kora together.

Q20. Why did the author’s initial relief at meeting Norbu become diluted later on?
Ans. Norbu could talk in English. He was going to Mount Kailash to do Kora. But he was almost as ill-equipped for the pilgrimage as the author was. He was very fat and found walking on a high attitude tiresome. Moreover, he wasn’t really a practicing Buddhist. All these factors diluted the author’s initial relief.

Long Answer Type Questions 

Q1. What difficulties did the author encounter while crossing the mountain passes that led to the Silk Road? 
Ans. The first difficulty they faced was during the ascent through the valley. The turns became sharper and the ride bumpier. The author felt the pressure building up in his ears. Suddenly Tsetan stopped the car and jumped out. A large strip of white stuff lay across the track for about fifteen meters. The bank was too steep for their vehicle to scale. They grabbed handfuls of dust and flung them over the snow. When the snow was spread with soil, Tsetan slowly drove the vehicle over it. Ten minutes later, they had another blockage. This time Tsetan drove around the snow. The steep slope was studded with major rocks. His vehicle was lurching from one obstacle to another. Once he cut off a hairpin bend. Tsetan negotiated the obstacles and they reached the top of the pass. The author took gulps from his water bottle to ease his headache caused by rapid ascent. His headache cleared as they moved down the other side of the pass. Apart from two punctures in quick succession, they faced no difficulty till they reached Hor, a small town on the main east-west highway.

Q2. How was the author’s experience at Hor in stark contrast to earlier accounts of the place? 
Ans. Hor is a small town on the main east-west highway. The highway followed the old trade route from Lhasa to Kashmir. The town is located on the shore of Lake Manasarovar. This lake is Tibet’s most venerated stretch of water. The Sutlej flows from the lake. The headwaters of the Indus, the Ganges, and the Brahmaputra, rise nearby on the flanks of Mount Kailash. Ancient Hindu and Buddhist books regard Manasarovar as the source of four great Indian rivers. Earlier travelers had spoken in superlatives about their experience on their first glimpse of Lake Manasarovar. Ekai Kawaguchi was Japanese monk. He arrived there in 1900. He was so moved by the sanctity of the lake that he burst into tears. A few years later, the holy water of the lake had a similar effect on Sven Hedin. He was a Swede. Moreover, he was not sentimental. Hence his reaction was quite noteworthy. The author found Hor a grim, miserable place with no vegetation. It was just dust and rocks. He was disappointed to notice heaps of rubbish lying dumped here and there. He calls Hor an open-air rubbish dump. Thus there was a vast difference between legend and reality.

Q3. Give a brief account of the author’s experience at Darchen before he got treatment at Darchen medical college. 
Ans. It was 10.30 p.m. when the author and Tsetan reached a guest house in Darchen. The author was tired and hungry. The drive in dusty Hor had started his cold again. The herbal tea did not help. One of his nostrils was blocked again. He was not sure that the other would provide him with sufficient oxygen. He lay down to sleep. He started breathing through his mouth. Then he switched to single-nostril power. He got enough oxygen. He was about to sleep when he woke up abruptly. His chest felt heavy. He cleared his nasal passages. He felt relief in his chest. He lay down and tried to sleep. He was about to fall asleep when something told him not to. He sat up once again and felt better. But as soon as he lay down again his sinuses filled up and his chest was strange. He supported himself upright against the wall. He could not sleep at all. He had another troubled night due to his breathing problems. He could not give any single reason for the lack of sleep. A little voice inside him kept saying that if he slept, he might never wake up again. So, he stayed awake all night.

Q4. How did the relationship change between the father and his son? 
Ans. The poem illustrates the evolving relationship between a father and his son. Initially, they shared a close bond when the son was a child. However, as time passed and the son grew into adulthood, their relationship altered. Both father and son became preoccupied with their separate lives, leading to a disconnect. The father finds it increasingly difficult to understand his son, widening the gap between them. Despite the father's efforts to rekindle their previous closeness, he fails, resulting in frustration and anger. He reminisces about their once strong bond, feeling nostalgic, but this sorrow turns into anger, further straining their relationship. The poem thus reflects a common shift that often occurs in parent-child relationships over time. 

Q5. What impression do you form of the author, Nick Middleton, on the basis of reading ‘Silk Road’? 
Ans. The author was a bald-headed English-knowing gentleman. He was keen on performing Kailash Kora. He undertook the hazardous journey to Mount Kailash for this purpose. He hired Tsetan’s car and took Daniel as a companion for escorting him up to Darchen. He seems a lover of adventure who is not at all afraid of taking risks. This is evident from his ascent to undertake a shortcut through high mountain passes involving the risk of slipping on snowy roads. He is a keen observer of men and manners. He has a sharp eye for details. He describes the hilly people quite sensitively. He gives a graphic account of difficulties faced during ascent. His headache and loss of sleep are caused by cold and high altitude. His observations about Lake Manasarovar and Hor reveal the difference between legend and reality. He dislikes dirt and shabbiness. He faces communication problems after Tsetan leaves and before he meets Norbu. However, he waits and takes correct decisions. He approves of Norbu’s practical suggestion to hire yaks to carry luggage. In short, he is a sensitive and likable fellow.