Extract Based Questions: Reach for the Top - Class 9 PDF Download

Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.

Q1: The only woman in the world who has scaled Mt Everest twice was born in a society where the birth of a son was regarded as a blessing, and a daughter, though not considered a curse, was not generally welcome. When her mother was expecting Santosh, a travelling ‘holy man ’, giving her his blessing, assumed that she wanted a son. But, to everyone’s surprise, the unborn child’s grandmother, who was standing close by, told him that they did not want a son.

(a) Name the only woman in the world who has climbed Mt Everest twice.
Ans: The only woman to climb Mt Everest twice is Santosh Yadav.

(b) What blessing did the holy man give her mother when she was expecting Santosh?
Ans: The holy man blessed her mother that she give birth to a son.

(c) Why was the holy man, who gave Santosh’s mother his blessings, surprised?
Ans: The holy man was surprised when the grandmother requested blessing for a girl.

(d) What does this show about her grandmother?
Ans: Santosh’s grandmother was a progressive person who did not believe in conservative views.

Q2: The girl was given the name ‘Santosh ’, which means contentment. But Santosh was not always content with her place in a traditional way of life. She began living life on her own terms from the start.
(a) What was the girl named? How was she different from her name?
Ans: The girl was named Santosh, which means contentment. She was not content with a traditional way of life.

(b) What kind of society was Santosh born in?
Ans: Santosh was born in a society where the birth of a son was regarded as a blessing, and that of a daughter was not generally welcome.

(c) How did she began living her life from the beginning?
Ans: Santosh lived her life on her own terms from the beginning.

(d) Give an instance of her unconventional behaviour from her childhood?
Ans: While other girls wore traditional Indian dresses, Santosh preferred shorts.

Q3: “From the very beginning I was quite determined that if I chose a correct and a rational path, the others around me had to change, not me. ”

(a) Who speaks these words?
Ans: Santosh Yadav, the mountaineer from Haryana, speaks these words.

(b) What kind of choices did the speaker make?
Ans: Santosh Yadav always chose the correct and rational path.

(c) How was the speaker able to change those around her?
Ans: Santosh Yadav was able to change those around her by making them yield to her firm decision through logic and rational argument.

(d) What light do these words throw on the speaker?
Ans: These words show that right from her childhood, Santosh did not wish to follow conventions and tradition blindly, but had a logical and rational approach.

Q4: Santosh’s parents were affluent landowners who could afford to send their children to the best schools, even to the country’s capital, New Delhi, which was quite close by. But, in line with the prevailing custom in the family, Santosh had to make do with the local village school.

(a) What was Santosh’s family background?
Ans: Santosh belonged to a wealthy landowning family of Haryana.

(b) Where did Santosh’s parents send their daughter to study? Why?
Ans: Santosh’s parents sent their daughter to the local village school to study as it was customary to do so.

(c) What light does this throw on Santosh’s family?
Ans: Santosh’s family members were conservative in their thought.

(d) At what age did Santosh begin to fight the prevailing customs?
Ans: Santosh began to fight the system at the age of sixteen.

Q5: So, she decided to fight the system in her own quiet way when the right moment arrived. And the right moment came when she turned sixteen.

(a) Who is ‘she’ in this extract and which system did she decide to fight?
Ans: ‘She’ in the extract refers to Santosh Yadav, the famous mountaineer. She decided to fight the system of conservative traditions which blocked the progress of a person, especially a girl.

(b) How and why did she decide to fight the system?
Ans: Santosh Yadav decided to fight the system in her quiet but firm way because she did not want to insult those who supported the traditions nor did she want to give in to the system.

(c) What was ‘the right moment’?
Ans: The right moment was when she turned sixteen and was under pressure from her parents to get married like other girls of her village.

(d) What did’ she’ do at this moment?
Ans: Santosh Yadav did not wish to get married at such a young age, so she threatened her parents that she would never marry if she was denied proper education.

Q6: A marriage as early as that was the last thing on her mind. She threatened her parents that she would never marry if she did not get a proper education. She left home and got herself enrolled in a school in Delhi.

(a) What is meant by “a marriage as early as that”?
Ans: In Santosh’s village girls were married off at the age of sixteen.

(b) What did her parents want Santosh to do?
Ans: Santosh’s parents wanted her to get married at the age of sixteen.

(c) What did Santosh do the escape parental pressure?
Ans: Santosh Yadav left home and got herself enrolled in a school in Delhi.

(d) What light does this throw on Santosh’s character?
Ans: Santosh was a person with a progressive way of thought and strong determination.

Q7: When her parents refused to pay for her education, she politely informed them of her plans to earn money by working part time to pay her school fees.

(a) Where did Santosh go for her education?
Ans: Santosh decided to go to Delhi for her education.

(b) Why did her parents refuse to pay for her education?
Ans: Her parents refused to pay for her education because Santosh did not follow the family tradition of getting married early and got herself enrolled in a school in Delhi against their wishes.

(c) What does this tell you about her parents?
Ans: They were conservative and traditional in their thought and tried to pressurise their daughter into following the same path.

(d) How did she react to her parents’ decision?
Ans: Santosh refused to give up her studies and told her parents that she would manage to pay her school expenses by working part time.

Q8: “I used to watch villagers from my room, going up the hill and suddenly vanishing after a while. One day I decided to check it out myself. I found nobody except a few mountaineers. I asked if I could join them. To my pleasant surprise, they answered in the affirmative and motivated me to take to climbing. ”

(a) From where did the speaker see people going up the hill?
Ans: The speaker saw people going up the hill from her room in Kasturba Hostel, Jaipur.

(b) Where did she see the villagers going?
Ans: She saw the villagers going up the hill.

(c) What did she decide to do one day?
Ans: One day she decided check out climbing the hill for herself.

(d) How did this prove a turning point in her life?
Ans: This climb up the hill with some mountaineers motivated her to take to mountaineering.

Q9: Then there was no looking back for this determined young girl. She saved money and enrolled in a course at Uttarkashi’s Nehru Institute of Mountaineering.

(a) What does the word ‘then’ imply?
Ans: The word ‘then’ implies the point of time from when she took the decision to take up mountaineering.

(b) Why did she enrol herself at Uttarkashi’s Nehru Institute of Mountaineering?
Ans: She enrolled herself at Uttarkashi’s Nehru Institute of Mountaineering to train for mountaineering.

(c) How did she pay for the course?
Ans: She saved money and paid for the course.

(d) What light does this throw on Santosh’s character?
Ans: This shows her strong determination and strength of purpose in her desire to pursue her goals.

Q10: I had to write a letter of apology to my father without whose permission I had got myself enrolled at Uttarkashi.

(a) Why did Santosh have to write a letter of apology to her father?
Ans: Santosh Yadav had to write a letter of apology to her father because she had got herself enrolled for a mountaineering course without seeking his permission. Moreover, she did not have time to visit her parents as her course started immediately after her semester exams.

(b) Where had she enrolled herself and why?
Ans: She had enrolled herself at the Uttarkashi’s Nehru Institute of Mountaineering in order to get proper training to pursue her interest in mountain climbing.

(c) Why didn’t Santosh seek her father’s permission before getting enrolled in the Institute?
Ans: Santosh knew that her father would not allow her to pursue a career in mountaineering, so she decided to let her parents know about it after joining the institute.

(d) What light does this extract reflect on the speaker’s character?
Ans: The extract shows that Santosh was adamant and determined to live life according to her choices. She did not mean to insult her parents in any way but at the same time did not wish to let go of her dreams and ambition.