Class 10 English Chapter 1 Question Answers - First Flight

Short Answer Questions

Q1: Why was the young seagull afraid to fly? (CBSE 2011, 2019)
Ans: Whenever the young seagull took a little run forward to the extreme edge of the ledge and attempted to flap his wings, he became afraid. Seeing the vast area of the sea, he thought his wings would never support him.

Q2: How were Seagull’s parents helping his brothers and sister for “perfecting them in the art of flight”?
Ans: The young seagull was afraid of flying, but his two brothers and a sister had started flying. But his parents were teaching them to be perfect in the art of flying. They were teaching them how to skim the waves and how to dive for fish. He felt the heat because he had not eaten since the previous nightfall.

Q3: What did the young seagull do to satisfy his hunger?
Ans: The seagull was feeling hungry because he could not fly and his family had left him alone for it. To satisfy his hunger, he was forced to eat whatever he found.

Q4: Why could the young seagull not reach his parents without flying?
Ans: He could not reach his parents without flying because on each side of him the edge ended in a sheer fall in a vertical cliff, with the sea below. Then, between him and his parents there was a deep and wide crack in the land.

Q5: “Still they took no notice of him” What did the seagull do to draw the attention of his family?
OR
What did the seagull do to draw his mother’s attention? (CBSE 2012)
Ans: The young seagull stepped slowly out to the extreme edge of the ledge. He was standing on one leg with the other leg hidden under his wing. He closed one eye, then the other and pretended to be asleep and they looked at him.

Q6: What was his family doing on the plateau when seagulls failed to draw their attention?
Ans: The two brothers and the sister of the young seagull were half asleep with their heads sunk into their necks. His father was preening the feathers with his beak on his white back. Only his mother, standing on a little mound on the plateau, was looking at him.

Q7: “But he kept calling plaintively, and after a minute or so he uttered a joyful scream: Why did the young seagull utter a joyful scream?
Ans: The young seagull was desperately hungry. So, he screamed with joy when he saw his mother flying across to him with a piece of fish in her beak. He leaned out eagerly, tapping the rock with his feet trying to get nearer to her.

Q8: Ga. ga, ga he cried begging her to bring him some food. To whom was the young seagull begging and did she respond?
OR
The Oxford Dictionary defines ‘hangry’ as ‘bad-tempered or irritable as a result of hunger’. To what extent can the young seagull’s motivation to fly be attributed to being hungry? Support your stance with evidence from the text. (CBSE QUESTION BANK)
Ans: The young seagull was begging his mother to bring some food to him. But his mother’s motive was to teach him flying. So, she stopped flying when she reached near him so that he might attempt to fly.

Q9: How did the young seagull start flying?
OR
Describe the young seagull’s emotions when he flew over the sea. (CBSE QUESTION BANK)
Ans: The young seagull was ‘maddened by hunger when he dived at the piece of fish in his mother’s beak. But he fell outwards and downwards with a loud scream. When his mother swooped upwards, he followed her and thus he started flying.

Q10: “He dropped his legs to stand on the green sea? How did his family react when he did so? (CBSE 2012)
Ans: Being tired and weak with hunger, the young seagull dropped his legs to stand on the green sea. His entire family came around him screaming, praising him and their beaks were offering him scraps of dog-fish.

Long Answer Questions
Q11: Why was the young seagull left alone in the ledge by his family?
OR
“The young seagull was alone on his ledge.” How far do you think this condition was by his choice? (CBSE QUESTION BANK)
Ans: The young seagull was afraid to fly. His father and mother wanted him to go and fly with them. But whenever he had taken a little run forward to the extreme edge of the ledge and tried to move his wings he became afraid. He failed to muster up courage to thrust himself forcibly in space, and started flying.
His two brothers and his sister had wings shorter than him but they started flying. But the young seagull somehow thought that his wings would not support him. For this, he was scolded by his parents, who gave a threat to him and he was left alone in the ledge.

Q12: How did the young seagull learn to float on the sea?
Ans: After flying for some time, the young seagull came near the sea. He was flying straight over it. He saw a vast green sea beneath him, with little ridges moving over it. His brothers and sister had landed on the sea and they were calling in a shrill voice and beckoning to him. He dropped his legs to stand on the green sea. His legs sank into the water. He screamed with fright and attempted to rise again, flapping his wings.
But he was tired and weak with hunger. He was exhausted due to flying for so long. His feet sank into the green sea, and then his belly touched it and he sank no farther. He was floating on it, and around him his family was screaming, praising him and offering him food from their beaks. This is how he learnt to float on the sea.

Q13: How do you find the seagulls in the beginning and at the end of the lesson?
Ans: In the beginning we find the young seagull too frightened and terrified to fly. He had bigger wings as compared to his two brothers and sister. But still he was afraid even to attempt flying. When they flew away he could gather courage to thrust himself forcibly in space, which made him scared and desperate.
When he was starving for a day, his mother came across to him with a piece of fish in her beak. When she reached near him, she stopped and, maddened by hunger, he dived at the fish. But his mother had swooped upward. He found his wings spread and was more confident now. In the end we see him flying till he was tired and dropped himself on the surface of the sea.

Q14: What methods were used by the seagull’s family to help him overcome his fear of flying?
Ans: The young seagull was scared of flying. His brothers and sister had started flying but he could not muster courage to do so. His parents scolded him shrilly and threatened to let him starve on the ledge unless he flew away. When his family left him, he felt the pangs of hunger. Next day, when he saw his mother with a piece of fish in her beak, he begged her for food. She flew across to him, but halted when the piece of fish in her beak was just within reach of the young seagull. The young seagull dived at the fish, but now her mother swooped upwards. Gradually his fear of flying was over and he enjoyed it now.

Q15: The young seagull was trying to find some means of reaching his parents without having to fly. Was he successful in doing so?
Ans: After being left alone by his family, the young seagull was hungry. So he wanted to join his family on the plateau. But he could not do so unless he tried to fly. As he was afraid of flying he was trying to find some other means to reach them. But on each side of him the ledge ended in a steep fall in a vertical cliff, with the sea below.
Moreover, between him and his parents there was a deep and wide crack in the earth. He could reach them without flying if he could only move towards north along the steep rock. There was no ledge and he could not fly. And above him he could see nothing. The vertical cliff was very steep, and the top of it was perhaps farther away than the sea beneath him. So he was not able to reach them without flying.

Q16: Do you think hunger was a good motivation for the young seagull in his first flight? Comment.
Ans: Yes, I do think that hunger played a vital role in the young seagull’s attempt to start flying. He was left alone on the ledge by his family because he would not try to fly with them. His parents scolded him in a shrill voice and threatened him of starvation, but he still was afraid to fly. Then they left him alone.
He was so hungry that he had to live on whatever he could find there. When he saw his mother with a piece of fish in her beak, he begged her for food. Then he uttered a joyful scream when he saw his mother flying across to him with a piece of fish in her beak. But she stopped when she came opposite to him. When the young seagull realised that she wouldn’t come nearer, and “maddened by hunger, he dived at the fish. This was his first attempt to fly. Gradually when his hesitation and fear were removed, he started flying which he enjoyed very much.

Q17: “Then he completely forgot that he had not always been able to fly.” Comment on the young seagull’s first flight in light of this statement.
OR
The ‘fight or flight response’, that is, to stay and face a situation or run from it- is an automatic reaction to an event perceived as stressful or harmful. How would you evaluate the young gull’s response on finding himself off the ledge? (CBSE QUESTION BANK)
Ans: The young seagull was suffering from the pangs of hunger after his family left him. Next day when he saw them on the plateau, he tried to draw their attention. Then his mother flew across to him with a piece of fish in her beak. But she stopped opposite him with her motionless wings. He could no longer tolerate the hunger and “maddened by hunger, he dived at the fish though terrified, he felt his wings spread outwards.
He could feel the tips of his wings cutting through the air. Now he was soaring gradually downwards and outwards. He was no more afraid of flying now. He flapped his wings once and he soared upwards. He screamed to encourage himself and share his happiness. He forgot that previously he was not able to fly.

Q18: Fear and lack of confidence stop one from learning new things. Do you agree? How did these two traits of the young seagull make him cowardly? How did he overcome these shortcomings?
Ans: Yes, it is true that fear and lack of confidence stop one from learning new things as in the story, the young seagull lacked the value of courage and confidence in his character. He was too scared of flying.
His family tried hard to make him fly but he refused to do so because of his fear of sinking in the seawater. They even scolded him for his cowardice. They tried to tempt him with food but he was not willing to learn flying. Once he dived, his fear disappeared and he enjoyed his first fight. It is a fact that unless we try something and overcome our fear, we cannot learn anything. Confidence and motivation are the two most important traits that make any learning possible.

Q19: “Hunger made the young seagull mad and gave him success.” How can you explain it and justify the story?
OR
Hunger is a great motivational force. It is true that a person can take any extreme step for food. How far do you agree?
Ans: It is a fact that hunger makes us mad and every person works for food. It is only hunger that encourages and forces us to do work. If it is not in our life, all the boundation of work will automatically be finished. Every person works for food and to satisfy his hunger. No one in this universe can remain hungry. This hunger makes us work day and night. It can change the mentality of any human being as well as any creature.
We find that the young seagull did not gather courage to fly, when he saw fish in the mouth of his mother, he gathered courage and flew over the ledge. He could not control himself at the sight of the food and jumped at the fish. He fell from the ledge and tried to flap his wings. Thus he found himself flying into the air.

Q20: “Mother is the first teacher.” Do you agree with this statement? Explain with reference to the young seagull.
Ans: Yes, it is true that mother is the first teacher. It is a well known point for all. A baby takes birth and first of all sees the mother’s face. It is the mother who gives him a new life by feeding him. The mother helps the baby to walk him first. The mother introduces him to this world, gives him knowledge of relations. She teaches him how to speak. She gives him power and strength to face the difficulties of life.
The same thing we find in this story, when no one could encourage the young seagull to fly, his mother thought out a plan and took a piece of fish near him, but she did not go nearer and her plan worked.