NCERT Solutions for Class 8th: Ch 5 The Summit Within Honeydew English
H.P.S. Ahluwalia
Page No: 80
1. Standing on Everest, the writer was
(i) overjoyed.
(ii) very sad.
(iii) jubilant and sad.
Choose the right item.
► (iii) He was jubilant because of reaching the highest peak in the world and was sad because he had had to go down to reach the real world.
► (iii) He was jubilant because of reaching the highest peak in the world and was sad because he had had to go down to reach the real world.
2. The emotion that gripped him was one of
(i) victory over hurdles.
(ii) humility and a sense of smallness.
(iii) greatness and self importance.
(iv) joy of discovery.
Choose the right item.
► (ii)
Anybody can get overawed by the sheer scale of nature’s creation and feels so
small in front of it.
3. “The summit of the mind” refers to
(i) great intellectual achievements.
(ii) the process of maturing mentally and spiritually.
(iii) overcoming personal ambition for common welfare.
(iv) living in the world of thought and imagination.
(v) the triumph of mind over worldly pleasures for a noble
cause.
(vi) a fuller knowledge of oneself.
Mark the item(s) not relevant.
► (i), (iii), (iv) and (v) are not relevant.
Page No: 81
Working with Text
1. Answer the following questions.
(i) What are the three qualities that played a major role in
the author’s climb?
Answer
Endurance, persistence and will power are the three
qualities that played a major role in the author’s climb.
(ii) Why is adventure, which is risky, also pleasurable?
Answer
Adventure is risky, but pleasurable. Though it presents
great difficulties, man takes delight in overcoming such hurdles. Everest
is the highest, the mightiest, and many attempts have been made to climb
it. According to the author, when the summit is climbed, there is the
feeling of “exhilaration, the joy of having done something, the sense of a
battle fought and won”. There is a feeling of victory and of happiness.
The physical conquest of a mountain is only one part of the
achievement. It is followed by a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction.
The experience is not merely physical, but it is emotional and spiritual
also.
(iii) What was it about Mount Everest that the author found
irresistible?
Answer
Everest is one of the highest and mightiest mountains drew
him towards itself by its beauty, aloofness, ruggedness and the difficulties
encountered on the way. Climbing it, would take the last ounce of ones energy
as it is a brutal struggle with rock and ice. Once taken up, it cannot be given
up half way even when ones life is at stake. The passage back is as difficult
as the passage onwards. Once the summit is climbed however there is the feeling
of exhilaration, the joy of having done something, the sense of a battle fought
and won, a feeling of victory and of happiness. All these were reasons why he
found it irresistible.
(iv) One does not do it (climb a high peak) for fame alone.
What does one do it for, really?
Answer
Climbing a peak means endurance, persistence and will power.
The demonstration of these physical qualities is exhilarating for a climber.
The experience, apart from being merely physical, is also emotional and spiritual.
It surely presents great difficulties. However, man takes delight
in overcoming obstacles. Therefore, it is not for fame alone that one
climbs a mountain. It is actually for the joy of having done something, the
sense of a battle fought and won, a feeling of victory and of happiness. There
is a sense of fulfillment, the satisfaction of a deep urge to rise above ones
surroundings, the eternal love for adventure in man.
(v) “He becomes conscious in a special manner of his own
smallness in this large universe.” This awareness defines an emotion mentioned
in the first paragraph. Which is the emotion?
Answer
"He becomes conscious in a special manner of his own
smallness in this large universe." This awareness defines the emotion of
humility.
(vi) What were the “symbols of reverence” left by members of
the team on Everest?
Answer
On Everest, a picture of Guru Nanak was left by the author;
a picture of Goddess Durga was left by Rawat; a relic of the Buddha was
left by Phu Dorji. Apart from these ‘symbols of reverence’ there was also
the cross that had been buried by Edmund Hillary.
(vii) What, according to the writer, did his experience as
an Everester teach him?
Answer
According to the writer, his experience as an Everester
provided him with the inspiration to face life’s ordeals determinedly. It
taught him that the conquest of the internal summit is as worthwhile as
climbing the mountain. He also concluded that perhaps the internal summits
are higher than Everest.
2. Write a sentence against each of the following
statements. Your sentence should explain the statement. You can pick out
sentences from the text and rewrite them. The first one has been done for you.
(i) The experience changes you completely. One who has
been to the mountains is never the same again.
(ii) Man takes delight in overcoming obstacles.
____________________________
(iii) Mountains are nature at its best.
_________________________________________
(iv) The going was difficult but the after-effects were
satisfying. ______________________
(v) The physical conquest of a mountain is really a
spiritual experience. _____________________
Answer
(ii) Man takes delight in overcoming obstacles. The
demonstration of endurance, persistence and will power in overcoming great
difficulties is delightful.
(iii) Mountains are nature at its best. The beauty and
majesty of the mountains pose a great challenge for a climber and they are a
means of communion with God.
(iv) The going was difficult but the after-effects
were satisfying. Climbing the mountains was difficult, but reaching the
summit gives one a feeling of satisfaction and deep fulfillment.
(v) The physical conquest of a mountain is really a
spiritual experience. The physical act of climbing to the summit of a
mountain is similar to the act of climbing the mountain within yourselves which
is a spiritual and deeply satisfying experience and either climb will certainly
change you giving you a sense of being in communion with God.
Page No: 82
Working with Language
Fill in the blanks in the following dialogues choosing
suitable phrases from those given in the box.
at hand at once at all
at a low ebb at first sight
(i) Teacher: You were away from school without permission.
Go to the principal ________________ and submit your explanation.
Pupil: Yes, Madam. But would you help me write it first?
(ii) Arun: Are you unwell?
Ila: No, not ________________ Why do you ask?
Arun: If you were unwell, I would send you to my uncle. He
is a doctor.
(iii) Mary: Almost every Indian film has an episode of love
________________.
David: Is that what makes them so popular in foreign
countries?
(iv) Asif: You look depressed. Why are your spirits
________________ today?
(Use such in the phrase)
Ashok: I have to write ten sentences using words that I
never heard before.
(v) Shieba: Your big moment is close ________________.
Jyoti: How should I welcome it?
Shieba: Get up and receive the trophy.
Answer
(i) Teacher: You were away from school without permission.
Go to the principal at once and submit your explanation.
Pupil: Yes, Madam. But would you help me write it first?
(ii) Arun: Are you unwell?
Ila: No, not at all. Why do you ask?
Arun: If you were unwell, I would send you to my uncle. He
is a doctor.
(iii) Mary: Almost every Indian film has an episode of love
at first sight.
David: Is that what makes them so popular in foreign
countries?
(iv) Asif: You look depressed. Why are your spirits at such
a low ebb today? (Use such in the phrase)
Ashok: I have to write ten sentences using words that I
never heard before.
(v) Shieba: Your big moment is close at hand.
Jyoti: How should I welcome it?
Shieba:
Get up and receive the trophy.Study Material of Summit Within
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