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NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Biology Chapter 12 Biotechnology and Its Applications

These Solutions are part of NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Biology. Here we have given NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Biology Chapter 12 Biotechnology and Its Applications

Question 1.
Crystals of Bt toxin produced by some bacteria do not kill the bacteria themselves because
(a) bacteria are resistant to the toxin
(b) toxin is immature
(c) toxin is inactive
(d) bacteria encloses toxin in a special sac.
Solution:
(c) Toxin is inactive: In bacteria, the toxin is present in an inactive form called prototoxin. This gets converted into the active form when it enters the salivary gland of insects having an alkaline medium.

Question 2.
What are transgenic bacteria? Illustrate using any one example.
Solution:
Transgenic bacteria are one that carries a transgene or a foreign gene of interest introduced using recombinant DNA technology. e. g., bacteria carrying the genes for human insulin.

In 1983, Eli Lilly an American company prepared two DNA sequences corresponding to A and B, chains of human insulin and introduced them in plasmids of E. coli to produce insulin chains. Chains A and B were produced separately, extracted and combined by creating disulfide bonds to form human insulin.

Question 3.
Compare and contrast the advantages and disadvantages of the production of genetically modified crops.
Solution:
Advantages of genetically modified crops or transgenic crops are as follows :

• They are resistant to pests, herbicides and diseases.
• They help to reduce post-harvest losses.
• They enhance the nutritional value of food, e.g., a transgenic variety of rice (golden rice) is rich in vitamin A content.
• Some transgenic plants, e.g., poplar trees are used to clean up heavy metal pollution from contaminated soil.
• They are efficient in mineral usage and thus prevent early exhaustion of fertility of the soil.

Transgenic crops have several disadvantages also which are mentioned below:

• Bt toxins expressed in pollen grains of transgenic crops are harmful for useful varieties of insects, e.g., honey bees and butterflies.
• The foods produced by transgenic crops might cause toxicity and might result in allergies.
• The bacteria present in human alimentary canal can become resistant to concerned antibiotic by taking up antibiotic resistance gene present in genetically modified food and become difficult to manage.

Question 4.
What are Cry proteins? Name an organism that produces it. How has man exploited this protein to his benefit?
Solution:
Cry proteins are a group of toxic protein which are highly poisonous to deficient types of insects. It is produced by a soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis. The genes controlling their formation are called cry genes eg:- Cry I Ab, Cry I Ac, Cry II Ab, The bacterium produces a protein in the crystal form of protoxin. Two cry genes have been incorporated in cotton (Bt cotton) while one has been introduced in corn (Bt corn) As a result Bt Cotton was disease resistant to bollworm and Bt corn was resistant to corn borer.

Question 5.
What is gene therapy? Illustrate using the example of adenosine deaminase (ADA) deficiency.
Solution:
Gene therapy is the technique of genetic engineering used to replace a faulty gene with a normal, healthy functional gene. The first clinical gene therapy was given in 1990 to a 4 years old girl with adenosine deaminase deficiency (ADA deficiency). This enzyme is very important for the immune system to function. Severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) is caused due to a defect in the gene for the enzyme adenosine deaminase. SCID patient lacks functional T-lymphocytes and, therefore, fails to fight the infecting pathogens.

To perform gene therapy, lymphocytes are extracted from the patient’s bone marrow and a normal functional copy of human gene coding for ADA is introduced into these lymphocytes with the help of a retroviral vector. The cells so treated are reintroduced into the patient’s bone marrow. The lymphocytes produced by these cells contain functional ADA genes which reactivate the victim’s immune system. But, as these lymphocytes do not divide and are short-lived, so periodic infusion of genetically engineered lymphocytes is required. This problem can be overcome if stem cells are modified at an early embryonic stage.

Question 6.
Diagrammatically represent the experimental steps in cloning and expressing a human gene (say the gene for growth hormone) into a bacterium like E.coli?
Solution:
The given diagram represents the experimental steps in cloning and expressing a human gene for growth hormone into a bacterium E. coli.

Question 7.
Can you suggest a method to remove oil (hydrocarbon) from seeds based on your understanding of rDNA technology and the chemistry of oil?
Solution:
rDNA technology is a technique of genetic engineering that involves combining DNA from two different sources to produce recombined or recombinant DNA (rDNA). Oils are composed of glycerol and fatty acids. Thus, to produce oil-free seeds genes coding for glycerol or fatty acids should be identified and nucleotide sequences complementary to the sequence of these genes should be inserted adjacent to these genes in the early cells of the endosperm. During transcription, these complementary sequences will produce anti-sense RNAs to the RNAs produced by glycerol or fatty acids gene and will silence these genes. As a result, oil-free seeds will be produced.

Since glycerol is a common component of all the oils whereas various fatty acids combine with glycerol to form oils, thus it will be easier if we silence the gene for glycerol synthesis.

Question 8.
Find out from the internet what is golden rice.
Solution:
Golden rice is a GM rice with increased vitamin A content.

Question 9.
Does our blood have proteases and nucleases?
Solution:
Proteases occur naturally in all organisms. These enzymes are involved in a multitude of physiological reactions from simple digestion of food proteins to highly-regulated cascades (e.g., the blood-clotting cascade, the complement system, apoptotic pathways, and the invertebrate prophenoloxidase activating cascade). Proteases present in blood serum (thrombin, plasmin, Hageman factor, etc.) play important role in blood clotting, as well as in lysis of the clots, and the action of the immune system. Other proteases are present in leukocytes (elastase, cathepsin G) and play several different roles in metabolic control. Nucleases, such as deoxyribonucleases and ribonucleases are found in the blood which helps in the degradation of exogenous deoxyribonucleic acid and ribonucleic acid circulating in the blood.

Question 10.
Consult the internet and find out how to make orally active protein pharmaceuticals. What is the major problem to be encountered?
Solution:
The problem is stomach enzymes and acids. Once you orally ingest a protein, the proteases in your stomach juices (trypsin, chymotrypsin, pepsin) will cleave the holy-hell out of your therapeutic protein and the acids will denature whatever’s left beyond all recognition. This is why proteins like insulin have to be injected.

We hope the NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Biology Chapter 12 Biotechnology and Its Applications help you. If you have any query regarding NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Biology Chapter 12 Biotechnology and Its Applications, drop a comment below and we will get back to you at the earliest.

Here we are providing NCERT Solutions for Class 12 English Flamingo Chapter 7 The Interview. Students can get Class 12 English The Interview NCERT Solutions, Questions and Answers designed by subject expert teachers.

The Interview NCERT Solutions for Class 12 English Flamingo Chapter 7

The Interview NCERT Text Book Questions and Answers

The Interview Think as you read 

Question 1.
What are some of the positive views on interviews?
Answer:
The positive views on interviews are that it is a medium of communication and a source of truth and information. Some even look at it as an art. These days we know about the celebrities and others through their interviews.

Question 2.
Why do most celebrity writers despise being interviewed?
Answer:
Most celebrity writers despise being interviewed because they look at interviews as an unwarranted intrusion into their lives. They feel that it diminishes them. They feel that they are wounded by interviews and lose a part of themselves. They consider interviews immoral and a crime, and an unwanted and unwelcome interruption in their personal life.

Question 3.
What is the belief in some primitive cultures about being photographed?
Answer:
Some primitive cultures consider taking a photographic portrait is like stealing the persons’s soul and diminishing him.

Question 4.
What do you understand by the expression ‘thumbprints on his windpipe’?
Answer:
Saul Bellow once described interviews as being like ‘thumbprints on his windpipe’. It means he treated interviews as a painful experience, as something that caught him by his windpipe, squeezed him and left indelible thumbprints on that. It also means that when the interviewer forces personal details from his interviewee, it becomes undesirable and cruel.

Question 5.
Who, in today’s world, is our chief source of information about personalities?
Answer:
The interviewer is the chief source of information in today’s world. Our most vivid impressions of our contemporaries are based on communication that comes from them. Thus, interviewers hold a position of power and influence.

The Interview Understanding the text

Question 1.
Do you think Umberto Eco likes being interviewed? Give reasons for your opinion.
Answer:
Umberto Eco does not think highly of interviewers who he thinks are a puzzled bunch of people. He has reasons for thinking so as they have often interpreted him as a novelist and clubbed him with Pen Clubs and writers, while he considers himself an academic scholar who attends academic conferences and writes novels on Sundays.

Question 2.
How does Eco find the time to write so much?
Answer:
Eco humorously states that there are a lot of empty spaces in his life. He calls them ‘interstices’. There are moments when one is waiting for the other. In that empty space, Eco laughingly states that he writes an article. Then he states that he is a professor who writes novels on Sundays.

Question 3.
What was distinctive about Eco’s academic writing style?
Answer:
Umberto’s writings have an ethical and philosophical element underlying them. His non-fictional writing work has a certain playful and personal quality about it. Even his writings for children deal with non-violence and peace. This style of writing makes reading his novels and essays interesting and being like the reading of most academic writings. His works are marked by an informal and narrative aspect.

Question 4.
Did Umberto Eco consider himself a novelist first or an academic scholar?
Answer:
Umberto identified himself with the academic community, a professor who attended academic conferences rather than meetings of Pen Clubs. In fact, he was quite unhappy that the people referred to him as a novelist.

Question 5.
What is the reason for the huge success of the novel, The Name of the Rose?
Answer:
The success of The Name of the Rose, though a mystery to the author himself, could possibly be because it offered a difficult reading experience to the kind of readers who do not want easy reading experiences and those who look at novels as a machine for generating interpretations. For the same reason, the sale of his novel was underestimated by his American publishers, while the readers actually enjoyed the difficult reading experience that was offered bv Umberto Eco by raising questions about truth and the order of the worid.

The Interview Extra Questions and Answers

The Interview Short Answer Questions

Question 1.
Why did Lewis Carroll have a horror of the interviewer?
Answer:
Lewis Carroll was said to have had a just horror of the interviewer. It was his horror of being lionized which made him thus repel would-be acquaintances, interviewers, and those seeking his autographs. So, he never consented to be interviewed.

Question 2.
How did Rudyard Kipling look at interviews?
Answer:
Rudyard Kipling condemned interviews. His wife writes in her diary that Rudyard Kipling told the reporters that he called being interviewed as immoral and a crime like an offence against any person. It merited punishment. It was cowardly and vile.

Question 3.
How were Rudyard Kipling and H.G. Wells critical of interviews yet they indulged in interviewing others or being themselves interviewed?
Answer:
Rudyard Kipling criticized interviews yet he interviewed Mark Twain. H.G. Wells referred to an interview in 1894 as an ordeal. Yet he was a fairly frequent interviewee. He also interviewed Joseph Stalin forty years later.

Question 4.
How are interviews, despite their drawbacks, useful?
Answer:
Despite their drawbacks, interviews are a supremely serviceable medium of communication. We get ‘ our most vivid impressions of our contemporaries through interviews. Denis Brain writes that almost everything of moment reaches us through interviews.

Question 5.
What, according to Umberto Eco, is the one thing he does through his various pieces of writing?
Answer:
According to Eco, he is always pursuing his ethical, philosophical interests which are non-violence and peace, through his academic work, his novels and even his books for children. He uses his spare moments constructively.

Question 6.
Umberto Eco tells Mukund that he has a secret. What is that?
Answer:
Umberto Eco tells Mukund that he has a secret to reveal. He tells him that there are empty spaces in the universe, in all the atoms. If they are removed, the universe will shrink to the size of a fist. He calls these empty spaces interstices and he writes in these interstices.

Question 7.
How, according to one of Eco’s professors in Italy, do scholars do in their research? How is Eco’s approach different?
Answer:
According to one of Eco’s professors in Italy, scholars made a lot of false hypotheses. They correct them and at the end they put the conclusion. But Eco told the story of his research and included his trials and errors. His professor allowed the publication of Eco’s dissertation as a book.

Question 8.
What did Umberto Eco learn at the age of 22 that he pursued in his novels?
Answer:
At the age of 22, Umberto Eco understood that scholarly books should be written the way he had done, that is, they should be written by telling the story of the research. He means to say that they should have the narrative technique. That’s why he started writing novels so late—at the age of 50.

Question 9.
How did Eco start writing novels?
Answer:
Eco states that he started writing novels by accident. One day, he had nothing to do, so he started writing. He felt that novels probably satisfied his taste for narration and he produced five novels, including the famous The Name of the Rose.

Question 10.
Did Umberto Eco consider himself a novelist first or an academic scholar? Discuss briefly.
Answer:
Umberto Eco considered himself an academic scholar, a university professor who wrote novels on Sundays. If somebody said that he was a novelist, that bothered him. He participated in academic conferences and not the meetings of Pen Clubs and writers. He identified himself with academic community.

Question 11.
What makes Eco’s The Name of the Rose a very serious novel?
Answer:
The Name of the Rose is a very serious novel. It is a detective story at one level but it also delves into metaphysics, theology and medieval history. Due to these reasons it was greatly received by the public.

Question 12.
What, according to Eco, puzzles journalists and publishers?
Answer:
According to Umberto Eco, journalists and publishers are puzzled when something unexpected happens. They believe that people like trash and do not like difficult reading experiences. But Eco’s novel The Name of the Rose, a serious work, sold between 10 and 15 million copies. This puzzled them.

Question 13.
What is the reason for the huge success of the novel, The Name of the Rose?
Answer:
The reason for the huge success of the novel, according to Eco, is a mystery. Nobody can predict it. He states that if he had written the novel ten years earlier or ten years later, it wouldn’t have been the same. So, the time component, its narrative technique, its aspects of metaphysics, theology and medieval history, made it a grand success.

Question 14.
Do you think Umberto Eco likes being interviewed? Give reasons for your opinion.
Answer:
I think Eco likes being interviewed. His answers to Mukund’s questions are straightforward, precise and to the point. They are never wavering. He even mentions his preferences about TV shows. While answering he gets humorous and laughs. Nowhere does he say anything that may give us this sort of glimpse that he does not like being interviewed.

Question 15.
Is Umberto’s informal style consciously adopted or natural?
Answer:
Umberto’s doctoral thesis was a story of his research and a sum of his experience, his trials and errors. The thesis was appreciated and published as a book. Umberto then developed on his taste for narration and this narrative aspect lends an informal touch to all his essays and novels. It makes his style alive and reading his works is not dry and boring like the reading of other academic works.

Question 16.
Why did Umberto take to writing novels?
Answer:
Umberto took to writing novels to satisfy his taste for narration. He did not have even a single novel to his credit, till the age of 50. One day having nothing to do, he started writing a novel. Moreover, he thought that novels have more readership and he could reach a larger audience.

Question 17.
What made Roiand Barthes frustrated? What did he want to do?
Answer:
Eco s friend Roland Barthes was an essayist. He was not satisfied fully with his scholarly essays. He yearned to do some creative writing. He remained frustrated that he was as essayist and not novelist. But, unfortunately he died before he could do so.

Question 18.
How did Umberto Eco become spectacularly famous?
Answer:
Umberto Eco had earned a good reputation in the field of semiotics or the study of signs. His scholarly works were staggeringly large and wide ranging. But his spectacular fame came to him with his novel The Name of the Rose which stormed the world and sold more than 10 million copies.

Question 19.
What sort of TV programmes does Eco watch after dinner and why?
Answer:
After dinner, Eco watches light television programmes like Miami Vice and Emergency Room. These programmes do not tax his mind and he feels relaxed after a hard, day’s work. But he cannot watch such programmes the whole day.

Question 20.
Bring out Umberto Eco’s humility and modesty as evident in the chapter.
Answer:
Umberto Eco takes success in his stride and talks about his achievements in all modesty. He very humbly gives credit to the people’s capability of appreciating difficult reading experiences. Regarding doing so many things, he tells that it a fallicious impression, but at the end of the day, he is doing the same thing.

The Interview Long Questions and Answers

Question 1.
The Interview as a communication genre is here to stay. Discuss with reference to the interview with Umberto Eco.
Answer:
The interview today is a communication genre that has come to stay. Its detractors—mostly celebrities— despise it as an intrusion into their lives. However, a good interview can be a source of truth, it is an excellent medium of communication and in the modern world our most vivid impressions of contemporaries are through interviews. It is through the interview that we learn about Eco’s diverse writings, his interest in the philosophy of non-violence and peace and his ability to put every spare moment to constructive use. At the interviewer’s prompting, he tells us why he writes scholarly works in an informal style and how he started writing novels. We realise that he is an academician at heart. He honestly talks of the success of his book as a mystery saying that it might •not have sold so well in another time.

Question 2.
How did Umberto Eco assess his style of writing in The Name of the Rose?
Answer:
Umberto Eco considered himself to be an academician who was happy writing novels on Sundays. Though he did not feel he was a novelist, he felt the novel fulfilled his desire for narration. In fact, he spoke of himself as a university professor who wrote novels on Sundays. The novel, according to him, enabled him to reach a larger audience. The Name of the Rose was a very serious novel. It was a detective story that delved into metaphysics, theology and medieval history’. It enjoyed a huge audience as, according to him, people did enjoy difficult reading experiences. Like him. many did not like easy experiences all the time. The novel deals with a period of medieval history and the publisher did not expect to sell so well in a state where nobody had studied Latin or seen a cathedral. He felt the timing was crucial. Perhaps its popularity would have been less, had it been written earlier or later. ‘

Question 3.
How do celebrity writers despise being interviewed as given in ‘The Interview’?
Answer:
Since its invention a little over 130 years ago, the interview has become commonplace journalism. Over the years, opinions about its functions, methods and merits vary considerably. Some say it is a source of truth and in practice, an art. Others despise it being an unwarranted intrusion into their lives. They feel it diminishes them. They equate it to taking a photographic portrait of somebody which in some primitive cultures mean ‘stealing the person’s soul.’ Some people feel wounded by interviews and lose part of themselves. They call it immoral, a crime and an assault. To some it is cowardly and vile or an ordeal.

Question 4.
How does Eco explain that he is convinced he is always doing the same thing?
Answer:
Umberto Eco explains to Mukund Padmanabhan in an interview that all the people have a lot of empty spaces. These he call ‘interstices’. He explains them through an example. He says that one is to come to him and is in an elevator and he is waiting for him. While waiting for the guest’s elevator to appear before him. he has already written an article. It means he writes in snatches of time. However, his creative ideas flow in his mind every time even when he is hosting his guest. Though he relaxes on Sundays, yet is very much busy to write novels. On other days he is busy with his academic work.

Question 5.
How does Mukund Padmanabhan comment on Eco’s academic writing style? What does Eco say about it?
Answer:
Mukund Padmanabhan states that Eco’s non-fictional writing, that is, his scholarly work has a certain playful and personal quality about it. It is a marked departure from a regular style. That regular style is invariably depersonalised and often dry and boring. To a question if he consciously adopted
an informal style, he cited the comments of one of the professors who examined and evaluated his first doctoral dissertation. The professor said that scholars learned a lot of a certain subject, then they made a lot of false hypotheses, then they corrected and put conclusions at the end. But Eco told the story of his research, including his trials and errors. At the age of 22, Eco understood that scholarly books should be written by telling the story of the research. His essays, therefore, have a narrative aspect. That is why, he wrote novels to satisfy his taste for narrative.

Question 6.
How does Mukund Padmanabhan impress you as an interviewer? Do you consider his interview with Umberto Eco a success?
Answer:
Mukund Padmanabhan’s interview with Umberto Eco tells about his capabilities as a successful interviewer. He does not encroach upon his privacy or embarrass him with personal questions. He does not come in-between the celebrity and the readers. His questions are well worded. His questions • draw out of him what his fans would like to know. The questions asked by Mukund cover all the aspects of his works and personality. Eco gives elaborated answers to all his questions. With every question, the interviewer withdraws to the background leaving the interviewee in the limelight. The whole interview does not appear to be an ordeal for the interviewee. In short it is crisp at the same time informal.

Question 7.
What are the opinions of some of the celebrities on interviews?
Answer:
Celebrities have often seen themselves as victims of interviews. In V.S. Naipaul’s opinion, interviews have left people wounded and part of them stolen. Lewis Carroll was in horror of the interviewer and he never consented to be interviewed. He often silenced all those who sought to interview him or ask for his autographs. Rudyard Kipling too held a very critical attitude towards interviews and disapproved of them after he was left almost wrecked by two reporters from Boston. According to his wife, since then he found interviews were vile, immoral and a crime. To H.G. Wells, being interviewed was an ordeal, while to Saul Bellow, interviews were like thumbprints on his windpipe, an extortion of personal details by an overbearing interviewer. They all seemed to be terrified of interviews.

Question 8.
How does the interview with Umberto Eco prove that the interview is the most commendable tool to elicit information about the interviewee?
Answer:
Mukund Padmanabhan from ‘The Hindu’ interviews Umberto Eco and proves that interview is the most commendable tool to elicit information about the interviewee.

Through his interview he reveals that Eco is a prolific writer and yet a man who is most modest about his achievements. He very humbly spells the secret of his varied and staggeringly voluminous works produced by him. When Mukund asks him about David Lodge’s remark that how one man can do all the things that Eco does’, Eco very modestly says it is a fallacious impression, in fact he has always been doing the same thing by pursuing the same philosophical ideas. He views himself as an academic, rather than a novelist. He admits that he has started writing novels by accident and writes novels on Sundays.

NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Biology Chapter 16 Environmental Issues

These Solutions are part of NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Biology. Here we have given NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Biology Chapter 16 Environmental Issues

Question 1.
What are the various constituents of domestic sewage ? Discuss the effects of sewage discharge on a river.
Solution:
The domestic sewage contains every-thing that goes down the drain into the sewer of the house. The various constituents of domestic sewage are suspended solids, colloidal particles, pathogenic contaminants and dissolved materials. Suspended solids are sand and silt. Colloidal particles include clay, faecal matter, fine fibres of paper and cloth. Pathogenic contaminants are eggs of coliforms and enterococci. Dissolved materials includes inorganic nutrients such as nitrates, phosphates, ammonia, sodium and calcium. Effects of sewage discharge on a river :

• Water becomes unfit for bathing and drinking and also for domestic or industrial use as it becomes colored, turbid with a lot of particulate matter floating on water.
• The domestic sewage adds nitrates and phosphates into the river. These nitrates and phosphates encourage a thick bloom of blue green algae, which depletes the oxygen content of the water during night. This suffocates the fish and other aquatic life. Consequently river become highly polluted.

Question 2.
List all the wastes that you generate, at home, school, or during your trips to other places. Could you very easily reduce the generation of these wastes? Which would be difficult or rather impossible to reduce?
Solution:
Wastes generated at home include plastic bags, paper napkins, toiletries, kitchen wastes (such as peelings of vegetables and fruits, tea leaves), domestic sewage, glass, etc.

Wastes generated at school include waste paper, plastics, vegetable and fruit peels, food wrapping, sewage, etc. Wastes generated at trips or picnics include plastic, paper, vegetable and fruit peels, disposable cups, plates, spoons etc.

Yes, wastes can be easily reduced by the judicious use of the above materials. Wastage of paper can be minimized by writing on both sides of the paper and by using recycled paper.

Plastic and glass waste can also be reduced by recycling and re-using. Also, substituting plastic bags with biodegradable jute bags can reduce wastes generated at home, school or during trips. Domestic sewage can be reduced by optimizing the use of water while bathing, cooking, and other household activities.

Non-biodegradable wastes such as plastic, metal, broken glass, etc. are difficult to decompose because microorganisms do not have the ability to decompose them.

Question 3.
Discuss the causes and effects of global warming. What measures need to be taken to control global warming?
Solution:

• Global warming is a rise in the mean temperature of the lower atmosphere and the earth’s surface. Causes – increase in the quantity of radioactively active greenhouse gases CO₂, CH₄, N₂O, CFCs. They allow heat waves to reach the surface and prevent their escape.
• They are produced by combustion of fossil fuels, biomass [CO₂]; burning of nitrogen-rich fuels [N₂O]; paddy fields, fermentation in cattle and wetlands [CH₄]; refrigerators, aerosols, drying, cleaning [CFCs].
• Effects: Heating of earth surface [mean temperature is increased] Climatic changes e.g.: El Nino effect.
• Increased melting of polar ice caps and Himalayan snowcaps. Increased sea levels and coastal areas will submerge.
• Measures – Decreased use of fossil fuels, improve the efficiency of energy usage, Reduce deforestation, plant trees Control of man-made sources of greenhouse gases like vehicles, aerosol sprays.

Question 4.
Match the items given in Column A and B
column A                                       Column B
(a) Catalytic converter               (i) Particulate matter
(b) Electrostatic precipitator    (ii) Carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides
(c) Earmuffs                               (iii) High noise level
(d) Landfills                               (iv) Solid wastes
Solution:
(a) – (ii); (b) – (i); (c) – (iii); (d) – (iv).

Question 5.
Write critical notes on the following :
(a) Eutrophication
(b) Biological magnification
(c) Groundwater depletion and ways for its replenishment
Solution:
(a) Eutrophication: The natural aging process of lakes by nutrient enrichment of their water. In young lake water is cold and clear and supports only little life. With time, streams introduce nutrients into lake which increases lakes’ fertility and encourages aquatic growth. Over centuries silts and organic debris pile up, and lake becomes shallow and warmer. It supports plants and later gets converted into land. Lakes span depends on the climate, size of lake.

(b) Biological magnification: Industrial wastes released into water contain toxic substances, such as arsenic, cadmium, lead, zinc, copper, mercury, and cyanides, besides some salts, acids, and alkalies. All these materials can prove harmful for our health.

They may reach the human body directly with contaminated food or indirectly by way of plants and other animals. The concentration of the toxic materials increases at each trophic level of a food chain. This is called biological magnification. River water may have a very low concentration of DDT, but the carnivorous fish in that river may contain a high concentration of DDT and become unfit for eating by man. Mercury discharged into rivers and lakes is changed by bacteria to the neurotoxic form called methyl mercury. The latter is highly poisonous and may be directly absorbed by fish.

(c) Groundwater depletion and ways for its replenishment: Groundwater depletion is defined as long-term water-level decline caused by sustained groundwater pumping. The volume of ground water in storage is decreasing in many areas of the world in response to pumping. Some of the negative effects of groundwater depletion include increased pumping costs, deterioration of water quality, reduction of water in streams and lakes.
Some ways for water replenishment are:

• Reduction in consumption: Sprinkler and subsurface irrigation techniques reduce the amount of water used in irrigation.
• Rain water harvesting: Rain water collected over roofs is allowed to pass into the ground through deep water pipes.

Question 6.
Why does the ozone hole form over Antarctica? How will enhanced ultraviolet radiation affect us?
Solution:
Ozone hole forms over Antarctica where no one lives and no pollution is present but not over Newyork, Bangalore etc., (polluted cities). It is because CFCs and ozone-depleting substances (ODS) released worldwide accumulates in the stratosphere and drifts towards, Antarctica in winters (July – August) when temperatures is -’85° C in Antarctica.

In winters polar ice clouds are formed over Antarctica. It provides a catalytic surface for (CFCs and other ODS to release CL and other free radicals that breakdown ozone layer forming an ozone hole during spring in presence of sunlight. In summer, the ozone hole disappears due to mixing of air worldwide.

Ozone holes allow UV radiations (UV_A & UV_B) to reach earth’s surface. Which was earlier reflected by the ozone layer. UV_B damages DNA, skin cells and causes mutations and skin cancers respectively. UV_B even causes corneal damage (Snow Blindness).

Question 7.
Discuss the role of women and communities in protection and conservation of forests.
Solution:
Forest Conservation and Management:
It is time to think deeply and act seriously in order to protect this vital natural resource. Some of the measures of conservation are

1. Social forestry programme: It was started in 1976 and involves the affor­estation on public and common lands for fuel, fodder, timber for agricul­tural equipment and fruits. These are mainly meant for rural people.
2. Agroforestry programme: It involves the multiple use of same land for agriculture, forestry and animal husbandary. Taungya System and Jhum are examples.
   • Taungya System: It involves growing agricultural crops between planted trees.
   • Jhum (Slash and burn agriculture): It involves felling and burning of forests, followed by the cultivation of crops for a few years. Later the cultivation is abandoned for the growth of forests. It is a traditional agroforestry system.
3. Urban forestry programme: It involves afforestation in urban land ar­eas e.g. along the roads, big parks, big compounds etc. with ornamental and fruit trees.
4. Commercial forestry: It involves planting of fast-growing trees on avail­able land to fulfill commercial demand.
5. Conservation forestry: It involves protection of degraded forest to allow recoupment of their flora and fauna.

Reforestation: It is the process of restoring a forest that once existed, but was removed at some point of time in the past. Reforestation may occur naturally in a deforested area. The above-said methods speed up the refor­estation programme.

Question 8.
What measures, as an individual, you would take to reduce environmental pollution?
Solution:
To reduce environmental pollution, we should change our habits and lifestyle so as to reduce the use of disposable materials. We should use preferably those items which can easily be recycled and also minimise the use of fossil fuels. We should also take measures to improve the quality of air by using CNG gases wherever possible instead of using diesel or petrol. We should also use the catalytic converter in our vehicles.

Question 9.
Discuss briefly the following:
(a) Radioactive wastes
(b) Defunct ships and e-wastes
(c) Municipal solid wastes
Solution:
a. Radioactive waste materials are released from thermonuclear explosions. Radioactive isotopes, such as radium-226, thorium- 232, potassium-40, uranium-235, carbon-14, etc. are spread all over the world and contaminate air, soil, water, vegetation and animals.

b. Irrepairble electronic goods and computers are called electronic wastes (e-waste).
Ships that are no longer in use or that are to be dismantled are called defunct ships. Asbestos, Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB) produced during dismantling defunct ship cause serious health hazards especially cancer.

c. Municipal solid wastes are wastes from homes, offices, stores, schools, hospitals, etc., that are collected and disposed of by the municipality.

Question 10.
What initiatives were taken for reducing vehicular air pollution in Delhi? Has air quality improved in Delhi?
Solution:
Under the direction of Supreme Court of India, the State Government of Delhi took the following measures to improve the quality of air:

• Switching over the entire fleet of public transport buses from diesel to CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) by the end of 2002.
• Phasing out of old vehicles.
• Use of unleaded petrol.
• Use of low sulphur petrol and diesel.
• Use of catalytic converters in vehicles.
• Application of Euro II norms for vehicles.

Because of above mentioned measures adopted by the Government the air quality of Delhi has improved with a substantial fall in S0₂, CO, No_x level between 1997-2005.

Question 11.
Discuss in brief the following:
(a) Green house gases
(b) Catalytic converter
(c) Ultraviolet B
Solution:
(a) Green house gases: The gases which are transparent to solar radiation but retain and partially reflect back long wave heat radiations are called greenhouse gases. Green house gases are essential for keeping the earth warm and hospitable. They are also called radiatively active gases. They prevent a substantial part of long wave radiations emitted by earth to escape into space. Rather green house gases radiate a part of this energy back to the earth. The phenomenon is called greenhouse flux. Because of greenhouse flux, the mean annual temperature of the earth is 15°C. In its absence, it will fall to – 18°C.

However, recently the concentration of greenhouse gases has started rising to result in an enhanced greenhouse effect that is resulting in increasing the mean global temperature. It is called global warming. A regular assessment of the abundance of greenhouse gases and their impact on the global environment is being made by IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). The various green house gases are CO₂ (warming effect 60%), CH₄ (effect 20%) , chlorofluorocarbons or CFCs (14%) andT nitrous oxide (N₂O, 6%). Others of minor significance are water vapors and ozone.

(b) Catalytic converter: Catalytic converters are devices that are fitted into automobiles for reducing the emission of gases. These have expensive metals (platinum – palladium, and rhodium) as catalysts. As the exhaust passes through the catalytic converters, unburnt hydrocarbons are converted into CO₂ and H₂O and carbon monoxide and nitric oxide are changed to CO₂ and N₂ respectively. Vehicles fitted with catalytic converters should be run on unleaded petrol as leaded petrol would inactivate the catalyst in the converters.

(c) Ultraviolet B – UV-B having 280-320nm wavelength. Their harmful radiations penetrate through the ozone hole to strike the earth. On earth, these can affect human beings and other animals by causing :

• Skin cancer
• Blindness and increased incidence of cataract in eyes, and
• Malfunctioning of the immune system.
• Higher number of mutations.

We hope the NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Biology Chapter 16 Environmental Issues help you. If you have any query regarding NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Biology Chapter 16 Environmental Issues, drop a comment below and we will get back to you at the earliest.

Here we are providing NCERT Solutions for Class 12 English Vistas Chapter 7 Evans Tries an O-level. Students can get Class 12 English Evans Tries an O-level NCERT Solutions, Questions and Answers designed by subject expert teachers.

Evans Tries an O-level NCERT Solutions for Class 12 English Vistas Chapter 7

Evans Tries an O-level NCERT Text Book Questions and Answers

Evans Tries an O-level Reading with insight

Question 1.
Reflecting on the story, what did you feel about Evans having the last laugh?
Answer:
In this story, James Roderick Evans, a young criminal, manipulated a situation to outsmart a team of officers, headed by the Governor of HM Prison, Oxford. His ingenuity impresses the readers. One views him as a law breaker; he was a kleptomaniac, not a ferocious criminal.There was no record against him for any violence. On the contrary, he was praised by the Governor as a pleasant and amusing person. He was one of the stars at the Christmas concert and was good at imitation.

He was called “Evans the Break” by the prison officers as he had escaped three times from prison. His ability to outsmart the officers is viewed as more of a battle of wits, than a serious offence. One marvels at his cleverness—his plea to keep the hat on, impersonating the invigilator and having his friend pose as a tutor, and above all hoodwinking the police into escorting him out. One cannot but help admire him for his never-say- die attitude.

Question 2.
When Stephens comes back to the cell he jumps to a conclusion and the whole machinery blindly goes by his assumption, without even checking the identity of the injured ‘McLeery’. Does this show how hasty conjectures prevent one from seeing the obvious? How is the criminal able to predict such negligence?
Answer:
When Stephens walked beside ‘McLeery’, he noticed that his Scots accent was more pronounced and he looked slimmer. He was happily ruminating on the fact that the Governor had asked him, and not Jackson, to see McLeery off the premises. But much to his horror, when he decided to take just one last look at Evans, he saw the injured ‘McLeery’ instead and raised an alarm. McLeery, who was actually Evans in disguise, managed to have himself escorted to the hospital from where he escaped.

Though the police had seen Evans day in and day out, yet he had managed to give them the slip. Negligence to corroborate evidence and to fall for the general frenzy, outwitted the officers and the governor. The criminal, on the other hand, observed the people around him and plotted to take advantage of their complacence and weakness. Jackson and Stephens were so anxious to outdo one another that they were taken on a ride by the criminal.

Question 3.
What could the Governor have done to securely bring back Evans to the prison when he caught him at the Golden Lion? Does that final act of foolishness really prove that “he was just another good-for-a-giggle, gullible governor, that was all”?
Answer:
The Governor was not necessarily foolish. It was he who tracked down Evans at the Golden Lion. He was perceptive and was shown to unravel the mystery, almost single-handedly.Yet, when the prison officer handcuffed the recaptured Evans, the Governor put him in the van and easily let him escape. He committed the same mistake of assuming that Evans could no longer pull another trick. His self¬assured attitude caused him to lose to Evans who seemed alert as ever, and quick-witted.

Though the Governor was outsmarted by Evans once, he failed to anticipate that Evans could pull off a similar trick with the police officer. However, Evans comes across as a mastermind who outwitted one and all, it seemed impossible to keep up with his antics.

Question 4.
While we condemn the crime we are sympathetic to the criminal. Is this the reason why the prison guards develop a soft corner for those in custody?
Answer:
The reason why the prison guards develop a soft comer for those in custody is that constant interaction brings people closer. There is increased understanding between them. With the passage of time they grow to empathise with the criminal. As ordinary individuals, we too identify with the characters in a book or a film, we can identify with their pain and suffering. The prison guards tend to form their personal favourites and alleviate their suffering by the little compassion they can, within legal boundaries. In this story, Evans knew of Jackson’s compassionate nature which he took advantage of, to stage his escape. Jackson let Evans keep on his tattered hat and spared him the discovery of his new haircut, facilitating his escape.

Question 5.
Do you agree that between crime and punishment it is mainly a battle of wits?
Answer:
Between crime and punishment, it is mainly a battle of wits. Courts have become battlegrounds of sophistry, hyperbole, and obfuscation. This is the reason why seasoned criminals, taking advantage of the situation, go unpunished. There is a relationship between intelligence and crime. As in the story, Evans was a kleptomaniac but managed to outsmart the entire team of police officers. So much so that he was escorted out of the prison by the men in uniform, arrested and he managed to escape again in the wake of a confession.

His plan was brilliant and his tactics ingenious, such as getting his friends to masquerade as a German teacher and as the invigilator, concealing blood in a rubber ring, getting directions through the means of a question paper, and the correction of the paper. He manages to outwit the entire police force.

Evans Tries an O-level Extra Questions and Answers

Evans Tries an O-level Short Answer Questions

Question 1.
Who was Evans? Why were precautions taken for the smooth conduct of the examination?
Answer:
Evans was a young prisoner in the Oxford Prison who wished to appear for his O-level German exam. He was notorious for breaking out of prison, having tried it thrice. The prison officers called him “Evans the Break”. Hence, precautions were taken to guard against any of his ploys to escape.

Question 2.
Why had Evans been imprisoned?
Answer:
James Roderick Evans had no record of violence. In fact, he was reputed to be a pleasant fellow, and was well known for his performances at the Christmas concert. However he was a habitual kleptomaniac—he stole things.

Question 3.
What reason did Evans give for wearing a hat? Why did he do so?
Answer:
When the senior prison guard, Mr Jackson, asked Evan to take his filthy hat off, Evans begged to keep it on as it was his lucky charm. In reality, the hat was a device to hide his closely cropped hair that he would consequently use to pull off a disguise.

Question 4.
Who was Stuart McLeery? What did he look like?
Answer:
Reverend Stuart McLeery was a priest who was called in to invigilate the exam Evans was to take. He wore a long black overcoat and a shallow-crowned clerical hat to protect himself from the steady drizzle. He wore spectacles that had thick lenses, in his right hand he carried a small brown suitcase, which contained all that he would need for his morning duties, including a sealed question paper envelope, a yellow invigilation form, a special “authentication” card from the Examinations Board, a paper knife, a Bible and a current copy of The Church Times. However, the author only provides the readers with a description of the impostor dressed as McLeery.

Question 5.
What were the Governor’s fears?
Answer:
The Governor had made secure arrangements to guard against any possible plans for Evans to escape. He was suddenly apprehensive because Evans, he thought, could take advantage of McLeeiy. He could get him to smuggle in a chisel or a rope ladder. He was worried if McLeery had, unwittingly, brought in something— like a jack-knife, Evans could hold him hostage with such a weapon.

Question 6.
What was the one thing about McLeery that puzzled Jackson? How did McLeery explain this?
Answer:
Jackson lightly frisked McLeery’s clothes, and came upon his reading glasses, in the spectacle case. One of the objects puzzled him sorely. It was a smallish semi-inflated rubber ring. McLeery explained that he suffered from haemorrhoids, and it served him to sit comfortably.

Question 7.
What was the phone call for during the examination?
Answer:
The phone call, was supposedly, from the Examinations Board that instructed candidates offering German, 021-1 to note a correction. McLeery was instructed to call out the correction carried in the examination paper.

Question 8.
What did Evans ask for during the course of the examination? How did Stephens react to this?
Answer:
Evans wanted to put a blanket around his shoulders as he claimed to be feeling cold. Stephens was sceptical of allowing Evans the benefit of the blanket to keep him from trying to suffocate McLeery. But he changed his mind, considering the prison cell was indeed cold, away from the sun’s warmth.

Question 9.
How was the invigilator escorted out of the prison? What was Stephens’ reaction?
Answer:
Stephens escorted McLeery to the main gates. He noticed that the invigilator’s Scottish accent seemed more pronounced than ever, and his long black overcoat created the illusion that he had suddenly grown slimmer. Nevertheless, Stephens felt pleased that the Governor had asked him, and not Jackson, to see McLeery off the premises.

Question 10.
What shock awaited Stephens when he looked into Evan’s cell?
Answer:
Stephen decided to take one last look at Evans after escorting the invigilator out. Much to his horror, he discovered the injured parson in place of Evans. He found the parson with a blanket on his shoulders, and his irregularly cropped hair covered with blood, dripping onto his priestly white collar. He shouted frantically for Jackson.

Question 11.
Who was the bleeding man in the cell? What was he doing?
Answer:
The bleeding man in the cell was none other than Evans himself who the officials presumed to be the invigilator. McLeery, as he was presumed to be, seemed to hear the officers at hand, as his hand felt feebly for a handkerchief from his pocket, and he held it to his bleeding head. He tried to speak but could give only a long low moan.

Question 12.
Where did Carter take McLeery?
Answer:
Carter was alarmed to see McLeery hurt. He immediately called for an ambulance, but McLeery insisted on leading them to Elsfield Way, where he claimed Evans was. The Governor told Carter to take McLeery for guidance as he was the only one who seemed to know what was happening. Carter helped McLeery into the car and McLeery told them to drive from Elsfield Way to the Headington roundabout. They headed for the Examinations Board, suspecting to find there an accomplice to Evans.

Question 13.
How did the Governor realize that they had mistaken Evans to be McLeery?
Answer:
On being told by Carter, that the parson had been taken to the hospital from the Examination Board, he called to confirm at the Radcliffe. To his shock, the hospital staff said that McLeery had not been admitted there. The hospital claimed to have sent an ambulance which had failed to trace McLeery. It was only then that the realization dawned on the Governor how Evans had managed to pose as the injured McLeery.

Question 14.
Where was Evans after his escape from the prison?
Answer:
Evans was at a hotel, Golden Lion, dressed smartly in a smart new hat to conceal his hair that he had cropped so closely. When the narrative returns to him, he was seen directing the receptionist to send him the morning papers.

Question 15.
How was Evans apprehended the last time? How did he outsmart the police again?
Answer:
When Evans entered his hotel room to find the Governor, he made no effort to avoid being caught, and unravelled his plan, good-naturedly to the Governor. Following which, a prison officer handcuffed Evans and took him to the prison van. As the prison van turned right from Chipping Norton on to the Oxford Road, the ‘prison officer’ who had been silent till then unlocked the handcuffs and revealed himself to be yet another accomplice of Evans. Evans managed to stage his last escape by having an impostor stage the act of a police officer.

Evans Tries an O-level Long Answer Questions

Question 1.
What did the police in Oxford Prison think about James Evans?
Answer:
The Governor of Oxford Prison felt that Evans was not a violent criminal. He found him to be a pleasant and an amusing character. Evans was not a violent sort of person and there was no record of his violence. In fact, he was considered quite a pleasant sort of chap. He was also an entertaining person and was one of the stars at the Christmas concert where he did imitations like that of the comedian Mike Yarwood. He was an incorrigible kleptomaniac and had an obsessive impulse to steal regardless of economic need.

Evans was called “Evans the Break” by the prison officers. He had thrice escaped from prison, and would not have been in Oxford Prison but for the recent wave of unrest in the maximum-security establishments in the north. Tight security kept Evans behind the bars. The Governor, personally, made sure that he did no such thing that would shame them. But, Evans was viewed as real trouble. His presence was persistently irritating to the jail authorities. The Governor doubted Evans’ interest in O-level German and thought it was a ruse to break out of prison again.

Question 2.
Write in detail about the preparations that were made for Evans James to write his examination.
Answer:
When Evans applied for permission to appear for the O-Level Examination in German, the Governor decided to look at the security measures personally. Evans was to write the examination in his own cell. To invigilate the exam, they had decided to call one of the parsons from St Mary Mags. The authorities assumed that they would not have much trouble preventing his communication with others. The examination was to be taken in D Wing, which had a heavy outer door and a heavy inner door that led to the cell.

The two-hour examination was scheduled to start at 9.15 a.m. So the next morning, at 8.30 a.m., two prison officers, Mr Jackson and Mr Stephens, went to Evans’ cell. Mr Jackson asked Mr Stephens to take away his razor after he had finished shaving. Even his nail-scissors were taken away. Evans was allowed to retain his hat as he begged to keep with him his lucky charm. Two small square tables were brought into his cell and placed opposite each other.

They had a listening device installed in his cell, above the door, so that the Governor could listen in. Stephens had to dutifully peer through the peephole at regular intervals to keep a close watch on Evans.

Question 3.
How did Evans plan his escape amidst tight security?
Answer:
Evans was known as “Evans the Break” by the prison officers as he had escaped three times from prison, previously. At Oxford Prison, he managed to outsmart everybody once again. He arranged for a man who came disguised as Reverend Stuart McLeery, an accomplice of Evans, while the actual parson had been locked in his apartment.

He came carrying a ring to sit on, filled with pig’s blood which helped Evans mislead the police. While he pretended to give instructions to Evans to fill in the examination sheet, McLeery actually told him of the escape plan. His corrections were clues of the escape plan. The blanket given to Evans at 10.50 a.m. helped Evans with the disguise. The cap, that was his lucky mascot, was an aid to hide the closely cropped hair which helped him look like the parson. Stuart McLeery, wore two black fronts and two collars to provide one set to Evans. After McLeery was escorted out, Mr Stephens was aghast to see McLeery sprawled in Evans’ chair with blood oozing out. He refused to go to the hospital but offered his help to find Evans. He also showed the Governor a photocopied sheet that had been carefully and cleverly superimposed over the blank page of the question paper.

McLeery led the police to Elsfield Way and from there to Headington and finally to Newbury in order to put the police off Evans’ track. When Superintendent Carter informed the Governor that McLeery was in the Radcliffe Hospital, and the Governor went to check on him, he found McLeery missing and discovered the truth about Evans’ plan. All along, it was not McLeery, but Evans who had been in the cell, pretending to be injured. He had executed the plan through his so-called invigilator, who was in reality his friend.

Question 4.
How did the Governor track down Evans? How did Evans outsmart him again?
Answer:
Once the Governor found out that McLeery was not in the hospital, he realized the truth. They found the real McLeery bound and gagged in his study in the Broad Street. They also realized it had not been Evans impersonating McLeery who had walked out; it had been Evans impersonating McLeery who had stayed in. On the other hand, Evans, after a delightful meal, returned to the hotel Golden Lion wearing a hat to conceal his closely cropped hair. He noticed the pretty receptionist.

As he went up to his room, to his surprise, he saw the Governor sitting in his bedroom and realized that the blonde girl at the reception was an informer. The Governor, who knew a little German, had deduced “zum goldenen Lowen” meant the Golden Lion and using Evans’ Index number 313 and Centre number 271 as coordinates on an Ordnance Survey Map, he figured out the location of the Hotel. When Evans was handed to the police once again, the Governor heaved a sigh of relief. But much to everyone’s surprise, the prison van driver and the officer were impersonators who helped Evans flee right under their nose.

 

Here we are providing NCERT Solutions for Class 11 English Hornbill Poem 2 The Laburnum Top. Students can get Class 11 English The Laburnum Top NCERT Solutions, Questions and Answers designed by subject expert teachers.

The Laburnum Top NCERT Solutions for Class 11 English Hornbill Poem 2

The Laburnum Top NCERT Text Book Questions and Answers

Find out

Question 1.
What laburnum is called in your language.
(Answers will vary)

Question 2.
Which local bird is like the goldfinch.
Answer:
Birds which sing melodiously like the goldfinch in India include the Asian Koel, the Bulbul, the House Sparrow, the Himalayan Cuckoo, the Swallow and so on.

The Laburnum Top Think it out

Question 1.
What do you notice about the beginning and the ending of the poem?
Answer:
The beginning of the poem is about the silence and stillness of the laburnum. The end of the poem again drifts into silence and emptiness of the laburnum.

Question 2.
To what is the bird’s movement compared? What is the basis for the comparison?
Answer:
The bird’s movement is compared to that of a lizard. The basis for the comparison is the sleek, alert and abrupt movement with which the bird enters its nest. This movement of the bird is comparable to that of a lizard.

Question 3.
Why is the image of the engine evoked by the poet?
Answer:
The poet evokes the image of an engine because as soon as the goldfinch enters its nest on the laburnum top, the whole tree comes alive with the chirruping of the young ones of the bird, their twittering and the tremor of their wings. As an engine brings a seemingly dead machine to life, so the chittering family of the goldfinch brings the whole tree into life.

Question 4.
What do you like most about the poem?
Answer:
Open-ended question. Here is a suggested answer: I like the depiction and the imagery in the poem. The poet creates a mundane yet beautiful picture of a tree top that goes through stages from being silent to alive and drifts back into silence again. The imagery of an engine bringing alive a machine is also something that catches my fancy.

Question 5.
What does the phrase “her barred face identity mask” mean?
Answer:
The phrase refers to the face of the bird that is covered with fur of different colours and which looks like a mask making it the identity of the bird.

Note down

1. the sound words
Chirrup, machine starts up, chitterings, whistle-chirrup whisperings, trillings, engine, stokes it full, subsides to empty.

2. the movement words
Seeds fallen, sleek as a lizard, enters the thickness, tremor of wings, tree trembles and thrills, flirts out to a branch-end, she launches away.

3. the dominant colour in the poem.
The Laburnum tree has yellowing leaves, sitting still in the afternoon yellow sunlight. The goldfinch, a bird full of yellow feathers flies on to its branches to sit and sing. The dominant colour in all the descriptions in the poem is yellow.

The Laburnum Top List the following

Question 1.
Words which describe ‘sleek’, ‘alert’ and ‘abrupt’.
Answer:
Sleek – Smooth, Polished, Effortless
Alert – Watchful, Careful, Brisk, Active
Abrupt – Hasty, Quick, Sudden, Rushed

Question 2.
Words with the sound ‘ch’ as in ‘chart’ and ‘tr’ as in ‘trembles’ in the poem.
Answer:
Words with ‘Ch’ – Chirrup, Chitterings, Whistle-Chirrup
Words with ‘Tr’ – Tremor, Trillings, Tree, Trembles, Thrills

Question 3.
Other sounds that occur frequently in the poem.
Answer:
‘St’ – Still, Startlement, Starts up
‘-ings’ – Chitterings, Wings, Trillings, Whisperings

The Laburnum Top Thinking about language

Question 1.
Look for some other poem on a bird or a tree in English or any other language.
Answer:
Other poems on birds and trees include “Ode to a Nightingale” by John Keats which describes the beauty in the bird’s song, and “Hawk Roosting” by Ted Hughes which looks at a Hawk overlooking its domain to prey upon.
(Answers will vary)

Try this out
Write four lines in verse form on any tree that you see around you.
(Answers will vary)

Here we are providing NCERT Solutions for Class 12 English Flamingo Chapter 6 Poets and Pancakes. Students can get Class 12 English Poets and Pancakes NCERT Solutions, Questions and Answers designed by subject expert teachers.

Poets and Pancakes NCERT Solutions for Class 12 English Flamingo Chapter 6

Poets and Pancakes NCERT Text Book Questions and Answers

Poets and Pancakes Think as you read 

Question 1.
What does the writer mean by ‘the fiery misery’ of those subjected to make-up?
Answer:
The writer means the misery caused by the incandescent lights that poured out intense heat. The make-up room of the Gemini Studios had bright bulbs in the room full of large mirrors that reflected the glowing lights. Under such blazing heat make-up was done.

Question 2.
What is the example of national integration that the author refers to?
Answer:
The make-up team and also those who came and went were from different states. It was headed by a Bengali and next in hierarchy was a Maharashtrian, assisted by an Andhraite, a Madras Indian Christian, an Anglo-Burmese and other local Tamils. It was truly a gang of nationally integrated make-up men.

Question 3.
What work did the ‘office boy’ do in the Gemini Studios? Why did he join the studios? Why was he disappointed?
Answer:
The office boy applied make-up to the crowds, mixing his paint in a giant vessel and slapping it on the crowd players. He had joined the studios in the hope of becoming a star actor or a top screen writer, director or lyrics writer. He was a bit of a poet. He was disappointed as he was placed low even in the hierarchy of make-up men.

Question 4.
Why did the author appear to be doing nothing at the studios?
Answer:
The author’s job was to cut out newspaper clippings on a wide variety of subjects and store them in files. Many of these had to be written out in hand. Seeing him sitting at his desk and tearing up newspapers most people thought he had nothing to do at the studios.

Question 5.
Why was the office boy frustrated? Who did he show his anger on?
Answer:
The office boy was frustrated because his hopes of making big in the movie world failed. He vent his anger and frustration on Kothamangalam Subbu, the No. 2 in the studios, whom he held responsible for his dishonour and neglect.

Question 6.
Who was Subbu’s principal?
Answer:
S.S. Vasan, the founder of Gemini Studios, was the boss and Subbu’s Principal in the studios. Subbu had a great loyalty to him. This made him identify himself with his principal completely. He turned his entire creativity to his principal’s advantage.

Question 7.
Subbu is described as a many-sided genius. List four of his special abilities.
Answer:
Subbu was a many-sided genius. He was born a Brahmin. It is a virtue in itself as it exposed him to more affluent situations and people. Second, he had the ability to look cheerful at all times. Third, he always had work for somebody. Fourth, he had great loyalty to his principal, S.S. Vasan, the Boss.

Question 8.
Why was the legal adviser referred to as the opposite by others?
Answer:
The lawyer was the only one at the studios who wore pants, tie and sometimes a coat, unlike others who wore khadi dhoti and shirt. His job was to give support and advise on problems, but in fact he created problems. He brought the career of a brilliant actress to an end by terrorizing her. He was rightly called an illegal adviser.

Question 9.
What made the lawyer stand out from the others at Gemini Studios?
Answer:
The lawyer wore pants, a tie and sometimes a coat, while all wore khadi dhoti and white khadi shirt. He looked alone and helpless. He was a man of cold logic in a crowd of dreamers. He was a neutral man among Gandhiites and Khadiites.

Question 10.
Did the people at Gemini Studios have any particular political affiliations?
Answer:
The people at Gemini Studios wore Khadi and worshipped Gandhi, but beyond that they had no particular political interests or understanding. They only had opinions on communism, which they loathed and looked down on communists. They considered communists as heartless atheists who are devoid of emotions. They went about letting loose anarchy in the society.

Question 11.
Why was the Moral Re-Armament Army welcomed at Gemini Studios?
Answer:
The Moral Re-Armament Army was invited to stage two plays, which were more like plain homilies ‘ (sermons/lectures) for the Gemini family. It was discovered only later that the group was part of the movement countering international communism and Vasan had invited them under the influence of his political interests.

Question 12.
Name one example to show that Gemini Studios was influenced by the plays staged by MRA?
Answer:
MRA staged two plays ‘Jotham Valley’ and ‘The Forgotten Factor’. Their high quality costumes and
well made sets earned a lot of admiration. Their sunrise and sunset scene impressed them so much that all Tamil plays started reproducing the scene with a bare stage, a white background curtain and a tune playing on the flute.

Question 13.
Who was the Boss of Gemini Studios?
Answer:
Mr. S.S. Vasan, the founder of Gemini Studios was the Boss. Apart from producing films, he was an editor of a popular Tamil weekly ‘Ananda Vikatan’. He was a great admirer of scholarly people. Subbu seemed to enjoy an intimate relationship with him. Mr. Vasan is projected as a bit of showman here.

Question 14.
What caused the lack of communication between the Englishman and the people at Gemini Studios?
Answer:
The Englishman’s speech was peppered with words like ‘freedom’ and ‘democracy’ and the Gemini
family had no political interests, so they were dazed and a silent audience. Also, the Englishman’s accent was difficult to understand, because of which all communication had failed. He was basically a poet and that made no sense to the people whose life centered around a film studio.

Question 15.
Why was the Englishman’s visit referred to as unexplained mystery?
Answer:
The Englishman was a poet whose name was not familiar. In his speech he talked about the thrills and travails of an English poet, which made no sense for the simple people at Gemini Studios who had had no exposure other than films and so they were not interested. These simple people had neither taste for English poetry nor political interests. Hence, his visit is referred to as an unexplained mystery.

Question 16.
Who was the English visitor to the studios?
Answer:
The English visitor to the studios was poet Stephen Spender, editor of British periodical ‘The Encounter’.

Question 17.
How did the author discover who the English visitor to the studio was?
Answer:
The author discovered his identity by reading his name on the pages of ‘The Encounter’ in the British Council Library. He also knew about him from the paperback edition of the book The God That Failed.

Question 18.
What does The God That Failed refer to?
Answer:
The God That Failed refers to a book that was a compilation of six essays by six eminent men. It was a low priced student edition released to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Russian Revolution. It dealt with the author’s disillusionment with communism.

Poets And Pancakes Understanding the text

Question 1.
The author has used gentle humour to point out human foibles. Pick out instances of this to show how this serves to make the piece interesting?
Answer:
‘Poets and Pancakes’ has an underlying tone of humour which is satirical and has been deployed by the author to point out human foibles. It is mainly manifested in his description of the make-up room people.

The make-up room, he says, was in a building that had once been the stables of Robert Clive. He further makes fun of the make-up team that slapped make-up. Ironically, the make-up turned any normal man into a hideous monster, far from being presentable. He also refers to the fiery misery of the actors when their make-up was done under the bright bulbs, large mirrors reflecting blazing heat. His description of Subbu’s No. 2 position in Gemini Studios, the frustration of the office boy and the opposite role played by the legal adviser in the acting career of a countryside girl are humorously dealt with but effectively bring out the flaws in the set-up.

The showmanship of the boss and what influences his guest list point out human weaknesses in a light-hearted manner. The humour is at its peak in the description of the visit of Stephen Spender. S.S. Vasan’s reading a long speech in his honour but he too knew precious little about him. Spender’s accent is highly unintelligible. Then the author’s establishing long lost brother’s relationship with the English visitor is also funny and humorous. All these slight digs at human foibles tickle in us humour.

Question 2.
Why was Kothamangaiam Subbu considered No. 2 in Gemini Studios?
Answer:
Kothamangaiam Subbu was on the attendance roll with the story department and was No. 2 at Gemini Studios not by virtue of any merit, but because he was a Brahmin with affluent exposure. He was cheerful and had a sense of loyalty that placed him close to the Boss. He was quick to delegate work to others. As if tailor-made for films, sparks of his creativity showed in his suggestions on how to create shots. He composed poetry, scripted a story and a novel. He gave direction and definition to Gemini Studios during its golden years. He performed in a subsidiary role better than the main players. He had a genuine love for his relatives and near and dear ones. His extravagant hospitality was popular among his relatives and acquaintances, probably that is why he had enemies.

Question 3.
How does the author describe the incongruity of an English poet addressing the audience at Gemini Studios?
Answer:
The Gemini Studios witnessed a surprising visit by a tall Englishman who was proclaimed to be a poet. The welcome speech by the Boss was delivered in the most general terms, which only showed that even the Boss did not know much about him. The poet talked about the thrill and travails of an English poet which made no sense to the simple people at Gemini Studios. They had no exposure other than films and so, they were not interested. Also, words like democracy and freedom that featured in his speech held no interest for them as they had no political thought or interests. Moreover, the Englishman’s accent was difficult to understand, because of which all communications failed. He was basically a poet and that made no sense to the people whose life centred round a film studio. Therefore, his visit remained an unexplained mystery for much time.

Question 4.
What do you understand about the author’s literary inclinations from the account?
Answer:
The author, Asokamitran, was entrusted with the job of maintaining the newspaper clippings of movies and other articles. Though to others, who just saw him tearing papers, he appeared to be doing nothing, the job kept the author well informed. Also, there prevailed an intellectual environment to some extent because the poets and script writers used to hang out there in the mess that served coffee any time of the day. The author would pick up fifty paisa copies of journals from the footpath and took part in the poetry writing competition. He actually read essays ‘The God Who Failed’ to know more about the poet Stephen Spender. All these are evidence that he had some literary taste.

Poets And Pancakes Extra Questions and Answers

Poets And Pancakes Short Answer Questions

Question 1.
How does the writer describe the make-up room of the Gemini Studios?
Answer:
The make-up room of the Gemini Studios had incandescent lights. It also had lights at all angles around large mirrors. Those subjected to make-up had to face bright light and a lot of heat there. It was on the upper floor of the building that was believed to have been Robert Clive’s stables.

Question 2.
Bring out the humour in the job of the make-up men.
Answer:
The make-up men came from all corners of the country and could transform any decent-looking person into a repulsive crimson coloured fiend and made people look uglier than they were in real life. They used truck loads of pancakes and locally manufactured potions and lotions to transform the looks of the actors.

Question 3.
How was the make-up room a fine example of national integration?
Answer:
Transcending all the barriers of regions, religions and castes, people from all over India came to Gemini Studios for jobs. The make-up department was headed by a Bengali, succeeded by a Maharashtrian, assisted by a Dharwar Kannadiga, an Andhra, a Madrasi, Christian and an Anglo Burmese and the usual local Tamils. Hence, the writer finds in the make-up department a perfect example of national integration.

Question 4.
Why did the author appear to do nothing in the studio?
Answer:
The author’s job in the studio was to cut newspaper dippings of all the relevant news items and articles that appeared in different newspapers and maintain a record of the same. This tearing of newspaper gave an impression that he was free and simply whiling away his time. People used to barge in his cubicle and lectured him.

Question 5.
Why was the office boy frustrated? Who did he show his anger on and how?
Answer:
The office boy had joined the studio years back. He aspired to be a top film star, or top screen writer, lyricist or director. He felt frustrated on not being able to realise his dreams and had been given a job much below his calibre and dignity. He blamed Kothamangalam Subbu for all his woes, ignominy and neglect. He often gave vent to his frustrations in the narrator’s cubicle. The narrator yearned for relief from the never-ending babble of the office boy.

Question 6.
Subbu is described as a many-sided genius. Justify.
Answer:
Kothamangalam Subbu may not have had much formal education but, by virtue of his being born as a Brahmin, he had had exposure to many affluent situations and people. He had the ability to look cheerful at all times, even after a setback. He was always full of creative ideas. Above all, he was a charitable and extravagant man and hospitable to his relations. His loyalty had put him close to his boss. But he seemed to others a sycophant and a flatterer and, probably, that was the reason he had enemies.

Question 7.
How did the lawyer unwittingly bring an end to a brief and brilliant career of a young actress?
Answer:
A talented but very temperamental actress lost her cool on the sets. The lawyer recorded her outburst and played it back, much to her embarrassment. The actress from the countryside was so terror- struck that she retreated and never got back to films. In this way, his mischief making brought an abrupt end to the brilliant actress’ career.

Question 8.
Why did the magazine, ‘The Encounter’, ring a bell in the writer’s mind?
Answer:
The writer wanted to participate in a short story writing contest organized by ‘The Encounter’, a British publication. Before sending his entry, he waited, confirm the authenticity of the periodical, so he visited the British Council Library. When the author read the editor’s name, a bell rang in his mind. It was Stephen Spender, the poet who had visited the Gemini Studios.

Question 9.
What was significant about the book which the author took from roadside?
Answer:
‘The God That failed’ was the name of the book which caught the attention of the author. It contained the essays of six eminent men, who described their journey into communism and their return from it after being disillusioned. It suddenly assumed great significance for the author as he discovered that one of the essays had been written by Stephen Spender, the poet, who had visited the studio. He now understood the reason for his having been invited.

Question 10.
What do you understand about the author’s literary inclinations from the account?
Answer:
The author was very knowledgeable young man whose job required him to pour over the newspaper all day long. His interest in creative writing and participating in story writing contests indicates his interest in literature. This interest was so keen that he read books on varied subjects and went about buying them even when he was short of money.

Question 11.
What kind of people, according to the author, are meant for prose writing?
Answer:
According to the author, prose writing is not the pursuit of a genius. It is for the patient, persistent and persevering drudge whose heart can take rejections and whose spirit to keep trying does not get killed so easily.

Question 12.
Why was Gemini Studios a favourite haunt of poets?
Answer:
Gemini Studios was a favourite haunt of poets as it had an excellent mess which supplied good coffee at all times of the day and for most part of the night. Meeting there was a satisfying entertainment. Moreover, Mr. Vasan was a great admirer of scholarly people.

Question 13.
‘Prose writing is not and cannot be the true pursuit of a genius’, says the author. Explain the statement.
Answer:
In this statement, the author says that prose writing can’t be the true pursuit of a genius because it is always rejected. A genius is not that is accepted everywhere. The author states all this with criticism that prose writing is actually meant for rejection. Prose writers are patient, persistent and persevering drudges. They can’t be down played by rejection slips. Everytime he gets a rejection slip for his manuscript, he starts making a fresh copy and sends it to another publisher with return postage.

Question 14.
‘Suddenly the book assumed tremendous significance.’ Explain the statement.
Answer:
The author bought one copy of the book ‘The God That Failed’ from the footpath. Six eminent men of letters in six separate essays describe their journey into communism and their disillusioned return. Among them one was Stephen Spender. The author at once recollected that Stephen Spender had visited Gemini Studios. He knew about the mystery of his visit now. So, the book assumed tremendous significance for him.

Question 15.
Explain the appropriateness of the title ‘Poets and Pancakes’?
Answer:
The chapter describes Gemini Studios and its functioning very clearly. Its employees are little unrecognized poets. Though they work in a film studio, the focus is on the author’s station in the Studios as a make-up boy using pancakes on crowd players, and how he failed as a poet. So, the title is appropriate.

Question 16.
How humorously does the author describe Frank Buchman’s Moral Re-Armament Army?
Answer:
The author humorously calls the Moral Re-Armament Army after someone as ‘an international circus’. Then he states that they were not very good on the trapeze. Their acquaintance with animals should have been much as animals play tricks in a circus. “But the group ate animals”, says the author their acquaintance with animals was only at the dining table.

Question 17.
What was thought of a communist by the studios people?
Answer:
According to these people, a communist was a godless man. He had no filial or conjugal love. He had compunction about killing his own parents and children. He was always out to cause and spread unrest and violence among the innocent and ignorant people.

Poets And Pancakes Long Questions and Answers

Question 1.
How does the author come to know about the periodical ‘The Encounter’?
Answer:
The Hindu published an advertisement about a short story contest organized by ‘The Encounter’. The author wanted to know about it before he spent a lot of money on postage sending his manuscript to England. So, he visited the British Council Library. There he saw many untouched copies of ‘The Encounter’. When he read the editor’s name, he felt like he had found a long lost brother. He sang as he sealed the envelope and felt that the editor would also be singing the same song when he would open the envelope. Actually the editor was the same Englishman, Stephen Spender who visited Gemini Studios long time ago.

Question 2.
‘Poets and Pancakes’ is a beautiful example of humour in its chatty and rambling style’. Comment.
Answer:
‘Poets and Pancakes’ is an account of Asokamitran’s experiences at the Gemini Studios. Asokamitran
deals with a wide variety of ideas where despite one thought leading to another, the thematic coherence is never lost. The author has adopted a chatty and rambling style. The style has a flow and the reader glides smoothly with the flow of the narrative. Asokamitran highlights human foibles and unusual behaviour with the help of subtle humour. All the characters are so life like that the reader seems to come across in real life. The subtle humour is neither superimposed nor superfluous.

Throughout the chapter humour seems to be spontaneous and interwoven. Even the choice of the title shows that Asokamitran has a flair for natural humour. He ridicules without hurting and the entire account becomes very interesting. Throughout the chapter the reader doesn’t find even the slightest trace of malice. But every now and then the author speaks with his tongue-in-cheek way and pays left-handed compliments to different characters to the great amusement of the readers.

Question 3.
What was the opinion of most of the people at the studios regarding communism?
Answer:
The people at the Gemini Studios wore Khadi dhoti and a clumsily tailored white khadi shirt. It was a crowd of dreamers and an assembly of Gandhiites and khadietes. The Congress rule meant prohibition and most employees worshipped Gandhiji but beyond that they had no admiration for political thought of any kind. They hated the term ‘communism’ as to them a communist was a godless man, incapable of love and always out to spread unrest and violence among the innocent and ignorant people.

When Frank Buchman’s Moral Re-Armament Army visited the Gemini Studios in 1952, they gave them a warm reception. Later they learnt that MRA was a counter movement to international communism and the big bosses of Madras like Mr. Vasan simply played into their hands. Later, the mystery of the visit of Stephen Spender was resolved and the writer came to know the reason of his visit and that the Boss of Gemini Studios had not been interested in Spender’s poetry but in communism. But the khadi-clad poets of Gemini Studios fell the same aversion for communism.

Question 4.
The English poet who visited Gemini Studios was as baffled as the audience. Why was that?
Answer:
When Gemini Studios prepared to welcome Stephen Spender, they did not know the identity of the
visitor. All they knew was that he was a poet from England. However, he was not one of the poets from England that they had heard of. Later they heard that he was an editor. But again he wasn’t the editor of any of the known British publications. When the gentleman arrived, the mystery’ of his identity deepened.

The Englishman left the audience dazed and silent as no one knew what he was talking about. The people of Gemini Studios led lives that least offered them the possibilities of cultivating a taste for English poetry. The English man talked of the thrills and problems of an English poet. His British accent defeated any attempt to understand what he was saying. His lecture lasted an hour but it left the people confused. The poet himself was equally baffled. He too must have felt the strangeness of his talk. His visit remained an unexplained mystery for a long time.

Question 5.
Explain the statement ‘Subbu is tailor-made for films.’
Answer:
Kothamangalam Subbu has many qualities of head and heart with a great fund of humaneness. He has the ability’ to look cheerful at all times. His loyalty to his principal is complete. He is always ready to say nice things about everything. He is resourceful. He has an inventive brain as he can create new ways and means to dramatise some difficult propositions in films. Film-making goes very easy with him. He is a poet also and has written a novel titled Thillana Mchanambal He successfully recreated the mood and manner of the Devadasis of the early 20thcentury.

He is an amazing actor and has performed better than the supposed main players. Above all. he has a heart of gold for his relatives and near and dear ones. His house is a permanent residence for them. In fact, he is tailor-made for films. He gave direction and definition to Gemini Studios during its golden years. His success in films overshadowed and dwarfed his literary achievements. He is a poet, an actor and a creative assistant roled into one.

Question 6.
What idea do you get about the narrator from the chapter ‘Poets and Pancakes’?
Answer:
Asokamitran used to work in a cubicle tearing up newspapers all the time. Most of the people thought that he did nothing. So anyone who felt so would enter his cubicle and deliver an extended lecture. He never tried to say anything in his defence. He kept himself busy with his work, without poking his nose into anyone’s affairs but he was wide awake and highly observant. He very well knew what was going on around him. He had a deep psychological insight into the human mind.

He could see through Subbu’s sycophancy, the lawyer’s smartness and the office boy’s frustration. He was very fond of books and bought books all the time even when there was paucity of money. His description of S.S. Vasan’s battling with half a dozen pedestal fans while reading his welcome address and an account of Stephen Spender’s accent are examples of his brilliant sense of humour. He was a man of cool temperament who never jumped to conclusions or pounced upon opportunities rashly. On the whole, he emerges as a responsible and conscientious man.

Question 7.
Describe Stephen Spender’s visit to Gemini Studios.
Answer:
There was a lot of speculation about Spender’s visit. Initially, everyone thought he was a poet but later they heard that he was an editor. The author describes him as a tall, very English and a serious person. It was evident from Boss’ speech that he knew very little about the visitor. When Spender addressed the gathering they were all dazed as they couldn’t understand his accent and didn’t understand what he was talking about.

Even Spender must have sensed the incongruity of being called to talk about the travails of an English poet in a film studio making simple Tamil films. His visit remained an unexpected mystery. It was only much later that Asokamitran learnt that the reason why the boss had invited Spender. Spender was disillusioned with communism and had contributed an essay in a book on communism called ‘The God That Failed’.

Here we are providing NCERT Solutions for Class 12 English Flamingo Poem 4 A Thing of Beauty. Students can get Class 12 English A Thing of Beauty NCERT Solutions, Questions and Answers designed by subject expert teachers.

A Thing of Beauty NCERT Solutions for Class 12 English Flamingo Poem 4

A Thing of Beauty NCERT Text Book Questions and Answers

A Thing of Beauty Think it out 

Question 1.
List the things of beauty mentioned in the poem.
Answer:
Keats begins the poem by saying that a beautiful thing is a source of everlasting pleasure. It keeps people from being overwhelmed by worldly concerns. Pleasure is the escape from reality. The things of beauty that provide happiness to the soul are the sun, the moon, a bower of trees, daffodils, and clear streams. He also talks about musk-roses that flower in the forest. The magnificence of the heroic tales also inspires us. Keats primarily talks about the beauty of nature in the poem.

Question 2.
List the things that cause suffering and pain.
Answer:
Keats lists the things that cause suffering and pain to human soul. It includes the scarcity of noble people, overcast days, and the unhealthy and miserable ways in which humanity searches for meaning in life.

Question 3.
What does the line, “Therefore are we wreathing a flowery band to bind us to earth” suggest to you?
Answer:
For Keats, each “flowery band” serves as a reminder of the fragility of whatever people have achieved. Beauty signifies a constant battle to guard one’s well-being against sadness and defeat. The poet praises nature and believes that man’s connection with nature was essential in contributing to his happiness.

Question 4.
What makes human beings love life in spite of troubles and sufferings?
Answer:
Keats elaborates through the poem that beautiful experiences helps in overcoming one’s problems. It is because of the eternal pleasures that despite much unhappiness and misery, one continues to love and value life. He exults over how he considers beauty to be immortal. He affirms that it always lifts the pall—the funeral cover—from the coffin of confused misery to provide some light for humanity’s anxious quest for meaning. The pleasure one derives from beautiful objects and experiences dispels any misery.

Question 5.
Why is “grandeur” associated with the “mighty dead”?
Answer:
The word “grandeur” is associated with the “mighty dead” because the splendour of such deeds is inspirational. The legends and stories of martyrs inspire people. Through their legends, the mighty dead continue to live and act as spiritual guides. This enhances the quality of one’s life — divine influence, like an eternal fountain, showers its grace on earthly existence.

Question 6.
Do we experience things of beauty only for short moments or do they make a lasting impression on us?
Answer:
Beauty is a quality in a person or an object that gives intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind. Beauty has inspired many,throughout history. Beauty of nature has been celebrated by humans since time immemorial. Those who cherish the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that would endure for life. According to Keats, things of beauty give eternal pleasure and erase the misery in our soul. They do not fade away into nothingness, their beauty increases with time.

Question 7.
What image does the poet use to describe the beautiful bounty of the earth?
Answer:
Romantics have praised the majesty of nature in many of the literary works, Keats’ poetry in Endymion, is dominated by a description of the natural world. He uses the images of nature to describe the beautiful bounty of the earth. He specifically refers to the sun, moon, daffodils, and trees, stating that their beauty gives life true meaning and significance. Keats also states how beauty continue to inspire ceaselessly. The poem also illustrates a connection with nature—“flowery band to bind us to the earth”.

A Thing of Beauty Extra Questions and Answers

A Thing of Beauty Short Answer Questions

Question 1.
Explain: “A thing of beauty is a joy forever”.
Answer:
This is the first line of Book 1 of Endymion and one of the most quoted lines in English poetry. It is multi¬layered in meaning. It implies that beauty can create joy in the soul that will last forever. The sights of beauty also decrease the misery of dark and gloomy days. It underlines the power of nature to heal and give happiness.

Question 2.
What are the things that cause suffering and pain to human beings on earth?
Answer:
Keats feels that beauty makes life worth living despite the unhappiness and misery that one goes through on earth. He feels that one encounters days that are sad and depressing; causing gloom, natural sorrow, sadness or dejection.

A Thing of Beauty Value Based Questions

Question 1.
Keats feels that nature binds us to the earth. How does he justify this?
Answer:
According to Keats, man has a strong relationship with nature. Man is bound to the earth despite the gloom and misery that abounds his existence. Beauty relieves man of gloom and misery. The beauty that man sees around him, brings him joy and respite; it “is a joy forever” because of the bond he forges with nature. Like other Romantics, Keats is a believer in the healing powers of nature. He talks about the different elements of nature that surround man and overwhelm him with their magnificence.

Question 2.
Bring out the theme of love and beauty in the poem.
Answer:
Keats, an advocate of beauty, begins the verse by celebrating a thing of value which is always considered beautiful. Hence, despite human misery on earth, man is inexplicably tied to this world. The poet discusses how the beauty of nature brings about joy and drives away sorrow. Keats also discusses how the legends and stories of martyrs instil inspiration in people. The various things of beauty, love and inspiration that the poet celebrates through his poem contribute to the pleasure; he calls these divine influence that, like an eternal fountain, is bestowed upon man.

Give examples from the poem of the following poetic devices.

Rhyme scheme
Rhyming couplets
Metaphor

(a) “will keep
A bower quiet for us”
“Flowery band”

(c) “Some shape of beauty moves away the pall
From our dark spirits.”

(d) “An endless fountain of immortal drink,
Pouring unto us from the heaven’s brink”

Here we are providing NCERT Solutions for Class 11 English Hornbill Chapter 7 The Adventure. Students can get Class 11 English The Adventure NCERT Solutions, Questions and Answers designed by subject expert teachers.

The Adventure NCERT Solutions for Class 11 English Hornbill Chapter 7

The Adventure NCERT Text Book Questions and Answers

The Adventure Understanding the text

I. Tick the statements that are true.
Answer:
The true statements are:

• The story’ hinges on a particular historical event.
• The story’ tries to relate history to science.

II. Briefly explain the following statements from the text.

Question 1.
“You neither travelled to the past nor the future. You were in the present experiencing a different world. ”
Answer:
This statement is made by Rajendra Deshpande to Professor Gangadharpant Gaitonde. Here he tries to give a possible explanation to Prof Gaitonde’s unique experience in the two days following his collision with a truck. According to the speaker, Professor Gaitonde did not travel in time. In fact, he was in the present but was experiencing a different world. This statement emphasises on the idea that reality is not unique. There are many worlds and many realities. A person’s reality is based on his/her experience at a particular time at a particular place.

Question 2.
“You have passed through a fantastic experience: or more correctly, a catastrophic experience. ”
Answer:
In this statement Rajendra Deshpande tries to rationalise Professor Gaitonde’s experience of making a transition to another world. According to him, Professor Gaitonde has had a fantastic experience. Here, the word fantastic means both extraordinary and fanciful. However, he immediately finds a better word for the experience and calls it catastrophic. Now, this word is a reference to Catastrophe Theory which is a branch of mathematics and is concerned with abrupt changes. Professor Gaitonde’s experience of travelling to a parallel world without moving back or forth in time seems to be an apt example of a catastrophic experience to Rajendra Deshpande.

Question 3.
Gangadharpant could not help comparing the country he knew with what he was witnessing around him.
Answer:
This statement is made by the third person narrator of the story. Professor Gaitonde, who travels to another world in the present, witnesses a different India which is completely different from the India he has known from this childhood. The country he witnesses in the alternative world refused to surrender to the colonising powers and stood up against them.

The people of this country are more honest, more efficient, well organised and quite modem. Everything that he sees in this country poses a stark contrast to the country he lives in. This compels him to compare the country he knows so well with the country he witnesses around him.

Question 4.
“The lack of determinism in quantum theory! ”
Answer:
This statement is made by Prof Gaitonde in response to Rajendra Deshpane’s explanation of how indeterminable the behaviour of electrons is. Here he maintains that even a person like him, who is not an expert of science, knows about the lack of determinism in quantum theory. Quantum theory believes in the randomness or uncertainty of the universe. This is quite succinctly explained by Rajendra Deshpande with the example of electrons orbitting the nucleus of an atom. The electrons could move in any of the large number of specified states and could even jump from one state to another. There is no certainty of an electron’s presence in a particular state.

Question 5.
“You need some interaction to cause a transition. ”
Answer:
This statement is made by Rajendra Deshpande in response to Professor Gaintonde’s question of why he made the transition to the other world. Rajendra Deshpande says that in order to make a transition like this, one must have an interaction. By interaction, he means something that gives the transition a particular direction. In this case, the focused thought of Professor Gaitonde about the probable course of history in case the third battle of Panipat had had a different result functioned as the interaction and determined the transition for him.

The Adventure Talking about the text

Question 1.
Discuss the following statements in groups of two pairs, each pair in a group taking opposite points of view.

(i) A single event may change the course of the history of a nation.
For:

• Events like the defeat of important leaders like Napoleon, Hitler and so on have helped construct today’s version of historic events for different nations.
• Had one of these events not happened, chances are that history may have been entirely different.
  Similarly, this text tries to present what would have happened if the Marathas had not been defeated by the British in India.
• The India that is constructed in the text, is heavily influenced by the Marathi kingdom, unlike the British India that we’ve known through historic events. Therefore, altering historic events can change the history of a nation.

Against:

• It is impossible to predict if altering a single event can in reality change the course of history.
• While this text attempts to show that, had the Marathas won the war, the British could have still taken over and created the British India that we know of.
• All that is portrayed here is speculation, as it is impossible to go back and change historic events.

(ii) Reality is what is directly experienced through the senses.
For:

• Gaitonde’s construction of the alternate version of history is so real that he believes he actually witnessed a different version of reality than the one we are familiar with.
• Similarly, he is able to convince Rajendra of this reality because he has a piece of paper which contains notes of all these alternate events.
• Both these characters believe that what they experience through the senses is real.
• They show us that the senses construct reality for us.
• The school of thought that believes reality is constructed through our experiences is called empiricism.

Against:

• The lack of clarity or established proof that any of the events Gaitonde believed actually happened indicates that all of this could have just been his imagination.
• Similarly, the piece of paper he presents as proof may have just been a work of fiction constructed by him.
• This may also be the impact of the accident where Gaitonde’s memory may have been affected or damaged, leading him to believe in alternate realities.
• All of the events in this story can be explained through rational thought as well.

(iii) The methods of inquiry of history, science and philosophy are similar.
For:

• In the story we see Gaitonde, a history academic experiencing an alternate version of historical events closely connected to time, which Rajendra compares to the quantum theory in physics.
• The method that Rajendra uses to explain the science behind this to Gaitonde is very close to how philosophers explained things, attempting to simplify complicated concepts using examples.
• Thus we see all three disciplines closely connected in the text through their understanding of time and reality.

Against:

• If all three disciplines were so closely connected in their methods and fields of inquiry, they wouldn’t be studied separately.
• But because the concepts they deal with are radically different, they are studied separately.
• Further, while the inquiry may be similar in the text, this does not imply that-all methods of inquiry used by these disciplines are similar, as the text only picks up one particular incident.
• And this may broadly differ in these fields on other instances.

Question 2.
(i) The story is called‘The Adventure’. Compare it with the adventure described in ‘We’re Not Afraid to Die…’
Answer:
“We’re Not Afraid to Die…” narrates a family’s adventures on a boat at sea facing a terrible storm. It describes various efforts made by the parents to guide their boat to safety and presents the courage of their children while the parents panicked. “The Adventure” constructs an alternate version of reality, which is what would have happened had the Marathas defeated the British. How the Indian nation would have appeared under the influence of Indian rulers instead of the British. While the events of “We’re Not Afraid to Die.. .’’are realistic and depict encounters that may have happened around the world, the events in “The Adventure” are fictional and speculative.

(ii) Why do you think Professor Gaitonde decided never to preside over meetings again?
Answer:
In the alternate reality of India, Professor Gaitonde attempted to take the empty chair on stage that he was so accustomed to take, only to be met with hostility from the crowd, who threw eggs and tomatoes at him and ran him off stage. The impact of this incident on him is so traumatic, at what he considers his thousandth address as chair, that when he returns to his actual reality he refuses to preside over any more meetings again.

The Adventure Thinking about language

Question 1.
In which language do you think Gangadharpant and Khan Sahib talked to each other? Which language did Gangadharpant use to talk to the English receptionist?
Answer:
Since Khan Sahib is from Peshawar, he may have spoken to Gangadharpant in Hindi or Urdu. However, since Gangadharpant was speaking to the English receptionist in territory controlled by the British, one can assume he spoke to her in the English language.

Question 2.
In which language do you think Bhausahebanchi Bakhar was written?
Answer:
Since the Bhausahebanchi Bakhar describes the victory of the Marathas over the British, and appears to be a seminal book in a library in Maharashtra, the language used may have been Marathi.

Question 3.
There is mention of three communities in the story: the Marathas, the Mughals, the Anglo-Indians. Which language do you think they used within their communities and while speaking to the other groups?
Answer:
Within the community, the Marathas would have used Marathi, the Mughals Urdu, and the Anglo-Indians would’ve used English. While speaking to other groups, considering that the British had little influence over India in the alternate version of history, Marathi may have been the common language because of the influence that Marathi rulers had on the outcome of India. Urdu could also have been the common language since the Mughal rule continued in Delhi or Hindi because of the historical association of the nation with the language.
(Answers will vary)

Question 4.
Do you think that the ruled always adopt the language of the ruler?
Answer:
While the ruled may be inclined to learn the language of the ruler, history has shown us through the diversity of languages that exists across the nation that not all people solely adopt a single language being promoted. While people across the nation use a common language to speak to one another, which is the ruler or administration’s language, they also retain association with local languages used in smaller spaces like the household.
(Answers will vary)

The Adventure Working with words 

I. Tick the item that is closest in meaning to the following phrases.

1. to take issue with—iii) to disagree .
2. to give vent to—(i) to express
3. to stand on one’s feet—(ii) to be independent
4. to be wound up—(ii) to stop operating
5. to meet one’s match—(iii) to meet someone who is equally able as oneself

II. Distinguish between the following pairs of sentences.

Question 1.
(i) He was visibly moved.
Answer:
The features on his face showed how he was emotionally affected,

(ii) He was visually impaired.
Answer:
He had trouble seeing things because of loss of vision.

Question 2.
(i) Green and black stripes were used alternately.
Answer:
Green stripes and black stripes were both used, one after the other.

(ii) Green stripes could be used or alternatively black ones.
Answer:
Either green stripes could be used everywhere or black ones in its place.

Question 3.
(i) The team played the two matches successfully.
Answer:
The team performed well in two specific matches they played

(ii) The team played two matches successively.
Answer:
The team played two consecutive matches, one followed by the other.

Question 4.
(i) The librarian spoke respectfully to the learned scholar.
Answer:
The librarian showed a sense of respect for the scholar while speaking to him.

(ii) You will find the historian and the scientist in the archaeology and natural science sections of the museum respectively.
Answer:
You will find the historian in the archaeology section and the scientist in the science section of the museum.

The Adventure Things to do

II. Look up the Internet or an encyclopedia for information on the following theories.

(i) Quantum theory
Quantum theory in physics is the study of the smallest particles in the universe found in atomic and subatomic particles. It observes the energy produced by particles like protons, neutrons and electrons where one unit is referred to as quanta, which led to the name Quantum theory. This theory was put together by the physicist Max Planck in 1900, who was later awarded the Nobel Prize.

(ii) Theory of relativity
This was established by the famous scientist Albert Einstein first in 1905. Einstein drew connections between space and time, arguing that these concepts were not fixed as previously understood by physics but fluid with possibilities of change. In the absence of a gravitational field, it was possible to convert matter into huge quantities of energy, and different bodies could experience time differently.

(iii) Big Bang theory
The Big Bang theory is a scientific explanation to the beginning of the world. According to this, the universe that we know began with a small singularity, a small and dense source of energy, which gradually expanded over time. This expanded into the stars and planets that we know of in the universe today.

(iv) Theory of evolution
The theory of evolution was given by Charles Darwin in his book On the Origin of Species in 1859. Darwin believed that all life on earth was connected to each other, and that humans evolved through a process of natural selection. Natural selection states that through a process of evolution from previous animal forms in different centuries, the human form has evolved by learning to adapt to natural habitat on the planet.

Here we are providing NCERT Solutions for Class 12 English Vistas Chapter 8 Memories of Childhood. Students can get Class 12 English Memories of Childhood NCERT Solutions, Questions and Answers designed by subject expert teachers.

Memories of Childhood NCERT Solutions for Class 12 English Vistas Chapter 8

Memories of Childhood NCERT Text Book Questions and Answers

Memories of Childhood Reading with insight

Question 1.
The two accounts that you read above are based on two distant cultures. What is the commonality of theme found in both of them?
Answer:
Both the autobiographical extracts, based upon two distant cultures, depict the lives of two women from marginalised communities who look back at their childhood and reflect on their relationship with mainstream culture. The first account is by an American Indian woman bom in the late 19th century. The account expressed the indignations suffered by the Native Americans at the hands of Christians.

She was ardently against the oppression of Native Americans in Western culture. Though she resented this mistreatment, she still aimed at bridging the wide gap between the dominant white and Native American cultures. She did not let herself get seduced into believing that her Native American traditions were folly or sin.

As a person of mixed blood, her life could be looked upon as an example of the beauty and accomplishments that are possible if the two cultures live in cooperation.The second account is by a contemporary Tamil Dalit writer. She voiced the discrimination she faced as a Dalit. She explored the impact of the discrimination, compounded by the poverty suffered by Dalit women.

The caste system had been so deeply ingrained in the Indian psyche that institutions that ought to promote egalitarianism became the means of perpetuating caste discrimination. Both these accounts are bound by the common theme of discrimination and indignity suffered by women in marginalised communities at the hands of the supposedly superior caste or culture.

Question 2.
It may take a long time for oppression to be removed, but the seeds of rebellion are sowed early in life. Do you agree that injustice in any form cannot escape being noticed even by children?
Answer:
Children are heavily influenced and conditioned by their upbringing. The social influences that they experience from childhood are often ingrained in their subconscious, and are manifested later. Children are also perceptive and keenly aware of positive and negative influences. Rebellious children manifest the ‘seed’ of rebellion planted at some point in their lives.

A sensitive perspective provides a means for understanding how the oppression of children occurs within multiple social contexts that interrelate to produce harmful outcomes for children. Children lack power and resources and are easy targets for adult oppression. Children are exposed to different levels and types of oppression that vary depending on their age, socio-economic class, race, and the beliefs of their parents.

According to the theory of differential oppression, oppression leads to adaptive reactions by children: passive acceptance, exercise of illegitimate coercive power, manipulation of one’s peers, and retaliation. Reducing the oppressive acts of adults and alleviating the damaging circumstances that characterise the social environment of children is critical to reducing the prevalence of juvenile delinquency and other kinds of problem behaviour. The reaction of Zitkala-Sa and Bama to the injustice they perceived as children ranged from defiance, anguish, resentment, and dejection to a fierce determination to excel.

Question 3.
Bama’s experience is that of a victim of the caste system. What kind of discrimination does Zitkala-Sa’s experience depict? What are their responses to their respective situations?
Answer:
Zitkala-Sa was ill-treated and discriminated against from the beginning of her journey. Native Americans, at that time, did not associate with white people and faced discrimination because of their appearance. She felt scared and extremely uncomfortable when unable to comprehend the ways of a foreign culture. Even though she hated the way she was treated, she still had to abide by rules and orders to avoid punishment. However much she suffered at the hands of cultural and racial discrimination, she managed to work her way through and never gave in to discrimination.

Similarly, Bama remained undeterred. She was convinced that she had a role to play. And it was this conviction that made her stand up for her beliefs. She championed the economic and social hardships faced by Dalits due to the discrimination by upper-caste people. Both the writers challenged accepted social practices and did not succumb to pressure. They made their voices heard, and brought to light the indignities faced by their races; they stood by what they believed to be true.

Memories of Childhood Extra Questions and Answers

Memories of Childhood Short Answer Questions

Question 1.
Who was Gertrude Simmons?
Answer:
Gertrude Simmons was an extraordinarily talented and educated Native American woman who struggled and triumphed at a time when severe prejudice prevailed against Native American culture and women. As a writer, she adopted the pen name, Zitkala-Sa. Her works criticized traditional dogma, and her life as a Native American woman was dedicated against the evils of oppression.

Question 2.
What were the first things that upset Zitkala-Sa at school?
Answer:
The severe cold weather and the alien surroundings upset Zitkala-Sa. She was neither familiar with the language nor the strict regime of the hostel. She was perturbed by the sound of the large bell with the annoying the clatter of shoes. Her spirit pined for its lost freedom.

Question 3.
How was the attire of the girls in school different from Zitkala-Sa?
Answer:
The girls at school wore stiff shoes and closely fitted dresses. The small girls wore sleeved aprons and shingled hair. Zitkala-Sa wore soft moccasins, and had wrapped a blanket on her shoulders. She found the tight-fitting clothes rather immodest.

Question 4.
Narrate Zitkala-Sa’s embarrassment at the breakfast table.
Answer:
At the breakfast table, a small bell was tapped, and each of the pupils drew a chair from under the table. Supposing this act meant that they were to be seated, Zitkala-Sa pulled out her chair and seated herself only to realize that the rest were standing. Just as she got up, a second bell was sounded. All were seated at that, and Zitkala-Sa had to crawl back into her chair again. She then heard a man’s voice and saw all had hung their heads over their plates. She saw a pale-faced woman stare at her and dropped her eyes. With the third bell, everyone picked up their knives and forks and began eating. Zitkala-Sa wept as she was confounded by the unfamiliarity of her surroundings and practices.

Question 5.
Why was cutting of her hair the greatest blow to Zitkala-Sa?
Answer:
Zitkala-Sa had been taught by her mother that, in Native American culture, unskilled warriors who were captured had their hair shingled by the enemy. Short hair was worn by mourners, and shingled hair by cowards according to their practices. She tried to resist being shorn of her cultural values.

Question 6.
What were the sights that fascinated little Bama as she walked home from school?
Answer:
Bama enjoyed the entertaining novelties and oddities on the streets, on her way home from school. The performing monkey, the antics of the snake-charmer, the cyclist at his cycle for three days, the Maariyaata temple and the huge bell, the pongal offerings being cooked, the dried fish stall, the sweet stall, the stall selling fried snacks, the street light changing colour, and other such sights fascinated her.

Question 7.
What was that one episode that left an indelible imprint on Bama’s mind?
Answer:
Bama noticed a man holding on to a food packet by its string. Without touching it, he handed it over to the landlord. The landlord opened the parcel and began to eat the vadais. At home, her elder brother explained to how lower cast people, such as the author herself, were prohibited to touch anything of use to the upper caste people. They were believed to sully the item they touched and therefore the package was carefully carried, by its string, for the landlord who belonged to higher caste.

Question 8.
What was the bitter truth of their life that Annan told Bama?
Answer:
Annan told Bama about the caste system that subjugated Dalits in the society. He added that being bom into a lower caste community, one could never get honour or dignity or respect. It was education alone that could help them earn respect.

Memories of Childhood Long Answer Questions

Question 1.
During her first meal in the missionary school, Simmons became painfully aware of the tension between tradition and acculturation and of the great lack of understanding people had about Native American culture. Explain.
Answer:
Before the meal, the girls were lined up. The Indian girls wore stiff shoes and closely clinging dresses, which seemed immodest to the author’s traditional taste. The small girls wore short hair. Simmons walked noiselessly in her soft leather shoes. She was embarrassed as her blanket had been taken off from her shoulders. Just as they entered, the boys came in from the opposite door. She was at a loss when the rest of them prayed, and ate with fork and knife, by the summons of bells.

She noticed the pale-faced woman staring at her and felt unnerved. The writer wept, she was at a loss over the strange practices, she lacked understanding of the western way of dressing, praying and eating. For a child, a sudden change of one’s faith, cultural and aesthetic conditioning is bewildering and often traumatic. The distance between the two cultures is pronounced by the example of the episode. What the west considered barbaric in Native American was the essence and beauty of their culture which was painfully and ignorantly stripped from their personality in an attempt to acclimatize them.

Question 2.
Narrate the trauma Simmons faced as a child during the hair-cutting episode.
Answer:
Judewin, who knew a few words of English, told Gertrude Simmons that they would cut their long, heavy hair. It was a blow to her as in their culture it signified humiliation or mourning. Judewin warned her about the futility of her mission to escape the hair-cutting ritual, but the writer was prepared to struggle. To hide from the situation, she crept up the stairs into a dim, large room, and crawled under the farthest bed in the dark comer. Every time footsteps were heard, she felt terrorized.

She knew that they were searching frantically for her and soon she was dragged out and tied to a chair. She wept loudly but her hair was clipped short. With her hair lost, she lost her spirit. She had suffered a great deal of disgrace earlier and now her hair was cut like that of a coward. She moaned for her mother, but no one came to comfort her. The brutality made her feel like a beast.

Question 3.
Bama like any other child enjoyed innocent pleasures. Justify.
Answer:
The writer walked home from school each day. It was a ten-minute walk but it took her thirty minutes to complete the distance. She would loiter along, watching all the fun and games and all the entertaining new and strange things that she saw on the way. She enjoyed everything, be it the performing monkey, or the snake charmer, or the man who cycled non-stop for days or the spinning wheels. She was fascinated by the Maariyaata temple, its huge bell and the pongal offerings.

She also stopped to hear the political activists, rallying, or to watch a street play, a puppet show, or a stunt performance.Even mundane activities such as waiters cooling coffee, or people chopping onions, or the almond tree with its fruit occasionally blown down held her attention for long. The people selling edibles were equally appealing to her.

Question 4.
Only an untouchable would know the pain of being one. Discuss with reference to Bama’s episode.
OR
How does “Memories of Childhood” bring out the plight of marginalized communities in India?
Answer:
Bama felt and experienced untouchability, early in life. As a child, she noticed an elderly person walking with a small packet, holding on to the packet by its string, without touching it. He brought it to the landlord, bowed low, and extended the packet towards him. The landlord opened the parcel and began to eat the vadais. Her elder brother explained that people believed that they were upper caste and therefore prohibited people from the lower caste to touch them, believing that the act would pollute them.

On hearing that, Bama felt sad and insulted. Her mind rebelled against fetching and carrying for people who considered people such as her untouchable. It made her very angry. She wondered why the upper-caste people behaved in such a manner just because they were richer. She strongly felt that her people must never run errands for those of the upper caste people.

NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Biology Chapter 15 Biodiversity and Conservation

These Solutions are part of NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Biology. Here we have given NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Biology Chapter 15 Biodiversity and Conservation

Question 1.
Name the three important components of biodiversity
Solution:
The three important components of biodiversity are genetic diversity, species diversity and ecological diversity. These components are the basic building blocks of biodiversity. These are intimately linked and may have common elements.

Question 2.
How do ecologists estimate the total number of species present in the world?
Solution:
The diversity of living organisms present on the earth is very vast. According to an estimate by researchers, it is about seven million. The total number of species present in the world is calculated by ecologists by statistical comparison between species richness of a well-studied group of insects of temperate and tropical regions. Then, these ratios are extrapolated with other groups of plants and animals to calculate the total species richness present on the earth.

Question 3.
Give three hypotheses for explaining why tropics show the greatest levels of species richness.
Solution:
The three hypotheses for higher species richness in tropical areas are:

1. Prolong evolutionary time – Temperate areas have undergone frequent glaciation in the past. It killed most of the species. No such disturbance occurred in the tropics where species continued to flourish and evolve undisturbed for millions of years.
2. Favourable environment – There are no unfavourable seasons in the tropics. The continued favourable environment has helped tropical organisms to gain more niche specialisation and increased diversity.
3. More sunlight – More solar energy is available in the tropics. This promotes higher productivity and increased biodiversity.

Question 4.
What is the significance of the slope of regression in a species-area relationship?
Solution:
The slope of regression/regression co-efficient of species-area relationship indicates that species richness decreases with a decrease in area.

• The regression coefficient is between 0.1 – 0.2 regardless of taxonomic group or region, eg: Plants in Britain, Birds in California.
• But in large areas like continents value is eg:- Frugivorous birds, mammals is tropical forests.

Question 5.
What are the major causes of species losses in a geographical region?
Solution:
The major causes of species losses in a geographical area are:

1. Habitat loss and fragmentation
2. Overexploitation
3. Alien species invasion
4. Co-extinctions
5. Disturbance and degradation
6. Pollution
7. Intensive agriculture and forestry.

Question 6.
How is biodiversity important for ecosystem functioning?
Solution:
An ecosystem with high species diversity is much more stable than an ecosystem with low species diversity. Also, high biodiversity makes the ecosystem more stable in productivity and more resistant to disturbances such as alien species invasions and floods.

If an ecosystem is rich in biodiversity, then the ecological balance would not get affected. Various trophic levels are connected through food chains. If anyone organism or all organisms of any one trophic level is illed, then it will disrupt the entire food chain. For example, in a food chain, if all plants are killed, then all deer will die due to the lack of food.

If all deer are dead, soon the tigers will also die. Therefore, it can be concluded that if an ecosystem is rich in species, then there will be other food alternatives at each trophic level which would not allow any organism to die due to the absence of their food resource. Hence, biodiversity plays an important role in maintaining the health and ecological balance of an ecosystem.

Question 7.
What are sacred groves? What is their role in conservation?
Solution:
Sacred groves are forest patches around places of work. These are held in high esteem by tribal communities/state or central government. Tribals do not allow to cut even a single branch of trees in these sacred groves. Preserved over the course of many generations, sacred groves represent native vegetation in a natural or near-natural state & thus is rich in biodiversity & harbour many rare species of plants & animals. This is the reason why many endemic species flourish in these regions.

Question 8.
Among the ecosystem services are control of floods and soil erosion. How is this achieved by the biotic components of the ecosystem?
Solution:

• Control of soil erosion: Plant roots hold the soil particles tightly and do not allow the topsoil to be drifted away by winds or moving water. Plants increase the porosity and fertility of the soil.
• Control of floods: It is carried out by retaining water and preventing runoff rainwater. Litter and humus of plants function as sponges thus, retaining the water which percolates down and gets stored as underground water. Hence, the flood is controlled.

Question 9.
The species diversity of plants (22 percent) is much less than that of animals (72 percent). What could be the explanations for how animals achieved greater diversification?
Solution:
Scientists recorded 22% of plant species diversity including algae, fungi, bryophytes, pteridophytes, gymnosperms, and angiosperms. But they recorded 72% of animal species (including insects, mollusks, fishes, mammals, birds etc.) diversity. Plants have the less adaptive capacity as compared to animals. Animals show locomotory movements and can move from one place to another to suit the environment and also in search of food. On the contrary, plants are fixed. Moreover, animals have well organised body structure with various organs to help adjust to the environment.

Question 10.
Can you think of a situation where we deliberately want to make a species extinct? How would you justify it?
Solution:
Yes, there are various kinds of parasites and disease-causing microbes that we deliberately want to eradicate from the earth. Since these micro-organisms are harmful to human beings, scientists are working hard to fight against them. Scientists have been able to eliminate the smallpox virus from the world through the use of vaccinations. This shows that humans deliberately want to make these species extinct. Several other eradication programmes such as polio and hepatitis B vaccinations are aimed to eliminate these disease-causing microbes.

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