His First Flight Question Answers (Important)| Class 10 English First Flight

 

His First Flight Important Questions and Answers - Class 10 English

 

CBSE Class 10 English Chapter 3 Two Stories About Flying Part 1- His First Flight Question Answers (Important) from First Flight Book

Class 10 English Two Stories About Flying Part 1 Question Answers – Looking for Two Stories About Flying Part 1 question answers (NCERT solutions) for CBSE Class 10 English First Flight Book Chapter 3? Look no further! Our comprehensive compilation of important questions will help you brush up on your subject knowledge. Practising Class 10 English question answers can significantly improve your performance in the board exam. Our solutions provide a clear idea of how to write the answers effectively. Improve your chances of scoring high marks by exploring Chapter 3: Two Stories About Flying Part 1 – His First Flight question answers now. The questions listed below are based on the latest CBSE exam pattern, wherein we have given NCERT solutions to the chapter’s extract based questions, multiple choice questions, short answer questions, and long answer questions. 

Also, practising with different kinds of questions can help students learn new ways to solve problems that they may not have seen before. This can ultimately lead to a deeper understanding of the subject matter and better performance on exams.

 

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His First Flight NCERT Solutions

Q1. Why was the young seagull afraid to fly? Do you think all young birds are afraid to make their first flight, or are some birds more timid than others? Do you think a human baby also finds it a challenge to take its first steps?

A. The young seagull was afraid to fly because it was his first flight. He doubted that his wings would not be able to support him. We are well aware that “Journey to a thousand miles begins with a single step” and it is very difficult to take that first step. Thus, I think all birds must be hesitating before taking their first flight, some more than others. Yes, just like young birds, human babies also hesitate while taking their first step.

Q2. “The sight of the food maddened him.” What does this suggest? What compelled the young seagull to finally fly?

A. On not being able to gather courage to fly and acting like a coward, the young seagull’s family left him alone. As a result, he was starving since he could not fly to get his own food. When he saw his mother coming near him with fish, he got excited and dived straight at the fish, forgetting for a moment that he was afraid of flying. Thus, he got so maddened by the sight of food because he was starving, which compelled him to take his first flight.

Q3. “They were beckoning to him, calling shrilly.” Why did the seagull’s father and mother threaten him and cajole him to fly?

A. Unlike his younger siblings, the poor seagull could not gather enough courage to take his first flight. Thus, his parents taunted him for being a coward. They even threatened it to let it starve if he did not try. They thought hunger would make him fly looking for his food. They did all of this because they wanted him to fly.

His First Flight Extract-based Questions

Extract-based questions are of the multiple-choice variety, and students must select the correct option for each question by carefully reading the passage.

1. He had, in fact, seen his older brother catch his first herring and devour it, standing on a rock, while his parents circled around raising a proud cackle. And all the morning the whole family had walked about on the big plateau midway down the opposite cliff taunting him with his cowardice.

i) Why was the family taunting the seagull?
A. They were taunting him because he was a coward.

ii) Herring is a type of ________
a. Whale
b. Fish
c. Bird
d. can’t say
A. b

iii) Choose a synonym of “tear”
A. Devour

iv) What do we mean by “his parents circled around raising a proud cackle”?
a. They moved around him in a circular path
b. They drew a circle
c. They made a cackle sound which could be heard in a circular area
d. None of these
A. a

2. He was soaring gradually downwards and outwards. He was no longer afraid. He just felt a bit dizzy. Then he flapped his wings once and he soared upwards. “Ga, ga, ga, Ga, ga, ga, Gaw-col-ah,” his mother swooped past him, her wings making a loud noise. He answered her with another scream. Then his father flew over him screaming. He saw his two brothers and his sister flying around him curveting and banking and soaring and diving. Then he completely forgot that he had not always been able to fly, and commended himself to dive and soar and curve, shrieking shrilly

i) Which option clearly identifies the state of the seagull family as mentioned in the extract?
a. They were trying to save each other from drowning
b. They were celebrating the first flight of the coward seagull
c. They were having a feast of herring
d. They were dancing
A. b

ii) Why were the father and mother seagull screaming?
a. They were annoyed
b. They were scared
c. They were happy
d. They were mad
A. c

iii) Why were his two brothers and his sister flying around him curveting and banking and soaring and diving?
A. They were teaching him different movements.

Class 10 English Two Stories About Flying Part 1 Question Answers Lesson 3 – Extract Based Questions

 

3. Read the given extract and answer the questions that follow:

The young seagull was alone on his ledge. His two brothers and his sister had already flown away the day before. He had been afraid to fly with them. Somehow when he had taken a little run forward to the brink of the ledge and attempted to flap his wings he became afraid. The great expanse of sea stretched down beneath, and it was such a long way down miles down. He felt certain that his wings would never support him; so he bent his head and ran away back to the little hole under the ledge where he slept at night.

i) Why was the young seagull afraid?
A.  The young seagull was afraid of flying over the sea.

ii) What did the young seagull feel about his wings?
A. The young seagull felt that his wings would never support him.

iii) Pick out the word from the passage that means the same as ‘the verge’.
A. The word is ‘brink’.

iv) Pick out the word from the passage which means ‘a narrow flat piece of rock that sticks out from a cliff’.
A. The word is ‘ledge’.

Class 10 Two Stories About Flying Part 1 Important Question Answers Video

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4. Read the given extract and answer the questions that follow:

That was twenty-four hours ago. Since then nobody had come near him. The day before, all day long, he had watched his parents flying about with his brothers and sister, perfecting them in the art of flight, teaching them how to skim the waves and how to dive for fish. He had in fact seen his elder brother catch his first herring and devour it, standing on a rock, while his parents circled around raising a proud cackle. And all the morning the whole family had walked about on the big plateau midway down the opposite cliff taunting him for his cowardice. 

i) The young seagull had been alone for how much time?
A. For twenty four hours, the young seagull had been alone.

ii) Why was the whole family taunting the young seagull?
A. The whole family was taunting the young seagull for his cowardice.

iii) Find the word which can be replaced by ‘consume’ in the passage?
A. The word is ‘devour’.

iv) The word ‘bravery’ is an antonym of ___________.
A. The word is ‘cowardice’. 

 

5. Read the given extract and answer the questions that follow:

He stepped slowly out to the brink of the ledge, and standing on one leg with the other leg hidden under his wing, he closed one eye, then the other, and pretended to be falling asleep. Still they took no notice of him. He saw his two brothers and his sister lying on the plateau dozing with their heads sunk into their necks. His father was preening the feathers on his white back. Only his mother was looking at him. She was standing on a little high hump on the plateau, her white breast thrust forward. Now and again, she tore at a piece of fish that lay at her feet and then scrapped each side of her beak on the rock. 

i) What did the young seagull do out on the ledge?
A. The young seagull pretended to be falling asleep and watched his brothers and sister lying on the plateau.

ii) What was the seagull’s father doing?
A. The seagull’s father was preening the feathers on his white back.

iii) Find out the word in the passage which means the same as ‘to sharpen’.
A. The word is ‘preening’.

iv) What does plateau mean?
A. A plateau is an area of land that is higher than the land around it. 

6. Read the given extract and answer the questions that follow:

Then a monstrous terror seized him and his heart stood still. He could hear nothing. But it only lasted a minute. The next moment he felt his wings spread outwards. The wind rushed against his breast feathers, then under his stomach, and against his wings. – He could feel the tips of his wings cutting through the air. He was not falling headlong now. He was soaring gradually downwards arid outwards, He was no longer afraid. He just felt a bit dizzy. Then he flapped his wings once and he soared upwards. “Ga, ga, ga, Ga, ga, ga, Gaw-col-ah,” his mother swooped past him, her wings making a loud noise. He answered her with another scream. Then his father flew over him screaming. He saw his two brothers and his sister flying around him curving and banking and soaring and diving.

i) What did the young seagull feel the next moment?
A. The next moment the young seagull felt his wings spread outwards.

ii) What did the young seagull’s mother do?
A. The young seagull’s mother swooped past him and made a loud noise with her wings.

iii) Find out the word from the passage that means the same as ‘fly high in the air’.
A. The word is ‘soaring’.

iv) Find out from the passage a word that means ‘to grab’.
A. The word is ‘seized’.

7. Read the given extract and answer the questions that follow:

His parents and his brothers and sister had landed on this green flooring ahead of him. They were beckoning to him, calling shrilly. He dropped his legs to stand on the green sea. His legs sank into it. He screamed with fright and attempted to rise again, flapping his wings. But he was tired and weak with hunger and he could not rise, exhausted by the strange exercise. His feet sank into the green sea, and then his belly touched it and he sank no farther. He was floating on it, and around him his family was screaming, praising him and their beaks were offering him scraps of dog-fish. 

i) What does the phrase, ‘this green flooring’ refer to?
A. ‘The green flooring’ refers to the green surface of the sea.

 

2. What made the young seagull tired? 

Ans: The young seagull was tired because he was weak with hunger and he made a successful attempt for his first flight.

 

3. Find out the word that means the same as ‘inviting’.

Ans: Beckoning.

 

4. The word _________ means a small piece/amount of something.

Ans: Scrap. 

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Class 10 English Two Stories About Flying Part 1 Short Question Answers (including questions from Previous Years Question Papers)


In this post we are also providing important short answer questions from the chapter Two Stories About Flying Part 1 – His First Flight for CBSE Class 10 Boards in the coming session. These questions have been taken from previous years class 10 Board exams and the year is mentioned in the bracket along with the question.

Q1. Why was the young seagull afraid to fly? (CBSE 2011, 2019)

Ans: Whenever the young seagull took a little run forward to the extreme edge of the ledge and attempted to flap his wings, he became afraid. Seeing the vast area of the sea, he thought his wings would never support him.

 

Q2. How were Seagull’s parents helping his brothers and sister for “perfecting them in the art of flight”?

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

 

Q3. What did the young seagull do to satisfy his hunger?

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

 

Q4. Why could the young seagull not reach his parents without flying?

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

 

Q5. “Still they took no notice of him” What did the seagull do to draw the attention of his family?

OR

What did the seagull do to draw his mother’s attention? (CBSE 2012)

Ans: The young seagull stepped slowly out to the extreme edge of the ledge. He was standing on one leg with the other leg hidden under his wing. He closed one eye, then the other and pretended to be asleep and they looked at him.

 

Q6. What was his family doing on the plateau when seagulls failed to draw their attention?

Ans: The two brothers and the sister of the young seagull were half asleep with their heads sunk into their necks. His father was preening the feathers with his beak on his white back. Only his mother, standing on a little mound on the plateau, was looking at him.

 

Q7. “But he kept calling plaintively, and after a minute or so he uttered a joyful scream: Why did the young seagull utter a joyful scream?

Ans: The young seagull was desperately hungry. So, he screamed with joy when he saw his mother flying across to him with a piece of fish in her beak. He leaned out eagerly, tapping the rock with his feet trying to get nearer to her.

 

Q8. Ga. ga, ga he cried begging her to bring him some food. To whom was the young seagull begging and did she respond?

OR

The Oxford Dictionary defines ‘hangry’ as ‘bad-tempered or irritable as a result of hunger’. To what extent can the young seagull’s motivation to fly be attributed to being hungry? Support your stance with evidence from the text. (CBSE QUESTION BANK)

Ans: The young seagull was begging his mother to bring some food to him. But his mother’s motive was to teach him flying. So, she stopped flying when she reached near him so that he might attempt to fly.

 

Q9. How did the young seagull start flying?

OR

Describe the young seagull’s emotions when he flew over the sea. (CBSE QUESTION BANK)

Ans: The young seagull was ‘maddened by hunger when he dived at the piece of fish in his mother’s beak. But he fell outwards and downwards with a loud scream. When his mother swooped upwards, he followed her and thus he started flying.

 

Q10. “He dropped his legs to stand on the green sea? How did his family react when he did so? (CBSE 2012)

Ans: Being tired and weak with hunger, the young seagull dropped his legs to stand on the green sea. His entire family came around him screaming, praising him and their beaks were offering him scraps of dog-fish.

 

Q11. When did the seagull’s flight begin? Where did it end? 

Ans: The seagull’s flight began when he moved to the brink of the ledge. He dived at the fish, which was in his mother’s beak. His fight ended when, after being tired of his first flight and being weak, he dropped himself on the surface of the sea and floated on it.

 

Q12. How did the seagull get over his fear of the water?

OR

Validate the given statement with reference to baby seagull’s fear. “Fear doesn’t exist anywhere else other than in one’s mind.” (CBSE SQP 2022-23)

Ans: After his first flight, the seagull was tired of his strange experience. He dropped his two legs to stand on the green sea. He screamed fearfully and attempted to rise again, flapping his wings. He overcame his fear of the water by floating on it.

 

Q13. Do you sympathize with the seagull? Why?

Ans: We sympathize with the seagull because, due to his fear of flying, he had to remain lonely and hungry, after his family had left him to suffer. He could not muster courage to fly like his brothers and sister.

 

Q14. How did the seagull express his excitement when he saw his mother bringing food for him?

Ans: The young seagull uttered a joyful scream when he saw his mother picking up a piece of the fish and flying across to him with it. He leaned out eagerly, tapping the rock with his feet.

 

Q15. How did the young seagull’s parents teach their children the art of flying? 

Ans: The seagull’s parents had taught their children how to skim the waves and how to dive for the fish. They encouraged them by raising a loud shrill sound when their older son caught his first herring and ate it greedily.

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Class 10 Two Stories About Flying Part 1 Long Answer Questions Lesson 3

 

Q1. Why was the young seagull left alone in the ledge by his family?

OR

“The young seagull was alone on his ledge.” How far do you think this condition was by his choice? (CBSE QUESTION BANK) 

Ans: The young seagull was afraid to fly. His father and mother wanted him to go and fly with them. But whenever he had taken a little run forward to the extreme edge of the ledge and tried to move his wings he became afraid. He failed to muster up courage to thrust himself forcibly in space, and started flying.

His two brothers and his sister had wings shorter than him but they started flying. But the young seagull somehow thought that his wings would not support him. For this, he was scolded by his parents, who gave a threat to him and he was left alone in the ledge.

 

Q2. How did the young seagull learn to float on the sea? 

Ans: After flying for some time, the young seagull came near the sea. He was flying straight over it. He saw a vast green sea beneath him, with little ridges moving over it. His brothers and sister had landed on the sea and they were calling in a shrill voice and beckoning to him. He dropped his legs to stand on the green sea. His legs sank into the water. He screamed with fright and attempted to rise again, flapping his wings.

But he was tired and weak with hunger. He was exhausted due to flying for so long. His feet sank into the green sea, and then his belly touched it and he sank no farther. He was floating on it, and around him his family was screaming, praising him and offering him food from their beaks. This is how he learnt to float on the sea.

 

Q3. How do you find the seagulls in the beginning and at the end of the lesson?

Ans: In the beginning we find the young seagull too frightened and terrified to fly. He had bigger wings as compared to his two brothers and sister. But still he was afraid even to attempt flying. When they flew away he could gather courage to thrust himself forcibly in space, which made him scared and desperate.

When he was starving for a day, his mother came across to him with a piece of fish in her beak. When she reached near him, she stopped and, maddened by hunger, he dived at the fish. But his mother had swooped upward. He found his wings spread and was more confident now. In the end we see him flying till he was tired and dropped himself on the surface of the sea.

 

Q4. What methods were used by the seagull’s family to help him overcome his fear of flying?

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

 

Q5. The young seagull was trying to find some means of reaching his parents without having to fly. Was he successful in doing so?

Ans: After being left alone by his family, the young seagull was hungry. So he wanted to join his family on the plateau. But he could not do so unless he tried to fly. As he was afraid of flying he was trying to find some other means to reach them. But on each side of him the ledge ended in a steep fall in a vertical cliff, with the sea below.

Moreover, between him and his parents there was a deep and wide crack in the earth. He could reach them without flying if he could only move towards north along the steep rock. There was no ledge and he could not fly. And above him he could see nothing. The vertical cliff was very steep, and the top of it was perhaps farther away than the sea beneath him. So he was not able to reach them without flying.

 

Q6. Do you think hunger was a good motivation for the young seagull in his first flight? Comment.

Ans: Yes, I do think that hunger played a vital role in the young seagull’s attempt to start flying. He was left alone on the ledge by his family because he would not try to fly with them. His parents scolded him in a shrill voice and threatened him of starvation, but he still was afraid to fly. Then they left him alone.

He was so hungry that he had to live on whatever he could find there. When he saw his mother with a piece of fish in her beak, he begged her for food. Then he uttered a joyful scream when he saw his mother flying across to him with a piece of fish in her beak. But she stopped when she came opposite to him. When the young seagull realised that she wouldn’t come nearer, and “maddened by hunger, he dived at the fish. This was his first attempt to fly. Gradually when his hesitation and fear were removed, he started flying which he enjoyed very much.

 

Q7. “Then he completely forgot that he had not always been able to fly.” Comment on the young seagull’s first flight in light of this statement.

OR

The ‘fight or flight response’, that is, to stay and face a situation or run from it- is an automatic reaction to an event perceived as stressful or harmful. How would you evaluate the young gull’s response on finding himself off the ledge? (CBSE QUESTION BANK) 

Ans: The young seagull was suffering from the pangs of hunger after his family left him. Next day when he saw them on the plateau, he tried to draw their attention. Then his mother flew across to him with a piece of fish in her beak. But she stopped opposite him with her motionless wings. He could no longer tolerate the hunger and “maddened by hunger, he dived at the fish though terrified, he felt his wings spread outwards.

He could feel the tips of his wings cutting through the air. Now he was soaring gradually downwards and outwards. He was no more afraid of flying now. He flapped his wings once and he soared upwards. He screamed to encourage himself and share his happiness. He forgot that previously he was not able to fly.

 

Q8. Fear and lack of confidence stop one from learning new things. Do you agree? How did these two traits of the young seagull make him cowardly? How did he overcome these shortcomings? 

Ans: Yes, it is true that fear and lack of confidence stop one from learning new things as in the story, the young seagull lacked the value of courage and confidence in his character. He was too scared of flying.

His family tried hard to make him fly but he refused to do so because of his fear of sinking in the seawater. They even scolded him for his cowardice. They tried to tempt him with food but he was not willing to learn flying. Once he dived, his fear disappeared and he enjoyed his first fight. It is a fact that unless we try something and overcome our fear, we cannot learn anything. Confidence and motivation are the two most important traits that make any learning possible.

 

Q9. “Hunger made the young seagull mad and gave him success.” How can you explain it and justify the story?

OR

Hunger is a great motivational force. It is true that a person can take any extreme step for food. How far do you agree? 

Ans: It is a fact that hunger makes us mad and every person works for food. It is only hunger that encourages and forces us to do work. If it is not in our life, all the boundation of work will automatically be finished. Every person works for food and to satisfy his hunger. No one in this universe can remain hungry. This hunger makes us work day and night. It can change the mentality of any human being as well as any creature.

We find that the young seagull did not gather courage to fly, when he saw fish in the mouth of his mother, he gathered courage and flew over the ledge. He could not control himself at the sight of the food and jumped at the fish. He fell from the ledge and tried to flap his wings. Thus he found himself flying into the air.

 

Q10. “Mother is the first teacher.” Do you agree with this statement? Explain with reference to the young seagull.

Ans: Yes, it is true that mother is the first teacher. It is a well known point for all. A baby takes birth and first of all sees the mother’s face. It is the mother who gives him a new life by feeding him. The mother helps the baby to walk him first. The mother introduces him to this world, gives him knowledge of relations. She teaches him how to speak. She gives him power and strength to face the difficulties of life.

The same thing we find in this story, when no one could encourage the young seagull to fly, his mother thought out a plan and took a piece of fish near him, but she did not go nearer and her plan worked.

 

Q11. Why was the young seagull afraid to fly? Do you think all young birds are afraid to make their first flight, or are some birds more timid than others? Do you think a human baby also finds it a challenge to take its first steps?

Ans: The young seagull was afraid to fly because he felt that his wings could not support him. Yes, think that all young birds are afraid to make their first flight. It’s a new experience for them. However, some of the birds are more timid than others: They take some time to muster the courage to begin their first flight. It is true in the case of a human baby also. They find it a challenge to take their first step.

 

Q12. “The sight of the food maddened him.” What does this suggest? What compelled the young seagull to finally fly?

Ans: The sight of the food maddened him. He had been hungry for 24 hours. He was impatient and desperate. He dived at the fish in his mother’s beak. She flew upwards. He fell downwards. His wings spread outwards, cutting through the air. Thus began his flight.

 

Q13. “They were beckoning to him, calling shrilly.” Why did the seagull’s father and mother threaten him and cajole him to fly?

Ans: The young seagull was afraid to fly. He was alone on his ledge. His two brothers and his sister had already flown away the day before. But he was too timid to fly. He felt that his small wings would never support him. His father and mother came around calling to him shrilly. They threatened him to starve on his ledge unless he flew away. They wanted him to take his first flight.

 

Q14. In the case of a bird flying, it seems a natural act, and a foregone conclusion that it should succeed. In the examples you have given in answer to the previous question, was your success guaranteed, or was it important for you to try, regardless of a possibility of failure? 

Ans: In the case of bird flying, it seems a natural act, and a foregone conclusion that it should succeed. But in the case of learning something, success is never guaranteed. To succeed, one has to put in hard work and continuous practice. When a child learns to step, to run, to speak, success is almost guaranteed because these are natural acts but when one learns a skill, it is not a natural act. Success is not guaranteed. One has to try regardless of a possibility of failure.

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