We Are Not Afraid To Die If We Can All Be Together Question Answers (Important)| Class 11 English Hornbill Book

We Are Not Afraid To Die If We Can All Be Together Question Answers

CBSE Class 11 English Lesson 2 We Are Not Afraid To Die If We Can All Be Together Question Answers (Important) from Hornbill Book

Class 11 English We’re Not Afraid to Die Question Answers – Looking for We’re Not Afraid to Die if We Can All Be Together question answers (NCERT solutions) for CBSE Class 11 English Hornbill Book Chapter 2? Look no further! Our comprehensive compilation of important questions will help you brush up on your subject knowledge. Practising Class 11 English question answers can significantly improve your performance in the exam. Our solutions provide a clear idea of how to write the answers effectively. Improve your chances of scoring high marks by exploring Chapter 2: We’re Not Afraid to Die if We Can All Be Together 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, 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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We Are Not Afraid To Die If We Can All Be Together NCERT Solutions

Understanding the Text
1. List the steps taken by the captain
(i) to protect the ship when rough weather began.
(ii) to check the flooding of the water in the ship.
Ans: (i) the narrator decided to slow down the ship to protect it from bad and stormy weather. He dropped the storm jib and lashed heavy mooring rope across the stern of the ship. Then, they double – lashed everything. They carried their life-raft drill, attached lifelines, donned life jackets and oilskins.

(ii) to check the flooding of the water, the narrator put waterproof hatch which covered the gaping holes. This diverted the water flow to the side. His hand pumps were blocked due to debris and his one electric pump was short-circuited. He found a hand pump and a spare electric pump. He connected the electric pump to the out pipe and started it.

2. Describe the mental condition of the voyagers on 4 and 5 January.
Ans: On January 4, the voyagers felt relieved as they were continuously pumping out water for the past 36 hours and only a few centimetres of water was left. They had their first meal in two days. Mary found some corned beef and cracker biscuits.

Later, around 4 pm, the weather changed as black clouds marched towards them. The wind was now 40 knots and the sea was getting higher. The weather got worse and by the early morning of January 5, the situation was bad. This gave them mental stress.

3. Describe the shifts in the narration of the events as indicated in the three sections of the text. Give a subtitle to each section.
Ans:
The first section: Beginning of the Round – the – Voyage
The first section was cheerful and full of hope as the family began their planned voyage just like the one done 200 years ago by the famous Captain James Cook. They had perfected their seafaring skills for 16 years. They built a ship ‘Wavewalker’ professionally which was a 23 metres long, 30 tons wooden-hulled ship. They celebrated Christmas on the ship despite the bad weather.
The Second Section: the struggle with the big attack
This section changed from cheerful to intense. The family was under great pressure to survive the oncoming waves and bad weather conditions. A giant wave created chaos and the ship was about to overturn. The narrator was thrown off into the water and he almost drowned and got injured. Along with two hired crewmen, the narrator pumped out the water from the ship for a continuous 36 hours. He also tried repairing the parts of the ship. He almost lost his hope and believed they would die. But his children were fearless and courageous enough which gave him the determination to fight back.

The third section: Victory

With the support of his children, the narrator kept trying to save the ship in order to reach the two small islands, lle Amsterdam. They finally reached their destination and got help from the inhabitants of the island. His son called him the best daddy and best captain.

Talking about the Text

1. What difference did you notice between the reaction of the adults and the children when faced with danger?
Ans: There was a huge difference between the reaction of the adults and the children. The adults lose their hope at the end and wait for their fate of death. On the other hand, the children were hopeful and gave the narrator moral support. With the support of his children, Jonathan and Suzanne, he decided to make it to the island at any cost. The children showed maturity. His son expressed courage as to how he wasn’t afraid to die if they all were together. His daughter made him a card expressing her love and affection towards her parents and wrote a beautiful message. She was injured still, she didn’t let it become a hurdle for her parents who were trying to save the ship.

2. How does the story suggest that optimism helps to endure “the direst stress”?
Ans: Optimism is the determination to overcome any challenges. Without optimism, it is impossible to face difficulties and solve problems. The family fought with the sea with great optimism and determination which ultimately saved them. Again and again, on being attacked by the sea, they didn’t stop trying which helped them get to the shore of the lle Amsterdam island.

When the son of the narrator told him,” we aren’t afraid of dying if we can all be together — you and Mummy, Sue and I”. This showed the maturity of the children and how they played an important role in motivating the narrator who had almost lost hope. Sue, his daughter who made him a card showed how she was proud of her parents and didn’t make a big deal of her injuries which were in a bad condition. With the struggles and efforts, they finally made it to their destination.

3. What lessons do we learn from such hazardous experiences when we are face-to-face with death?
Ans: Life is never about being happy all the time. We are constantly tested and how we tackle every problem and rise through it is the ultimate lesson. Such hazardous situations teach us how we should react towards them. We must never lose hope and keep trying as it will lead to success. In certain situations, one must keep calm and think logically. No matter how bad the situation is, there is always a way to get out of it. Significance of being extra cautious and making sure that the situation doesn’t get worse is required at such moments.

4. Why do you think people undertake such adventurous expeditions in spite of the risks involved?
Ans: The willingness to accept challenges drives people to take such adventurous expeditions in spite of the risk involved. People like to try different elements of nature and some do it as a passion. Surely people already know of the risks involved in such activities, but still, they do not hesitate to try it out.

Grammar Exercises

Thinking about Language

1. We have come across words like ‘gale’ and ‘storm’ in the account. Here are two more words for ‘storm’: typhoon, cyclone. How many words does your language have for ‘storm’?
Ans: In Hindi, there are many words for ‘storm’ – toofan, aandhi, andhad, etc.

2. Here are the terms for different kinds of vessels: yacht, boat, canoe, ship, steamer, schooner. Think of similar terms in your language.
Ans: ‘Kashti’, ‘Naav’, ‘Nauka’, ‘Jahaz’ are some terms in Hindi.

3. ‘Catamaran’ is a kind of a boat. Do you know which Indian language this word is derived from? Check the dictionary.
Ans: The word ‘Catamaran’ is derived from the Tamil language word ‘Kattumaram’.

4. Have you heard any boatmen’s songs? What kind of emotions do these songs usually express?
Ans: Yes, Such Boatmen songs express love and nostalgia. They also express the longing to meet the loved ones.

Working with Words

1. The following words used in the text as ship terminology are also commonly used in another sense. In what contexts would you use the other meaning?

knot stern boom hatch anchor

Ans:
Knot: a) a tangled mass in something
b) interlacing, looping, etc.
Stern: harsh, firm, strict, etc.
Boom – a) to experience a sudden rapid growth
b) to increase in popularity
Hatch: a) to cause an egg to break in order to allow a young animal to come out
b) to make a plan
Anchor: a) host of an event
b) a person who can be relied upon for support

2. The following three compound words end in -ship. What does each of them mean?

airship flagship Lightship

Ans:
Airship: a power-driven aircraft which is kept buoyant by a body of gas
Flagship: the ship in the fleet which carries commanding admiral
Lightship: an anchored boat with a beacon light to warn ships at sea

3. The following are the meanings listed in the dictionary against the phrase ‘take on’. In which meaning is it used in the third paragraph of the account:

Take on sth: to begin to have a particular quality or appearance; to assume sth
Take sb on: to employ sb; to engage sb
to accept sb as one’s opponent in a game, contest or conflict
Take sb/sth on: to decide to do sth; to allow sth/sb to enter e.g. a bus, plane or ship; to take sth/sb on board

Ans:
In the third paragraph, in lines “… we took two crewmen to help us tackle.. roughest seas”, the word ‘took on’ means to take somebody or to hire somebody.

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Class 11 English We Are Not Afraid To Die If We Can All Be Together Question Answers Chapter  2 – 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.

A. IN July 1976, my wife Mary, son Jonathan, 6, daughter Suzanne, 7, and I set sail from Plymouth, England, to duplicate the roundthe-world voyage made 200 years earlier by Captain James Cook. For the longest time, Mary and I — a 37-year-old businessman — had dreamt of sailing in the wake of the famous explorer, and for the past 16 years we had spent all our leisure time honing our seafaring skills in British waters.

Q1. Name the chapter from which the extract has been taken.
Answer. “ We are not afraid to die.. If we can all be together” is the name of the chapter from which the above extract is taken.

Q2. Name the author of the given lines.
Answer. Gordon Cook and Alan East

Q3. Mention all the family members as given in the above extract.
Answer. The family consists of Gordon Cook, his wife Mary, their daughter Suzanne and their son Jonathan.

Q4. What do you understand by the term “voyage”?
Answer. Voyage means a long journey, especially by ship

 

B. Our boat Wavewalker, a 23 metre, 30 ton wooden-hulled beauty, had been professionally built, and we had spent months fitting it out and testing it in the roughest weather we could find. The first leg of our planned three-year, 105,000 kilometre journey passed pleasantly as we sailed down the west coast of Africa to Cape Town. There, before heading east, we took on two crewmen — American Larry Vigil and Swiss Herb Seigler — to help us tackle one of the world’s roughest seas, the southern Indian Ocean.

Q1. Where did the second crewman hail from?
Answer. The second crewman hailed from Switzerland.

Q2. For how long did they decide to stay in water?
Answer. They planned a three year long journey.

Q3. Why were the crewmen hired?
Answer. The crewmen were hired by the narrator to help them tackle the roughest sea.

Q4. What is the name of the boat?
Answer. The boat’s name is “Wavewalker”.

C. At dawn on January 2, the waves were gigantic. We were sailing with only a small storm jib and were still making eight knots. As the ship rose to the top of each wave we could see endless enormous seas rolling towards us, and the screaming of the wind and spray was painful to the ears. To slow the boat down, we dropped the storm jib and lashed a heavy mooring rope in a loop across the stern. Then we double-lashed everything, went through our life-raft drill, attached lifelines, donned oilskins and life jackets — and waited.

Q1. What does knot mean?
Answer. Knot refers to a measure of the speed of a ship.

Q2. Why did they drop the storm jib?
Answer. They dropped the storm jib to slow down the speed of the boat.

Q3. What does stern mean in the above extract?
Answer. Stern means the back end of a ship or boat.

Q4. Pick a word from the extract which means extremely big.
Answer. Gigantic or enormous

 

D. Unexpectedly, my head popped out of the water. A few metres away, Wavewalker was near capsizing, her masts almost horizontal. Then a wave hurled her upright, my lifeline jerked taut, I grabbed the guard rails and sailed through the air into Wavewalker’s main boom. Subsequent waves tossed me around the deck like a rag doll. My left ribs cracked; my mouth filled with blood and broken teeth. Somehow, I found the wheel, lined up the stern for the next wave and hung on.

Q1. Who is “I” in the above lines?
Answer. “I” in the above lines is a narrator, a 37 year old businessman.

Q2. What was the physical state of the narrator?
Answer. The narrator was brave in the face of adversity.

Q3. Who is “she” in the above lines?
Answer. She in the above lines is May, the wife of the narrator.

Q4. Which word from the extract tells us that the boat had turned over in the water.
Answer. Capsizing

Q5. Who were Larry and Herb?
Answer. Larry and Herb were the crewmen.

 

E. The night dragged on with an endless, bitterly cold routine of pumping, steering and working the radio. We were getting no replies to our Mayday calls — which was not surprising in this remote corner of the world. Sue’s head had swollen alarmingly; she had two enormous black eyes, and now she showed us a deep cut on her arm. When I asked why she hadn’t made more of her injuries before this, she replied, “I didn’t want to worry you when you were trying to save us all.”

Q1. Who was hurt?
Answer. Sue was hurt due to the collision.

Q2. What is “Mayday call”?
Answer. Mayday is the word used around the world to make a distress call via radio communications. Mayday signals a life-threatening emergency, usually on a ship.

Q3. Who is “Sue”?
Answer. Sue is the daughter of the narrator.

Q4.What did their ship collide with?
Answer. The ship collided with a wave.

F. When I went in to comfort the children, Jon asked, “Daddy, are we going to die?” I tried to assure him that we could make it. “But, Daddy,” he went on, “we aren’t afraid of dying if we can all be together — you and Mummy, Sue and I.” I could find no words with which to respond, but I left the children’s cabin determined to fight the sea with everything I had. To protect the weakened starboard side, I decided to heave to — with the undamaged port hull facing the oncoming waves, using an improvised sea anchor of heavy nylon rope and two 22 litre plastic barrels of paraffin.

Q1. Who said “We are not afraid to die if we can all be together” ?
Answer. Jonathan said these lines.

Q2. What was the attitude of the narrator’s children towards their deteriorating stage?
Answer. The children were optimistic.

Q3. What does “pinpricks in the vast ocean” mean?
Answer. Islands refer to “pinpricks in the vast ocean”.

Q4. Find a word from the above extract which means secondary or subsidiary.
Answer. Auxiliary

 

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Class 11 English We Are Not Afraid To Die If We Can All Be Together (including questions from Previous Years Question Papers)

In this post we are also providing important short answer questions from the Chapter 2 We’re Not Afraid to Die… if We Can All Be Together for CBSE Class 11 exams for the coming session.

 

Q1. What did the narrator plan to do? What preparations did he make for it?
Answer: Similar to what Captain James Cook had done 200 years prior, the narrator intended to embark on a round-the-world sea expedition. To achieve this goal, he and his wife had been honing their maritime skills for the past 16 years.

Q2. Give a brief description of the narrator’s boat. How had the narrator equipped and tested it?
Answer: The “Wavewalker” was the name of the narrator’s ship. It was a magnificent wooden-hulled ship measuring 23 metres long and 30 tonnes. It had been expertly constructed. Months had been spent preparing it and testing it under the most adverse conditions.

Q3. How long did the narrator plan his voyage to last?
Answer: The narrator planned to travel 105,000 kilometres across the world in three years.

Q4. When and with whom did the narrator begin his voyage?
Answer: In July 1976, the narrator set out on his sea voyage. He was accompanied by his wife Mary, son Jonathan, age 6, and daughter Suzanne, age 7. They set sail from Plymouth, England.

Q5. Whom did the narrator employ and why? When did he do so?
Answer: In order to navigate the southern Indian Ocean, one of the world’s worst seas, the narrator hired two crewmen—the American Larry Vigil and the Swiss Herb Seigler. He engaged them before departing from Cape Town.

Q6. What happened on their second day out of Cape Town? What worried the narrator and why?
Answer: They encountered powerful storms on their second day after leaving Cape Town. The following couple weeks saw continuous fury from these storms. The waves were giving the narrator anxiety. Their magnitude alarmed him. The waves rose as high as their main mast.

Q7. How did they celebrate the Christmas holidays?
Answer: On December 25, they were 3,500 kilometres east of Cape Town. Very harsh weather persisted. However, they enjoyed their holiday, which included a Christmas tree. On January 1st, the weather did not get any better.

Q8. How did the weather change on January 2? How did they feel?
Answer: The weather changed for the worse on January 2. Now the waves were gigantic. As the ship rose to the top of each wave, they saw endless enormous seas rolling towards them. The screaming of the wind and spray was painful to the ears.

Q9. What efforts were made to face the rough weather?
Answer: The ship’s speed was reduced down to prepare for the bad weather. The storm jib was dropped. They formed a loop out of thick mooring rope and fastened it across the stem. They completed their life-raft drill after fastening everything together. They fastened lifelines and donned life jackets and water-resistant clothing.

Q10. What sort of wave hit the ship? How did the narrator react?
Answer: It was a powerful, enormous wave. It seemed to be exactly vertical. Its height was about two times that of the other waves. The narrator was horrified since he had never witnessed such a massive storm.

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Class 11 English Chapter 2  Long Answer Question Answers

Q1. The story ‘We’re Not Afraid to Die’ has a lesson ‘optimism helps to endure direst stress’. Do you agree? Why/Why not?
Answer. The real account of surviving against insurmountable odds told in “We’re Not Afraid to die… ” is one of bravery, endurance, and optimism. On the Wavewalker, which was travelling across the globe, were the narrator, his wife, and their two children. They met terrible weather and their boat sustained significant damage in the Indian Ocean. After being thrown overboard, the narrator was able to return to the boat.
The kids suffered injuries as well. Despite the boat flooding, no one gave up. The boat was repeatedly being saved by the narrator. The children trusted their father. Water from the boat was pumped out, but more water kept coming in. The storm’s ferocity gradually subsided, but the boat continued to leak.The boat was able to navigate 165 kilometres to Amsterdam by the narrator. All the people on the boat, even the kids, stayed positive and optimistic throughout this tragedy. Nobody ever showed hopelessness. The narrator drew strength from their optimism.

Q2. ‘We’re Not Afraid to Die … If We Can All Be Together’ traces down the saga of hardship and bravery as portrayed in this adventure story.
Answer: Strong wind gusts were met by the ship. They double-lashed everything, but the captain was thrown overboard and his head, ribs, and teeth were broken by a massive wave. Afterward, he was tossed back despite holding onto the guardrails. The starboard gaped open, broken timber was scattered around the ship, and water began to seep in.
He checked on the kids and covered the starboard hole with watertight hatch covering while Mary held the wheel. All night long, their Mayday calls went unanswered, adding to their misery.
They estimated their odds of reaching Amsterdam after 15 hours of battling the seas, yet 36 hours later, they were still afloat despite worsening weather.
The captain had instructed Larry to steer a course of 185 degrees, but by five o’clock he had fallen asleep. The next thing he remembered was his kids congratulating him on finding the island.

Q3. ‘Our optimistic attitude helps us to face extremely dangerous situations.’ Discuss with reference to the story ‘We’re Not Afraid to Die….’
Answer: The captain of the Wavewalker, the narrator, was optimistic, and it was that positivity that prevented his family and the other crew members from dying. The storm caused significant damage to the ship, and everyone on board was at risk of sinking. But the narrator had a really upbeat stance. Never once did he consider giving up or letting the situation get to him. Instead, he was always searching for answers as issues kept cropping up one after another.
Because the narrator maintained his composure throughout the situation, he was able to handle the problems that arose. He and his crew were committed to surviving the blizzard. After being flung overboard, he recovered and clung to the wheel. He made preparations to pump seawater out.
The kids gave him a lot of courage. His urge to defend them and his ship was fueled by their faith in him. He was able to employ his seamanship and navigational abilities to the fullest extent due to his calm demeanour.

Q4. How did the children’s presence and behaviour during the crisis affect the narrator?
Answer: The fact that the children on board were fully aware of the situation threatening their boat but chose not to panic or voice their anxiety bolstered the narrator’s determination to save it. When his kid said that they did not mind dying, but rather wished to die together, his will to fight against all obstacles was further bolstered. This admirable courage honed the narrator’s resourcefulness as he laboriously calculated wind speeds, changes in course, drift, and current to get them to their destination.
The narrator was overwhelmed by feelings and his resolve was strengthened when Sue gave him a “Thank-you” card. The kids still had implicit faith in him and thought he had led them to the safety of the island.

Q5. What qualities helped the Captain of the ship and his crew overcome the crisis?
Answer: The boat was being steered by a competent captain with excellent seamanship abilities. Like many seasoned salts, he thought that every emergency should have a backup plan. He was the perfect parent, drawing courage from the warmth and consideration shown to him by his kids while putting others’ needs before his own. He was resourceful and connected the electric pump that was hidden beneath the chartroom floor to avert disaster. He employed improvised equipment to determine their course at sea in order to reach the little island after their gear were destroyed.
The captain endured admirably and was unfazed by the several setbacks he experienced. While being honest about their limited possibilities of reaching safety, he managed to make everyone feel assured by not showing signs of concern. His crew was encouraged to stay buoyant by this leadership quality.

 

Important Videos Links

Class 11 Important Questions Videos Class 11 English Hornbill and Snapshots Book MCQs Video
Class 11 Snapshots Book Chapter wise Video Explanation Class 11 Hornbill Book Chapter wise Video Explanation

 

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