Question 1: Answer these questions in one or two sentences each. (The paragraph numbers within brackets provide clues to the answers.)
1. Why was the 'holy man' who gave Santosh's mother his blessings surprised? (1)
2. Give an example to show that even as a young girl Santosh was not ready to accept anything unreasonable. (2)
3. Why was Santosh sent to the local school? (3)
4. When did she leave home for Delhi, and why? (4)
5. Why did Santosh's parents agree to pay for her schooling in Delhi? What mental qualities of Santosh are brought into light by this incident? (4)
1. The 'holy man' had assumed that Santosh's mother wanted a son as the part of the society she belonged to regarded birth of a son as a blessing. However, he was surprised when the unborn child's grandmother told him that they did not want a son.
2. Santosh, from the very beginning, lived life on her own terms. She was not content with the traditional way of life and was not ready to accept anything unreasonable. One example which proves this is that Santosh, unlike other girls who wore traditional Indian dresses, preferred wearing shorts.
3. Even though Santosh's parents could afford to send their children to the best schools, she was sent to the local village school due to the prevailing custom in the family.
4. When she turned sixteen and was under pressure to get married, Santosh threatened her parents that she would never marry if she did not get a proper education. Therefore, she left home and got herself enrolled in a school in Delhi.
5. When Santosh informed her parents about her plan to do a part-time job to support her education, they agreed to pay for her schooling in Delhi. This incident shows that Santosh was a strong-headed and determined girl who knew her way towards her goal.
Question 2: Answer each of these questions in a short paragraph (about 30 words).
1. How did Santosh begin to climb mountains?
2. What incidents during the Everest expedition show Santosh's concern for her team-mates?
3. What shows her concern for the environment?
4. How does she describe her feelings at the summit of the Everest?
5. Santosh Yadav got into the record books both times she scaled Mt Everest. What were the reasons for this?
1. In order to investigate how the villagers going up the Aravali hills "vanished after a while," Santosh accompanied a few mountaineers in their climbing expedition. This was how she began to climb mountains.
2. During the Everest mission, Santosh showed immense concern for her fellow climbers. Though she was unsuccessful in saving the life of one of them, she did manage to save another climber through artificial respiration.
3. Santosh was a fervent environmentalist. Her concern for the environment is evident from the fact that she collected and brought down 500 kilograms of garbage from the Himalayas.
4. Santosh asserted that her feeling at the summit of the Everest was "indescribable." Unfurling the Indian flag on the top of the world was a spiritual moment for her, and she felt proud as an Indian.
5. When Santosh Yadav first scaled Mt Everest, she became the youngest woman in the world to achieve the feat. When she scaled the Everest the second time, she became the only woman to have scaled it twice.
Question 3: Complete the following statements.
1. From her room in Kasturba Hostel, Santosh used to _________
2. When she finished college, Santosh had to write a letter of apology to her father because _________
3. During the Everest expedition, her seniors in the team admired her _________ while _________ endeared her to fellow climbers.
1. From her room in Kasturba Hostel, Santosh used to watch villagers going up the hill and suddenly vanish after a while.
2. When she finished college, Santosh had to write a letter of apology to her father because she had got herself enrolled at Uttarkashi's Nehru Institute of Mountaineering without his permission.
3. During the Everest expedition, her seniors in the team admired her climbing skills, physical fitness, and mental strength while her concern for others and desire to work together with them endeared her to fellow climbers.
Question 4: Pick out words from the text that mean the same as the following words or expressions. (Look in the paragraphs indicated.)
1. took to be true without proof (1): _________
2. based on reason; sensible; reasonable (2): _________
3. the usual way of doing things (3): _________
4. a strong desire arising from within (5): _________
5. the power to endure, without falling ill (7): _________
1. took to be true without proof (1): Assumed
2. based on reason; sensible; reasonable (2): Rational
3. the usual way of doing things (3): Custom
4. a strong desire arising from within (5): Urge
5. the power to endure, without falling ill (7): Resistance