The Tsunami
Textual Questions and Exercises
Q1.Say whether the following are true or false:
1. Ignesious lost his wife, two children, his father-in law, and his brother-in-law in the tsunami. (True)
2. Sanjeev made it to safety after the tsunami. (False)
3. Meghna was saved by a relief helicopter. (False)
4. Almas’s father realised that a tsunami was going to hit the island. (True)
5. Her mother and aunts were washed away with the tree that they were holding on to. (True)
Q2. Why did Tilly’s family come to Thaliand?
Ans. Tilly’s family came to Thailand to celebrate Christmas.
Q3. What were the warning sign that both Tilly and her mother saw?
Ans. Tilly’s mother saw that the water was swelling and the beach was getting smaller and smaller. And Tilly saw that the sea was slowly rising, bubbling and forming a whirlpool.
Q4. Do you think Tilly’s mother was alarmed by them?
Ans. Tilly’s mother could not understand what was happening and only realised that it was serious when Tilly got frightened and mentioned what a Tsunami was.
Q5. Where had Tilly seen the sea behaving in the same strange fashion?
Ans. Tilly had seen the sea behaving in the same strange fashion in a video of tsunami which was shown in her class by her geography teacher.
Q6. Where did the Smith family and the others on the beach go to escape from the tsunami?
Ans. The Smith family and the others on the beach took refuge on the third floor of a hotel.
Q7. How do you think her geography teacher felt when he heard about what Tilly had done in Phuket?
Ans. Her geography teacher felt very happy because her student and geography lesson saved many people from tsunami waves.
Q8. In the tsunami 150,000 people died. How many animals died?
Ans. Although no data is given in the story but it says the number of dead animals was far less compared to human casualties.
Q9. How many people and animals died in Yala National Park?
Ans. Sixty visitors and only two water buffaloes died at the Yala National Park.
Q10. What do people say about the elephants of Yala National Park?
Ans. The people at the Yala National Park had seen three elephants running away from the Patanangala beach about an hour before the tsunami hit.
Q11. What did the dogs in Galle do?
Ans. The dogs refused to go for their daily run on the beach.
Q12. When he felt the earthquake, do you think Ignesious immediately worked about a tsunami? Give reasons of your answer. Which sentence in the text tells you that the Ignesious family did not have any time to discuss and plan their course of action after the tsunami struck?
Ans. No, when he felt the earthquake Ignesious did not think about the tsunami. He thought only about the tremors. That was why he took his television off the table and put it on the ground. In fact the Ignesious family did not have any time to discuss and plan their course of action after tsunami struck. That was why there was only chaos and confusion. The following tells it clearly: “In the chaos and confusion, two of his children caught hold of the hands of their mother’s father and mother’s brother and rushed in the opposite directions.”
2. Which words in the list below describe Sanjeev, in your opinion?
(Look up the dictionary for words that you are not sure of.)
| cheerful | ambitious | brash | brave | careless |
| heroic | selfless | heartless | humorous |
Use words from the list to complete the three sentences below.
(i) I don’t know if Sanjeev was cheerful, ____________ or _____________.
(ii) I think that he was very brave, ______________ and ____________.
(iii) Sanjeev was not heartless, ____________ or _____________.
Answer
The words that would describe Sanjeev are brave, heroic, and selfless.
(i) I don’t know if Sanjeev was cheerful, ambitious or humorous.
(ii) I think that he was very brave, heroic and selfless.
(iii) Sanjeev was not heartless, brash or careless.
3. How are Meghna and Almas’s stories similar?
Answer
Both Meghna’s and Almas’ families were washed away. Both of them kept floating in the sea for days. Meghna floated in the sea for two days holding on to a wooden door. She was brought to the shore by a wave. Similarly, Almus climbed on to a log of wood and fainted. She woke up in a hospital. Both the girls were traumatised after the incident. While Meghna was seen walking on the seashore in daze, Almus does not talk about the incident to anyone.
4. What are the different ways in which Tilly’s parents could have reacted to her behavior? What would you have done if you were in their place?
Answer
Not taking her seriously, Tilly’s parents could have tried to calm her down thinking that she had been frightened by something. As a result, they could have been washed away by the tsunami waves.
If I were in their place, I too would have listened to her and realised that there was a danger approaching. Consequently, I too would have rushed away from the beach.
5. If Tilly’s award was to be shared, who do you think she should share it with – her parents or her geography teacher?
Answer
If Tilly’s award was to be shared, she should share it with her geography teacher who made her aware of tsunami in the first place. It was this awareness that helped her save so many lives.
6. What are the two different ideas about why so few animals were killed in the tsunami? Which idea do you find more believable?
Answer
The first idea is that the animals have a sixth sense. They know when the earth is going to shake. The second idea is that the animals have a more acute sense of hearing. This helps them to hear or feel the earth’s vibration. In this way they sense the coming disaster much before the human beings. So they run away to safer places.
To me the first idea seems more believable. It is so because many animals get an idea of the coming rains. Now rain has nothing to do with the sense of hearing. So it is more sensible to think that nature has provided them some sixth sense which helps them get over the crises.
Working with Language
1. Go through Part – I carefully, and make a list of a many words as you can find that indicate movement of different kinds. (There is one word that occurs repeatedly – count how many times!) Put them into three categories.
| fast movement | slow movement | neither slow nor fast |
Can you explain why there are many words in one column and not in the others?
Answer
| Fast movement | Slow movement | Neither slow nor fast |
| Earthquake | Floating | Walking |
| Rushed | Recede | |
| Tremors | ||
| Swept | ||
| Ran | ||
| Fell | ||
| Climb |
The ‘fast movement’ column has many more words as compared to the other two columns. This is because the story is about tsunami, which is a fast movement of waters. Due to tsunami, all the immediate actions are fast, such as running, climbing and sweeping away of people by water.
2. Fill in the blanks in the sentences below (the verbs given in brackets will give you a clue).
(i) The earth trembled, but not many people felt the ____________. (tremble)
(ii) When the zoo was flooded, there was a lot of ________and many animals escaped into the countryside. (confuse)
(iii) We heard with _________that the lion had been recaptured. (relieve)
(iv) The zookeeper was stuck in a tree and his _______ was filmed by the TV crew. (rescue)
(v) There was much ____________in the village when the snake charmer came visiting. (excite)
Answer
(i)The earth trembled, but not many people felt the trembling.
(ii)When the zoo was flooded, there was a lot of confusion and many animals escaped into the countryside.
(iii)We heard with relief that the lion had been recaptured.
(iv)The zookeeper was stuck in a tree and his rescue was filmed by the TV crew.
(v)There was much excitement in the village when the snake charmer came visiting.
3. Say whether the following sentences are in the Active or the Passive voice. Write A or P after each sentence as shown in the first sentence.
(i) Someone stole my bicycle. ____A____
(ii) The tyres were deflated by the traffic police._________
(iii) I found it last night in a ditch near my house. __________
(iv) It had been thrown there. __________
(v) My father gave it to the mechanic. ______________
(vi) The mechanic repaired it for me. ______________
Answer
(i)Someone stole my bicycle. A
(ii)The tyres were deflated by the traffic police. P
(iii)I found it last night in a ditch near my house. A
(iv)It had been thrown there. P
(v)My father gave it to the mechanic. A
(vi)The mechanic repaired it for me. A