Extra
Question
1.
Who are going to copy
the sea journey? Whose sea journey is meant here?
Ans. The narrator, who was a 37-year old
businessman, Mary, Jonathan, Suzanne were going to copy the sea journey of the
round-the-world voyage which voyage that was made 200 years earlier.
Here the sea journey of Captain James
Cook is meant here.
2.
How did they prepare
for the journey?
Ans. They built a boat and named it Wavewalker. It was a 23 metre, a 30 ton
wooden-hulled beauty. They had spent
months fitting it out and testing it out on the roughest weather.
3.
Describe wavewalker.
Ans. The Wavewalker was the name of
their boat. It was a 23 metre, a 30 ton wooden-hulled beauty. It had been
professionally built by the narrator. The narrator and his wife, Marry, had spent
months fitting it out and testing it on the roughest water bodies.
4.
How was the first leg
of the journey? Whom did they take with them and why?
Ans. The first leg of the journey was a
journey of 105,000 kilometres. It was a pleasant one. They sailed down from the
west coast of Africa to Cape Town.
When they were supposed to head towards the east, they took two crewmen, one American Larry Vigil and the other Swiss Herb
Seigler, to tackle the world’s roughest sea, the Indian Ocean.
5.
How did the weather
turn adverse from Cape Town? How did they enjoy Christmas?
Ans. On the second day out of Cape Town,
strong gales began to blow. For the next weeks, it blew continuously. The size
of the waves was alarming, which were up to 15 metres as high as the main mast.
On the Christmas day, they were 3,500
kilometres east of Cape Town. Though the weather condition was adverse, they
enjoyed their Christmas with a Christmas tree.
6.
How was the weather on
January 2? How did they prepare for rough Stormy weather?
Ans. On January 2, the waves were
gigantic. The weather was not suitable at all. They were sailing with only a
small storm jib and were still making eight knots. As the ship rose to the top
of each wave, the enormous wave could be seen which were moving towards them.
At first, in order to slow down the
speed of the boat, they dropped the storm jib and lashed a heavy mooring rope
in a storm in a loop across the stern. Then they double lashed every single
thing. After that, they went through their life-raft drill, attached lifelines,
donned oilskins and life jackets.
7.
Narrate the Giant
wave and the first hit.
Ans. The indication of the disaster
arrived at 6 p.m. that day with an ominous silence. The sky grew darker and
then came a giant wave. The narrator didn’t see such a huge wave in his life.
It appeared perfectly vertical and almost twice the height of the other waves.
A tremendous explosion of the thunder
shook the deck. The narrator’s head smashed into the wheel. He was aware of
sinking below the waves and accepted his death. He lost consciousness and
unexpectedly, his head popped out of the water.
8.
What happened to the
narrator when he was hit by the wave? How was he saved?
head smashed and he was aware that he was sinking and he accepted his
approaching death. He felt unconscious. But unexpectedly, his head popped out
of the water. A few metres away, the Wavewalker was about to capsize and the
masts almost horizontal. Then the wave made it upright and the narrator grabbed
the guard rails and sailed through the air into the deck.
9.
What sort of
destruction was brought about by the wave on the boat?
to capsize and the masts almost horizontal. Then the wave made it upright and
the narrator grabbed the guard rails and sailed through the air into the deck
like a rag doll. His lefts ribs cracked and his mouth was filled with blood and
broken teeth. Water was everywhere but he dared not to abandon the wheel and
investigate everything.
10. How
were the conditions of other people on the boat?
Ans. Marry shouted
that they were sinking. Larry and Herb were pumping out water like madmen. Sue
had got a big bump above her eyes. It
had swollen alarmingly. A tremendous explosion of the thunder shook the deck.
The narrator’s head smashed into the wheel. He was aware of sinking below the
waves and accepted his death. He lost consciousness and unexpectedly, his head
popped out of the water.
11. What had happened to the
starboard side of the boat? How did the narrator repair that?
Ans. The starboard
side of the boat bulged inwards and the clothes, crockery, charts, tins and
toys sloshed about in deep water.
After finding hammer,
screws and canvas, the narrator struggled back on the deck. The water flowed
inside through the starboard. The narrator decided to repair it as if not
required they would surely have sunken. He stretched the canvas and secured
waterproof hatch covers across the gaping holes.
12.
What happened to the pumps? How did the narrator manage with the pumping?
Ans. The hand pumps
began to block up with the debris which were floating around the cabins. The
electric pumps were short-circuited.
After the pumped got
blocked with debris and the electric pumps got short-circuited, the narrator
found that the two spare hand pumps had been wrenched overboard along with the
forestay sail, the jib, the dinghies and the main anchor. Then he remembered
that they had another electric pump under the chartroom floor and connected it
to an out pipe.
13.
What had been their endless routine? What happened to the SOS?
Ans. their endless
routine had been of pumping, steering and working the radio all through the
bitterly cold night.
They had sent SOS but
didn’t get any reply to the Mayday calls, though it didn’t surprise them and
they considered them to be in the remote corner of the world.
14.
What happened to Sue? Why did she share her situation later?
Ans. Earlier Sue had
got hurt on her head and then her head was swollen alarmingly. She had an
enormous black eye. Moreover, she got a deep cut on her arm. But she had kept
quiet and didn’t complain about it.
Sue didn’t share her
situation earlier as she didn’t want to worry him with her head when he was
trying to save all of them. So, she shared her situation later.
15.
What was the situation on January 03? What shocking thing did the narrator
discover about the boat?
Ans. On January 03, the
water level of the pumps was under control and they could take two hours rest
in rotation. But the leak was still persisting and was tremendous.
After checking a bit,
the narrator found that the boat’s main rib frames were smashed down to the
keel. Moreover, there was nothing holding up a whole section of the starboard
hull except a few cupboard partitions.
16.
Which place did they plan to take their boat? What were the hindrances for the
purpose?
Ans. When Wavewalker,
the boat, was not in a condition to reach up to Australia, then the narrator
calculated that there were two islands a few kilometres to the east. They
decided to reach to Ile Amsterdam, a French Scientific base.
But the wind and seas
were the hindrances for the purpose. The great wave had obstructed them to move
forward.
17.
What specific things did the narrator remember while making his calculations to
reach Ile Amsterdam?
Ans. While making
calculations, the narrator remembered that they had lost their main compass and
he used a spare one which was not corrected for magnetic variation. He had made
an allowance and another estimate of the influence of the westerly currents
which was flowing through that part of the Indian Ocean.
18.
What did the narrator tell Larry at 2 p.m. What did he do next?
Ans. At 2 p.m. the
narrator went on the deck and told Larry to steer a course of 185 degrees. He
also said that if they were lucky enough, they would get to reach the island by
5 p.m.
The narrator then
went below and climbed on his bunk with a heavy heart.
19.
How did the author feel at 6 p.m.? What did he think to be impossible?
Ans. At 6 p.m. when
the narrator woke up, he thought that they had missed the island and couldn’t
hope to beat back the westerly winds. This disappointed him.
He thought that it
was impossible for them to reach the island as it grew darker and nothing went as
per his calculations.
20.
What did the tousled head say? What made him say that?
Ans. The tousled head meant the narrator’s son,
Jonathan. He told whether he could get a hug from the narrator.
He was so proud of
his father and considered him to be the best ‘daddy’ in the world. This was
because due to the efforts made by the narrator, they were able to reach the
island.
21.
How did the island look like? Why did the narrator feel the island to be the
most beautiful island?
Ans. The island was
considered to be as big as a battleship by Sue and Jonathan. The island was
only a bleak piece of volcanic rock with a little vegetation.
The narrator felt the
island to be the most beautiful island as he got to see an island after such a
long time. Moreover, they
22.
When the narrator had land under his feet how did he thank all?
Ans. When the narrator
had land under his feet, his thoughts were full of Larry and Herbie who were
cheerful and optimistic under the direst stress. He was thankful to Mary as she
stayed at the wheel for all those crucial hours. The seven-year-old girl, who
didn’t want to worry her parents about a head injury and a six-year-old boy who
was not afraid to die.
Extra
Question (6 marks)
1.
How does the title
justify the spirit of the story?
Ans. In the story “We’re Not Afraid to Die…if we Can All Be
Together” by Gordon Cook and Alan East, the title justifies the spirit of the
story. The narrator along with his wife, Mary, daughter Suzanne and son
Jonathan planned to duplicate the sea voyage of Captain James Hook made two
hundred years old. They took all the safety precautions. They took Larry Vigil
and Herb Seigler with them. The beginning was quite good but later they
encountered strong gales. They left taking their meals and made calculations
for the distance of a nearby island. On the other hand, the children acted very
bravely in such a situation. Suzanne didn’t want to distract her father telling
that she had got hurt and Jonathan was not afraid to die. Larry Vigil and Herb Seigler pumped out water
so that they would not sink. They pumped, steered and worked upon the radio
endlessly for thirty-six hours. The narrator took out another electric pump
when the other one got short-circuited. They were waiting for the Mayday calls
eagerly but got no answers. But they didn’t quit. The narrator made
calculations and found out that an island was there approximately 150,000
kilometres away. Ultimately, they were able to find out the island and regarded
it to be the most beautiful island in the world.
2.
Evaluate the story to
catch thrill and adventure.
Ans. The story “We’re Not Afraid to Die…if we Can All Be
Together” by Gordon Cook and Alan East is a story that catches thrill and
adventure. The beginning was quite good but later they encountered strong
gales. The boat was nearly capsized. They left taking their meals. The children
acted very bravely in such a situation. Suzanne didn’t want to distract her
father telling that she had got hurt and Jonathan was not afraid to die. Larry Vigil and Herb Seigler pumped out water
like madmen. They pumped, steered and worked upon the radio endlessly for
thirty-six hours. Suddenly, the narrator remembered about another electric pump
so he took it out when the other one got short-circuited. They got no answers
from the Mayaday calls. There was a time when they thought that they would not
survive anymore, but they didn’t quit. The narrator made calculations and found
out that an island was there approximately 150,000 kilometres away. The
calculations matched and they were finally able to reach Ile Amsterdam, the
French scientific base.
3.
How does the concept
“Never lose hope” seem to have reflected were in the story?
Ans. In the story “We’re Not Afraid to Die…if we Can All Be
Together” by Gordon Cook and Alan East reflects the concept of ‘Never lose
hope’. In the story, the narrator tried to mimic the sea voyage of Captain
James Cook. The beginning was pleasant but after they moved through Cape Town,
the weather became unfavourable. They encountered strong gales. The boat,
Wavewalker was about to capsize. Larry Vigil and Herb Seigler pumped out water
so that they would not sink. They pumped, steered and worked upon the radio
endlessly for thirty-six hours. The narrator took out another electric pump
when the other one got short-circuited. They had sent SOS but got no replies.
Jonathan and Suzanne too were quite determined. Sue didn’t want to worry his
father with the bump on her head and Jonathan was not afraid to die. The situation went worst, but they didn’t lose hope. The narrator went on making calculations
and found out that an island was there approximately 150,000 kilometres away.
Ultimately, they were able to find out the island and considered it to be “the
most beautiful island in the world”.
4.
“Unity and proper
plan can make impossible, possible.”- Discuss the statement with reference to
the story.
Ans. The story “We’re Not Afraid to Die…if we Can All Be
Together” by Gordon Cook and Alan East. In the story, the narrator and his
family faced various troubles and were on the verge of dying. Not only their
family but Larry Vigil, as well as Herb Seigler, made a great effort to save
themselves. They pumped out water so that they would not sink. They pumped,
steered and worked upon the radio endlessly for thirty-six hours. The narrator was about to sink and later his
left ribs got cracked. Suzanne didn’t want to worry her father telling that she
had got hurt and Jonathan was not afraid to die. The narrator took out another
electric pump when the other one got short-circuited. They didn’t receive any
Mayday calls which was not at all surprising. But they didn’t lose hope. They
were united. All of them tried in their own ways. The narrator kept on making
calculations and found out that an island was there approximately 150,000
kilometres away. At last, they were able to find out the island and
regarded it to be the most beautiful island in the world. The narrator thanked
each one of them for their great efforts.
5.
“Man is ever hungry
of Adventure.”Discuss with reference to the story.
Ans. The story “We’re Not Afraid to Die…if we Can All Be
Together” by Gordon Cook and Alan East shows that Man is ever hungry of
Adventure. The narrator along with his wife, Mary, daughter Suzanne and son
Jonathan planned to duplicate the sea voyage of Captain James Hook made two
hundred years old. They spent sixteen years practising for their dream event.
Larry Vigil and Herb Seigler joined them for handling one of the roughest seas
i.e., the Indian Ocean. The beginning was quite pleasant but later the weather
began to change and they encountered strong gales. They left taking their
meals. Their ship was nearly capsized and the waves were gigantic. The narrator
never saw such huge waves in his life. They took all the safety precautions and
wore life jackets. But the condition got worse each time. Larry and Herb pumped
out water endlessly in order to save themselves. Meanwhile, the narrator’s lest
rib got cracked. Suzanne got her on her head didn’t want to distract her father
telling that she had got hurt when he was trying to save them and Jonathan was
not afraid to die. The narrator took out another electric pump when the other
one got short-circuited. They got no replies from Mayday Calls which was
expected for it was a remote corner of the world. But they didn’t quit. They
tried hard and were determined enough. The narrator made calculations and found
out that an island was there approximately 150,000 kilometres away. Finally,
they were saved and got an island.