The Tsunami
Solutions For All Chapters Honeydew Class 8
Working With the Text (Page 30)
Discuss the following questions in class. Then write your own answers.
Question 1:
When he felt the earthquake, do you think Ignesious immediately worried about a Tsunami? Give reasons for 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?
Answer:
No, Ignesious did not think about the tsunami. He thought that it was just an earthquake. So he took the television off the table and put it on the ground. His family did not have time to discuss and plan their course of action. The following sentence tells about 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 direction.”
Question 2:
Which words in the list below describe Sanjeev, in your opinion?
Answer:
brave, heroic, selfless
Use words from the list to complete the three sentences below.
- I don’t know if Sanjeev was cheerful, ………………. or……………….
- I think that he was very brave, ……………….. and……………….
- Sanjeev was not heartless, ……………….. or……………….
Answer:
- ambitious or brash.
- heroic and selfless.
- careless or humorous.
Question 3:
How are Meghna and Almas’s stories similar?
Answer:
Meghna and Almas—both were lucky. Meghna was carried away with her parents and other people. But she alone survived. She was washed ashore by a wave. Almas climbed on to a log of wood. When she opened her eyes, she found herself in a hospital in Kamorta.
Question 4:
What are the different ways in which Tilly’s parents could have reacted to her behaviour? What would you have done if you were in their place?
Answer:
Tilly foresaw the danger of tsunami at once. She became hysterial. Her parents didn’t ignore her. They were sure that something wrong must be going to happen. So they all left the beach and were saved. If I were in place of Tilly parents, I might not have believed her. I might have scolded her for making a nonsense situation.
Question 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:
It is very obvious. Tilly’s award should be shared with her geography teacher. Her parents could not guess the tsunami was coming.
Question 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:
Very few animals were killed in the tsunami. Perhaps they feel the tremor much before humans do. Secondly, the animals have sixth sense. They can guess the coming disaster and so run away to safer places/higher ground. The idea that the animals are gifted with the sixth sense is more believable. They move fast to get over the crisis.
Working with Language (Page 31)
Question 2:
Fill in the blanks in the sentences below (the verbs given in brackets will give you a clue).
The earth trembled, but not many people felt the………………………… (tremble)
When the zoo was flooded, there was a lot of……………………. and many animals escaped into the countryside, (confuse)
We heard with………………. that the lion had been recaptured, (relieve)
The zookeeper was stuck in a tree and his ……………………… was filmed by the TV crew, (rescue)
There was much……………….. in the village when the snake charmer came visiting. (excite)
Answer:
termbling/termors
confusion
relief
rescue
excitement.
Comprehension Check (Page 27)
Say whether the following are true or false.
Questions:
- Ignesious lost his wife, two children, his father-in-law, and his brother-in-law in the tsunami.
- Sanjeev made it to safety after the tsunami.
- Meghna was saved by a relief helicopter.
- Almas’s father realised that a tsunami was going to hit the island.
- Her mother and aunts were washed away with the tree that they were holding on to.
Answers:
- True
- False
- False
- True
- True
Comprehension Check (Page 28)
Answer the following in a phrase or sentence.
Questions:
- Why did Tilly’s family come to Thailand?
- What were the warning signs that both Tilly and her mother saw?
- Do you think Tilly’s mother was alarmed by them?
- Where had Tilly seen the sea behaving in the same strange fashion?
- Where did the Smith family and the others on the beach go to escape; from the tsunami?
- How do you think her geography teacher felt when he heard about what Tilly had done in Phuket?
Answers:
- Tilly’s family had come to Thailand to celebrate Christmas.
- Both saw the sea rise and it started to foam and form whirlpools.
- No, Tilly’s mother was not alarmed by them.
- Tilly had seen the strange sea behaviour in a video.
- They went to the third floor of the hotel and were saved.
- She felt very pleased and satisfied.
Comprehension Check (Page 30)
Answer using a phrase or a sentence.
Questions:
- In the Tsunami 150,000 people died. How many animals died?
- How many people and animals died in Yala National Park?
- What do people say about the elephants of Yala National Park?
- What did the dogs in Galle do?
Answers:
- Very few animals died.
- Sixty visitors and two animals.
- People say that the elephants ran from the beach an hour before the Tsunami hit the coast.
- The dogs in Galle refused to go to the beach for their daily exercise.
I. SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
Question 1:
What is a Tsunami? When did it hit so many countries and sea coasts?
Answer:
A tsunami is a very large and powerful wave. It is caused by earthquakes under the sea. The deadly tsunami hit Thailand, India and the Andaman Islands on 26 December, 2004.
Question 2:
Do animals get foreknowledge of the tsunami coming?
Answer:
Yes, it is true that animals sense the coming disaster earlier than human beings. It became evident in 2004. The tsunami killed more than 1,50,000 people in a dozen countries. But very few animals were reported dead. Buffaloes, goats and dogs remained unharmed. So did elephants and leopards. They ran away to higher places to save their lives.
Question 3:
Who was Ignesious? Why did he put his television down on the ground from table?
Answer:
Ignesious was the manager of a cooperative society in Katchall. When his wife told him about an earthquake, he immediately took his television set off its table and put it down on the ground so that it would not fall and break.
Question 4:
How did Sanjeev lose his life?
Answer:
When Sanjeev heard cries for help from the wife of John, the guest house cook, he immediately jumped into the water to rescue her. But unfortunately they were both swept away by the powerful waves.
Question 5:
What is the view of some experts about the animals?
Answer:
Some experts believe that animals more acute hearing helps them to hear or feel the earth’s vibration. They can sense an approaching disaster long before humans realise what’s going on.
Question 6:
How did Tilly Smith save her family from the deadly waves?
Answer:
Tilly Smith with her family was celebrating Christmas at a beach in Thailand. She was only 10 years old. She noted the sea water flowing towards, the beach. She was reminded of a geography lesson and the video of Hawaiian Islands in 1946. She started shouting to her parents to clear off the beach. Her parents heeded her. They all took shelter in the third floor of the hotel and were saved.
II. LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
Question 1:
Give a brief account of how the animate saved themselves when the giant waves hit India and Sri Lanka.
Answer:
Before the great waves moved towards the coast in India and Sri Lanka, the wild and domestic animals foresaw the danger. Elephants ran for higher ground. Dogs refused to go outdoors. Zoo animals rushed into their shelters. This was perhaps the animals possess a sixth sense, which is very sharp and work as warning during disasters. So not many animals lost their lives in 2004 Tsunami while thousands people were washed away.
Question 2:
What happened to Almas and her family?
Answer:
When the tremors came early in the morning, Almas and her family were sleeping. Suddenly Almas’s father saw the sea water recede. He understood that the water would come rushing back with great force. He woke everyone up and tried to rush them to a safer place. As they ran, her grandfather was hit on the head by something and fell down. Her father rushed to help him. But soon a giant wave came and swept both of them away. Her mother and ants too were washed away by the mighty waves. Almas was somehow saved. But she became the victim of trauma.
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