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Maharashtra Board Class 10 Solutions for English Reader – Mother Nature
Question 1:
Natural and Artificial Calamities
Look at the photographs in your textbook. Decide which ones are natural calamities and which are man-made calamities. [Al, pg. 134]
Answer:
| Photo (i) | Fire | Man-made calamity |
| Photo (ii) | Floods | Natural calamity |
| Photo (iii) | Earthquake | Natural calamity |
| Photo (iv) | Bomb blast | Man-made calamity |
| Photo (v) | Tsunami | Natural calamity |
| Photo (vi) | Famine | Natural calamity |
Question 2:
Difference in natural and manmade calamities
Form comfortable group of four students each and discuss on the following issues: [A2, pg. 134]
Answer:
i. Difference between natural and manmade calamities
Natural disasters are extreme, sudden events caused due to environmental factors or natural processes of earth. They are unavoidable. Man-made calamities are catastrophic events caused by the actions of human beings, mostly due to’ human neglect,error or intent. They are avoidable.
ii. Reasons of natural and man-made calamities
Natural calamities are caused due to rain and wind storms, floods, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, etc.
Man-made calamities are caused due to acts of war and terrorism, fires, water leakage / blocked drains / broken pipes, explosions, liquid chemical spills, improper construction of buildings, power failures, etc.
iii. Effects of natural and man-made calamities
Natural and man-made calamities cause mass destruction of life, environment and property. They create pollution and disrupt transport, communication and civil amenities. They also trigger panic and bring daily activities to a standstill. Huge amount of resources are spent only to restore the places affected by disasters.
iv. Add your points
There are a few natural calamities that are caused due to prolonged and damaging human activities. Rising levels of pollution, global warming, increasing use of technology, urbanisation, deforestation, etc. have caused catastrophes like acid rain, drought and avalanches among others. Such natural calamities are a wake-up call to mankind.
[Note: Students can add more points on their own.]
v. Sufferings of the people
Loss of life and property, physical and mental injuries, people are left homeless, separation from family, they take a long time to rebuild life, etc.
vi. How to control the calamities
To predict natural calamities much in advance, evacuate people to safety and follow the .instructions of the concerned authorities.
Man-made calamities can be controlled by creating a positive attitude and feeling of brotherhood in every mind and heart.
Question 3:
Nature is always compared to a mother. Discuss with your partner what is common in them. Complete the following table.
| Mother | Nature |
| teaches to be bold | prepares for calamities |
Answer:
| Mother | Nature |
| teaches to be bold | prepares for calamities |
| nurtures her children to do well in their lives | nurtures her creations to fruit and flourish in bounty |
| loves and takes care of her children | loves and takes care of her creations |
| provides food and clothing to her children | provides food for plants and animals |
A1. Factual Reading
Question 1:
Read the following expressions and find out the lines from that extract that express them. [A7, pg. 136]
i. Nature is in control of everything
Answer:
Forgetting she’s the one in charge
ii. life full of pains, difficulties and dangers
Answer:
Sending us through living hell
iii. Nature is all powerful
Answer:
She can twist our steel, shake any city
iv. honesty to mother like a calf
Answer:
I fear just seek the golden calf
v. extremely bad situation
Answer:
Or we will incur a deadly plight
vi. We should treat nature properly
Answer:
Treat her with distinction
vii. Our life depends on nature
Answer:
Or surely face extinction
Question 2:
Choose the correct alternatives and complete the sentences.
i. Our world is changing .
a. fast
b. slowly
c. constantly
d. hurriedly
Answer:
c. constantly
ii. She tries to teach us
a. how to speak
b. how to try
c. how to last
d. how to write
Answer:
c. how to last
iii. Mankind is _______ .
a. so intelligent
b. so clever
c. so smart
d. so dull
Answer:
c. so smart
iv. The thing we leave far behind is _____.
a. common sense b. emotions
c. awareness d. relations
Answer:
a. common sense
Question 3:
State whether the following statements are True or False.
i. Our world is changing and re-arranging from ocean depth to the mountain peaks.
ii. Mother nature does not tell us the stories from our past.
Answer:
i. True ii. False
Read the poem on page (135) of your textbook and answer the following questions
[Our world is always _____
________surely face extinction.]
A2. Understanding the Extract
Question 1:
Which stories does Mother Nature tell us?
Answer:
Mother Nature tells us stories of our past.
Question 2:
How does mother nature teach us to continue to live on? [A4 – II (2), pg. 135]
Answer:
Mother nature moves and speaks to us. She tells us the stories of our past through which we can learn to continue to live on.
Question 3:
Why does the poet address mankind as smart but blind? [A4 -1 (2), pg. 135]
Answer:
The poet addresses mankind as smart but blind because it leaves common sense far behind.
Question 4:
What do people forget about the Mother Earth? [A4 – I (3), pg. 135]
Answer:
People forget that Mother Earth is the one in charge of all things in the world.
Question 5:
When do we get amazed? [A4 -1 (4), pg. 135]
Answer:
We get amazed when Mother Nature rings the . bell, i.e. gives us a warning.
Question 6:
What calamities can human beings face on not taking care of Mother Nature?
Answer:
If human beings do not take care of Mother Nature, she can make us face her wrath in many ways. She can send us through living hell. She can destroy our cities or cause earthquakes.
Question 7:
What will happen if we do not treat Mother Nature right?
Answer:
If we do not treat Mother Nature right, we will incur a deadly plight.
Question 8:
What kind of treatment does the poet hope for Mother Nature? [A4 -1 (5), pg. 135]
Answer:
The poet wants the people to treat Mother Nature in the right way, with distinction.
Question 9:
How does mother nature show that she is in control of everything in the world?[A4-II (1), pg. 135]
Answer:
The world is constantly changing and re-arranging, from ocean depths to mountain peaks. Mother nature shows us that she is in control of everything in nature by warning us of our unwise activities and making us experience the severities of our actions by causing destruction.
Question 10:
What does Mother Nature speak about? [Mar 15]
Answer:
other Nature speaks about the stories of the past and tell us that we should not repeat those mistakes in order to last for long. She says that mankind is too smart and is running at a very fast pace, but sometimes man doesn’t see the damage that is being caused to mother nature because of his pace. He forgets that ultimately, mother nature is the one in charge.
Question 11:
What message does the poem give you?
Answer:
The poem gives us a strong message of protecting nature. It says that we must respect mother nature for all her love, care and gifts. If we fail to do so, we may have to experience her wrath. Our failure to take care of nature may cause countless destruction to life and property qn the earth.
A3. Vocabulary
Question 1:
Glance through the extract again and select the proper alternatives given below. [A6, pg. 135]
i. Our world is always changing
a. so many things happen in our life
b. so many people change their jobs
c. so many things happen in the environment
Answer:
c. so many things happen in the environment
ii. Constantly rearranging
a. altering continuously
b. happening continuously
c. none of these
Answer:
a. altering continuously
iii. While telling stories of our past (The underlined part means )
a. history of mankind
b. history of blind people
c. history of smart people
Answer:
a. history of mankind
iv. Mankind, so smart, sometimes blind.
a. people neglecting blind people
b. people don’t care about mother earth and neglect harmful things to her
c. people who are blind are very smart
Answer:
b. people don’t care about mother earth and neglect harmful things to her
v. Forgetting she is the one in charge.
a. got hold on things
b. got in all charges
c. got a post of an officer
Answer:
a. got hold on things
Question 2:
Choose the rhyming words for the following from the stanzas. [Mar 15]
i. cheeks ______
ii. mind _______
Answer:
i. peaks, speaks
ii. blind, behind
Question 3:
Write the pairs of rhyming words from the extract.
Answer:
i. changing – re-arranging
ii. peaks – speaks
iii. past – last
iv. blind – behind
v. large – charge
vi. bell – hell
vii. city – pity
viii. behalf-calf
ix. right – plight
x. distinction – extinction
Question 4:
Write from the extract opposites of the following words.
i. front
ii. small
iii. remembering
iv. heaven
v. wrong
Answer:
i. behind
ii. large
iii. forgetting
iv. hell
v. right
Question 5:
Find the words from the extract that mean:
i. extreme anger
ii. stop to exist
Answer:
i. wrath
ii. extinction
Additional Questions for Practice
Question 1:
Read the poem again and after discussing with your friend answer the following question.
*i. Which common things can you do to protect Mother Nature? [A4 – III (1), pg. 135]
Answer:
The things that we can do to protect Mother Nature are:
a. following the policy‘Live and let live’.
b. trying not to cause harm to any living thing on the earth.
c. conserving the natural habitats of birds and animals.
d. taking steps to avoid causing any kind of pollution.
e. avoiding man-made calamities.
Question 2:
Defining Nature
Make a list of things that are in nature. Define the term ‘nature’.
Nature means ________
Answer:
List of things that are in nature: land (soil, hills, mountains, rocks, plateaus, valleys, deserts, forests, etc.), flora and fauna (plants, animals, birds), water (rain, hailstones, snowfall, rivers, seas, oceans, lakes, etc.), heavenly bodies (the sky; the stars, the planets, the moon, etc.), seasons, wind, earthquake, floods, volcano, etc.
Nature means the physical world and everything in it such as plants, animals, mountains, oceans, stars, etc. that are not man-made.
Question 3:
Phrases
Work in pairs and fill in the blanks in the sentences with the correct expressions given in the box. [A8, pg. 136]
(treat her right, stories of our past, living hell, deadly plight, face extinction)
i. If we do not take proper care of nature, the earth will turn into ______ .
ii. We learn the natural treasure of India through _______
iii. We will _____ very soon if we are cruel to nature.
iv. Our disloyalty towards environment will put us in _________.
v. As the children of Mother Earth, we must _______.
Answer:
i. living hell
ii. stories of our past
iii. face extinction
iv. deadly plight
v. treat her right
Question 4:
Rhyming words
Read the poem again and listen to the music. [A9,pg.l36]
i. What is this music due to?
Answer:
This music is due to the rhyming words.
ii. Look at the last words of every line and write the rhyming words in pairs.
a. changing – rearranging
b. ______ – _________
Answer:
a. changing – rearranging
b. peaks – speaks
c. past-last ‘
d. blind – behind
e. large – charge
f. bell – hell
g. city – pity
h. behalf – calf
i. right – plight
j. distinction – extinction
Question 5:
Love and Anger
Mother Nature is sometimes kind and sometimes cruel. Discuss with your partner and write when you feel that the Nature loves and when it is angry. [A10, pg.36]
| Loving Nature Flowers |
Angry Nature earthquake |
|
Answer:
Question 6:
Personality
Look at the following line.
‘She tries to teach us how to last.’
i. Teaching is a quality of human beings, can nature teach?
Answer:
Yes, nature can teach man, though her ways are different.
ii. What does the nature teach?
Answer:
Nature teaches us how to survive.
iii. Why is nature called a mother?
Answer:
Nature is called a mother because she does all the duties performed by a mother. She nurtures and nourishes life on earth and gives them lessons of life, as a mother does to her children.
iv. Find out some more lines where you find similar expressions.
Answer:
a. Mother Nature moves and speaks.
b. Forgetting she’s the one in charge.
c. Amazed when she rings our bell.
d. Sending us through living hell.
e. She can twist our steel, shake any city.
f. If her wrath you feel, we shall pity.
g. It’s true, we must treat her right.
h. Treat her with distinction.
Question 1:
Difference
Go through the poem again and find out the difference between Mother Nature and human beings.
|
Mother nature She is in charge |
Human beings Act with own whim |
