Class 10 | English Textbook | First Flight | Lesson 2. Nelson Mandela : Long Walk to Freedom

Word-Meaning :

✓(to be) besieged by : to be surrounded closely by
✓ amphitheatre : a building without a roof, with many rows of seats rising in steps.
✓ confer : give.
✓ We, who were outlaws : because of its policy of apartheid, many countries had earlier broken off diplomatic relations with South Africa.
✓ emancipation : freedom from restrictions.
✓ deprivation : state of not having one's rightful benefits.
✓ discrimination : being treated differently or unfavorably.
✓ spectacular array : an impressive display.
✓ not unmindful of : conscious of; aware of.
✓ chevron : a pattern in the shape of a V
✓ despised : had a very low opinion of.
✓ wrought : (old, fashioned, formal word) done, achieved.
✓ profound : deep and strong
✓ resilience : the ability to deal with any kind of hardship and recover from its effects.
✓ pushed to our limits : pushed to the last point in our ability to bear pain.
✓ inclination : natural tendencies of behaviour.
✓ inevitably : unavoidable
✓ illusion : something that appears to be real but is not.
✓ transitory : not permanent
✓ curtailed : reduced
✓ prejudice : a strong dislike without any good reason.

Page No. 18
Oral Comprehension Check
1. Where did the ceremonies take
place? Can you name any public buildings in India that are made of sandstone?
Ans: The ceremonies took place in the lovely sandstone amphitheatre formed by the Union Buildings in Pretoria. In India, Rashtrapati Bhavan and Red Fort are made of Sandstone.

2. Can you say how 10 May is an 'autumn day' in South Africa?
Ans: Yes, I can say 10 May is an 'autumn day' in South Africa. For it's mentioned in the third paragraph that writes "On that lovely autumn day". Moreover, as South Africa is in the southern hemisphere, so it is autumn season there.

3. At the beginning of his speech,
Mandela mentions "an extraordinary
human disaster". What does he mean by this? What is the "glorious...... human achievement" he speaks of at the end?
Ans: By the statement "an extraordinary human disaster" Mandela means the discrimination, the sufferings that the African people had gone through because of the apartheid.

At the end, he speaks of "the glorious .. human achievements," which in short means victory over aperthied.

4. What does Mandela thank the international leaders for?
Ans: During apartheid era, many countries had several diplomatic tie with South Africa. On that many the leaders came to participate in the ceremony. So, Mandela thanked them for their participation.

5. What ideals does he set out for the future of South Africa.
Ans: For the future of South Africa Mandela sets the ideal of lasting liberty for all. He assures that South Africa will never again experience the oppression of one by another.

Page No. 21
Oral Comprehension Check
1. What do the military general do? How has their attitude changed, and why?
Ans: The military general saluted Mandela and pledged their loyalty.

When they saluted him, he was not unmindful of the fact that not so many years before they would not have saluted but arrested him.

But now they changed their attitude and showed their loyalty to new regime.

2. Why were two national anthems sung?
Ans: There were two kinds of people living in South Africa. So, two national anthems were sung, one by the whites, and the other by the blacks.

3. How does Mandela describe the systems of government in his country (i) in the first decade, and (ii) in the final decade, of the twentieth century?
Ans: (i) In the first decade of the twentieth century, the white skinned peoples of South Africa patched up their differences and erected a system of racial domination against the dark skinned peoples of their own land.

The structure they created formed the basis of one of the harshest, most inhumane societies the world ever known.

(ii) In the final decade of the twentieth century that system had been overturned forever and replaced by one that recognized the rights and freedoms of all peoples, regardless of the colour of their skin.

4. What does courage mean to Mandela?
Ans: On seeing the men to attacks and torture without breaking, showing a strength and resilience that defied the imagination. Mandela learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.

5. Which does he think is natural, to love or to hate?
Ans: He thinks, the love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite the hate.

Page No. 24
Oral Comprehension Check
1. What "twin obligation" does Mandela mention?
Ans: Mandela talks of two obligations that every man has. The first obligation is to his family, to his parents, to his wife and children. And the second obligation is to his people, his community and his country.

2. What did being free mean to Mandela as a boy, and as a student? How does he contrast these "transitory freedoms" with "the basic and honourable freedoms"?
Ans: As a boy, Mandela thought that he was born free. He thought that he was born free in every way that he could know.

He was free to run in the fields near his mother's nut, free to swim in the clear stream that ran through his village.

He was free to roast mealies under the stars and ride the broad backs of slow moving bulls.

As a student, he wanted freedom to stay out at night, to read what he pleased and to go where he chose.

He wanted the basic and honourable freedoms. He wanted freedom for achieving his potential, of earning his keep of marrying and having a family. In fact, he wanted the freedom not to be obstructed in a lawful life.

3. Does Mandela think the oppressor is free? Why/Why not?
Ans : Mandela thinks the oppressor is not free. Because he says that the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed.

A man who takes away another man's freedom is a prisoner of hatred ; he is locked behind the bars of prejudice and narrow-mindness.

The oppressed and the oppressor alike are robbed of their humanity.

樂 Thinking About The Text

1. Why did such a large number of international leaders attend the inauguration? What did it signify the triumph of?
Ans: Such a large number of international leaders attended the inauguration to pay their respects before the inauguration.

The leaders gathered there on the occasion of installation of South Africa's first democratic non-racial government. It signified a common victory for justice, for peace and for human dignity.

2. What does Mandela mean when he says he is "simply the sum of all those African patriots" who had gone before him?
Ans: When Mandela says he is "simply the sum of all those African patriots" who had gone before him, he means the sacrifices of those African patriots who were forerunners and predecessors.

He was pained that he could not thank them and that they could not see what their sacrifices had wrought.

3. Would you agree that the "depths of oppression" create "heights of character"? How does illustrate this? Can you add your own examples to this argument?
Ans: Yes, I do agree that "depth of oppression" create "heights of character". Mandela thinks that the decades of oppression and brutality had an unintended effect of creating many patriots with unimaginable "heights of character".

Yes, I can add a few examples to this argument. Bhagat Singh, Khudiram Basu, Gandhiji, Sarder Patel, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Kanaklata from Assam are some of them.

4. How did Mandela's understanding of freedom change with age and experience?
Ans: Mandela's understanding of freedom changed with age and experience.As a boy, Mandela thought that he was born free. He thought that he was born free in every way that he could know.

He was free to run in the fields near his mother's nut, free to swim in the clear stream that ran through his village.

He was free to roast mealies under the stars and ride the broad backs of slow moving bulls.

As a student, he wanted freedom to stay out at night, to read what he pleased and to go where he chose.

With the advancement of age he discovered that real freedom was something different from those transitory freedom of his boyhood days and students days. In fact he wanted freedom for his brother, sister and for all his countrymen. He joined the African National Congress with a view to making his country and her people free from oppressive apartheid.

5. How did Mandela's 'hunger for freedom' change his life?
Ans : In his youth, Mandela realized that it was not just his freedom that was curtailed, but the freedom of everyone who looked like him. Then the hunger for his own freedom became the greater hunger for the freedom of his people. It was this desire for the freedom of his people to live their lives with dignity and self respect that animated his life, that transformed a frightened young man into a bold one. After that he joined the African National Congress to fight for his people.

 অন্যান্য শিক্ষামূলক প্ৰৱন্ধসমূহ :

      ✒️ ৬ টা উপায়েৰে ধুনীয়া হাতৰ আখৰ
            তোমাৰো হ'ব পাৰে।
      ✒️ ৬ টা উপায় দীঘলীয়া উত্তৰ সহজে মূখস্থ
           কৰাৰ।

 Assamese Grammar :-
 বিপৰীত শব্দ।
(SEBA QUESTION BANK 2019)

 সমাৰ্থক শব্দ।
(SEBA QUESTION BANK 2019)

 সমাস।
(SEBA QUESTION BANK 2019)

 সন্ধি।
(SEBA QUESTION BANK 2019)

 এটা শব্দত প্ৰকাশ কৰা।
(SEBA QUESTION BANK 2019)

 ৭০ টা এটা শব্দত প্ৰকাশ কৰা।

 খণ্ডবাক্য আৰু জতুৱা ঠাঁচ।
(SEBA QUESTION BANK 2019)

 বাক্য পৰিবৰ্তন।
(SEBA QUESTION BANK 2019)

 Hindi Grammar :
 विपरीतार्थक या विलोम शब्द

 English Grammar For Class 9 :
 Voice.
 Narration.