Gujarat Board GSEB Class 12 English Textbook Solutions Flamingo Chapter 3 Deep Water Textbook Exercise Important Questions and Answers, Notes Pdf.
Gujarat Board Textbook Solutions Class 12 English Flamingo Chapter 3 Deep Water
GSEB Class 12 English Deep Water Text Book Questions and Answers
Think as you Read (Textbook Page No. 27)
Question 1.
What is the ‘misadventure’ that William Douglas speaks about?
Answer:
William O. Douglas had just learnt swimming. One day, an eighteen-year-old big bruiser picked him up and tossed him into the nine feet deep end of the Y.M.C.A. pool. He hit the water surface in a sitting position. He swallowed water and went at once to the bottom. He nearly died in this misadventure.
Question 2.
What were the series of emotions and fears that Douglas experienced when he was thrown into the pool? What plans did he make to come to the surface?
Answer:
Douglas was frightened when he was thrown into the pool. However, he was not frightened out of his wits. While sinking down he made a plan. He would make a big jump when his feet hit the bottom. He would come to the surface like a cork, lie flat on it, and paddle to the edge of the pool.
Question 3.
How did this experience affect him?
Answer:
This experience revived his aversion to water. He shook and cried when he lay on his bed. He couldn’t eat that night. For many days, there was a haunting fear in his heart. The slightest exertion upset him, making him wobbly in the knees and sick to his stomach. He never went back to the pool. He feared water and avoided it whenever he could.
Think as you Read (Textbook Page No. 29)
Question 1.
Why was Douglas determined to get over his fear of water?
Answer:
His fear of water ruined his fishing trips. It deprived him of the joy of canoeing, boating and swimming. Douglas used every way he knew to overcome this fear he had developed since childhood. Even as an adult, it held him firmly in its grip. He was determined to get an instructor and learn swimming to get over this fear of water.
Question 2.
How did the instructor ‘build a swimmer’ out of Douglas?
Answer:
The instructor built a swimmer out of Douglas piece by piece. For three months he held him high on a rope attached to his belt. He went back and forth across the pool. Panic seized the author every time. The instructor taught Douglas to put his face underwater and exhale and to raise his nose and inhale. Then Douglas had to kick with his legs for many weeks till these relaxed. After seven months the instructor told him to swim the length of the pool.
Question 3.
How did Douglas make sure that he conquered the old terror?
Answer:
Douglas still felt terror-stricken when he was alone in the pool. The remnants of the old terror would return, but he would rebuke it and go for another length of the pool. He was still not satisfied. So, he went to Lake Wentworth in New Hampshire, dived off a dock at Triggs Island and swam two miles across the lake. He had his residual doubts. So, he went to Meade Glacier, dived into Warm Lake and swam across to the other shore and back. Thus, he made sure that he had conquered the old terror.
Understanding the Text
Question 1.
How does Douglas make clear to the reader the sense of panic that gripped him as he almost drowned? Describe the details that have made the description vivid.
Answer:
Douglas takes us through his near-death experience at the YMCA pool by detailing every little aspect associated with it. He details minutes of his emotional, mental and physical struggle with the paralysing fear of being drowned in the water. The first person narration of the incident also helps us to associate with his experience more deeply.
Though he did not lose his wits initially, he panicked when his strategy didn’t work. His feeling of suffocation, fear and losing hold on sense perceptions make the readers experience what he does. His eyes couldn’t see beyond the dirty yellow water. His voice did not assist him. His nose and mouth could only manage to take water to the lungs. His limbs became paralyzed with fear and his mind dizzy. His desperation to save himself kept him struggling until he went down the third time and blacked out. All these details make the description vivid.
Question 2.
How did Douglas overcome his fear of water?
Answer:
When Douglas grew up, he took the help of an instructor to learn swimming. His training went on from October to April. For three months he was taken across the pool with the help of a rope. As he went under, terror-filled him and his legs froze.
The instructor taught him to exhale underwater and inhale through raised nose. He made him kick his legs to make them relax. Then he asked him to swim. He continued swimming from April to July. Still, all terror had not left. He swam two miles across Lake Wentworth and the whole length to the shore and back of Warm Lake. Then he overcame his fear of water.
Question 3.
Why does Douglas as an adult recount a childhood experience of terror and his conquering of it? What larger meaning does he draw from this experience?
Answer:
The experience of terror was a handicap Douglas suffered from during his childhood. His conquering of it shows his determination, willpower and development of his personality.
He drew a larger meaning from this experience. “In death there is peace.” “There is terror only in the fear of death.” He had experienced both the sensation of dying and the terror that fear of it can produce. So, the will to live somehow grew in intensity. He felt released – free to walk the mountain paths, climb the peaks and brush aside fear.
Talking about the Text
Question 1.
“All we have to fear is fear itself”. Have you ever had a fear that you have now overcome? Share your experience with your partner.
Answer:
I must have been about eight or nine years old. It was the night of Diwali. All the houses were shining bright with the rows of candles, oil lamps and electric bulbs. Children were bursting crackers. Suddenly, a cracker went up and hit the thatched roof of a poor gardener. Soon the hut was in flames. His only son, a tiny infant had severe burns before he could be rescued.
I began to tremble with fear as the police questioned the boys exploding crackers. From then on I had a fear of crackers, fire and police. My parents and I had to work very hard to remove this blemish. It was adversely affecting my personality. By learning the safeguards against fire and safe handling of crackers, I gradually overcame my fear. However, I still get panicked at the sight of a policeman in uniform.
The fear of police remained now; My uncle came to my rescue. He got me dressed as a police inspector in one of his plays, I commanded many policemen and scolded them for misbehaving with the common people. I learnt that policemen were also, humans and not demons. Police protect and help us to maintain law and order. Thank God, I have overcome all my fears now.
Question 2.
Find and narrate other stories about conquest of fear and what people have said about courage. For example, you can recall Nelson Mandela’s struggle for freedom, his perseverance to achieve his mission, to liberate the oppressed and the oppressor as depicted in his autobiography. The story ‘We’re Not Afraid To Die,’ which you have read in Class XI, is an apt example of how courage and optimism helped a family survive under the direst stress.
Answer:
In his autobiography ‘Long Walk to Freedom’, Nelson Mandela tells the extraordinary story of his life. He brings vividly to life the escalating political warfare in the fifties between the African National Congress and the government, culminating in his dramatic escapades as an underground leader and the notorious Rivonia Trial of 1964, at which he was sentenced to life imprisonment.
He recounts the surprisingly eventful twenty-seven years in prison and the complex, delicate negotiations that led both to his freedom and to the beginning of the end of apartheid. Mandela also struggled against the exploitation of labour and on the segregation of the universities. He persevered to achieve his mission and to liberate the oppressed and the oppressor. In 1990, he was freed from prison. The apartheid laws were relaxed. Mandela became the champion for human rights and racial equality. He also became the first non-white president of the Republic of South Africa.
Thinking about Language:
Question 1.
If someone else had narrated Douglas’s experience, how would it have differed from this account? Write out a sample paragraph or paragraphs from this text from the point of view of a third person or observer, to find out which style of narration would you consider to be more effective? Why?
Answer:
The third-person account or one from the point of view of an observer is detached and objective. A real-life personal account is subjective and focuses more on the person’s thoughts, feelings and emotional response. I would consider the first-person narrative style more effective as it is quite authentic and depicts everything faithfully.
Sample Paragraphs: (From the point of view of a third-person observer) A big bruiser of a boy, yelled, “Hi, Skinny! How’d you like to be ducked ?” with that he picked up the 10-year-old tiny boy and tossed him into the nine feet deep end of the Y.M.C.A. pool. The kid struck the surface in a sitting position, swallowed water and at once went to the bottom.
Watching all this from a distance filled me with anxiety for the kid. I rushed towards the side of the pool. By that time, the boy had risen twice to the surface but being unable to grab a rope or support on the sidewall, he went down.
Before I could bail him out he sucked in more water and went down third time. I at once jumped into the pool. The boy’s legs were limp. All efforts had ceased. I carried him on my shoulder and swam to the side of the pool. < to the first-aid measures and soon regained He was made to lie on his stomach. His back was slapped gently but firmly to make him vomit the water he had swallowed. He responded to the first aid measures and soon regained consciousness.
Writing:
Question 1.
Doing well in any activity, for example, a sport, music, dance or painting, riding a motorcycle or a car, involves a great deal of struggle. Most of us are very nervous to begin with until gradually we overcome our fears and perform well. Write an essay of about five paragraphs recounting such an experience. Try to recollect minute details of what caused the fear, your feelings, the encouragement you got from others or the criticism. You could begin with the last sentence of the essay you have just read: “At last, I felt released – free to walk the trails and climb the peaks and to brush aside fear.”
Answer:
“At last, I felt released. I was free to walk the trails and climb the peaks and brush aside fear.” This excerpt is a concluding line of an article. He is a cricketer, a batsman. He often got out when his personal score was within 90 and 100 as a result of fear. After strenuous efforts, he overcame this drawback.
Fear is an unpleasant emotion or thought that one has when one is frightened or worried by something dangerous, painful or bad that is happening or might happen. When I was going through my adolescent stage I thought it would be a courageous act to stand arms stretched on the parapet of the balcony.
Unfortunately, my foot slipped and I was about to go down. But miraculously I could seize the railing of the balcony. When I looked down the scene was dreadful. I was four floors away from the ground.
My condition was bad. I experienced vertigo, a sensation of spinning and dizziness. I suffered from fear of heights. Psychiatrists call it acrophobia. Looking down from great heights I developed vertigo, breathlessness, excessive sweating, muscle tension, heart palpitation, nausea and worst of all panic.
Acrophobia had become my enemy. Whenever I drove across flyovers, walk near big windows of a tall building or even climbing a ladder I was afraid. I prepared myself to encounter fear. But I had to make a steady approach. My doctor told me to set small goals and overcome them.
As time passed I began to visualize success. I took security precautions. I gained control on breathing. Anxiety worsens when the supply of oxygen is insufficient. I indulged in the act of deep breathing. Allowing time and space I took overcoming fear as a challenge. Now that I have succeeded I want to undertake some new adventures. Informal Letter Writing.
Question 2.
Write a short letter to a friend of yours about your having learnt to do something new.
Answer:
Ahmedabad January 19, 2020, Dear Ramesh, I hope all is well with you. In your last letter, you had asked me if I was trying my hand at something new. Yes, I have. For the last three months, I have been trying to learn swimming. You will be happy to know that I have succeeded in my efforts.
To begin with I approached an instructor and asked him to help me learn swimming. We went to the pool and began to practice. First the instructor put a belt around me. A rope was then attached to the belt. It went through a pulley that ran on an overhead cable. He held on to the end of the rope and went back and forth in the pool. Days passed into weeks and weeks into months.
Gradually at the end of three months, I had mastered the art of swimming. My main hurdle was breathing. My instructor taught me to put my face underwater and exhale and to raise my nose above the water to inhale. I repeated this exercise several times and mastered it. Today I have gained good command on swimming. It is my strong desire that you also learn something new.
Convey my regards to your other friends and pay my respect to your parents.
Hoping to hear from you soon.
Yours affectionately,
Prithviraj
GSEB Class 12 English Deep Water Additional Important Questions and Answers
Answer the following questions in three to four sentences each:
Question 1.
When did Douglas decide to learn swimming? What options were available to him to swim in? Which one did he choose and why?
Answer:
Douglas was ten or eleven years old when he decided to learn swimming. He could swim in the Yakima River or the Y.M.C.A. pool at Yakima. The Yakima River was dangerous. Many persons had drowned in it. So, he chose the Y.M.C.A. pool. It was considered safe.
Question 2.
“I had an aversion to the water when I was in it ?” says ^Douglas. When did he start having this aversion and how?
Answer:
The aversion started when Douglas was three or four years old. His father had taken him to the beach in California. They were standing together in the surf. He had held his father tightly, even then the waves knocked him down and swept over him. He was buried in water. His breath was gone. He was frightened. There was terror in his heart about the overpowering force of the waves.
Question 3.
How did the ‘misadventure’ happen with Douglas?
Answer:
Douglas was sitting alone on the side of the pool, waiting for others. A big, bruiser of a boy of eighteen came there. Mocking him as ‘skinny’ he enquired how he would like to be plunged in water. Saying so, he picked up Douglas and tossed him into the nine feet deep end. Douglas struck the surface of water, swallowed water and at once went to the bottom.
Question 4.
“On the way down I planned,” remarks Douglas. What plan had he devised and how far did it succeed?
Answer:
While going down to the bottom, he made a plan to save himself from being drowned. He decided to make a big jump as his feet hit the bottom. He hoped to move up to the surface of water like a cork. Then he would lie flat on it, and paddle to the edge of the pool. The plan was only partly successful. He rose to surface twice. But each time he swallowed water and went down.
Question 5.
How was the result of the ‘great spring upwards’ that Douglas made on hitting the bottom of the pool for the first time?
Answer:
Douglas rose to the surface very slowly. When he opened his eyes he saw nothing but water with a dirty yellow colour. He grew panicky. He tried to grab a rope but his hands clutched only at water. He was suffocating. He tried to shout, but no sound came out. Then his eyes and nose came out of the water but not his mouth.
Question 6.
How did Douglas struggle before hitting the bottom of the pool for the second time? What was the outcome of his struggle?
Answer:
Douglas moved his arms and legs around without control. He swallowed water and choked. His legs hung as dead weights, paralysed and rigid. A great force was pulling him down. He struck at the water with full force as he went down. He had lost all his breath. His lungs ached and head throbbed. He was getting dizzy. He went down through dark water and was filled with fear.
Question 7.
“In the midst of the terror came a touch of reason.” How did the two forces work in opposite directions and how did Douglas fare?
Answer:
Reason told him to jump when he hit the bottom as he felt the tiles under him, he jumped with everything he had. But the jump made no difference. A mass of yellow water held him. Stark terror took an even deeper hold on him. He shook and trembled with fright. His arms and legs wouldn’t move. He tried to call for help, but nothing happened.
Question 8.
In what state did Douglas find himself on regaining consciousness?
Answer:
He found himself lying on his stomach near the pool. He was vomiting. The fellow who had thrown him in the pool was saying that he was only joking. Then someone remarked that the small boy had nearly died. He hoped that he would be all right then. Then he was carried to the locker room for change of clothes.
Question 9.
How did Douglas react to the frightening experience
(i) that day and
(ii) later when he came to know the waters of the Cascades?
Answer:
(i) He walked home after several hours. He was weak and trembling. He shook and cried when he lay on his bed. He couldn’t eat that night. A haunting fear was there in his heart. The slightest exertion upset him. His knees became wobbly. He felt sick to his stomach.
(ii) Whenever he waded the Tieton or Bumping River or bathed in Warm Lake of Goat Rocks, the terror that had seized him in the pool would come back. This terror would take possession of him completely. His legs would become paralysed. Icy horror would grab his heart.
Question 10.
What efforts did Douglas make to get over his fear of water and why?
Answer:
Fear of water was a handicap Douglas developed during his childhood. It stayed with him as he grew older. It ruined his pursuits of pleasure such as canoeing, boating, swimming and fishing. He used every method he knew “to overcome this fear. Finally, he was determined to get an instructor and learn swimming.
Question 11.
What was the first piece of exercise the instructor gave Douglas? How long did it take to yield the desired result?
Answer:
The instructor made him go across the pool an hour a day for five days with the help of a rope attached to his belt. The rope went through a pulley that ran on an overhead cable. The instructor held on to the end of the rope. They went back and forth across the pool.
A bit of panic seized him every time. Moreover, the old terror returned and his legs froze when the instructor loosened his grip on the rope and Douglas went underwater. It was after three months that the tension began to decrease.
Question 12.
Why does Douglas say: “The instructor was finished. But I was not finished?” How did he overpower tiny vestiges of the old terror?
Answer:
The instructor’s work was over when he built a swimmer out of Douglas piece by piece and then put them together into an integrated whole. However, Douglas was not satisfied as the remnants of the old terror would return when he swam alone in the pool. He would frown on terror go for another length of the pool.
Question 13.
Why did Douglas go to Lake Wentworth in New Hampshire? How did he make his terror flee?
Answer:
Douglas was not sure whether all the terror had left even after the training from October to April and practice till July. So, he went to Lake Wentworth and swam two miles. Terror returned only once when he was in the middle of the lake. He had put his face under and saw nothing but bottomless water. The old sensation returned in a smaller size. He laughed and rebuked terror. His terror fled away and he swam on.
Answer the following questions in six to seven sentences each:
Question 1.
“There was terror in my heart at the overpowering force of the waves.” When did Douglas start fearing water? Which experience had further strengthened its hold on his mind and personality?
Answer:
The water waves which knocked down young Douglas and swept over him at the beach in California filled him with fear. He was then three or four years old. All this happened when he -had clung to his father. He was buried underwater. His breath was gone and he was frightened. His father laughed, but there was terror in his heart at the overpowering force of the waves.
His introduction to the Y.M.C.A. swimming pool revived unpleasant memories and stirred childish fears. He had gathered some confidence when a misadventure happened as a big boy threw him in the nine feet deep end of the pool. His efforts to rise to the surface and paddle to the side failed twice. He would have drowned if he had not been rescued in time. This terror of water overpowered his limbs and made them stiff. His mind was haunted by fear of water. It was, in fact, a handicap to his personality.
Question 2.
Give an account of the fears and emotions of Douglas as he made efforts to save himself from being drowned in the Y.M.C.A. swimming pool.
Answer:
Douglas was frightened as he was going down. His active mind suggested a strategy to save himself from being drowned in water. He knew that water has buoyancy. He must make a big jump as his feet hit the bottom. He hoped to rise up like a cork to the surface, lie flat on it and paddle to the edge of the pool.
Before he touched bottom, his lungs were ready to burst. Using all his strength, he made a great jump. He rose up very slowly. He saw nothing but yellow coloured dirty water. He grew panicky and he was suffocated. He swallowed more water as he tried to shout. He choked and went down again.
His stiff legs refused to obey him. He had lost all his breath. His lungs ached and head throbbed. He was getting dizzy. He went down through dark water again. An absolute terror seized Douglas.
He was paralysed underwater. His reasoning power told him to jump again. He did so, but his arms and legs wouldn’t move. His eyes and nose came out of water, but not his mouth. He swallowed more water and Went down a third time. Now a blackness swept over his brain. He had experienced the terror that fear of death can produce as well as the sensation of dying.
Question 3.
How did the misadventure in Y.M.C.A. swimming pool affect Douglas? What efforts did he make to conquer his old terror? Did he succeed?
Answer:
Douglas had nearly died in the swimming pool. For days there was a haunting fear in his heart. The slightest exertion upset him. He avoided going near water as he feared it. The waters of the cascades, fishing for salmon in canoes, bass or trout fishing-all appeared attractive activities. However, the haunting fear of water followed Douglas everywhere and ruined his fishing trips. It deprived him of the joy of canoeing, boating and swimming. The fear of water became a handicap.
He used every method he knew to overcome this fear. Finally, he decided to engage a trainer and learn swimming. In seven months the instructor built a swimmer out of Douglas. However, the vestiges of the old terror would return when he was alone in the pool. He could now frown on terror and go for another length of the pool. This went on till July. Douglas was not satisfied.
He went to Lake Wentworth and swam two miles. The terror returned only once when he had put his face underwater and saw nothing but bottomless water. In order to remove his residual doubts, he hurried west to Warm Lake. He dived into the lake and swam across to the other shore and back. He shouted with joy as he had conquered his fear of water. He Anally succeeded in his effort.
Question 4.
Comment on the appropriateness of the title ‘Deep Water’.
OR
Do you think the title ‘Deep Water’ is apt? Give reasons in support of your answer.
Answer:
The title ‘Deep Water’ is quite appropriate to this extract from ‘Of Men and Mountains’ by William O. Douglas. The title is highly suggestive and at once focuses our attention on the main theme – experiencing fear of death underwater and the efforts of the author to overcome it.
All the details in the essay are based on his personal experience and analysis of fear. The psychological analysis of fear is presented from a child’s point of view and centres round deep water and drowning. The overpowering force of the waves at the California beach stir aversion for water in Douglas.
His mother warns him against swimming in the deep waters of the treacherous Yakima River. The nine feet deep water of the swimming pool appears more than ninety to Douglas. However, when he conquers fear he can dive and swim in the deep waters of Lake Wentworth and Warm Lake. Thus, the title is apt and suggestive.
Question 5.
What impression do you form of William O. Douglas on the basis of reading ‘Deep Water’?
Answer:
William Douglas leaves a very favourable impression on us. He appears quite truthful and courageous. He gives a detailed account of his fears and emotions as he struggles against deep water to save himself from being drowned. Confessing one’s faults and shortcomings is not easy.
It needs courage, honesty and willpower. Douglas has all these qualities. His efforts to overpower the fear of water show his firm determination, resolution and strong willpower. He has an analytic mind which diagnoses the malady and prompts him to search the cure.
He is frightened of deep water, but not yet frightened out of his wits. In his heroic struggle against fear, terror and panic, he rises to heroic stature. He becomes an idol, a living image of bravery and persistent efforts. He typifies the will not to surrender or yield. His indefatigable zeal is a source of inspiration for all and especially for the youth. In short, William Douglas impresses us as a frank, truthful, honest and determined person.
Reading Comprehension (Textual)
Read the following passages and select the most appropriate options as answers to the questions given below them:
Question 1.
From the beginning, however, I had an aversion to the water when I was in it. This started when I was three or four years old and father took me to the beach in California. He and I stood together in the surf. I hung on to him, yet the waves knocked me down and swept over me. I was buried in water. My breath was gone. I was frightened. Father laughed, but there was terror in my heart at the overpowering force of the waves.
My introduction to the Y.M.C.A. swimming pool revived unpleasant memories and stirred childish fears. But in a little while, I gathered confidence. paddled with my new water wings, watching the other boys and trying to learn by aping them. I did this two or three times on different days and was just beginning to feel at ease in the water when the misadventure happened.
Questions:
1. The writer had an intense dislike for water …………………….. .
A. since he was three or four.
B. when he was in water.
C. when he was at some beach.
D. Both A’ and ‘B’
Answer:
D. Both A’ and ‘B’
2. ………………………….. caused terror to the writer.
A. The beach in California
B. His father’s pressure on him
C. The overpowering force of the waves
D. The swimming pool
Answer:
C. The overpowering force of the waves
3. What were the unpleasant memories for the writer?
A. Those that he had been in the surf with his father in California.
B. Those that he had learnt about the dangers of being in water in his school.
C. Those stories that he had heard from his friends.
D. All of these three
Answer:
A. Those that he had been in the surf with his father in California.
4. The meaning of the phrase ‘feel at ease’ means ……………………….. .
A. ‘without any effort’.
B. ‘quite relaxed’.
C. ‘comfortable’.
D. Both ‘B’ and ‘C’
Answer:
D. Both ‘B’ and ‘C’
Question 2.
I flailed at the surface of the water swallowed and choked. I tried to bring my legs up, but they hung as dead weights, paralysed and rigid. A great force was pulling me under. I screamed, but only the water heard me. I had! started on the long journey back to the bottom of the pool.
I struck at the water as I went down, I expending my strength as one in a nightmare fights an irresistible force. I had lost all my breath. My lungs ached, my head throbbed. I was getting dizzy. But I remembered the strategy-I would spring from the bottom of the pool and come like a cork to the surface.
I would lie flat on the water, strike out with my arms, and thrash with my legs. Then I would get to the edge of the pool and be safe. I went down, down, endlessly. I opened my eyes. Nothing but water with a yellow glow-dark water that one could not see through.
Questions:
1. The meaning of the phrase ‘flailed at the surface’ is ……………………. .
A. ‘swim on the surface.
B. ‘lash out vigorously at the surface of the water in trying to come out.
C. ‘go under the surface of water.
D. None of these three.
Answer:
B. ‘lash out vigorously at the surface of the water in trying to come out.
2. …………………… but only the water heard me’, means …………………….. .
A. ‘There was nobody around to hear my voice.
B. ‘The water had ears’.
C. ‘My voice could not go outside water’.
D. ‘Nobody was ready to listen to my cries for help’.
Answer:
C. ‘My voice could not go outside water’.
3. The writer decided to go back to the bottom because …………………… .
A. he had lost all his courage to come to the surface.
B. he would spring from the bottom and come back to the surface again.
C. he had hoped that finding him at the bottom, somebody would help him come out.
D. All of these three.
Answer:
B. he would spring from the bottom and come back to the surface again.
4. The writer could not see anything at the bottom of the pool because …………………………. .
A. The sun rays did not reach there.
B. The water there was dark yellow.
C. The water had entered the writer’s eyes.
D. Both A’ and ‘B’
Answer:
B. The water there was dark yellow.
Question 3.
I used every way I knew to overcome this fear, but it held me firmly in its grip. Finally, one October, I decided to get an instructor and learn to swim. I went to a pool and practised five days a week, an hour each day. The instructor put a belt around me.
A rope attached to the belt went through a pulley that, ran on an overhead cable. He held on to the end of the rope, and we went back and forth, back and forth across the pool, hour after hour, day after day, week after week. On each trip across the pool, a bit of the panic seized me.
Each time the instructor relaxed his hold on the rope and I went under, some of the old terror returned and my legs froze. It was three months before the tension began to slack. Then he taught me to put my face underwater and exhale, and to raise my nose and inhale. I repeated the exercise hundreds of times. Bit by bit I shed part of the panic that seized me when my head went underwater.
Questions:
1. What held the writer firmly in its grip?
A. Instructor
B. Pool
C. His own fear
D. None of these three
Answer:
C. His own fear
2. The rope was connected with …………………. .
A. a pulley on an overhead cable.
B. the railing of the pool.
C. a hook studded in the pool wall.
D. None of these three
Answer:
A. a pulley on an overhead cable.
3. What happened to the writer on each trip across the pool?
A. He had great pain.
B. Fear seized him.
C. He had to go back and forth.
D. His legs froze.
Answer:
B. Fear seized him.
4. What exercise did the writer repeat?
A. He had to put his face underwater and exhale.
B. He had to raise his nose and inhale.
C. He had to relax his hold on the rope.
D. Both A’ and ‘ ‘B’
Answer:
D. Both ‘A’ and ‘B’.
Grammar
Vocabulary
Fill in the blanks choosing the correct words given in the brackets and write the answers only:
Question 1.
(wits, swallowed, paddle, surface, landed, frightened, tossed, planned)
With that, he picked me up and …1…. me into the deep end. I …..2….. in a sitting position, …3.. water, and went at once to the bottom. I was …4…., but not yet frightened out of my ……5……. On the way down I …..6……; when my feet hit the bottom, I would make a big jump, come to the …..7….. lie flat on it, and ….8……. to the edge of the pool.
Answer:
1. tossed
2. landed
3. swallowed
4. frightened
5. wits
6. planned
7. surface
8. paddle
Question 2.
(strategy, irresistible, thrash, nightmare, throbbed, struck, expending, surface)
I …1…. at the water as I went down, …2…. my strength as one in a …..3….. fights an …4… force. I had lost all my breath. My lungs ached, my head …..5… I was getting dizzy. But I remembered the …6,... -I would spring from the bottom of the pool and come like a cork to the …7… I would lie flat on the water, strike out with my arms, and ……8…… with my legs.
Answer:
1. struck
2. expending
3. nightmare
4. Irresistible
5. throbbed
6. strategy
7. surface
8. thrash
Choose the correct meanings of the phrases /Idioms and rewrite the sentences:
(1) For my science project I made a volcano In miniature. (as a model, on a small scale, as an experiment)
(2) I would never deprive you of the opportunity to follow your dreams! (keep from getting. help In obtaining. Interfere in accessing)
(3) During the party I went back and forth to the kitchen to gel drinks for the guests. (repeatedly, desperately. willingly)
(4) front sneak up on me like that, you frightened inc out of my wits? (shocked suddenly, made crazy, intelligently)
Answer:
(1) For my science project. I made a volcano on a small scale.
(2) I would never keep you from getting the opportunity follow your dreams!
(3 ) During the party. I went repeatedly to the kitchen to get drinks for the guests.
(4 ) Don’t sneak up on me like that; you shocked me suddenly!
Rectification:
Rectify the errors in the following text:
Question 1.
From the beginning, though, I had an aversion from the water when I was in it. This started where I was three or four years old and the waves knocked me down and sweep over me.
Answer:
| Errors | Corrections |
| though | however |
| from | to |
| where | when |
| sweep | swept |
Question 2.
With that, he picked me up but tossed me Into the dip end. I landed In a sitting position, swallowed water, and went at once to the bottom. I was frightened, but not as frightened out of my wits.
Answer:
| but | and |
| dip | deep |
| ones | once |
| as | yet |
Punctuation:
Punctuate the following passage:
Thus piece by piece he built a swimmer and when he had perfected each piece he put them together into an integrated whole in April he said now you can swim dive off and swim the length of the pool, crawl stroke
Answer:
Thus, piece by piece, he built a swimmer. And when he had perfected each piece, he put them together into an integrated whole. In April he said, “Now you can swim. Dive off and swim the length of the pool, crawl stroke.”
Indirect Speech:
Convert the following into Indirect Speech:
The chap that threw me in was saying, “But I was only fooling.” Someone said, “The kid nearly died. Be all right now. Let’s carry him to the locker room.”
Answer:
The chap that threw me in was saying in his defence hesitatingly that he had only been fooling. Then someone reported that the kid had nearly died. Then the chap wished to be all right then. He further suggested that they should carry him to the locker room.
Transformation of Sentences
Rewrite as directed:
1. It had happened when I was ten or eleven years old. (Turn into Simple.)
2. He and I stood together in the surf. (Use ‘Not only … but also.)
3. I was frightened, but not yet frightened out of my wits. (Use ‘Though’.)
4. I opened my eyes and saw nothing but water. (Turn into Affirmative.)
5. A great force was pulling me under. (Change the Voice.)
6. Even the screams in my throat were frozen. (Turn into Negative.)
7. I was too tired to jump. (Remove ‘too’.)
Answer:
1. It had happened at my age of ten or eleven.
2. Not only he but I also stood in the surf.
3. Though I was frightened, I was not yet frightened out of my wits.
4. I opened my eyes and saw only water.
5. I was being pulled under by a great force.
6. Even the screams in my throat were not coming out.
7. I was so tired that I could not jump.
Deep Water Summary in English
Deep Water Introduction:
William Orville Douglas (October 16, 1898-January 19, 1980) was an American jurist and politician who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Nominated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Douglas was confirmed at the age of 40, one of the youngest justices appointed to the court. His term, lasting 36 years and 211 days (1939-75), is the longest in the history of the Supreme Court. In 1975 Time magazine called Douglas “the most doctrinaire and committed civil libertarian ever to sit on the court”.
Deep Water Summary:
The story, ‘Deep Water’ tells us how the writer overcame his fear of water and learned swimming with sheer determination and willpower. He had developed a terror of water since childhood. When he was three or four years old, the writer had gone to California with his father.
One day on the beach, the waves knocked the child down and swept over him. The child was terrified but the father who knew, there was no harm, laughed. The experience bred a permanent fear of water in the child’s subconscious mind. Still another incident, more serious, increased his terror. The writer was trying to learn swimming in the Y.M.C.A. swimming pool in Yakima.
One day while he was waiting for other boys, a big boy suddenly played a dangerous prank and pushed him into the water. The writer was terribly frightened. He went down nine feet into the water. When he reached the bottom, he jumped upward with all his strength. He came’ up but very slowly. He tried to catch hold of something like a rope but grasped only at water. He tried to shout but no sound came out. He went down again. His lungs ached, head throbbed and he grew dizzy.
He felt paralyzed with fear. All his limbs were paralyzed. Only the movement of his heart told him that he was alive. Again he tried to jump up. But this time his limbs would not move at all. He looked for ropes, ladders and water wings but all in vain. Then he went down again, the third time.
This time all efforts and fear ceased. He was moving towards peaceful death. The writer was in peace. When he came to consciousness, he found himself lying on the side of the pool with the other boys nearby. The terror that he had experienced in the pool never left him. It haunted him for years and years to come. It spoilt many of his expeditions of canoeing, swimming and fishing.
It spoilt his pleasures in Maine Lakes, New Hampshire, Deschutes, Columbia and Bumping Lake, etc. But the writer was determined to conquer his terror. He took help of a swimming instructor to learn swimming. The instructor taught him various actions necessary in swimming part by part. He put his face underwater and exhaled and inhaled raising it above water.
He practised it for several weeks. He had to kick with his legs a few weeks on the side of the pool. At last, he combined all these actions and made the writer swim. He learned swimming but the terror continued. So deep goes our childhood experiences! So fearful is the fear of fear! Whenever he was in water the terror returned. Henceforward the writer tried to terrorize terror itself.
He tried to face the new challenge. When terror came, he confronted it by asking it sarcastically as to what it can really do to him? He plunged into the water as if to defy the fear. Once he took courage, the terror vanquished. He faced the challenge deliberately in various places like the Warm Lake. He conquered fear at last.