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Oral Comprehension Check

Q1. Where did the ceremonies take place? Can you name any public buildings in India that are made of sandstone?
Answer: The ceremonies took place in the lovely sandstone amphitheatre formed by the Union Buildings in Pretoria. The Parliament House and Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi are public buildings in India made of sandstone.

Q2. Can you say how 10 May is an ‘autumn day’ in South Africa?
Answer: 10 May is an ‘autumn day’ in South Africa because South Africa is in the Southern Hemisphere. Autumn in the Southern Hemisphere occurs in the months of March, April, and May.

Q3. 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?
Answer: “An extraordinary human disaster” refers to the system of apartheid, which was a political system that separated people according to their race. The “glorious… human achievement” is the establishment of a democratic, non-racial government in South Africa.

Q4. What does Mandela thank the international leaders for?
Answer: Mandela thanks the international leaders for coming to take possession with the people of his country of what is, after all, a common victory for justice, for peace, and for human dignity.

Q5. What ideals does he set out for the future of South Africa?
Answer: He sets out the ideals of liberating all his people from the continuing bondage of poverty, deprivation, suffering, gender, and other forms of discrimination.

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Oral Comprehension Check

Q1. What do the military generals do? How has their attitude changed, and why?
Answer: The military generals saluted Mandela and pledged their loyalty. Their attitude had changed because they were now showing respect and loyalty to a new democratic government that was freely and fairly elected, instead of the old white-supremacy regime that they would have arrested him under.

Q2. Why were two national anthems sung?
Answer: Two national anthems were sung because one was the old anthem of the Republic, sung by the whites (‘Die Stem’), and the other was the new anthem of the Republic, sung by the blacks (‘Nkosi Sikelel -iAfrika’). It symbolised the coming together of both races and the new non-racial government.

Q3. 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?
Answer: (i) In the first decade of the twentieth century, the white-skinned peoples of South Africa patched up their differences and created a system of racial domination against the dark-skinned peoples, which was one of the most inhumane societies the world has ever known.
(ii) In the final decade of the twentieth century, this system had been overturned and replaced by one that recognised the rights and freedoms of all peoples, regardless of the colour of their skin.

Q4. What does courage mean to Mandela?
Answer: To Mandela, courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.

Q5. Which does he think is natural, to love or to hate?
Answer: He thinks that love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite, which is hate.

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Oral Comprehension Check

Q1. What “twin obligations” does Mandela mention?
Answer: The “twin obligations” are an obligation to one’s family (parents, wife, and children) and an obligation to one’s people, community, and country.

Q2. 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”?
Answer: As a boy, being free meant to him being able to run in the fields and swim in the clear stream. As a student, it meant having “transitory freedoms” like staying out at night and reading what he pleased. He contrasts these with “the basic and honourable freedoms” of being able to achieve his potential, earn a living, and have a family without being obstructed.

Q3. Does Mandela think the oppressor is free? Why/Why not?
Answer: No, Mandela does not think the oppressor is free. He believes that a man who takes away another man’s freedom is a “prisoner of hatred,” locked behind the bars of prejudice and narrow-mindedness. He is robbed of his humanity just as the oppressed are.

Thinking about the Text

Q1. Why did such a large number of international leaders attend the inauguration? What did it signify the triumph of?
Answer: A large number of international leaders attended the inauguration to show their support for the end of apartheid. It signified the triumph of justice, peace, and human dignity.

Q2. What does Mandela mean when he says he is “simply the sum of all those African patriots” who had gone before him?
Answer: He means that his achievements were not his alone but were the result of the collective sacrifice and struggle of all the patriots who had fought and died for freedom before him.

Q3. Would you agree that the “depths of oppression” create “heights of character”? How does Mandela illustrate this? Can you add your own examples to this argument?
Answer: This is an opinion question. You can agree that great oppression can create strong characters by forcing people to be resilient and courageous. Mandela illustrates this by mentioning the great men produced by the apartheid struggle, men of extraordinary courage, wisdom, and generosity.

Q4. How did Mandela’s understanding of freedom change with age and experience?
Answer: As a boy, freedom meant playing and living as he pleased. As a young man, he wanted temporary personal freedoms. With age, he realised that his freedom was not separate from the freedom of his people. His desire for his own freedom turned into a “greater hunger” for the freedom of his entire community.

Q5. How did Mandela’s ‘hunger for freedom’ change his life?
Answer: His hunger for freedom transformed him from a frightened young man into a bold one. It drove a law-abiding attorney to become a criminal, turned a family-loving husband into a man without a home, and forced a life-loving man to live like a monk.

Thinking about Language

Q1. There are nouns in the text (formation, government) which are formed from the corresponding verbs (form, govern) by suffixing -(at)ion or ment. There may be a change in the spelling of some verb noun pairs: such as rebel, rebellion; constitute, constitution. Make a list of such pairs of nouns and verbs in the text.

Answer:

Q2. Read the paragraph below. Fill in the blanks with the noun forms of the verbs in brackets.

Answer:
Martin Luther King’s contribution (contribute) to our history as an outstanding leader began when he came to the assistance (assist) of Rosa Parks, a seamstress who refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white passenger. In those days American Blacks were confined to positions of second class citizenship by restrictive laws and customs. To break these laws would mean subjugation (subjugate) and humiliation (humiliate) by the police and the legal system. Beatings, imprisonment (imprison) and sometimes death awaited those who defied the System. Martin Luther King’s tactics of protest involved non-violent resistance (resist) to racial injustice.

Q3. Using the Definite Article with Names

Answer:

1. Mr Singh regularly invites the Amitabh Bachchans and the Shah Rukh Khans to his parties.
   👉 This means Mr. Singh invites actors of the same fame and type as Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan, not necessarily those specific individuals.

2. Many people think that Madhuri Dixit is the Madhubala of our times.
   👉 This means that many people think Madhuri Dixit is a legendary actress like Madhubala, who is known for her beauty and acting talent.

3. History is not only the story of the Alexanders, the Napoleons and the Hitlers, but of ordinary people as well.
   👉 This means that history is not just the story of great conquerors and powerful leaders like Alexander, Napoleon, and Hitler, but also the story of ordinary people.

Q4. Idiomatic Expressions

Answer:

Writing

Q1. Looking at Contrasts

Answer:

1. It requires such depths of oppression to create such heights of character.

2. Courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.

3. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.

4. If people can learn to hate, they can be taught to love.

5. I was not born with a hunger to be free. I was born free.

Q2. This text repeatedly contrasts the past with the present or the future. Given below are sentences carrying one part of the contrast. Find in the text the second part of the contrast, and complete each item. Identify the words which signal the contrast.

Answer:

1. For decades the Union Buildings had been the seat of white supremacy, and now…
   👉 …it was the site of a rainbow gathering of different colours and nations for the installation of South Africa’s first democratic, non-racial government. (and now)

2. Only moments before, the highest generals of the South African defence force and police saluted me and pledged their loyalty. not so many years before they would not have saluted…
   👉 …but arrested me. (but)

3. Although that day neither group knew the lyrics of the anthem … they would soon…
   👉 …know the words by heart. (Although)

4. My country is rich in the minerals and gems that lie beneath its soil,…
   👉 …but I have always known that its greatest wealth is its people, finer and truer than the purest diamonds. (but)

5. The Air Show was not only a display of pinpoint precision and military force, but…
   👉 …a demonstration of the military’s loyalty to democracy, to a new government that had been freely and fairly elected. (but)

6. It was this desire for the freedom of my people that transformed…
   👉 …a frightened young man into a bold one, that drove a law-abiding attorney to become a criminal, that turned a family-loving husband into a man without a home.