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| User | % Correct Answers |
|---|---|
| 1. Y. Sunayana | 90% |
| 2. M. Harshini, MHS | 90% |
| 3. Haasini T. | 86.25% |
| 4. Kruthi Reddy P. | 80% |
| 5. M. Venkata Anvith, MHS | 80% |
| 6. G. Lokesh, NOS | 80% |
| 7. P. Ambarish, NOS | 75% |
Notes/Meanings:
Vocabulary Meanings from ‘His First Flight’
| Expression from the Text | Meaning |
| when he had taken a little run | when he ran a small distance |
| flap his wings | move his wings up and down to fly |
| the great expanse of sea stretched down beneath | the big wide sea was far below |
| He failed to muster up courage to take that plunge | he could not become brave enough to jump |
| …which appeared to him so desperate | which looked very dangerous or scary to him |
| pretended to be falling asleep | acted like he was sleeping |
| lying on the plateau dozing | resting and almost sleeping on the flat high land |
| with their heads sunk into their necks | with their heads bent down and close to their bodies |
| His father was preening the feathers on his white back | his father was cleaning and fixing his feathers |
| hump | a small raised area or bump |
| her white breast thrust forward | her chest pushed out in front |
| she tore at a piece of fish and scrapped each side of her beak on the rock | she pulled the fish with her beak and rubbed it on the rock |
| the sight of the food maddened him | seeing the food made him very hungry and restless |
| how he loved to tear food that way, scrapping his beak | he liked pulling food and rubbing his beak like that |
| now and again | sometimes; not often |
| whet | to make something (like the beak) sharp |
| she screamed back derisively | she shouted back in a mocking or teasing way |
| then a monstrous terror seized him | then a huge fear grabbed him |
| He could feel the tips of his wings cutting through the air | he felt the ends of his wings moving through the air |
| He was soaring gradually downwards and upwards | he was flying smoothly, going down and up |
| He was no longer afraid | he was not scared anymore |
| His mother swooped past him | his mother flew down fast near him |
| curveting and banking | turning and moving in the air like a dance or flight trick |
| Then he completely forgot that he had not always been able to fly | he forgot that he once did not know how to fly |
| He commended himself to dive and soar and curve, shrieking shrilly | he proudly flew up and down and turned in the air, shouting with joy |
| facing straight out over the ocean | looking directly over the sea |
| cawed amusedly | made a happy bird sound (like laughing) |
| They were beckoning to him, calling shrilly | they were asking him to come, calling in loud high voices |
| His legs sank into it | his legs went down into the water |
| He screamed with fright | he shouted because he was scared |
| exhausted by the strange exercise | very tired from the new and hard activity |
| His belly touched it and he sank no farther | his stomach touched the water and he didn’t go down anymore |
| he was floating on it | he was staying on top of the water without sinking |
| their beaks were offering him scraps of dog fish | they were giving him small pieces of a fish called dogfish using their beaks |
Summary of the lesson:
A young seagull was too scared to fly. He saw his siblings fly away, but he couldn’t bring himself to jump off the ledge. His parents tried to encourage him, and then threatened to leave him starving, but nothing worked.
For a whole day, the young seagull watched his family learn to fly and catch fish. He grew terribly hungry, especially when his older brother proudly showed off his first catch. The sun beat down on the young seagull, and he felt weak and alone.
Pretending to be asleep didn’t fool his parents. They ignored him, except for his mother. She stood nearby, tearing at a piece of fish. The sight of the food was torture for the young seagull. He cried out, begging for some.
His mother finally flew towards him with the food. But just as he was about to get it, she stopped, holding it out of reach. Driven mad by hunger, he launched himself towards the fish.
Suddenly, he was falling! Terror gripped him. Then a miraculous thing happened – his wings spread wide. The wind pushed against him, and instead of plummeting to his death, he began to soar!
Fear turned into joy. He flapped his wings and rose higher. His mother swooped by, encouraging him. His father and siblings joined in, circling and diving around him. The young seagull, forgetting his earlier terror, followed their lead.
He flew out over the wide ocean, feeling the wind on his feathers. Everything looked different and exciting from the air. Soon, his family landed on the green surface of the sea and called him to join them. He tried to land but splashed into the water! Exhausted and scared again, he started to sink.
But then he realized the water was holding him afloat. His family gathered around, cheering and giving him bits of fish. The young seagull had taken his first flight!