A Visit to Cambridge Extra Questions and Answers Class 8 English Honeydew
A Visit to Cambridge Extra questions and Answers PDF help the students in preparing for their examination in an orderly manner. Class 8 English Honeydew Chapter 7 extra questions includes short and long questions which are essential for school exams. Practicing class 8 extra questions help the students to understand the entire chapter for the preparation of class tests and terminal exams.
Extra Questions for Class 8 English Chapter 7 A Visit to Cambridge
Short Answer Type Questions
1. Who was Stephen Hawking?
Answer: Stephen Hawking was one of the greatest scientists of our time. He suffered from a form of paralysis that confined him to a wheelchair, and allowed him to ‘speak’ only by punching buttons on a computer, which spoke for him in a machine-like voice.
2. Who is Firdaus Kanga?
Answer: Firdaus Kanga is a writer and journalist who lives and works in Mumbai. Kanga was born with ‘brittle bones’ that tended to break easily when he was a child.
3. Who received the phone at Stephen Hawking’s house and what were the conversations?
Answer: The author called to Stephen Hawking’s house. There was his assistant on the line and the author told him that he wants to meet Mr. Hawking. Even ten minutes would do “Half an hour”. Then he said “from three-thirty to four”.
4. What was the thing that makes author feel stronger?
Answer: The only thing that makes you stronger is somebody like you. It seems like achieving something huge. This makes him feel stronger.
5. What did Mr. Hawking reply when he asked “lot of people seem to think that disabled people are chronically unhappy”?
Answer: When he asked “A lot of people seem to think that disabled people are chronically unhappy”. About after three minutes later, he responded, that “I find it amusing when people patronize me”.
6. “A first glimpse of Hawking is shocking”. Why?
Answer: A first glimpse of Hawking is shocking, because he was like a still photograph – as if all those pictures of him in magazines and newspapers have turned 3 – Dimensional.
7. Why was author watching his wrist?
Answer: He shifted his chair or turned his wrist to watch the time. He wanted to make every one of thirty minutes count.
8. What did Hawking reply when author asked “Is there any advice you can give disabled people, something that might help make life better”?
Answer. Hawking replied that they should concentrate on what they are good at and according to him things I like the disabled Olympics are a waste of time.
9. The author asked Hawking that he had been an inspiration beyond clinched for me, what Hawking replied to it?
Answer: Hawking said “no”, according to him if his body is like claustrophobic room & the walls are growing narrower day by day, if doesn’t do much good to know that there are people outside smiling with admiration to see him breathing still.
10. The author had got appointment only for half an hour then why did he stay there for some more time?
Answer: He had got appointment only for half an hour but when he was going to back his way Stephen stopped him and said, “Have some tea and he can see his garden”. So he stayed there for some more time.
11. Describe the environment of Stephen’s Garden.
Answer: The garden was as big as a park, but Stephen Hawking covered every inch, rumbling along motorized wheelchair. The environment of garden was entirely different.
12. Why was there silence in the garden?
Answer: They cannot talk very much in the garden, because the sun made them silent, the letters on his screen disappeared because of the sunlight. So there were silence in the garden.
13. How did the author say good bye to Mr. Hawking?
Answer: The author didn’t know what to do at the time of leaving him. He couldn’t kiss him or cry. So he touched * his shoulder and wheeled out in the summer evening.
14. Describe the emotions of the author at the end of the chapter.
Answer: He was in the feeling of embodiment of his bravest self. He thought Stephen Hawking might be waving at him though he wasn’t. At the end, he said his journey is over and he had a great interview of Mr. Hawking.
15. Guess the first question put to the scientist by the writer.
Answer: The writer’s first question might be about Hawking’s disability and how he had accepted it.
16. Stephen Hawking said, “I’ve had no choice.” Does the writer think was a choice? What was it?
Answer: The writer thought that there was a choice. Stephen Hawking could have chosen to leave everything, be sad and depressed. He could have sulked. However, he chose to live creatively, knowing the reality of his disintegrating body.
17. “I could feel his anguish”. What could be the anguish?
Answer: The anguish was that he found it very difficult to express himself with the right words on his computer. He felt frustrated. He could not express himself freely although ideas were floating in his mind.
18. What endeared the scientist to the writer so that he said he was looking at one of the most beautiful men in the world?
Answer: When the writer asked the scientist if he felt annoyed when someone like the writer went and disturbed him in his work, then scientist answered ‘yes’ with his one-way smile. This endeared the writer as he knew without being sentimental or silly he was looking at one of the most beautiful man in the world.
19. Read aloud the description of the beautiful’ man. Which is the most beautiful sentence in the description?
Answer: The sentences describing the inner glow of Hawking’s personality which makes his physical looks irrelevant is probably one of the most beautiful descriptions of beauty.
20.
(i) If ‘the lantern’ is the man, what would its ‘walls’ be?
(ii) What is housed within the thin walls?
(iii) What general conclusion does the writer draw from this comparison?
Answer: (i) The walls of the lantern in Hawking’s case were his skeleton like physical structure.
(ii) The glow, the external soul was housed within the thin walls of his body.
(iii) The writer draws conclusion that the eternal soul is more important than the body.
21. What is the scientist’s message for the disabled?
Answer: The scientist Stephen Hawking’s message for the disabled is they should concentrate on what they are good at. They should make the best use of their talent and thank God.
Long Answer Type Questions
1. The narrator called him ‘a beautiful man’. How does he define beauty?
Answer: The narrator was inspired by the achievements of Stephen Hawking whose creativity is beyond measures. His never ‘giving up’ attitude attracted him the most. He could be associated with the difficulties faced by Stephen as he was also confined to a wheel chair. So it is rightly said that beautiful is the one, who do things beautifully and Stephen Hawking contributed so much that people will also be inspired and awestruck by his achievements.
2. What is Stephen’s idea behind saying- ‘They should concentrate on what they are good at’?
Answer: Stephen Hawking was a differently able person who overcame him deformity. He was one of the greatest scientists of the present era. He had the idea to achieve what one is good at. Rather than justifying or proving to others, he wanted challenged person to accept the way they are. Because they do have potential and focus to achieve much more than any other normal people. He did not appreciate the things like the disable Olympics as they are a wastage of time to him.
3. Why does the writer refer to the guitar incident? Which idea does it support?
Answer: The scientist Stephen Hawking said that Olympics for the handicapped or disabled people are waste of time. The writer agreed with him. He remembered the years which he tried to play a big guitar. He felt defeated. So he destroyed it one night. He supports Stephen Hawking’s idea that the disabled should only concentrate on what they are good at.
4. The writer expresses his great gratitude to Stephen Hawking. What is the gratitude for?
Answer: The writer expressed his gratitude to Stephen Hawking because he had been an inspiration for him. He saw Stephen as the embodiment of his bravest self. He felt that if he had been as brave as Stephen, he would have achieved a lot. He felt he was moving towards the embodiment that he had believed in for many years. That is why he expressed his great gratitude to him as he had made him realised what great heights he could reach.
5.
(i) Did the prospect of meeting Stephen Hawking make the writer nervous?
(ii) Did he at the same time feel very excited? If so, why?
Answer: (i) Yes, the prospect of meeting Stephen Hawking made the writer nervous. Stephen Hawking was the greatest scientist on the earth. He was the author of the world-renowned book “A brief History of Time”. He was doubtful whether he would be allowed to meet him even for ten minutes or not. Also, he was fed up with people asking him to be brave.
(ii) Yes, he felt very excited at the same time because Stephen Hawking was totally paralysed, still, he had made great achievement. This got him the strength to do still better.