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Chapter 5 - The Summit Within Exercise 80

Solution 1

(iii) Standing on Everest, the writer was jubilant and sad.

Solution 2

(ii) The emotion that gripped him was one of humility and a sense of smallness.

Solution 3

(i), (iii), (iv) and (v) are not relevant.

Chapter 5 - The Summit Within Exercise 81

Solution 1

(i) The three qualities that played a major role in the author's climb are endurance, persistence and will power.

(ii)  Adventure is risky, but pleasurable. Though it presents great difficulties, man takes delight in overcoming such hurdles.

Everest for example is the highest, the mightiest, and many attempts have been made to climb it. According to the author, it takes the last ounce of one’s energy to reach the summit and leads to complete physically exhausted. However when the summit is climbed, there is also the feeling of "exhilaration, the joy of having done something, the sense of a battle fought and won". There is a feeling of victory and of happiness. The physical conquest of a mountain is only one part of the achievement. It is followed by a sense of fulfilment and satisfaction. The experience is not merely physical, but it is emotional and spiritual also.

(iii) Everest one of the highest and mightiest mountains drew him towards itself by its beauty, aloofness, ruggedness and the difficulties encountered on the way. Climbing it, would take the last ounce of ones energy as it is a brutal struggle with rock and ice. Once taken up, it cannot be given up half way even when ones life is at stake. The passage back is as difficult as the passage onwards. Once the summit is climbed however there is the feeling of exhilaration, the joy of having done something, the sense of a battle fought and won, a feeling of victory and of happiness. All these were reasons why he found it irresistible.

(iv) Climbing a peak means endurance, persistence and will power. The demonstration of these physical qualities is exhilarating for a climber. The experience, apart from being merely physical, is also emotional and spiritual. It surely presents great difficulties. However, man takes delight in overcoming obstacles. Therefore, it is not for fame alone that one climbs a mountain. It is actually for the joy of having done something, the sense of a battle fought and won, a feeling of victory and of happiness. There is a sense of fulfilment, the satisfaction of a deep urge to rise above ones surroundings, the eternal love for adventure in man. (v)  "He becomes conscious in a special manner of his own smallness in this large universe." This awareness defines the emotion of humility.

(vi)  On Everest, a picture of Guru Nanak was left by the author H.P.S Ahluwalia; a picture of Goddess Durga was left by Rawat; a relic of the Buddha was left by Phu Dorji. Apart from these 'symbols of reverence' there was also the cross that had been buried by Edmund Hillary.

(vii)  According to the writer, his experience as an Everester provided him with the inspiration to face life's ordeals determinedly. It taught him that the conquest of the internal summit is as worthwhile as climbing the mountain. He also concluded that perhaps the internal summits are higher than Everest.

Solution 2

(i) The experience changes you completely.

One who has been to the mountains is never the same again.

(ii) Man takes delight in overcoming obstacles.

The demonstration of endurance, persistence and will power in overcoming great difficulties is delightful.

(iii) Mountains are nature at its best.

The beauty and majesty of the mountains pose a great challenge for a climber and they are a means of communion with God.

 (iv) The going was difficult but the after-effects were satisfying.

Climbing the mountains was difficult, but reaching the summit gives one a feeling of satisfaction and deep fulfillment.

(v) The physical conquest of a mountain is really a spiritual experience.

The physical act of climbing to the summit of a mountain is similar to the act of climbing the mountain within yourselves which is a spiritual and deeply satisfying experience and either climb will certainly change you giving you a sense of being in communion with God.

Chapter 5 - The Summit Within Exercise 82

Solution 1

(i) Teacher: You were away from school without permission. Go to the principal at once and submit your explanation.

Pupil: Yes, Madam. But would you help me write it first?

(ii) Arun: Are you unwell?

Ila: No, not at all. Why do you ask?

Arun: If you were unwell, I would send you to my uncle. He is a doctor.

(iii) Mary: Almost every Indian film has an episode of love at first sight.

David: Is that what makes them so popular in foreign countries?

(iv) Asif: You look depressed. Why are your spirits at such a low ebb today? (Use such in the phrase)

Ashok: I have to write ten sentences using words that I never heard before.

(v) Shieba: Your big moment is close at hand.

jyoti: How should I welcome it?

Shieba: Get up and receive the trophy.

Solution 2

(i)     endure : endurance        (ii)     persist : persistence

(iii)    signify: significance        (iv)    confide: confidence

(v)     maintain: maintenance    (vi)    abhor: abhorrence

Solution 3

(i)

A                    B

remote           far away from

means           method(s)

dominant        most prominent

formidable      difficult to overcome

overwhelmed   be overcome/overpowered

(ii)

(a)  There were formidable obstacles on the way, but we reached our destination safely.

(b) We have no means of finding out what happened there.

(c) Why he lives in a house remote from any town or village is more than I can tell.

(d)  Overwhelmed by gratitude, we bowed to the speaker for his valuable advice.

(e) The old castle stands in a dominant position above the sleepy town.