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Chapter 7 - A Visit to Cambridge Exercise 104

Solution 1

(i) Yes, the prospect of meeting Stephen Hawking made the writer nervous. He was to meet a great  personality  and that too one who had achieved  greatness  despite  his disabilities. Clearly, it was a big moment, a great  honour for the writer. So it is not surprising that he was nervous at the prospect of meeting Stephen Hawking.

(ii) Yes, he felt excited at the same time because it made him stronger to see somebody like him achieving  something  huge.  This  made  him  aware  of the  many  possibilities present before him, thereby helping him to reach out further than he ever thought he could.

Solution 2

The writer might have asked the scientist if he had been brave to reach where he had.

Solution 3

The writer thought that there was a choice. Stephen Hawking could have chosen to leave everything, and be sad and depressed. He could have sulked and done nothing. However, he chose to live creatively knowing the reality of his disintegrating body.

Solution 4

Stephen Hawking's mind was active with many thoughts that he wanted to express. However, his thoughts came out in frozen phrases and sentences stiff as corpses, without reflecting his feelings or emotions. His sentences were mere words and lines, without  any  sentiment expressed through his computer. The writer felt he could understand his anguish and frustration at that.

Solution 5

The writer asked Stephen Hawking if he found it annoying that someone like him came and disturbed him in his work. To this query, the scientist replied in  the affirmative, frankly and honestly. Then, he smiled his one way smile and this was what endeared him to the writer. The writer felt that he was looking at one of the most beautiful men in the world.

Solution 6

The most beautiful sentence in the description is, "...you look at his eyes which can speak, still, and they are saying something huge and urgent...it is hard to tell what ".

Solution 7

(iii) To the writer, Cambridge was the real England.

Solution 8

(ii) The writer phoned Stephen Hawking's house from outside a phone booth.

Solution 9

(ii) Every time he spoke to the scientist, the writer felt guilty because he forced the scientist to use his voice synthesiser.

Solution 10

(i) In  the given context,  the highlighted words  refer  to shifting in the  wheelchair, turning the wrist.

Chapter 7 - A Visit to Cambridge Exercise 105

Solution 1

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 that embodiment that he had believed in for many years. That is why he expressed his greatest gratitude to him as he had made him realise what great heights he could reach.

Solution 2

(i) There was his assistant on the line and I told him I had come in a wheelchair from India.

(ii) You get fed up with people asking you to be brave, as if you have a courage account on which you are too lazy to draw a cheque.

(iii) There he was, tapping at a little switch in his hand trying to find words on his computer.

(iv) You look at his eyes which can speak, and they are saying something huge and urgent it is hard to tell what.

(v)  It doesn't do much good to know that there are people smiling with admiration to see you breathing still.

Solution 3

(i) If 'the lantern' is the man, its 'walls' would be the man's body with its head twisted sideways into a lump, the torso shrunk, the legs wasted.

(ii) The incandescence or the inner glow of the man is housed within the thin walls.

(iii) The conclusion that the writer drew from this comparison was that the body exists only like a case made of shadows. It is just an accessory and irrelevant. It is the soul that matters. Each individual is what he is from his heart and soul, and not from the body.

Solution 4

The message that he gave to the disabled was that they should concentrate on what they were good at. To him things like the disabled Olympics were a waste of time.

Solution 5

When Stephen Hawking said that things such as disabled Olympics were a waste of time, the writer agreed with him. He remembered the years which he spent trying to play a Spanish guitar that was considerably larger than he was. He was very happy when he unstringed it one night. It supports Stephen Hawking's idea that the disabled should only concentrate on what they are good at, and not take up things unnecessarily.

Chapter 7 - A Visit to Cambridge Exercise 106

Solution 1

(i) I met a traveller from an antique land.

(ii) I need special guidance in mathematics. I can't count the number of times I have failed in the subject.

(iii) The guide called Stephen Hawking a worthy successor to Isaac Newton.

(iv) His other problems paled into insignificance beside this unforeseen mishap.

(v) The meeting was chaired by the youngest member of the board.

(vi) Some people say 'yours truly' when they informally refer to themselves.

(vii) I wish  it had been a drawn match.  We would have been spared  the  noise  of celebrations, at least.

Solution 2

(i) Reading session

(ii) Smiling face

(iii) Revolving chair

(iv) Walking tour

(v) Dancing doll

(vi) Winning chance

Solution 3

(i) He has two brothers. Both are lawyers.

(ii) More than ten persons called. All of them wanted to see you.

(iii) They all cheered the team.

(iv)  Both her parents are teachers.

(v) How much have you got? Give me all of it.

Solution 4

(i) My friend has one of the fastest cars on the road.

(ii) This is the most interesting story I have ever read.

(iii) What you are doing now is easier than what you did yesterday.

(iv) Ramesh and his wife are both short.

(v) He arrived late as usual. Even the chief guest came earlier than he did.