NCERT solutions for English First Flight Class 10 chapter 2 - Nelson Mandela:Long Walk to Freedom [Latest edition]

In Column A are some expressions you will find in the text. Make a guess and match each expression with an appropriate meaning from Column B.

Where did the ceremonies take place? Can you name any public buildings in India that are made of sandstones?

Can you say how 10 May is an ‘autumn day’ in South Africa?

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?

What does Mandela thank the international leaders for?

What ideals does Nelson Mandela set for the future of South Africa?

What did the military generals do? How did their attitude change and why?

Why were two national anthems sung?

How does Mandela describe the system of government in his country in the first decade.

How does Mandela describe the system of government in his country in the final decade, of the twentieth century?

What does courage mean to Mandela?

Which does Mandela think is natural, to love or to hate?

What “twin obligations” does Mandela mention?

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”?

Does Mandela think the oppressor is free? Why/why not?

Why did such a large number of international leaders attend the inauguration? What did it signify the triumph of?

What does Mandela mean when he says he is “simply the sum of all those African patriots”, who had gone before him?

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?

How did Mandela’s understanding of freedom change with age and experience?

How did Mandela’s ‘hunger for freedom’ change his life?

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 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

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

Martin Luther King’s ______ (contribute) to our history as an outstanding leader began when he came to the ______ (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 ______ (subjugate) and ______ (humiliate) by the police and the legal system. Beatings, ______ (imprison) and sometimes death awaited those who defied the System. Martin Luther King’s tactics of protest involved non-violent ______ (resist) to racial injustice.

Here are some more examples of ‘the’ used with proper names. Try to say what these sentences mean. (You may consult a dictionary if you wish. Look at the entry for ‘the’)

1. Mr Singh regularly invites the Amitabh Bachchans and the Shah Rukh Khans to his parties.
2. Many people think that Madhuri Dixit is the Madhubala of our times.
3. History is not only the story of the Alexanders, the Napoleons and the Hitlers, but of ordinary people as well.

Match, the italicised phrases in Column A with the phrase nearest meaning in Column B.
(Hint: First look for the sentence in the text which the phrase in column A occurs.)

In groups, discuss the issues suggested in the box below. Then prepare a speech of about two minutes on the following topic. (First make notes for your speech in writing.)

True liberty is freedom from poverty, deprivation and all forms of discrimination.

Looking at Contrasts:

Nelson Mandela’s writing is marked by balance: many sentences have two parts in balance.

Use the following phrases to complete the sentences given below.

1. It requires such depths of oppression ______
2. Courage was not the absence of fear ______
3. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid ______
4. If people can learn to hate ______
5. I was not born with a hunger to be free. ______

This text repeatedly contrasts the past with the present or the future. We can use coordinated clauses to contrast two views, for emphasis or effect. 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. This has been done for you in the first item.

1. For decades the Union Buildings had been the seat of white supremacy, 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 ______
3. Although that day neither group knew the lyrics of the anthem ..., they would soon ______
4. My country is rich in the minerals and gems that lie beneath its soil, ______
5. The Air Show was not only a display of pinpoint precision and military force, but ______
6. It was this desire for the freedom of my people ... that transformed ______ into a bold one, that drove ______ to become a criminal, that turned ______ into a man without a home.

Do you think there is colour prejudice in our own country? Discuss this with your friend and write a paragraph of about 100 to 150 words about this. You have the option of making your paragraph a humorous one. (Read the short verse given below.)