1. How was the young
seagull’s first attempt to
fly?
2. How did the parents support and
encourage the young seagull’s brothers
and sister?
3. Give an instance that shows the pathetic
condition of the young bird.
4. How did the bird try to reach its parents
without having to fly?
5. Do you think that the young seagull’s
parents were harsh to him? Why?
6. What prompted the young seagull to fly
finally?
7. What happened to the young seagull
when it landed on the green sea?
Answers
Answer:
Question 1.
How was the young seagull’s first attempt to fly?
Answer:
The young seagull was very hungry. So he dived at the fish that was in his mother’s beak. But he fell into space and became terribly afraid. His heart stood still. He could hear nothing for just a minute. The next moment he felt his wings spread outwards and began to fly up and down fearless into the sky.
Question 2.
How did the parents support and encourage the young seagull’s brothers and sister?
Answer:
The young seagull’s parents flew about with his brothers and sister perfecting them in the art of flight. They taught them how to skim the waves and how to dive for fish. When his older brother caught his first herring and devoured it, his parents circled around raising a proud cackle.
Question 3.
Give an instance that shows the pathetic condition of the young bird.
Answer:
The young bird, starving for a day, finds a dried piece of mackerel’s tail at the far end of his ledge. He searches in vain the area where he was hatched and gnaws at the dried pieces of eggshell. He is in a pathetic state calling plaintively when he isn’t unable to reach his mother tearing at a piece of fish.
Question 4.
How did the bird try to reach its parents without having to fly?
Answer:
The young bird trotted back and forth from one end of the ledge to the other with his long grey legs stepping daintily, trying to find some means of reaching his parents without having to fly.
Question 5.
Do you think that the young seagull’s parents were harsh to him? Why?
Answer:
No, the young seagull’s parents weren’t harsh to him. They were just teaching him a lifetime learning experience which is vital for his survival.
Question 6.
What prompted the young seagull to fly finally?
Answer:
The young seagull was extremely hungry and felt the heat because of starvation. His mother was standing on a little high hump on the plateau on the other side and tore at a piece of fish that lay at her feet, and then scraped each side of her beak on the rock and even flew across to him with it. He leaned out eagerly, tapping the rock with his feet, trying to get nearer to her as she flew across. The mother was very near to him with the fish in her beak. Maddened by hunger, he dived at the fish and managed to fly up and down into space with a loud scream.
Question 7.
What happened to the young seagull when it landed on the green sea?
Answer:
When the young seagull landed on the green sea, he completely forgot that he had not always been able to fly and shrieked shrilly, turning his beak sideways and crowed amusedly. He screamed with fright when he dropped his legs to stand on the green sea and sank into it.