The two had stopped their car on the shoulder of the narrow dirt road. Her friend had told her to always look to the horizon. She was excited about their hike. But it was still morning. And the days in the desert were long and tedious. She looked out at the horizon again: mountains that seemed to have sprang up millions of years ago, crossing the desert in a long chain. Although the earthquakes that created them had occurred long ago, one could still see how the earth’s surface had buckled—the ground still climbed smoothly toward the mountains, and then, at a certain altitude, a kind of wound opened, out of which rocks sprang, pointing to the sky. Between the mountains and the car was a rocky valley with sparse vegetation: thorn bushes, cacti, and yucca. Life that insisted on surviving in an environment that did not support it.
An immense white expanse the size of five football fields stood out in the middle of it all. It reflected the morning sun, and resembled a field of snow.
“Salt. A salt lake.”
This desert must once have been the bed of an ocean. Once a year, seagulls from the Pacific Ocean flew the hundreds of miles to this desert to eat the species of shrimp that appeared when the rains began. Human beings may forget their origins, but nature never does.
“It must be about three miles from here,” Caine said. Pete checked his watch. It was still early. They had looked to the horizon and it had shown them a salt lake. One hour’s walk there and another to return would avoid the risk of the midday sun. Each placed a canteen of water on their belt.
They began to walk. Caine kept her eyes fixed on the horizon whenever possible. Although it was a simple thing to be doing, something strange was happening: She felt better, freer, as if her internal energy had been increased. For the first time in many years, she regretted not having taken a more intense interest in Pete’s adventures. They walked at a leisurely pace for half an hour. The lake appeared to have shifted its location; it always seemed to be at the same distance from them. They walked for another hour. They must already have covered four miles or so, but the lake appeared to be only a bit closer.
“I know how we went wrong,” he said. “There is nothing in the desert to base comparisons on. We are used to calculating distance based on the size of things. We know the approximate size of a tree, or a telephone pole, or a house. They help us to decide whether things are near or far away.” Here, there was no point of reference. There were rocks they had never seen, mountains whose size they could not estimate, and only the sparse vegetation. Pete had realized this as he looked back at the car. And he could see that they had walked more than four miles.
She was fascinated with the idea of continuing to look out at the horizon. It was a completely new experience for her.
“Earlier, I used to look in the distance, and things seemed really far. They seemed not to be a part of my world. Because I was used to looking only at things that were close, the things around me. But, two days ago, I got used to looking into the distance. And I saw that besides tables, chairs, and objects, my world also included the mountains, clouds, the sky. And my soul—my soul seems to have eyes that it uses to touch those things. When we only look at things close to us, our power of vision diminishes,” contemplated Caine.
Q1. What are Caine’s feelings in the beginning of the hike as she sees the mountains and the lake? (1)
Q2. In your opinion, what does Caine learn or gain from her observations ? (2)
Q3. What mistake did Pete make? (1)
Q4. Change the following declarative sentences to interrogative sentences: (2)
She was fascinated with the idea of continuing to look out at the horizon.
Life insists on surviving in an environment that does not support it.
Q5. Write a summary of the given passage in about 120 - 150 words. (4)
Answers
Answered by
3
Answer:
It's toooooooooooo long. hIfyzfusohofafsufsooufsuorsuorsrstsoufsousqdcefbqbgahuhzctmrhmturizcturizcmhhturicmzhtuicmzrzcmhturibmcturizhcmurihzcmuitrhzcmtuirhzcmrtuichzmtruiczctuhrimtuicjzrm
Similar questions