CBSE Ncert Board Class 6 English, CBSE Ncert Board Class 6 English Chapter 4 An Indian American In Space.
CBSE NCERT Solutions for Class 6th English Chapter 4 An Indian American In Space (Kalpana Chawla and Beauty (Poem) Honeysuckle)


Working with Text
A. Answer the following questions.

Question1. Where was Kalpana Chawla born? Why is she called an Indian – American? (3)
Answer: Kalpana Chawla was born in Karnal, Haryana. She was called an Indian-American because she went to US and became its naturalised citizen.

Question2. When and why did she go to the U.S.? Who did she marry? (2, 3)
Answer: She went to US after completing a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering for pursuing master’s degree. She married flight instructor Jean-Pierre Harrison.

Question3. How did she become an astronaut? What gave her the idea that she could be an astronaut? (3)
Answer: After qualifying as a pilot, Chawla applied to NASA space shuttle program. She was first hired as a research Scientist at NASA. In 1994 she was selected at NASA for training as an astronaut. It was her success as a pilot which gave her the idea that she could become an astronaut.

Question4. What abilities must an astronaut have, according to the journalist? (6)
Answer: According to the journalist, it takes enormous ability to be an astronaut. An astronaut must know a lot about everything, from biology to astrophysics to aeronautical engineering. In this age of super-specialisation, you must have encyclopedic knowledge to be an astronaut.

Question5. Describe Kalpana Chawla’s first mission in space. (5)
Answer: Kalpana Chawla’s first mission was in the space shuttle Columbia. It was a 15 days, 16 hours and 34 minutes. During this time, she went around the earth 252 times travelling 1.45 million km. The crew performed experiments such as pollinating plants to observe food growth in space. It also made test for making stronger metals and faster computer chips. It was all done for a price tag of 56 million dollars. 

Question6. What does Kalpana Chawla say about pursuing a dream? Do you agree with her that success is possible? (7)
Answer: Kalpana Chawla said that the path from dreams to success does exist. One needs to have the vision to find it, and the courage to get onto it. Yes, success is possible.

B. Read the newspaper report to find the following facts about the Columbia’s ill-fated voyage.

l. Date and place of lift off:  ————————————————————
Answer: 16th January, 2003; Kennedy Space Center, Florida

2. Number of astronauts on board:  ———————————————––
Answer: 7 (Seven)

3. Number of days it stayed in space:  ——————————————––
Answer: 16 Days

4. Number of experiments done by scientists:  —————————––
Answer: 80 experiments

5. Date of return journey:  ———————————————–————–––
Answer: Sunday, 1st February, 2003

6. Height at which it lost contact:  ————————————————––
Answer: 200,000 feet

Working with Language

A. Match the Following:

unprecedented space tragedysomething that causes feelings of respect and wonder
certified flight instructorhaving knowledge of a wide variety of subjects
space missionnowadays, in these times
super specialisationa set of jobs to be done in space by a group
encyclopaedic knowledgea person with the correct qualification to teach people to fly planes
awe-inspiringa sad accident of a kind that has never happened before in space
in this agegreat expertise in a limited field or a particular subject

Answer:

unprecedented space tragedya sad accident of a kind that has never happened before in space
certified flight instructora person with the correct qualification to teach people to fly planes
space missiona set of jobs to be done in space by a group
super specialisationgreat expertise in a limited field or a particular subject
encyclopaedic knowledgehaving knowledge of a wide variety of subjects
awe-inspiringsomething that causes feelings of respect and wonder
in this agenowadays, in these times

B. Use these phrases in sentences of your own, after finding out their meanings.

1. broke apart
Answer: break violently – The laptop broke apart when it slipped from the hands.

2. streaked over
Answer: went over it quickly: A meteor streaked over cloud in the night.

3. spread across
Answer: Distributed over a given area: Pollution is spread across the worls.

4. lifted off
Answer: Start flying: Pilot finally lifted off the aeroplane.

5. blast off
Answer: Take off: The rocket blasted off yesterday.

6. went on
Answer: To continue: He went on reciting his poems.
7. cheered along
Answer: Encourage: Audience cheered along for their favourite participant.
8. on board
Answer: Participation: Children were on board for the picnic.
9. carry on
Answer: Continue: Scientists carried on their research work.

C. We add ‘un-’ to make opposites.
For example, true — untrue.
Add ‘un’– to the words below to make their opposites. Then look up the meanings of the words you have formed in the dictionary.


1. identified  —————
Answer: Unidentified

2. controlled  —————
Answer: Uncontrolled

3. attended  ——————
Answer: Unattended

4. successful  —————
Answer: Unsuccessful

5. important  —————
Answer: Unimportant

6. educated  ——————
Answer: Uneducated

7. interesting  —————
Answer: Uninteresting

8. qualified  ——————
Answer: Unqualified

9. trained  ——————–
Answer: Untrained

10. answerable  ———–—
Answer: Unanswerable?

Writing

Given below are some words that are spelt differently in British and American English. Fill in the blanks accordingly.

British    American
colour    
labor
traveler
counsellor    
centre    
theater
organize
realise    
defense
offence    

Answer:

British    American
colour    color
labour    labor
traveller    traveler
counsellor    counselor
centre    center
theatre    theater
organise    organize
realise    realize
defence    defense
offence    offense

Beauty


E-yeh-shure
Working with Poem

1. The poet says, “Beauty is heard in …”
Can you hear beauty? Add a sound that you think is beautiful to the sounds the poet thinks are beautiful.
The poet, Shelley, said:
Heard melodies are sweet,
But those unheard are sweeter.
What do you think this means? Have you ever ‘heard’ a song in your head, long after the song was sung or played?
Answer :
The chirping of birds is also beautiful.
The poet says that when we hear melodies, we find it sweet but after hearing those melodies when we imagine about melodies i.e., unheard melodies we found it more sweeter than the original melody itself.
Yes, sometimes I heard long after the song was sung or played.

2. Read the first and second stanzas of the poem again. Note the following phrases.
corn growing, people working or dancing, wind sighing,
rain falling, a singer chanting
These could be written as
• corn that is growing
• people who are working or dancing
Can you rewrite the other phrases like this? Why do you think the poet uses the shorter phrases?
Answer :
wind that is sighing
rain that is falling
a singer who is chanting
The poet uses the shorter phrases to enhance its beauty.