NCERT Solutions for Class 6 English Honeysuckle Chapter 4 An Indian-American Woman in Space : Kalpana Chawla

An Indian-American Woman in Space : Kalpana Chawla NCERT Solutions for Class 6 Honeysuckle Chapter 4

An Indian-American Woman in Space : Kalpana Chawla NCERT Text Book Questions and Answers

An Indian-American Woman in Space : Kalpana Chawla Working with the text
A. Answer the following questions.

Question 1.
Where was Kalpana Chawla born? Why is she called an Indian American?
Answer:
Kalpana Chawla was born in the Kamal district of Punjab in India. She is called an Indian American because she was a naturalized American citizen, but was born and brought up in India.

Question 2.
When and why did she go to the United States? Who did she marry?
Answer:
She went for a master’s degree to the United States of America. She was married to the flight instructor, Jean-Pierre Harrison.

Question 3.
How did she become an astronaut? What gave her the idea that she could be an astronaut?
Answer:
Kalpana had earned her Ph.D. in aerospace engineering, and had become a certified flight instructor. Later, she applied for NASA’s space shuttle program. She was first hired as a research scientist at NASA. In 1994, she was selected by NASA for training as an astronaut. It was her dream to become an astronaut, and she worked very hard to become one. She was very intelligent and sharp.

Question 4.
What abilities must an astronaut have, according to the journalist?
Answer:
According to the journalist, it takes enormous ability to become an astronaut. You need to know a lot about everything, from biology to astrophysics to aeronautical engineering. You must have encyclopaedic knowledge to be an astronaut.

Question 5.
Describe Kalpana Chawla s first mission in space.
Answer:
Kalpana’s first space mission in the space shuttle, Columbia, was 15 days, 16 hours and 34 minutes long. During this time she went around the earth 252 times, travelling 10.45 million kilometres! The crew included a Japanese and a Ukrainian astronaut. The crew performed experiments such as pollinating plants to observe food growth in space, and tests for making stronger metals and faster computer chips—all for a price tag of about 56 million dollars.

Question 6.
What does Kalpana Chawla say about pursuing a dream? Do you agree with her that success is possible?
Answer:
Kalpana Chawla said that she just followed her dream, and never had any qualms about being a woman in a male-dominated field, or belonging to a small town in India. She just studied what interested her, and got encouragement for that. Yes, success is possible when you have the ability to overcome self-doubts.

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

Date and place of lift-off: 16lh January 2003
Number of astronauts on board: seven
Number of days it stayed in space: 16 days
Number of experiments done by scientists: 80
Date of return journey: 1st February 2003
Height at which it lost contact: 200,000 feet

An Indian-American Woman in Space : Kalpana Chawla Working with language

A. Match the following answers.

unprecedented space tragedy: a sad accident of a kind that has never happened before in space
certified flight instructor: a person with the correct qualification to teach people to fly planes
space mission: a set of jobs to be done in space by a group
super specialization: great expertise in a limited field or a particular subject
encyclopaedic knowledge: having knowledge of a wide variety of subjects
awe-inspiring: something that causes feelings of respect and wonder
in this age: nowadays, in these times

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

1. broke apart: took apart; separated
The country broke apart in 1947.

2. streaked over: moved in a straight line
The plane streaked over the vast expanse of the Savannahs.

3. spread across: became widely known
The news of the impending spread across the cities.

4. lifted off: took off
The helicopter lifted off the ground hurriedly.

5. blast off: took off noisily
The spaceship blasted off at a great speed.

6. went on: continued
The grandmother went on to tell the story about how she met my grandfather.

7. cheered along: urged; encouraged
The Indian fans cheered along the team.

8. on board: inside an aircraft or plane
The passengers went on board the flight very happily.

9. carry on: to continue to do something
He carried on doing the most part of the job.

C. Add ‘un’ to the words below to make their opposites. Then look up the meanings of the words you have formed in the dictionary.

unidentified: one that has not been recognized
uncontrolled: something or someone that cannot be controlled
unattended: not noticed or dealt with
unsuccessful: not successful; a failure
unimportant: not important; insignificant
uneducated: someone who is not educated
uninteresting: boring; dull
unqualified: someone who does not have the required qualifications to do something
untrained: someone who lacks training
unanswerable: unable to be answered

An Indian-American Woman in Space : Kalpana Chawla Speaking

Form pairs. Use “May you… ” and “I wish you/Wishing you” to wish your partner good luck and success in

a sports event,
a quiz or a competition, and
a test or examination.

Be sure to thank your partner when she/he wishes you in turn. You may also look up a telephone directory, or go to a post office, and get a list in English and Hindi of standard phrases that can be sent in greeting telegrams anywhere in India. Discuss which of these you might use, and when. Compare the English and Hindi phrases for expressing good wishes. Do you know such phrases in any other language?

May you win all the races.
I wish you the best of luck.
Wishing you success and loads of luck.

Standard phrases that can be used as telegrams include:

Thank you for your wishes: when someone congratulates us.
Thanks with all my heart: when someone gives us wishes on special occasions such as birthdays and anniversaries.

Some phrases for expressing thanks include the following:

dhanyawaad (Hindi)
obrigado/a (Portuguese)
grazie (Italian)
merci (French)
gracias (Spanish)
danke (German)

An Indian-American Woman in Space : Kalpana Chawla Writing

A. Do you have a ‘dream’, or something you very much wish to do? Write a paragraph saying what you want or wish to do. Then say (in another paragraph) how you think you can make your dream come true.
(Encourage the students to give individual answers.)
Answer:
I really want to become a pilot some day. Some days back, I had read about the youngest woman pilot in India, and I felt really inspired to follow her. I want to feel the rush and adrenaline when I fly and operate a plane in the air. I think it is a very respectable profession and one that is equally challenging. It is like I would be imitating the birds, and fly like them, albeit in my own unique way.

I will make it possible by taking up science as a subject when I reach senior secondary, and then take up engineering and specialize in aeronautics.

B. Given below are some words that are spelt differently in British and American English.
Fill in the blanks accordingly.
British – American
1. colour – color
2. labour – labor
3. traveller – traveler
4. counsellor – counselor
5. centre – center
6. theatre – theater
7. organise – organize
8. realise – realize
9. defence – defense
10. offence – offense