NCERT Solutions for Class 11 English Hornbill Chapter 5 – The Ailing Planet: the Green Movement’s Role
Question 1.
Locate the lines in the text that support the title “The Ailing Planet”.
Answer:
The lines in the text supporting the title ‘The Ailing Planet’ are : “The earth’s vital signs reveal a patient in declining health.” Thus the earth’s condition is compared with an ailing patient, whose condition is deteriorating day by day. The role of the Green Movement has been summed up in the words : “We have begun to realize our ethical obligations to be good stewards of the planet and responsible trustees of the legacy to future generations.”
Question 2.
What does the notice “The world’s most dangerous animal” at a cage in the zoo at Lusaka, Zambia signify ?
Answer:
At a cage in the zoo at Lusaka, Zambia there is a notice which reads, ‘The world’s most dangerous animal’. But inside the cage there is no animal but only a mirror where you can see yourself. This notice signifies that amongst all the animals, man is the most dangerous Animals don’t disturb the environmental and ecological order of the nature. But the man is doing so rapidly and mercilessly.
Question 3.
How are the earth’s principal biological systems being depleted ?
Answer:
Mr Lester R Brown has pointed out in his book ‘The Global Economic Prospect’ that there are four principal biological systems of the earth. These are : fisheries, forests, grasslands, and croplands. They form the foundation of the global economic system. In addition to supplying our food, these four systems provide virtually all the raw material for industry except minerals and petroleum-derived synthetics.
But unfortunately, in large areas of the world, human claims on these systems are reaching an unsustainable level, a point where their productivity is being impaired. When this happens, fisheries collapse, forests disappear, grasslands are converted into barren wastelands and croplands deteriorate. In a protein-conscious and protein-hungry world, over-fishing is common every day. In poor countries, local forests are being decimated in order to procure firewood for cooking. That is why these four systems are being depleted.
Question 4.
Why does author agree that the growth of world population is one of the strongest factors distorting the future of human society ?
Answer:
The author has rightly stated that the growth of world population is one of the strongest factors distorting the future of human society. The world population is increasing at an alarming rate. It took mankind more than a million years to reach the first billion. That was the world population around the year 1800. By the year 19Q0, a second billion was added. But the twentieth century has added another 3.7 billion. The present world population is estimated at 5.7 billion.
With the abnormal rise in the world population the future of mankind is very badly affected. The population remains within control when incomes rise, education spreads and health improves leading to all around development. But the development itself may not be possible if the present increase in the population continues. The rich get richer and the poor remain poor for want of control of the population. The rate of unemployment increases and more and more people remain without work. It affects very badly the future of human society
The Ailing Planet: the Green Movement’s Role Talking About The Text
Discuss in groups of four :
Question 1.
Laws are never respected nor enforced in India.
Answer:
The author points out that Article 48A of the Constitution of India provides that ‘the State shall endeavour to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wildlife of the country’. Thus there is a provision in our Constitution for the protection and improvement of the environment as well as to safeguard the forests and wildlife of our country. But these are not followed strictly. That is why the author says that laws are never respected nor enforced in our country.
The author cites examples to prove his point. As per our Constitution, casteism, untouchability and bonded labour shall be abolished. But even after more than forty-four years of the operation of the Constitution, these social evils are prospering and flourishing in a shameless manner. A recent report of our Parliament’s Estimates Committee has highlighted the near ‘catastrophic depletion’ of India’s forests over the last four decades.
It is reliably estimated that India is losing its forests at the rate of 3.7 million acres a year. Large areas, officially designated as forest land, ‘are already virtually treeless’. The worst part is that the actual loss of forests is estimated to be about eight times the rate indicated by government statistics. This itself shows that in India laws are neither respected nor properly enforced in India.
Question 2.
“Are we to leave our successors a scorched planet of advancing deserts, impoverished landscapes and an ailing environment ?
Answer:
Due to vast deforestation and ecological disturbances our planet Earth is ailing. We must behave like responsible trustees of the legacy to future generations. But we are not acting as “good stewards” and are constantly ignoring our environmental obligations. The concept of ‘sustainable development’ was popularized in 1987 by the World Commission on Environment and Development. In its report it defined the idea as ‘Development that meets the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs’.
Thus we should never try to strip the natural world of resources which would be needed by our future generations. That is why this question was raised by Brandt Commission : ‘Are we to leave our successors a scorched planet of advancing deserts, impoverished landscapes and ailing environment’ ? If we are not consciously aware of preserving forests and natural resources needs of our future generations, then we shall be leaving for them advancing deserts, impoverished landscapes and an ailing environment.
Question 3.
“We have not inherited this earth from our forefathers: we have borrowed it from our children.”
Answer:
In the lesson the author Mr. Nani Palkhivala rightly quotes the words of Mr. Lester Brown, ‘We have not inherited this earth from our forefathers; we have borrowed it from our children”. When we borrow something we are duty bound to return it in a ‘ similar or preferably in a better condition.
So it is our ethical and moral duty to return this earth to our children or the future generations without creating environmental and ecological , disorders. If we pass on fisheries, forests, grasslands and croplands in a deteriorating and dilapidated condition, it is not at all fair on our part. If we indulge in overfishing and excessive deforestation we shall not be able to pass on to our future generations the earth in a good environmental condition. That will be totally against the ethics of borrowing.
Question 4.
The problems of overpopulation that directly affect our everyday life.
Answer:
The world today is facing the danger of overpopulation. Every four days the world population increases by one million. The population of India is estimated to be 920 million today. It is more than the entire populations of Africa and South America put together. The problem of overpopulation directly affects our everyday life. Generally speaking,the countries which are over-populated are also the poorest.
The population remains under 1 check where there is high income of people and widespread education. Thus developed countries, with less population, are much more prosperous than the overpopulated underdeveloped countries.Overpopulation also causes unemployment, so more people are without work. Poverty and unemployment affect adversely an our everyday life.
The Ailing Planet: the Green Movement’s Role Thinking About The Language
The phrase ‘inter alia’ meaning ‘among other things’ is one of the many Latin r expressions commonly used in English.
Find out what these Latin phrases mean :
1. prima facie
2. ad hoc
3. in camera
4. ad infinitum
5. mutatis mutandis
6. caveat
7. tabula rasa.
Answer:
1. prima facie : It is a Latin expression which means : accepted as so until proved otherwise, (e.g. a prime facie case)
2. ad hoc : It is a Latin expression which means : made or done for a particular purpose (e.g. on ad hoc committee or meeting)
3. in camera : It means in a judge’s private room.
4. ad infinitum : It is a Latin expression which means : endlessly or forever. (Which literally means ‘to infinity’)
5. Mutatis mutandis : It is a Latin expression which means : with necessary alternations or changes (when comparing cases).
6. Caveat : It is a Latin word which means : a warning.
7. tabula rasa : It means ‘scraped tablet’, though often translated ‘blank slate’.
The Ailing Planet: the Green Movement’s Role Working With Words
1. Locate the following phrases in the text and study their connotation :
1. ‘gripped the imagination of
2. ‘dawned upon’
3. ‘ushered in’
4. ‘passed into current coin’
5. ‘passport of the future’
II. The words grip, dawn, usher, coin, passport have a literal as well as a figurative meaning. Write pairs of sentences using each word in the literal as well as the figurative sense.
Answer:
1. Grip :
(i) (take and keep a firm hold of) : The frightened child gripped his mother’s hand in the fair.
(ii) (seize firmly) : The brakes failed to grip and the car ran into a wall.
(iii) The eminent speaker gripped the attention of his audience.
(iv) This film is a gripping story of love and hatred.
(v) (understanding) : We must have a good grip of a problem to find its proper solution.
(vi) The speaker had a good grip on the audience he held their attention and interest.
2. Dawn :
(i) (begin to grow light): The farmers start working when the day is just dawning.
(ii) (begin to appear) : The truth began to dawn upon him.
(Hi) (grow clear to the mind) : It has just dawned on me that I could easily solve that problem.
3. Usher :
(i) (a person who shows people to their seats in theatres, cinemas, etc; doorkeeper in a law court) : The usher showed us the seats when we went to see the movie.
(ii) (lead, conduct) : The doorkeeper ushered me to my seat.
(iii) (herald, announce) : The change of government ushered in a period of prosperity. *
4. Coin :
(i) (metal money) : Gold and silver coins are quite rarely found these days.
(ii) (other aspect of matter) : Ramesh failed to see the other side of the coin.
(iii) (treat a person as he treated you): Mohan misbehaved with Sohan, but Sohan paid him back in the same coin.
5. Passport :
(i) (government document to be carried by a traveller abroad, giving personal particulars) Don’t forget to carry your passport while travelling abroad.
(ii) (something that enables one to win or obtain something) Do you think that flattery is a passport to success.
The Ailing Planet: the Green Movement’s Role Extra Questions and Answers
Read the passages given below and answer the questions that follow :
Passage 1
We have shifted—one hopes, irrevocably—from the mechanistic view to a holistic and ecological view of the world. It is a shift in human perceptions as revolutionary as that introduced by Copernicus who taught mankind in the sixteenth century that the earth and the other planets revolved round the sun. For the first time in human histoiy, there is a growing worldwide consciousness that the earth itself is a living organism—an enormous being of which we are parts. It has its own metabolic needs and vital processes which need to be respected and preserved. (Pages 43-44)
Questions :
(i) How have we shifted our view of the world ?
(ii) What did Copernicus teach mankind ?
(iii) Which growing worldwide consciousness is the author referring to here ?
(iv) What needs to be respected and preserved ?
(v) Form noun forms of the following words :
(a) introduced
(b) preserved
Answers :
(i) We have shifted our view of the world from the mechanistic to holistic and ecological.
(ii) Copernicus taught mankind that the earth and other planets revolve round the sun.
(iii) The author is referring to growing worldwide consciousness that the earth itself is a living organism. It is an enormous being and we are parts of it.
(iv) The metabolic needs and vital process of the earth need to be respected and preserved.
(v) (a) introduction.
(b) preservation.
Passage 2
In the zoo at Lusaka, Zambia, there is a cage where the notice reads, ‘The world’s most dangerous animal’. Inside the cage there is no animal but a mirror where you see yourself. Thanks to the efforts of a number of agencies in different countries, a new awareness has now dawned upon the most dangerous animal in the world. He has realized the wisdom of shifting from a system based on domination to one based on partnership. Scientists have catalogued about 1.4 million living species with which mankind shares the earth.
(Page 44)
Questions :
(i) Which notice hangs in the zoo at Lusaka ?
(ii) What is found inside the cage ?
(Hi) What is the new awarness dawned upon man ?
(iv) How many living species have the scientists catalogued ?
(v) Give opposites of the following words :
(а) awareness
(b) dangerous.
Answers :
(i) The notice reads, ‘The world’s most dangerous animal’.
(ii) Inside the cage there is no animal, hut only a mirror where the visitor sees himself. (Hi) The new awareness is to realize the wisdom of shifting from a system based oil domination to one which is based on partnership.
(iv) The scientists have catalogued about 1.4 million living species.
(v) (a) ignorance
(b) safe.
Passage 3
Mr Lester R. Brown in his thoughtful book, The Global Economic Prospect, points out that the earth’s principal biological systems are four—fisheries, forests, grasslands, and croplands—and they form the foundation of the global economic system. In addition to supplying our food, these four systems provide virtually all the raw materials for industry except minerals and petroleum-derived synthetics.
In large areas of the world, human claims on these systems are reaching on unsustainable level, a point where their productivity is being impaired. When this happens, fisheries collapse, forests disappear, grasslands are converted into barren wastelands, and croplands deteriorate. In a protein-conscious and protein-hungry world, over-fishing is common every day. In poor countries, local forests are being decimated in order to procure firewood for cooking. (Pages 44-45)
Questions :
(i) What principal have biological systems been mentioned in the passage ?
(ii) What do the biological system provide ?
(iii) What happens when the productivity of these biological systems are impaired ?
(iv) What happens in poor countries ?
(v) Find the words in the passage, which mean
(a) world-wide
(b) diminished, weakened.
Answers :
(i) The principal biological systems mentioned are : fisheries, forests, grasslands and croplands.
(ii) Besides food, the biological systems provide nearly all the raw materials for industry except minerals and petroleum-derived synthetics.
(iii) Consequently, fisheries collapse, forests disappear, grasslands turn into barren wasteland and croplands deteriorate.
(iv) In poor countries forests are being cut to procure firewood for cooking.
(v) (a) global
(b) impaired
Passage 4
There can be no doubt that the growth of world population is one of the strongest factors distorting the future of human society. It took mankind more than a million years to reach the first billion. That was the world population around the year 1800. By the year 1900 a second billion was added, and the twentieth century has added another 3.7 billion. The present world population is estimated at 5.7 billion.
Every four days the world population increases by one million. Fertility falls as incomes rise, education spreads, and health improves. Thus development is the best contraceptive. But development itself may not be possible if the present increase in numbers continues. (Page 46)
Questions :
(i) Which is one of the strongest factors distorting the future of human society ?
(ii) How much time did it take to reach the first billion in the world ?
(Hi) What is the approximate present world population ?
(iv) When does fertility fall ?
(v) Find a word in the passage which means :
(a) deforming
(b) productiveness.
Answers :
(i) One of the strongest factors distorting the future of human society is the growth of world population.
(ii) It took more than a million years to reach the first billion in the world.
(iii) The present world-population is approximately 5.7 billion.
(iv) The fertility falls when incomes rise, education spreads and health improves.
(v) (a) distorting
(b) fertility
Passages 5.
The rich get richer, and the poor beget children which condemns them to remain poor. More children does not mean more workers, merely more people without work. It is not suggested that human beings be treated like cattle and compulsorily sterilised.
But there is no alternative to voluntary family planning without introducing an element of coercion. The choice is really between control of population and perpetuation of poverty. The population of India is estimated to be 920 million today more than the entire populations of Africa and South America put together. (Page 46).
Questions :
(i) Why do the poor remain poor ?
(ii) What does ‘more children’ mean ?
(iii) What alternative does the author suggest for family planning ?
(iv) How much is the population of India today ?
(v) Form noun forms of the following :
(a) suggested
(b) condemns.
Answers :
(i) The poor remain poor because they beget more children.
(ii) More children mean more people without work.
(iii) The author suggests voluntary family planning without introducing an element of coercion.
(iv) The population of India is approximately 920 million today. It is more than the entire population of Africa and South America put together.
(v)
(a) suggestion
(b) condemnation.
The Ailing Planet: the Green Movement’s Role Extra Questions Short Answer Type
Question 1.
Where and when was Green movement first started ?
Answer:
In 1972 the world’s first nationwide Green party was founded. It has led to the Green movement throughout the world. It has seized the imagination of entire human race completely and rapidly.
Question 2.
What is the worldwide consciousness about earth and its needs to which the author is pointing out ?
Answer:
According to the author there is a growing worldwide consciousness that the earth itself is a living organism. It has its own metabolic needs and vital processes which need to be respected and protected.
Question 3.
How does the author explain the concept of sustainable development ?
Answer:
The sustainable development is the development that meets the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs, i.e., without stripping the natural world of resources future generations would need.
Question 4.
What is special about the zoo at Lusaka ?
Answer:
There is a notice in the zoo at Lusaka, Zambia. This notice reads, ‘The world’s most dangerous animal’. But inside the zoo there is no animal. There is only a mirror where the visitor to the zoo sees his or her own reflection.
Question 5.
How many living species are there on the earth ?
Answer:
Scientists have catalogues about 1.4 million living species with which mankind shares the earth. But biologists feel that there are about three to a hundred million other living species which are still-uncatalogued.
Question 6.
What was the question raised by the First Brandt Report ?
Answer:
Brandt Commission dealt with the question of eeology and environment. The First Brandt Report had raised the question ‘Are we to leave our successors a scorched planet of advancing deserts, impoverished landscapes and ailing environment.’
Question 7.
What are the principal biological systems and what do these provide ?
Answer:
The principal biological systems mentioned by Mr tester R. Brown are—fisheries, forests, grasslands and croplands. Besides food, these provide nearly all the raw materials for industry except minerals and petroleum-derived synthetics.
Question 8.
What happens when the productivity of the four biological systems are impaired ?
Answer:
The productivity of the four biological systems is impaired when human claims on these reach an unsustainable level. Consequently fisheries collapse, forests disappear, grassland converts into barren wastelands and croplands deteriorate.
Question 9.
What did James Speth say about the forests ?
Answer:
James Speth, the President of the World Resources Institute said : ere saying that we are losing the forests at an acre a second, but it is much closer to an acre and a half to a second’.
Question 10.
What does a three-year study conducted by United Nations warn us about ?
Answer:
A three-year study conducted by the United Nations, using satellites and aerial photography warns that the environment has deteriorated so badly that it is ‘critical’ in many of the eighty-eight countries investigated.
Question 11.
How much time did it take mankind to reach the present world population ?
Answer:
It took mankind more than a million years to reach the first billion, which was the population around the year 1800. By the year 1900, a second billion was added. The present world population is estimated to he 5.7 billion.
Question 12.
What, according to the author, is the population of India ?
Answer:
According to the author, the population of India is estimated to he 920 million today. This is more than the entire populations of Africa and South America put together.
The Ailing Planet: the Green Movement’s Role Extra Questions Long Answer Type
Question 1.
What is the impact of the Green Movement on the human race ?
Answer:
The author says that there is hardly any movement in world history which had such an impact on human race as the Green Movement. It has completely and rapidly fascinated the human mind within a short span of life. In 1972, the world’s first nationwide Green party was founded in New Zealand.
The impact of the Green Movement on the entire human race is tremendous. Now we have shifted from the mechanistic view to a holistic and ecological view of the world. That is why for the first time in human history, there is a growing worldwide consciousness that the earth itself is a living organism, of which we are parts. The earth has its own metabolic needs and vital processes which need to be respected and preserved. We are also becoming aware that the earth we live on has to be passed on to the future generations in good environmental and ecological condition.
Question 2.
Narrate briefly the views expressed by Mr Lester R. Brown in his book ‘The Global Economic Prospect1.
Answer:
Mr Lester R Brown in his book ‘The Global Economic Prospect’ mentions the four principal biological systems of the earth, which are, fisheries, forests, grasslands and croplands. These systems form the foundation of the global economic system. In addition to supplying our food, these four systems provide virtually all the raw materials for industry except minerals and petroleum-derived synthetics.
But in large areas of the world, human claims on these systems are reaching on unsustainable level, a point where their productivity is impaired. When this adverse effect is made, fisheries collapse, forests disappear, grasslands are converted into barren wastelands and croplands deteriorate.
Question 3.
Why does the author say that ‘forests precede mankind; deserts follow’ ?
Answer:
The author warns us about the disasterous dangers of increasing deforestation. In poor countries, local forests are being destroyed in order to procure firewood for cooking. Because of destruction of tropical forests, several species of life face extinction. The world’s ancient patrimony of tropical forests is now eroding at the rate of forty to fifty million acres a year. We are losing forests at an acre and a half to a second.
Article 48A of the Constitution of India provides ‘to safeguard the forest and wildlife of the country’. But India is losing its forests at the rate of 3.7 million acres a year. Large areas, officially designated as forest land, ‘are already virtually treeless’. Such an alarming situation may possibly convert a part of fertile land to barren land and thereafter into deserts gradually.
Question 4.
How does the alarming growth of world population adversely affect the human society ?
Answer:
The alarming growth of world population is one of the strongest factors adversely affecting the future of human society. The world population around the year 1800 was about one billion. It took mankind more than a million years to reach the first billion. But the present world population is estimated at 5.7 billion.
Over-population has its own adverse effects. It leads to poverty, slow development and unemployment. The choice is really between control of population and perpetuation of poverty. The best alternative is the voluntary family planning without any need of coersion. The population of India is estimated to be 920 million today. It is more than the entire population of Africa and South America put together. So population control must be given top priority to avoid hunger and poverty from the world.
