The Tsunami

TRUE.

Because Ignesious’s wife was taken away by the monstrous waves of the sea as was his two children along with his father-in-law and brother-in-law. He could not find them ever again.

FALSE.

Sanjeev initially helped his wife and their child to a safe place. Afterwards, when he tried to help the wife of his colleague, both of them were engulfed by the waves.

FALSE

Meghna saw several relief helicopters but because of the great distance between them, the people in the helicopter were unable to see her afloat. Later on, she was hauled to the shoreby another surge of water.

TRUE

It is apparent from the lesson that Almas’s family lived near the sea and her father had some knowledge about the ways of the sea; so when he saw the water retreat suddenly, he realised that a tsunami was about to hit the island.

TRUE

Almas’s mother and aunts grasped the leaves of a coconut tree to save themselves from being overwhelmed by the tsunami waves. But the tree gave way to the thrust of the waves and her mother and aunts were washed away with the tree that they were holding on to.

Tilly’s family came to Thailand because it was a part of their plan to celebrate Christmas. They lived in South-East of England and were vacationing in Thailand on that cursed December day.

Normally a sea constantly follows the ebb and flow routine but on that day Tilly and her mother saw that the sea was continuously surging forward, which in itself is highly unusual. They also saw that the extreme escalation of water was drowning the beach by every second.

Yes, such an odd thing as sudden excessive swelling of the sea alarmed Tilly’s mother Penny Smith but more than that she was bewildered as to what it was. She had absolutely no idea whatsoever, of what was happening, what to do or of the imminent danger of all the people present there.

The young Ms. Smith was a ten-year-old schoolgirl. Before she came on vacation, in one of her geography classes she was taught about the tsunamis. It was in the same class, she remembered, she had seen a video of the tsunami where the sea was behaving in the same strange fashion.

The geography lessons of Tilly tipped the Smith family off about the looming danger. Her mother, seeing her daughter going berserk and talking about earthquakes under the sea, took it seriously. As a result, the Smith family and a few other families on the beach went to the swimming pool at the hotel initially. After a while, when the waves hit, the families ran for their lives and ended up on the third floor of the hotel to escape from the tsunami.

Tilly had used what she had learnt in class to save many lives in Phuket. The teacher felt satisfied and pleased and was very proud of her.

Very few animals were reported dead in the Tsunami as they left the seashore prior to the tsunami owing to some sort of warning they got.

As many as sixty people and only two water buffaloes died in Yala National Park.

People at Patanangala beach inside the Yala National Park say that three elephants ran away from the beach.

Two dogs that lived near the sea in Galle with their owner, refused to go for their daily run on the beach that particular day despite loving the outing dearly.

Ignesious’s first reaction was to put the television set down so that it does not break by falling because of the earthquake. So, no, his first thought was not trained towards Tsunami but he was thinking about an earthquake. If he thought about Tsunami, then he would have tried to run his family to the safety of a high and stable place. Neither would he put his television set down on the ground as that would cause it to drown, first thing during the Tsunami.

The line, “In the chaos and confusion, two of his children caught hold of the hands of their mother’s father and mother’s brother, and rushed in the opposite direction.” tells me that the Ignesious family did not have any time to discuss and plan their course of action after the tsunami struck. For the phrase, “chaos and confusion” clearly shows the family was not prepared.

Sanjeev saved himself and his family from the tsunami. But after that, knowing that he might not be able to save himself a second time, he could not turn down the plea for help from the wife of his co-worker. So, in my opinion, he was brave, heroic and selfless.

(i) I don’t know if Sanjeev was cheerful, humorous or ambitious.

(ii) I think that he was very brave, heroic, and selfless.

(iii) Sanjeev was not heartless, careless, or brash.

Both of these girls had a similar fate of loosing their whole family and being washed away by the wave. Both of them clung to a piece of wood or a tree branch to stay afloat. Finally, both the girls survived the wrath of the tsunami.

Tilly’s parents showed great faith in their daughter in a time of danger and emergency. They could have, like many other parents, ask her to shut up and follow orders from the elders of the family as they know best.

If I were in their place, I would have done the same. Because, if my daughter so seriously says something, that must be true, since she would want the family safe.

Tilly’s geography teacher must get some accolades for showing the class the video. But it is her parents who showed the faith in their daughter in the face of challenge and that saved the life of the whole family and some other families as well. So, I think she should share it with her parents.

Frequently people believe that animals have a sixth sense that helps them detect any upcoming danger. On the other hand, some experts believe that animals have a brilliant sense of hearing. and that way warns them and helps them stay safe.

I find the experts’ idea more believable since it is scientifically proven the fact.

There are themost number of words in the fast movement column because this is a lesson about the tsunami. When a tsunami hits, the first instinct of people is to run to their safety. That is why there are many words in one column and not in the others.

(i) The earth trembled, but not many people felt the tremor (tremble)

(ii) When the zoo was flooded, there was lot of confused and many animals escaped

Into the countryside. (confuse)

(iii) We heard with relief That the lion had been recaptured. (relieve)

(iv) The zookeeper was stuck in a tree and his rescuing was filmed by the TV crew. (rescue)

(v) There was much excitement in the village when the snake charmer came visiting. (excite)

(i) Someone stole my bicycle. A

Explanation: The ‘doer’ of the action is named.

(ii) The tyres were deflated by the traffic police. P

Explanation: The focus is not on the person who does the action and the verb is in passive form.

(iii) I found it last night in a ditch near my house. A

Explanation: The ‘doer’ of the action is named.

(iv) It had been thrown there. P

Explanation: The focus is not on the person who does the action and the verb is in passive form.

(v) My father gave it to the mechanic. A

Explanation: The ‘doer’ of the action is named.

(vi) The mechanic repaired it for me. A

Explanation: The ‘doer’ of the action is named.

28^thDecember,2004

Today I was to go to the southwest part of the town, one of the worst-hit areas. As fixed earlier, I and three other volunteers were picked up by the rescue party van at six a.m. in the morning. A clean one hour journey and another hour of walk brought us to the horrible sight of death, despair and the hope called life. Every place where a hut stood earlier, were some muddy aftereffect, the stench of rotten bodies pervaded the whole place, and amidst all this, a sudden meowing had our attention. Soon we realized, it was coming from behind a huge tree. I asked the others to wait and worked my way to the back of the tree only to see a baby, alive and kicking, on a piece of clothing, nearly damp. Spellbound, I could only gesture the others to follow and they were equally dumbstruck. We could not imagine how a baby could survive a tsunami when its mother emerged and said she gave birth to her baby daughter on 26^th December night, on that very tree. The mother was nearly unable to move since she had eaten nearly nothing for over two days and was feeding the baby who was equally weak. We all thanked God and started on with our duties. The mother later told us, she named her baby “Tsunami”.

For Self-attempt.

I learned in my biology class that if a person faints, there are a few steps that should be taken immediately by people who are near him or her. That includes things like loosening any tight garments they are wearing, splashing water on their faces etc. A few days ago, when I was travelling to a relative’s place, an old man in the bus suddenly fainted. The man sitting next to the old man helped him lie down and I took out my water bottle to splash some cool water on his face. I also noticed that he was wearing loose cotton clothes that did not need any further loosening. After a minute or two, the man regained his senses and I was happy to apply something that I learnt in the classroom to help the old man.

The three of four phrases in stanzas one and two which are likely to occur in a geography lesson are:

(i) six inches to the mile

(ii) on ground

(iii) ten thousand feet

(iv) rivers ran

(v) valleys

(vi) were populated; land and water

Option (ii)

Explanation:

The clear planning of the cities, their locations besides rivers mostly, all were visible from the heights of an aeroplane. That is why the city appears developed as necessary.

Rivers are a source of water and water is necessary for life. From ancient times, humans have been living along the banks of rivers for that reason and many more like the land being fertile etc. So, it fits the logic of geography, that the cities are located near rivers.

(i) When the aeroplane was six miles from the ground, it was clearly visible that the earth was round. Also, because of the general blue hue and view of sea, it was evident that the earth had more sea than land.

(ii) The boundaries that divides places geographically, e.g. walls after cities, borders of countries were not visible from that height and the poet wondered why people fight over such petty matters.