CBSE Class 8 English Chapter 7 – A Visit to Cambridge Important Question Answers from Honeydew Book
Class 8 A Visit to Cambridge Question Answers – Looking for A Visit to Cambridge Important questions and answers for CBSE Class 8 English Honeydew Book Chapter 7? Look no further! Our comprehensive compilation of important questions will help you brush up on your subject knowledge. Practicing Class 8 English question answers can significantly improve your performance in the exam. Improve your chances of scoring high marks by exploring Chapter 7: A Visit to Cambridge now. The questions listed below are based on the latest CBSE exam pattern, wherein we have given Text book Questions (NCERT Solutions) to the chapter’s Extract-based Questions and Extra Question Answers
Also, practising with different kinds of questions can help students learn new ways to solve problems that they may not have seen before. This can ultimately lead to a deeper understanding of the subject matter and better performance on exams.
- A Visit to Cambridge Text Book Questions
- A Visit to Cambridge Grammar Exercises
- A Visit to Cambridge Extract Based Questions
- A Visit to Cambridge Extra Question Answers
Related:
- A Visit to Cambridge Summary, Explanation
- A Visit to Cambridge MCQs
- A Visit to Cambridge Character Sketch
Class 8 English A Visit to Cambridge Text Book Questions – NCERT Solutions
Comprehension Check
Which is the right sentence?
1. “Cambridge was my metaphor for England.” To the writer,
(i) Cambridge was a reputed university in England.
(ii) England was famous for Cambridge.
(iii) Cambridge was the real England.
Ans. (iii) Cambridge was the real England.
2. The writer phoned Stephen Hawking’s house
(i) from the nearest phone booth.
(ii) from outside a phone booth.
(iii) from inside a phone booth.
Ans.– (ii) from outside a phone booth.
3. Every time he spoke to the scientist, the writer felt guilty because
(i) he wasn’t sure what he wanted to ask.
(ii) he forced the scientist to use his voice synthesizer.
(iii) he was face to face with a legend.
Ans.– (ii) he forced the scientist to use his voice synthesizer.
4. “I felt a huge relief… in the possibilities of my body.” In the given context, the highlighted words refer to
(i) shifting in the wheelchair, turning the wrist.
(ii) standing up, walking.
(iii) speaking, writing.
Ans.– (ii) standing up, walking.
Working with the Text
Answer the following questions.
1. (i) Did the prospect of meeting Stephen Hawking make the writer nervous? If so, why?
Ans.Yes, the prospect of meeting Stephen Hawking made the writer nervous because he was someone like him who had achieved bigger things in life. The author wanted to make use of each minute of that thirty minute meeting.
(ii) Did he at the same time feel very excited? If so, why?
Ans. He felt excited at the same time as he had been given half an hour to be with someone like him who had achieved bigger things in life.
2. Guess the first question put to the scientist by the writer.
Ans. The author’s first question to Hawking must have been about his well-being and the source of his inspiration that led him to do brave things.
3. Stephen Hawking said, “I’ve had no choice.” Does the writer think there was a choice? What was it?
Ans. Although Stephen Hawking said he had no choice but to be brave, the writer did think there was a choice. The choice was to live creatively with the reality of his disintegrated body.
4. “I could feel his anguish.” What could be the anguish?
Ans. The astrophysicist would get exhausted by tapping at the little switch in his hand to find words on his computer. The author mentions he could feel Hawking’s anguish on how even after having a buoyant mind, thoughts came out in frozen phrases and sentences stiff as corpses.
5. What endeared the scientist to the writer so that he said he was looking at one of the most beautiful men in the world?
Ans. The scientist’s pure and one way smile made the author feel like he was looking at one of the most beautiful men in the world.
6. Read aloud the description of ‘the beautiful man. Which is the most beautiful sentence in the description?
Ans. The line “Before you, like a lantern whose walls are worn so thin you glimpse only the light inside, is the incandescence of a man” is the most beautiful sentence in the description of ‘the beautiful man.
7. (i) If ‘the lantern’ is the man, what would its ‘walls’ be?
Ans. If ‘the lantern’ is the man, its ‘walls’ would be the body or torso.
(ii) What is housed within the thin walls?
Ans. The glow of an eternal soul was housed within the thin walls.
(iii) What general conclusion does the writer draw from this comparison?
Ans. From this comparison, the author draws a general conclusion that the eternal soul is what each one of us is, and everything else is just an accessory.
8. What is the scientist’s message for the disabled?
Ans. The scientist’s message for the differently abled is to concentrate on something they are good at.
9. Why does the writer refer to the guitar incident? Which idea does it support?
Ans. The writer spent years trying to learn to play Spanish guitar but unstringed it one night. The writer referred to the guitar incident to support Stephen Hawking’s idea that differently abled people must concentrate on something they are good at.
10. The writer expresses his great gratitude to Stephen Hawking. What is the gratitude for?
Ans. The writer expressed his great gratitude to Stephen Hawking as he could see within Stephen, an embodiment of his bravest self, the one he was moving towards and who he had believed in for so many years.
11. Complete the following sentences taking their appropriate parts from both the boxes below.
(i) There was his assistant on the line …
(ii) You get fed up with people asking you to be brave, …
(iii) There he was, …
(iv) You look at his eyes which can speak, …
(v) It doesn’t do much good to know …
| A |
|
| B |
|
Ans.
(i) There was his assistant on the line …
There was his assistant on the line and I told him I had come in a wheelchair from India.
(ii) You get fed up with people asking you to be brave, …
You get fed up with people asking you to be brave, as if you have a courage account on which you are too lazy to draw a cheque.
(iii) There he was, …
There he was, tapping at a little switch in his hand trying to find the words on his computer.
(iv) You look at his eyes which can speak, …
You look at his eyes which can speak and they are saying something huge and urgent.
(v) It doesn’t do much good to know …
It doesn’t do much good to know that there are people smiling with admiration to see you breathing still.
A Visit to Cambridge Grammar Exercises
1. Fill in the blanks in the sentences below using the appropriate forms of the words given in the following box.
| guide | succeed | chair | travel | pale | draw | true |
(i) I met a ____________ from an antique land.
(ii) I need special ____________ in mathematics. I can’t count the number of times I have failed in the subject.
(iii) The guide called Stephen Hawking a worthy ____________ to Issac Newton.
(iv) His other problems ____________ into insignificance beside this unforeseen mishap.
(v) The meeting was ____________ by the youngest member of the board.
(vi) Some people say ‘yours ____________’ when they informally refer to themselves.
(vii) I wish it had been a ____________ match. We would have been spared the noise of celebrations, at least.
Ans.
(i) I met a traveller from an antique land.
(ii) I need special guidance in mathematics. I can’t count the number of times I have failed in the subject.
(iii) The guide called Stephen Hawking a worthy successor to Issac Newton.
(iv) His other problems paled into insignificance beside this unforeseen mishap.
(v) The meeting was chaired by the youngest member of the board.
(vi) Some people say ‘yours truly’ when they informally refer to themselves.
(vii) I wish it had been a drawn match. We would have been spared the noise of celebrations, at least.
2. Look at the following words.
| walk | stick |
Can you create a meaningful phrase using both these words?
(It is simple. Add -ing to the verb and use it before the noun. Put an article at the beginning.)
..a walking stick
Now make six such phrases using the words given in the box.
| read/session | smile/face | revolve/chair |
| walk/tour | dance/doll | win/chance |
Ans.
- read/session- A reading session
- smile/face- A smiling face
- revolve/chair- A revolving chair
- walk/tour- A walking tour
- dance/doll- A dancing doll
- win/chance- A winning chance
3. Use all or both in the blanks. Tell your partner why you chose one or the other.
(i) He has two brothers. _______ are lawyers.
(ii) More than ten persons called. _______ of them wanted to see you.
(iii) They _______ cheered the team.
(iv) _______ her parents are teachers.
(v) How much have you got? Give me _______ of it.
Ans.
(i) He has two brothers. Both are lawyers.
(ii) More than ten persons called. All of them wanted to see you.
(iii) They all cheered the team.
(iv) Both her parents are teachers.
(v) How much have you got? Give me all of it.
4. Complete each sentence using the right form of the adjective given in brackets.
(i) My friend has one of the _______ cars on the road. (fast)
(ii) This is the _______ story I have ever read. (interesting)
(iii) What you are doing now is _______ than what you did yesterday. (easy)
(iv) Ramesh and his wife are both _______. (short)
(v) He arrived _______ as usual. Even the chief guest came _______ than he did. (late, early)
Ans.
(i) My friend has one of the fastest cars on the road. (fast)
(ii) This is the most interesting story I have ever read. (interesting)
(iii) What you are doing now is easier than what you did yesterday. (easy)
(iv) Ramesh and his wife are both short. (short)
(v) He arrived late as usual. Even the chief guest came earlier than he did. (late, early)
&bsp;
Class 8 English A Visit to Cambridge Chapter 7 Extract Based Questions
Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow-
A. Cambridge was my metaphor for England, and it was strange that when I left it had become altogether something else, because I had met Stephen Hawking there.
It was on a walking tour through Cambridge that the guide mentioned Stephen Hawking, ‘poor man, who is quite disabled now, though he is a worthy successor to Issac Newton, whose Chair he has at the university.’ And I started, because I had quite forgotten that this most brilliant and completely paralysed astrophysicist, the author of A Brief History of Time, one of the biggest best-sellers ever, lived here.
Q1. What does the writer mean by – “Cambridge was my metaphor for England”?
Ans. It means that for him the word Cambridge signified England.
Q2. How do we know that Hawking was a successor to Newton?
Ans. Hawking had got Newton’s chair at the university which implied that he was a successor to Newton.
Q3. Which book did Hawking write?
Ans. He wrote the book – A Brief History of Time.
Q4. What was Hawking’s physical condition?
Ans. He was completely paralysed.
Q5. What did Hawking do?
Ans. Hawking was an astrophysicist.
B. When the walking tour was done, I rushed to a phone booth and, almost tearing the cord so it could reach me outside, phoned Stephen Hawking’s house. There was his assistant on the line and I told him I had come in a wheelchair from India (perhaps he thought I had propelled myself all the way) to write about my travels in Britain. I had to see Professor Hawking — even ten minutes would do. “Half an hour,“ he said. “From three-thirty to four.”
And suddenly I felt weak all over. Growing up disabled, you get fed up with people asking you to be brave, as if you have a courage account on which you are too lazy to draw a cheque. The only thing that makes you stronger is seeing somebody like you, achieving something huge. Then you know how much is possible and you reach out further than you ever thought you could.
Q1. Who answered the call from Hawking’s end?
Ans. His assistant.
Q2. Find a synonym of ‘moved’.
Ans. propelled
Q3. Did the narrator get an appointment with Hawking?
Ans. Yes, the assistant gave him an appointment for half an hour.
Q4. What is the only way to make one feel strong?
Ans. When one sees a similar person overcome his hurdles, it makes one feel strong.
Q5. Before making the call the author had been on a ________
Ans. walking tour.
C. About three minutes later, he responded, “I find it amusing when people patronise me.”
“And do you find it annoying when someone like me comes and disturbs you in your work?”
The answer flashed. “Yes.” Then he smiled his oneway smile and I knew, without being sentimental or silly, that I was looking at one of the most beautiful men in the world.
A first glimpse of him is shocking, because he is like a still photograph — as if all those pictures of him in magazines and newspapers have turned three-dimensional.
Then you see the head twisted sideways into a slump, the torso shrunk inside the pale blue shirt, the wasted legs; you look at his eyes which can speak, still, and they are saying something huge and urgent — it is hard to tell what. But you are shaken because you have seen something you never thought could be seen.
Before you, like a lantern whose walls are worn so thin you glimpse only the light inside, is the incandescence of a man. The body, almost irrelevant, exists only like a case made of shadows. So that I, no believer in eternal souls, know that this is what each of us is; everything else an accessory.
Q1. What does ‘patronize’ mean?
Ans. treat in a way that is apparently kind or helpful but that betrays a feeling of superiority
Q2. Why is the first look at Hawking shocking?
Ans. He is still like a photograph, just a three-dimensional photograph.
Q3. What do Hawking’s eyes say?
Ans. His eyes can speak and it seems that they are saying something big and urgent but one cannot tell what it is.
Q4. Why is the author shaken?
Ans. He saw something that was beyond his imagination. Hawking is like a lantern whose walls are thin and worn out and one can see clearly the light within.
Q5. Describe Hawking’s appearance.
Ans. The head twisted sideways into a slump, the torso shrunk inside the pale blue shirt and the wasted legs.
D. I told him how he had been an inspiration beyond cliche´ for me, and, surely, for others — did that thought help him?
“No,” he said; and I thought how foolish I was to ask. When your body is a claustrophobic room and the walls are growing narrower day by day, it doesn’t do much good to know that there are people outside smiling with admiration to see you breathing still.
“Is there any advice you can give disabled people, something that might help make life better?”
“They should concentrate on what they are good at; I think things like the disabled Olympics are a waste of time.”
“I know what you mean.” I remembered the years I’d spent trying to play a Spanish guitar considerably larger than I was; and how gleefully I had unstringed it one night.
The half-hour was up. “I think I’ve annoyed you enough,” I said, grinning. “Thank you for…”
“Stay.” I waited. “Have some tea. I can show you the garden.”
The garden was as big as a park, but Stephen Hawking covered every inch, rumbling along in his motorised wheelchair while I dodged to keep out of the way. We couldn’t talk very much; the sun made him silent, the letters on his screen disappearing in the glare
Q1. What does ‘cliche’ mean?
Ans. A phrase, idea, or element that has lost its original meaning or effect through overuse.
Q2. What advice does Hawking give to the disabled?
Ans. He says that they should concentrate on what they are good at.
Q3. What, according to Hawking is a waste of time?
Ans. Events like the disabled Olympics are a waste of time.
Q4. What did Hawking offer the narrator?
Ans. He offered him tea and showed him the garden.
Q5. How did Hawking travel?
Ans. He had a motorised wheelchair.
Class 8 A Visit to Cambridge Extra Question Answers
Answer the following questions-
Q1. What is the lesson ‘A Visit to Cambridge’ about? From where has it been taken?
Ans. The lesson is about the narrator’s meeting with Stephen Hawking. It is a part of a book written by Firdaus titled Heaven on Wheels.
Q2. What is common between Stephen Hawking and the writer?
Ans. Both of them are handicapped. Despite their disability, both Firdaus and Hawking are achievers. They have overcome the challenges and gained success in their fields of expertise.
Q3. What, according to Hawking led him to success?
Ans. He says that he wasn’t being brave but he had no other choice than to do what he did.
Q4. Why does the narrator feel guilty for asking questions to Hawking?
Ans. Every time he asked a question, Hawking ws forced to respond. He had to tap at the little switch, trying to find words on his computer with the limited movement that he could do. He would be anguished and shut his eyes in exhaustion.
Q5. After seeing Hawking, what did the narrator realize?
Ans. He felt a huge relief and exhilaration in the possibilities of his body, every time he shifted in the chair or turned his wrist to watch the time. How little it mattered then that he would never walk, or even stand.
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