Chapter 2: Nelson Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom A Tiger in the Zoo

1. It requires such depths of oppression (v) to create such heights of character.

2. Courage was not the absence of fear (iii) but the triumph over it.

3. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid (iv) but he who conquers that fear.

4. If people can learn to hate (i) they can be taught to love.

5. I was not born with a hunger to be free. (ii) I was born free.

Question II:

This text repeatedly contrasts the past with the present or the future. We can use coordinated clauses to contrast two views, for emphasis or effect. Given below are sentences carrying one part of the contrast. Find in the text the second part of the contrast, and complete each item. Identify the words which signal the contrast. This has been done for you in the first item.

1. For decades the Union Buildings had been the seat of white supremacy, and now …

2. Only moments before, the highest generals of the South African defence force and police … saluted me and pledged their loyalty. … not so many years before they would not have saluted _______________

3. Although that day neither group knew the lyrics of the anthem …, they would soon ______________

4. My country is rich in the minerals and gems that lie beneath its soil, _______________________

5. The Air Show was not only a display of pinpoint precision and military force, but _______________

1. For decades the Union Buildings had been the seat of white supremacy, and now it was the site of a rainbow gathering of different colours and nations for the installation of South Africa’s first democratic, non-racial government.

2. Only moments before, the highest generals of the South African defence force and police … saluted me and pledged their loyalty. … not so many years before they would not have saluted but arrested me.

3. Although that day neither group knew the lyrics of the anthem …, they would soon know the words by heart.

4. My country is rich in the minerals and gems that lie beneath its soil, but I have always known that its greatest wealth is its people, finer and truer than the purest diamonds.

5. The Air Show was not only a display of pinpoint precision and military force, but a demonstration of the military’s loyalty to democracy, to a new government that had been freely and fairly elected.

6. It was this desire for the freedom of my people … that transformed a frightened young man into a bold one, that drove a law-abiding attorney to become a criminal, that turned a family-loving husband into a man without a home.

Question III: Expressing Your Opinion

Do you think there is colour prejudice in our own country? Discuss this with your friend and write a paragraph of about 100 to 150 words about this. You have the option of making your paragraph a humorous one. (Read the short verse given below.)

When you were born you were pink

When you grew up you became white

When you are in the sun you are red

When you are sick you are yellow

When you are angry you are purple

When you are shocked you are grey

And you have the cheek to call me ‘coloured’.

Activity to be done by yourself.

Access Answers to NCERT Class 10 English Chapter 2 Poem – A Tiger in the Zoo