Chapter 3: Two Stories about Flying I. His First Flight II. Black Aeroplane How to Tell Wild Animals The Ball Poem

The poet says, “I would not intrude on him” because he wants the boy to learn from the experience of loss. This will teach the boy that loss is also an important part of life. Hence the poet does not intervene in the boy’s natural process of learning. He also doesn’t offer the boy money to buy another ball because the lesson of loss learnt from this experience would become worthless and wouldn’t teach the little one to learn the lesson of responsibility from this situation.

Yes, it appears that the boy has had the ball for a long time. When it bounced and fell into the water, all his childhood memories of wonderful days flashed in front of his eyes. He realised that those moments would never come back, just as the ball. He felt that he could buy new balls, and those would create new memories or moments for him, but those that were gone with the ball into the water would never ever return.

“In the world of possessions” refers to the world consisting of materialistic things. Different people possess different things, such as land, property, money, or any other valuable thing. In the poem, the poet indicates that loss of the ball may be a very small thing, but this would give the boy a realization of the sense of loss and the experience of losing memories associated with it.

No, it seems that the boy did not lose anything earlier. It is evident from the words ‘He senses first responsibility in a world of possessions’. This line suggests that the sense of loss gave him an experience of understanding how several precious moments are lost with the loss of a particular object.

The poet tries to convey through his poem that the boy has learnt an important lesson to cope with the loss of his ball. He is experiencing grief and sadness while he grows up in this world full of possessions. He learns that there are several important things in life that are lost and cannot be brought back. He also senses his first sense of responsibility as he loses the ball. The boy learns to stand up and leave the loss behind as he moves ahead in his life and understands the true meaning and nature of loss.

Yes, I had lost my pet dog in a road accident when he was just five years old. One day I was playing with my puppy with a ball in my garden. I threw the ball in the air while playing with him, my dog jumped to catch it, but it bounced back and rolled to the street nearby. As my dog went to fetch the ball, a speeding car ran over my puppy and I could hear it crying in pain. I rushed to the spot and found my pup covered in blood. I rushed him to the hospital immediately but it was too late and he was bleeding profusely and succumbed to injuries. I was very upset and grief-stricken by this incident. In due course of time, I recovered from my loss, but that incident is fresh in my memories and I still love my dog and miss him dearly.

(Note: Students can write this answer as per their personal experiences.)

English is the subject which need lots of knowledge about the topics explained in each chapter. For this purpose, choosing the correct study material is necessary to score well in the board exams. NCERT Solutions from BYJU’S is the best reference guide for CBSE students who aspire to attain remarkable grades in the board exams. All the answers are prepared by the experts as per the syllabus of the CBSE board to boost the exam preparation of students. You can download these NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English in PDF format through the links provided below. Given below are some brief descriptions of the stories and poems included in NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English Chapter 3.

I – His First Flight

This story is written by Liam O’Flaherty. In this chapter, Class 10 students learn about a young seagull who was afraid of taking his first flight. Although his family constantly encouraged him to fly, he feared that his wings would not support him and he would fall to his death if he jumped from the brink of the ledge, while trying to do so. He was left alone and was starving out of hunger. Hence, his mother decided to goad him to take his first flight by luring him with a piece of fish. It worked as the little seagull was very hungry, and he soon dived for that bait. His mother guided him, and soon, he realized that he was flying in the open air. Therefore, the young seagull learnt to conquer his fear and glided over the green sea victoriously. Finally, he made his first flight.

II – Black Aeroplane

This story is written by Fredrik Forsyth. In this chapter, Class 10 students will learn about a mysterious story revolving around a pilot. The narrator of the story, flying a plane to his homeland, hoped to be with his family and have a good breakfast with them. During the flight, the narrator came across storm clouds that looked like black mountains, and he flew through the clouds and realized that everything around him had turned black. He was unable to see anything outside the aeroplane. He saw another aeroplane with no lights on the wings. The pilot waved his hands and asked him to follow. He blindly followed the other pilot as the radio signals were dead and he had almost run out of fuel. Hence, with the aid of the other pilot, he landed safely on the runway. Later, when he went to the control centre and enquired about the pilot to thank him for helping in the critical situation, he learnt that his aeroplane was the only one that was flying in the sky that night.

In this humorous poem, the poet Carolyn Wells suggests some useful ways to identify wild animals while in a jungle. Class 10 students get to learn different traits of the animals in the wild and the appearance of some wild animals such as tiger, lion, leopard, bear, hyena, crocodile, chameleon, etc.

This poem mentions a young boy who loses his ball in the water and how he learns from the experience of losing something so dear to him. Class 10 students learn a useful lesson from this poem, which teaches them how life continues even if one loses something that is precious to him/her and learns a way of growing up without it. The poet, John Berryman talks about a young boy who expresses his grief in losing his toy, which was once his most beloved possession, but he learns a lesson that losing is also an important part of our lives.