NCERT Solutions for Class 11 English Hornbill Chapter 4: The Ailing Planet: the Green Movement's Role; Childhood

Chapter at a glance

The Ailing Planet – Understanding the Text

Question U1

Locate the lines in the text that support the title ‘The Ailing Planet’.

Answer

• “The earth’s vital signs reveal a patient in declining health.”
• The earth “has its own metabolic needs and vital processes which need to be respected and preserved.”
• “Are we to leave our successors a scorched planet of advancing deserts, impoverished landscapes and ailing environment?”
• Human claims on fisheries, forests, grasslands and croplands are “reaching an unsustainable level”; forests are disappearing at “an acre-and-a-half a second”.
• A UN study warns that the environment “has deteriorated so badly that it is ‘critical’” in many of the 88 countries investigated.

Lines such as “The earth’s vital signs reveal a patient in declining health”, the Brandt Report’s “ailing environment”, and the UN finding that the environment is “critical” support the title.

Question U2

What does the notice ‘The world’s most dangerous animal’ at a cage in the zoo at Lusaka, Zambia, signify?

Answer

The cage has no animal, only a mirror, so the viewer sees himself. It signifies that human beings are the most dangerous animal on earth, because human greed and activities — deforestation, pollution, over-exploitation — are destroying the environment and other species. It is a warning to change our behaviour from domination to partnership with nature.

That human beings, whose image appears in the mirror, are the most dangerous creatures, destroying the planet through their actions.

Question U3

How are the earth’s principal biological systems being depleted?

Answer

According to Lester Brown, the four principal biological systems are fisheries, forests, grasslands and croplands. Human claims on them have reached unsustainable levels:

• Fisheries collapse due to over-fishing in a protein-hungry world.
• Forests are decimated for firewood in poor countries and cleared at an alarming rate (40–50 million acres of tropical forest a year).
• Grasslands are turned into barren wastelands by overgrazing.
• Croplands deteriorate as soil loses fertility (dung is burnt instead of used as manure).

Over-fishing collapses fisheries, forests are cut for firewood, grasslands become wastelands, and croplands deteriorate through over-use and loss of fertility.

Question U4

Why does the author aver that the growth of world population is one of the strongest factors distorting the future of human society?

Answer

• World population has grown at an alarming rate: from 1 billion (1800) to 5.7 billion (1994), increasing by one million every four days.
• More people put more pressure on limited resources, leading to deforestation, poverty and environmental damage.
• Poverty and population form a vicious circle: “the rich get richer, and the poor beget children”, and more children mean more people without work.
• Development — the best contraceptive — itself becomes impossible if numbers keep rising.

So unchecked population growth perpetuates poverty and damages the planet, distorting the future of society.

Because rapid population growth strains resources, perpetuates poverty and unemployment, damages the environment and makes development impossible.

The Ailing Planet – Talking about the Text

Question T1

Discuss: Laws are never respected nor enforced in India.

Answer

For: The author points out that Article 48A requires protection of the environment, yet India loses 3.7 million acres of forest a year; laws against untouchability, casteism and bonded labour exist but these practices continue. Weak enforcement, corruption and lack of awareness are reasons.

Against: “Never” is too strong. Many laws are enforced, and courts and activists have made progress (e.g. bans on plastic, the Supreme Court’s orders on pollution, CNG in Delhi, the Forest Rights Act). Awareness is growing.

Conclusion: Enforcement is often weak, and citizens and authorities must work together to make laws effective.

Enforcement is often weak (forest loss, caste practices), but “never” is an exaggeration; courts and public pressure have improved enforcement.

Question T2

Discuss: “Are we to leave our successors a scorched planet of advancing deserts, impoverished landscapes and an ailing environment?”

Answer

The question from the First Brandt Report warns that if we continue destroying forests, polluting air and water, and overusing resources, future generations will inherit a damaged planet — hot, dry, barren and unhealthy. We have a duty to them. Solutions include sustainable development, afforestation, renewable energy, conservation of water and population control.

It warns that our present exploitation will leave future generations a barren, degraded planet unless we adopt sustainable practices now.

Question T3

Discuss: “We have not inherited this earth from our forefathers; we have borrowed it from our children”.

Answer

Lester Brown’s words mean that the earth is not our property to use as we like; we are trustees holding it for future generations. Like a borrowed thing, it must be returned in good condition. This calls for responsible, sustainable use of resources and protection of the environment.

We are only trustees of the earth for future generations and must return it to them unharmed.

Question T4

Discuss: The problems of overpopulation that directly affect our everyday life.

Answer

Overpopulation leads to crowded cities and transport, traffic jams, shortages of water, housing and electricity, unemployment, pressure on schools and hospitals, rising prices, pollution and garbage, slums, and loss of green spaces. These affect our health and quality of life every day.

Crowding, traffic, water and housing shortages, unemployment, overburdened schools and hospitals, pollution and rising prices.

The Ailing Planet – Thinking about Language

Question L1

The phrase ‘inter alia’ meaning ‘among other things’ is one of the many Latin 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

prima facie: at first sight; ad hoc: for a specific purpose; in camera: in private; ad infinitum: endlessly; mutatis mutandis: with necessary changes; caveat: a warning; tabula rasa: a clean slate.

The Ailing Planet – Working with Words

Question W1

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

Answer

gripped the imagination: captured everyone’s attention; dawned upon: became clear; ushered in: introduced; passed into current coin: came into common use; passport for the future: a means to secure the future.

Question W2

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

Each word is used once literally (a firm grip, at dawn, a theatre usher, a coin, a travel passport) and once figuratively (fear gripped, the dawn of an era, ushered in, coined a word, a passport to success).

The Ailing Planet – Things to Do

Question D1

Make posters to highlight the importance of the Green Movement.

Answer

Poster ideas:

1. “Forests precede mankind; deserts follow” — picture of a green forest on one side and a desert on the other; message: Plant a tree today.
2. “We have borrowed the earth from our children” — a child holding a green globe; message: Save it for them.
3. “Reduce – Reuse – Recycle” — with recycling symbols and simple tips.
4. “The world’s most dangerous animal?” — a mirror; message: Change begins with you.

Use bright green colours, a short slogan, a striking picture and two or three action points (save water, avoid plastic, use public transport).

Posters with catchy slogans (“Forests precede mankind; deserts follow”, “Borrowed from our children”), strong images and simple green action points.

Question D2

Maintain a record of the trees cut down and the parks demolished in your area, or any other act that violates the environment. Write to newspapers reporting on any such acts that disturb you.

Answer

Record format: date — location — act observed (e.g. trees felled, garbage burning, park encroached) — approximate number/area — authority informed.

Sample letter to the editor:

The Editor, The Times of India, New Delhi

Subject: Felling of trees in Green Park Colony

Sir, Through your newspaper I wish to draw the attention of the authorities to the cutting of about twenty old neem and peepal trees along the main road of Green Park Colony last week, apparently to widen the road. No replacement saplings have been planted. These trees gave shade and cleaner air to residents and shelter to birds. I request the municipal corporation to stop further felling, plant new trees and follow the rules for compensatory afforestation.

Yours faithfully, A. Sharma, Class XI

Keep a dated log of environmental violations and write a formal letter to the editor describing the act, its harm and the action expected from authorities.

Childhood – Poem

Question C1

Identify the stanza that talks of each of the following: individuality, rationalism, hypocrisy.

Answer

• Rationalism — Stanza 1: realising that Hell and Heaven could not be found in Geography, and therefore could not be.
• Hypocrisy — Stanza 2: realising that adults talked and preached of love but did not act lovingly.
• Individuality — Stanza 3: finding that his mind was really his own, producing his own thoughts.

Rationalism: stanza 1; hypocrisy: stanza 2; individuality: stanza 3.

Question C2

What according to the poem is involved in the process of growing up?

Answer

Growing up involves:

1. Rational thinking — questioning beliefs and accepting only what can be proved (Heaven and Hell cannot be found in Geography).
2. Awareness of adult hypocrisy — seeing that adults do not practise what they preach.
3. Developing individuality — thinking independently and having one’s own opinions.

Along with these comes the loss of innocence.

Becoming rational, recognising adults’ hypocrisy and developing independent thought — and losing innocence.

Question C3

What is the poet’s feeling towards childhood?

Answer

The poet feels nostalgic and a little sad about the loss of childhood. He wonders when and where it went, and concludes that it has gone to “some forgotten place, that’s hidden in an infant’s face”. He values childhood’s innocence and simplicity, which can now be seen only in the face of an infant.

Nostalgic and wistful; he longs for the lost innocence of childhood, now visible only in an infant’s face.

Question C4

Which do you think are the most poetic lines? Why?

Answer

The most poetic lines are the last ones:

“It went to some forgotten place, That’s hidden in an infant’s face, That’s all I know.”

They are poetic because they give a beautiful, imaginative answer to the poet’s question: childhood’s innocence is preserved in the face of a baby. The rhyme (“place”/“face”) and the gentle, uncertain ending (“That’s all I know”) create a mood of nostalgia and wonder.

The closing lines — childhood “went to some forgotten place, / That’s hidden in an infant’s face” — for their imaginative image, rhyme and wistful tone.

Topic checklist

• The Green Movement and the holistic view
• Sustainable development; four biological systems
• Deforestation and population growth
• Latin expressions; literal and figurative meanings
• Childhood: rationalism, hypocrisy and individuality

Total questions answered: 17 of 17