NCERT Solutions For Class 8 English Honeydew Chapter 7: A Visit To Cambridge

(ii) England was famous for Cambridge.

(ii) From outside a phone booth.

(ii) He forced the scientist to use his voice synthesiser.

(i) Shifting in the wheelchair, turning the wrist.

The writer’s first question to Hawking might have been about his disability, how he had accepted it and how he had been so brave to reach where he had.

The writer thought that Hawking had a choice. He could have been depressed about his situation and be sad about his disability. However, he chooses to accept the reality of his disintegrating body and lives his life creatively.

Hawking’s mind was full of many great ideas that he wanted to speak out loud. However, he was not able to speak clearly. He fumbled while speaking and spoke in phrases that didn't express his feelings or emotions. His sentences did not have any sentiments. The writer felt that Hawking was anguished by the fact that he could not express everything that he thought of because of his disability. What was really sad was that he used a computer to speak for himself.

 When the writer asks Stephen Hawking if he was disturbed by someone like him. Hawking replied to him very honestly and told him that he was disturbed by the writer. Then, he gave a one-way smile and this is what endeared the writer. The writer felt at that moment that Stephen Hawking was one of the most beautiful men in the world. The writer was himself disabled and felt that it is the soul that matters in a person and not the body. The body is just a mere accessory.

The most beautiful sentence which describes Hawking’s inner glow and makes his disability look irrelevant is: “before you like a lantern whose walls are worn so thin, you glimpse only the light inside, is the incandescence of a man”.

(i) The ‘walls’ would be the human body.

(ii) Light of light is housed within the thin walls 

(iii) The writer realized that the soul of a man is what matters the most. The body is just an accessory.

Stephen Hawking believed that the disabled should concentrate on things they are good at and that events like the disabled Olympics are a waste. The writer agreed with him because he himself tried to play Spanish Guitar for years and failed as it was larger than himself. The writer recalled being very happy when finally one night he unstrung it. 

The writer felt inspired by Stephen Hawking and expressed his gratitude towards him. He thought that Hawking was a very brave person and he himself could have been as brave as Hawking, he would have achieved so much. He felt stronger after meeting with Hawking and it made him realize that even he could do great things in life.

(i) The prospect of meeting Stephen Hawking made the writer nervous because Stephen Hawking is a brilliant scientist. He is quadriplegic. He is the writer of a world-renowned book “A Brief History of Time”. He became the descendant of Isaac Newton at the University of Cambridge. To meet with such a great personality, made the writer nervous. 

(ii)  Yes, the writer felt excited as well. He was excited to meet this brilliant disabled scientist who was considered as a descendant of Sir Isaac Newton. He had achieved many milestones in his life. The writer was made aware of many possibilities present before him and he felt stronger because of the meeting. This meeting helped him to reach out which he thought he never could. 

(i) 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 as if you have a courage account on which you are too lazy to draw a cheque.

(iii) There he was, tapping at a little switch in his hand trying to find words on his computer.

(iv) You look at his eyes which can speak, and they are saying something huge and urgent – it is hard to tell what 

(v) It doesn’t do much good to know that there are people smiling with admiration to see you breathing still.

i. Reading session

ii. Smiling face

Iii.Revolving chair

iv. Walking tour

v. Dancing doll

vi. Winning chance

(i) Both

(ii) All

(iii) All

(iv) Both

(v) All

(i) fastest

(i) most interesting

(i) easier

(i) Short

(i) late,easier

(i) Traveler

(ii) Guidance

(iii) Successor

(iv) Paled

(v) Chaired

(vi) Truly

(vii) Drawn

Artist

Mistake

Accident

Moment

Compare

Satisfy

Relation

Table

Illegal

Agree

Backward

Mountain

or

The questions which I wish to ask the president of the Village Panchayat are:

• What are your plans for the development of education in your area?

• How will you improve the healthcare facilities?

• What will you do to promote cleanliness in the area?

• What plans do you have for improving agriculture in the village?

• Do you plan to promote female children in any way?

• Will you do anything for farmers?

• Will you work for the betterment of the infrastructure of the village?

• What have you planned for civil amenities?