I. Answer the following questions in 30-40 words.
1. How did Mr. Cao react when the author expressed his
desire to go for a swim in Heaven Lake?
The hotel manager was astounded when the author expressed
his desire to go for a swim in the Heaven Lake. For a while he did not reply to
the author’s query regarding the water temperature. He pretended to be busy
with his work.
2. How was the author discouraged from taking a
swim in Heaven Lake?
The hotel manager informed the author that people often
drowned in the Heaven Lake. The last one was a Beijing athlete from an
athletics college, who swam to and fro every day across the lake. But one day
he swam across and never returned. It could be he had a heart attack, or got a
cramp or the water was too cold or perhaps the undercurrent got him. All this
scared the author and retying his shoelaces he gave up the idea of a swim in
the lake.
3. How did John and
the author spend a day at the ‘small ice-blue pool’?
John and the author
went to the ice-blue pool with a picnic lunch of bread, dry cooked meat,
peanuts, tomatoes and oranges provided by Mr. Cao. They were completely cut off
from the world. The sudden drizzle and then the brilliant sun shining in turns
were fascinating. They made a fire in the lee of a rock, swam, sometimes sunned
themselves or sometimes shivered before the fire as the weather alternated.
They drank, ate and enjoyed themselves.
4. After John left,
how did the author spend the ‘extra day or two’ at Heaven Lake?
The author spent time roaming around by the head of the
lake, watching herdsman cross the stream delta with cattle and horses. He would
walk towards the snowline or read Confucius’ Analects. At times, he lay on a
rock by the shore and read very slowly, pausing to enjoy the beauty of the
sunset.
5. Express the author’s opinion of the old shopkeeper in
your own words.
Initially the author
thought the old shopkeeper to be very arrogant as he returned his money and
grabbing his cap from his hand, ripped it apart. But when he got to know the
reason for this reaction, he regarded the man with great respect and reverence.
He appreciated his thoughtfulness and was highly touched by his kindness and
graciousness.
6. How does the
author feel when he takes a dip?
The author takes a short dip, keeping close to the shore.
The water was clean and extremely cold, he splashed around for a few minutes
before emerging blue and refreshed.
Answer the following questions in
100-150 words.
1.
Briefly describe
the author’s journey from Urumqi to Heaven Lake. What does Heaven Lake
look like?
The author boarded a public bus from Urumqi to Heaven Lake. Once out of
the crowded city, they were in an open countryside with fields of sunflowers
stretching far and wide. The tall peak of Mount Bogda could be seen. Heaven
lake lies about 2,000 metres above sea level, at the foot of one of the higher
snow-peaks. As the bus climbs, it gets colder and soon, it begins to rain. The
bus moves on from desert through arable land to pastures, the slopes of which
were covered with pines and the ground with grass. Cattle can be seen drinking
at a clear stream which gradually disappears as they continue on their slow
ascent. The author reaches Heaven Lake by noon. Heaven Lake is long, sardine –
shaped and fed by snowmelt from a stream at its head. The intense blue lake,
surrounded by green mountains, with a snowcapped peak at its head, presents a
breathtaking view.
2.
Describe in brief, the author’s experience of
buying a cap at Urumqi.
The author has a very unusual experience of buying a cap at Urumqi. The
shopkeeper was an old man who spoke in Uighur, which the author could not
understand. When the author said something in Chinese, he could comprehend. The
old man asked for three Yuans for the cap the author chose. When the old man
learnt that the author was from India he took only two Yuans and returned the
rest to the author. But the author requested him to take the change back to the
old man, but he refused. When the author insisted upon paying him the three
Yuans, the old man suddenly grabbed the cap back from him and ripped it apart.
The author was frightened at this reaction. He presumed the old man must have
felt insulted. But to his surprise the old man did this only to make the
stitching firmer as the author had to travel a long way. After stretching and
stitching the cap into a tougher form, the old man put the cap back on the
author’s head and gently adjusted it to the correct angle.
3.
When does the author meet the Nanjing University
group? Describe the incident with the sheep skin pedlar.
The
author meets the Nanjing University group when they come to Heaven Lake for a
few hours. They return together to Urumqi. The next morning they were given an
hour or so of ‘free activity’ before they boarded the train eastwards. The author
was walking briskly towards the Urumqi mosque when he notices a pedlar selling
sheepskin jackets on the pavement. He glances quickly at the author’s shoes to
confirm that he was a foreigner and doubles the price the author had just heard
him offer to a passer-by. They haggle for a few minutes until the author brings
out some ‘funny money’ (foreign exchange certificates, issued in lieu of
ordinary currency by the bank of China); his eyes glow with interest and the
author was able to get a good deal on the purchase. 4. Describe the shop and the old man. The shop was an old and narrow with caps of
all kinds displayed by its doorway.It caught the author’s eye. He stopped and realizes
that he will need a cap to protect himself in Tibet from the Sun. The interior
of the shop is dingy. A sewing machine was clattering anciently away. Moons of
cloth, strips of plastic, bobbins of thread, and circles of cardboard were on
the floor, or on shelves, or hanging from nails in the door. An old,
bespectacled, bearded man, sharp-featured and dark, sat inside the shop talking
in Uighur to a boy.
