NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Beehive Chapter 7 Reach for the Top

The ‘holy man’ was surprised because he had assumed that Santosh’s mother wanted a son but the grandmother told him that they were not curious to have a son.

Santosh, from the very beginning, lived life according to her wish. She was not restricted with the traditional way of life and was not ready to accept anything unreasonable. Where other girls wore traditional Indian dresses, Santosh preferred shorts.

Due to the prevailing custom in the family Santosh was sent to the local village school even though Santosh’s parents could afford to send their children to the best schools.

When she turned sixteen and was under pressure to get married, Santosh threatened her parents that she would never marry without getting proper education. Therefore, she left home and got herself enrolled in a school in Delhi.

When Santosh’s parents refused to pay for her education, she politely informed them of her plans to earn money on her own by working part time so that she could pay her school fees. Then, her parents agreed to pay for her schooling in Delhi. This shows that Santosh was a mentally-strong girl and was determined to work very hard towards getting herself properly educated before being married like any other girl in the village.

Santosh watched people from her room in Kasturba Hostel, going up the Aravalli Hills and disappearing soon after. On investigating, she found a few mountaineers, and asked if she could join them. They showed consent and agreed and even motivated her to take to climbing. She later accompanied them on their climbing adventure. This was how she began climbing mountains.

During the Everest mission, Santosh showed great concern for her fellow climbers. Though she was unable to save the life of one of them, she somehow managed to save the life another climber through artificial respiration.

Santosh was a passionate environmentalist. Her concern for the environment is evident from the fact that she made an effort to collect and bring down 500 kilograms of garbage from the Himalayas.

Santosh asserted that her feeling at the summit of the Everest was “indescribable”. Unfurling the Indian flag on the top of the world was a spiritual moment for her and she felt proud as an Indian.

When Santosh Yadav first scaled Mt Everest, she became the youngest woman in the world to achieve the feat. When she scaled the Everest for the second time, she became the only woman in the history to have scaled it twice.

No, a simple jab of a knife cannot kill a tree because it takes a lot of years for a tree to grow and rise out of the earth. Moreover, only a chop cannot kill it because it will slowly begin to rise again and grow to its original size.

“Bleeding bark” is an indicative of the area on the tree trunk where it has been hit with the axe. The bleeding occurs because the wood cutter has wounded the tree by cutting and chopping it.

In the beginning of the third stanza, the poet has said “No” to enlighten the fact that mere chopping of the tree would not kill it. The tree would grow again and retain its original size.

“Anchoring earth” refers to the roots that lie inside of the earth and play the role of an anchor for the tree to grow during its initial phase. They ensure the security of the tree as they nourish it with water and other nutrients. “Earth cave” refers to the ground soil on which the foundation of the tree is laid as it holds the roots and helps the tree stand tall and protects it from all unpleasant situations such as heavy rainfall or storm.