Question 1.

How do geological phenomena help us to 1 know about the history of mankind?

(2000; 2009 Delhi)
Answer:
It is geological phenomena that help us to know about the history of mankind.
Geologists say about 650 million years ago a giant ‘amalgamated’ super continent,
Gondwana existed in the South. At that time India and Antarctica were parts of the
same landmass. Gondwana had a warm climate and a huge variety of flora and
fauna. This supercontinent survived for 500 years till the age of mammals got
underway.

Question 2.
What kind of indications do we get while visiting Antarctica to save Earth? (2004
Delhi)
Answer:
Tishani Doshi’s entire experience of visiting Antarctica was nothing short of a
revelation. It made her wonder about the “beauty of balance in play on our planet”.
She hopes the new generation will understand their planet better and save it from
annihilation. The planet’s ecosystem and its balance that took millions of years to
form can be soon destroyed. Scientists warn that a further depletion in the ozone
layer will affect the activities of the phytoplankton. The lives of the marine animals
and birds of the region will be affected. But the school students’ visit to the Antarctica
may make human beings handle their planet in a better way.

Question 3.
How can a visit to the Antarctica be an enlightening experience? (2008 Outside
Delhi; All Comptt. Delhi)
Answer:
By visiting the Antarctica we can understand the earth’s past, present and future. A
visit there can teach the next generation to understand and value our planet.
Antarctica also holds within its ice-cores half-million-years old carbon records which
will help us to study climatic changes by global warming.

Question 4.
How is Antarctica a crucial element in the debate on climate change? (2008 Outside
Delhi; 2013 Comptt. Outside Delhi)
Answer:
Antarctica is a crucial element in the debate on climate change because it is the only
place in the world which has never sustained a human population and thus remains
relatively pristine. Moreover, it holds in its ice-caves half-million- year old carbon
records trapped in its layers of ice. The world’s climate is changing fast and is at
present one of the most hotly debated issues. Antarctica is the ideal place to study
the effect of these environmental changes as it has a very simple ecosystem and
lacks biodiversity. If global warming makes Antarctica warmer, it will have disastrous
consequences elsewhere.

Question 5.
What was the objective of the ‘Students on Ice Programme’? (2009 Delhi; 2011
Comptt. Outside Delhi)
Answer:
The objective of the ‘Students on Ice’ programme was to take High School students
to the limits of the world and provide them not only with inspiring opportunities in
education but also enable them to understand and respect our planet. The idea was
to provide them a life-changing experience at an age when they are ready to absorb,
learn and most importantly act. According to Geoff Green, the High School students
are the future policy makers and through this programme they would save this planet
from ecological hazards and the harmful effects of global warming.

Question 6.
Why is Antarctica and its understanding important for the survival of the world?
(2009 Outside Delhi)
Answer:
Antarctica and its understanding is important for the survival of the world because it
helps us to know that the southern supercontinent of Gondwana existed and
centered around the present-day Antarctica. Human beings had not come on the
global scene but a huge variety of flora and fauna was present in the supercontinent.
It was after 500 million years that the landmass was forced to separate into countries
that exist today. Antarctica’s ice-cores hold over half-million-year-old carbon records
which are crucial for the study of the Earth’s past, present and future.

Question 7.
What are the indications for the future of humankind? (2009 Outside Delhi)
Answer:
A fast and steady rise in human population in proportion to the limited natural
resources is exerting pressure on land. Forests are being cut and fossil fuels are
being burnt and these factors are increasing the global temperature. Melting of
glaciers, depletion of ozone layer and global warming are endangering man’s
existence on earth. This is bound to adversely affect marine life, birds and mankind.

Question 8.
How did the Antarctica amaze the writer when he first saw it? (2010 Delhi)
Answer:
When the writer first saw Antarctica he was amazed by its vastness and immense
white landscape. It was an endless blue horizon and the fact that it was isolated from
the rest of the world created an added sense of wonder and mystery about the
continent.

Question 9.
Why was Tishani Doshi filled with relief and wonder when he set foot on the Antarctic
continent? (2010 Comptt. Delhi)
Answer:
Tishani Doshi’s first emotion when he set foot on the Antarctic continent was one of
relief. He felt relieved to have set foot there after over a hundred hours. Its vastness
and immense wild landscape dazzled his eyes. Its endless blue horizon and its
isolation from the rest of the world created a sense of wonder and mystery for him.
Question 10.
What were the writer’s feelings on reaching Antarctica? (2011 Delhi)
Answer:
The writer’s first emotion on reaching Antarctica was that of relief. He felt relieved to
have set foot on the Antarctic continent after over 100 hours. Then he experienced a
sense of amazement on seeing its vastness and immense white landscape which
dazzled his eyes.

Question 11.
What sort of brightness and silence prevailed in Antarctica dining summer? (2011
Delhi)
Answer:
The brightness that prevailed in Antarctica was surreal (strange) as the austral
summer light remained for 24 hours in the continent. The silence there was
ubiquitous (widespread) interrupted only by the occasional avalanche or calving ice
sheet.

Question 12.
What do you think is the reason behind the success of the programme, ‘Students on
Ice’? (2011 Delhi)
Answer:
The programme ‘Students on Ice’ was a success because it offered a life changing
exposure to the future generation of policy makers at an age when they could
absorb, learn and act. It provided them with inspiring educational opportunities which
would help them foster a new understanding and respect for our planet.

Question 13.
Why does the author of Journey to the End of the Earth state that in 12000 years
man has managed to create a ruckus on this earth? (2012 Comptt. Outside Delhi )
Answer:
Humans have been on this Earth for about 12,000 years and have created a havoc
and ruckus on this Earth. They have done this by encroaching on nature and
establishing cities and megacities. Their increasing population has depleted natural
resources and their callousness towards nature has led to a rise in global
temperature.

2. Answer the following question in about 125-150 words.

Question 17.
How the programme, ‘Students on Ice’ was an attempt to equip future generation
with knowledge to save Earth? (2005 Delhi)
Answer:
The objective of the ‘Students on Ice’ programme was to take the High School
students to the limits of the world and provide them with inspiring opportunities in
education to enable them to understand and respect our planet. According to Geoff
Green, the High School students are the future policy-makers and through this
programme they would be able to save this planet from the ecological hazards and
the harmful effects of global warming. Antarctica, with its simple ecosystem and lack
of biodiversity, is the perfect place to study how little changes in the environment can
have major repercussions. The school students’ impressionable minds can study
and examine the Earth’s past, present and future by their voyage to Antarctica.

Question 18.
The world’s geological history is trapped in the Antarctica. How is the study of this
region useful to us? (2008 Delhi)
Answer:
The Antarctic landmass dates back to 650 million years. It was an amalgamated
southern supercontinent called Gondwana. This landmass centered around the
present-day Antarctica. Human beings did not exist as their civilization is only 12,000
years old. The climate at that time was warm and landmass flourished with a vast
variety of flora and fauna. The study of this region shows that Gondwana prospered
for 500 million years. But then the dinosaurs got wiped out and mammals began to
appear. The landmass disintegrated into countries and India, the Himalayas and
South America was formed. This left Antarctica frigid at the bottom of the earth.
Today, it stores the key to the significance of coridelleran folds and pre- Cambrian
granite shields, ozone and carbon layers as well as a study of the evolution and
extinction. This can help us to understand in a better way the formation of continents
and mountains like the Himalayas as we find them in the modem world. Its ice-folds
hold over half-million-year-old carbon records that are so crucial for the study of the
Earth’s past, present and future, thus trapping the world’s geological history in
Antarctica.

Question 19.
What are phytoplanktons? How are they important to our ecosystem? (2010 Outside
Delhi; 2012 Delhi)
Answer:
The microscopic phytoplankton are tiny forms of plant life on the sea. They nourish
and sustain the entire southern ocean’s food chain. They are single-celled plants and
use the energy of the sun to assimilate carbon supplying oxygen and synthesise
compounds. Depletion of the ozone layer that protects us from the harmful rays of
the sun adversely affects the activities of the phytoplankton. Any further depletion in
the ozone layer will hamper their activity which, in turn, is bound to affect the growth
of marine animals and birds and even the global carbon cycle. Thus to save the big
organisms the small organisms need to be cared for because even minor changes
have huge repercussions.

Question 20.
The author calls her two-week stay in Antarctica, ‘a chilling prospect’. How far do you
think is she justified? What other features of the Antarctic environment are
highlighted?
Answer:
Tishani Doshi, is a sun-worshipping South Indian and for her to spend two-weeks in
a place where 90 per cent of the Earth’s total ice volumes are stored is a chilling
prospect—both in terms of circulatory and metabolic functions and for the
imagination. She has been transported from the scorching sun to the ice floes and
glaciers where ninety per cent of the earth’s surface is ice-mass. Her two-week
Antarctic encounter left an epiphanic effect on her and she carried back indelible
memories of the continent. For her, it was like walking into a giant ping-pong ball,
devoid of any human markers like trees, billboards and buildings. She says one
loses all earthly sense of perspective and time here. As the day pass in surreal 24-
hour austral summer light, a silence prevails which is interrupted only by the
occasional avalanche or caving ice sheet.

She learnt that Antarctica has a very simple ecosystem that lacks variety. But if this
system is interfered with and environmental changes are effected indiscriminately, it
can lead to depletion of the ozone layer, which protects us from the harmful rays of
the sun. Since the planet is unravaged by humans, it remains unblemished. Its ice-
cores hold more than half¬million-year-old carbon records that are imperative for the
detailed study of our planet.

Question 21.
Why does Tishani Doshi call her trip to Antarctica a “Journey to the End of the
Earth”? What experience did she have during this expedition? (2011 Outside Delhi)
Answer:
Tishani Doshi calls her trip to Antarctica a ‘Journey to the End of the Earth’ because
she crosses nine time zones, six checkpoints, three water bodies and many
ecospheres to reach there. The entire journey takes one hundred hours. She is
wonder-struck by the immensity and isolation of the region. She is also relieved to
see its expansive wide landscape and uninterrupted blue horizon. Antarctica
provides young students like her with a platform to study changes in the
environment. The programme is also likely to help them develop a new respect and
understanding of our planet. Antarctica is also the perfect place for them to study
how little climatic changes can have big repercussions and how global warming and
further depletion of the ozone layer can affect the Antarctic region. The study of the
Antarctica will help them to understand the earth’s past, present and future.

Question 22.
In what ways is the research on Antarctica helpful in the study and understanding of
the Earth’s past and future, according to the author of ‘Journey to the End of the
Earth’? (2012 Comptt. Delhi)
Answer:
A visit to Antarctica will help us to understand where we have come from and where
we could possibly be heading. It will also suggest a lot of future possibilities,
probably for even a million years later. By visiting the Antarctica we get an
opportunity to study about the future climatic changes easily and more effectively.
We also come to know about the repercussions of the various environmental
changes. It also gives us the realization of the appearance of the ‘future world’. The
ice-cores of Antarctica hold more than half-million-year-old carbon records which are
very crucial for the study of the past, present and future of our planet. All this will also
help us to understand our planet better and also give us ideas to save our planet.