Geography Lesson Poem Class 8 | Explanation | Zulfikar Ghose |

Geography Lesson Poem Class 8 | Explanation | Questions Answers | Zulfikar Ghose |

Geography Lesson (Poem)

When the jet sprang into the sky,

it was clear why the city

had developed the way it had,

seeing it scaled six inches to the mile.

There seemed an inevitability

about what on ground had looked haphazard,

unplanned and without style

When the jet sprang into the sky.

When the jet reached ten thousand feet,

it was clear why the country

had cities where the rivers ran

and why the valleys were populated.

The logic of geography —

that land and water attracted man —

was clearly delineated

When the jet reached ten thousand feet.

When the jet rose six miles high,

it was clear the earth was round

and that it had more sea than land.

But it was difficult to understand

that the men on the earth found

causes to hate each other, to build

walls across cities and to kill.

From that height, it was not clear why.

Explanation of Geography Lesson

In the first stanza, the poet is describing the city from an airplane. He says that he noticed why it grew like it did. The people needed to develop their city and they just built what was necessary. When the poet looked at it from above, it seemed unplanned and messy.

When the plane flew at a height of 10,000 feet, he could see that the cities were near rivers. This is because people like to live near valleys. He saw how geography works and understood that humans live on land where water is available. Humans need water for activities such as farming and business.

When the plane flew up to 6 miles, the earth looked round. The poet found that there is more water on the earth than land. He understood why because there is more sea than land on earth. But one thing he could not figure out was why people hate each other so much. They have built walls across cities to kill each other with hate and anger.

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NCERT Solutions of Geography Lesson

Working with the poem (Page 35)

Question 1: Find three or four phrases in stanzas one and two which are likely to occur in a geography lesson.

Answer: Some of the three or four phrases which are likely to occur in a geography lesson are given below:

1. “The city had developed the way it had”
2. “It scaled six inches to the mile”
3. “The country had cities where the rivers ran”
4. “The valleys were populated”
5. “Land and water attracted man”

Question 2: Seen from the window of an aeroplane, the city appears

(i) As haphazard as on ground.

(ii) As neat as a map.

(iii) As developed as necessary.

Mark the right answer.

Answer: (iii) As developed as necessary.

Question 3: Which of the following statements are examples of “the logic of geography”?

(i) There are cities where there are rivers.

(ii) Cities appear as they are not from six miles above the ground.

(iii) It is easy to understand why valleys are populated.

(iv) It is difficult to understand why humans hate and kill one another.

(v) The earth is round, and it has more sea than land.

Answer: Statements (i), (iii) and (iv) are correct.

Question 4: Mention two things that are

(i) clear from the height.

(ii) not clear from the height.

Answer:

1. From the height, it is clear that people live near rivers. When you look at the map of the country, there are more cities and valleys near rivers than not. This tells us that people think that land is more important than water.
2. From the height, it is difficult to understand why people on earth find reasons to hate each other and build walls across cities. This implies that nature does not limit itself by building walls, but humans are always trying hard to divide the beautiful planet by building walls among themselves.

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