Two Stories about Flying

Here is a summary of the chapter ‘Two Stories about Flying’ and answers to the comprehension questions, using information from the sources provided 😊.

This chapter features two different stories about flying.

Summary of ‘Two Stories about Flying’

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Part I: His First Flight

This story is about a young seagull who is afraid to fly. He is left alone on his ledge while his family has already flown away. He feels certain his wings will never support him. His parents call to him, scolding and threatening him to starve unless he flies away.

The young seagull is maddened by the sight of food. His mother flies towards him with a piece of fish but stops just within his reach. Driven by hunger, he dives at the fish. With a loud scream, he falls outwards and downwards into space. He is initially seized by terror, but then his wings spread outwards, and he feels the wind. He starts soaring and is no longer afraid. His family joins him, flying around him and screaming. He eventually lands on the green sea, where his legs sink initially, causing fright, but then he floats. His family praises him and offers him food. He has finally made his first flight.

Part II: The Black Aeroplane

This story is told by a pilot flying his old Dakota aeroplane from France back to England. He is happy and dreaming of his holiday. The sky is clear, with the moon and stars shining. Suddenly, he sees huge black storm clouds. He decides to take the risk and fly into the storm.

Inside the clouds, it becomes completely black, and he can see nothing. His old compass is dead, and other instruments stop working. He is lost in the storm. Then, he sees another black aeroplane with no lights on its wings. The pilot in this strange plane waves and signals him to follow. He follows obediently, even though he only has fuel left for five or ten minutes. The black aeroplane starts to go down, and he follows it out of the storm.

He lands safely. When he asks the woman in the control centre about the other aeroplane, she looks at him strangely. She tells him his was the only plane on the radar that night. The narrator is left wondering who the pilot was who helped him.

Answers to the Questions

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Here are answers to the questions from the sources, presented with emojis for clarity ✨:

From Oral Comprehension Check (Page 39-40):

1. Why was the young seagull afraid to fly? The young seagull was afraid to fly because he felt certain that his wings would never support him. He saw the great expanse of sea stretching down beneath him, which was a very long way down.
2. Do you think all young birds are afraid to make their first flight, or are some birds more timid than others? Do you think a human baby also finds it a challenge to take its first steps? These questions ask for your personal opinion and are designed for discussion. The provided sources do not contain the information needed to answer them factually. 🤔
3. “The sight of the food maddened him.” What does this suggest? What compelled the young seagull to finally fly? This suggests that the seagull was extremely hungry. He was finally compelled to fly when, maddened by hunger, he dived at the piece of fish that his mother had brought near but kept just out of reach. 😋➡️🛩️
4. “They were beckoning to him, calling shrilly.” Why did the seagull’s father and mother threaten him and cajole him to fly? His father and mother called to him shrilly, upbraiding him, and threatening to let him starve on his ledge unless he flew away. They did this because they wanted him to make his first flight. 🗣️😠 starvation threat
5. Have you ever had a similar experience, where your parents encouraged you to do something that you were too scared to try? Discuss this in pairs or groups. This question is an activity prompt for discussion. The provided sources do not contain the information needed to answer it. 🤝🗣️
6. In the case of a bird flying, it seems a natural act, and a foregone conclusion that it should succeed. In the examples you have given in answer to the previous question, was your success guaranteed, or was it important for you to try, regardless of a possibility of failure? This question is also a prompt for discussion. The provided sources do not contain the information needed to answer it. 🤔✅❓

From Oral Comprehension Check (Page 44-45):

1. “I’ll take the risk.” What is the risk? Why does the narrator take it? The risk is flying his old Dakota aeroplane into the huge black storm clouds. The sources do not explicitly state why he takes the risk, but he was flying back towards England and was dreaming of his holiday and looking forward to being with his family, suggesting a strong desire to get home. ✈️⛈️
2. Describe the narrator’s experience as he flew the aeroplane into the storm. Inside the clouds, everything was suddenly black. He could not see anything outside the aeroplane. The old compass was dead, and the other instruments were also dead. He was lost in the storm. ⚫🧭😵
3. Why does the narrator say, “I landed and was not sorry to walk away from the old Dakota…”? The provided sources do not contain the information needed to answer this question. The text notes he said this but does not give his reason. 🤔❓
4. What made the woman in the control centre look at the narrator strangely? The woman looked at him strangely because when he asked about the other aeroplane, she told him that no other aeroplanes were flying that night, and his was the only one she could see on the radar. His claim of seeing another plane was unexpected. 🤨✈️🤷‍♀️
5. Who do you think helped the narrator to reach safely? Discuss this among yourselves and give reasons for your answer. This question is a prompt for discussion asking for speculation. The provided sources do not contain the information needed to answer it faktually. 🤔❓

I hope this summary and these answers are easy to understand! Let me know if you have any more questions about this chapter or anything else! 😊