NCERT Solutions for Class 11 Hornbill English Chapter 5 The Ailing Planet: the Green Movement’s Role

NCERT Solutions for Class 11 Hornbill English Chapter 5 The Ailing Planet: the Green Movement’s Role are a valuable resource for students preparing for exams. These solutions help students to understand a concept better and provide them with an opportunity to score good marks in exams. These solutions are available for free online on Gkrankers, making them accessible to everyone.

Chapter 5 Class 11 Hornbill Class 11 English NCERT Solutions can be used as a beneficial tool to recall questions at any time. These solutions can help you identify and analyze the mistakes you’re making, and then provide guidance on how to rectify them.

Chapter 5 The Ailing Planet: the Green Movement’s Role Class 11 Hornbill English NCERT Solutions

Understanding The Text

1. Locate the lines in the text that support the title ‘The Ailing Planet’.

Solution

The following lines in the text support the title ‘‘The Ailing Planet’’.
(i) ‘‘Are we to leave our successors a scorched planet of advancing deserts, impoverished landscapes and ailing environment?
(i) A three-year study using satellites and aerial photography conducted by the United Nations, warns that the environment has deteriorated so badly that it is ‘critical’ in many of the eighty-eight countries investigated.

2. What does the notice ‘The world’s most dangerous animal’ at a cage in the zoo at Lusaka, Zambia, signify?

Solution

According to the notice at the Lusaka zoo in Zambia, ”The world’s most dangerous animals” is symbolic of the fact that man is solely responsible for all the deterioration of the environment and depletion of natural resources.

3. How are the earth’s principal biological systems being depleted?

Solution

Excessive use of the earth’s major biological systems is depleting them. Overfishing is common. Forests are cut to obtain firewood for cooking. Grasslands are dying and croplands are deteriorating.

4. Why does the author aver that the growth of world population is one of the strongest factors distorting the future of human society?

Solution

The world population has grown at a very fast rate. This is endangering the future of human society. It has put too much pressure on natural resources. Forests, fisheries, grasslands, and croplands have been depleted alarmingly. It will soon be impossible for human society to survive on this planet if we do not take determined steps to control population growth.

Talking About The Text

Discuss in groups of four

1. Laws are never respected nor enforced in India.

Solution

It is painful but true that laws are neither respected nor enforced in India. Our Constitution insists on the protection and improvement of the environment. The states have been given the responsibility of protecting forests and wildlife. Forests are being cut and illegal shooting of wildlife goes on. Similary, there are laws regarding abolishing casteism, untouchability and bonded labour. But these remain on paper. In actual life, these are never put into practice. Hence, it can be concluded that laws are neither respected nor enforced in India.

2. “Are we to leave our successors a scorched planet of advancing deserts, impoverished landscapes and an ailing environment?”

Solution

The apprehension is justified. Our resources are limited. If we continue to consume them indiscriminately, we will not be able to sustain them indefinitely. Fisheries, forests, grasslands and croplands form the basis of the global economic system. Increasing population has put severe strains on these resources. Excessive use has impairs their productivity. These systems have reached unsustainable levels in large areas of the world. Thus, fisheries will collapse, forests will disappear, grasslands will become barren, wastelands and croplands will lose their fertility, and the result will be terrible and disastrous. There is a possibility that the earth may become overheated in the future with increasing deserts, poor landscapes and ailing environments as a result of the destruction of forests.

3. “We have not inherited this earth from our forefathers; we have borrowed it from our children”.

Solution

There has been a change in people’s perception of the planet over the decades. Human perception has shifted to one that focuses on the whole world. The earth is a living organism with limited resources. These resources will not last forever. The earth has metabolic needs that must be met. The need of the hour is sustainable development which propounds the need of meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising with those of future generations. There is a need to curb our consumption of non-renewable resources. We should preserve natural resources and hand them over to future generations intact since they represent the real owners.

4. The problems of overpopulation that directly affect our everyday life.

Solution

Food, clothing, shelter and other basic human needs have assumed alarming propositions as a result of overpopulation. Fisheries, forests, grasslands and croplands are being severely impacted. Grasslands are becoming deserts as a result of the destruction of forests for firewood. Overpopulation hinders development and adversely affects the spread of education and health care. Artificial fertilizers have improved crop productivity. People with low incomes tend to beget more children, which ultimately leads to poverty. More children mean fewer workers and merely more people without jobs. Thus, overpopulation leads to unemployment. Overpopulation leads to insufficient public transportation. There are long queues everywhere. The result of overpopulation is deterioration of the environment and shortened lives.

Thinking About Language

1. The phrase ‘inter alia’ meaning ‘among other things’ is one of the many Latin expressions commonly used in English. Find out what these Latin phrases mean.
2. prima facie
3. ad hoc
4. in camera
5. ad infinitum
6. mutatis mutandis
7. caveat
8. tabula rasa

Solution

1. prima facie: on the first view
2. ad hoc: for the special aim
3. ad infinitum: up to infinity
4. mutatis mutandis: with necessary changes
5. caveat: a warning that particular things needs to be considered before something can be done
6. tabula rasa: a smooth tablet

Working with Words

I. Locate the following phrases in the text and study their connotation:
(i) gripped the imagination of
(ii) dawned upon
(iii) ushered in
(iv) passed into current coin
(v) passport of the future

Solution

(i) gripped the imagination of: have powerful effect on imagination
(ii) dawned upon: became obvious; began to realise for the first time
(iii) ushered in: to make something new, begin
(iv) passed into current coin: become a part of current usage
(v) passport of the future: a thing that enables us to achieve something

II. The words grip, dawn, usher, coin, passport have a literal as well as a figurative meaning. Write pairs of sentences using each word in its literal sense as well as the figurative sense.

Solution

1. Grip
(i) Rekha gripped on to the railing with both hands.
(ii) Terrorism has gripped the country for the past few years.

2. Dawn
(i) A new technological age has dawned.
(ii) It dawned on me that they couldn’t possibly have met before.

3. Usher
(i) The Secretary ushered me into his office.
(ii) The change of management ushered in fresh ideas and policies.

4. Coin
(i) Every coin has two sides.
(ii) She coined a phrase to explain her meaning.

5. Passport
(i) I showed my passport to the security officer.
(ii) Hard work alone is the passport to success.

E. Notice these expressions in the text. Guess their meaning from the context.

• a holistic and ecological view
• sustainable development
• languish
• ignominious darkness
• inter alia
• decimated
• catastrophic depletion
• transcending concern

Solution

A holistic and ecological view: A complete view of the whole thing keeping in mind the interrelationship of constituents among themselves and to environment.
Sustainable development: The development that can be continued for a long time.
Languish: Forced to stay somewhere.
Ignominious darkness: Humiliating darkness.
Inter alia: Among other things.
Decimated: Destroyed.
Catastrophic Depletion.
Transcending concern: surpassing concern.