Reach for the Top (Q&A)
Part I – Santosh Yadav
Q1. Why was Santosh Yadav not content with a traditional way of life?
Answer:
Santosh Yadav wanted to live life on her own terms. She disliked being forced into an early marriage and preferred to study and pursue her dreams.
Q2. Why did Santosh’s parents agree to pay for her education in Delhi?
Answer:
At first, her parents refused. But when Santosh threatened to work part-time to pay her fees, they finally agreed and supported her education.
Q3. What inspired her to take to climbing?
Answer:
From her hostel room in Delhi, Santosh watched villagers climbing the Aravalli hills. She felt inspired and joined a mountaineering course at the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering.
Q4. What incidents during the Everest expedition show Santosh’s concern for others?
Answer:
She saved a fellow climber who was dying.
She shared her oxygen with another climber who was running short.
This showed her courage and compassion.
Q5. How does Santosh describe her feeling at the summit of Everest?
Answer:
She said that the moment was “indescribable.” She felt proud as an Indian when she unfurled the national flag on Mount Everest.
Q6. Santosh Yadav got into the record books both times she scaled Mt. Everest. Why?
Answer:
In 1992, she became the youngest woman in the world to climb Everest.
In 1993, she became the only woman to climb Everest twice.
Part II – Maria Sharapova
Q1. Before she won the Wimbledon title, Maria Sharapova was world number one in women’s tennis. Do you think she is a teenager with a different personality? If yes, why?
Answer:
Yes, Maria Sharapova had determination, willpower, and sacrifice beyond her age. At just nine, she left home for training in the U.S. and endured loneliness and hardship to achieve success.
Q2. Why did Maria Sharapova leave Siberia for the U.S.?
Answer:
She left Siberia with her father to join a tennis training academy in Florida, U.S., because it offered better facilities to build her career.
Q3. What problems did Maria face when she went to the U.S.?
Answer:
She was lonely as her mother could not join her due to visa issues. She missed her family, stayed in a hostel, faced bullying from older players, and her father worked hard to support her.
Q4. How did Maria Sharapova prove that “hard work pays”?
Answer:
Through discipline and endurance, Maria rose to become the world’s number one tennis player and also won the Wimbledon championship at just 17.
Q5. What is Maria’s dream?
Answer:
Maria dreams of becoming the number one tennis player in the world and has already achieved great success. She also wishes to help her parents live a comfortable life.
Extra Questions (for exams)
Short Answer Questions
Q1. What qualities made Santosh Yadav a successful mountaineer?
Answer:
Her determination, courage, discipline, and concern for others made her successful.
Q2. What sacrifices did Maria Sharapova make to reach the top?
Answer:
She stayed away from her mother, endured loneliness, strict training, and bullying but remained focused on tennis.
Q3. What lesson do we learn from Santosh Yadav and Maria Sharapova’s lives?
Answer:
We learn that with hard work, courage, and determination, anyone can achieve success despite obstacles.
Long Answer Question
Q. Compare the lives of Santosh Yadav and Maria Sharapova.
Answer:
Both Santosh Yadav and Maria Sharapova showed courage and determination. Santosh rejected traditional norms, pursued mountaineering, and became the first woman to scale Everest twice. Maria Sharapova endured hardships in a foreign country and became the world’s number one tennis player. Both proved that success comes with sacrifice, willpower, and self-confidence.