Following are important questions and answers from the lesson Attitude is Altitude. These are useful for the public exams of SSC Board of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states as both are following CCE pattern.
Reading: Attitude Is Altitude
1. ‘I call it my chicken drumstick,’ joked Nick. What does ‘it’
refer to? How does it help him?
A: ‘It’ refers to the small foot on Nick’s left hip. It looks like a chicken drumstick. It helps him balance, swim and move from one place to another place. It enables him to kick. It helps him in typing, writing and picking things up between his toes.
2. ‘His parents decided not to send him to a special school.’ Was Nick happy about his parents’ decision? Why or why not? What do you think about this decision?
A: Nick was not happy about his parents’ decision. He was terrified because there might be the risk of bullying in a mainstream school. I think that as a result of being a companion to able persons, he would have the chance of becoming independent by competing with them.
3. How did Nick’s parents help him to become independent?
A: (a) Nick’s father encouraged Nick to get into football, swimming, typing and skating.
(b) Nick’s mother invented a special plastic device that meant Nick could hold a pen and pencil.
(c) Despite the risk of bullying, Nick’s parents joined him mainstream school.
4. Pick out the symptoms of Nick’s depression. Do you think his depression was normal or something unique about him? Give reasons for your opinion.
A: At the age of eight, Nick went to his mother crying and told her that he wanted to kill himself. He was terrified about his future. At age ten, Nick tried to drown himself in the bath, as he could not control his depression. Any person born like Nick might have the feelings of deep depression. I think his depression was normal.
5. Which incident is funny in ‘Attitude Is Altitude’? What makes it funny?
A: One day Nick was in a car at traffic lights. A girl was looking at him interestingly. She could only see Nick’s head so he decided to do a 360 degree spin in the car seat to show her that he was a torso. When she saw Nick’s body without arms and legs, she was shocked and left the place quickly. The idea of Nick showing the girl his torso, by making a 360 degree spin, makes the scene funny.
6. What made Nick choose Bethany Hamilton to learn surfing?
A: Nick thought that Bethany Hamilton could help him best in learning surfing Because Bethany Hamilton was good at surfing because she was gotten her arm bitten off by a shark when she was 12. Though she had no arm, she was able to surf well. As a disabled person, she could learn Nick well how to surf without arms and legs.
7. What do you learn from the life of Nick Vujicic ?
A: It is learnt from the life of Nick Vujicic that inner personality is more important than the physical personality. The life story of Nick teaches us that if we fail, we should try again and again until we succeed.
8. ‘I tell people to keep on getting up when they fall and to always love themselves.’ How is this statement substantiated by Nick?
A: As a disabled man, Nick failed to do things successfully like other able people. Whenever Nick fails, he tries again and again until he succeeds. When Nick was learning how to surf, he was terrified at first but later he did very well.
9. How did Nick and Kanae become close friends?
A: Kanae Miyahara attended to a meeting in 2008 where Nick was the guest speaker in Texas. At that time she was attracted to Nick’s message. From that time they were in touch with each other to share their ideas on giving hope to the needy and they became close friends.