We Are Not Afraid To Die

Question 1. Write the word’s meaning.

Honing

Answer 1: Sharpening

Question 2. Write the word’s meaning.

Atrocious

Answer 2: Brutal

Question 3. What was the name of the narrator’s boat?

Answer 3: The name of the narrator’s boat was Wavewalker.

Question 4. Who were the crewmen?

Answer 4: The crewmen were Larry Vigil and Herb Seigler.

Question 5. How old was the narrator when he set out for the journey?

Answer 5: When the narrator embarked on the journey, he was 37 years old.

Question 6. What are the names of the children?

Answer 6: The children are Jonathan and Suzanne.

Question 7. What do you know about Mayday calls?

Answer 7: Mayday Calls is a word adopted internationally for a distress signal.

Such signals are used in radio communications.

Question 8. Why did the narrator and their family embark on a sea journey?

Answer 8: The narrator’s family had a deep interest in sailing. They dreamed of
sailing in the path of famous sailors and kept their dream alive by practising in
British waters. Finally, the entire family embarked on a journey to follow in the
footsteps of the famous explorer James Cook. They set out on their journey
from Plymouth, England.

Question 9. Describe the narrator’s boat.

Answer 9: The narrator named his boat Wavewalker. It was a 30 ton wooden-
hulled boat. On the other hand, it was 23 metres long. Experienced
professionals built the boat to support the long voyage. The narrator tested
the boat’s efficiency in the roughest weather they could find in English waters.

Question 10. Describe the first leg of the narrator’s journey.

Answer 10: The first leg of the narrator’s journey was up to Cape Town,South
Africa. They spent more than a year sailing the West coast of Africa and
reached the continent’s southern tip. They had a peaceful and smooth journey
down the Atlantic Ocean and decided to take two crewmen with them for the
second leg of the journey. It was because they had to cross the rough Indian
Ocean.

Question 11. What happened with ‘ominous silence’?

Answer 11: The narrator and his companions faced bad weather in the Indian
Ocean. On 2nd January, at about 6 pm. The atmosphere became silent.Soon
the wind started roaring, and the narrator saw a cloud coming towards the
boat. But to his utter surprise, he realised it was a large wave, twice as high as
the other waves. The wave hit the boat, and there was a big collision between
the vessel and the water.

Question 12. How did the narrator hurt himself?

Answer 12: A big wave hit the boat in the Indian Ocean. The boat almost
became horizontal due to the collision. The narrator’s head smashed against
the wheel, and he flew overboard. He was nearly drowning, but somehow his
head popped up in the water. He grabbed the guard rail of the boat.
Subsequent waves came and hurt him.His ribs were broken, his teeth were
broken, and his mouth was filled with blood.

Question 13. Explain the bravery of Jonathon.

Answer 13: Jonathon was six years old when he set out on the journey with his
parents. They all got into great danger in the Indian Ocean, but he remained
strong. He did not become afraid; at one point, he said he was not scared to
die. He further said that if they were together, it would be easy to face death.
His words motivated the huge narrator, and he decided to do his best to save
his family. On 6th January, it was Jonathan who gave the narrator the good
news of finding the island. Thus, Jonathan remained a brave boy throughout
the journey.

Question 14. How did Suzanne remain a strong girl in the disastrous
situation?

Answer 14: Suzanne was only nine years old when she joined her parents on
the voyage. When the huge wave hit their boat, Suzanne got badly wounded.
She got a bump on her hand, but she remained calm in their hard times. She
made a card for her parents so that they might feel better. Her bump in the
head eventually got bigger, and it started to affect her eyes, but she endured
the pain. Thus, Suzanne behaved very maturely throughout the journey and
was indeed a strong girl.

Question 15. What do you know about Ile Amsterdam?

Answer 15: Ile Amsterdam is a small island in the Indian Ocean. It is under the
country of France, and the island is used as a meteorological station. The island
has only 35 inhabitants and is only 65 kilometres long. It is situated between
South Africa and Australia in the southern Indian Ocean and only covers 86
square kilometres.

Question 16. Why did the narrator want to reach Ile Amsterdam?

Answer 16: The narrator and his companions got stuck in the Indian Ocean due
to bad weather. Large waves caused much damage to the boat, and water was
entering the boat. In that situation, they could not reach their destination—
Australia. Even their distress radio signals were ineffective in the middle of the
sea.. At this point, they wanted to reach a small island called Ile Amsterdam. It
was situated between South Africa and Australia, and they could reach this
island within several hours.
Question 17. Describe how the narrator tried his best to find the small island
for the last time.

Answer 17: It was very hard for the narrator to get to the island of Ile
Amsterdam because of the bad weather. The narrator also saw the compass
was not working correctly, but he gave it one last try. He used the main
compass to calculate the influence of the westerly wind at 2 p.m.He asked the
crewmen to steer the boat at 185 degrees. He hoped that if the calculations
went right, they would be able to see the island after 5 p.m. After this, he went
to his cabin and took a nap. He woke up at 6 p.m., and his children gave him
the good news that they had found the island.

Question 18. How did the children give motivation to the narrator
throughout the rough journey?

Answer 18: The narrator sets sail with his family, including his two children,
Jonathon and Suzanne. In the hardest times, the children remained calm and
collected. When their boat was saved from drowning, he reached for his
children. Jonathon, who was only six years old at the time, stated that they
were not afraid of dying. It inspired the narrator greatly. The other day, his
daughter, Suzanne, drew a card for them. Thus, the children played a major
role in motivating the narrator.

Question 19. Was Suzanne seriously hurt? How was she cured?

Answer 19: When the big wave hit the board, it almost got horizontal. Suzanne
hit her head, and she got a bump on her head. Though it hurt so much, she
remained. But with time, the bump got worse, and it started to affect her eyes.
Later, the narrator revealed that Suzanne had to undergo several operations to
heal. Thus, it took some time for her to get better.

Question 20. What was the narrator’s feeling after landing on the island?

Answer 20: The narrator felt relieved after landing on the island after a
dangerous journey. He didn’t remember the difficult time, but he kept thinking
about his crewmen, who remained cheerful in the midst of it all.He continued
to think about his daughter, who faced her injury with calmness, and his son,
who had not been afraid of death. Thus, the narrator focused more on the
positivity of his people than the hard time they had in the sea.
Question 21. Describe the experience of the voyagers on the 4th and 5th of
January.

Answer 21: On the 4th and 5th of January, we can see that the voyagers were
vulnerable. After working for 36 hours, they could finally bring the leaky boat
under control. Though the ship was not in good condition, they could not hoist
the main mast and kept sailing based on the storm jib. At noon, they had lunch
after two days on the island and found two nearby islands on the map. But the
weather deteriorated again in the evening with black clouds and a storm. We
can see a heartwarming moment between the narrator and his children, where
his son says they are not afraid of death. The storm lasted until the morning of
January 5th.The narrator and his wife thought the end was near, but they
continued to sail. The weather deteriorated on January 5 too, but the boat
kept sailing until the next morning.

Question 22. How did the narrator and his companions save the boat from
sinking?

Answer 22: The narrator’s ship was greatly damaged by the waves. He
somehow made it to the cabin to see his children and see if they were all right.
Then he did some repairs to the boat to save them from drowning. It became
almost impossible to work in the big waves, but he did some repairs that
obstructed further water from entering the boat. The crewmen were pumping
out the water like madmen. The electric pumps got short-circuited due to the
water. Luckily, the narrator found a hand pump, and it kept working. For the
next 36 hours, they kept pumping, steering, and getting radio signals. The next
day, they almost got the water in the boat under control, and the weather got
a little better too. Thus, they saved the boat from sinking.

Question 23. What difference did you notice between the reactions of the
adults and the children when faced with danger?

Answer 23: Adults are more thoughtful than children. They have more
responsibilities than children, too. On the other hand, the children are pure
human beings with no experience of grief or fear. This is why adults are more
horrified by any difficult situation, whereas children do not understand the
complexities of the situation and accept it easily.The reflection can be seen in
the story as well. The narrator and his wife thought their end was near, and we
can see the narrator went through huge mental pressure and tension in the
situation. He had the responsibility of saving his family. He was scared at one
point. On the other hand, the children showed great bravery. The little boy,
Jonathon, told his father he wasn’t afraid of death.

On the other hand, Suzanne, who was only nine years old, tolerated the pain of
the head bump. She even made a card for her parents so that they might feel
better. Thus, the children were more spontaneous than the adults in difficult
situations.

Question 24. How does the story suggest that optimism helps to endure “the
direst stress”?

Answer 24: Hope is a great influencer.Even in the darkest of circumstances,

hope keeps us alive.Human beings are stronger than they think and smarter
than they believe. Sometimes, fighting the odds may lead to winning. For this
purpose, men must stick to their faith and beliefs. Optimism is greatly needed
because, without it, we cannot face any hard situation. If we think we are lost
before losing, we can never succeed. The story reflects the same. Even in the
direst distress, the voyagers did not lose hope. They saved their boat and kept
sailing with all their energy. Though it seemed the boat might drown, they kept
pumping the water out. At the same time, the narrator did his best calculations
to reach an island. Finally, they reached the island and, thus, completed their
voyage. Without optimism, they could never do that.

Question 25. Why do you think people undertake such adventurous

expeditions despite the risks involved?

Answer 25:People are adventurous. They have a keen interest in seeing the
unseen and knowing the unknown. Since ancient times, they have taken part in
expeditions despite the risks.. They have conquered fear and placed curiosity
over fear. Thus, though many of the explorers continued their journeys until
their last day, , without the expeditions, we could never know our world
properly. Every explorer ended up discovering many new facts about the
earth’s surface. So, it is always learning and discovering new facts that
motivate people to go on these expeditions. In our story, we can see that the
narrator’s family started the voyage to follow James Cook’s voyage. They had
immense love for the sea, which did not decrease even during the hardest
time. Thus, it is always people’s curiosity and desire to experience something
out of the ordinary that drives them to embark on such expeditions.