NCERT Solutions and Notes for Class 8 English Honeydew Chapter 2: The Tsunami (Free PDF)

NCERT Solutions and Notes for Class 8 English Honeydew Chapter 2 ‘The Tsunami’ is prepared by subject matter experts to help you revise the lesson during the examination. The notes include the summary of all three stories mentioned in the chapter. Thereafter, you can go through the list of important word meanings in the lesson. Furthermore, you get answers to all questions covered in the Comprehension Check I, II, and III, working with the text, and working with the language sections of the Class 8 English chapter. 

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NCERT Class 8 English Honeydew Chapter 2: The Tsunami

NCERT Class 8 English Honeydew Chapter 2 is a collection of three incidents from the Tsunami of 26 December 2004. All three events are from the affected areas: Andaman and Nicobar archipelago, Thailand, and Sri Lanka. Here is the summary of all three stories in the lesson:

Summary of Story 1

The 1st story is from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Here is a summary of the prose:

The story revolves around individuals affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Ignesious, a cooperative society manager in Katchall, lost family members during the disaster.  Also, Sanjeev, a policeman in the Nicobar Islands, saved his family but lost a friend while attempting a rescue.  Likewise, thirteen-year-old Meghna survived by floating on a door for two days.  Unfortunately, Almas Javed, a ten-year-old student, also lost family members during the tsunami. He was found traumatised on a floating log, reluctant to discuss the incident. The narrative highlights the devastating impact of the tsunami on these individuals and their families.

Summary of Story 2

On the other hand, the second tale is from Thailand, one of the severely affected areas by the horrific tsunami of 2004. Here is a summary of the story:

The Smith family, including ten-year-old Tilly Smith, were vacationing in Thailand during the 2004 tsunami. Tilly, recalling a recent geography lesson, recognised the signs of an impending tsunami as she saw the sea rise and form whirlpools. Frantically, she urged her family and other tourists to leave the beach. Her parents heeded her warnings, taking refuge in a hotel, avoiding the deadly waves.  Tilly’s quick thinking and geography lesson saved many lives. Despite receiving awards, her parents chose to shield her from media attention. However, Tilly later shared her experience with her classmates in England.

Summary of Story 3

The final story is taken from one of the affected areas of Sri Lanka. Here is a synopsis of the story:

Before the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami hit India and Sri Lanka, animals displayed unusual behaviour, suggesting they sensed the impending disaster. Elephants, dogs, flamingoes, and zoo animals exhibited signs of distress, fleeing to higher ground or shelters. While some believe animals have a sixth sense, experts attribute their acute hearing and ability to sense vibrations as potential factors.  Despite the devastating impact of the tsunami on human populations, relatively few animal casualties were reported. Instances include unharmed buffaloes, goats, and dogs along India’s Cuddalore coast and the survival of diverse wildlife in Sri Lanka’s Yala National Park, where even observed elephants ran away from the beach before the tsunami struck.  The story emphasises the intriguing and protective instincts of animals during natural disasters.

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Important Words and Meanings in Class 8 English Honeydew Chapter 2

In this part of the notes, we have enlisted all important words and meanings in Class 8 English Honeydew Chapter 2 ‘The Tsunami’. Let’s expand our vocabulary with the following words:

• Archipelago: A group of islands
• Chaos: Complete chaos or disorder
• Tremor: A slight shake, usually used to describe earthquakes
• Recede: Retreat or go back
• Relief helicopters: Helicopters designated to deliver essential supplies to people during natural disasters and calamities. 
• Traumatised: Shocked
• Triggered: To incite something. Here used for earthquakes that caused tsunami
• Resort: A house or a villa people use for vacation or holiday
• Surge: Increase or Force: Momentum
• Refuge: Take shelter from danger
• Hysterical: To laugh, shout, or cry out loud uncontrollably in unwanted situations
• Withstood: Endured without collapsing

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Download NCERT Solutions Class 8 English Honeydew Chapter 2: The Tsunami

NCERT Solutions Class 8 English Honeydew Chapter 2: The Tsunami

Herein, our subject experts have answered all questions in the NCERT Class 8 English Honeydew Chapter 2 The Tsunami. Let’s explore NCERT Solutions to learn about English Literature and Grammar.

Comprehension Check I (Page 27)

Say whether the following are true or false.

1. Ignesious lost his wife, two children, his father-in-law, and his brother-in-law in the tsunami.

2. Sanjeev made it to safety after the tsunami.

3. Meghna was saved by a relief helicopter.

4. Almas’s father realised that a tsunami was going to hit the island.

5. Her mother and aunts were washed away with the tree that they were holding on to.

Ans: 

1. True

2. False

3. False

4. True

5. True

Comprehension Check II (Page 28)

Answer the following in a phrase or sentence.

Ques 1. Why did Tilly’s family come to Thailand?

Ans: Tilly’s family was in Thailand to observe and celebrate Christmas on 2004. 

Ques 2. What were the warning signs that both Tilly and her mother saw?

Ans: Both Tilly and her mother witnessed that the sea was rising and tides were swelling up.

Ques 3. Do you think Tilly’s mother was alarmed by them?

Ans: Initially, Tilly’s mother was clueless about the arrival of the tsunami unless Tilly explained to her what was happening and what is a tsunami.

Ques 4. Where had Tilly seen the sea behaving in the same strange fashion?

Ans: Tilly knew about the tsunami from a video in her Geography class, which was evidence of the tsunami that hit the Hawaiian Islands in 1946. 

Ques 5. Where did the Smith family and the others on the beach go to escape from the tsunami?

Ans: The Smith family and others on the beach escaped to the third floor of a nearby hotel to seek refuge. 

Ques 6. How do you think her geography teacher felt when he heard about what Tilly had done in Phuket?

Ans: I believe that Tilly’s teacher must have felt proud of Tilly when she heard about her incident of bravery in Phuket. 

Comprehension Check III (Page 30)

Answer using a phrase or a sentence.

Ques 1. In the tsunami, 150,000 people died. How many animals died?

Ans: Very few.

Ques 2. How many people and animals died in Yala National Park?

Ans: In Yala National Park, 60 people and 2 water buffaloes lost their lives in the tsunami. 

Ques 3. What do people say about the elephants of Yala National Park?

Ans: According to the people in Yala National Park, three elephants were seen escaping the Patanangala beach just an hour before the park was hit by the tsunami. 

Ques 4. What did the dogs in Galle do?

Ans: The dogs in Galle hesitated in going out for their daily run on the Patanangala beach. 

Working with the Text

Ques 1. When he felt the earthquake, do you think Ignesious immediately worried about a tsunami? Give reasons for your answer. Which sentence in the text tells you that the Ignesious family did not have any time to discuss and plan their course of action after the tsunami struck?

Ans: Upon sensing the initial earthquake, Ignesious remained unaware of the ensuing tsunami. Reacting instinctively, he swiftly rose to his feet and carefully relocated his television set from its table to the ground, ensuring its safety from potential damage. Following this precautionary measure, the entire family hastily evacuated the house.

Amid the chaos caused by the tsunami, Ignesious’s family found themselves without the luxury of time to coordinate and plan their response. As the tremors subsided, the rising sea became apparent. Amid the confusion, two of Ignesious’s children instinctively took the hands of their maternal grandfather and maternal uncle, fleeing in the opposite direction.

Ques 2: Which words in the list below describe Sanjeev, in your opinion?

cheerful	ambitious	brash
brave	careless	heroic
selfless	heartless	humorous

Use words from the list to complete the three sentences below.

(i) I don’t know if Sanjeev was cheerful, _(a)__________ or _(b)__________.

(ii) I think that he was very brave,_(a)__________ and_(b)__________.

(iii) Sanjeev was not heartless, _(a)__________or__(b)_________.

Ans:

(i) (a) ambitious (b) humorous 

(ii) (a) heroic (b) selfless

(iii) (a) bash (b) careless

Ques 3. How are Meghna and Almas’s stories similar?

Ans: Both Almas and Meghna lost their families to the tsunami, becoming the sole survivors. They drifted at sea for several days. Meghna clung to a wooden door, floating for two days until a wave carried her ashore. 

Similarly, Almas found herself on a log of wood, losing consciousness. She later awoke in a hospital in Kamorta and was eventually taken to Port Blair. The traumatic experience left both girls deeply affected—Meghna wandered along the seashore in a daze, while Almas chose not to talk about the tragic incident with anyone.

Ques 4. What are the different ways in which Tilly’s parents could have reacted to her behaviour? What would you have done if you were in their place?

Ans: Tilly sensed that a tsunami was about to hit. When her parents saw her scared and panicking, they understood that something serious might happen. They quickly moved their daughters from the beach to the hotel swimming pool. Other tourists followed suit after seeing them, and Tilly even shouted to alert everyone to run for safety. However, Tilly’s parents could have reacted differently by ignoring her fear. If they had tried to calm her down, they might have ended up in danger along with the tsunami waves.

If I were in a similar situation, I would have paid close attention to Tilly, realised the forthcoming danger, and immediately rushed to the hotel, away from the beach.

Ques 5. If Tilly’s award was to be shared, who do you think she should share it with -her parents or her geography teacher?

Ans: Tilly should have split her award with her geography teacher. It was her teacher who taught her about tsunamis and their impacts. Thanks to this knowledge, Tilly could help save many lives.

Ques 6. What are the two different ideas about why so few animals were killed in the tsunami? Which idea do you find more believable?

Ans: The tsunami did not cause a lot of harm to animals because many of them have a special instinct. It is believed that animals can sense when the earth is about to shake. Some experts think that animals have really good hearing, allowing them to pick up on vibrations in the earth. This means they can feel a disaster coming long before people do, and they are able to move to safer areas.

Scientists have proven that animals indeed have better hearing and instincts than humans. They can sense disruptions and hear low-frequency sounds that we can’t. It might sound amazing, but it is actually true!

Working with Language

Ques 1. Go through Part-I carefully, and make a list of as many words as you can find that indicate movement of different kinds. (There is one word that occurs repeatedly — count how many times!) Put them into the following three categories:

Fast Movement

Slow Movement

Neither Slow Nor Fast

Can you explain why there are many words in one column and not in the others?

Ans:

Fast Movement	Slow Movement	Neither Slow Nor Fast
1. Earthquake2. Fall3. Rushed4. Tremors5. Step away6. Washed away7. Ran	1. Recede2. Rising	1. Floating

The column labelled ‘fast movement’ has more words compared to the other two columns, ‘slow movement’ and ‘neither slow nor fast.’ This suggests that tsunamis involve rapid movements, making it very challenging for people and animals to quickly escape such a dangerous situation. Even though some individuals tried to move quickly by running or climbing, many were still swept away by the powerful waves of the tsunami.

Ques 2. Fill in the blanks in the sentences below (the verbs given in brackets will give you a clue).

(i) The earth trembled, but not many people felt the _________. (tremble)

(ii) When the zoo was flooded, there was a lot of _________ and many animals escaped into the countryside. (confuse)

(iii) We heard with _________ that the lion had been recaptured. (relieve)

(iv) The zookeeper was stuck in a tree and his _________ was filmed by the TV crew. (rescue)

(v) There was much _________ in the village when the snake charmer came visiting. (excite)

Ans:

(i) trembling

(ii) confusion

(iii) relief

(iv) rescue

(v) excitement

Ques 3. Study the sentences in columns A and B.

A	B
Meghna was swept away.	The waves swept Meghna away.
Alma’s grandfather was hit on the head.	Something hit Alma’s grandfather on the head.
Sixty visitors were washed away.	The waves washed away sixty visitors.
No animal carcasses were found.	People did not find animal carcasses.

Compare the sentences in A to the ones in B. Who is the ‘doer’ of the action in every case? Is the ‘doer’ mentioned in A, or in B?

Notice the verbs in A: ‘was swept away’, ‘was hit’, ‘were washed away’, ‘were found’. They are in the passive form. The sentences are in the Passive Voice. In these sentences, the focus is not on the person who does the action.

In B, the ‘doer’ of the action is named. The verbs are in the active form. The sentences are in the Active Voice.

Say whether the following sentences are in the Active or the Passive voice.

Write A or P after each sentence as shown in the first sentence.

(i) Someone stole my bicycle. __A__

(ii) The tyres were deflated by the traffic police. _______________

(iii) I found it last night in a ditch near my house. _______________

(iv) It had been thrown there. _______________

(v) My father gave it to the mechanic. _______________

(vi) The mechanic repaired it for me. _______________

Ans:

(i) A

(ii) P

(iii) A

(iv) P

(v) A

(vi) A

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Also, you can access Notes and NCERT Solutions of all chapters in the Class 8 English ‘It So Happened’ textbook

Chapter 1: How the Camel Got His Hump

Chapter 2: Children at Work

Chapter 3: The Selfish Giant

Chapter 4: The Treasure Within

Chapter 5: Princess September

Chapter 6: The Fight

Chapter 7: Jalebis

Chapter 8: Ancient Education System of India

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