One app for all your study abroad needs
NCERT Class 11 English Chapter 5: The Adventure Solutions: “The Adventure” by Jayant Narlikar blends history, science, and imagination to explore the concept of parallel realities. In NCERT Class 11 English Chapter 5, students encounter Professor Gaitonde’s journey through two different versions of Indian history, showing how choices and events could lead to alternate outcomes. This unique narrative encourages critical thinking and an understanding of historical events from a scientific and philosophical lens.
To help students explore this thought-provoking chapter, we have compiled accurate and detailed solutions to every textbook question. These solutions aim to simplify complex ideas and support exam preparation with clear explanations.
Table of Contents
Explore Notes of Class 11 English Hornbill
Exercises:
Understanding the Text
I. Tick the True Statements
- The story is an account of real events.
- The story hinges on a particular historical event.
- Rajendra Deshpande was a historian.
- The places mentioned in the story are all imaginary.
- The story tries to relate history to science.
II. Briefly Explain the Following Statements
- “You neither travelled to the past nor the future. You were in the present experiencing a different world.”
- “You have passed through a fantastic experience: or more correctly, a catastrophic experience.”
- Gangadharpant could not help comparing the country he knew with what he was witnessing around him.
- “The lack of determinism in quantum theory!”
- “You need some interaction to cause a transition.”
Solutions:
I. Tick the True Statements
✔️ 2. The story hinges on a particular historical event.
✔️ 5. The story tries to relate history to science.
(1, 3, and 4 are false.)
II. Briefly Explain the Following Statements
- Rajendra explains that Gaitonde did not physically travel through time but mentally experienced a different version of the present through a parallel universe or alternative history.
- Rajendra refers to Gaitonde’s experience as a “catastrophic” one in quantum terms, meaning that it involved a sudden transition into a different reality due to a mental or physical jolt.
- He was naturally comparing the independent, scientifically advanced India he was witnessing with the colonized India he remembered from his original timeline.
- This refers to the scientific idea that outcomes in quantum systems are not fixed; multiple results are possible, just like alternate realities in the story.
- In quantum physics, an observation or interaction causes a system to choose one state. Similarly, Gaitonde’s accident was the trigger that shifted him into another reality.
Talking About the Text
- Discuss the following statements in groups of two pairs, each pair in a group taking opposite points of view:
(i) A single event may change the course of the history of a nation.
(ii) Reality is what is directly experienced through the senses.
(iii) The methods of inquiry of history, science and philosophy are similar.
- (i) The story is called ‘The Adventure’. Compare it with the adventure described in We’re Not Afraid to Die….
(ii) Why do you think Professor Gaitonde decided never to preside over meetings again?
Solutions:
- (i) A single event may change the course of a nation’s history)
Yes – A battle lost or won can alter colonization, leadership, and development.
No – Long-term historical trends matter more than isolated events.
(ii) Reality is what is directly experienced through the senses)
Yes – Our senses define what we believe is real.
No – Reality can exist beyond our senses, like in dreams or parallel dimensions.
(iii) Methods of inquiry – history, science, philosophy)
Yes – All involve evidence, logic, and analysis.
No – Their approaches differ: science uses experiments, history uses records, philosophy uses reasoning.
- (i) Comparison with “We’re Not Afraid to Die…”: That was a physical sea adventure; The Adventure is a mental and scientific journey into alternate history. One is survival-based; the other is intellectual and speculative.
(ii) Professor Gaitonde likely decided to stop presiding over meetings after being heckled and having a strange experience. It made him question what was real and may have shaken his confidence.
Thinking About Language
- In which language do you think Gangadharpant and Khan Sahib talked to each other? Which language did Gangadharpant use to talk to the English receptionist?
- In which language do you think Bhausahebanchi Bakhar was written?
- There is mention of three communities in the story: the Marathas, the Mughals, the Anglo-Indians. Which language do you think they used within their communities and while speaking to the other groups?
- Do you think that the ruled always adopt the language of the ruler?
Solutions:
- Gangadharpant and Khan Sahib likely spoke in Hindi or Marathi. To the English receptionist, Gangadharpant would have spoken in English.
- Bhausahebanchi Bakhar was probably written in old Marathi.
- Marathas used Marathi; Mughals used Persian or Urdu; Anglo-Indians used English. They may have used common languages like Hindustani to communicate with other groups.
- No, the rules don’t always adopt the ruler’s language, but it often becomes common for administrative or elite communication.
Working with Words
I. Tick the Closest Meaning
- to take issue with
(i) to accept (ii) to discuss (iii) to disagree (iv) to add - to give vent to
(i) to express (ii) to emphasise (iii) to suppress (iv) to dismiss - to stand on one’s feet
(i) to be physically strong (ii) to be independent (iii) to stand erect (iv) to be successful - to be wound up
(i) to become active (ii) to stop operating (iii) to be transformed (iv) to be destroyed - to meet one’s match
(i) to meet a partner who has similar tastes
(ii) to meet an opponent
(iii) to meet someone who is equally able as oneself
(iv) to meet defeat
II. Distinguish Between the Following Pairs of Sentences
- (i) He was visibly moved.
(ii) He was visually impaired. - (i) Green and black stripes were used alternately.
(ii) Green stripes could be used or alternatively black ones. - (i) The team played the two matches successfully.
(ii) The team played two matches successively. - (i) The librarian spoke respectfully to the learned scholar.
(ii) You will find the historian and the scientist in the archaeology and natural science sections of the museum respectively.
Solutions:
I. Tick the Closest Meaning
- to take issue with – (iii) to disagree
- to give vent to – (i) to express
- to stand on one’s feet – (ii) to be independent
- to be wound up – (ii) to stop operating
- to meet one’s match – (iii) to meet someone who is equally able as oneself
II. Distinguish Between the Following Pairs of Sentences
1. Visibly vs. Visually
(i) He was visibly moved.
→ He showed his emotions clearly. (You could see it)
(ii) He was visually impaired.
→ He had a problem with his eyesight.
2. Alternately vs. Alternatively
(i) Green and black stripes were used alternately.
→ Green and black came one after the other.
(ii) Green stripes could be used, or alternatively black ones.
→ You can choose either green or black.
3. Successfully vs. Successively
(i) The team played the two matches successfully.
→ The team did well in both matches.
(ii) The team played two matches successively.
→ The matches were played one after the other.
4. Respectfully vs. Respectively
(i) The librarian spoke respectfully to the scholar.
→ The librarian was polite.
(ii) The historian and scientist are in the archaeology and science
sections respectively.
→ The historian is in archaeology, the scientist is in science – in the same order.
Related Reads
For more topics, follow LeverageEdu NCERT Study Material today!
