CLASS 11 · HORNBILL · CHAPTER 4
Original, student-friendly answers for The Ailing Planet: the Green Movement’s Role and its textbook activities.
13 worked answers · short steps first, explanations when you need them
Textbook pages
Question Understanding the Text
Find the author’s description of Earth’s condition.
Connect the examples of damage to the image of illness.
Earth is called ailing because its natural systems are being damaged and its health is declining.
Question Understanding the Text
Notice that the cage contains a mirror.
Explain why human actions can make people dangerous to the planet.
The mirror points to humans: our careless actions can damage the environment, but we can choose to change.
Question Understanding the Text
Name the four systems: fisheries, forests, grasslands, and croplands.
Match each system with the harm described.
Overfishing, deforestation, overuse of grasslands, and damage to farmland weaken the four systems.
Question Understanding the Text
Consider the pressure of more people on resources and public needs.
Include the link between poverty, education, health, and family planning.
Rapid growth raises pressure on resources, jobs, and services; education, health, and voluntary family planning can ease it.
Question Talking about the Text
Give a balanced view rather than treating the statement as true in every case.
Explain why laws need enforcement and public cooperation.
Environmental laws exist, but weak or uneven enforcement can make them ineffective; public cooperation also matters.
Question Talking about the Text
Explain what “scorched” and “impoverished landscapes” suggest.
Relate the warning to choices made today.
It warns that careless use of nature today could leave future generations with a damaged, resource-poor planet.
Question Talking about the Text
Think about the responsibility of a borrower.
Apply it to natural resources and future generations.
We should care for the planet and pass it on in good condition to future generations.
Question Talking about the Text
Choose everyday areas such as housing, transport, schools, water, or jobs.
Explain one or two effects clearly.
It can increase crowding and pressure on housing, transport, water, schools, hospitals, and jobs.
Question Thinking about Language
Use each phrase’s common meaning in English.
Keep the meanings short and clear.
Prima facie: at first sight; ad hoc: for a purpose; in camera: privately; ad infinitum: endlessly; mutatis mutandis: with needed changes; caveat: warning; tabula rasa: clean slate.
Question Working with Words I
Identify the familiar image in each phrase.
State the idea it expresses in this context.
They mean: captured people’s interest; became understood; began a new era; became commonly used; and opened a way to the future.
Question Working with Words II
Use the literal meaning in one sentence.
Use an accepted figurative meaning in another.
Use each word once in its direct sense and once in a figurative sense; sample pairs are given in the expanded answer.
Question Things to Do
Write a clear headline.
Add two practical actions and a brief call to action.
“Keep our planet green: plant trees, save water, and reduce plastic. Care for our shared home!”
Question Things to Do
Observe and note the place, date, and what happened.
Collect safe evidence and suggest a responsible way to report it.
Record the date, place, and facts; gather safe evidence; then report it to a responsible adult or local authority with a suggested remedy.