Important Questions for CBSE Class 8 English Honeydew Chapter 7 - A Visit to Cambridge

A. Very Short Answer Questions - 1 Marks

1. Word-meaning from the given chapter

i. Successor

Ans: Inheritor.

ii. Propelled

Ans: To move

iii. Disembodied

Ans: Spiritual

iv. Anguish

Ans: Agony

2. Fill in the blanks

i. This is the story of a meeting _____, both of them ‘disabled’, or ‘differently-abled.

Ans: Between two extraordinary people

ii. The two great men exchange thoughts on what it means to live life in a _____.

Ans: Wheelchair 

iii. Stephen Hawking is one of the _____ of our time.

Ans: Greatest scientists

iv. Firdaus Kanga is a _____ who lives and works in Mumbai. 

Ans: Writer and journalist

3. What was the author’s metaphor for England?

Ans: Cambridge was the author’s metaphor for England.

4. Who did the author meet in Cambridge?

Ans: The author met a great scientist named Stephen Hawking in Cambridge.

5. Who did Stephen Hawking succeed according to the guide?

Ans: Stephen Hawking was a successor of Isaac Newton according to the guide.

B. Short Answer Questions – 2 marks

1. What does the guide tell Firdaus Khan about Stephen Hawking?

Ans: The guide told Firdaus Khan about Stephen Hawking and that he was quite disabled but could be considered as a worthy successor to Isaac Newton as he was given Newton’s Chair at the university.

2. What was the name of the book written by Stephen Hawking that the author immediately remembered? 

Ans: The author remembered Stephen Hawking as the same brilliant, but completely paralyzed astrophysicist who wrote the biggest best-seller titled- “A Brief History of Time”.

3. What did the author do as soon as he finished the tour?

Ans: As soon as the tour finished, the author Firdaus Khan reached the phone booth to make a call at Stephen Hawking’s house.

4. Who received his call and why did the author call at Stephen’s Hawking’s house?

Ans: Stephen Hawking received Firdaus Khan’s call. He had called up to talk to his assistant and even told him that he had come in a wheelchair from India to write about his trip in Britain and even had to meet Professor Hawking.

5. How much time did the author ask for to meet Professor Hawking and how much time his assistant gave him? 

Ans: The author asked for merely 10-min to meet Professor Hawking but the assistant gave him 30-minutes.

C. Short answer questions – 3 marks

1. What did people tell the author to be as he was disabled?

Ans: The author mentioned that growing up as a disabled, people often told him to be brave, and always have courage. He believed that the only thing that could make him strong was to meet someone like him who achieved something great in his life which could be figured out and understood only when one could figure out the journey the person had traveled and the journey the author needed to travel.

2. “I haven’t been brave,” said his disembodied computer voice, the next afternoon. “I’ve had no choice.” Who spoke these lines? How does the listener react to it?

Ans: These lines were spoken by Stephen Hawking. Here, the listener is the author who wanted to ask him if living creatively with the reality of one’s disintegrated body was a choice? But then he remained quiet as he felt guilty every time he spoke as he thought he was forcing Professor Hawking to respond.

3. What does the author ask Professor Hawking? What does the Professor respond to?

Ans: The author who himself was disabled asked the professor that a lot of people think that disabled persons are constantly not happy. He knew that it is not true, but does the professor often laugh inside? The professor took around a 3-min pause and then responded that he finds it funny when people patronize him.

4. How does Professor respond to the author’s next question “And do you find it annoying when someone like me comes and disturbs you in your work?” How does the author feel about it? 

Ans: On hearing the question related to his work, Professor Hawking instantly answered “yes”, which indicates that he found it annoying when people disturbed him in his work. As the professor smiled, the author understood that he was looking at the most beautiful man in the whole world.

D. Long Answer Questions - 5 marks

1. What was the first glimpse of the professor the author had?

Ans: The author had a first glimpse of the professor as a shocking one. He looked like a still photograph. The author thought that all of his photographs from the newspapers, magazines had been turned into 3D figures. When the professor twisted his head sideways into a slump, one could see the shrunk torso inside the pale blue shirt. His fingers were pale and fragile too, his legs were wasted and his eyes looked as if they could speak something hard to figure out.

2.  What did the scientist Stephen Hawking, advise the disabled people?

Ans: When the author asked Stephen Hawking what he would advise the disabled people, the scientist who was a disabled person but a great human being, advised the disabled people to do what they were good at and that they shouldn’t copy any normal person. He felt that things like disabled Olympics were a waste of time and they should not underestimate themselves and should focus on achieving things that are in their hands.

3. How did the author relate himself to the professor’s advice? What permission did he ask for from the professor? 

Ans: The author related himself to the professor’s advice instantly. He told the professor that he could relate to what he meant. The author remembered the years when he had spent his time trying to play a Spanish guitar that was larger than he was and cheerfully broke it and broke its strings for one night. The author knew that half an hour was up so he asked for the professor’s permission to leave and thanked him for his time.

Significance of CBSE Class 8 English Honeydew Chapter 7 A Visit to Cambridge Important Questions

Class 8 English Honeydew Chapter 7 is about the experience of the author who went to Cambridge. This experience has been compiled in the form of a story that students like to study. Understanding the context of this chapter becomes mandatory for preparing it. Solving the exercise questions will help students to comprehend what the author wants us to understand.

Once the chapter has been prepared, students can solve the important questions of this chapter. By solving these questions, they will learn how to use the context of this chapter in scripting answers. These questions can be used to evaluate the preparation level too. By comparing the answers, students will understand which part of the chapter needs more focus.

The important questions framed will also broaden the preparation of the students for an exam. Apart from the exercise questions, students will find out probable questions to learn and get ready for the exams. Hence, this set of questions will not only help students to concentrate on the chapter but will also act as an evaluation tool to add to the study material.

Benefits of Class 8 English A Visit to Cambridge Important Questions and Answers

• The questions have been set following the context of the chapter. It means you will get a good idea of what the author wants us to understand from this story.

• You can check your comprehension level for this chapter by attempting to solve the questions suggested by the experts. Check which questions need more studying to answer and proceed with your syllabus accordingly.

• The solutions given with these questions will also help you find out where you need to concentrate more. The easier format of these answers will also support you to understand the answers and guide you to formulate them during an exam.