Silk Road Question Answer Chapter 6 Solved PDF

1. The article has been titled 'Silk Road.'
Answer: The article is titled 'Silk Road' because the author's journey to Mount Kailash follows part of the ancient trade route known as the Silk Road. The route historically connected different regions of Asia and was used for trade and cultural exchange.

2. Tibetan mastiffs were popular in China's imperial courts.
Answer: Tibetan mastiffs were powerful and fierce dogs. They were taken along the Silk Road from Tibet and presented as tribute to the Chinese imperial courts, where they became popular as hunting dogs.

3. The author's experience at Hor was in stark contrast to earlier accounts of the place.
Answer: The author found Hor to be a dirty, miserable and unpleasant place, with rocks, dust and rubbish. This was completely different from the experiences of earlier travellers, who had been deeply moved by the beauty and holiness of Lake Manasarovar.

4. The author was disappointed with Darchen.
Answer: The author was disappointed because he had arrived at Darchen at the beginning of the pilgrimage season, but there were no pilgrims there. He had expected the town to be full of visitors and did not want to undertake the pilgrimage alone.

5. The author thought that his positive thinking strategy worked well after all.
Answer: The author had been disappointed and lonely in Darchen. However, he soon met Norbu, who also wanted to perform the kora. Norbu agreed to become his companion, so the author's situation improved. He therefore felt that his positive-thinking strategy had finally worked.

1. The purpose of the author's journey to Mount Kailash.
Answer: The author's purpose was to travel to Mount Kailash and complete the kora, the traditional pilgrimage around the mountain. He wanted to undertake this difficult journey and experience the region personally.

2. The author's physical condition in Darchen.
Answer: The author's physical condition was poor. He suffered from breathing difficulties, a blocked nose, chest discomfort and difficulty sleeping because of the cold and high altitude. He was taken to the medical college, where the Tibetan doctor diagnosed a cold and the effects of altitude and gave him Tibetan medicine.

3. The author's meeting with Norbu.
Answer: Meeting Norbu was a turning point for the author. Norbu was a Tibetan academic who had studied the Kailash kora and had come to undertake it himself. He suggested that they form a team, giving the author a companion for the difficult pilgrimage.

1. The sensitive behaviour of hill-folk.
Answer: The hill-folk shown in the chapter are generally helpful, friendly and considerate. Lhamo gives the author a warm sheepskin coat for his journey, while Tsetan repeatedly helps him during the dangerous journey. He also takes the author to the medical college when he becomes ill. This shows their caring and sensitive nature.

2. The reasons why people willingly undergo the travails of difficult journeys.
Answer: People undertake difficult journeys for different reasons. Some travel for religious faith, some for adventure, exploration or knowledge, and others to experience places that are culturally or spiritually important. In the chapter, the author travels towards Mount Kailash to complete the kora, while Norbu is interested in experiencing the pilgrimage that he has studied academically.

3. The accounts of exotic places in legends and the reality.
Answer: Legends and accounts of travellers often present exotic places as beautiful, sacred and extraordinary. However, actual experience may be quite different. For example, the author found Hor dirty and miserable despite earlier travellers describing Lake Manasarovar with great reverence and emotion.

1. Notice the kind of English Tsetan uses while talking to the author. How do you think he picked it up?
Answer: Tsetan speaks simple and somewhat broken English. He probably learned English through his work with travellers and through regular communication with people from different places.

2. What do the following utterances indicate?

(i) "I told her, through Daniel …"
Answer: It indicates that the author and Lhamo could not communicate directly in a common language. Daniel acted as an interpreter between them.

(ii) "It's a cold," he said finally through Tsetan.
Answer: It indicates that the Tibetan doctor communicated his diagnosis through Tsetan, who translated the doctor's words for the author.

3. Guess the meaning of the following words.

kora — a religious pilgrimage/circumambulation around a sacred place.
drokba — a nomadic herder / nomad.
kyang — wild ass.

(i) Shaggy monsters
Answer: Shaggy describes the long, rough hair of the Tibetan mastiffs. Monsters emphasises their frightening appearance and huge size.

(ii) Brackish lakes
Answer: Brackish means slightly salty water. The adjective tells us that the lakes contain water that is not completely fresh.

(iii) Rickety table
Answer: Rickety means weak, unstable or poorly made. It suggests that the table was old and not firmly constructed.

(iv) Hairpin bend
Answer: Hairpin describes a very sharp, tight turn in the mountain road, resembling the shape of a hairpin.

(v) Rudimentary general stores
Answer: Rudimentary means basic, simple and not well-developed. It shows that the shops in Darchen provided only basic goods and facilities.

1. Why does the author mainly use active voice?
Answer: The chapter contains mostly active-voice sentences. This makes the narration direct, lively and fast-moving. It gives the reader the feeling of travelling alongside the author and experiencing the events as they happen. The textbook specifically notes the predominant use of active voice as an important feature of the narrative style.

Writer: Nick Middleton

Book: Hornbill

Genre: Travelogue

Main destination: Mount Kailash

Important characters: Nick Middleton, Tsetan, Daniel, Norbu, Lhamo

Important places: Ravu, Changtang, Hor, Lake Manasarovar, Darchen, Mount Kailash

Main theme: Travel, adventure, Tibetan landscape and culture, pilgrimage and the difficulties of travelling through high-altitude regions.