Q1. [5]
It is from these comrades in the struggle that I learned the true meaning of courage. Time and again, I have seen men and women risk and give up their lives for an idea. I have seen men and women stand up to attacks and torture without breaking, showing a strength and resilience that defies the imagination. I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.
Read the given extract and answer the questions.
- (i) What effect does the experience as described in the lines below have on the speaker?
Time and again, I have seen men and women risk their lives for an idea. [1]
- (ii) Select one inference about the idea of courage from the given context :
I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. [1]
- (A) being fearless
- (B) absence of fear
- (C) feeding your fears
- (D) ability to overcome fear
- (iii) Answer in about 40 words, with reference to the extract :
According to the author, what does true courage entail? How does this perspective differ from a common misconception about courage? [2]
- (iv) Fill in the blank with the correct phrase from the bracket in the context of the given extract :
Men stood up to torture showing strength and resilience that is ________ (impossible to understand / seeped in reality). [1]
Previously asked in CBSE board exam
2025 2/6/1 Q6(a)
Generated by claude-sonnet-4-6 · 2026-06-15 07:14 · grounding stimulus+chapter
Model Answer
(i) The experience of seeing men and women repeatedly risk and give up their lives for an idea taught the speaker the true meaning of courage and deeply inspired him.
(ii) (D) ability to overcome fear
(iii) According to Mandela, true courage means conquering fear, not the absence of it. A brave person still feels afraid but chooses to overcome that fear. The common misconception is that a courageous person feels no fear at all, but Mandela rejects this, saying it is the triumph over fear that defines real bravery.
(iv) impossible to understand
Source: Nelson Mandela: A Long Walk to Freedom, Extract
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Explanation
- (i) 1-mark: one clear sentence stating the effect on the speaker — he learned the true meaning of courage.
- (ii) 1-mark MCQ: "triumph over fear" = ability to overcome fear → (D).
- (iii) 2-marks: address both parts — what courage is (triumph over fear) AND the misconception (that brave people feel no fear). ~40 words, so keep it tight.
- (iv) 1-mark: "defies the imagination" matches "impossible to understand" from the vocabulary activity in the same chapter. "Seeped in reality" is the opposite idea.
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