NCERT Solutions For Class 9 English Chapter 25 Reach for the Top (Santhosh Yadav)

Santosh Yadav made history both the times she scaled Mt Everest - the first time becoming the youngest woman in the world to scale the highest peak in the world and the second time as the only woman to have scaled the Everest twice.

Santosh describes her feelings as she stood on the top of the world as an indescribable spiritual moment. It took some time for the enormity of the moment to sink in her mind. She unfurled the Indian Tricolour and held it aloft on the roof of the world feeling proud to be a citizen of India.

Santosh is a fervent environmentalist. Her concern for the environment is evident from the fact that she collected and brought down 500 kilograms of garbage from the Himalayas.

Santosh was very much concerned about the safety of her team members. During the 1992 Everest mission, she provided special care to a climber who lay dying at the South Col. She saved the life of another team member by sharing her oxygen with him.

From her room in Kasturba Hostel she used to watch villagers going up the Aravalli Hills and suddenly vanishing after a while. One day she decided to check it out herself. She asked some mountaineers she found on the hills if she could join them and they encouraged her to climb the hills. Thus she began climbing mountains.

Santosh's parents initially refused to pay for her education and she politely informed them of her plans to earn money by working part time to pay her school fees. It was then her parents agreed to pay her fees.
This incident highlights her clarity of goals and her determination and willingness to work hard in order to achieve them.

Santosh was under pressure from her parents to get married when she turned sixteen. She threatened her parents that she would never marry if she did not get a proper education. Therefore she left home and got herself enrolled in a school in Delhi.

Being affluent landlords Santosh's parents could send her to one of the best schools in the area. However they sent her to a local village school in line with the prevailing custom in the family.

Even as a young girl Santosh was not ready to accept anything unreasonable but began living life on her own terms from the start. Where other girls wore traditional Indian dresses, Santosh preferred shorts.

The ‘holy man’ thought that Santosh’s mother wanted a son as sons were preferred over daughters in the society in which she lived. To his utter surprise the unborn child’s (Santosh’s) grandmother told him that they did not want a son.

 1. Where other girls wore traditional Indian dresses, Santosh preferred shorts.

2. She left home and got herself enrolled in a school in Delhi.

3. She decided to fight the system when the right moment arrived.

4. Little Maria had not yet celebrated her tenth birthday when she was packed off to train in the  United States.

1. Grandfather told me about the old days when all books were printed on paper.
2. After finishing the book, perhaps you just throw it away.
3. He gave the little girl an apple and took the computer apart.
4. Having nothing makes you very determined.
5. I never thought of quitting because I knew what I wanted.

1. took to be true without proof (1): assumed
2. based on reason; sensible; reasonable (2): rational
3. the usual way of doing things (3): custom
4. a strong desire arising from within (5): urge
5. the power to endure, without falling ill (7): resistance

1. From her room in Kasturba Hostel, Santosh used to watch villagers going up the hill and suddenly vanishing after a while.

2. When she finished college, Santosh had to write a letter of apology to her father because without his permission she had got herself enrolled at Uttarkashi’s Nehru Institute of Mountaineering.

3. During the Everest expedition, her seniors in the team admired her climbing skills, physical fitness, and mental strength while her concern for others and desire to work together with them endeared her to fellow climbers.

Chris Evert made it to the top position in 1975 and maintained it for a whopping 362 weeks. Steffi Graff with 377 weeks on the top position is the longest reigning top player in the Tennis world. Martina Navratilova, Monica Seles and Martina Hingis are other players who managed to be on the top position for 331, 178 and 209 weeks respectively.

The top players with lesser number of weeks on the top position include Maria Sharapova, Lindsay Davenport, Amelie Mauresmo, Justine Henin-Hardenne, Kim Clijsters, Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Jennifer Capriati, Lindsay Davenport, Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, Tracy Austin, etc. Their top position lasted from 1 week to 82 weeks.

The United States takes the credit for having the maximum number of players successfully making it to the top. The period of maintaining the top position is not equal for all but reaching the top itself should be considered as a great achievement.