NCERT Solutions Poorvi Chapter 5 My Dear Soldiers — Let us learn

Book page 202 & 203 Updated on2026-09-05

Q1.
The poem mentions a few terrains (physical features of land)—valleys, deserts, and marshes. Identify the terrains from the box given below. There are two that you do not need. (ghats, river, plateau, delta, bay, peninsula, mountains)
Answer

The five terrains are: ghats, plateau, delta, peninsula, mountains.

The two not needed are: river and bay.

WordTerrain?What it is
ghatsYesA line of steep hills along a coast, as in the Western and Eastern Ghats
riverNo — a water bodyFlowing water, not a landform
plateauYesHigh, flat land, as in the Deccan Plateau
deltaYesLow, fan-shaped land built of silt where a river meets the sea (the Sundarbans)
bayNo — a water bodyA part of the sea curving into the land (the Bay of Bengal)
peninsulaYesLand with water on three sides — peninsular India
mountainsYesVery high land, as in the poem's “Climbing the heights”
How to decide quickly: ask “Is it made of land or of water?” A river and a bay are water. Everything else in the box is a shape of the land — which is what a terrain is.
Q2.
Fill in the blanks by choosing the words given in the brackets that collocate appropriately. 1. The hikers reached the ____________ (summit/peak) of the mountain after several days of trekking through challenging conditions.
Answer

The hikers reached the summit of the mountain after several days of trekking through challenging conditions.

Why ‘summit': both words mean the top, but English pairs reach the summit far more often than ‘reach the peak'. Peak usually names the mountain itself — “Nanda Devi is the second highest peak in India.” That is what a collocation is: not a rule of grammar but a habit of the language.
Q3.
2. The ____________ (empty/barren) landscape of the desert made it nearly impossible to find any water sources.
Answer

The barren landscape of the desert made it nearly impossible to find any water sources.

Difference: empty means nothing is in it; barren means nothing will grow in it. For land, ‘barren landscape' is the natural pairing.
Q4.
3. In the rainforest, the ____________ (heavy/dense) forest provides a habitat for a diverse range of wildlife.
Answer

In the rainforest, the dense forest provides a habitat for a diverse range of wildlife.

Remember the pairs: dense forest, dense fog, dense crowd — but heavy rain, heavy traffic, heavy bag.
Q5.
4. Chitra is a very ____________ (heroic/adventurous) person and enjoys mountain climbing.
Answer

Chitra is a very adventurous person and enjoys mountain climbing.

Why not ‘heroic': heroic is kept for someone who risks himself to save others, as in a battle or a rescue. Someone who simply enjoys risk and new experiences is adventurous.
Q6.
5. I’ll try to get back in time, but I'm not ____________ (doing/making) any promises.
Answer

I'll try to get back in time, but I'm not making any promises.

A useful pair to memorise: we make a promise, a decision, a mistake, an effort, noise — but we do homework, a job, the dishes, a favour, our best.
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