Arrange the worldwide means of communication given below in the timeline provided. Share your answers with your classmates and teacher. 1. telephone 2. email 3. postcard 4. telegraph 5. mobile phone 6. carrier pigeons old new The six pictures and the blank timeline printed on page 81.

From old to new: carrier pigeons → postcard → telegraph → telephone → email → mobile phone . Order Means Roughly when What changed with it 1 carrier pigeons Ancient times A message could travel faster than a person could walk or ride 2 postcard Organised postal systems; the printed postcard from the 1860s Anyone, not only rulers and armies, could send a written message cheaply 3 telegraph From the 1830s–40s For the first time a message travelled faster than the messenger — as electricity, along a wire 4 telephone 1876 Not just the message but the voice travelled; conversation became possible at a distance 5 email From 1971 Written messages became instant and cost almost nothing to send 6 mobile phone From the 1970s–80s onwards Communication stopped being tied to a place; the person, not the building, became reachable How to justify your order. Do not merely memorise dates; describe what each invention added . The list has a clear logic — first the message travels by a living creature, then by the post, then as electricity, then as the human voice, then instantly, then everywhere. Each step removes one limitation of the one before. A point of accuracy worth mentioning in class: if you date strictly by invention, the electric telegraph (1830s–40s) is slightly older than the printed postcard (1869). The order above puts the postcard first because a letter carried by post is a far older idea than the telegraph. Either arrangement of those two can be defended — provided you say wh

NCERT Solutions for Class 8th English Chapter 2 Verghese Kurien — Let us do these activities before we read

Book page 82 Updated on2026-09-19

Q1.

Arrange the worldwide means of communication given below in the timeline provided. Share your answers with your classmates and teacher.

The six pictures and the blank timeline printed on page 81.

Answer

From old to new: carrier pigeons → postcard → telegraph → telephone → email → mobile phone.

Order	Means	Roughly when	What changed with it
1	carrier pigeons	Ancient times	A message could travel faster than a person could walk or ride
2	postcard	Organised postal systems; the printed postcard from the 1860s	Anyone, not only rulers and armies, could send a written message cheaply
3	telegraph	From the 1830s–40s	For the first time a message travelled faster than the messenger — as electricity, along a wire
4	telephone	1876	Not just the message but the voice travelled; conversation became possible at a distance
5	email	From 1971	Written messages became instant and cost almost nothing to send
6	mobile phone	From the 1970s–80s onwards	Communication stopped being tied to a place; the person, not the building, became reachable

How to justify your order. Do not merely memorise dates; describe what each invention added. The list has a clear logic — first the message travels by a living creature, then by the post, then as electricity, then as the human voice, then instantly, then everywhere. Each step removes one limitation of the one before.

A point of accuracy worth mentioning in class: if you date strictly by invention, the electric telegraph (1830s–40s) is slightly older than the printed postcard (1869). The order above puts the postcard first because a letter carried by post is a far older idea than the telegraph. Either arrangement of those two can be defended — provided you say why.

Why this activity comes before this letter: Dr. Kurien opens by contrasting the telephone with the written word. Placing the six means on a timeline first makes you notice something he depends on — every new means is faster, and yet the one thing you can keep and re-read after twenty years is the oldest of them all.

Q2.

Work in pairs and discuss the following things. Share your answers with your classmates and teacher. 1. The reasons for change in the means of communication over the years.

Answer

Communication has changed for four reasons, and it helps to name them separately.

Speed. Trade, government and war all rewarded whoever received news first. Each new invention answered the question, “Can this reach him sooner?”
Reach. A pigeon flies one route; a telegraph line links two cities; a mobile network reaches a village in the hills. Every step widened the circle of people you could reach.
Cost. As the cost per message fell, communication stopped being a privilege. A postcard cost less than a letter; an email costs almost nothing.
Technology itself. Electricity, the telephone exchange, computers and satellites each made the next step possible — inventions build on one another.

And one reason for the direction of change: convenience. Notice that each new means asks less of the sender — less time, less effort, less waiting. Dr. Kurien's whole letter is a gentle warning about that trend: what is easy to send is also easy to forget, and he says a telephone call gives “an immediate but fleeting joy”.

Q3.

2. The means of communication that you prefer to use and the reason for your choice.

Answer

Answer honestly, and give the reason in terms of what the medium is good at, not merely what you are used to.

Means	Best for	Its weakness
A phone call	Urgency; hearing tone of voice; sorting out a misunderstanding	Nothing remains afterwards
A message or chat	Quick, everyday coordination	Short, careless, easy to misread
Email	Formal requests; anything that must be on record	Slow to be answered; impersonal
A handwritten letter	Thanks, condolence, apology, anything meant to be kept	Slow, and it takes real effort

Sample answer: For everyday things I use messages, because they are quick and I can reply when I am free. But when my cousin lost her exam year to illness, I wrote her an actual letter and posted it. A message would have been read once and scrolled past. She told me later that she had kept the letter in her book — which is exactly what Dr. Kurien means when he says writing “becomes a possession”.

Q4.

3. Communication through social media: its benefits and precautions that one should take against its misuse.

Answer

Benefits	Precautions
Keeps families and friends connected across distances	Keep accounts private; accept only people you actually know
Spreads useful information quickly — results, alerts, opportunities	Verify before forwarding. Check the date and the source; a rumour spreads faster than a correction
Gives ordinary people a voice and a place to show their work	Never share your address, school name, phone number or photographs of your home
Helps people learn skills and find communities of interest	Use strong passwords; never share an OTP with anyone, for any reason
Useful for causes, campaigns and organising help in emergencies	Do not reply to a bully; take a screenshot, block, and tell a trusted adult
Free and instant, unlike earlier means	Set a time limit; remember that what is posted is very hard to remove

The one rule that covers most of the rest: before you post or forward, ask whether you would be comfortable if the message were read aloud, with your name on it, in front of your class and your family. Almost every misuse of social media fails that test.

Connect it to the letter: Dr. Kurien writes that a letter can be “re-read over the years, with great, abiding pleasure”. Social media is also permanent, but not in a way that pleases — a careless post can return years later. Permanence is a gift only when what was written was worth keeping.

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