EN हिं

NCERT Solutions Curiosity Chapter 1 A tour of the year — In-text Questions

Book page 3 Updated on2026-09-05

Q1.
But what does our body need to stay healthy?
Answer

A balanced diet, safe water and clean air, regular physical activity, enough sleep, personal cleanliness, and protection against disease. Health is not merely the absence of illness — each of these keeps some life process of the body running properly.

What the body needsWhy it needs itEveryday example
Balanced dietCarbohydrates and fats give energy; proteins build and repair the body; vitamins and minerals keep the body’s processes working; roughage keeps digestion smoothDal–rice with a sabzi, curd and a seasonal fruit
Safe drinking waterCarries substances around the body, controls its temperature, removes wastes — and unsafe water itself carries diseaseBoiled or filtered water
Physical activityKeeps muscles and bones strong and the heart and lungs efficientKabaddi, cycling, a brisk walk
Sleep and restThe body repairs itself and the brain settles what you learnt during the day8–9 hours a night at your age
CleanlinessKeeps harmful microorganisms from entering the bodyWashing hands with soap before eating and after using the toilet
VaccinesPrepare the body’s defences before a particular germ ever arrivesThe vaccines listed in your immunisation card
Why it happens: the body is not a store that simply needs filling. It is constantly building, repairing and defending itself, and every one of those jobs needs raw material (food), a medium to work in (water), and time in which to do the repairing (rest). Leave out any one of them and the others cannot make up for it — which is why an excellent diet without sleep, or plenty of sleep without a proper diet, still leaves you unwell.
Q2.
How do we fight these infections?
Answer

On three levels at once: the body’s own defences, medicines and vaccines, and — most effective of all — stopping the germ from reaching us in the first place.

1. The body fights first, on its own.

  • Skin is an unbroken barrier. A cut is a doorway — which is exactly why you wash it and cover it.
  • Mucus in the nose and windpipe traps dust and microorganisms; sneezing and coughing throw them back out.
  • Acid in the stomach destroys most of what we swallow along with food.
  • White blood cells in the blood hunt down and destroy whatever gets through. Fever, swelling and pain are signs that this fight is going on.
  • Afterwards the body remembers that particular germ and deals with it much faster the next time.

2. Medicines help the body when it is losing. Antibiotics kill bacteria or stop them multiplying. They do nothing at all to viruses, so an antibiotic cannot cure a common cold. Always finish the full course a doctor prescribes — stopping early lets the toughest bacteria survive, and those survivors are the ones that make the medicine useless next time.

3. Vaccines prepare the defence in advance. A vaccine shows the body a harmless preview of a germ. The body builds its memory of that germ without falling ill, so if the real germ arrives it is destroyed before it can do damage. This is how smallpox was wiped out from the world and how polio was stopped in India.

4. Best of all — do not get infected. Wash hands with soap, drink safe water, keep food covered, use a toilet, and do not let water collect in pots, coolers or tyres where mosquitoes breed.

Why it happens: notice that every method works the same way — it either keeps the germ out, or it helps the body’s own defence win a fight it is already having. Even ORS in diarrhoea works like this: it does not kill the germ, it replaces the water and salts the body is losing so the body stays strong enough to finish the fight itself.
Was this helpful? Report an error