CBSE Class 12 English Deep Water Worksheet Set A

Question. What can we learn from Douglas’ experience?
a. Swimming cannot be learnt by just aping somebody
b. Young kids should not be afraid of big boys
c. One can learn swimming better in rivers
d. Determination is the key to overcoming difficulties

Answer: D

Question. What strategy did the young boy remember to use while going down under water in the swimming pool?
a. To use water wings
b. To jump around with ease
c. To stop breathing
d. To thrust upward on hitting the bottom

Answer: D

Question. Douglas said, “It was three months before the tension began to slack”. What does ‘slack’ mean here?
a. To increase
b. To get free
c. To stretch
d. To become less

Answer: D

Question. “The instructor was finished”. What does ‘finished’ imply here?
a. To be contented
b. To be dissatisfied
c. To be annoyed
d. To be killed

Answer: A

Extract Based Questions:

1. My introduction to the Y.M.C.A. swimming pool revived unpleasant memories and stirred childish fears. But in a little while I gathered confidence, I paddled with my new water wings, watching the other boys and trying to learn by aping them. I did this two or three times on different days and was just beginning to feel at ease in the water when the misadventure happened.

Question. What does the phrase “aping” mean—
a. To imitate
b. To get involved in apt conversation
c. To learn with a quick pace
d. None of these

Answer: A

Question. Choose the correct meaning of “feel at ease”—
a. To relax
b. To feel comfortable
c. To take rest
d. To find something easy

Answer: B

Question. What “unpleasant memories” does the author refer to—
a. Drowning in Yakima river
b. His mother’s warnings
c. The experience he had had at a beach in California
d. His father’s scoldings

Answer: C

Question. What is the “misadventure” that took place—
a. Douglas almost drowned in the swimming pool
b. He was sitting beside the swimming pool watching somebody else dying
c. He was timid about going into water alone
d. A big bruiser of a boy arrived there to beat him

Answer: A

2. I sucked for air and got water. The yellowish light was going out. Then all effort ceased. I relaxed. Even my
felt limp: and a blackness swept over my brain. It wiped out fear; it wiped out terror. There was no more panic. It was quiet and peaceful. Nothing to be afraid of. This is nice… to be drowsy…to go to sleep… no need to jump… too tired to jump….it’s nice to be carried gently… to float along in space… tender arms around me… tender arms like mother’s… now I must go to sleep… I crossed to oblivion, and the curtain of life fell.

Question. Why did all efforts finally cease?
a. He had already come to the surface of the water
b. He was taken out of water
c. He was too exhausted to try anymore
d. It was too dark to see through

Answer: C

Question. “I crossed to oblivion” means----
a. He crossed the swimming pool and was finally safe
b. He had drowned and died
c. He was becoming unconscious due to excessive exhaustion
d. He came back to the pavilion

Answer: C

Question. Why did he get water into his mouth instead of air?
a. He was thirsty so drank water
b. He did not know how to raise his nose out of water and inhale
c. He was dreaming of drowning
d. He was doing mouth-wash

Answer: B

Question. What is meant by the word ‘limp’—
a. His legs felt lifeless and paralysed
b. His legs were ready to move fast
c. All of a sudden there was a burst of energy
d. His legs felt liquidity

Answer: A

3. It ruined my fishing trips; deprived me of the joy of canoeing, boating, and swimming. I used every way I knew to overcome this fear, but it held me firmly in its grip. Finally, one October, I decided to get an instructor and learn to swim.

Question. Why did he want to learn swimming finally?
a. To prove that he loved water
b. To get rid of the haunting fear of water
c. To get into the waters of the cascades
d. Both (b) and (c)

Answer: D

Question. ‘I used everyway…’ Who does this ‘I’ here refer to?
a. The instructor
b. W. Douglas
c. Mukesh
d. Franz

Answer: B

Question. What does ‘it’ refer to?
a. The fear of water
b. The fear of seeing the instructor
c. The fear of his parents
d. The fear of dying one day

Answer: A

Question. Why couldn’t the author enjoy water sports?
a. The drowning accident at swimming pool had made him hydrophobic
b. He had developed allergy to water
c. The childhood experiences at beaches had made him hate beaches
d. His mother never let him go near any water body

Answer: A

4. I had conquered my fear of water. The experience had a deep meaning for me, as only those who have known stark terror and conquered it can appreciate. In death there is peace. There is terror only in the fear of death, as Roosevelt knew when he said, “All we have to fear is fear itself”.

Question. How did Douglas overcome his fear of water?
a. By taking training and practising hard
b. By avoiding going near water
c. By reading books on learning swimming
d. With the help of Roosevelt

Answer: A

Question. Statement I: At last Douglas felt released.
Statement II: Now he had got rid of his fear.
a. I is the cause and II is the effect
b. II is the cause and I is the effect
c. I and II are completely unrelated
d. I and II are related but not by cause-effect chain.

Answer: B

Question. Statement I: Douglas wanted to be sure that he could swim without ever being afraid again.
Statement II: He went to Lake Wentworth in New Hampshire and swam two miles.
a. Both I and II are true
b. Both I and II are false
c. I is true but II is false
d. II is true but I is false.

Answer: A

Question. Why did this experience have a deep meaning for Douglas?
a. Because he felt released after having been handicapped with this fear for so long
b. Because he received awards for swimming well
c. Because he had started teaching swimming to others
d. None of these

Answer: A

Question. Who said, “All we have to fear is fear itself”?
a. W. Douglas
b. Roosevelt
c. Anees Jung
d. Alphonse Daudet

Answer: B

Question. What does “All we have to fear is fear itself” imply?
a. Fear leads to failures
b. Fear does not let one do one’s best
c. Fear turns opportunities into adversities
d. All the above

Answer: D

Question. Statement I. Mother continually warned against it.
Statement II. Yakima river was treacherous.
a. Both the statements are false
b. II is the cause of I
c. I is the cause and II is effect
d. Both I and II are true but unrelated

Answer: B

Question. Match the following:-
 Work  Author
i. Of Men and Mountains 
ii. Deep Water a. W. O. Douglas
iii. Lost Spring b. W. Douglas
iv. The Last Lesson c. Alphonse Daudet
d. Annes Jung
a. (i) a (ii) b (iii) c (iv) d
b. (i) d (ii) c (iii) b (iv) a
c. (i) a (ii) b (iii) d (iv) c
d. (i) b (ii) c (iii) d (iv) a

Answer: C

Question. Statement I: Douglas was not satisfied with his swimming skills yet
Statement II: He wondered if he would be terror-stricken when alone in the pool
a. Only statement I is true
b. Only statement II is true
c. Both I and II are true
d. Both I and II are false

Answer: C

5. Then all efforts ceased. I relaxed. Even my legs felt limp; and blackness swept over my brain. It wiped out fear; it wiped out terror. There was no more panic. It was quiet and peaceful. Nothing to be afraid of. This is nice…..to be drowsy… to go to sleep….no need to jump… too tired to jump…it’s nice to be carried gently…. To float again in space…tender arms around me… tender arms like Mother’s. Now I must go to sleep…
I crossed to oblivion, and the curtain of life fell.

Question. What efforts were being made that ceased?
(a) to climb a mountain
(b) to escape drowning
(c) to cross the river
(d) to push a ladder
Answer : B

Question. How did his legs feel?
(a) paralyzed
(b) ceased
(c) brightness
(d) darkness
Answer : C

Question. What was the thing that swept over the eyes of the author?
(a) blackness
(b) fear
(c) hatred
(d) none of the above
Answer : A

Question. ‘It wiped out fear’ this means…..
(a) it increased fear
(b) it lessened fear
(c) it eliminated fear
(d) it deepened fear
Answer : C

Question. How did ‘I’ feel at last?
(a) very panicky
(b) very nervous
(c) quiet and peaceful
(d) alarmed
Answer : C

Question. Pick out the words from the passage which mean the same as: ‘lifeless’ and ‘removed’.
(a) ‘wiped out’ and ‘limp’
(b) ‘limp’ and ‘ceased’
(c) ‘limp’ and ‘wiped out’
(d) ‘ceased’ and ‘swept over’
Answer : C

Question. What was nice?
(a) to be drowsy
(b) to go to sleep
(c) to be carried gently
(d) all of the above
Answer : D

Very Short Answer 

Question. Why does water create a feeling of hatred and terror in William Douglas?
Answer. At 3 or 4 his father took him to the beach. A surf buried them. Terror of water seated in his heart. At 10 or 11 a big bruiser tossed him into the YMCA pool.

Question. How did the misadventure happen?
Answer. One day Douglas was sitting alone on the edge of the pool. A strong young man, about eighteen years old, came there. He made fun of skinny Douglas, picked him up and tossed him into the pool at the deepest end of it.

Question. What was the continual warning of the author’s mother and did he take it seriously?
Answer. The continual warning was that the Yakima River was treacherous. Mother reminded him each drowning in the river.
Yes, he took it seriously.

Question. Douglas had a fear of water even before his experience of drowning in the YMCA pool? Why?
Answer. At the age of three or four. Douglas had gone with his father to the beach. A powerful wave had struck him and knocked him down while he was with his father in the surf. This experience had terrorized him and this fear stayed even as he grew older.

Question. Why did Douglas decide to join the YMCA pool?
Answer. Douglas decided so because the YMCA pool was safe. It was only 2 or 3 feet deep at the shallow end. He had got a pair of water wings.

Short Answer

Question.How does Douglas develop a sense of deep fear water and what does he do to overcome it?
Answer. At the age of three or four his father takes him to the beach. They stand in the surf. The waves knock him down. He is buried in water. At the age of ten or eleven a bruiser tosses him into the deep water of the YMCA pool. He narrowly escapes death.
He hires an instructor to overcome it. The instructor uses a rope and a pulley. He teaches him to exhale under water. Then he swims alone in Lake Wentworth and Warm Lake.

Question. Describe Moral/Message of the lesson Deep Water?
Answer. The story “Deep Water” tells us how the writer overcame his fear of water and learned swimming through sheer determination and willpower. He had developed a terror water since childhood. William Douglas was able to overcome his fear by sheer determination. The message conveyed by this story is that it is not death that creates a terror in our mind, so that fear needs to be shaken off. Also, any fears can be conquered if we try hard enough.

Question. Who helps the author in becoming a perfect swimmer and how?
Answer. A hired instructor and the author’s firm resolution helps him in becoming a perfect swimmer. The instructor puts a belt around him, ties to a rope on a pulley and makes him swim. In three months, the fear begins to slack. He teaches him to exhale under water. Next, he reaches him to swim with legs. After weeks he got command. Then the author swam alone in Lake Wentworth and warm lake.

Question. Answer the following questions: -
(1) What happened with Douglas on the beach?
(2) How did Douglas start swimming in the Y.M.C.A pool? How did he feel?
Answer. (1) When he was four years old, his father took him to the beach in California. They were standing in the surf. The waves knocked him down. He was buried in water and his breath was gone. This incident made him afraid of water.
(2) Douglas was still afraid of water. He gathered confidence in a little while. He paddled with his new water wings, watching the other boys and aping them. He began to feel at ease after doing so for two or three different days.

Question. Describe how Douglas tried to save himself from drowning.
Answer. First time when Douglas went down and his feet touched the bottom, he made a great spring upwards. He came up slowly. He tried to yell but no sound came out. He tried to grab something but it was water. He tried to pull his legs up but in vain. He went down again. Second time he jumped up will all his might. He came up. He looked for ropes, ladders, water wings but in vain. He couldn’t call for help. Then he lost hope and went down a third time.

Long Answer

Question. Write a speech on ‘Impossible is the Word that Exists in the Dictionary of Fools.’ Read it before the prayer assembly of your school.
Answer. Good morning dear schoolmates.
I, Reena Kumari of Class 12th, am to read out a speech on ‘Impossible is the Word that Exists in the Dictionary of Fools’.
It is absolutely right that nothing is impossible in this high-tech world. Our rockets have entered the atmosphere of other planets. Our science can predict almost correctly about weather. We have access to video-conferencing, internet, fax and so on. Supersonic airplanes have been pressed into service. We have satellite education. We have e-books and e notebooks. Nuclear bombs can end the world several times.
Thus, everything is possible in this world.
Thank you.

Question. How did the swimming instructor ‘build a swimmer’ out of Douglas?
Answer. William Douglas had a most frightening and nightmarish experience at the Y.M.C.A pool when a boy of eighteen had tossed him into the pool and he had a near brush with death. The terror that he experienced and the resulting fear of water prevented him from enjoying fishing, canoeing, swimming etc with his friends. The fear became so deep rooted that Douglas then decided to overcome it.
The first step he took was to get an instructor. The instructor made him swim five days a week and very patiently taught him how to exhale underwater and inhale above water. He made him practice very hard five days a week, an hour each day. His safety was ensured when the instructor put a belt around him, with a hook and rope attached to it. An overhead cable had a pulley in it and the rope going over it. The instructor would hold the rope while Douglas swam from one end of the pool to the other. In about six months and with a lot of hard work and determination. Douglas was able to perfect the art of swimming. His instructor had built a swimmer out of him, bit by bit.

Question. A big boy threw Douglas into the swimming pool. How did this experience affect Douglas?
Answer. A ‘big bruiser’ of a boy picked Douglas up and tossed him into the deep end of the YMCA pool. He at once went to the bottom. He made a big jump to come to the surface. His lungs were ready to burst. He opened his eyes and saw nothing but water. He was suffocating. His legs would not come up. They were paralyzed and dead. Then all his efforts seized. He crossed into oblivion. Later he found himself lying on his stomach vomiting beside the pool.
This experience had a far-reaching effect on Douglas. He never went back to the pool. He feared water. He tried to avoid it whenever he could. And whenever he went to a pool, the terror that seized him in the pool would come back. ‘Icy horror’ would grab his heart. It ruined his fishing trips. He lost the joy of canoeing, boating and swimming.

Question. How did Douglas try to save himself from drowning in the YMCA pool?
Answer. When Douglas was flung into the swimming pool by a big boy, he became fearful. But he thought rationally and planned a strategy to save himself from drowning. He decided that as he hit the bottom of the pool, he would take a big jump to come to the surface of the water. Then he would lie flat and paddle to the edge of the pool. But unfortunately, it took so long for him to reach the bottom and felt as if his lungs would burst. Even then he tried to take a big jump using all his might but in vain. Once again, he tried to same technique but his action did not produce the desired result. Finally, panic seized him. His limbs got numb and he fainted.

Question. How did Douglas feel after he was saved?
Answer. When he regained his consciousness, he found himself lying on his stomach beside the pool. He was vomiting. Hours later, he walked home. He was weak and trembling. He shook and cried when he lay on his bed. He couldn’t eat that night. Fear haunted him for days. The slightest exertion upset him. He came to have a fear of water. He avoided the places where he could see water. Years later, he came to know about the nature of cascades. He wanted to get into them. But wherever he did, the terror that had seized him in the pool returned. His legs would become paralyzed. Icy horror would grab his heart. He lost all pleasure of swimming, boating and fishing. Wherever he went, the terror of water followed him. He used every way he knew to overcome this fear.

Please click on below link to download CBSE Class 12 English Deep Water Worksheet Set A