Skip to content
← English (Core)

English (Core) · Class 11 Languages

Ch 7The Ailing Planet: the Green Movement's Role — Class 11 English (Core), concept-first.

Nani Palkhivala (1920-2002) was one of India's most respected jurists, economists and public thinkers. A celebrated constitutional lawyer, a fearless commentator on national affairs and a former Indian ambassador to the United States, he was also a gifted essayist and orator whose writings ranged far beyond the law to…

33

Q&A

6

Concepts

31m

Section weightage

Section C · Literature Textbooks (Hornbill & Snapshots) · across all 16 lessons

Start learning — read this chapter →

Key concepts

Hover a concept to preview it and jump to its most relevant Q&A.

Environmental Degradation

Imagine you have a glass of clean water. You drop a spoonful of mud into it. The water becomes cloudy, less useful for drinking, and harder for fish to live in.

Most relevant Q&A

Start with this concept →

Chapter contents

The NCERT structure, section by section. Open a section to see its questions, then read the concept-first solution.

About the Author and the Text

Nani Palkhivala (1920-2002) was one of India's most respected jurists, economists and public thinkers.

1.1

Summary of the Lesson

Palkhivala opens by praising the Green Movement, which he says has gripped the imagination of the whole human race more completely and rapidly than any other movement in history.

1.2

Themes

The Earth as a Living, Ailing Organism The essay's central theme is that the earth is not a lifeless machine but a living being whose health is failing.

1.3

Key Arguments, Facts and Examples

Because this is a persuasive essay, Palkhivala builds his case with concrete facts, expert voices and vivid examples rather than a plot. The main strands of his argument are set out below.

1.4

Title and Message

The title and the closing appeal together carry the whole purpose of Palkhivala's essay. The two sub-sections below examine what the title means and what the writer finally wants us to feel and do.

1.4.1

Significance of the Title

The title "The Ailing Planet: the Green Movement's Role" has two halves that mirror the essay's structure.

1.4.2

Message of the Lesson

The essay's message is a call to responsibility and hope. Palkhivala wants us to realise that the earth is a living organism in poor health, and that we — "the world's most dangerous animal" — are the…

Summary

- Text author: A persuasive essay by Nani Palkhivala, published in The Indian Express on 24 November 1994; still relevant today.

Understanding the Text

+Understanding the Texti4 questions
  1. Q1Locate the lines in the text that support the title 'The Ailing Planet'.Free
  2. Q2What does the notice 'The world's most dangerous animal' at a cage in the zoo at Lusaka, Zambia, signify?Free
  3. Q3How are the earth's principal biological systems being depleted?Preview
  4. Q4Why does the author aver that the growth of world population is one of the strongest factors distorting the future of human society?Preview

Talking about the Text

+Talking about the Texti4 questions
  1. Q1Discuss in groups of four. Laws are never respected nor enforced in India.Free
  2. Q2Discuss in groups of four. "Are we to leave our successors a scorched planet of advancing deserts, impoverished landscapes and an ailing env…Free
  3. Q3Discuss in groups of four. "We have not inherited this earth from our forefathers; we have borrowed it from our children".Preview
  4. Q4Discuss in groups of four. The problems of overpopulation that directly affect our everyday life.Preview

Thinking about Language

+Thinking about Languagei7 questions
  1. Q1The phrase 'inter alia' meaning 'among other things' is one of the many Latin expressions commonly used in English. Find out what these Lati…Free
  2. Q2The phrase 'inter alia' meaning 'among other things' is one of the many Latin expressions commonly used in English. Find out what these Lati…Free
  3. Q3The phrase 'inter alia' meaning 'among other things' is one of the many Latin expressions commonly used in English. Find out what these Lati…Free
  4. Q4The phrase 'inter alia' meaning 'among other things' is one of the many Latin expressions commonly used in English. Find out what these Lati…Preview
  5. Q5The phrase 'inter alia' meaning 'among other things' is one of the many Latin expressions commonly used in English. Find out what these Lati…Preview
  6. Q6The phrase 'inter alia' meaning 'among other things' is one of the many Latin expressions commonly used in English. Find out what these Lati…Preview
  7. Q7The phrase 'inter alia' meaning 'among other things' is one of the many Latin expressions commonly used in English. Find out what these Lati…Preview

Working with Words

+Working with Wordsi2 questions
  1. Q1I. Locate the following phrases in the text and study their connotation. 1. gripped the imagination of 2. dawned upon 3. ushered in 4. passe…Free
  2. Q2II. The words 'grip', 'dawn', 'usher', 'coin', 'passport' have a literal as well as a figurative meaning. Write pairs of sentences using eac…Preview

Things to Do

+Things to Doi2 questions
  1. Q1Make posters to highlight the importance of the Green Movement.Free
  2. Q2Maintain a record of the trees cut down and the parks demolished in your area, or any other act that violates the environment. Write to news…Preview

About the Unit

The Hornbill textbook ends the chapter with a short descriptor of what each exercise section is meant to do. It is summarised here as a guide to how the questions are organised.

Additional Practice

Extra exam-style practice questions written by us on this lesson — beyond the NCERT textbook's own exercises — for more CBSE board-exam preparation.

+Additional Practicei14 questions
  1. Q1Why does Nani Palkhivala describe the earth as an 'ailing planet'? (Answer in 30–40 words.)Free
  2. Q2When and where was the world's first nationwide Green party founded, and what change in human thinking does the author associate with the Gr…Free
  3. Q3What is meant by the holistic and ecological view of the world, and how does it differ from the earlier mechanistic view? (Answer in 30–40 w…Free
  4. Q4What lesson did the notice on a cage in the zoo at Lusaka, Zambia, teach its visitors? (Answer in 30–40 words.)Preview
  5. Q5Name the earth's four principal biological systems and state why they are called the foundation of the global economic system. (Answer in 30…Preview
  6. Q6How does the World Commission on Environment and Development define sustainable development? (Answer in 30–40 words.)Preview
  7. Q7Why are tropical forests called the powerhouse of evolution, and what is happening to them according to the essay? (Answer in 30–40 words.)Preview
  8. Q8What do Article 48A and Article 51A(g) of the Indian Constitution provide for the environment, and why does the author still find the positi…Preview
  9. Q9Why does the author regard population growth as one of the strongest factors distorting the future of human society? (Answer in 30–40 words.…Preview
  10. Q10'The earth is a living organism of which humanity is a part, and we hold it in trust for those who come after us.' Discuss this theme of ste…Preview
  11. Q11Examine the author's argument that population is the gravest threat to the environment, and the remedies he proposes — development, educatio…Preview
  12. Q12What does the author mean by the 'Era of Responsibility'? Discuss the roles he assigns to industry, law and ordinary citizens in nursing the…Preview
  13. Q13Justify the title 'The Ailing Planet: the Green Movement's Role'. How apt is the image of the earth as a patient whose condition is deterior…Preview
  14. Q14'Man is the world's most dangerous animal — and the only one able to save the planet.' Critically discuss this paradox as it emerges in the…Preview