Journey to the End of the Earth (Vistas) — Important Questions
25 questions
With answersCBSE format
SUMMARY: "Journey to the End of the Earth" by Tishani Doshi describes the author's journey to Antarctica, highlighting the continent's unique environment and the impact of climate change. KEY TOPICS: Antarctica, climate change, ecological balance, human impact on nature, Tishani Doshi, environmental awareness, global warming, scientific exploration, icebergs, biodiversity
Approximately when did the supercontinent Gondwana exist according to Tishani?
AFive hundred years ago
BFive thousand years ago
C650 million years ago
D2 billion years ago
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Correct answer: Option 3 — 650 million years ago
Q51 Mark
The biggest threat to Antarctica today according to Tishani Doshi is:
ATourism
BClimate change / global warming
CMining
DOzone hole
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Correct answer: Option 2 — Climate change / global warming
Short Answer Questions5 questions
Q63 Marks
Why did Tishani Doshi consider her journey to Antarctica important?
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For Tishani Antarctica was important because it offers a unique perspective on the past present and future of Earth. The continent preserves ancient geological history (Gondwana the supercontinent); contains 90 per cent of the world's freshwater ice; and is the most sensitive indicator of climate change. Her journey was both personal exploration and a form of climate-change witnessing — she went to see for herself how warming was visible at the ends of the Earth.
Q73 Marks
What is Gondwana and why is Antarctica important for understanding it?
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Gondwana was the giant supercontinent that existed 650 million years ago combining what are now South America Africa Australia Antarctica and India. Antarctica was at the centre. As Gondwana broke apart and the continents drifted Antarctica retained the most original undisturbed landscape. Studying it gives scientists clues about Earth's geological history climate cycles and how current continents emerged. Tishani's chapter calls Antarctica 'the last great wilderness' precisely because of its preservational role.
Q83 Marks
How does Tishani feel when she steps on Antarctic land for the first time?
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Tishani is overwhelmed by the vastness of white the silence and the sense of being on a continent uncluttered by human history. She describes the astonishing 24-hour sunlight enormous icebergs blue glaciers and the strange peaceful absence of trees buildings and cars. There is awe at being somewhere that holds so much of Earth's past and so much of its future climate destiny in balance. She also feels a curious humility — humans seem small against the vast white silence.
Q93 Marks
What is the purpose of the 'Students on Ice' expedition?
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The Students on Ice programme founded by Geoff Green takes high school students to Antarctica to give them firsthand experience of the polar ecosystem and climate change. The idea is that future leaders need to see for themselves the fragility of polar regions; abstract knowledge becomes vivid reality. Most participants come away inspired to engage with environmental issues. The programme combines education adventure and policy advocacy. Tishani joined this expedition writing about it for The Hindu newspaper.
Q103 Marks
What is meant by phytoplankton being the 'grasses of the sea'?
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Phytoplankton are microscopic single-celled plants that float in the ocean. They are called 'grasses of the sea' because — like grass on land — they are the primary food source supporting the entire marine food chain. They use sunlight and carbon dioxide to make food (photosynthesis) producing roughly half the oxygen on Earth. The collapse of phytoplankton due to ocean warming would unravel the food chain and reduce oxygen production. Tishani uses them as a striking example of how a tiny organism holds up the entire marine biosphere.
Long Answer Questions5 questions
Q116 Marks
Discuss how Tishani Doshi presents the threat of climate change in 'Journey to the End of the Earth'.
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Tishani's chapter is at heart a climate-change essay told through travel writing. (1) PERSONAL OBSERVATION — She reports what she sees: shrinking glaciers blue patches of melt water exposed rock where ice used to be. The visible nature of these changes lends her observations weight. (2) STATISTICS — She cites that 90 per cent of the world's freshwater ice is in Antarctica. If even a fraction melts global sea levels rise by metres displacing coastal populations. (3) FOOD CHAIN — She explains how warming hurts phytoplankton (grasses of the sea) which support the marine food chain — collapse there ripples outward affecting fish whales birds and ultimately human food. (4) OZONE HOLE — She references the ozone-hole discovery that Antarctic research first revealed proving that polar regions are scientific sentinels. (5) GONDWANA HISTORY — By tracing climate cycles over hundreds of millions of years she places present warming in geological perspective showing it is unprecedented in speed if not in magnitude. (6) STUDENTS ON ICE — Her recommendation is to bring future leaders to Antarctica because seeing produces conviction more than reading. (7) URGENT TONE — She does not lecture; she observes and lets the observations build cumulative urgency. By the end the reader feels that Antarctica is not just a place but a litmus test for humanity's stewardship of the planet.
Q126 Marks
How does the chapter use Antarctica as a metaphor for Earth's past present and future?
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Tishani's craftsmanship lies in making Antarctica a living museum across three time horizons. (1) PAST — Antarctica preserves geological history from the supercontinent Gondwana through ice cores millions of years old. The continent is the Earth's archive — its rocks layers of ice and undisturbed landscapes hold information no other place has retained. To stand in Antarctica is to stand on Earth's deep history. (2) PRESENT — Antarctica today is the planet's most sensitive climate indicator. Glaciers are shrinking ice shelves are calving the ozone hole forms here. What happens at the poles signals what is happening globally. The continent functions as the Earth's vital signs monitor. (3) FUTURE — Antarctica will determine the planet's climate future. Its ice holds 90 per cent of global freshwater. If it melts coastal cities will drown civilisations will be displaced ecosystems will collapse. The continent therefore represents not just where we have been but where we are going. THREE-FOLD METAPHOR — By walking on Antarctica Tishani touches all three time horizons of Earth simultaneously. The chapter's title 'Journey to the End of the Earth' is therefore also a journey through time — the literal end of geographic Earth becomes a metaphor for the end of an era of climate stability and possibly of human-friendly conditions altogether. The metaphor gives an environmental argument poetic force.
Q136 Marks
Why do you think Geoff Green takes school students to Antarctica? Discuss the philosophy behind 'Students on Ice'.
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Geoff Green's Students on Ice programme is built on a powerful educational philosophy: that direct experience of the polar regions creates conviction that no classroom lecture or video can produce. (1) FIRSTHAND ENCOUNTER — Reading about glacier melt is one thing; standing beside a melting glacier is another. The visual and emotional impact of seeing ice retreat in real time shapes the rest of a student's life. (2) FUTURE LEADERS — Green specifically targets high-school students because they will be tomorrow's policymakers business leaders scientists and citizens. Equipping them with vivid memories of Antarctica seeds future climate action. (3) DEMOCRATIC ACCESS — The programme deliberately includes students from many backgrounds — not just elites — so the experience does not become a privilege but a generational responsibility. (4) HUMILITY — Antarctica's vastness silence and indifference to human concerns teaches humility. Students return with a sense of proportion that often reshapes their priorities. (5) COMMUNITY — The cohort experience — sharing meals discussions and shocks — builds lifelong networks of climate-aware leaders. (6) ADVOCACY — Many participants become climate advocates educators and scientists in turn. The investment compounds across decades. Geoff Green's bet is that the most effective climate-change education is geographic not pedagogic — take young people to where the planet's vulnerability is visible and they will become advocates for the rest of their lives. Tishani's chapter validates the bet through her own transformed perspective.
Q146 Marks
How does Tishani Doshi's writing style enhance the chapter's environmental message?
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Tishani's prose style matters as much as her content because the message is not new but the delivery makes it land freshly. (1) PERSONAL VOICE — She writes in first person sharing her astonishment confusion and emotion. The reader walks beside her not behind a lecturer. (2) VIVID DESCRIPTION — Her sentences create images: the blue ice the 24-hour sun the silence so deep one can hear one's own breath. These images are memorable in a way statistics are not. (3) HISTORICAL DEPTH — She zooms out to Gondwana and back placing today's climate concerns in geological perspective. The shift in scale enriches the argument. (4) SCIENTIFIC GROUNDING — She uses specifics — 90 per cent of world's freshwater 650 million years phytoplankton — without overwhelming the reader. Science is woven into narrative not piled on top. (5) HUMAN STORIES — She mentions Geoff Green and the students. The expedition becomes a human drama not just a science report. (6) RESTRAINT — She does not moralise or wave alarms. She trusts the facts and her observations to make the case. The restraint earns the reader's trust and lets the urgency build cumulatively. (7) METAPHORICAL TITLE — 'Journey to the End of the Earth' invites multiple readings — geographic temporal civilisational. The title itself is part of the argument. By marrying clear scientific content with first-person travel writing Tishani makes climate change feel personal urgent and possible to engage with — exactly the qualities the issue most needs in popular writing.
Q156 Marks
Discuss the significance of Antarctica as 'the last great wilderness' in the chapter.
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Tishani calls Antarctica 'the last great wilderness' and the phrase carries multiple layers of meaning. (1) GEOGRAPHIC — Antarctica is the only continent without permanent human inhabitants without cities without industry. It is the last large area of Earth that human civilisation has not paved fenced or polluted. (2) ECOLOGICAL — Its ecosystems have evolved without human disturbance. Penguins seals and whales live by rhythms set by the sun and ice not by trade routes or factories. (3) CLIMATIC — It plays a unique role in regulating global climate. Its ice reflects sunlight cooling the planet; its currents drive ocean circulation. To call it wilderness is also to acknowledge that wilderness has planet-wide functions. (4) SCIENTIFIC — Because it is undisturbed it is the planet's best laboratory for studying climate ozone biology and geology. (5) MORAL — Calling it 'the last' implies that we have lost all the others. The phrase is both a description and a lament — a recognition that humans have transformed every other continent and have only this one place left. (6) URGENT — If 'the last' is destroyed there will be no more wilderness. The phrase therefore carries an implicit call to protect it not just for itself but for all that wilderness once meant for humanity. Tishani's careful choice of words turns a geographic description into an environmental argument. By the end the reader understands that what is at stake in Antarctica is not just one continent but the very idea of wild Earth.
Assertion–Reason Questions5 questions
Q161 Mark
Assertion (A): Antarctica holds about 90 per cent of the world's freshwater ice.
Reason (R): Even partial melting due to climate change would raise global sea levels significantly displacing coastal populations.
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Correct answer: Option 1 —
Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A.
Q171 Mark
Assertion (A): Antarctica was once at the centre of the supercontinent Gondwana.
Reason (R): Studying it offers clues to Earth's deep geological and climatic history.
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Correct answer: Option 1 —
Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A.
Q181 Mark
Assertion (A): Geoff Green takes school students rather than older tourists to Antarctica.
Reason (R): Young people will be tomorrow's leaders and seeing climate change firsthand shapes them as future advocates.
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Correct answer: Option 1 —
Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A.
Q191 Mark
Assertion (A): Phytoplankton are called 'grasses of the sea'.
Reason (R): They support the entire marine food chain and produce roughly half of Earth's oxygen.
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Correct answer: Option 1 —
Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A.
Q201 Mark
Assertion (A): Antarctica is described as the last great wilderness on Earth.
Reason (R): Every other continent has been transformed by human activity making Antarctica the only place that retains its original wild character.
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Correct answer: Option 1 —
Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A.
Statement-Based Questions5 questions
Q211 Mark
Statement 1: Tishani Doshi is an Indian writer and dancer.
Statement 2: She wrote about her Antarctic journey for The Hindu newspaper.
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Correct answer: Option 1 —
Both statements are true.
Q221 Mark
Statement 1: Antarctica was once part of Gondwana.
Statement 2: Gondwana broke apart roughly 650 million years ago.
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Correct answer: Option 1 —
Both statements are true.
Q231 Mark
Statement 1: Climate change is the biggest threat to Antarctica.
Statement 2: Melting ice would raise sea levels and disrupt marine ecosystems.
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Correct answer: Option 1 —
Both statements are true.
Q241 Mark
Statement 1: Antarctica is a window into Earth's past present and future.
Statement 2: The continent's ice glaciers and ecosystems serve as a planetary archive and indicator.
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Correct answer: Option 1 —
Both statements are true.
Q251 Mark
Statement 1: Geoff Green founded the Students on Ice expedition.
Statement 2: The programme aims to inspire future climate-conscious leaders through firsthand experience.
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Correct answer: Option 1 —
Both statements are true.
