Tilloo and his parents live on Mars. However, they do not live on the surface of the planet. They live beneath the surface under artificial conditions. Only some very skilled persons in special suits can go on the surface. They go with a reservoir of oxygen for important work. Tilloo’s father is one of them. He goes to work through a secret passage.Tilloo has always been anxious to go through the passage. However, he has been never allowed. One day Tilloo gets a chance. He gets hold of his father’s security card. Quietly he makes his way to the forbidden passage. He slips his father’s magle card into a slot. The door to the passage opens. Tilloo now looks forward to seeing the sun or the stars. He has never seen them before. But that was not to be. He moves hardly ten steps when the security staff gets hold of him. He is sent back to his mother.Tilloo’s father decides to brief him properly. He tells Tilloo that he cannot survive on the surface. The air is too thin and the temperature too low there. So he advises him not to try again to reach the surface of the planet.Tilloo’s father tells him that once upon a time their forefathers lived on the surface. But times changed. A slight change in the sun upset the balance of nature on the planet. First the birds became extinct. The animals followed. The fish also died. Human beings survived because of their superior technology. They used solar energy. Some of these machines which produce solar energy are on the surface. Tilloo’s father belongs to a special group. It is this group’s responsibility to look after these machines. He assured Tilloo that he could also join the team when he grew up. His mother however warned him that it was possible only if he obeyed his parents. Next day when Tulloo’s father went to work, he found the Control Room full of excitement. It was so because they had seen two space crafts. So far, it had been their belief that they were alone in the solar system. Although the conference room was full to capacity, nobody was speaking a word. They waited for the President to say somethingThe President looked at his paper carefully. After a pause he said that two spacecrafts were approaching their planet. While one of the two was orbiting the planet, the other was still far away. It was the President’s guess that they were from their neighbouring planet. Thereupon, he asked the opinion of his colleagues. Together, they had to deal with these spacecrafts. Number One was in charge of defence. He told what his reports had revealed. It was that the spacecraft did not contain any living beings. It had only instruments. He suggested that there was no need to destroy those spacecrafts. After their landing on Mars they could make them ineffective, if they so chose. Number Two also agreed With Number One. He added that by destroying those spacecrafts, they would be only revealing their existence.Number Three also agreed with what the other two had said. Just then the President’ got the message that the first spacecraft had landed.It was a red letter day in Tilloo’s life. His father had brought him to the Control Room. From here he could see the alien spacecraft on his TV screen. He looked with great interest at a panel with several coloured buttons on it. His father told him that this pane was very important. Through its buttons, they had power to make inert any part of the spacecraft. Suddenly there was some movement in the spacecraft. All eyes were now glued tp the TV screen. A mechanical hand was coming out of the spacecraft. It bent and tpuched the soil. Everyone in the control room was watching with great interest. lop could not contain himself. He pressed the red button on the panel. There was shirill whistle. His father pulled him away roughly. Then, he restored the red button its earlier position.But the damage was done. The mechanical hand of the spacecraft had ceased work.All this was happening on the Mars. On the earth NASA was holding a press Conference. The spacecraft had come from the earth. NASA had sent it. In the press qonference, it was said that everything was well with the spacecraft. Only the mechanical hand had stopped working. They, however expressed confidence that very soon everything will be set right.Soon after this, another press conference was held. It was informed that the mechanical hand had been reactivated. Soil samples were being collected. These samples would reveal whether there was life on Mars or not. This was the part of earth’s Viking Mission. The scientists behind the mission were disappointed. They found no signs of life on Mars.Comprehension Check (Page 69)
Question 1:
How does Tilloo manage to find his way to the ‘forbidden passage’?
Question 2:
What did Tilloo hope to see once he emerged from his underground home?
Question 3:
Why did Tilloo’s father advise him not to try to reach the surface of the planet?
Question 4:
What changes had occurred, which forced people to live in underground homes?
Answers:
One day Tilloo’s daddy was asleep. The boy picked up daddy’s I-card. Then he walked towards the forbidden secret passage. The card helped him open the door and enter the passage.
Tilloo hoped to see the sun or the stars after getting out of his underground home.
Tilloo’s father told him not to try to go to the surface of the planet because he won’t be able to breathe in the thin air or withstand the low temperature there.
The changing heat of the sun created conditions that killed all animals and birds. The air became thin and human beings could freeze to death.
Comprehension Check (Page-71)
Question 1:
Why was everyone in the Control Room greatly excited?
Question 2:
Was the spacecraft manned or unmanned? How do you know it?
Question 3:
What did Number One and Number Two suggest should be done about the alien spacecraft?
Answers:
Everyone in the Control Room was greatly excited because they had seen two spacecrafts coming towards their planet.
The spacecraft that landed on the surface was unmanned. It contained only instruments. A mechanical hand tried to collect samples of soil.
The Number One was in charge of defence. He suggested that they should wait till the craft landed on the surface. Then they could easily make it ineffective. Number Two also suggested that they should wait and watch. It would be unwise to reveal their existence by attacking the spacecraft.
Comprehension Check (Page-73)
Question 1:
What do you think the mechanical hand was trying to do?
Question 2:
Tilloo pressed the red button and “the damage was done”. What was the damage?
Question 3:
Where had the spacecraft come from?
Question 4:
On which planet do Tilloo and his parents live?
Answers:
The mechanical hand that emerged from the alien spacecraft, was trying to collect samples of soil from the surface of Mars. The purpose was to study if there was life on it.
Tilloo pressed the red button. It is dad who made it neutral again. But the damage was done. The mechanical hand stopped working. It became inactive.
The spacecraft had come from the planet Earth. It was sent by NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration, America).
Tilloo and his parents live on a planet with thin air, freezing cold and no animals on surface.
Exercises (Page-73)
Discuss the following topics in groups.
Question 1:
If you had to live in a home like Tilloo’s , what parts of life would you find most difficult? What compensations might there be?
Answer:
Living underground in artificial conditions without the light/warmth of the stars and the sun, must be very troublesome and dull. The only compensation of such a home is safety and security, controlled light and heat.
Question 2:
What, if anything, might drive mankind to make their homes underground?
Answer:
If the Sun grows cold, life on earth would be in danger of extinction. The temperature will go below freezing point. People will be forced to live underground with assured supply of oxygen, light and heat.
Question 3:
Do you think there is life on other planets? Can you guess what kind of people there may be on them? In what ways are they likely to be different from us?
Answer:
Scientists are trying hard to find out if there is any form of life on planets around the sun. So far they have sent spacecrafts to the moon and Mars, collected samples of soil and taken snapshots. But they have not found definite proof of life on them.
The kind of people, if they exist at all on any other planet, would be quite different from us. They must have adjusted themselves to strange and unfriendly environment there.
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