Conquering the Summit — Class 7 English (CBSE)

From the current NCERT Poorvi Grade 7 book, Unit 4: Travel and Adventure, Chapter 12. The inspiring true story of Arunima Sinha, the first female amputee to climb Mount Everest.

1. About the lesson

• Text type: A biography (a true life story).
• Subject: Arunima Sinha, a real Indian mountaineer.
• Main theme: Determination, courage, and never giving up on a dream.

2. Summary

Arunima Sinha was a national-level volleyball player. In 2011, while travelling by train, she was attacked by robbers and thrown from the moving train; she was badly hurt and her leg had to be amputated below the knee. Lying in hospital, instead of giving up, she made a bold decision: she would climb Mount Everest, the world's highest peak. She trained hard at the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering in Uttarkashi and was guided by Bachendri Pal, the first Indian woman to climb Everest. Despite great pain and difficulty, on 21 May 2013 Arunima became the first female amputee in the world to reach the summit of Mount Everest. She went on to climb the highest peaks on other continents too. Her life shows that with determination, courage and hard work, even the greatest obstacles can be overcome.

3. Theme and values

• Determination — turning tragedy into a goal.
• Courage — climbing Everest after losing a leg.
• Hard work — long, painful training.
• Inspiration — proving that limits can be crossed.

4. New words and meanings

5. Let Us Think (comprehension)

1. What sport did Arunima Sinha play? Volleyball (at the national level).

2. How did she lose her leg? She was thrown from a moving train by robbers and her leg had to be amputated.

3. What goal did she set in hospital? To climb Mount Everest.

4. Who guided her training, and where? Bachendri Pal guided her; she trained at the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Uttarkashi.

5. What record did she achieve, and when? She became the first female amputee to climb Mount Everest, on 21 May 2013.

6. Language and grammar

Words from a root

From "determine" we get determination, determined. Make words from "courage".

Time expressions

Find dates and time-words in the lesson (in 2011, on 21 May 2013). Use one in a sentence about your own plan.

7. Writing and speaking

• Writing: Write a paragraph (6–8 lines) on "A difficulty I overcame" or "My role model and why".
• Speaking: Tell the class one goal you will work hard for, and how.

8. Common mistakes

• Mistake: Saying she climbed Everest before the accident. Fix: She climbed it after losing her leg — that is what makes it remarkable.
• Mistake: Forgetting her mentor. Fix: Bachendri Pal (first Indian woman on Everest) guided her.
• Mistake: One-word answers. Fix: Add the key fact (date, place, or who).

9. Practice set

1. Who was Arunima Sinha before the accident?
2. What terrible thing happened to her in 2011?
3. What did she decide to do, and why is it remarkable?
4. Where did she train and who mentored her?
5. What record did she set on 21 May 2013?

10. Answer key

1. A national-level volleyball player.
2. Robbers threw her from a moving train and she lost a leg.
3. She decided to climb Mount Everest — remarkable because she did it as an amputee.
4. The Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Uttarkashi; mentored by Bachendri Pal.
5. She became the first female amputee to climb Mount Everest.

11. Quick revision

• Unit 4: Travel and Adventure · Chapter 12 · biography of Arunima Sinha.
• A national volleyball player; lost a leg after being thrown from a train (2011).
• Decided to climb Everest; trained at NIM, Uttarkashi; mentored by Bachendri Pal.
• 21 May 2013: first female amputee to summit Mount Everest.
• Theme: determination, courage, hard work, never giving up.

Unit 4: Travel and Adventure

This chapter is part of Unit 4: Travel and Adventure. The three chapters in this unit are:

• Chapter 10: The Tunnel — a story by Ruskin Bond
• Chapter 11: Travel — a poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay
• Chapter 12: Conquering the Summit — the story of Arunima Sinha