Word Galaxy
1. Barrage of questions– an overwhelming number of questions.
2. Memoir– a historical account written from personal knowledge
3. Reckoned– was of the opinion
4. incredibly– extremely
5. Impoverished– made poor
6. Lost his marbles– lost his mind
7. Slammed– pushed with great force
8. Flickered– shone unsteadily; varied in brightness
9. Contraption– a machine or device that appears strange or unnecessarily complicated and unsafe
10. Ingenuity– the quality of being clever, original and inventive
Question and Answer
Q. 1. What was the occupation of the Malawians? How was their life in the village?
Ans: Most families in Malawi were farmers. Where they lived, there were no computers, very few televisions, and for most of their life, they didn’t have electricity-just oil lamps that spewed smoke.
Q. 2. How did William and Geoffrey begin their own radio repair business?
Ans: William and Geoffrey were keen on finding out how radios and other machinery worked. They would dismantle a radio and then reconstruct it to find the secret sauce. In this way they began their own radio repair business.
Q. 3. What hardships did William face after the floods hit his village?
Ans: After the floods hit William’s village, his family lost the year’s harvest. The floods left them will nothing to eat and nothing to sell. Unfortunately for William, his family hadn’t any savings, so he could not continue his schooling.
Q. 4. How did William rise to fame?
Answer: William was only fourteen years old, when he built the wind turbine. He was a simple boy who had never even seen a computer but after his invention, he was discovered by journalists and invited to speak at a TED conference, which led to worldwide recognition of his accomplishments and goals.
Q. 5. How did the village library books play a key role in changing William’s Life?
Ans: After quitting school, William did not lose hope. In order to catch up with his classmates, he started reading books from his village library. He explored a few science books and came across the book ‘Explaining Physics’ which he found both amusing and educational. He taught himself the principles of electricity generation. He borrowed the book for a month and studied it daily. There were difficult words in the book which he could not understand therefore, he needed a dictionary. So visited the library the next day. There he came across an American textbook called ‘Using Energy’, and that book changed his life.
Q. 6. How did William build the wind turbine?
Ans: To build a wind turbine, William needed a dynamo to build the prototype but he did not have funds. So, his friend Gilbert offered to help him. Armed with knowledge, they start by creating the frame. William used his father’s broken bicycle; he attached the bicycle and dynamo to the tractor fan. He built a tall wooden tower and put the machine on top of it. He worked on it for months. As he fixed the wind the wind turbine, a gust of wind slammed against his body, and the blades spun like furious propellers.