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NCERT Solutions for Class 9th English Chapter 5 Nine Gold Medals (poem) — Learning Beyond the Text

Book page 167–168 Updated on2026-09-08

Q1.
I. Read the information given below about some athletes who participated in Special Olympic Games 2023 held in Berlin, Germany. Ravimathi Arumugam — She is an athlete who made India proud by clinching the gold medal in the 400 metre, Level C women’s race. Aanchal Goyal — She won the gold medal in the 400 metre, Level B women’s race. Saket Kundu — Saket Kundu achieved a rare double in track and field by winning a silver medal in the Level B mini javelin event and a bronze in the Level B 400 metre men’s race. Find out more about other Indian achievers of Special Olympics.
Answer

First, read the three entries properly — there is more information in them than a quick glance suggests.

AthleteEventResult at Berlin, 2023
Ravimathi Arumugam400 metre, Level C, womenGold
Aanchal Goyal400 metre, Level B, womenGold
Saket KunduLevel B mini javelin; Level B 400 metre, menSilver and bronze — “a rare double in track and field”
What ‘Level B’ and ‘Level C’ tell you — and it is the most interesting thing on the page. Notice that both women won gold in the same event, the 400 metres, at different levels. At the Special Olympics, athletes are placed in divisions with others of similar ability before the competition begins, so that every final is genuinely close. That is why two golds in one distance is not a mistake. It is also the practical form of the idea the poem dramatises: the contest is arranged so that everyone has a real chance, not a token one.
How to do the research well:
  • Use sources you can name — Special Olympics Bharat, the Special Olympics international site, and newspaper reports of the 2023 Berlin World Games or the 2019 Abu Dhabi Games. Write the source next to each fact.
  • Record five things about each athlete: full name, home state, sport and event, best result with year and place, and one detail about how they train or who coaches them.
  • Look for the coaches and the families too. The radio-talk in this very unit is about a coach, Patrick Gomes, who was himself a Special Olympics footballer at Connecticut in 1995 and has coached for over fifteen years. The people behind the athletes are part of the story.
  • Write it up respectfully: name the athlete first, the achievement second. Say ‘athlete with an intellectual disability’, never ‘suffering from’. Report results as results — a gold medal is a gold medal.

Sample answer — one entry from a student’s research file:

Name: Ravimathi Arumugam. Sport and event: Athletics, 400 metres (Level C, women). Achievement: Gold at the Special Olympics World Summer Games, Berlin, 2023 — as recorded on page 167 of Kaveri. What I want to find out next: which state association she trains with, who coaches her, and what her timing was in the final. Where I will look: the Special Olympics Bharat website and newspaper reports from June 2023.

Q2.
III. Read the information given below in the infographic. [Infographic on page 168, titled OLYMPICS — A GLIMPSE, with five panels: (1) THE FIRST OLYMPIC GAME TOOK PLACE IN 776 BC — the original Olympics began as part of an ancient Greek festival celebrating Zeus, the Greek God of sky and weather; held every four years, alternating between summer and winter editions; the Olympic motto is ‘Citius-Altius-Fortius-Communiter’, meaning ‘Faster-Higher-Stronger-Together’. (2) THE OLYMPIC TORCH IS A REMINDER OF THE GAMES’ GREEK ORIGINS — the torch symbolises peace and friendship; a flame is lit at Olympia, Greece, a few months before the Games and carried over several weeks to the host city, where the cauldron is lit. (3) THE OLYMPIC SYMBOL WAS DESIGNED TO INCLUDE EVERYONE — the rings were produced in 1913 and represent the union of the five continents and the meeting of athletes from throughout the world. (4) PARALYMPICS — for athletes with disabilities; the symbol, the Agitos, is Latin for “I move”. (5) SPECIAL OLYMPICS — sports training and athletic competition in Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities; it strives to create a better world by fostering the acceptance and inclusion of all people.] Now, create an infographic on any sport and present it in the class.
Answer

Study the model before you copy the method. The infographic on page 168 does five things: it gives itself a short title (Olympics — A Glimpse), breaks the subject into five panels, gives each panel a headline that is a complete statement of fact, keeps each block of text to three or four lines, and pairs every block with one picture.

PanelHeadlineFacts you should be able to quote from it
1The first Olympic game took place in 776 BCPart of an ancient Greek festival celebrating Zeus, god of sky and weather; every four years; summer and winter editions; motto ‘Citius-Altius-Fortius-Communiter’ — Faster-Higher-Stronger-Together.
2The Olympic torch is a reminder of the Games’ Greek originsSymbolises peace and friendship; flame lit at Olympia, Greece; carried for weeks to the host city; the Games open by lighting the cauldron.
3The Olympic symbol was designed to include everyoneRings produced in 1913; represent the union of the five continents and athletes meeting from all over the world.
4ParalympicsFor athletes with disabilities; the symbol is the Agitos, Latin for “I move”.
5Special OlympicsSports training and competition in Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities; strives “to create a better world by fostering the acceptance and inclusion of all people”.
What a good infographic of your own needs:
  • One sport, five panels. Do not try to cover a whole subject. Choose kabaddi, or kho-kho, or para archery — something you can research properly.
  • A headline per panel that states a fact, not a topic. ‘Kabaddi is played on a 13 × 10 metre court’ beats ‘The court’.
  • Numbers and dates. Infographics live on hard facts — years, measurements, counts of players, records.
  • Three to four lines of text per panel, and one image. If a panel needs a paragraph, split it into two panels.
  • A consistent palette of two or three colours, and dotted or arrowed lines to guide the eye from panel to panel, as the model does.
  • Sources at the foot, in small type.

Sample answer — plan for an infographic on ‘Para Archery: A Glimpse’:

  1. Archery is one of the oldest sports in the Paralympic Games — it was on the programme at the very first Games in Rome in 1960, and its roots lie in the Stoke Mandeville competition organised by Sir Ludwig Guttmann in 1948. Image: a target face.
  2. Two bows, two events — the recurve bow is shot at 70 metres, the compound bow at 50 metres; both at a target ten rings wide. Image: the two bow shapes side by side.
  3. Archers compete in divisions based on function — some shoot standing, some from a chair, and archers who do not use their arms shoot with the feet and release with the shoulder or jaw. Image: an archer seated, foot on the riser.
  4. India at the target — Sheetal Devi, honoured with the Arjuna Award in January 2024, competes in the compound event, drawing the bow with her leg. Image: the illustration on page 137 of this chapter.
  5. The skill is stillness — an archer must hold a drawn bow steady while the heart is beating hard, and release without a tremor; the difference between gold and fourth place is a few millimetres. Image: a close-up of a ten-ring.
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