Class 7 English · Original EZT practice
Conquering the Summit (Class 7 English Chapter 12): Arunima Sinha's vow
In 2011, Arunima Sinha, a 24-year-old national-level volleyball player from Ambedkar Nagar, Uttar Pradesh, survived a train accident that cost her a leg. Lying in a hospital bed, she made a vow many thought impossible: not just to walk on a prosthetic leg, but to climb Mount Everest. On 21 May 2013, after 52 exhausting days, she stood on the summit - the first Indian female amputee to do so. This page gives a summary, word meanings and practice questions. (Note: this is original practice, not a textbook exercise key.)
6 original worked examples, 6 fresh self-check questions and 4 mixed questions, with explained answers. These are not copied textbook exercises, an official chapter index or a full answer key. No affiliation with NCERT is claimed.
Official sources for topic and edition context, checked 23 October 2026:
1. Story summary - the accident and the vow
Arunima grew up in a sports-loving family in Ambedkar Nagar - her father was an army engineer and her mother a health supervisor. After her law degree she planned to join the paramilitary forces so she could keep playing sport with a regular income. On the night of 11 April 2011 she met with a train accident; she survived with an amputated leg, received a prosthetic leg and physiotherapy, and - inspired by an article about Mount Everest - resolved to climb the highest peak in the world.
2. Story summary - training, Bachendri Pal and the summit
Arunima completed a basic mountaineering course at the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering in Uttarkashi, followed by eighteen months of rigorous training. She asked Bachendri Pal - the first Indian woman to summit Everest - to guide her. On 21 May 2013, after 52 exhausting days, Arunima reached the summit, displayed the Indian flag, and left behind a photograph of her idol, Swami Vivekananda.
3. Story summary - the Seven Summits and honours
Everest was not the end. By July 2016 Arunima had summited Elbrus (Europe), Kilimanjaro (Africa), Kosciuszko (Australia), Aconcagua (South America) and Denali (North America), besides Everest in Asia; in January 2019 she climbed Mount Vinson in Antarctica - the world's first female amputee to do so - completing the Seven Summits. She received the Padma Shri in 2015, the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award, and an honorary doctorate from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow.
4. Word meanings
Margin words from the story - beacon, resilience, amputated, prosthetic leg, feat, harrowing, rigorous, endeavour, endurance, fortitude, adversity - fixed to plain meanings.
Choose, solve, check, then try a fresh question.
Before calculating, read the method prompt and name the condition that makes it useful. Write your own attempt. Open the steps only when you need them, and use the check to catch a wrong sign, unit or interpretation. Finish with the fresh question before reading its answer.
Fix the vow and its inspiration
Choose the method: Hospital bed to Everest.
EZT practice question
What decision did Arunima make during her recovery, and what inspired it?
Show the worked solution
- She lay in hospital with one leg amputated after the train accident.
- While undergoing physiotherapy with her prosthetic leg, she read an article about Mount Everest.
- She resolved not only to walk again but to climb the highest peak in the world.
Answer: She resolved to climb Mount Everest, inspired by an article she read about the mountain while undergoing physiotherapy with her prosthetic leg.
Check: The vow came at her lowest point - that is what makes it remarkable.
Watch for this: Do not say she decided before the accident - the vow was made in the hospital bed, after the amputation.
Now try it yourself
Which sport did Arunima play at the national level?
Check your answer
Volleyball.
She was a national-level volleyball player before the accident.
Recall her plan before the accident
Choose the method: Law degree, then paramilitary.
EZT practice question
What work did Arunima plan to take up after her law degree, and why?
Show the worked solution
- She completed her law degree.
- She planned a job in the paramilitary forces.
- The reason: she could continue her passion for sports while earning a regular income.
Answer: She planned to join the paramilitary forces, so she could continue her passion for sports while earning a regular income.
Check: Her father was an army engineer and her mother a health supervisor - a sports-loving, service-minded family.
Watch for this: Do not say she planned to be a lawyer - the law degree was done, but the plan was the paramilitary forces.
Now try it yourself
Why does the textbook call her survival 'miraculous'?
Check your answer
The hours after the accident were harrowing, and she never imagined she would survive that night - yet she displayed an extraordinary will to live.
Survival itself was the first summit.
Trace the training
Choose the method: Course, then eighteen months.
EZT practice question
How did Arunima prepare for Everest?
Show the worked solution
- A basic mountaineering course at the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering in Uttarkashi.
- Eighteen months of rigorous training.
- She asked Bachendri Pal, the first Indian woman to summit Everest, to guide her - and Bachendri Pal instilled confidence in her.
Answer: A basic course at the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Uttarkashi, eighteen months of rigorous training, and guidance from Bachendri Pal, the first Indian woman on Everest.
Check: Preparation came before the attempt - no shortcuts to the summit.
Watch for this: Do not name Edmund Hillary or Tenzing Norgay as her guide - her guide was Bachendri Pal.
Now try it yourself
What did Bachendri Pal mean by 'you have conquered the Everest within you'?
Check your answer
Deciding to climb Everest on a prosthetic leg already proved Arunima had defeated her own fear and doubt - the inner mountain; the world would see the outer victory later.
The inner summit comes first.
Fix the summit day
Choose the method: 21 May 2013, 52 days.
EZT practice question
When did Arunima reach the summit, and what did she do there?
Show the worked solution
- On 21 May 2013, after 52 exhausting days, she reached the summit.
- She displayed the Indian flag.
- She left behind a photograph of her idol, Swami Vivekananda, whose teachings had inspired her.
Answer: On 21 May 2013, after 52 exhausting days, she reached the summit, displayed the Indian flag and left a photograph of her idol, Swami Vivekananda - the first Indian female amputee to climb Everest.
Check: Two things at the summit: the flag displayed, the photograph left behind.
Watch for this: Do not say she was the first Indian woman on Everest - that was Bachendri Pal; Arunima was the first Indian female amputee.
Now try it yourself
Whose photograph did Arunima leave at the summit?
Check your answer
Swami Vivekananda's - her idol, whose teachings had inspired her.
A tribute carried to the top of the world.
List the Seven Summits finish
Choose the method: Vinson, January 2019.
EZT practice question
How did Arunima complete the Seven Summits?
Show the worked solution
- After Everest (Asia, 2013) she climbed the highest peaks of other continents by July 2016 - Elbrus, Kilimanjaro, Kosciuszko, Aconcagua, Denali.
- In January 2019 she climbed Mount Vinson in Antarctica.
- She was the world's first female amputee to climb Vinson - and that completed the Seven Summits.
Answer: After Everest she climbed the highest peaks of the other continents by July 2016, and in January 2019 summited Mount Vinson in Antarctica - the seventh and final summit - as the world's first female amputee to climb it.
Check: Seven continents, seven highest peaks - Vinson was the last.
Watch for this: Do not say Everest completed the Seven Summits - Everest was the first of her seven, Vinson the last.
Now try it yourself
Which honours did Arunima receive?
Check your answer
The Padma Shri in 2015 (the fourth highest civilian award), the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award, the National Award for Best Female Mountaineer, and an honorary doctorate from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow.
Her autobiography is Born Again on the Mountain.
Match the margin words
Choose the method: One plain meaning each.
EZT practice question
Match: beacon, resilience, feat, endeavour - with their meanings.
Show the worked solution
- beacon - a source of inspiration or hope.
- resilience - the ability to recover quickly from a difficulty.
- feat - an achievement; endeavour - an attempt to do something.
Answer: beacon - a source of inspiration; resilience - the ability to recover quickly from difficulty; feat - an achievement; endeavour - an attempt to do something.
Check: Her story is a 'beacon of hope and resilience' - the textbook's own phrase.
Watch for this: Do not confuse feat (achievement) with feet - a painful pun this story makes easy to avoid.
Now try it yourself
Explain 'fortitude' and 'endurance' in: 'Her story is about mental fortitude as much as physical endurance.'
Check your answer
Fortitude - strength of mind in difficulty; endurance - the ability to keep doing something difficult for a long time.
One is the mind, the other the body - she needed both.
Try a mixed set
Choose a method or explanation before opening each answer.
1. The accident?
Show answer and reason
A train accident on the night of 11 April 2011; she survived with an amputated leg.
She was 24, a national-level volleyball player.
2. The vow?
Show answer and reason
Not just to walk on a prosthetic leg, but to climb Mount Everest.
Inspired by an article about Everest.
3. The summit?
Show answer and reason
21 May 2013, after 52 exhausting days - first Indian female amputee on Everest.
Flag displayed, Vivekananda's photo left behind.
4. The seventh summit?
Show answer and reason
Mount Vinson, Antarctica, January 2019.
World's first female amputee to climb it.
Try it yourself
Work these on paper before checking any notes. Answers are deliberately not shown here.
- Name the institute and the guide behind Arunima's Everest training.
- What two things did Arunima do at the Everest summit?
- In one sentence, say what the 'Everest within you' means.
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Questions about this practice page
- Who is Arunima Sinha?
- A national-level volleyball player from Ambedkar Nagar, Uttar Pradesh, who lost a leg in a 2011 train accident and became the first Indian female amputee to climb Mount Everest (2013).
- When did Arunima climb Mount Everest?
- On 21 May 2013, after 52 exhausting days of climbing.
- Who trained and guided Arunima?
- She trained at the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Uttarkashi, and was guided by Bachendri Pal, the first Indian woman on Everest.
- What are the Seven Summits Arunima completed?
- Everest (Asia), Elbrus (Europe), Kilimanjaro (Africa), Kosciuszko (Australia), Aconcagua (South America), Denali (North America), and Mount Vinson (Antarctica, January 2019).
- Are these the NCERT exercise questions for Class 7 English Chapter 12?
- No. EZT pages are original practice following the chapter's section order - use them to prepare for the textbook exercises, not as a substitute for your book.