NCERT Book Class 11 English (Hornbill) Chapter 6 Silk Road; Father to Son

6 S ilk Road
N ick Middlet on

Notice these expressions in the text.
Infer their meaning from the context.

 ducking back  swathe  careered down
 manoeuvres  cairn of rocks  salt flats
 billowed

A fl wless half-moon floated in a perfect blue sky on the morning we
said our goodbyes. Extended banks of cloud like long French loaves
glowed pink as the sun emerged to splash the distant mountain tops
with a rose-tinted blush. Now that we were leaving Ravu, Lhamo said
she wanted to give me a farewell present. One evening I’d told her
through Daniel that I was heading towards Mount Kailash to complete
the kora, and she’d said that I ought to get some warmer clothes. After
ducking back into her tent, she emerged carrying one of the long-
sleeved sheepskin coats that all the men wore. Tsetan sized me up as
we clambered into his car. “Ah, yes,” he declared, “drokba, sir.”
We took a short cut to get off the Changtang. Tsetan knew a route
that would take us south-west, almost directly towards Mount Kailash.
It involved crossing several fairly high mountain passes, he said. “But
no problem, sir”, he assured us, “if there is no snow.” What was the
likelihood of that I asked. “Not knowing, sir, until we get there.”
From the gently rolling hills of Ravu, the short cut took us across
vast open plains with nothing in them except a few gazelles that would
look up from nibbling the arid pastures and frown before bounding
away into the void. Further on, where the plains became more stony
than grassy, a great herd of wild ass came into view. Tsetan told us we
a