Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow:
The term dietary fibres refer collectively to indigestible carbohydrates present in plant foods. The importance of these dietary fibres came into the picture when it was observed that the people having diet rich in these fibres had low incidence of coronary heart disease, irritable bowel syndrome, dental caries and gall stones.
The foodstuffs rich in these dietary fibres are cereals and grains, legumes, fruits with seeds, citrus fruits, carrots, cabbage, green leafy vegetables, apples, melons, peaches, pears etc.
These dietary fibres are not digested by the enzymes of the stomach and the small intestine whereas most of other carbohydrates like starch and sugar are digested and absorbed. The dietary fibres have the property of holding water and because of it, these get swollen and behave like a sponge as these pass through the gastrointestinal tract. The fibres add bulk to the diet and increase transit time in the gut. Some of these fibres may undergo fermentation in the colon.
In recent years, it has been considered essential to have some amount of fibres in the diet. Their beneficial effects lie in preventing coronary heart disease, and decreasing cholesterol level. The fibres like gums and pectin are reported to decrease postprandial (after meals) glucose level in blood. These types of dietary fibres are recommended for the management of certain types of diabetes. Recent studies have shown that the fenugreek (Methi) seeds, which contain 40 per cent gum, are effective in decreasing blood glucose and cholesterol levels as compared to other gum containing vegetables.
Some dietary fibres increase transit time and decrease the time of release of ingested food in colon. The diet having less fibre is associated with colon cancer and the dietary fibres may play a role in decreasing the risk of it.
The dietary fibres hold water so that stools are soft, bulky and readily eliminated. Therefore high fibre intake prevents or relieves constipation.
The fibres increase motility of the small intestine and the colon and by decreasing the transit time there is less time for exposure of the mucosa to harmful toxic substances. Therefore, there is a less desire to eat and the energy intake can be maintained within the range of requirement. This phenomenon helps in keeping a check on obesity. Another reason in helping to decrease obesity is that the high-fibre diets have somewhat lower coefficients of digestibility.
The dietary fibres may have some adverse effects on nutrition by binding some trace metals like calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc and others and therefore preventing their proper absorption. This may pose a possibility of nutritional deficiency especially when diets contain marginal levels of mineral elements. This may become important constraints on increasing dietary fibres. It is suggested that an intake of 40 grams dietary fibres per day is desirable.
(Extracted from ‘The Tribune’)
(a) On the basis of your reading of the above passage make notes on it in points only, using recognizable abbreviations wherever necessary. Also suggest a suitable title.
(b) Write a summary of the above in about 80 words.
1. Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow:
1. While there is no denying that the world loves a winner, it is important that you recognize the signs of stress in your behaviour and be healthy enough to enjoy your success. Stress can strike any time, in a fashion that may leave you unaware of its presence in your life. While a certain amount of pressure is necessary for performance, it is important to be able to recognize your individual limit. For instance, there are some individuals who accept competition in a healthy fashion. There are others who collapse into weeping wrecks before an exam or on comparing mar-sheets and find that their friend has scored better.
2. Stress is a body reaction to any demands or changes in its internal and external environment. Whenever there is a change in external environments such as temperature, pollutants, humidity and working conditions, it leads to stress. In these days of competition when a person makes up his mind to surpass what has been achieved by others, leading to an imbalance between demands and resources, it causes psycho-social stress. It is a part and parcel of everyday life.
3. Stress had a different meaning, depending on the state of life you are in. The loss of a toy or a reprimand from the parents might create a stress shock in a child. An adolescent who fails an examination may feel as if everything has been lost and life has no further meaning. In an adult, the loss of his or her companion, hob or professional failure may appear as if there is nothing more to be achieved.
4. Such signs appear in the attitude and behavior of the individual, as muscle tension in various parts of the body, palpitation and high blood pressure, indigestion and hyper-acidity. Ultimately the result is self- destructive behavior such a s eating and drinking too much, smoking excessively, relying on tranquillizers. There are other signs of s tress such as trembling, shaking, nervous blinking, dryness of throat and mouth and difficulty in swallowing.
5.The professional under stress behaves as if he is a perfectionist. It leads to depression, lethargy and weakness. Periodic mood shifts also indicate the stress status of the students, executives and professionals.
6. In a study sponsored by World Health Organisation and carried out by Harvard School of Public Health, the global burden of diseases and injury indicated that stress diseases and accidents are going to be the major killers in 2020.
7.The heart disease and depression – both stress diseases – are going to rank first and second in 2020. Road traffic accidents are going to be the third largest killers. These accidents are also an indicator of psycho-social stress in a fast –moving society. Other stress diseases like ulcers, hypertension and sleeplessness have assumed epidemic proportion in modern societies.
8.A person under stress reacts in different easy and the common one's ar3e flight, fight and flee depending upon the nature of the stress and capabilities of the person. The three responses can be elegantly chosen to cope with the stress s so that stress does not damage the system and become distressed.
9.When a stress crosses the limit, peculiar to an individual, it lowers his performance capacity. Frequent crossings of the limit may result in chronic fatigue in which a person feels lethargic, disinterested and is not easily motivated to achieve anything. This may make the person mentally undecided, confused and accident prone as well. Sudden exposure to un-nerving stress may also result in a loss of memory. Diet, massage, food supplements, herbal medicines, hobbies, relaxation techniques and dance movements are excellent stress busters.
(a)
(i) What is stress? What factors lead to stress?
(ii) What rare the signs by which a person can know that he is under stress?
(iii) What area the different diseases a person gets due to stress?
(iv) Give any two example of stress busters.
(v) How does a person react under stress?
(b) Which words in the above passage mean the same as the following?
(i) fall down (para 1)
(ii) rebuke (para-3)
(iii) inactive (Para 9)
Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow:
Research has shown that the human mind can process words at the rate of about 500 per minute, whereas a speaker speaks at the rate of about 150 words a minute. The difference between the two at 350 is quite large.
So a speaker must make every effort to retain the attention of the audience and the listener should als0 be careful not to let his mind wander. Good communication calls for good l listening skills. A good speaker must necessarily be a good listener.
Listening starts with hearing but goes beyond. Hearing, in other words is necessary, but is not a sufficient condition for listening. Listening involves hearing with attention. Listening is a process that calls of concentration. While listening, one should also be observant. In other words, listening has to do with the ears, as well as with the eyes and the mind. Listening is to be understood as the total process that involves hearing with attention, being observant and making interpretations. Good communication is essentially an interactive process. It calls for participation and involvement. It is quite often a dialogue rather that a monologue. It is necessary to be interested and also show or make it abundantly clear that one is interested in knowing what the other person has to say.
Good listening is an art that can be cultivated. It relates to skills that can be developed. A good listener knows that art of getting much more than what the speaker is trying to convey. He knows how to prompt, persuade but not to cut off or interrupt what the other person has to say. At times the speaker may or may not be coherent, articulate and well-organized in his thoughts and expressions. He may have it in his mind and yet he may fail to marshal the right words while communicating his thought;. Nevertheless a good listener puts him at ease, helps him articulate and facilitates him to get across the message that he wants to convey.
For listening to effective, it is also necessary that barriers to listening are removed. Such barriers can be both physical and psychological. Physical barriers generally relate to hindrances to proper hearing whereas psychological barriers are more fundamental and relate to the interpretation and evaluation of the speaker and the message.
(a) On the basis of your reading of the above passage, make note in points only, using abbreviations wherever necessary. Supply a suitable title.
(b) Write a summary of the above passage in about 80 words.
Read the passage given below carefully:
1. For four days, I walked through the narrow lanes of the old city, enjoying the romance of being in a city where history still lives — in its cobblestone streets and in its people riding asses, carrying vine leaves and palm as they once did during the time of Christ.
2. This is Jerusalem, home to the sacred sites of Christianity, Islam and Judaism. This is the place that houses the church of the Holy Sepulchre, the place where Jesus was finally laid to rest. This is also the site of Christ’s crucifixion, burial and resurrection.
3. Built by the Roman Emperor Constantine at the site of an earlier temple to Aphrodite, it is the most venerated Christian shrine in the world. And justifiably so, here, within the church, are the last five stations of the cross; the 10th station where Jesus was stripped of his clothes, the 11th where he was nailed to the cross, the 12th where he died on the cross, the 13th where the body was removed from the cross, and the 14lh, his tomb.
4. For all this weighty tradition, the approach and entrance to the church is non-descript. You have to ask for directions. Even to the devout Christian pilgrims walking along the Via Dolorosa - the Way of Sorrows - first nine stations look clueless. Then a courtyard appears, hemmed in by other buildings and a doorway to one side. This leads to a vast area of huge stone architecture.
5. Immediately inside the entrance is your first stop. It’s the stone of anointing: this is the place, according to Greek tradition, where Christ was removed from the cross. The Roman Catholics, however, believe it to be the spot where Jesus’ body was prepared for burial by Joseph.
6. What happened next? Jesus was buried. He was taken to a place outside the city of Jerusalem where other graves existed and there, he was buried in a cave. However, all that is long gone, destroyed by continued attacks and rebuilding; what remains is the massive — and impressive — Rotunda (a round building with a dome) that Emperor Constantine built. Under this, and right in the centre of the Rotunda, is the structure that contains the Holy Sepulchre.
7. “How do you know that this is Jesus’ tomb?” I asked one of the pilgrims standing next to me. He was clueless, more interested, like the rest of them, in the novelty of it all and in photographing it, than in its history or tradition.
8. At the start of the first century, the place was a disused quarry outside the city walls. According to the gospels, Jesus’ crucifixion occurred ‘at a place outside the city walls with graves nearby.’ Archaeologists have discovered tombs from that era, so the site is compatible with the biblical period.
9. The structure at the site is a marble tomb built over the original burial chamber. It has two rooms, and you enter four at a time into the first of these, the Chapel of the Angel. Here the angel is supposed to have sat on a stone to recount Christ’s resurrection. A low door made of white marble, partly worn away by pilgrims’ hands, leads to a smaller chamber inside. This is the ‘room of the tomb’, the place where Jesus was buried.
10. We entered in single file. On my right was a large marble slab that covered the original rock bench on which the body of Jesus was laid. A woman knelt and prayed. Her eyes were wet with tears. She pressed her face against the slab to hide them, but it only made it worse.
On the basis of your understanding of this passage answer the following questions with the help of given options:
(a) How does Jerusalem still retain the charm of ancient era?
(i) There are narrow lanes.
(ii) Roads are paved with cobblestones.
(iii) People can be seen riding asses
(iv) All of the above
(b) Holy Sepulchre is sacred to
(i) Christianity
(ii) Islam
(iii) Judaism
(iv) Both (i) and (iii)
(c) Why does one have to constantly ask for directions to the church?
(i) Its lanes are narrow.
(ii) Entrance to the church is non-descript.
(iii) People are not tourist- friendly.
(iv) Everyone is lost in enjoying the romance of the place.
(d) Where was Jesus buried?
(i) In a cave
(ii) At a place outside the city
(iii) In the Holy Sepulchre
(iv) Both (i) and (ii)
(e) What is the Greek belief about the ‘stone of anointing’?
(f) Why did Emperor Constantine build the Rotunda?
(g) What is the general attitude of the pilgrims?
(h) How is the site compatible with the biblical period?
(i) Why did the pilgrims enter the room of the tomb in a single file?
(j) Why did ‘a woman’ try to hide her tears?
(k) Find words from the passage which mean the same as:
(i) A large grave (para 3)
(ii) Having no interesting features/dull (para 4)
Read the passage given below:
1. We often make all things around us the way we want them. Even during our pilgrimages we have begun to look for whatever makes our heart happy, gives comfort to our body and peace to the mind. It is as if external solutions will fulfil needs, and we do not want to make any special efforts even in our spiritual search. Our mind is resourceful - it works to find shortcuts in simple and easy ways.
2. Even pilgrimages have been converted into tourism opportunities. Instead, we must awaken our conscience and souls and understand the truth. Let us not tamper with either our own nature or that of the Supreme.
3. All our cleverness is rendered ineffective when nature does a dance of destruction. Its fury can and will wash away all imperfections. Indian culture, based on Vedic treatises, assists in human evolution, but we are now using our entire energy in distorting these traditions according to our convenience instead of making efforts to make ourselves worthy of them.
4. The irony is that humans are not even aware of the (complacent attitude they have allowed themselves to sink to. Nature is everyone’s Amma and her fierce blows will sooner or later corner us and force us to understand this truth. Earlier, pilgrimages to places of spiritual significance were rituals that were undertaken when people became free from their worldly duties. Even now some seekers take up this pious religious journey as a path to peace and knowledge. Anyone travelling with this attitude feels and travels with only a few essential items that his body can carry. Pilgrims traditionally travelled light, on foot, eating light, dried chickpeas and fruits, or whatever was available. Pilgrims of olden days did not feel the need to stay in special AC bedrooms, or travel by luxury cars or indulge themselves with delicious food and savouries.
5. Pilgrims traditionally moved ahead, creating a feeling of belonging towards all, conveying a message of brotherhood among all they came across whether in small caves, ashrams or local settlements. They received the blessings and congregations of yogis and mahatmas in return while conducting the dharma of their pilgrimage. A pilgrimage is like penance or sadhana to stay near nature and to experience a feeling of oneness with it, to keep the body healthy and fulfilled with the amount of food, while seeking freedom from attachments and yet remaining happy while staying away from relatives and associates.
6. This is how a pilgrimage should be rather than making it like a picnic by taking a large group along and living in comfort, packing in entertainment, and tampering with environment. What is worse is giving a boost to the ego of having had a special darshan. Now alms are distributed, charity done while they brag about their spiritual experiences!
7. We must embark on our spiritual journey by first understanding the grace and significance of a pilgrimage and following it up with the prescribed rules and rituals - this is what translates into the ultimate and beautiful medium of spiritual evolution. There is no justification for tampering with nature.
8. A pilgrimage is symbolic of contemplation and meditation and acceptance, and is a metaphor for the constant growth or movement and love for nature that we should hold in our hearts.
9. This is the truth!
On the basis of your understanding of the above passage answer the questions that follow with the help of given options:
(a) How can a pilgrim keep his body healthy?
(i) By travelling light
(ii) By eating small amount of food
(iii) By keeping free from attachments
(iv) Both (i) and (ii)
(b) How do we satisfy our ego?
(i) By having a special darshan
(ii) By distributing alms
(iii) By treating it like a picnic
(iv) Both (i) and (ii)
Answer the following as briefly as possible:
(c) What change has taken place in our attitude towards pilgrimages?
(d) What happens when pilgrimages are turned into picnics?
(e) Why are we complacent in our spiritual efforts?
(f) How does nature respond when we try to be clever with it?
(g) In olden days with what attitude did people go on a pilgrimage?
(h) What message does the passage convey to the pilgrims?
(i) Find words from the passage which mean the same as the following:
(i) made/turned (para 3)
(ii) Very satisfied (para 4)
Read the passage given below:
It is surprising that sometimes we don’t listen to what people say to us. We hear them, but we don’t listen to them. I was curious to know how hearing is different from listening. I had thought both were synonyms, but gradually, I realised there is a big difference between the two words.
Hearing is a physical phenomenon. Whenever somebody speaks, the sound waves generated reach you, and you definitely hear whatever is said to you. However, even if you hear something, it doesn’t always mean that you actually understand whatever is being said. Paying attention to whatever you hear means you are really listening. Consciously using your mind to understand whatever is being said is listening.
Diving deeper, I found that listening is not only hearing with attention, but is much more than that. Listening is hearing with full attention, and applying our mind. Most of the time, we listen to someone, but our minds are full of needless chatter and there doesn’t seem to be enough space to accommodate what is being spoken.
We come with a lot of prejudices and preconceived notions about the speaker or the subject on which he is talking. We pretend to listen to the speaker, but deep inside, we sit in judgement and are dying to pronounce right or wrong, true or false, yes or no. Sometimes, we even come prepared with a negative mindset of proving the speaker wrong. Even if the speaker says nothing harmful, we are ready to pounce on him with our own version of things.
What we should ideally do is listen first with full awareness. Once, we have done that, we can decide whether we want to make a judgement or not. Once we do that, communication will be perfect and our interpersonal relationship will become so much better. Listening well doesn’t mean one has to say the right thing at the right moment. In fact, sometimes if words are left unspoken, there is a feeling of tension and negativity. Therefore, it is better to speak out your mind, but do so with awareness after listening to the speaker with full concentration.
Let’s look at this in another way. When you really listen, you imbibe not only what is being spoken, but you also understand what is not spoken as well. Most of the time we don’t really listen even to people who really matter to us. That’s how misunderstandings grow among families, husbands and wives, brothers and sisters.
(a) On the basis of your reading of the above passage make notes on it, using headings and sub-headings. Use recognizable abbreviations (wherever necessary - minimum four) and a format you consider suitable. Also supply an appropriate title to it.
(b) Write a summary of the passage in about 80 words.
Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow:
1. For many years now the Governments have been promising the eradication of child labour in hazardous industries in India. But the truth is that despite all the rhetoric no Government so far has succeeded in eradicating this evil, nor has any been able to ensure compulsory primary education for every Indian child. Between 60 and 100 million children are still at work instead of going to school, and around 10 million are working in hazardous industries. India has the biggest child population of 380 million in the world; plus the largest number of children who are forced to earn a living.
2. We have many laws that ban child labour in hazardous industries. According to the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act 1986, the employment of children under the age of 14 in hazardous occupations has been strictly banned. But each state has different rules regarding the minimum age of employment. This makes implementation of these laws difficult.
3. Also, there is no ban on child labour in non-hazardous occupations. The act applies to the organized or factory sector and not the unorganized or informal sector where most children find employment as cleaners, servants, porters, waiters among other forms of unskilled work. Thus, child labour continues because the implementation of the existing laws is lax.
4. There are industries, which have a special demand for child labour because of their nimble fingers, high level of concentration and capacity to work hard at abysmally low wages. The carpet industry in U.P. and Kashmir employs children to make hand-knotted carpets. There are 80,000 child workers in Jammu & Kashmir alone. In Kashmir because of the political unrest, children are forced to work while many schools are shut. Industries like gem cutting and polishing pottery and glass want to remain competitive by employing children.
5. The truth is that it is poverty which is pushing children into the brutish labour market. We have 260 million people below the poverty line in India, a large number of them are women. Poor and especially woman-headed families have no option but to push their little ones in this hard life in hostile conditions, with no human or labour rights.
6. There is a lobby which argues that there is nothing wrong with children working as long as the environment for work is conducive to learning new skills but studies have shown that the children are made to do boring, repetitive and tedious jobs and are not taught new skills as they grow older. In these hell-holes like the sweet shops of the old, there is no hope.
7. Children working in hazardous industries are prone to debilitating diseases which can cripple them for life. By sitting in cramped, damp and unhygienic spaces, their limbs become deformed for life. Inside matchstick, fireworks and glass industries they are victims of bronchial diseases and T.B. Their mental and physical development is permanently impaired by long hours of work. Once trapped, they can't get out of this vicious circle of poverty. They remain uneducated and powerless. Finally, in later years, they too are compelled to send their own children to work. Child labour perpetuates its own nightmare.
8. If at all the Government was serious about granting children their rights, an intensive effort ought to have been made to implement the Supreme Court's Directive of 1997 which laid down punitive action against employers of child labour. Only compulsory primary education can eliminate child labour.
9. Surely, if 380 million children are given a better life and elementary education, India's human capital would be greatly enhanced. But that needs, as former President Abdul Kalam says, 'a Second Vision'.
(a)
(i) On which two counts has the Government not succeeded so far in respect of children?
(ii) What makes the implementation of child labour law difficult?
(iii) Why do the industries prefer child labour?
(iv) What are the adverse effects of hazardous industries on children? Give any two.
(v) What does the Supreme Court's Directive of 1997 provide?
(b) Find words from the passage which mean the same as the following:
(i) risky/dangerous (para 1)
(ii) very unfriendly (para 5)
(iii) intended as punishment (para 3)
Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow:
There is nothing more frustrating than when you sit down at your table to study with the most sincere of intentions and instead of being able to finish the task at hand, you find your thoughts wandering. However, there are certain techniques that you can use to enhance your concentration. 'Your concentration level depends on a number of factors,' says Samuel Ghosh, a social counsellor. 'In order to develop your concentration span, it is necessary to examine various facets of your physical and internal environment,' she adds.
To begin with one should attempt to create the physical environment that is conducive to focused thought. Whether it is the radio, TV or your noisy neighbours identify the factors that make it difficult for you to focus. For instance, if you live in a very noisy neighbourhood, you could try to plan your study hours in a nearby library.
She disagrees with the notion that people can concentrate or study in an environment with distractions like a loud television, blaring music etc. 'If you are distracted when you are attempting to focus, your attention and retention powers do not work at optimum levels,' cautions Ghosh. 'Not more than two of your senses should be activated at the same time,' she adds. What that means is that music that sets your feet tapping is not the ideal accompaniment to your books.
Also, do not place your study table or desk in front of a window. 'While there is no cure for a mind that wants to wander, one should try and provide as little stimulus as possible. Looking out of a window when you are trying to concentrate will invariably send your mind on a tangent,' says Ghosh.
The second important thing, she says, is to establish goals for oneself instead of setting a general target and then trying to accomplish what you can in a haphazard fashion. It is very important to decide what you have to finish in a given span of time.
The human mind recognizes fixed goals and targets and appreciates schedules more than random thoughts. Once your thoughts and goals are in line, a focused system will follow.
She recommends that you divide your schedule into the study and recreation hours. When you study, choose a mix of subjects that you enjoy and dislike and save the former for the last so that you have something to look forward to. For instance, if you enjoy verbal skill tests more than mathematical problems, then finish Maths first. Not only will you find yourself working harder, you will have a sense of achievement when you wind up.
Try not to sit for more than 40 minutes at a stretch. Take a very short break to make a cup of tea or listen to a song and sit down again. Under no circumstances, should one sit for more than one and a half hours. Short breaks build your concentration and refresh your mind. However, be careful not to overdo the relaxation. It may have undesired effects.
More than anything else, do not get disheartened. Concentration is merely a matter of disciplining the mind. It comes with practice and patience and does not take very long to become a habit for life.
(a) On the basis of your reading of the above passage make notes on it in points only, using abbreviations wherever necessary. Supply a suitable title.
(b) Write a summary of the above in 80 words.
Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow :
We sit in the last row, bumped about but free of stares. The bus rolls out of the dull crossroads of the city, and we are soon in open countryside, with fields of sunflowers as far as the eye can see, their heads all facing us. Where there is no water, the land reverts to desert. While still on level ground we see in the distance the tall range of the Mount Bogda, abrupt like a shining prism laid horizontally on the desert surface. It is over 5,000 metres high, and the peaks are under permanent snow, in powerful contrast to the flat desert all around. Heaven Lake lies part of the way up this range, about 2,000 metres above sealevel, at the foot of one of the higher snow-peaks.
As the bus climbs, the sky, brilliant before, grows overcast. I have brought nothing warm to wear: it is all down at the hotel in Urumqi. Rain begins to fall. The man behind me is eating overpoweringly smelly goat’s cheese. The bus window leaks inhospitably but reveals a beautiful view. We have passed quickly from desert through arable land to pasture, and the ground is now green with grass, the slopes dark with pine. A few cattle drink at a clear stream flowing past moss-covered stones; it is a Constable landscape. The stream changes into a white torrent, and as we climb higher I wish more and more that I had brought with me something warmer than the pair of shorts that have served me so well in the desert. The stream (which, we are told, rises in Heaven Lake) disappears, and we continue our slow ascent. About noon, we arrive at Heaven Lake, and look for a place to stay at the foot, which is the resort area. We get a room in a small cottage, and I am happy to note that there are thick quilts on the beds.
Standing outside the cottage we survey our surroundings. Heaven Lake is long, sardine-shaped and fed by snowmelt from a stream at its head. The lake is an intense blue, surrounded on all sides by green mountain walls, dotted with distant sheep. At the head of the lake, beyond the delta of the inflowing stream, is a massive snow-capped peak which dominates the vista; it is part of a series of peaks that culminate, a little out of view, in Mount Bogda itself.
For those who live in the resort there is a small mess-hall by the shore. We eat here sometimes, and sometimes buy food from the vendors outside, who sell kabab and naan until the last buses leave. The kababs, cooked on skewers over charcoal braziers, are particularly good; highly spiced and well-done. Horse’s milk is available too from the local Kazakh herdsmen, but I decline this. I am so affected by the cold that Mr. Cao, the relaxed young man who runs the mess, lends me a spare pair of trousers, several sizes too large but more than comfortable. Once I am warm again, I feel a pre-dinner spurt of energy – dinner will be long in coming – and I ask him whether the lake is good for swimming in.
“Swimming?” Mr. Cao says. “You aren’t thinking of swimming, are you?”
“I thought I might,” I confess. “What’s the water like?”
He doesn’t answer me immediately, turning instead to examine some receipts with exaggerated interest. Mr. Cao, with great off-handedness, addresses the air. “People are often drowned here,” he says. After a pause, he continues. “When was the last one?” This question is directed at the cook, who is preparing a tray of mantou (squat white steamed bread rolls), and who now appears, wiping his doughy hand across his forehead. “Was it the Beijing athlete?” asks Mr. Cao.
On the basis of your understanding of the above passage, complete the statements agiven below with the help of options that follow:
(a) One benefit of sitting in the last row of the bus was that:
(i) the narrator enjoyed the bumps.
(ii) no one stared at him.
(iii) he could see the sunflowers.
(iv) he avoided the dullness of the city.
(b) The narrator was travelling to:
(i) Mount Bogda
(ii) Heaven Lake
(iii) a 2000 metre high snow peak
(iv) Urumqi
(c) On reaching the destination the narrator felt relieved because:
(i) he had got away from the desert.
(ii) a difficult journey had come to an end.
(iii) he could watch the snow peak.
(iv) there were thick quilts on the bed.
(d) Mount Bogda is compared to:
(i) a horizontal desert surface
(ii) a shining prism
(iii) a Constable landscape
(iv) the overcast sky
Answer the following questions briefly:
(e) Which two things in the bus made the narrator feel uncomfortable?
(f) What made the scene look like a Constable landscape?
(g) What did he regret as the bus climbed higher?
(h) Why did the narrator like to buy food from outside?
(i) What is ironic about the pair of trousers lent by Mr. Cao?
(j) Why did Mr. Cao not like the narrator to swim in the lake?
(k) Find words from the passage which mean the same as the following:
(i) sellers (para 4)
(ii) increased (para 7)
Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow:
Thackeray reached Kittur along with a small British army force and a few of his officers. He thought that the very presence of the British on the outskirts of Kittur would terrorise the rulers and people of Kittur and that they would lay down their arms. He was quite confident that he would be able to crush the revolt in no time. He ordered that tents be erected on the eastern side for the fighting forces and a little away on the western slopes tents be put up for the family members of the officers who had accompanied them. During the afternoon and evening of 20th October, the British soldiers were busy making arrangements for these camps.
On the 21st morning, Thackeray sent his political assistants to Kittur fort to obtain a written assurance from all the important officers of Kittur rendering them answerable for the security of the treasury of Kittur. They, accordingly, met Sardar Gurusiddappa and other officers of Kittur and asked them to comply with the orders of Thackeray. They did not know that the people were in a defiant mood. The commanders of Kittur dismissed the agent’s orders as no documents could be signed without sanction from Rani Chennamma.
Thackeray was enraged and sent for his commander of the Horse Artillery, which was about 100 strong, ordered him to rush his artillery into the fort and capture the commanders of the Desai’s army. When the Horse Artillery stormed into the fort, Sardar Gurusiddappa, who had kept his men on full alert, promptly commanded his men to repel and chase them away. The Kittur forces made a bold front and overpowered the British soldiers.
In the meanwhile, the Desai’s guards had shut the gates of the fort and the British Horse Artillery men, being completely overrun and routed, had to get out through the escape window. Rani’s soldiers chased them out of the fort, killing a few of them until they retreated to their camps on the outskirts.
A few of the British had found refuge in some private residences, while some were hiding in their tents. The Kittur soldiers captured about forty persons and brought them to the palace. These included twelve children and a few women from the British officers’ camp. When they were brought in the presence of the Rani, she ordered the soldiers to be imprisoned. For the women and children she had only gentleness, and admonished her soldiers for taking them into custody. At her orders, these women and children were taken inside the palace and given food and shelter. Rani came down from her throne, patted the children lovingly and told them that no harm would come to them.
She, then, sent word through a messenger to Thackeray that the British women and children were safe and could be taken back any time. Seeing this noble gesture of the Rani, he was moved. He wanted to meet this gracious lady and talk to her. He even thought of trying to persuade her to enter into an agreement with the British to stop all hostilities in lieu of an inam (prize) of eleven villages. His offer was dismissed with a gesture of contempt. She had no wish to meet Thackeray. That night she called Sardar Gurusiddappa and other leading Sardars and after discussing all the issues came to the conclusion that there was no point in meeting Thackeray who had come with an army to threaten Kittur into submission to British sovereignty.
On the basis of your understanding of the above passage complete the statements given below with the help of options that follow:
(a) Thackeray was a/an:
(i) British tourist
(ii) army officer
(iii) adviser to Rani of Kittur
(iv) treasury officer
(b) British women and children came to Kittur to:
(i) visit Kittur
(ii) enjoy life in tents
(iii) stay in the palace
(iv) give company to officers
Answer the following questions briefly:
(c) Why did Thackeray come to Kittur?
(d) Why did the Kittur officials refuse to give the desired assurance to Thackeray?
(e) What happened to the Horse Artillery?
(f) How do we know that the Rani was a noble queen?
(g) How in your opinion would the British women have felt after meeting the Rani?
(h) Why did the Rani refuse to meet Thackeray?
(i) Find words from the passage which mean the same as the following:
i. entered forcibly (para 3)
ii. aggressive / refusing to obey (para 2)
