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Passage No. 1
Whether the subject should be taught in English in our educational institution or through
the medium of our mother tongue is one of the most important problems of the present
day. There are quite a few points to be considered in this connection. Those who oppose
the introduction of English as a medium of instruction think that the subjects taught in
English are not properly understood by the students. When they are not able to understand
a point properly, they are evidently unable to express it properly. When they are
compelled to write the answers in English they feel pained. Hence they develop a sort of
inferiority complex. This thing mars the growth of intellectual power and as a result their
personality remains undeveloped. Thus, they prove a complete failure in their lives, but
that is not a sensible way of thinking. As a matter of fact, it is not simply the medium of
instruction that counts in the educational affairs. There are some other factors as well to be
taken into consideration of mind, etc. Moreover, Urdu is still in a stage of infancy. It is
impossible for it to compete with English at this stage.
Question:
1. What do the people who oppose English as a medium of instructions say?
2. Why can't we change over to Urdu at this stage?
3. What is your personal opinion in this context?
4. What kind of steps should be taken before we can switch over to Urdu? Suggest a title
for this passage.

Passage No. 2
Education, in general is enigmatic in Pakistan. It is plagued with failing standards, loss of
direction, and insensitivity on the part of governments. Misguided and chaotic as it is,
education in Pakistan is misunderstood and restricted to passing exams, or obtaining
degrees. It is totally deprived of career planning and skills development. And above all it
fails to imbibe in our students, human values, which are basic to our Islamic society.
'Oxford' dictionary defines education as awakening and development of one's character
and mental powers. And The World Book states that education is the process by which
people acquire knowledge, skills, habits, values or attitudes. The word education is also
used to describe the results of the education process. Education should help people
become useful members of society. It should also, help them develop an appreciation of
their cultural heritage and teach them to live more satisfying lives. The most common
way to get an education is to attend school. But much education also takes place outside
the classroom.
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Though history of education is as old as humanity, its demands for the present
world are enormous and pressurising. The world has expanded itself to an era of
phenomenal growth and development with multiplying technology. It clearly demands
specialisation and realization of quality education. Simply speaking, teaching two plus
two makes four is education, but application of 4 in all spheres of life is its quality.
Question:
1. From which defects does education in Pakistan suffer?
2. How can education help people?
3. What do Pakistanis think education is?
4. How is education different from quality education?
5. Give in your own words the definition of education.
6. Make a Precis of the passage.

Passage No 3
Moral self-control, and external prohibition of harmful acts, are not adequate methods of
dealing with our anarchic instincts. The reason they are madequate is that these instincts
are capable of many disguises as the Devil in medieval legend, and some of these designs
deceive even the elect. The only adequate method is to discover what are the needs of our
instinctive nature, and then to search for least harmful way of satisfying them. Since
spontaneity is what is most thwarted by machines, the only thing that can be Provided is
opportunity; the use made of opportunity must be left to the initiative of the individual. No
doubt considerable must be left to the initiative of the individual. No doubt considerable
expense would be involved, but it would not be comparable to the expense of war.
Understanding of human nature must be the basis of any real improvement in human life.
Science has done wonders in mastering the laws of the physical world, but our own nature
s much less understood, as yet, than the nature of stars and electrons. When science earns
to understand human nature it will be able to bring happiness into our lives which
machines and the physical sciences have failed to crate.
Questions:
1. Why are moral self-control and external prohibition inadequate to deal with our
anarchic instincts?
2. What is the adequate method of dealing with these instincts?
3. What is the part played by opportunity?
4. How can we improve human life?
5. How can science help humanity achieve happiness?
6. Write a precis of the above passage.
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Passage No 4
Poverty is almost as widely shared as Islam in Afghanistan. Except for a small number of
wealthy traders, nomadic tribal leaders (Khans), and the Royal family and its retainers,
few Afghans have lived for from the basic level of subsistence. Throughout the country
their diet consists of coarse bread, tea, and dairy products, supplemented by fruits and
vegetables in season and an occasional serving of mutton or chicken. Though food is never
plentiful, the Afghan diet during good crop years appears be sufficient to support a
vigorous population, but the precariousness of the food supply is obvious from the drastic
and continuing erosion of the soil and the creeping desertization of its landscape.
The poverty of most Afghan farmers and herders has imposed an elemental quality on
their culture. Values are oriented toward social survival. Loyalty to the primary group
ultimately takes precedence over self-assertion, despite the great importance given to
personal independence. The conflict between these competing values is a major feature of
Afghan life, but in group loyalty has necessarily played the paramount role in the shaping
of attitudes toward fellow Afghans and outsiders.
Questions:

1. What is the economic condition of the people of Afghanistan?

2. What does the diet of Afghan people consist of?
3. What is the condition in good crop years?
4. Why is the food supply becoming so precarious?
5. What is the effect of poverty on most Afghan farmers?
6. What is the major feature of Afghan life?
7. Write a precis of the above paragraphs.

Passage No 5

Unemployment arises from a variety of causes. One that is always recurring, and of the
effects of which we have had a recent example, is the disorganization of industry resulting
from a long war. This is a serious problem admitting of no easy solution at the best of
times. Again there is the unemployment which follows a marked diminution in the
quantity of any raw product, such as cotton - fewer hands are required in the mills and
factories. We may call this cause "bad harvests". Similar, but more serious, is the effect of
changes in the industry due to the invention of machinery which does more work and
requires fewer workers. And yet another serious cause is a strike or a lock-out and this is
more to be deplored because such a stoppage is sometimes due to a very trivial matter -
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perhaps the fact that men are working half-an-hour longer than the regulations of their
unions permit.
Questions:
a. Enumerate the four leading causes of unemployment in a single sentence.
b. What do we mean by "bad harvests"?
c. What is the effect of invention of machines on industry?
d. What is the difference between a strike and a lock-out?
e. Write a summary of the passage.

Passage No 6
Every country must have a Government of some sort or life would be impossible. The
primary duties of a Government are to protect the life and property of the citizens in a just
and orderly way through the law courts, to defend the country from foreign foes and to
maintain roads and highways. Besides these many governments maintain and direct
education and provide hospitals for the sick. All these great public duties need money. An
army and a navy has to be kept up; the police force and the judges are to be paid, schools
to be provided and teachers supported. Health officers and engineers have to be employed.
Now where is all the money needed to come from? The question is answered by another.
For whose benefit are all these services maintained? The answer is for the public.
Therefore it is only right that the public, the individual citizens of the country, should
public benefits which all enjoy.
Questions:
1. What are the primary duties of a Government?
2. Is the duty of the Government to provide education and health services?
3. In the light of this passage, what is a "Welfare State"?
4. Summarize the passage and give it a title.

Passage No 7
The individual is a much a product of society as society is a product of the individual; a
vast network of customs, manners, conventions, language, and traditional ideas lies ready
to pounce upon every new-born child, to mould it into the image of the people among
whom it has appeared. In general the role of the instinct has been exaggerated, and that of
early training under-rated; the most powerful instincts, such as sex and pugnacity, have
been considerably modified and controlled by social training. We must unlearn our ideas
about an unchangeable human nature and an all-important environment. There is no
knowable limit to change or growth.
Questions:
1. What is the relation between the individual and the society?
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2. What are the factors which mould the child into the image of the people?
3. What is the role of the instinct and early training in the bringing up of the child?
4. Is human nature unchangeable?
5. Make a summary of the passage.

Passage No 8
The life of Man is a long march through the night, surrounded by invisible foes, tortured
by weariness and pain, towards a goal that few can hope to reach, and where none may
tarry long. One by one, as they march, our comrades vanish from our sight, seized by the
silent orders of omnipotent Death. Very brief is the time in which we can help them, in
which their happiness or misery is decided. Be it ours to shed sunshine on their path, to
lighten their sorrows by the balm of sympathy, to give them the pure joy of a never-tiring
affection, to strengthen failing courage, to instill faith in hours of despair. Let us not weigh
in grudging scales their merits and demerits. Let us remember that they are fellow-
sufferers in the same darkness, actors in the same tragedy with ourselves.
Questions:
1. How do you define the life of man?
2. What happens to our comrades during their long march of life?
3. How can we help our fellow beings?
4. Should we judge our fellow sufferers?
5. Give the passage a suitable title.

Passage No 9

The journey upstream was a tedious one and we had to exert ourselves fighting ht current.
The journey, however, was made pleasant by the scenery which surrounded us on both
sides. On the eastern side of the bank we saw dense tropical forests with trees towering up
towards the sky. From a distance they looked like giants clothed in green robes. The
opposite bank provided our eyes with a feast of animal life. Little herds of mouse deer
could be seen having their fill beside the stream, not canning for or frightened by our
presence. On the sun-baked mud, on overhanging branches, were tiny little monkeys
chattering and screeching as though they disliked us for trespassing not their domain.
Questions:
1. Why was the journey up-stream tedious?
2. How was the journey made pleasant?
3. What did the trees in the tropical forests look like?
4. Where were the monkeys and what were they doing?
5. Give the meanings of the following as used in the passage:
a. Tedious b. trespassing into their domain c. clothed in green robes.
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Passage No 10
Economic development is not equivalent to the total development of a society; it is only a
part or one dimension of general national development. No single definition of economic
development is entirely satisfactory. The terms 'economic growth' and 'secular change'
have also been used to imply economic development, though a fine distinction may be
drawn between these three. However one can safely think of economic development as a
process whereby real national income increases over a long period of time. If the rate of
the development is greater than the rate of population growth, per capita income will also
increase. But this does not necessarily constitute progress and a better standard of living.
Today economic development has quantitative as well as qualitative aspects. Even if real
per capital income increases, it is possible that the rich are getting richer and the poor,
poorer. Thus welfare may not be achieved even if real national income and per capita
income have risen unless the resultant distribution of income can be regarded equitable.
Questions:
1. Suggest a suitable title for the passage.
2. What is meant by "equivalent", "imply" and "equitable"?
3. Why is the distribution of income important?
4. Make a precis of the passage in about 60 words.

Passage No 11
It is education which gives man a clear conscious view of his own opinion and judgment,
a truth in developing them, an eloquence in expressing them, and a force in urging them. It
teaches him to see things as they are, to go right to the point, and to discard what is
irrelevant. It shows him how to accommodate himself to others, how to throw himself into
their state of mind, how to come to an understanding with them, and how to bear with
them. He is at home in any society, he has common ground with every class; he knows
when to speak and when to be silent; he can listen to others when he ha nothing to impart
himself, he knows when to be serious, and when to trifle with gracefulness and to be
serious witheffect. He has repose of mind, which lives in itself while it lives in the world,
and which has resources for its happiness at home when it cannot go abroad. He has a gift,
which serves him in public and supports him in retirement, without which good fortune is
but vulgar and with which failure and disappointment have a charm.
Questions:

1. What does education give to a person?

2. What does it teach him?
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3. What does it show him?

4. How does an educated man behave in society?
5. What is the gift, which serves a person in public and private life?
6. Mark the following statements as True or False.
a. "How to bear with them" means how to fight against them.
b. "How to accommodate himself to other" means how to adjust and adapt himself to others.
c. Without education good fortune is very nice.
d. "He is at home in any society" means he can build a house wherever he goes.
7. Do you agree with the writer in his views about education? Give a detailed answer.

Passage No 12
Newton began his work on colour with a thin ray of light, which he studied carefully. He
made his light pass through a prism, a glass instrument which breaks up light rays. Many
people wrongly believe that Newton was the first man to discover that when white light
passes through a prism it produces the colours of the rainbow. If we stop and think about
it, we realize that this could not be true, since prisms had been used by scientists for many
years. What Newton really found was that a thin ray, round in shape, threw a narrow
ribbon of separate colours on his wall after it passed through the prism. Newton could not
explain what had happened, and he proceeded to experiment further. By placing another
prism in the path of the ray of coloured lights, he was able to change it back to a ray of
white light. rom these and many more experiments, Newton learned that white light is
made up of coloured light, and that the amount that light is bent in passing through a prism
varies for each colour. Red light is bent the least, orange bends a little more. This is
followed by yellow and so on to violet, which is bent the most Newton was quick to see
how his theory answered many questions. It explained the colour shadow on the lenses.
Newton believed the shadow always would be present because of this bending of light, and
so he changed to the reflecting type telescope. He also saw that this could explain the
rainbow. Droplets of water, acting as prisms, were breaking white light from the sun into
colours.
Questions:

1. How did Newton begin his work on colour?

2. What is a prism?
3. What is the function of a prism?
4. Was Newton the first man who used prism?
5. What is the result when a ray of light passes through a prism?
6. How can coloured light be changed into white light?
7. Which light bends the least and which one bends the most?
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How is a rainbow formed.

8. Who was Newton?
9. Give the meanings of the following words:
(a) discover (b) realize (c) ribbon (d) path (e) varies
10. Make the precis of the passage and give it a suitable title.

Passage No 13
Poetry is the product of vision and imagination. A great poet is a seer, a prophet, one who
has spiritual insight and can see the delicacy and truth that others do not. The poet has a
greater power of seeing and feeling things around him. All of us are poets to some degree
because all of us have feeling, and power to communicate what we feel to others; but
those we call poets are at once more sensitive; with wider range of feeling; and better able
to express what they feel, and move others to share their feelings. All of us, for example,
see dimly, as a half blind man sees a light, beauty in a hill or a cloud or a primrose, but the
poet sees it as a radiant glow that moves him to cry aloud with delight and so to make us
also look again more earnestly to share his vision. And in many places where there is a
shy and subtle beauty that most of us would never see; a poet's eye discovers it and his
voice makes it plain to us. Thus we can rightly say that all true poetry is the product of
vision and magination.
Questions:
1. Which qualities are necessary for the production of poetry?
2. Who is a great poet?
3. What powers does the poet possess?
4. How are we all poets?
5. How does a common man see things around him? 6. How does a
poet see things around him?
7. What makes him cry aloud?
8. Give the meanings of the following phrases and use them in your own sentences:
(a) spiritual insight (b) wider range of feeling (c) see dimly
(d) radiant glow (e) subtle beauty

9. Write the substance of the passage in your word

Passage No 13
Education is not an end but a means to an end. In other worlds, we do not educate children
only for the purpose of educating them. Our purpose is to fit them for life. As soon as we
realise this fact, we will understand that it is very important to choose a system of
education which really prepares children for life. It is not enough just to choose the first
system of education one finds, or to continue with one's old system of education. In many
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modern countries, it has for some time been fashionable to think that by free education for
all whether rich or poor, clever or stupid one can solve all the problems of society and
built a perfect nation. But we can already see that free education for all is not enough. We
find in such countries a far large number of people with university degrees than there are
jobs for them to fill. Because of their degrees, they refuse to do what they think low work
and in fact work with the hands is thought to be dirty and shameful in such countries. But
we have only to think a moment to understand that the work of a completely uneducated
farmer is far more important than that of a professor. We can live without education but
we die if we have no food. If no one cleans our streets and takes the rubbish away from
outhouses, we should get terrible diseases in our towns. In countries where there are no
servants because every one is ashamed to do such work, the professors have to waste
much of their time doing house hold work. In fact, when we say that all of use must be
educated to fit for life; it means that we must be educated in such a way that firstly each of
us can do whatever job is fitted to his brain and ability and secondly that all jobs are
necessary to society and that it is very sad to be ashamed of one's work or to scorn
somebody else. Only such a type of education can be called valuable to society.
Questions:-
1. What is the definition of education given by the writer in the first paragraph?
2. What is the fashionable view about free education for all?
3. Write a note on the harms of free education?
4. What type of education is valuable to society?
5. Suggest a title for the passage and make a precis of it.
6. Explain the meaning of the following:-
i. End ii. Stupid iii. Rubbish iv. Ability

Passage No 15
Ought women to have the same rights as men. A hundred years ago, the answer in every
country in the world would have been "NO". If you had asked why not; you would have
been told scornfully and pityingly that women are weaker and less clever than men and ahs
worse character. Even not in the 20th century, there are many countries where women are
still treated almost like servants or even slaves.
It is certainly true that the average woman has weaker muscles than the average man.
Thousands of years ago, when men lived in caves and hunted animals for food, strength
was the most important thing; but now in the 20th century brains are more important.
Strength of body is still, needed for a few kinds of work, and they are not well paid. It
shows that 20th century does not think that muscles are of great importance. What about
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women's brains? Of course, in countries where girls are not given so good an education as
boys, they know less.
But in countries where there is no difference at all between the brain of an average woman
and that of an average man. There have been women judges in turkey, women
ambassadors in America, women ministers in the British Government and women
university professors in many countries. And among the greatest and strongest rulers of
England were Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria.
But women can do one thing that men cannot. They can produce children. Because they
and not men do this, they usually love their children more and are better able to look after
them since they are more patient and have understanding with small children. For this
reason many women are happier if they can stay at home and look after houses and family
than if they go and do the same work as men do. It is their own choice, not the result of
being less clever than man.
Questions:-
1. Do you think that women enjoyed any right in the past?
2. Why was strength of body important thousands of years ago?
3. Do you think that women have the same mental ability as men?
4. Write a short note on the status of women in Pakistan?
5. Suggest a title for it and make a precis.
6. Explain the meaning of the following. i . Ought ii. Worse iii. Look after
7. Do you think that women are still maltreated?

Passage No 16
A man living absolutely alone in a desert or a forest is free from the other people but he is
not absolutely free. His freedom is limited in several ways. Firstly by the things around
him such as wild animals of cliffs to climb. Secondly by his own needs. He must have
sleep, water, food and shelter from extreme heat or cold. Lastly, by his own nature as a
man, disease may attack him and death will certainly come to him sooner or later. When
men lived together, on the other hand, protection against wild animals is easier and they
can work together to get food and build shelters, but each man has to give up some of his
freedom so that he can live happily with the others.
When men become organized into very large groups, and civilization develops, it is
possible to get freedom from hunger, thirst, cold, heat and many diseases, so that each
person can live a happier life than he could if he were to live alone, but such a society
cannot work successfully unless the freedom of each human being is to some extent
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limited that he is keep from hurting others. The advantages of such an agreement are great,
one man can become a doctor knowing that others will grow food, make clothes and build
a house for him in return for the work he does to keep them healthy.
Questions:-
1. Why a man living alone in a desert or forest is not absolutely free?
2. How civilization helps a man?
3. Write a note on the mental and political freedom of man.
4. Suggest a suitable title for it and make a precis.
5. Explain the meaning of the following:
i. Several ways ii. Shelter iii. Agreement

Passage No 17

I am opposed to Nationalism, as it is understood in Europe not because if it is allowed to

develop in India, it is likely to brain less material gain to Muslims. I am opposed to it
because I see in it the germs of atheistic materialism which I look upon as the greatest
danger to modern humanity. Patriotism is perfectly natural virtue and has a place in the
moral life of man, yet, that which really matters is man's faith, his culture, his historical
traditions. These are the things which, in my opinion, are worth living for and dying for,
and not the piece of earth, with which the spirit of man happens to be temporarily
associated. I have been repudiating the concept of "nationalism" since the time when it
was not well known in India and Muslim world. At the very start, it has become clear to
me from the writing of European authors, that the imperialistic designs of Europe were in
great need of this effective weapon, the propagation of the European conception of
Nationalism in the Muslim countries, is to shatter the religious unity of Islam to pieces.
Questions:-
1. Why is Allama Iqbal opposed to European Nationalism.
2. How does Allama Iqbal compare patriotism with virtues like man's faith, his culture, his
historical traditions?
3. How does Allama Iqbal repudiate the concept of nationalism?
4. Suggest a suitable title for it and make a precis of the passage given above.
5. Explain the meaning of the follcwing words:-
i. Atheistic materialism ii. Imperialistic designs iii. Nationalism

Passage No 18
Work, therefore, is desirable first and foremost, as a preventive of boredom for the
boredom that a man feels when he is doing necessary though uninteresting work is nothing
in comparison with the boredom that he feels when he has nothing to do with his days.
With this advantage of work, another is associated namely that is makes holidays much
 P a g e | 12

more delicious when they come. Provided a man does not have to work so hard as to
impair his vigour, he is likely to find far more zest in this free time than an idle man could
possibly find.
Questions:-
1. Why is work desirable?
2. How an uninteresting work is not more tiring than idleness.
3. Write a brief note on the advantages of work? ;
4. How can work be made useful?
5. Suggest a suitable title for it and make a precis of the passage given above.

Passage No 19
Marriage is a vital part of life and like any other partnership of business, it has its periods
of depression and periods of elation. The same principles used in business can profitably
be employed in marriage. Patience willingness to sacrifice and tolerance help to avoid
friction. Why the monotony of household duties, weighs us down, when we never get to
remember as in other aggravations. "This too shall be away". The household disorder
caused by children is only for a short period in life. All too quickly it ceases. The
aggravations and inconveniences of constant illness also pass away and are a part of life,
not of marriage. The sleepless nights pass, and all too soon, we have more time than we
desire for sleep. The poor men and women have no monopoly of the cares and worries in
all experiences.
Separately man and woman cannot find happiness. Together; they can give it to the future
generations.
Questions:-
1. How is married life a sort of business?
2. How can we overcome the hardships of married life?
3. Can man or a woman separately give happiness to the future generation?
4. What part do the moral qualities play in making a marriage successful?
5. How can a newly married couple make his life happy and comfortable?
6. Explain the meaning of the following word:-
i. Depression ii. Profitably iii. Aggravations

Passage No 20
Honesty is the surest way to success. The day at last comes when the dishonest man
repents in sorrows and sufferings; but no man ever needs to repent of having been honest.
Even when the honest man fails as he does some time, through lacking other qualities such
 P a g e | 13

as energy, economy, or system, his failure is not the grievous thing. It is to dishonest man;
for he can always rejoice in the fact that he has never defrauded a fellow being. Even in
his darkest hour, he finds repose in a clear conscience. Ignorant men imagine that
dishonest is a short cut to prosperity. This is why, they practise it. The dishonest man is
morally short sighted. He is like the drunkard who sees the immediate pleasure of his
habit, but not the ultimate degradation. He sees the immediate effect of a dishonest act, a
larger profit but not its ultimate outcome. He does not see that an accumulated number of
such acts must inevitably under mine his character, and bring his business toppling about
his ears in ruin.
Questions:-
1. Why does honest man even fail some times?
2. How does failure affect an honest man?
3. What is the difference between the failure of an honest and a dishonest man?
4. Why do some people practise dishonesty in their dealings?
5. What is the ultimate effect of following a dishonest policy?
6. Write a note on the qualities of an honest person.
7. Suggest a suitable title for it and make a precise of the passage quoted aboye.

Passage No 21
The object of life is the development of men and women. It is, therefore, the duty of every
one to make of himself, and every parent to make his children, the best product possible.
The object of education should not be to run all the pupils into the same mould. The school
should be a garden. Education should therefore, prepare for life which itself is the larger
education. It should be adapted to the present condition and the prospective needs of the
pupil. The growing recognition of this truth has added industrial training to academic
education. To enjoy an opportunity for education is the right of every individual, to make
that opportunity so varied as to meet the varied needs of the members is the duty of
society, to avail himself of the opportunity to make all of himself that he can make, is the
duty of every individual.
Question:
1. What is the duty of man in life?
2. Why should a school be a garden and not a foundry?
3. What is the duty of society in respect of education?
4. What changes does the passage suggest in education?
5. What is the right of an individual in respect of education?
6. Explain the meaning of the following: - i. Foundry ii. Mould iii. Varied
7. Make a precis of the passage given above and suggest a title for it.
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Passage No 22
The first thing necessary to the pleasure of reading is that when people are young, they
should acquire the habit of reading. This is becoming more and more difficult. Railways
have altered people's habits by making them move about much more, although they take
people much away from home. A long journey affords a first rate opportunity for reading.
They were, therefore, not an unmixed advantage. But now things are changing. The motor
car is altogether unfavorable to reading. People consume more time in moving about than
they did, and they consume it under conditions which, even for people with good eyes,
must make reading difficult, if no possible. The radio, with all its delights is now being
added as a distraction to divert people from time to time that might be given to the
pleasure of reading. The cinematograph is another change in the same direction and flying
is becoming more and more common. A further disadvantage to reading is the great
disadvantage of picture papers, which are tending to divert people not only from reading
but also from thought. All these things must make it more difficult for successive
generations to acquire the habit of reading and, if that habit be acquired, to maintain it.
Questions:-
1. When should people acquire the habit of reading?
2. How is it difficult to acquire the habit of reading in the presence of modern inventions?
3. What is the disadvantage of picture papers?
4. Write a note on the pleasure of reading.
5. Suggest a suitable title for the passage and make a precis of.
6. Explain the meaning of the follcwing:-
i. Unmixed advantage ii. Distraction iii. Successive iv. Generation

Passage No 23
Practically all the progress that man has made is due to the fact that he is mortal. He has
recognized that as he is in this world only for a little while, and this knowledge has been
goad to stimulate him to make a diligent use of whatever talents he is endowed with. The
secrets of Nature have been, wrested from her grudging fingers by men who knowing they
were mortal have sough to comprehend the mysteries of the world around them in the
hope that knowledge might enable them if not to circumvent death at least to ameliorate
the asperities of the themselves and for others.
All the instincts and emotions are reinforced by death, if were not mortal the paternal and
maternal instincts would not dominate our lives so strongly as they do if we know that we
would never die, we should hate no desire for children to perpetuate our names and carry
on the succession of the race. Thus ultimately we should arrive at a world without a child;
 P a g e | 15

and a world without of the most beautiful emotions to which the human should give
expressions. And death lends a peculiar sanctity to human live. A man may love his
books, but the love he bears his wife, his children or his friends, is something deeper and
more sub-lime; it is love intensified and purified by the thought; that human life is a finite
thing which may at any moment be touched by the finger of death.
Questions:-
1. How man has made progress in the world?
2. What are the advantages of being mortal?
3. How will a world without childe look?
4. How does death make us explore the mysteries of life?
5. Suggest a suitable title for it and make a precis.
6. Explain the meaning of the following words:- i. Instinct ii. Perpetuate iii. Sanctity

Passage No 24
Teaching more even than most other professions, has been transformed during the last
hundred years from a small, highly skilled profession concerned with a minority of the
population, to a large and important branch of the public service. The profession has a
great and honourable tradition, extending from the dawn of history until recent times, but
any teacher in the modern world who allows himself to be inspired by the ideals of his
predecessors is likely to be made sharply aware that it is not his function to teach what he
thinks, but o instill such beliefs and prejudices are thought useful by his employers. In
former days a teacher was expected to be a man of exceptional knowledge or wisdom to
whose words men would do well to attend. In antiquity, teachers were not an organized
profession and no control was exercised over what they taught. It is true that they were
often punished afterwards for their subversive doctrines. Socrates was put to death and
Plato is said to have been thrown in to prison, but such incidents did not interfere with the
spread of their doctrines.
Questions:-
1. What change has occurred in the profession of teaching during the last hundred years?
2. What were the teachers supposed to be in golden days?
3. What is the function of a teacher now-a-days?
4. Write a note on the rewards that a teacher gets now-a-days.
5. Suggest a suitable title for the passage and make a precis.

Passage No 25
This brings me along a democracy, even love the beloved Republic which feed upon
freedom. Democracy is not a beloved Republic really and never will be. But is less hateful
 P a g e | 16

than other contemporary form of Government and to that extent it deserves our support. It
does start from the assumption that the individual is important and that all types are
needed to make a civilization. It does riot divide its citizens into bossers and the bossed as
an efficiency regime tends to do. The people I admire most are those who are sensitive and
want to create something or discover something and do not see life in term of power and
such people get more of a chance under a democracy than elsewhere. They find religions
great or small or they produce literature and art or they do disinterested scientific research
or they may be what is called ordinary people who are creative in their private lives, bring
up their children decently for instance or help their neighbours. All those people need to
express themselves; they cannot do so unless society allows them liberty to do so and the
society which allows them most liberty is democracy.
Questions:-

1. What other advantage of democracy can you think of in addition to the fact that it allows
most liberty?
2. Summarize the writer's definition of creative persons.
3. Suggest as suitable title and make a precis
4. Why does the writer call democracy a less hateful form of Government?
5. What type of people does the writer like?
6. Explain the meaning of the following:- i. Sensitive ii. Disinterested iii. Liberty

Passage No 26

A university must do more than merely provide as a high class professional

apprenticeship. It does not matter in the least what a students' specialized line happens to
be; the fact that he is specialist cannot excuse him from his responsibilities as a man.
Students must emerge as complete human beings capable of taking their proper place in
society as a credit to their universities both for their professional knowledge and as men.
There is no conflict between the two disciplines here. Nobody can be termed a completed
man who has no knowledge of what science has to teach, and equally, human obligations
cannot be escaped on the ground of being a specialized scientist or technologist. By human
obligation, I mean ability to behave in a reasonable way to observe restraints so that
restraints do not have to be imposed to be able to think clearly and objectively so that false
doctrines cannot gain ground.
Questions:-
1. Suggest a suitable title for the passage and make a precis.
 P a g e | 17

2. What else must a University do apart from providing high class professional
apprenticeship?
3. Who is a complete man?
4. Write a note on the function of a university.
5. Explain what the author means by human obligation.

Passage No 27
It is wrong to think that one can write English by mastering a few rules of grammar. There
was never a greater delusion Rules of grammar do count by they are not the whole matter.
Thus it is possible that one may write English which may be grammatically correct but
may still not be good English. The Pakistani student is in a particularly in a difficult
position in acquiring the knowledge, foreign to him in spirit in origin, in traditions and in
genius. He cannot be blamed if he finds it difficult to master the intricacies of English
idioms and usage. The secret of writing good English does not lie in memorizing the rules
of grammar but in developing the habit of clear thinking and expression. As Mathew
Arnold has put it so beautifully:-"Have something to say and say it as clearly as possible"
Most of the students in Pakistan have an involved style because they have either nothing to
say or say it as vaguely as they can. Perspicuity or lucidity is the first requisite of a good
style. In order to attain lucidity, we should avoid confusion of ideas, vagueness of
expression repetition of argument and use of bombast.
Questions:-
1. Can one write good English by mastering a few rules of grammar? If not why not?
2. What is meant by the statement that English is foreign to us in spirit and in genius?
3. What are the characteristics of good style?
4. What are advantages of learning the rules of grammar?
5. Suggest a suitable title and make a precis of the said passage.

Passage No 28
In its wider sense Composition means the expression of our writing, so composition is
necessarily of two kinds, oral and written. Both these forms of composition are equally
important and are very closely connected. We have to be careful in the choice and use of
our words in speaking and in writing, if we learn to speak clearly. But writing requires of
greater clearness and exactness than speaking does. In speaking what we have to say can
be made effective by the tone of our voice, the expression on our face and by the
movement of our hands, but in writing we have to depend entirely on the sense conveyed
by the words we use. Sir Francis Bacon has rightly said that writing makes an exact man.
 P a g e | 18

Writing tends to make a man exact because he cannot write well about a subject unless he
knows the subject well. To write well you have to be clear in your own mind as to what
you are going to say.

Questions:-
1. Why should we be careful in the choice and use of words?
2. In what ways do writing and speaking differ?
3. What did Bacon mean when he said that writing makes an exact man? How can
we make our power of writing good?
4. Suggest a suitable title and make a precis of the passage given above?

Passage No 29
Most of us enjoy a detective story at times partly because we like to watch the unraveling
of tangled mystery partly because the study of crime is fascinating. We like to her the
detective how he discovered the clue, how he deduced this thing and that thing, and how
he pieced the whole story together like a jig-say puzzle. Sherlock Holmes, the Sir Arthur
Cannan Doyle, was the first popular detective in English fiction and naturally there have
been many limitations of him. Some of them are excellent and others are very poor. All
detectives are very keen observers. Sherlock Holmes could tell a man's trade or occupation
by looking at him.
It is not for a detective to see things. He must be able to reason quickly and accurately.
That is to say, he must see with his mental eye as well as with his physical eye. All
detectives talk about deducing things, Sherlock Holmes used to "deduce" a man's character
by examination of his watch, his walking stick or his hat. His idea was that every criminal
leaves a number of traces of his crime. It is the detective's business to notice them and to
interpret them. He must start with the given facts or clues and reason backward. The
exercise requires the same sort of reasoning owers that boy uses in solving a difficulty in
mathematics.
Questions:-
1. Why are detective stories popular?
2. What are the qualities of a good detective?
3. What is meant by the phrase "Mental eye"?
4. How did Sherlock Holmes used to deduce a man's character?
5. Suggest a title for it and make a precis of it?

Passage No 30
A person who is aware of his duties and rights in his society is a good citizen. He knows
that he is member of group with which he is associated by the thousand and one ties. He
 P a g e | 19

realizes that he should live in harmony with other members of society. Man cannot live
without a society. He cannot live alone. He must life with his fellow human beings. But
living in a society means cooperation with other members of that society. When you live
in society, you have t live as others live. You have to accept the condition and traditions
that a society prescribes for its members. These conditions and standards of behavior are
for the common good and welfare of the society and individuals. Society grants you some
rights and some duties.
A good citizen does his best to do his duty to the society. He always keeps in view the
interests of his society and state. He lives a clean and honest life. He keeps away from
such activities that may harm the interests of his fellow citizens.
A good citizen is aware of the fact that he is indebted to his society in many ways. He
knows that the labour and work of countless persons have enriched his life. His life, to a
very great extend, depends on others. He has received much in material and spiritual
benefits from others? It is only just and right that he should pay his debts. How does a
good citizen pay his debts to the society? By living useful and fruitful life he lives not for
himself alone but he lives for others. He pays his taxes. He takes keen interest in the affairs
of his state. He does not live in isolation. He is not selfish. He sis tolerant, kind and
virtuous.
Questions:-
1. Give a suitable title and make a precis of the passage given above and make a precis of
the passage given above?
2. Who is a good citizen?
3. Why is society formed?
4. What are the duties of good citizen?
5. Give other words for: Harmony, prescribers, indebted, isolation

Passage No 31
The use of atomic energy has promised vast possibilities for mankind. In the beginning of
this century, Einstein advanced the theory that matter is energy and energy is matter and
each may be converted into the other. He said that the atom contained vast stores of energy
that might be used in thousand ways.
The problem was how to tame the atom and obtain and use its energy. In 1983, Hahn and
Stressman succeeded in splitting the molecules of an atom of Uranium. Later, it was found
that the process of splitting the atom released enormous amount of energy. Then 2 nd
December, 1942, scientists succeeded in obtaining the first self sustaining nuclear chain
reaction.
 P a g e | 20

Today's reactors which obtain energy from the atom are not very efficient machines. They
harness only one percent of the total energy available in the atom. Even this energy which
is actually obtained from atom is enormous. It is estimated that energy in one pound of
Uranium is equivalent of that of three million pounds of coal.
The research in the mysteries of the atom is going on in many countries of the world. It is
hoped that before long better and more efficient reactors will be built. These will be able
to obtain atomic energy at an economical cost. Atoms produce compact form of fuel which
provides a vast amount of energy and it is also lasts longer.
Atomic energy can be used in many ways and for many purposes. It can be used to bring
peace and prosperity to the whole of this earth. It can also be sued to destroy this world
and its inhabitants. It can do anything. It can perform miracles, if we have the power of
wisdom to use it only for peaceful purposes. If we do not possess that wisdom, many have
not many years to live on this earth.
Questions:-
1. Give a suitable title for the passage.
2. What theory did Einstein present?
3. What are the uses of atomic energy?
4. What is mean by the last sentence?
5. What is the function of atomic reactor?
6. Give other words for:
Enormous, Equivalent, Economical, Prosperity
7. Make a precis of the passage in 100 words.

Passage No 32
Humans may not need meat but they definitely like it. Most people when given the chance
will choose meat rather than just vegetable alone. With increasing affluence the nations of
the world are consuming increasing amounts of animal products. But this does not always
mean that there is more usable protein in the diet. More often animal protein merely
replaces vegetable and cereal protein and dramatically increase the fat consumption of the
diet. All animal products are rich in fat. Not just the visible fat that you see in the fat
around a piece of steak or bacon; even a piece of lean beef has a fat content of 10% but did
you ever see a fat vegetarian? Meat, poultry and fish were not originally part of man's diet.
Our teeth evolved to deal with vegetables and not flesh. Our digestive systems are those of
foragers, not hunters. We cannot foage ourselves on meat and then go without using for
many days as other ......... do. But meat is highly concentrated form of nutriment and is
 P a g e | 21

also among the most appetizing of food in the average diet. The flavor and smell of meat
have encouraged many ways of eating.
Questions:-
1. Suggest a suitable title for the passage e and make a precis.
2. What is meant by "increasing affluence" and "vegetarian"?
3. What is the main reason for eating meat?
4. What was man's original diet?
5. What type of diet is suitable to man?

Passage No 33
It is especially in the teaching of history that changes are called for. This applies only in
the lower classes. But just as much in the higher academic teaching. Hegel, who
announced that he had surveyed all human history, picked out three individuals as having
the most outstanding merit. They were Alexander, Ceaser and Napoleon. Teachers and
thinkers after Hegel in their own country, Germany were nationalistic and preferred
German heroes, while in France, boys were being taught that heroism if French and
English boys, that it is English. This sort of thing will have to stop. I suggested long ago,
with the hope that the suggestion would be accepted, that in very country the history of
that country should be accepted, that in every country the history of that country should be
taught from books written by foreigners. Not doubt such books would not be free of
prejudice but their prejudice will be opposed by an opposite prejudice in the pupils and the
outcome may be fairly just.
Questions:-
1. What conclusion did Hegel reach after his survey of history?
2. What is it that the writer wants in the teaching of history to be stopped?
3. What suggestions has the writer made in connection with the teaching of history?
4. Make a precis of the above passage in 50 words and also suggest a suitable title for it?

Passage No 34
When a dear one dies, the house which was a haven of hope and happiness becomes a hell.
You experience strange disappointment and depression. The every room in which you
have lived for more than forty years and spent very happy day, seems like a grave. The
house too, if no one is around, looks like grave. Silence and stillness weigh heavily, on
you mind and heart and life seems to e dull and insipid. Sorrows and sufferings take away
vigour from life and you do no feel like working. You lose interest in every thing and the
things which used to give joy and happiness to you become dull and unattractive. Life
seems to lose its luster. But in this hour of trial, there is some thing which can save you
 P a g e | 22

from despondency and despair. It is prayer, if you pray to God and ask for his blessings,
your sufferings and sorrows will disappear.
Questions:-
1. What do sorrow and sufferings take away from life?
2. What can save you from despondency and despair?
3. What does life seem to be when silence and stillness weigh heavily on your mind and
heat?
4. Make a precis of the above and suggest a title for it?

Passage No 35
Islam and Hinduism are not religions in the strict sense of the world, but are in fact,
different and distinct social orders, and it is a dream that the Hindus and the Muslims can
every evolve a common nationality and this misconception of one Indian nation has gone
far beyond the limits and is the cause of most of our troubles and will lead India to
destruction, if we fail to revise our nation in time. The Hindus and the Muslims belong to
two different religious philosophies, social customs and literatures. They neither
intermarry, nor interdine, and indeed they belong to two different nations. It is quite clear
that Hindius and Musimans derive their inspiration from different sources of history. They
have different epics, different heroes and different episodes. Very often the hero of one is
the foe of the other and likewise, their victories and defeats overlap. To yoke together into
one nation under a single state, one as a numerical majority and the other as a minority,
must lead to growing discontent and final destruction of any fabric that may be so built up
for the government of such a state.
Questions:-
1. Enumerate the major differences between the Hindus and the Muslims.
2. What do Islam and Hinduism in fact represent?
3. What misconception, according to the Quaid-i-Azam will possibly result in the
destruction of India?
4. Write a precis of the above passage and suggest a title for it.

Passage No 36

The world is very full of people appalingly full, 11 has never been so full before and they
are all tumbling over each other. Most of the people, one does know and some of them,
one does like, one doesn't like the colour of their skin, say, or the shapes of their noses, or
they way they blow them or don't blow them or the way they walk, or their smell, or their
clothes, or their fondness for jazz, or their dislike for jazz, and so on. Well what is one to
 P a g e | 23

do? There are two solutions. One of them is the Nazi solution. If don't like people, kill
them, banish them, segregate them and then strut up and down, that you are the salt of the
earth. The other way is much less thrilling, but is on the whole they way of the
democracies and I prefer it. If you don't like people, put up with them as well as you can,
don't try to love them. You cannot you'll only strain yourself. But try to tolerate them. One
the basis of that tolerance, a civilized future may be built.

Questions:-
1. Suggest a suitable title for the passage, and make a precis.
2. Write a meaning of; Appalingly, Salt of the earth, strut up
3. Explain "Nazi solution" as given by the author.
4. How do the people differ in the world?

Passage No 37

The chief causes of large scale violence are love of power, competition, hate and fear, love
of power will have a natural outlet when all serious military force is concentrate ed in the
international army. Competition will be effectively regulated by law and mitigated by
governmental controls. Fear in the acute form in which we know it will disappear when
war is no longer to be expected. There remains hate and malevolence. This has a deep hold
on human nature. The wild diffusion of malevolence is one of the most unfortunate things
in human nature and it must be lessened if a world state is to be stable. It can be lessened
very quickly. If peace becomes secure there will be a very rapid increase of material
prosperity, and this tends more than anything else to provide a mood of kindly feeling.
Consider the immense diminution of cruelty in Britain during the Victorian Age; this was
mainly due to rapidly increasing wealth in all classes. I think we may confidently expect a
similar effect throughout the world owing to the increased wealth that will result from the
elimination of war. A great deal also is to be hoped from a change in propaganda.
Questions:-
1. What are the chief causes of large scale violence in the world?
2. How can hate be lessened?
3. How can material prosperity be achieved?
4. How can nationalist propaganda be controlled?
5. Suggest a suitable title for the passage.
6. Make a precis of the passage.

Passage No 38
 P a g e | 24

Mankind has undoubtedly progressed since medieval times. The earliest men lived like
brutes, destroyed the weak, for that is the law of jungle-the law of irrational life. But man
was not an animal. He possessed rational faculties. These faculties gradually developed
and appeared in his actions, and man gave up the law of the jungle and evolved his own
rational laws. Men saw that the law of physical strength was not applicable to their lives.
They realized that they had souls and the strength of being with a soul can consist in a
variety of capabilities other than the power to hack and hew and tear and bite. For
instance, a man can be strong in reasoning tools, or in controlling the actions of other
rational beings by the power of songs and speech. Thus men realized that they should not
be fighting among themselves but should be working together and giving one another
opportunities to develop their respective strength. This was the first step in man's progress.
By this means men gained such control over the forces of nature and make each other so
much wiser and more comfortable that they were convinced that they were the best
creation of God.
Questions:-
1. How did the earliest men live?
2. What is the law of the jungle?
3. What did men learn to do when his reason developed?
4. Write a precis of the passage given above.

Passage No 39

Of all the institutions that have come down to us from the past, none is in the present day,
so disorganized and derailed as the family. Affection of parents for children and of
children for parents is capable of being one of the great sources of happiness, but, in fact,
at the present day, the relation of parents and children are, in nine cases out of ten, a source
of unhappiness to both parties and in ninety nine cases our of a hundred, a source of
unhappiness to at least one of the two parties. The failure of the family to provide the
fundamental satisfaction which, in principal, it is capable of yielding, is one of the most
deep seated causes of discontent which is prevalent in our age. The adult who wishes to
have a happy relation with his own children or to provide a happy life for them must
reflect deeply upon parenthood, and having reflected, must act wisely.
The causes of family unhappiness in our day are of the most diverse sorts, psychological,
economic, social, educational and political. Where the well to do sections of community
are concerned, two causes have combined to make women feel parenthood a burden far
heavier than it was every felt to be in former time. The two causes are on the one hand, the
 P a g e | 25

openings of careers to single women; on the other hand, the decay of domestic service.
Questions:-
1. What can be the source of happiness in a family?
2. What is the cause of dissatisfaction in a family?
3. Why has the desire to become a parent declined in the modern woman?

Passage No 40
It is usual to speak of courage as of two kinds; physical courage and moral courage. The
distinction is quite sound; for a man can have one without the other. By physical courage,
we mean the courage to face physical danger, such as pain, wound and death etc. by moral
courage we mean courage to face ridicule, hatred and public disapproval for the sake of
what we believed to be right. A soldier, who can face shells and guns, may be unable to
face the mockery of his companions. He is physically brave, but a moral coward. On the
other hand, there are men who cannot face bodily. They are morally brae, but physically
coward. Moral courage is test of character. Danger and physical risks test our nerves and
strength only. But it requires an exceptional man to overcome temptations to be dishonest
when his children are starving at home, to ignore the whispers of the vile temper when the
rewards he holds out to him are so irresistibly tempting. True manliness is of the mind, not
of the body. The body suffers for a time and forgets all about it. But the torture and the
pain of mind may continue for years. The man, who suffers patiently without complaining
because he thinks he is in right, is truly brave.
Questions:-
1. Make a precis of this passage.
2. How are the two types of courage different?
3. What is meant by moral courage?
4. How is moral courage better than physical courage?

Passage No 41
It is usual to identify flattery with false praise. But this seems to offer a poor definition of
flattery, for, false commendation is easily detectable and, therefore, incapable of achieving
the result while flattery is that praise which is too fine and artistic to fail in its effort.
Flattery may, therefore, be defined as the art of praising which aims at magnifying the
virtues to the exclusion of vices. But then the person flattered must have some qualities, in
fact or in this fancy, which can be praised and amplified. Thus one who made a fairly good
speech can be flattered by saying that he presented an excellent piece of oratory. But one
who has laughed down by the audience cannot be said to have delivered a good speech t
 P a g e | 26

all. If any attempt is made to say that he did so, he will be ridiculed and the effect of the
art, at once, is lost.
Flattery being an art of commendation requires for its proper understanding to be
compared with a kindred art, appreciation. Both emanate from the same motive of pleasing
the other's self esteem. But the former is largely vitiated by the tinge of falsehood and
often aims at the realization of sound self interest but the latter is based on truth and is
without any motive.
Questions:-
1. Make a precis of the passage.
2. How does the writer define flattery?
3. What are the preconditions for flattery to succeed?
4. How does the writer compare flattery and appreciation?

Passage No 42
Properly speaking, the cave men were the human beings who lived before the most
important of the early inventions on which a stable civilization can be based, farming, or
the regular cultivation of edible plant; the domestication of hoofed animals; pottery and
perhaps with it the revolutionary technique of grinding, and boring stone tools so as to
make them almost as efficient as the later tools of metal. The cave men did not farm, they
were hunters and fishermen, and their women collected wild fruit, vegetables and grain.
They lived lives rather like those of the American plaints Indians before the introduction
of the horse. They did not domesticate animals or at best only one animal, our oldest
friend dg. They lived largely on animals, they thought about animals constantly, but they
were hunters, so they treated even the horse as something to be stampeded over a cliff and
then eatein. They knew something about clay and how it hardens in the fire, but so far we
have found no real clay dishes or containers among their remains. We find it difficult to
imagine life without the peaceful fornfields, the quiet cattle, and the dishes from which we
eat and drink, yet for most of man's existence on the earth, these things were unknown and
undreamed of. Settled farming began some where about 7000 years ago, in the New Stone
Age, that seems like a long time ago, but is only 200 generations from our own time.
Questions:-
1. Make a precis of the passage.
2. Who were the cave men?
3. What are the basic elements of a stable civilization?
4. What did the cavemen eat to live?

Passage No 43
 P a g e | 27

Real beauty is as much an affair of the inner as of the outer self. The beauty of a porcelain
jar is a matter of shape, of colour, of surface texture. The jar may be empty or tenanted by
spiders, full of honey or stinking slime, it makes no difference to its beauty or ugliness.
But a woman is live and her beauty is therefore not skin deep. The surface of the human
vessels is affected by the nature of its spiritual contents. I have seen women who by the
standards of a connoisseur of porcelain were ravishingly lovely. Their shape, their colour,
their surface texture were perfect. And yet they were not beautiful. For the lovely vase was
either empty or filled with some corruption. Spiritual emptiness or ugliness shows through.
And conversely, there is an interior light that can transfigure form that the pure
aesthetician would regard as imperfect or downright ugly. There are numerous forms of
psychological ugliness. There is an ugliness of stupidity, for example, of unawareness
(distressingly common among pretty women) an ugliness also of greed, of lasciviousness,
of avarice. All the deadly sins indeed have their own peculiar negation of beauty. On the
pretty faces of those especially who are trying to have a continuous good time, one sees
very often a kind of bored sullenness that ruins all the charm.

Questions:-
5. What does real beauty signify?
6. Where does the beauty of a porcelain jar lie?
7. Differentiate between inner beauty or outer beauty?
8. Point out some forms of psychological ugliness.
9. Suggest a suitable title for the passage.
10. Make a precis of the passage.

Passage No 44

When the time for a general election approaches, candidates who wish to be elected travel
around with loudspeakers and hold meetings.
They hold meetings before the election because they wish to appeal to the electorate. They
wish to present to the public what they consider to be a suitable programme for legislation
and if they are elected and they seek to show why their programme should be chosen in
preference to that of their opponents. The candidates are in this way seeking to influence
public opinion.
Holding a meeting is probably the simplest form in influencing public opinion, but it is
still a very important method. The speaker faces his audience, which is then able to gauge
 P a g e | 28

his honesty and sincerity. In these days of political parties, it is more the political party
that wields the greater influence, rather than the individual speaker and what he has to say.
Nevertheless if as a speaker he is unimpressive, he may do a lot to reduce his party's
chances in the election.
But public meetings are not the only means of influencing public. Every time people
assemble in a group and discuss some matters, they are employing a method of forming
and persuading opinion. In a democracy it is important that there should always be this
attempt to get some expression of opinion even among the humblest people. When people
meet and formulate opinion, they are really helping to govern themselves so this method
of assessing and gauging public opinion and thereby arriving at an agreement is of the
greatest importance.
Questions:-
1. Suggest a suitable title for the passage?
2. What is the importance of holding public meetings?
3. What is mean by the "electorate"?
4. Why does an unimpressive speaker reduce his party's chances?
5. Make a precis of the passage in about1/3 of the whole.

Passage No 45
Great progress has been made by America in the field of mechanization. It is spending
lavishly on labour saving machines. Efficient organization of highly mechanized system
has resulted in maximum productivity in America. With mass production, the amenities of
life are available to almost every citizen. On the contrary Europe subordinates the use of
machines to human happiness and welfare. It encourages man's reliance on his own
faculties and realizes the dangers inherent in the American scheme. However great the
advantages of mechanization, it crushes the creative faculty of man and makes a machine
out of him. His individual liberty and personality suffer in irretrievable loss. In his
moments of leisure, the worker finds it difficult to turn his hands to creative work because
the machine made goods do not inspire him in the direction of refinement. These goods
also lose their fascination because mass production has given a setback to the individuality
of the articles produced. The Europeans, therefore, contend that it is better to sacrifice a
few material comforts than crush the aesthetic and spiritual urge in the individual which
large scale mechanization is doing in America.
Questions:-
1. Suggest a suitable title for the passage.
 P a g e | 29

2. What is the result of progress in the field of mechanization in America?

3. How has it affected the citizens?
4. What is the case in Europe?
5. Why do Europeans sacrifice a few material comforts?
6. Make a summary of the passage.

Passage No 46
One of the worst offshoots of population growth is the massive rural influx into big cities.
South Asia in particular provides the most glaring example of the unbalanced economic
development pattern typical of developing State. Mercifully, conditions in Pakistan are
better than those in India. In Calcutta and Bombay, for example, millions have made
footpaths their abode. In Pakistan, too, the trend towards urbanization continues and
unless something is done to avert this, we may well see a parallel to the conditions in our
neighbouring country. Pakistan was faced with the problem right from its inception. In the
absence of advance and articulate planning for settling the looming swarms of refugees the
influx into big cities was but natural. Karachi was a city of about four lack before the
establishment of Pakistan and now its population is well over four million. In addition to
the original thrust in 1947, large scale influx not only from the adjoining areas but also the
corners of the length and breadth of the country, has continued with ceaseless intensity.
Questions:
1. What is the worst effect of population growth?
2. What are the conditions in major cities of India?
3. How do conditions in Pakistan compare with those in India?
4. State the factors responsible for the ten-fold growth in the population of Karachi since
1947.
5. What was the population of Karachi in 1947?
6. Make a summary of the above passage.

Passage No 47
Today there are more than 500 million disabled person around the world. More than 350
million live without the help they need to enjoy a full life. The inhabit every part of the
world but by far the greatest number live in developing countries where poverty combines
with impairment to shatter the hopes and embitter the lives of countless children, adults
and families. The disabled persons in Pakistan constitute 4% of the total population. The
common forms of disability are blindness, deafness and mental retardation. Physical
disability is caused by disease, accidents and malnutrition. Polio alone claims a large
number of victims among children. The disabled suffer not only from physical
disadvantages but also are vulnerable to social disregard, emotional imbalance and
 P a g e | 30

psychological complexes. They do not receive the attention they deserve from the State
and citizenry. The problems faced by them are deeply moving. The community has a
responsibility towards the unfortunate among them. But disability in backward societies is
accepted with stoic resignation as an irrevocable fact of life, and no sustained effort is
made the integrate the disabled into the fabric of social and cultural life.
Questions:
1. Where do the majority of the disabled live?
2. How do they fare in these countries?
3. What are the common forms of disability?
4. How they are caused?
5. What is our response to the problems of the disabled?
6. Make a precis of the above passage.

Passage No 48
As a speaker Muhammad Ali Jinnah has the triple assets of a magnetic presence, an
impressive delivery, and a voice which while lacking volume has an arresting timbre. But
though occasionally he has attained a moment of wholly unconscious and stirring
eloquence, he has the cogent force of a brilliant advocate rather than the glowing favour of
a brilliant orator. And it is not on a public platform, but at a Round-Table Conference, that
he finds full scope for his unusual powers of persuasion, luminous exposition, searching
argument and impeccable judgment. It is an open 'secret that his was a large and
responsible share in the recent discussions regarding the Muslim University as well as the
joint Congress League Committee that sat at Luck now last year to formulate a scheme of
Indian reforms elaborated from the Memorandum of Nineteen.
- Mrs. Sarojini Naidu
Questions:
1. What assets did Quaid-e-Azam possess as a speaker?
2. Was he a better advocate or an orator?
3. What unusual powers did Quaid-e-Azam exhibit at the Round Table Conference?
4. How did Quaid-e-Azam conduct himself at the deliberations of the joint Congress
League Committee?
5. Make a precis of the above passage.

Passage No 49
Advertising is essentially the art of communication. As such, its origin can be traced right
back to the origin of the species. "Advertising colouration" is a familiar biological phrase
denoting the colours developed by certain animals to make them stand out against their
 P a g e | 31

natural background. It is the direct opposite of camouflage. There is always a message in

these colours, such as: "Keep away", "Mind your step", or "Darling, won't you care for a
dance?" While camouflage is tricky and timed, "advertising" is honest, confident and
forthright, as far as the world of nature goes.
In human life, advertising through the mouth must have begun with the beginning of
commerce. The tradition is still kept alive by hawkers and street vendors in our towns and
villages. As regards advertising through the written word, there is archeological evidence
that it was being practiced at least 3,000 years ago. An advertisement offering a gold coin
as a reward to any one tracing out a runaway slave was unearthed in the ruins of Thebes
and is computed to be as old as the third millennium B.C. It was the prototype of our "Lost
and Found" classified and that was painted on a wall.
Questions:
1. Why couldn't determine the length of geological time?
2. Who was Herodotus?
3. How in the opinion of Herodotus, did the Nile Delta come into being?
4. How and when was the observation confirmed?
5. How do geologists conclude that deposition of moods at Memphis averaged about 3.5
inches per century?
6. How do the scientists come to the conclusion that humans inhabited the region about
13,500 years ago?
7. Write a precis of the paragraph given above.

Passage No 50
Drug addiction has become a major social problem, and one that particularly threatens
young people in their teens and twenties. Drugs are substances that alter the way the
human body works, changing our moods and affecting our behaviour. Drug addiction is as
old as human society itself but the changes that the twentieth century has brought have
made it more universal and more threatening than ever before.
When people talk abut drug abuse, they do not mean drugs (medicines) which are sold
legally in the market, they are talking about a range of illegal drugs like Cannabis, opium
and cocaine, which cannot be openly sold and used. These drugs are very powerful in their
effects, inducing a profound change in mood. It is easy though, for users of such drugs to
become addicted to them so that the drugs become a permanent part of their lives and
existing, without them becomes difficult. The costs of drug abuse today have become
enormous both in money and in lives.
 P a g e | 32

The trade in drugs and the misery it causes has long been recognized as problem that can
only be solved by International effort. One things is quite clear, drugs addiction is such a
complex problem and the trade in drugs is so difficult to prevent, that it must be tackled
simultaneously at every level, production, trafficking, dealing, treatment and
rehabilitation. No single approach can provide a solution but taking together, they might
give some satisfactory results. Let's say no to drugs.
Questions:
1. How do the drugs affect the functions of the body?
2. What is the harm caused by drugs?
3. How can we stop the trade in drugs?
4. Why & How people get addicted to drugs?
5. Suggest a title for the passage.

Passage No 52

"Education is the manifestation of what is already in man. From age to age, under different
types of rulers and cultural and religious movements the system of education in the Indo-
Pakistan sub-continent has been changing. But it we compare the system which was in
vogue in old days with present system, we will find much that we will admire in the
former and deplore in the later." Close personal contact characterized the system of
education in the ancient times. The pupils would sit at the feet of their preceptor among
idyllic surroundings in a forest far from the worry and distraction of daily life. It is true
that only the few had the privilege of studying scriptures and philosophy. This was
restrictive idea. But the pupil in those days received a perfect dedication.
During the rule of the Muslims the old system was replaced by Maktabs and there were
many such all over the country. The percentage of literacy was high. But the system of
education changed during the British rule. Landing in Indo-Pakistan sub-continent the
British found it very inconvenient to encourage the indigenous system or systems of
education. By strenuous efforts they established the English system of education in the
country. We may say about this system that it did not grow in the soil of Indo-Pakistan
subcontinent but was transplanted from outside. One of the greatest defects of this system
in that English is the medium of instruction in high schools and Colleges. This makes the
work of the students very heavy. It should also be said that this system only helps the
intellect. There is no provision of religious or moral teaching in our system. But in ancient
times, good deal of attention used to be paid to the moral development of the pupils.
 P a g e | 33

Questions:
1. How does the writer compare old and new systems of education in Indo- Pakistan sub-
continent?
2. What are the defects of English system of education?
3. How will you compare ancient system of education with English System?
4. Make a precis of the selection and give it a suitable title.

Passage No 53
Traveling is the best means of acquiring sound knowledge. Knowledge thus gained is the
result of firsthand experiences. A person who travels to various cities and towns from one
end of Pakistan to the other and stays at different places for some time gets a first rate
knowledge of the country, place and its people. He comes to know the geography, the
fauna and flora of the various regions, the people and their ways of life and their customs
and manners. He enjoys the beauties of the countryside, the variety of scenes of the vast
plains, the open valleys and the snow-capped peaks of the mountains. One great
advantage of the knowledge so gained is that it has the warmth of personal experience and
pulsates with life as opposed to the second-hand knowledge gained from books. Traveling
is the best means of imparting training in character. It engenders the quality of self-
reliance. One has to make all sorts of arrangements for the journey, for the stay in hotels
and restaurants and has to plan ahead in everything. One has to look for the best food
consistent with one's purse. One has to see that the luggage does not get mixed up with
that of others or things are not pilfered by strangers. So, one gets an excellent training in
managing everything without the help of others. Then, a person who undertakes a long
journey learns how to behave with strangers. He cannot afford to show uncultured
behaviour. He has to behave like a cultured person and show a spirit of toleration. Very
often he has to put up with little inconveniences for the sake of others to keep them in
good humour. A traveler becomes a shrewd judge of men and begins to understand them
from talk and behaviour.
Questions:
1. What does the author mean by first-hand knowledge?
2. How does traveling engender the quality of self-reliance?
3. How does a traveler become a shrewd judge of human behaviour?
4. Make a precis of the passage and give it a suitable title?

Passage No 54
 P a g e | 34

Freedom of speech is considered to be a basic right of the people in every civilized

country. Democracies are especially giving this birthright to every man and woman in the
country. But in the countries ruled by dictators, the individuals are not allowed to
propagate their views freely. They have to tow the line of the official policy and consider
the ruling party as possessing superior wisdom. But in democracies the individual is given
full freedom to propagate his views publicly. As a result of this freedom of speech two
distinct types of speakers gain public fame-those who honestly believe in certain policies
and want to make
a constructive criticism, and those who want to be mob orators and exploit their gift of the
gab. The former are a blessing for the nation. They are the people who make solid
contribution to the welfare of the nation. They make a constructive criticism of the
policies of the government and suggest remedies to the prevailing defects. But there are
speakers who want to make opposition for the sake of opposition. Right or wrong, they
must oppose the government. Then there are cheap mob orators who sell this gift of God
and earn some money. They have no definite views of their own; they are the
weathercocks who smell the public inclinations, flatter the views of the common mobs and
thus gain their selfish ends. This is, in fact, a prostitution of a great gift. Mob orators and
the religious leaders of the various sects often make use of this freedom liberally. They
have to be told to be cautious not to injure the feelings of the other communities or sects.
Communal riots or sectarian riots have always been the result of this kind of unbridled
liberty of speech.
Questions:
1. What is the difference in a democratic society and a dictatorial society regarding the
freedom of speech?
2. What kind of speakers are blessings for a society?
3. What do the mob orators do?
4. What does the writer mean by 'Weathercocks'?
5. Summarize the selection and assign it a title.

Passage No 55
Pollution, the thirsty question of the day, means smoke and fumes with its disastrous and
dark effect on future. Pollution is also brought about by the use of chemicals, pesticides,
insecticides, and leakage of chemical gases from atomic reactors. Not only is our
atmosphere affected but also are affected our seas, rivers, lakes and forests. Tons of oil is
spilt into the seas in accidents of oil tankers, which is depleting rapidly due to which the
 P a g e | 35

ice at the north and south poles is melting at fast rate, resulting in the rise in the level of
water in the seas. If this condition continues, the areas currently, slightly above sea level
will also go under sea. Man himself is responsible for this. He is creating problems, which
are extremely dangerous to him. Atomic reactors also play havoc on life. The River Rhine
in Germany was polluted when, waste atomic reactors were thrown into it, as a result
many fish were poisoned. The world was completely shocked when the reactor of Ukraine
was declared unfit for farming.
Many diseases are created by pollution, and the eyes and skin are the most affected. If this
goes on unchecked, humanity will suffer the consequences. So we must save the earth, and
stop pollution before it is too late to do anything.
Questions:
1. How is pollution caused?
2. What harm is caused by the depletion Ozone Layer?
3. How could atomic reactors be the cause of pollution?
4. How does pollution affect our health?
5. Suggest a title for the passage.

Passage No 56
The youth today have lost the spirit of educating themselves in order to get acquainted
with their culture and traditions. The lack of understanding of what is being taught leads to
the use of unfair means during examination.
Education used to mean that the teachers would beat the sense of right and wrong into
their pupils, they would take pains to mould the characters of their students. For they
would be held responsible for the personality which emerged later on. This sense of
responsibility has vanished in the teachers of today. Their students may run wild like
hooligans, but the educationists will not lift a finger to help them. One of the major
reasons for this would be that the youth of today holds nobody in regard any more and is
not above reacting in the most insolent manner. This is just because their characters have
not been moulded according to the Holy Quran and Sunnah. Why is this so?
Is it because they have been preached the benefits of monetary gains right from their
childhood? 'I must become a great person (by great he means rich) and earn more money
than everybody' is the motto they take up very early in life. But it is not too late to shake
off ignorance and stupidity and give education the respect and importance that it deserves.
We must remember that education is acquired for our own good and should never forget
that no knowledge goes waste.
 P a g e | 36

Questions:
1. What reason does the writer of the passage give for the use of unfair means during the
examination?
2. What used to be the functions of a teacher in the past?
3. How does the educationist neglect his duties these days?
4. What method would you suggest to rectify the defects of our present education system?
5. Suggest a title for this passage.

Passage No 57
A true gentleman carefully avoids whatever may cause a jar or a jolt in the minds of those
with whom he is cast, his great concern being to make every one at their ease and at home.
He has his eyes on all his company; he is tender towards the bashful, gentle towards the
absurd; he can recollect to whom he is speaking; he guards against unreasonable allusions,
or topics which may irritate, he is seldom prominent in conversation; and never
wearisome. He makes light of favours when he does them and seems to be receiving when
he is conferring. He never speaks of himself except when compelled, never defends
himself by a mere retort; he has no ears for slander or gossip. He is never mean of little in
his disputes never takes unfair advantage; and interprets everything of the best.
Questions:
1. What does a true gentleman avoid?
2. What is his attitude towards the bashful and the absurd?
3. Why is he seldom prominent in conversation?
4. What does the term "makes light of favours when does them" mean?
5. Why does he not lend ear to slander or gossip?
6. What is the attitude of a true gentleman in interpreting things?
7. Write a few qualities of a gentleman in the light of the passage.
8. Make the precis of the passage.
9. Give a suitable title to the passage.
10. Write the meaning of the following and use them in sentences, allusions, wearisome,
conferring, retort, slander

Passage No 58

When we consider how recently Science has risen to power, we find ourselves forced to
believe that we are at the very beginning of its work in transforming human life. What its
future effect will be is a matter of conjecture, but possibly a study of its effects hitherto
may make the conjecture a little less hazardous. The effects of Science are of various very
different kinds. There are direct intellectual effects; the dispelling of many traditional
 P a g e | 37

beliefs and the adoption of others suggested by the success of scienctific method. Then,
there are profound changes in social organization, which are gradually bringing about
political changes. Finally, as a result of new control over the environment, a new
philosophy is growing up, involving a changed conception of man's place in the universe.
Questions:
1. What kind of belief is associated with the rise of Science to power in modern
times?
2. Are the effects of Science restricted only to a very narrow sphere of human life?
3. What is the nature of its direct intellectual effect?
4. Has Science affected social organization?
5. What has been the result of its control over the environment?
6. Explain the following:
(a) hazardous (b) intellectual effects (c) scientific method
(d) environment (e) conception

Passage No 59
Gooa-writing is authentic. It proceeds from accurate observation and careful study of
evidence. It does not merely repeat second-hand ideas. Good-writing is thoughtful. It
reflects the author's desire to think things through, to do justice to a topic. Good-writing is
organized. It shows the writer's ability to marshall his ideas: to select what is important
and to present it in plausible order. Good-writing is effective. It shows that the writer is
aware of his audience, that he respects its standards, expectations or needs. Good-writing
is well- written: it shows the author's respect for language, his sense of its power, richness
and variety.
Questions:
1. What are the essential features of good-writing?
2. What are the relationship between the writer and his audience or readers?
3. Give other words for the following:
"authentic, thoughtful, to marshall, effective, richness, and variety."
4. Give a suitable title/heading to the above text.
5. Make a precis of the above text/passage.

Passage No 60
Composition is not the kind of subject that can be taught and learnt once for all.
Proficiency in writing comes from practice. It comes from tackling many different kinds
of writing assignments and from exploring the problems they present. A competent writer
has written a great deal, and has learnt from the experience. He has learnt even from false
starts; from a project h&. Gave up as a bad job; from a paper he finished, but then
 P a g e | 38

decided to keep it in the desk. But above all, he has learnt from projects that he did carry
through and that did reach the intended readers.
Questions:
1. How can one learn the art of composition?
2. What makes a writer truly competent?
3. Give other words for: "proficiency; tackling; exploring; competent
4. Give a suitable title to the passage.

5. Make a precis (summary) of the above text/passage.

Passage No 61
Practice in writing summaries will benefit you in important ways as a student and as a
writer It will give you practice in close and attentive reading. It will aid you to do justice
to what you read. Too many readers read into a piece of writing what they want to hear,
or, what they expert to hear. Too many writers are ineffectual because they have not
learnt to listen first, to think second, and to formulate their own reactions third and last. It
will also strengthen your sense of structure in writing. It will make you pay close
attention to how a writer organizes his material, how he develops a point, how he moves
from one point to another. It will further develop your sense of what is important in a
piece of writing. It will make you distinguish between a key point, the material backing it
up, and mere asides.
Questions:
1. How can a reader get maximum pleasure from a piece of writing?,
2. How can a writer be really effective?
3. Give other words and phrases for:
"ineffectual; formulate; distinguish; a key point; backing up; asides."
4. Give a suitable title to the above text/passage.
5. Make a precis summary of the above text/passage.
Passage No 62

A great nation faces many kinds of difficulties when it is in the making. It is, therefore, no
surprise that Pakistanis are also facing these. The verdict of time will be in their favour if
they overcome them as good nations have done in the course of history. The people of the
Provinces of Pakistan follow the same religion and have common aims. They struggled
together against the English and the Hindus to win independence. They decided to live
together in a separate country of their own. They wanted to develop their own Islamic
culture.)Now it is their aim to remove all forms of evils from their society and to keep it
free from all troubles. They want to have happiness and satisfaction all over the
 P a g e | 39

country, in its smallest village and largest city. It is, therefore, certain that Pakistanis are
going to remain united. The efforts of the enemies of our country will fail to bring disunity
into our ranks. Rather, their efforts to harm us will make us more active to defend
ourselves and to work for national unity. It is the need of the hour to work hard as true
Pakistanis with definite aims whatever our rank or position might be.
Questions:
1. How does the past of our people, living in different provinces, show that they had common
aims?
2. What are the common aims of or people today?
3. Give other words for:
"surprise (N); verdict; disunity; definite; overcome."
4. Give suitable/appropriate title to the above text.
5. Make a precis (summary) of the above text.

Passage No 63
A classless society does not mean a society without leaders. It means rather one in which
every citizen becomes for the first time eligible for leadership, if he has the power to lead.
It means a society in which everyone is given, as far as possible, the chance to develop this
power by the widest diffusion of educational opportunities in the broadest sense, and by
keeping the career wide open to talents of every useful kind. It is often said that a
community of equals will not allow itself to be led. But, in fact, most men are, in most
things, very willing to be led, and in danger of giving their leaders too rather than too little
authority, and assured that the leaders cannot exploit them for personal economic
advantage; leadership so far from disappearing, will come into its own in a truly
democratic society. But it is likely to be a more diffused leadership than we are used to;
for a better nurtured people will have more citizens with strong wills and mind of their
own wishful to lead, some in politics, some in industry, and some in the professions and
arts of life.
This is the idea of the classless society, some will reject it as contrary to their interests,
some as Utopian and "against human nature," for there are some who deny, indeed if not
in word, that the aim of society should be to promote the greatest happiness
and welfare of the greatest number, and other who hold, with pessimistic honesty, that
most men must be driven and not led."
Questions:
1. What is a "classless society" according to the writer of the above passage?
2. Does the writer believe that "a community of equals" will refuse to follow a leader?
 P a g e | 40

3. How will different types of people receive the idea of the classless society?
4. Give a suitable title to the above text/passage.
5. Make a precis (summary) of the above text.

Passage No 64
Narcissism is, in a sense, the converse of a habitual sense of sin; it consists in the habit of
admiring oneself and wishing to be admired. Up to a point, it is, of course, normal and not
to be deplored; it is only in its excesses that it becomes a grave evil. In many women, rich
society women, the capacity for feeling love is completely dried up, and is replaced by a
powerful desire that men should love them. When a woman of this kind is sure that a man
loves her, she has no further use for him. The same thing occurs, though less frequently,
with men. When vanity is carried to this height, there is no genuine interest in any other
person, and, therefore, no real satisfaction to be obtained from love. Other interests fail
even more disastrously. A narcissist, for example, inspired by the homage paid to great
painters, may become an art student; but as painting is for him a mere means to an end, the
technique never becomes interesting, as no subject can be seen except in relation to self.
The result is failure and disappointment, with ridicule instead of the expected adulation.
The same thing applies to those novelists whose novels always have themselves idealized
as heroines. All serious success in work depends upon some genuine interest in the
material with which the work is concerned.

Questions:
1. What is narcissism?
2. What happens when vanity touches the highest limits?
3. Why does a narcissist fail to become a genuine painter?
4. Give a suitable title to the above passage/text.
5. Make a precis of the above passage/text.

Passage No 65
The Pakistani economy had hit a recession in the early '90s and just as things were starting
to improve a little, the nuclear devices were tested in May, 1998. The subsequent sanctions
and the suspension of international credit lines took us to the brink of default on your
international obligations in 1999. The silver lining here was what ordinary Pakistanis had
been saying for years and the West had been denying: that he IMF and the World Bank are
political instruments of the US State Department in so far as their decisions and policies
 P a g e | 41

support the rich West's politico-economic agenda, was proved in favour of the Pakistanis.
That IMF and World Bank suspended all projects and credit lines when Pakistan refused to
toe the West's line, showed how non-partisan and objective these institutions are.
Although our dependence on the IMF loans, these were difficult months for Pakistan.
Foreign currency reserves dipped to a level of a few hundred million dollars restrictions
against imports were put in place, foreign currency accounts were frozen, outflows of
foreign currency were restricted, and dealing with foreign banks abroad was made quite
difficult.
Since then things have stabilized somewhat. The Bank and other international agencies
have resumed their lending and others are re-negotiating the loans. Many other leading
countries have also thought the better of tightening the screws on Pakistan and have agreed
to reschedule some of the loans. Various lending agencies have also started showing
interest in development projects, such as scholarships and research grants. We may see
more of this activity in the next few years as well.
Questions:
What are the agents that retarded the progress of the Pakistani economy?
6. What is the role of IMP and the World Bank in the world affairs?
7. How Pakistan could dodge the actual default?
8. What was the position of foreign currency reserves and what steps Pakistan took to
rehabilitate them?
9. What indicated that the things had stabilized in 1999?

Passage No 66
We have both the material and man-power resources to make this country great in the
comity of nations. What we lack is the will and determination among the elite to make
sacrifices, to shun some worldly comforts in order to pay for the build-up to the future.
Pakistan is a Federation of great ethnic races that have enormous depth of culture and
history. In this era of globalization, this dissimilarity has been welded into once cauldron
of nationhood. That bond can only remain strong when everyone feels an equal partner in
the venture. The Centre can only be strong when its constituents, that make up the
Federation, are strong; strength in any union cannot be derived from the relative weakness
of the other. There is so much rhetoric about government of the people, what we have to
provide is government at the people's doorstep. For a majority of the needs that concern a
common citizen, he (or she) must be able to address them within reach of his home, not far
away in some urban mystery-jungle that is mostly beyond his means to cope with.
 P a g e | 42

We must have the courage to break the shackles that feudals have imposed on our masses,
if not physically in bondage then through the manipulation of laws and the law- enforcing
mechanism. Enfranshsement does not only mean the ability to vote only on electoral days,
it also means the vote must be meaningful to affect the citizen in all his days as he
struggles with the vagaries that life presents on a day to day basis, whether it be for basic
needs such as food, shelter, medicine, transportation, etc., or those issues which concern
the community as a whole. To address issues which concern the nation as one, one needs
leaders who think selflessly beyond their own individual ambitions for the good of the
nation, the touchstone being what is good for the people, not what is good for themselves.
Nations take a long time to get their true bearings. Fifty years or so is nothing in the life of
nations. Institutions require far more time to crystallize into entities with the distinct
identity of the nation they serve. It is no use lamenting what has happened in the past. Let
us "gird up our loins and stiffen our sinews (Shakespeare, Henry—V) for the future. To do
that, all of us have to pull together, to shun our differences for the haven of a common
platform that combines ideology and nationhood in one giant melting pot. To that, all of us
have to make sacrifices, in a spirit of give and take, secure in the knowledge that
magnanimity and understanding will foster unity more than the use of force, that
vengeance will always remain subservient to compassion.

Questions:
1. What should we do to make this country great?
2. How do we have to develop a sense of nationhood?
3. Explain "providing of the government" at people's doorstep?
4. What would it bring to the common men of Pakistan if they get rid of the
Feudals?
5. What should the leaders and the people do to make a country prosperous and
strong?

Passage No 67

Perhaps the toughest task facing the people of Pakistan in the new century, may be over a
considerable part of the next millennium even it likely to be the establishment of respect
for the human rights of all members of their family in practice. This somewhat grim
prognosis is bases on the view that both the state and the society have been moving in a
direction opposite the one demanded by an order inspired by human rights norms. Human
rights are defined as a body of standards enforceable by law. But law in this context
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becomes effective only when it reinforces social belief in the equality of al human beings,
whose conduct is regulated by democratic principles. If a society for any reason does not
accept the equality of its members in practice, it will not create a democratic order. Nor
will it make laws to enforce human rights. Even such laws as may have been put on the
statute book will become redundant. That this has been the case in Pakistan needs little
elaboration.
Pakistan inherited a colonial state structure and a social order premised on inequality
between the feudal elite and the commoners. The privileged accepted the label of
democracy firmly in the belief that their title to power over the people will not be
challenged. Thus, whenever any possibility of power passing into the hands of the people
has emerged, strategies have been devised to repudiate democracy. Similarly, at the start
of the state's journey, the custodians of authority adopted the rhetoric of human rights
apparently in the hope that this would not compromise the dominant social belief about
the people having been created unequal and their duty to accept this condition for ever.
Any attempt on the part of the traditionally disadvantaged sections of society to challenge
this belief has been resisted.
Questions:
1. What is the most difficult task the people of Pakistan have to face in the new century?
2. Define the concept of the human rights in the new century?
3. How do you determine a democratic society?
4. What kind of state-structure does exist in Pakistan?
5. What kind of equality exists in Pakistan?

Passage No 68
Literacy means more than just the ability to be able to sing your name, it signifies
education both liberal and mental, understanding of both the explicit and implicit and the
capability of reaching a sound decision in view of all the facts concerning the
circumstances. An illiterate nation may be led easily astray by nonsensical preaching,
undisciplined and wrong priorities. An educated nation has its priorities in order, a general
patriotic outlook prevails and national interests take precedence even over personal
motives. Looking back on our own history, we can see it was only after the failure of the
War of Independence of 1857 and Sir Syed's intervention that made the Muslims get up
and educate themselves properly, and it was this acquisition and made possible their future
success.
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In our country, most of the people are not only illiterate but also out of touch with the
consequences of their actions. For a nation, today, to rise and survive on the horizon of the
global village, education is the first priority.
Questions:
1. What are the real meanings of literacy?
2. What is the difference between an illiterate nation and an educated nation?
3. What is Sir Syed's contribution in this context?
4. What is the real importance of education?
5. Assign a suitable title to the passage.

Passage No 69
A few days back I had a chance to see an old Pakistani movie. I was simply stunned to see
such a film. The old movie brought forth a couple of questions, the most important one
being: why do all the models and film actresses try to copy Indians? What they depict is
their culture and not ours. Most of what they follow and you copy blindly is prohibited in
Islam. You hear our actors and actresses praising God for giving them so much but when it
comes to repaying, you go your own way.
Another most objectionable thing is violence. I don't know what message the film-makers
want to give our youngsters. Do they want to tell them that killing or burning is a very
courageous and heroic thing to do and they will be given a big reward for all this. I would
like to ask the writers and producers if they have contemplated the thought that by a steady
dose of such acts they are actually injecting violence in their thoughts. A youngster doesn't
dream of violence on his own, he gets it from some source, and every one knows that the
most effective medium is the silver screen.
I would also like to unveil a bitter reality of life. When it's a question of games or even
war, we are all fired up against our neighbours, but do we realize how we strengthen their
economy just by buying their culture through movies? A statement made by a popular
Indian political figure hits us like spit on our faces, "We have conquered Pakistan, not

through was but through our culture."

Questions:
1. What is writer's main objection against some of our movies?
2. Who is responsible for bringing violence into these movies?
3. How do we strengthen our enemies by such movies?
4. Is the writer justified in his point of view?
5. Suggest a suitable title for this passage.
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Passage No 70
The old man of the city said that Socrates did not believe in God, and was teaching bad
ideas to the young-men. So they put him on trial, and he was condemned to death.
Socrates was not afraid to die. He told his judged that no day should pass without people
talking about truth and goodness. This, he said, was the best thing a man could do. These
are his own words: "I have told people that wealth does not bring goodness, but goodness
brings wealth and every other blessing. I am never going to alter these words, even if I
have to die a hundred deaths." He was taken to prison. His friends offered to help him to
escape. He would not even try. After thirty days, he was given a cup of poison to drink.
He swallowed it in one gulp, as calmly as if it were water. Then he lay down and soon
after died.
Afterwards, the Athenians were very story for what they had done. Today, we still
remember Socrates as one of the best and wisest men who ever lived.
Questions;
1. Why was Socrates put on trial?
2. What did Socrates tell the judges?
3. How was Socrates put to death?
4. Give a suitable title to the above text.
5. Make a precis of the above text.

Passage No 71
As you know, a great many people in our country cannot read or write. They are illiterate.
This is not their fault. They have never had a chance to learn to read. But we know, too,
that our country cannot progress as it should do if the majority of the people are ignorant
and uneducated. If we are to be the best kind of citizens, we must be educated. We must at
least be able to read books, newspapers and magazines. Now those of us, who have the
chance to go to school, and to be educated, have been given something of which many of
our neighbours have been deprived. They, therefore, need our help. In this matter, we are
in a position to help them, if we are willing to do so. We should show our neighborliness
if we found our next door neighbor lying at the side of the road unable to move because he
was broken his leg. So we should show our neighborliness when we find him unable to
make progress because he cannot read.
Questions:
1. Why is our country not making progress as it should do?
2. How can you remove illiteracy from your country?
3. What would you do if you found a person lying injured on the road?
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4. What is you duty to your illiterate neighbours?

5. Give a suitable title to the above passage.
6. Make a precis of the above passage/text.

Passage No 72
There are two ways of securing self-protection against disease, in fact, against every
misfortune. The one is by preventing its approach or attack and the other is by curing the
malady when it has already made the onslaught. Experience has taught us that the former
is decidedly superior to the latter.
When a disease attacks a man, it is always difficult at times impossible, to cure it. It
involves heavy expenditure, loss of much time and a good deal of disturbance in the life's
usual routine. On the other hand, a simple preventive measure can resist the attack of
many such maladies. For instance, simple precaution against mosquito-bite can prevent
malaria. An ordinary vaccine without cost can prevent small-pox. But if any of these fatal
diseases is allowed to occur, there is no sure chance that the patient will survive. Even if
he does, after a lot of a trouble and sufferings, the price paid to secure the recovery is, in
any case, a thousand times more than what would be needed to keep the ailment off the
door. Similarly, many of the misfortunes can be prevented by appropriate precautionary
measure, while their outbreaks are often fatal to life itself.
Man is distinguishable from other animals by one supreme point of relative superiority,
namely, his discretion. It is necessary part of discretion that difficulties should better be
prevented than cured, kept aloof than invited, to overcome them afterwards. When dangers
come without notice, there is no help against them. But where more precaution can keep
them off, what reason may there exist to courting troubles knowing full well their
consequences? Hence the wise have said: "Prevention is better than cure."
Questions:
1. Which are the two ways of securing self-protection against disease or every misfortune?
2. Which of the two ways of securing self-protection is decidedly superior to the other, and
why?
3. By what is man distinguishable from other animals?
4. Give a suitable title to the above text.
5. Make a Drecis of the above text.
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Passage No 73
From birth to death, human life is a continuous chain of struggle,-struggle for existence,
for self-expression, for protection against enemies and so on. In this struggle, the one
weapon that makes him successful is action,-the performance of necessary works need to
live and express on earth. But action of an animal and that of a man are different. The
former does things out of instinct and impulse. It has not to bother about consequences.
But man cannot act rashly or at random because he must act. So he has to do a good deal
of thinking before he acts if his action is to be judicious and fruitful. That shows that
thinking also has an important role to play in life.
So far as good. But the trouble arises when some persons indulge in prolonged
contemplation in the name of thinking. The result often is that such persons think and think
and never go into action. Hence the need of the caution contained in the expression, "Life
is action, not contemplation."
It is good to think, to weigh, to judge, but those who think too much spoil their time in this
and can achieve little. Thinking is useful when it helps action. Sheer thinking is harmful
because it takes the edge off the spirit for action. It is wise to look before one leaps. But it
is unwise to look too much if one wants to leap because too much consideration will not
only kill the valuable time but also give rise to many contemplations and evil prospects,
thereby damping the very desire to leap. Hence undue contemplation should be eschewed
if action is meant to be done.
Questions:
1. What is needed for human life from its birth to death, and why?
2. Why does action of an animal and that of a man very from each other?
3. Why should undue contemplation be avoided if action is meant to be done?
4. Give a suitable title to the above text.
5. Make a precis of the above text.