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3. Thus, long before they can speak, children are involved in a two-way
process of communication, which is steadily building a foundation on which
their later use of language will be based. Constantly surrounded by
language, they are unconsciously building structures in their minds into
which their speech and reading will later fit grammatical constructions,
tense sequences and so on. The forms of these structures will depend on
the amount and complexity of speech they hear. Fortunate are those
children who listen to articulate adults, expressing ideas and defending
opinions. They will know, long before they can contribute themselves and
understand, that relationships are forged through this process of speaking
and listening; that warmth and humour have a place in the process, as
have all other human emotions.
7. Books also open children to new points of view, besides their own as
they unconsciously put themselves into other people’s places-‘if that could
happen to him, it could happen to me’. This imaginative self-awareness
brings apprehensions and fears as well as heightened hopes and joys.
Question (iii)
What are the most important means of ensuring a child’s adequate
language development?
(a) Using books
(b) Two-way process of communication
(c) Uttering comforting words
(d) Drawing verbal response
Question (iv)
Why do books help in the establishment of verbal give-and-take?
(a) Because they help in interaction with others
(b) Because they are rooted in language
(c) Because they are beautiful to look at
(d) Because they have varied topics
Question (v)
How do books help children see things from other’s points of view?
(a) Books help in imaginative self-awareness
(b) Books have a beautiful cover
(c) Books generate a lot of discussions
(d) Books create awareness about various topics
Question (ii)
What advantages do children, who listen to articulate adults, enjoy in
comparison to others?
Question (iii)
Why, according to the writer, is ‘talking alone’ an inadequate base for
language development?
Question (iv)
What is the role of books in maintaining a good relationship? Explain.
Question (v)
Pick out two advantages of the books mentioned in the passage.
Question (vi)
Find a word from the passage (para-3) which means ‘pronounce distinctly’.
Question (vii)
Find a word from the passage (para-6) which means ‘give-and-take’.
2. At 11:40 p.m., the two lookouts startled the officers: “Iceberg right
ahead!”. First Officer Murdoch had less than a minute to react and arrive at
a decision. He ordered the ship to stop immediately and reverse at full
power. A frontal collision was just about prevented. However, it was not
possible to halt the ship entirely and the bow collided with the iceberg.
Later, Murdoch, who did not survive the tragedy, was severely criticized for
his decision. According to the analysts, it would have been better to steer
directly into the iceberg which would have damaged the bow, but the
steamer would probably not have sunk.
3. Only a few people went out on deck to see what had happened. But
when they heard that the ship had ‘just scraped past an iceberg, they went
back to their cabins. Down in the bowels of the ship, the collision was more
apparent. The firemen and engineers heard a loud bang and saw water
gushing in. They ordered to seal the hatches to cut off the airflow to the
furnaces. But the mailroom was flooded barely twenty minutes after the
collision.
4. It was surmised that the hull of the ship would soon be filled with water;
this meant the Titanic was destined to sink. The ship had to be evacuated
in an hour. Around a thousand people were fated to be left behind as there
were not enough lifeboats for everyone. Around 12:25 a.m., the first boat
was launched. While Lightoller had to insist on letting only women onto the
lifeboats, Murdoch was having trouble persuading people to get into the
lifeboats in the first place as many believed the Titanic to be safer than the
little boats. Meanwhile, dramatic scenes were taking place on deck. The
millionaire’s wife, Ida Straus, refused to be separated from her husband.
Other men bravely bade their families farewell.
5. The third – class passengers were the last to know. Some became
aware of the catastrophe only when their cabins were flooded. Soon there
was total chaos. Within an hour, the bow of the ship was already
underwater. The music band continued to play lively ragtimes to boost the
morale of those who were doomed to die. There were some who seemed
to ignore what was happening; the first-class men sat peacefully playing
cards. The Guggenheim heir insisted on getting dressed as he wanted to
“die like a gentleman”. At around 1:30 a.m., the bow was already so deep
in the water, that people could hardly keep upright on the steeply inclined
deck. At around 1.55 a.m., the richest man on board, John Jacob Astor,
found out that his money was worth little. He demanded to join his pregnant
wife in a lifeboat but was forbidden by Officer Lightoller, who remained
adamant: women and children only. According to the survivors, once all the
boats had been lowered, a strange calm spread over the decks.
6. At 2:15 a.m., the water reached the first funnel. Rumbling, crackling and
roaring noises followed. The lighting went out. The stern tilted up to a 45-
degree angle. The ship split apart. The ship, which was considered
unsinkable, went down. The people in the lifeboats rowed away from those
in the water, crying for help, for fear that their boat would capsize if too
many people tried to climb on board.
7. Less than a third of those aboard the Titanic survived the disaster. It took
the Carpathia, a passenger steamship, four hours to reach the Titanic in
response to the distress call sent out earlier. The Titanic sank before the
Carpathia arrived. The ship rescued around 710 survivors afloat the
Titanic’s lifeboats between 4.14 a.m. to 8.30 a.m.
(d) About ……………………. of the people aboard the Titanic died in the
tragedy.
i. one-third
ii. two-third
iii. none of the above
1.3 Pick out the words/phrases from the passage which mean the
opposite of:
(a) approbated (para 2)
(b) unclear (para 3)
2 Read the passage given below and answer the questions that
follow.
1. Mithila painting, as a domestic ritual activity, was unknown to the outside
world until the massive Bihar earthquake of 1934. The devastation caused
the house walls to tumble down, and the British colonial officer in
Madhubani District, William G. Archer, inspecting the damage discovered
the paintings on the newly exposed interior walls of the houses. Archer –
later to become the South Asia Curator at London’s Victoria and Albert
Museum – was stunned by the beauty of the paintings and similarities to
the work of modern Western artists like Klee, Miro, and Picasso. During the
1930s, he took black and white photos of some of these paintings; the
earliest images we have of them. Few years later, in 1949, an article in the
Indian art journal, Marg, brought the wall paintings to public attention.
2. A second natural disaster, the drought of the 1960s, prompted the All
India Handicrafts Board to encourage a few upper caste women in villages
around Madhubani town to transfer their ritual wall paintings onto paper as
an income-generating project. Drawing on the region’s rich visual culture of
contrasting ‘line painting’ and ‘colour painting’ traditions, and their individual
talents, several of these women turned out to be superb artists. Four of
them went on to represent India in cultural fairs in Europe, Russia, and the
USA. Their national and international recognition prompted many other
women from marginalized castes to begin painting on paper.
4. Mithila had long been famed for its rich culture and numerous poets,
scholars, and theologians. As the males of the society were lauded for their
intellectual contributions, it was quite some time before the talent of the
women folk received its due. They were mostly confined to their homes,
managing their family, raising children and engaging in ritualistic wall
painting. It was only after they started painting on paper, some fifty years
earlier, that recognition started pouring in.
2.3 Pick out the words/phrases from the passage which mean the
same as:
(a) artistically (para 3)
(b) awareness (para 5)
3 Read the passage given below and answer the questions that
follow.
1. The Hum is a generic name for a series of a phenomenon involving a
persistent and invasive low frequency humming noise not audible to all
people. Hums have been reported in various geographical locations. In
some cases, a source has been located. A well – known case was reported
in Taos, New Mexico, and thus the Hum is sometimes called the Taos
Hum. Hums have been reported all over the world, especially in Europe. A
Hum on the Big Island of Hawaii, typically related to volcanic action, is
heard in locations dozens of kilometres apart. The local Hawaiians also say
the Hum is most often heard by men. Typically, the Hum is difficult to detect
with microphones, and its source is hard to localize.
2. The Hum is sometimes prefixed with the name of a locality where the
phenomenon has been particularly publicized: for example, the ‘Bristol
Hum’ or the ‘Taos Hum’.
4. Some people hear the Hum continuously, but others hear it only during
certain periods. For some people, the perceived Hum can represent a faint
sound and a mild annoyance while for others who notice the Hum’s sound
or its vibrations more intensely, it can be a nuisance that can seriously
interfere with daily activities. Common consequences include lack of sleep.
Such cases have given rise to the expression ‘Hum sufferers’.
6. It is difficult to tell if the Hum reported in those earlier cases and the Hum
that began to be increasingly reported in North America in the 1990s
should be considered identical or of different natures. During the last
decade, the Hum phenomenon has been reported in many other cities and
regions in North America and Europe and in some other regions of the
world.
7. In the case of Kokomo, Indiana, a city with heavy industries, the source
of the Hum was thought to have been traced to two sources. The first was
a pair of fans in a cooling tower at the local Daimler Chrysler casting plant
emitting a 36 Hertz tone. The second was an air compressor intake at the
Haynes International plant emitting a 10 Hertz tone.
3.2 Find words in the passage which convey the opposite meaning as
the following:
(a) insignificantly (para 4)
(b) pleasure (para 5)
4 Read the passage given below and answer the questions that
follow.
1. The World Cup is considered the apex of soccer competition. Held once
every four years, it brings together some of the best footballers of the
world. All of whom attempt to do their respective nations proud by winning
the coveted trophy.
2. The 1994 World Cup, held in the United States of America, was no
different from its predecessors. Traditional favourites, like Brazil and Italy
produced moments of sheer poetry on the pitch while newcomers like
Nigeria and Saudi Arabia put up gallant performances. However, the event
will be remembered with a touch of sadness. The otherwise spectacular
competition was marred by the murder of Colombian defender, Andres
Escobar.
3. The Colombian team had entered the World Cup in a blaze of glory.
Undefeated in the qualifying rounds, they had even trounced the 1986
champions, Argentina, with a five-goal win. Soccer is known to evoke high
passions amongst fans, but in Colombia, where soccer is said to be bigger
than religion’, expectations soared to a fever pitch.
4. The team was captained by Carlos Valderrama, a two – time winner of
the South America Player of the Year Award. With brilliant attackers,
Freddy Fincon and Faustino Asprilla, Colombia seemed indomitable and
were even touted to be the next champions.
9. In spite of glorious football history, the Colombian nation has the dubious
reputation of having the highest rate of violence in the world for a country
not at war. Since the 1970s Colombia has been home to some of the most
violent and sophisticated drug trafficking organizations in the world. Home
to the rival drug empires, Medellin and Cali cartels, the country is notorious
for being the drug capital of the world. Drug lords are responsible for
tainting Colombia’s soccer league. Exorbitant sums of drug money are
betted on matches. Corruption is rampant as players and officials are often
bribed.
10. The violent history records the crime scene of the country. In 1983,
Justice Minister Rodrigo Lara Bonilla was slain, months after he had
alleged that several football clubs were run by drug traffickers. In 1989,
referee Alvaro Oriega was killed after a match. He had disallowed a goal by
Deportivo Independiente and had sent off one of its players. Apparently,
the team’s defeat caused the drug lords to lose huge sums of money which
caused the referee to be murdered.
5 Read the passage given below and answer the questions that
follow.
1. During the end of the eighth century AD, a fierce, bold race of pirates
periodically left their homelands to raid the coasts of Europe. Easily
recognizable with their tall, muscular figures, blue eyes, and flaxen or red
hair, they hailed from Scandinavia, or present-day Norway, Denmark, and
Sweden. They were called the Norsemen, and those who participated in
the raids were known as the Vikings.
3. Their large oak ships were rowed by forty to sixty oarsmen. They were
decorated with colourful sails and burnished shields. The arched bows,
carved into shapes of dragons, earned the vessels the label, ‘dragon ships’.
5. Between 740 and 1050 AD, the Vikings grew in strength. At the pinnacle
of their supremacy, they colonized Iceland, Northern France, and large
parts of Britain and Ireland. They had also attacked the Lapps, Finns,
Russians, North Africans, and parts of the Roman Empire. In time, the
Vikings developed trade with the Europeans in place of piracy.
6. Till today, their legacy is evident in Britain and Ireland. For instance,
many countries have places whose names end with by’, like Derby, Rugby,
and Kirby. In Danish, oby’ means home or village. Conversely, most of the
Norsemen became Christians by 1000 AD, primarily due to Irish influence.
Christianity also thrived because the Norwegian king, Olaf Tryggvason, a
devout Christian, threatened those who refused conversion with military
action.
7. The success of the Vikings can be attributed to their culture, which
placed great emphasis on courage and might. Norsemen were trained in
self – defence and encouraged to partake in sports such as swimming,
rowing, and riding. Hence, the Vikings became tough and highly adaptable
warriors. Young Norsemen were eager to participate in these expeditions
as they held promise of fortune, glory and even noble rank. However, they
were required to prove their worth since only the elite would be selected.
Religion was also a motivating factor. Much of the Viking mythology was
inspired by warrior gods, who battled for noble causes. Valhalla, their
heaven, was not an eternal abode for all good souls. Only those who had
died an honourable death in battle were believed to gain entry. Believing
that heroic action was the highest possible good, the Vikings were willing to
take up challenges and risks, which undoubtedly led them to a great many
discoveries. Their superior navigational skills also distinguished them as
intrepid travellers.
8. Much of the Vikings’ history has been gleaned from their legendary tales,
called sagas, a word which comes from the Norse verb meaning ‘say’ or
‘tell’. Sagas began as a form of entertainment during feasts, and related the
Vikings’ mythical past, discoveries, feuds and their eventual conversion to
Christianity.
5.3 Pick out the words/phrases from the passage which mean the
same as the following.
(a) unwary (para 4)
(b) peak (para 5)
6 Read the passage given below and answer the questions that
follow.
1. Smoking is the major cause of mortality with bronchogenic carcinoma of
the lung and is one of the factors causing death due to malignancies of the
larynx, oral cavity, oesophagus, bladder, kidney, pancreas, stomach, and
uterine cervix, and coronary heart diseases.
14. Some experts say that smoking is linked to memory problems because
it contributes to narrowed arteries that restrict blood – flow to the brain. One
of the causes of memory decline in relation to brain function could be nerve
cell death or decreased density of interconnected neuronal network due to
loss of dendrites, the tiny filaments that connect one nerve cell to another.
Self – restraint from smoking is essential, not only to avoid this systemic
damage but also to cut down on the pollutants affecting the environment.
(b) The word ‘ganglia’, in paragraph 8, is the plural for the word
…………………………..
i. ganglion
ii. gangly
iii. none of the above
(d) ………………………….. are tiny filaments that connect one nerve cell to
another.
i. dendrites
ii. mucous membranes
iii. brain – cells
6.3 Pick out the words from the passage which mean the same as the
following.
(a) vigour (para 11)
(b) helpful (para 13)
7 Read the passage given below and answer the questions that
follow.
1. The rock-cut caves of Ajanta are world-famous for their murals that
demonstrate the degree of skill and artistry that Indian craftsmen had
achieved several hundred years ago. The site of the caves, situated at a
distance of 107 kilometres north of Aurangabad, is an important tourist
destination in the world. The caves get their name from a nearby village
called Ajanta.
5. The second phase departs from the earlier one with the introduction of
new patterns in the layout as well as the centrality of the Buddha image,
both in sculpture as well as in paintings.
(b) The word “hewn’, in paragraph 3, is the past participle form of the verb
…………………………..
i. how
ii. hew
iii. hone
7.3 Pick out the words from the passage which mean the same as the
following.
(a) scholarly (para 2)
(1) (b) detailed (para 4)
8 Read the passage given below and answer the questions that
follow.
1. Referred to as ‘nature’s theatre’, auroras have long fascinated the
human race. During medieval times, the occurrences of auroral displays
were seen as harbingers of war or famine. The Menominee Indians of
North America believed that the lights indicated the location of giants who
were the spirits of great hunters and fishermen. The Inuit community of
Alaska believed that the lights were the spirits of the animals they hunted:
the seals, salmon, deer, and beluga whales. Other aboriginal peoples
believed that the lights were the spirits of their ancestors.
2. The bright dancing lights of the aurora are actually collisions between
electrically charged particles from the sun that enter the earth’s
atmosphere. The lights are seen above the magnetic poles of the northern
and southern hemispheres. They are known as “aurora borealis’ in the
North Pole and ‘aurora australis’ in the South Pole. Scientists have learned
that, in most instances, northern and southern auroras are mirror-like
images that occur at the same time, with similar shapes and colours.
3. Auroral displays can also be seen over the southern tip of Greenland
and Iceland, the northern coast of Norway, and over the coastal waters
north of Siberia. Southern auroras are not often seen as they are
concentrated in a ring around Antarctica and the southern Indian Ocean.
4. Auroral displays appear in many colours, although pale green and pink
are the most common. Common sightings of the same in shades of red,
yellow, green, blue, and violet have been reported. Variations in colour are
due to the type of gas particles in the Earth’s atmosphere that is colliding
with charged particles released from the sun’s atmosphere. The most
common auroral colour, a pale yellowish-green, is produced by oxygen
molecules located about 96 kilometres above the earth. Rare, all-red
auroras are produced by high – altitude oxygen, at heights of up to 320
kilometres from the Earth’s surface. Nitrogen produces blue or purplish-red
aurora.
5. The lights appear in many forms from patches of scattered clouds of light
to streamers, arcs, rippling curtains or shooting rays that light up the sky
with an eerie glow.
7. Whereas some people still connect various legends with aurorae, the
fact remains that it will continue to fascinate people who experience it.
8.3 Pick out the words from the passage which mean the same as the
following.
(a) heralds (para 1)
(b) myths (para 7)
9 Read the passage given below and answer the questions that
follow.
1. The Hangul deer or the Kashmiri stag is a species of red deer. The
Hangul is one of the most famous animals of Jammu and Kashmir. It
inhabits the dense forests of the state. Striking in appearance, the Hangul
derives its name from ‘han’ which is the local name for the horse chestnut
tree, the fruit of which the deer feed on.
3. Much at home in the forest, the deer can be seen in the lower valleys of
Dachigam National Park on the foothills of the Zabarwan range on the
outskirts of Srinagar for most parts of the year, though a greater number of
their species can be seen from October to March. Normally found in small
groups of two to eighteen, Hanguls use the forests of the Dachigam Valley
as an important feeding ground and move to the higher slopes to graze.
Individual stags are more likely to be seen feeding on the hill slopes. They
move about quite a lot from one area to another in their search for good
forage. Hanguls eat various plants such as Fraximushockeri, Jasminum
humile, Hemerocallisfulva and perennial herbs, depending on the season.
4. In March and April, the stags shed their antlers and begin moving up the
mountains to the alpine meadows and pine forests of Upper Dachigam
between 2500 to 3500 metres. They return to the lower valley in
September, by when a new set of antlers begin to grow. The natural
predators that attack Hanguls are leopards and Himalayan black bears.
5. In the past, Jammu and Kashmir had a large and vibrant population of
Hangul deer. However, hunting and loss of habitat from deforestation and
the building of dams has significantly curbed the wild population of Hangul
deer. During the 1940s, their number was believed to be around 3,000–
5,000. As per the latest census in 2008, only 160 are left. A captive
breeding centre is planned to be commissioned at Shikargah, Tral in south
Kashmir, for the captive breeding of Hangul, which will be eventually
released in the wild.
6. In the last few years, the government has spent crores of rupees on
different projects related to the conservation of Hangul in Jammu and
Kashmir. A Habitat Research Study has been initiated in Kashmir in which
satellite collaring of Hangul will be used in order to understand their
movement patterns and habitat, both in and outside the Dachigam National
Park. In addition, a massive improvement in conducting the census
programme of Hangul has been undertaken whereby satellite telemetry and
field cameras of high definition are being placed in the Park. Besides, an
important research programme has been launched to study the relic
population of Hangul outside Dachigam National Park in collaboration with
the Wildlife Trust of India.
7. The strict enforcement of wildlife acts and the setting up of new initiatives
are anticipated to replenish this highly endangered species.
9.3. Pick out the words from the passage which are the antonyms of
the following.
(a) sparse (para 1)
(b) destruction (para 6)
10. Read the passage given below and answer the questions that
follow.
1. In today’s fiercely competitive business environment, companies need to
communicate information pertaining to a whole range of issues in a lucid
and precise manner to their customers.
3. The skills of a technical writer are being increasingly sought for preparing
marketing documents such as brochures, case studies, website content,
and media kits and for the preparation of a whole range of manuals.
Though technical writers in a company do a good portion of such work, the
trend now is to outsource technical writing to freelancers.
4. Technical writing and writing textbooks are poles apart. The former is
aimed at those who do not have in-depth knowledge about a product and
hence should be direct and lucid. An overdose of technical terms and
jargon would only add to the confusion of the customer.
10. Companies look for such qualifications because technical writers first
need to understand the technical information themselves, before trying to
convey it in de – jargonised language to potential customers.
11. However, it is also true that many companies provide rigorous on – the
– job training to fresh technical writers before allowing them to graduate to
high – end products. Though the demand for good technical writers has
risen sharply over the years, the emphasis is never on numbers but on
skills.
12. They point out that even graduates of English Literature are often found
wanting when it comes to creative and effective writing. Merely having the
right mix of writing and comprehension skills is not sufficient. A technical
writer should keep his or her ‘writing blades’ constantly sharpened. It
means untold hours of reading up the latest in the technological trends and
ceaseless honing of one’s Business English and writing skills. The nature
of technical writing is such that a writer has to be at the peak of his or her
expressive powers in each piece of writing he or she produces.
13. A beginner can expect to get paid anywhere between 8,000 to $15,000
a month. Technical writers usually join as executive technical writers and
then go on to become senior technical writers, team leaders,
documentation heads and some even manage to make it to a management
job within a decade. As in most private-sector jobs, merit is the main
criterion for advancement in the job and not necessarily the number of
years one has put in.