English Comprehension (Eng101)

Fall 2021
Assignment No. 1
Total Marks: 20
Lectures: 1-13

Q1. Reading is an activity which leads to the development of critical thinking skills. The
purpose of reading is to comprehend and infer meanings from the written texts. A passage
has been given. Your task is to read the passage carefully and answer the multiple-choice
questions given below. (2*5=10 Marks)

"I Have a Dream" is a public speech delivered by American civil rights activist Martin Luther
King Jr. during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963, in which he
called for an end to racism in the United States and called for civil and economic rights.
Delivered to over 250,000 civil rights supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in
Washington, D.C., the speech was a defining moment of the civil rights movement. 
Beginning with a reference to the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed millions of slaves in
1863, King observed that: "one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free". Toward the end
of the speech, King departed from his prepared text for a partly improvised peroration on the
theme "I have a dream", prompted by Mahalia Jackson's cry: "Tell them about the dream,
Martin!" In this part of the speech, which excited the listeners, King described his dreams of
freedom and equality arising from a land of slavery and hatred. Jon Meacham writes that, "With
a single phrase, Martin Luther King Jr. joined Jefferson and Lincoln in the ranks of men who've
shaped modern America". The speech was ranked the top American speech of the 20th century
in a 1999 poll of scholars of public address.

1. What issues does Martin Luther King’s speech address?

a. Continuation of racism.
b. End to racism and acquisition of civil and economic rights.
c. Celebration of the Emancipation Proclamation.
d. Civil war and public riots.

2. What pushes King to speak: “I have a dream”?

a. He reads out the Emancipation Proclamation.

b. He is prompted by Mahalia Jackson.
c. He is overwhelmed by the crowd.
 d. Lincoln had asked him to give the speech.

3. From the passage, give one word for “to leave”:

a. Departed
b. Proclamation
c. Improvised
d. Address

4. What is the name of martin Luther King’s famed speech?

a. The Emancipation Proclamation

b. An Improvisation
c. A Peroration
d. I Have a Dream

5. In front of whom does King speak?

a. The civil rights supporters

b. His friends
c. Lincoln
d. The Negroes

Q2. Read the paragraph carefully and based on the ideas discussed in the paragraph,
identify given statements as True or False. (2*5=10 Marks)
In recent years, evolutionary biologists and conservationists have focused increasing attention on
tropical rain forests, for two principal reasons. First, although these habitats cover only 7% of the
Earth's land surface, they contain more than half the species in the entire world biota. Second, the
forests are being destroyed so rapidly that they will mostly disappear within the next century,
taking with them hundreds of thousands of species into extinction. Other species-rich biomes are
in danger, most notably the tropical coral reefs, geologically ancient lakes, and coastal wetlands.
Each deserves special attention on its own, but for the moment the rain forests serve as the ideal
paradigm of the larger global crisis.
Despite their extraordinary richness, tropical rain forests are among the most fragile of all
habitats. They grow on so-called wet deserts—an unpromising soil base washed by heavy rains.
Two-thirds of the area of the forest surface consists of tropical red and yellow earths, which are
typically acidic and poor in nutrients. High concentrations of iron and aluminum form insoluble
compounds with phosphorus, thereby decreasing the availability of phosphorus to plants.
Calcium and potassium are leached from the soil soon after their compounds are dissolved from
the rain.

1. In the paragraph the writer talks about the desserts and species living there.
2. Tropical coral reefs do not exist anymore in the world due to rapid destruction of
tropical rain forests.
3. The paragraph seems as subject matter of an intellectual philosopher.
4. The rain causes leaching of certain nutrients.
5. Tropical rain forests are the most vulnerable habitats.