Comprehension Passage 4

The most characteristic feature of spiders is their ability to produce silk threads. Spiders
normally have six finger-shaped silk glands, called spinnerets, located under their abdomen.
To spin a web, the spider draws silk from its body through two small holes. Liquid silk is
thicker than water and dries into a fine thread as soon as it comes into contact with air.
Spider silk is much stronger than steel and resists breaking due to its elasticity. It can stretch
up to 140 percent of its original length. The diameter of these silk threads is about 10,000 of
an inch. Spiders use this silk to make webs to catch their prey. The egg sacs of some spiders
are also made of silk which pretreats the unborn progeny. Sometimes the spider may also
use its silk as a security measure. A certain species of spider ‘phidippus apacheanecs’ drags a
safety line of fine silk while jumping. He uses the silk line to recover if he misses his target.
‘Naphils Spider’ silk is the strongest natural fiber known.

The spinning of spider webs is a remarkable example of instinctive behavior. A spider does
not have to learn how to make a web, although spinning can be adapted to unique
circumstances. For example, ‘orb’ networks are circular in shape and take an hour to build.
Funnel spiders weave a web-like entrance to their homes, which helps catch food. Similarly,
trapdoor spiders dig their homes and spin a trapdoor with their silk to catch insects. As
integral components of our biosphere, spiders have intrinsic existence value. They are
efficient predators that play an important role in controlling cotton pests. They are also a
food source for other creatures, such as birds and wasps. Therefore, the presence of spiders
is an ecological indicator that indicates the health of the natural ecosystem.

Question: 1. The silk of _ is the strongest natural fibre known.

 funnel spiders
 Naphils spider
 spider silk
 None of the above

Question: 2. What important role do spiders play as a predator?

 their silk is used to make webs to trap prey

 their silk pre-treats the unborn progeny
 play an important role in controlling pests of cotton
 spiders spin a net-like entrance to their homes

Question: 3. Why are spiders important for birds and wasps?

 they are the source of food for them

 spiders spin a net-like entrance to their homes
 the spiders can use its silk as a safety feature
 None of the above
Question: 4. Choose words from paragraph which means, ‘essential’.

 unique
 integral
 progeny
 indicator

Comprehension Passage 5
In these tough times, when buying ordinary food can burn a hole in our pockets, here comes
the news that can really help us save some money the next time we go shopping. According
to a study from Stanford University, the first of its kind in the world, there is no evidence to
suggest that there are more nutritional benefits of expensive organic foods than those
grown using conventional methods.

The researchers add that there is no difference in protein and fat content between organic
and conventional milk and that the vitamin count is similar in both types. The only benefit is
that organic foods are not contaminated with pesticides, but before you munch on that
bowl of organic okra with roti made from organic wheat, they are also not 100% pesticide
free.

In India, organic food has been growing by 20-22% and the export market is valued at Rs 1
billion. Obviously, the study is not good news for that sector and for people who are big on
organic food.

In India, eating organic food is more of a style statement than a health concern because it is
expensive. But the people who can, indulge not only in organic vegetables, but also in
organic eggs laid by the “happy hens”, which are allowed to roam free, while the “unhappy
hens” are kept in chicken coops.

Then some companies have installed music channels in their barns and the milk from those
barns is sold at a higher price as it has more nutritional value because the animals are happy
thanks to the melodious music 24/7 of the week. We haven’t yet heard of any farmers using
music to improve the quality of their crops, but you never know: plants have been known to
respond to music.

Why so picky about food? These days, the plethora of television shows and articles we
watch and read about food provide bread and butter for specialists. But instead of figuring
out food, its sources, and what it took to grow it, isn’t it much better to enjoy what’s on
your plate?

Unseen Passage With Questions And Answers Class 9 (Passage 5):

Questions: (a) According to a Stanford University study, organic food in relation to
conventional food is___________________.
i. less nutritious
ii. more nutritious
iii. very conventional
iv. as nutritious

Questions: (b) The study will not be welcomed by __.

i. farmers of conventional food
ii. makers of pesticides
iii. all sectors
iv. exporters of organic food

Questions: (c) We can save some hard cash by _.

i. buying organic food
ii. not buying organic food
iii. going to the shop
iv. not buying food with pesticides

Questions: (d) Music channels are installed in the cowsheds because the _.
i. cows give more milk
ii. milk is sold at a higher price
iii. milk becomes purer
iv. workers become happy

Questions: (e) In the second paragraph, the author‘s attitude to the people who eat food
sourced from ‘happy’ animals is that he _.
i. is happy with them
ii. is unhappy with them
iii. is laughing at them
iv. wants crops to be grown similarly

Questions: (f) One benefit of organic food is that ___.

i. it is fashionable to eat
ii. only rich people can afford it
iii. it is less contaminated with pesticides
iv. even poor people can afford it

Questions: (g) The word ‘contaminated ‘means __.

adulterated
ii. for adults
iii. containing
iv. not healthy
 REMEMBER: POEM COMPREHENSION
REMEMBER, no men are strange, no countries foreign,
Beneath all uniforms, a single body breathes
Like ours; the land our brothers walk upon
Is earth like this, in which we all shall lie.
They, too, aware of sun and air and water,
Are fed by peaceful harvest, by war’s long winter starv’d
Their hands are ours, and in their lines, we read
A labour not different from our own.
Remember they have eyes like ours that wake
Or sleep, and strength that can be won
By love. In every land is the common life
That all can recognize and understand.
Let us remember, whenever we are told
To hate our brothers, it is ourselves
That we shall dispossess, betray, condemn.
Remember, we who take arms against each other.
It is the human earth that we defile,
Our hells of fire and dust outrage the innocence
Of the air that is everywhere our own.
Remember, no men are foreign and no countries strange.                          
On the basis of your reading of the above poem, choose the correct option from the ones
given. Write the correct option in your answer sheet.
1. What is there under all uniforms is
 (a) a human body                                                (b) a single body
 (c) a plain body                                                   (d) along body
2. What starves a man as given in the poem is
(a) quarrel                                                             (b) fight
 (c) war                                                                  (d) battle
3.Hating our brother’s means
 (a) betraying                                                     (b) condemning
(c) dispossessing                                              (d) all the three
4. If we fight against our own brothers, we
 (a) starve                                                       (b) make the earth dirty
(c) make the earth hellish                         (d) spoil the earth
5. The word ‘betray’ means
(a) deceive                                                  (b) ill-treat
(c) dishonest                                             (d) frustrate
6.`… we who take arms …’ means
 (a) who twist arms                             (b) who handle arms
 (c) who raise voices                           (d) who fight together
7. In fighting together we
 (a) shrug our shoulders                 (b) make the earth dirty
(c) spoil the earth                            (d) make the earth useless