Reading Skill Worksheet 6
Q1.Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow:
Motivate Force
It was the first crisis point of my life. The whole family had gathered together and they were deciding whether I should go to Bombay to attend the Board coaching camp for Under – 19 cricketers. I was 15 then and when you are 15 you can hardly exert your individuality nor can you decide for yourself what course of action to take.
The meeting was , however , not over whether I should go to Bombay or not. There was no way such an honour would be denied to me by my parents. The debate was over “how much money I should carry for my pocket expenses on trip”. I wished to take at least a thousand rupees but my father blew up. He said that excessive money was bound to spoil kids and he would not give me so much to spend. Personally , I felt that if I had a reasonable amount it would help my confidence. My upbringing was such , I had never felt a want for anything and thanks to GOD we were well off.
My father had a point about the destructive power of money in a young man's hand. It was getting near the hour when I had to leave home to catch the night train to Delhi but my father seemed determined not to give in. He retired to his bedroom and the crisis remained unresolved . I was fighting to hold back my tears as the big chance seemed to be slipping away. My entire childhood had revolved around cricket and just when some recognition was coming my way , a problem had cropped up.
My elder brother , Romesh came to my rescue. He put his foot down saying I had to go to Bombay, come what may. He assured me that he would himself drive me to New Delhi and if it became too late to catch the train, he would pay for my air ticket to Bombay. The argument still raged on and finally my mother was convinced. But the head of the family had gone to bed and who would have the temerity to wake him up and tell him ? I am glad my mother worked up her courage.
My father was woken up and told that he would have to permit my journey. Fortunately for me , the relative quiet of the bedroom had clamed his nerves and he readily agreed . He came out of the bedroom to send me off 10 EC2-037 Page 3 of 8 and pressed a thousand rupees into my hand. I had a little secret to keep from him. Romesh had slipped some money into my hand and I was fairly loaded with the stuff when I took the train that night. It was actually more than a journey. As far as I was concerned , it was the beginning of a great adventure.
My arrival in the cricket world was a different story altogether. It was hot and humid in Bombay and the coaching sessions seemed to go on. We had not been permitted even a glass of water and when we finally broke for lunch we were a bunch of lads with the heartiest appetite in the world. And what did we get for lunch ? Two dry chapattis and one spoonful of vegetables. I can assure you that I had not read Charles Dickens in my life but had certainly heard the tale of Oliver.
1.1 On the basis of your reading of the above passage, complete the following statements briefly .
(a) The crisis in the life of the narrator was __________ .
(b) He was going for a __________ .
(c) He felt that if he had more money , then __________ .
(d) The father felt that more money would __________ .
(e) The brother offered to __________ .
(f) The secret that the narrator's hid from the father was __________.'
(1.2)
Answer the following questions briefly.
(a) How did the father agree to give the money ?
(b) What was the narrator‟s experience at the camp ?
(1.3) Find words from the passage which mean the same as the words given below :
(a) Too much
(b) Went to take rest
Q2. Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow by choosing the correct options from the given ones.
We have gone out of sync with nature. That is why we are suffering and so many catastrophes take place every year. Nature‟s angry mood is a reflection of the nature of men – always greedy and exploitative . As Havelock Ellis wrote long ago, the sun, the moon and the stars would have disappeared long ago had they been within the reach of predatory human beings.
These are some of the thoughts I crystallized at a seminar last week. Titled „Call of Time - United Natures‟. The speakers lamented the „delink‟ of harmony between environment nature and human nature. We have forgotten ourselves – our own good nature – and our animalistic instincts have had the better of us. We exploit nature and we are blind that mother earth is weeping and crying. Can we ever be happy if our “mother” is crying ? Can we ever be at peace so long as our mother earth is in pain inflicted by our wanton acts of destruction ?
We have to rethink over the very concepts of development we have been following . Development has to have a human face ; and for that spirituality alone can be the driving force. We need to keep in mind that anything we do by way of development must enrich the environment.
(a) How do we know that we have gone out of sync with nature ?
(i) Nature is angry.
(ii) So many catastrophes take place every year.
(iii) Man is greedy.
(iv) We have become animals
(b) What might have happened to the sun and the moon ?
(i) would have been conquered by man.
(ii) The moon would have been pulled in by the sun.
(iii) They would have vanished.
(iv) They would have hit the earth.
(c) Why is there a „delink‟ between man and nature ?
(i) We have become animals.
(ii) We exploit nature for our selfish reasons.
(iii) We inflict pain on mother nature.
(iv) All of the above.
(d) What is the corrective action that should be undertaken ?
(i) Conserve nature
(ii) Enrich nature
(iii) Development should have a human face.
(iv) None of the above.
(e) ''crystallised‟ in the above context means
(i) understood
(ii) misunderstood
(iii) observed
(iv) interpreted
Q3. Read the poem given below and complete the statements that follow by choosing the correct options.
(a) The poet talks about the snail going __________ .
(i) slowly (ii) softly (iii) quickly (iv) harshly
(b) Her journey according to the poet is __________ .
(i) short (ii) long (iii) full of troubles (iv) enduringly long
(c) The snail feeds on -------------
(i) food (ii) trees (iii) flower or herbs (iv) animals
(d) The snail is able to find food and ___________.
(i) happiness (ii) satisfaction (iii) anger (iv) unhappiness
(d) ''Procure‟ in the given lines means ____________.
(i) to attain (ii) to borrow (iii) to get (iv) to arrange
Answer key can be downloaded from here.
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