CBSE Class 10 English Passage Set A. Students are advised to refer to the attached assignments and practice them regularly. This will help them to identify their weak areas and will help them to score better in examination. Parents should download and give the assignments to their children for practice.
CLOZE PASSAGES
Read the following passages and complete the blanks in each with a suitable word in each :
1 In March and April is the coffee blossom time (a) ______ Coorg. When blossoms transform into berries, the bushes (b) ______ cropped. The cherry-red fruit is then pulped; the seeds separated, dried and (c) ______ for curing. Coorg or Kodagu is the district which is (d) ______ of the largest producers of pepper, cardamom and honey in the world.
Answers
(a) in
(b) are
(c) sent
(d) one
2 Man’s urge to communicate (a) ______ his associates brought speech and writing. But it was only (b) ______ man developed an aesthetic sense and sought for beauty, rhythm and dynamism in the handwritten (c) ______ that a whole new field, hitherto unknown, began to emerge. The word calligraphy is a composite adaptation of (d) ______ Greek words : kallos (beauty) and graphein (to write).
Answers
(a) with
(b) when
(c) words
(d) two
3 There is the danger that comes (a) ______ making money is more important than quality of information flow. It clearly hampers the honest and unbiased functioning (b) ______ the organisation. for long term solutions, we will have to bank on the (c) ______ institutions to educate, train, groom and prepare the youth to be more discerning viewers rather than passiave spectators or participants in order to avoid (d) ______ irresponsible influence or working of the media.
Answers
(a) when
(b) of
(c) educational
(d) any
4 Raman Shah was sprinting (a) ______ his car to meet a business appointment, when suddenly he felt a sharp (b) ______ in his chest, as if someone was squeezing his chest.
He began having trouble with his breathing and (c) ______ not seem to draw in enough air. Later his ECG revealed, that an area of his heart was dead. This area was cut off from its blood supply. Shah (d) ______ suffered a myocardial infraction or heart attack.
Answers
(a) towards
(b) pain
(c) could
(d) had
5 A child marriage is less likely to (a) ______ place if the parents are literate or at least,the father is. He (b) ______ then aware of the legal minimum age and health hazards his
(c) ______ will face by an early marriage. If the mother, otherwise literate, has been exposed to family planning message, she is also less likely to solemnize her daughter’s wedding (d) ______ an age below the legal minimum.
Answers
(a) take
(b) is
(c) daughter
(d) at
6 Long long ago, (a) ______ a big forest, there were many trees. (b) ______ the cluster of trees, there was a very tall pine tree. He was so tall that he (c) ______ talk to the stars in the sky. He could easily look over the (d) ______ of the other trees. One day late in (e) ______ evening, the pine trees sa a ragged, skinny girl approaching him. He could see (f) ______ only because of his height. The little girl was in tears. The pine tree bent (g) ______ much as he could and asked her “(h) ______ is the matter ? Why are you crying?”
Answers
(a) in
(b) Among
(c) could
(d) heads
(e) the
(f) her
(g) as
(h) What
7 Except (a) ______ the Congo Peafowl, all the other pheasants are from Asia. Scientists believe that (b) ______ pheasants originated from the Himalayas, and then scattered (c) ______ Tibet, China, Myanmar, South and South East Asian countries as well (d) ______ the Caucasus Mountains. The jungle fowl (e) ______ the peafowl spread (f) ______ South India and Sri Lanka long (g) ______ the early settlers established themselves (h) ______ the Indo-Gangetic plain.
Answers
(a) for
(b) all
(c) into
(d) as
(e) and
(f) to
(g) before
(h) in
8 The snow (a) ______ look too deep to me, but the danger wasn’t (b) ______ depth,Daniel said, so much as its icy top layer. “If we slip off, the car (c) ______ turn over,” he suggested, as we (d) ______ Tsetan grab handfuls (e) ______ dirt and fling them across the frozen surface. We both pitched in and, (f) ______ the snow was spread with soil,Daniel and I stayed out of the (g) ______ to lighten Tsetan’s load. He backed up and drove towards the dirty snow, eased the car (h) ______ to its icy surface.
Answers
(a) didn’t
(b) its
(c) could
(d) saw
(e) of
(f) when
(g) vehicle
(h) on
9 In the zoo at Lusaka, Zambia, there is a cage (a) ______ the notice reads. ‘The world’s most dangerous animal’. Inside the cage there (b) ______ no animal but a mirror where you see yourself. Thanks to the efforts of a number of agencies in different countries, a new awareness has how dawned upon the most dangerous (c) ______ in the world. He has realised the wisdom of shifting from a system based on domination to one based (d) ______ partnership.
Answers
(a) where
(b) is
(c) animal
(d) on
10 An angry wind stirred up ghostly dust devils as King Tut was (a) ______ from his resting place in the (b) ______ Egyptian cemetery known as the Valley of the Kings.Dark-bellied clouds has scudded across the desert sky all day and now were veiling the stars in casket grey. It was 6 pm (c) ______ 5 January 2005. The world’s most famous mummy glided head first into a CT scanner brought here to probe the lingering medical mysteries of this little understood young ruler (d) ______ died more than 3,300 years ago.
Answers
(a) taken
(b) ancient
(c) on
(d) who
11 For one thing, if a (a) ______ is to fulfil all the duties that society expects of him, it is important for him to keep healthy. He may be very intelligent, but that has little meaning if he (b) ______ make use of his intelligence, because he is always suffering from bad health. In some ways, the human body is like a machine. If it is not (c) ______ use of, it starts to work badly. People who are not fit grow weak and become more susceptible to disease. Any form of game is useful, provided it gives the body an opportunity to take regular (d) ______ exercise.
Answers
(a) person
(b) cannot
(c) made
(d) physical
12 The energy stored in coal and petroleum originally came to the earth from the sun.The bulk (a) ______ the present-day supplies was laid down some 200 to 600 million years ago, when tropical conditions were widespread. Lush, swampy (b) ______ produced huge trees; warm coastal seas swarmed with microscopic forms of life. When these organisms died, much of their tissue was recycled (c) ______ it is today — through scavenging and decay. But a significant amount of dead plant and animal material was covered with mud, (d) ______ prevented complete decomposition.
Answers
(a) of
(b) forests
(c) as
(d) which
13 Whenever someone (a) ______ overseas they are like “a fish out of water.” Like the fish, they (b) ______ been swimming in their own culture all (c) ______ lives. A fish doesn’t know what water is. Likewise, we often do not think too much (d) ______ the culture we are raised in. Our (e) ______ helps to shape our identity. Many of the cues of interpersonal communication (body language, words, facial expressions, tone of voice,idioms, slang) (f) ______ different in different cultures. One of the reasons that we (g) ______ a fish out of water when we enter a new culture, is that we do not know all of the cues that are used (h) ______ the new culture.
Answers
(a) travels
(b) have
(c) their
(d) about
(e) culture
(f) are
(g) feel
(h) in
14 Among other factors causing parents (a) ______ give away young daughters in marriage is the need felt (b) ______ families having more than one daughter, to keep wedding expenses down. By (c) ______ two daughters at the same time parents save on expenses.Parental anxiety about grown up (14 years and above) daughters gaoing astray forces the less educated to give away their (d) ______ children in marriage.
Answers
(a) to
(b) by
(c) marrying
(d) female
15 The cross cultural spread of English (a) ______ unprecedented, in other ways. It is more widely used (b) ______ any of the other colonial languages like French, Portuguese or Spanish. It even (c) ______ a wider use than some of the languages associated (d) ______ international non-western religious traditions (e) ______ Arabic or Sanskrit. In countries like India and Nigeria, English is (f) ______ at all levels of society: (g) ______ local English language newspapers and broadcasting, in public administration, in university education, in (h) ______ industries etc.
Answers
(a) is
(b) than
(c) has
(d) with
(e) like
(f) used
(g) in
(h) major
16 Ideas rule the world. You shape your fate and decide your destiny by (a) ______ thoughts. You have to think high to rise. You (b) ______ to believe and be sure of yourself to win a prize. Life’s battles (c) ______ always go to the stronger or the faster man; but sooner or (d) ______ the man (e) ______ wins is the man, who thinks he can. Success starts (f) ______ your thoughts. Whatever your mind (g) ______ conceive and believe, it can achieve. And your mind is nothing more than a bundle of thoughts. Since you have the power to shape your thoughts, you can do (h) ______ .
Answers
(a) your
(b) have
(c) donot
(d) later
(e) who
(f) with
(g) can
(h) anything
17 Just by the use of colours you (a) ______ balance your diet. All you need to do is to pay a (b) ______ attention to the food you eat. Nutrition experts strongly (c) ______ adding
colours to your diet. Sweets and candy bars (d) ______ generally colourful, but remember they do not contain natural colours (e) ______ hence are not healthy. The key solution is a (f) ______ of naturally coloured foods. The deeper the colour, the (g) ______ the benefits.Getting more colours in your diet doesn’t (h) ______ you have to drastically change your current eating habits.
Answers
(a) can
(b) little
(c) recommend
(d) are
(e) and
(f) variety
(g) greater
(h) mean
18 The happiness of the individual relies on friendships (a) ______ form a necessary human connection. It is perfectly normal to need and want friends and depression is more prevalent (b) ______ those who lack friends. They lack the intimacy and richness friends (c) ______ bring into our lives. Frequently friends reflect similar values to us.Yet these values are often different from the ones we grew up with ; they are the (d) ______ we created for ourselves in our adult lives.
Answers
(a) which
(b) among
(c) can
(d) values
19 Iraq (a) ______ mostly broad plains and marshes along the Iranian border in the south, (b) ______ large flooded areas. A large part of Iraq’s land area is desert, (c) ______ it has cool winters and dry, hot and cloudless summers. The mountain areas near Iran and Turkey have cold winters. There is heavy snowfall there, and (d) ______ the snow melts in spring, it causes floods in central and southern Iraq.
Answers
(a) has
(b) with
(c) so
(d) when
20 India and tea are so intertwined together that life (a) ______ the brew is unimaginable.Tea entered our life only in the mid-nineteenth century (b) ______ the British started plantations in Assam and Darjeeling! In the beginning though, Indians shunned the drink as (c) ______ thought it was a poison that led to umpteen diseases. Ironically, tea colonised Britain where it (d) ______ a part of their social diary and also led to the establishment of numerous tea houses.
Answers
(a) without
(b) when
(c) they
(d) because
Read the following passage carefully:
Heartbeats get abnormal after exercising, running, or after doing some strenuous work.There is nothing to worry about. But if your heart beats at irregular pace often, it is important to take note of it rather than ignore it as it can be a warning sign for a heart ailment called arrhythmia.
A normal heartbeats 60-100 times per minute while resting, but if it starts beating too slowly or too fast or if the heartbeat is irregular of premature, then that condition is known as arrhythmia. People tend to avoid it as a minor issue little knowing that it can lead to a stroke, fall due to drop of BP, loss of consciousness or even result in heart failure.
In a country where people take time to press the panic button when it comes to illnesses and medical problems, it is no surprise that a number of cases of irregular heartbeats go unnoticed for a long time. Some dismiss it as just a recurring symptom of body weakness; others may ignore it as a side-effect of blood pressure issues. The lack of awareness about arrhythmia means that not many people even take note of the symptoms.
When heartbeat is not too fast, it is called tachycardia. When the beats are slow, it is known as bradycardia. An irregular heartbeat may be due to artrial fibrillation.
The problem is that the symptoms are quite vague and can be associated with other minor medical problems in India, not many people are aware that there is a heart’s electricity related disorder called arrhythmia. Often it is diagnosed when doctors are checking a patient for something else. More often, by the time it is diagnosed, major damage has already been caused.
It is important to take seriously any abnormality in the rhythm of our heart. There are many symptoms that can help predict arrhythmia like shortness of breath, weakness, early fatigue, palpitations, thumping in the chest, dizziness, chest pain, fainting and, of course, too fast or slow heartbeats. Ignoring these symptoms is inviting a major health trouble.
While some type of arrhythmias can be harmless, other can be life threatening as it may disrupt the normal functioning of the heart. In some cases, it can lead to heart failure too. The condition is treatable with the help of implantation of a pacemaker, devices or through burning the points from where irregular beats originate through radiofrequency heat waves. There are a few things in medicine where a permanent cure is possible. For certain arrhythmia this stands true with radio frequency ablation.
On the basis of your reading of the passage, answer the following questions:
a) What is normal heartbeat?
b) What do you call the situation when the heartbeat is too slow or fast?
c) What happens when there is drop in BP?
d) What results due to artiral fibrillation?
e) When is arrhythmia detected?
f) What danger is there when dizziness or chest pain is ignored?
g) When does heartbeat abnormally?
h) What is bradycardia?
