CBSE Class 10 English Passage Set B. 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.
GRAMMAR (WRITING SECTION)
Read the following passage carefully:
The seasonal problem of water taps running dry is plaguing most of our major cities. With the bigger rivers owing in trickles and ponds and wells reduced to clay-pits, village women in remote areas have to fetch every drop of water for drinking, cooking, washing and so on, across large distances. This has only worsened a perennial problem, that of widespread pollution of water, rendering it un t for human consumption. The monsoons—and the attendant oods—will not solve this problem. The Delhi Administration is seriously worried about the threat to civic health posed by the polluted waters of the Jamuna. Two new tanks are to be set up to treat sewage. At present only 60 per cent of the 200 million gallons of the city’s sewage receives any kind of treatment before it is dumped into the river which supplies water not only to this city but to innumerable towns and villages downstream. The Ganga, the Jamuna, the Cauvery, in fact all our important rivers, serving many urban conglomerations are fast becoming a major source of disease.
A comprehensive bill, introduced in Parliament envisages the setting up of Central and State recently, boards for the prevention and control of water pollution. But it will obviously take some time before legislation is passed and effectively implemented. Meanwhile the problem continues to swell.
According to a survey of eight developing countries conducted a couple of years ago, 90 per cent of all child were deaths due to water-borne diseases.
It is the same unchanged story today. In a country like India, a burgeoning population continuing to use the open countryside as a lavatory means that, with every dust storm and rain, human excreta laden with germs and parasite spores and their way to ponds, shallow wells and even the streams and rivers. Only 18 per cent of the rural folk have access to potable water.
Questions :
Question. Which seasonal problem plagues our major cities?
Answer. The scarcity of water is a seasonal problem that plagues most of our major cities.
Question. How do the women full need of water?
Answer. The women fetch water across large distances to ful l their need.
Question. How has water pollution become a health hazard?
Answer. The pollution of water makes it un t for human consumption and also a source of disease.
Question. What does the bill introduced in Parliament envisage?
Answer. The bill introduced in Parliament envisages setting up of Central and State boards for the prevention and control of water pollution.
Question. How can sewage system be improved?
Answer. Sewage system can be improved by setting up two new tanks.
Question. What has the survey of developing countries revealed?
Answer. The survey of eight developing countries has revealed that 90 per cent of all child deaths are due to water-borne diseases.
Question. How is human excreta a major source of disease in India?
Answer. The human excreta from the open countryside nds its way into the sources of water. The germs and parasites carried by it spread diseases.
Question. Which new threat is the writer talking about?
Find out a word from the passage which means :
Answer. The writer is talking about the threat of untreated industrial waste being dumped into rivers.
Question. countless.
Answer. innumerable
Read the following passage carefully:
Srinivasa Ramanujan was one of the greatest mathematical genius of the world. Born in a poor Brahmin family, he gave no indication of his hidden talent. He was born at Erode in Coimbatore in 1887. His father was an accountant to a cloth merchant who had to maintain a large family on a small income. Srinivasa was granted half exemption of fees when he stood first in the Primary School Examination in the whole of Tanjore District. From his childhood Ramanujan was of a quiet and dreamy temperament. He had answer to all sums that puzzled his classmates and seniors. Figures did not worry him, no calculation was too difficult for him. Things which were dark and muddled to his class-mates were as clear as daylight to him. He always helped them with generosity which was the most lovable feature of his character all through his career.
When he was in second class his curiosity upon the subject of the “Highest Truth” in Mathematics was roused.
Later on when he moved into the Third Standard, he asked for problems of Mathematics of higher nature. While in Fourth Standard, he could solve the most difficult problems of Trigonometry. He obtained Ewler’s Theorems and proved them. He followed Carr’s Synopsis of Pure Mathematics. He solved all the problems without any other book to aid him. To him each solution was a triumph which encouraged him to a fresh endeavour. Ramanujan won Subramanyam Scholarship usually awarded for proficiency in English as well as Mathematics. But the passion for Mathematics gained on him, he neglected all other subjects so much that he failed to gain promotion to higher class, thereby losing his scholarship. This was a great calamity of which he had never dreamt. He had no money, no means of earning, no books, no influence. No help came to him from outside. He was now eighteen without any definite plan. He joined Pachaiyapsa’s college Madras (Now in Chennai) but had to return home due to illness.
Questions :
Question. Where was Ramanujan born?
Answer. Ramanujan was bom at Erode in Coimbatore.
Question. How was Ramanujan inspired when he stood rst in the Primary Examination?
Answer. Srinivasa was inspired by granting half exemption of fees.
Question. Why did he fail to get promotion to higher class?
Answer. He failed to get promotion to higher class because the passion for Mathematics gained on him so much that he entirely neglected all other subjects and got failed in them.
Question. “Things which were all dark and muddled to his class-mates were as clear as daylight to him.” How?
Answer. Ramanujan had hidden talent. Figures didn’t worry him. No calculation was too diffcult for him. Thus, things were clear to him.
Question. How did Ramanujan show his talent in third standard?
Answer. Ramanujan showed his talent in Third Standard by asking for problems of Mathematics of higher nature.
Question. What was the unexpected calamity that befell Ramanujan?
Answer. His failure to gain promotion to higher class along With loss of scholarship was the unexpected calamity.
Question. How was Ramanujan superior to his seniors?
Find out a word from the passage which means :
Answer. He had answer to all sums that puzzled his classmates and seniors. Thus, Ramanujan was superior to his seniors.
Question. sign
Answer. indication
Question. inspire
Answer. encouraged
Question. ignore
Answer. neglected
Read the following passage carefully:
Effective speaking depends on effective listening. It takes energy to concentrate on hearing and understanding what has been heard. Incompetent listeners fail in a number of ways. First, they drift off and finally they react. They let their personal feelings about the speaker of the subject, override the significance of the message which is being sent. What can a listener do to be more effective? The first key to effective listening is the art of concentration. If a listener positively wishes to concentrate on receiving a message, his chances of success are high. It may need determination. Some speakers are difficult to follow, either because of voice problems, or because of the form in which they send a message. There is then a particular need for the determination of a listener to concentrate on what is being said.
Concentration is helped by alertness. Mental alertness is helped by physical alertness. It is not simply physical fitness, but also positioning of the body, the limbs and the head. Some people also find it helpful to their concentration if they hold the head slightly to one side. One useful way for achieving this is intensive note-taking, by trying to capture the critical headings and sub-headings the speaker is referring to.
Note-taking has been recommended as an aid to the listener. It also helps the speaker. It gives him confidence when he sees that listeners are sufficiently interested to take notes; the patterns of eye-contact when the note-taker looks up can be very positive; and the speaker’s timing is aided – he can see when a note-taker is writing hard and can then make effective use of pauses.
Please click the link below to download CBSE Class 10 English Passage Set B
