CBSE Class 11 English Discursive Passage Worksheet Set 02

Passage

1. ''Who doesn't know how to cook rice? Cooking rice hardly takes time.'' said my father. So I challenged myself. I switched from news to YouTube and typed, ''How to cook rice?'' I took one and a half cups of rice. Since I didn't have access to a rice cooker, I put the rice in a big pot. Firstly, the rice has to be washed to get rid of dust and starch. I thought I won't be able to drain the rice and that it will fall out of the pot. I observed the chef as I swirled the rice around and used my dexterous hands to drain it, not once, not twice, but three times. I looked down at the sink and saw less than 50 grains that made their way out of the pot. Suffice to say, I was up to the mark.
2. The video stated that the key to perfect rice is equal amounts of rice and water. I have heard that professionals don't need to measure everything; they just know what the right amount is. But as this was my first time in the kitchen. I decided to experiment by not measuring the water needed for boiling the rice. I wanted the rice to be firm when bitten, just like pasta. I don't enjoy the texture of mushy rice. It has to have that chutzpah; it has to resist my biting power just for a bit before disintegrating.
3. After what seemed like 10 minutes, all the water disappeared. I went in to give it a good stir. To my surprise, some of the rice got stuck to the pot. I tried to scrape it off but to no avail. At the same time, there was a burning smell coming from it. I quickly turned the stove off. ''What have you done to the kitchen?'' shouted Mother, while coming towards the kitchen. I managed to ward her off.
4. Finally, when the time came to taste my creation, I was surprised! It wasn't bad at all. The rice had the desired consistency. Sure, a little more salt would've been better, but I just added that while eating. The experience was fairly rewarding and memorable. It taught me a new sense of respect for those who cook food on a regular basis at home or engage in gourmet creations professionally.

On the basis of your understanding of the above passage, answer any ten of the following questions by choosing the most appropriate option:

Question. (a) Father's question to the narrator, about knowing how to cook rice, was intended to:
(a) criticize the narrator's lack of abilities
(b) make the process sound simple
(c) encourage the narrator to take up cooking
(d) showcase his own expertise in cooking rice
Answer: (b) make the process sound simple

Question. (b) ''I switched from news to YouTube....'' Pick the option in which the meaning of 'switch(ed)' is NOT the same as it is in the passage.
(a) He switched on the radio to listen to the news while having dinner
(b) ''Forget these diet supplements and switch to yoga, if you want a true sense of well-being''
(c) Mom switched to reading fiction recently because she was bored with cook-books
(d) The company will switch the trucks to other routes to bring down city pollution
Answer: (a) He switched on the radio to listen to the news while having dinner

Question. (c) Based on your understanding of the passage, choose the option that lists the CORRECT sequence of the process.
1. Use water to wash the rice.
2. Repeat the process three times.
3. Drain the water off.
4. Put rice in a utensil.
5. Swirl the water in and around the rice.
(a) 4, 2, 1, 3, 5
(b) 1, 3, 2, 5, 4
(c) 4, 1, 5, 3, 2
(d) 5, 1, 2, 4, 3
Answer: (c) 4, 1, 5, 3, 2

Question. (d) The narrator says that he has dexterous hands. He would have had a problem had it been the opposite. NOT BEING dexterous means, being:
(a) uncomfortable
(b) clumsy
(c) unclear
(d) clueless
Answer: (b) clumsy

Question. (e) How did mother react to the burning smell?
(a) she commented on it
(b) she brushed it aside
(c) she enquired about it
(d) she handled it
Answer: (c) she enquired about it

Question. (f) According to the passage, the fact that the narrator risked experimentation, on his maiden attempt in the kitchen, shows that he was:
(a) conscientious
(b) nervous
(c) presumptuous
(d) courteous
Answer: (c) presumptuous

Question. (g) Pick the option showing the CORRECT use of the word 'chutzpah'.
(a) It is the court's duty to dispense chutzpah to everyone irrespective of caste or creed
(b) The speaker may not have much of a stage presence, but you've got to admit she's got chutzpah
(c) I could crack the code easily which proved me to be a chutzpah and I was the only one who could do so
(d) After his father's demise, the daughter took over the family's chutzpah to save it from disaster
Answer: (b) The speaker may not have much of a stage presence, but you've got to admit she's got chutzpah

Question. (h) Pick the option that correctly states what DID NOT happen after the writer checked on the rice.
(a) turning the stove off
(b) being taken aback at the condition of rice
(c) forgetting to scrape the stuck rice
(d) smelling the delicious aroma of cooked rice
Answer: (d) smelling the delicious aroma of cooked rice

Question. (i) The narrator's creation was:
(a) almost perfect to taste
(b) way off from what he wanted
(c) overly seasoned
(d) quite distasteful
Answer: (a) almost perfect to taste

Question. (j) Pick the option that correctly lists the final feelings of the writer with reference to the cooking experience.
1. frustrating 2. amusing
3. satisfying 4. disillusioning
5. exacting 6. enlightening
(a) 1 and 4
(b) 2 and 5
(c) 3 and 6
(d) 1 and 3
Answer: (c) 3 and 6

Passage

1. That large animals require luxuriant vegetation has been a general assumption which has passed from one work to another, but I do not hesitate to say that it is completely false and that it has vitiated the reasoning of geologists on some points of great interest in the ancient history of the world. The prejudice has probably been derived from India, and the Indian islands, where troops of elephants, noble forests, and impenetrable jungles, are associated together in everyone’s mind. If, however, we refer to any work of travels through the southern parts of Africa, we shall find allusions in almost every page either to the desert character of the country or to the numbers of large animals inhabiting it. The same thing is rendered evident by the many engravings which have been published of various parts of the interior.
2. Dr. Andrew Smith, who has lately succeeded in passing the Tropic of Capricorn, informs me that, taking into consideration the whole of the southern part of Africa, there can be no doubt of its being a sterile country. On the southern coasts, there are some fine forests, but with these exceptions, the traveller may pass for days together through open plains, covered by poor and scanty vegetation. Now, if we look at the animals inhabiting these wide plains, we shall find their numbers extraordinarily great, and their bulk immense.
3. It may be supposed that although the species are numerous, the individuals of each kind are few. By the kindness of Dr. Smith, I am enabled to show that the case is very different. He informs me, that in lat. 24, in one day’s march with the bullock-wagons, he saw, without wandering to any great distance on either side, between one hundred and one hundred and fifty rhinoceroses – the same day he saw several herds of giraffes, amounting together to nearly a hundred.
4. At the distance of a little more than one hour’s march from their place of encampment on the previous night, his party actually killed at one spot eight hippopotamuses and saw many more. In this same river, there were likewise crocodiles. Of course, it was a case quite extraordinary, to see so many great animals crowded together, but it evidently proves that they must exist in great numbers. Dr. Smith describes the country passed through that day, as ‘being thinly covered with grass, and bushes about four feet high and still more thinly with mimosa-trees.’
5. Besides these large animals, anyone least acquainted with the natural history of the Cape has read of the herds of antelopes, which can be compared only with the flocks of migratory birds. The numbers indeed of the lion, panther and hyena, and the multitude of birds of prey, plainly speak of the abundance of the smaller quadrupeds: one evening seven lions were counted at the same time prowling round Dr. Smith’s encampment. As this able naturalist remarked to me, the carnage each day in southern Africa must indeed be terrific! I confess it is truly surprising how such a number of animals can find support in a country producing so little food?
6. The larger quadrupeds no doubt roam over wide tracts in search of it; and their food chiefly consists of Underwood, which probably contains much nutriment in a small bulk. Dr. Smith also informs me that the vegetation has a rapid growth; no sooner is a part consumed, than its place is supplied by a fresh stock. There can be no doubt, however, that our ideas respecting the apparent amount of food necessary for the support of large quadrupeds are much exaggerated. The belief that where large quadrupeds exist, the vegetation must necessarily be luxuriant is the more remarkable because the converse is far from true.
7. Mr. Burchell observed to me that when entering Brazil, nothing struck him more forcibly than the splendour of the South American vegetation contrasted with that of South Africa, together with the absence of all large quadrupeds. In his travels, he has suggested that the comparison of the respective weights (if there were sufficient data) of an equal number of the largest herbivorous quadrupeds of each country would be extremely curious. If we take on the one side, the elephants, hippopotamus, giraffe, bos caffer, eland, five species of rhinoceros; and on the other the American side, two tapirs, the guanaco, three deer, the vicuna, peccari, capybara (after which we must choose from the monkeys to complete the number), and then place these two groups alongside each other it is not easy to conceive ranks more disproportionate in size.
8. After the above facts, we are compelled to conclude, against the anterior probability that among the Mammalia there exists no close relation between the bulk of the species and the quantity of the vegetation, in the countries which they inhabit

Question. On the basis of your understanding of the passage, answer any ten of the following questions by choosing the most appropriate option:

Question. (a) The flights of migratory birds are mentioned.
(a) to describe an aspect of the South African fauna
(b) to suggest the size of the antelope herds
(c) to contrast with the habits of the antelopes
(d) to illustrate a possible source of food for the large carnivores
Answer: (b) to suggest the size of the antelope herds

Question. (b) According to the author, the prejudice has led.
(a) to incorrect assumptions on the part of geologists
(b) to false ideas about the animals in Africa
(c) to errors in the reasoning of the biologists
(d) to doubts in his mind
Answer: (a) to incorrect assumptions on the part of geologists

Question. (c) Based on your understanding of the passage, choose the option that lists the CORRECT sequence of the process.
1. The animals inhabiting the wide plains are large in numbers.
2. It may be supposed that although the species are numerous, the individuals of each kind are few.
3. On the southern coasts of Africa, there are some fine forests.
4. The numbers indeed of the lion, panther and hyena, and the multitude of birds of prey, plainly speak of the abundance of the smaller quadrupeds.
(a) 3, 1, 4, 2
(b) 4, 2, 1, 3
(c) 3, 1, 2, 4
(d) 1, 2, 4, 3
Answer: (c) 3, 1, 2, 4

Question. (d) Burchell’s observations were quoted by Darwin in order to......
(a) prove a hypothesis
(b) describe a region of great beauty
(c) oppose a popular misconception
(d) illustrate a well-known phenomenon
Answer: (c) oppose a popular misconception

Question. (e) Who had lately succeeded in passing the Tropic of Cancer?
(a) Dr. Andrew Smith
(b) Dr. Andy Smith
(c) Dr. Phil Smith
(d) None of the options
Answer: (a) Dr. Andrew Smith

Question. (f) What does Dr. Smith refer to as ‘carnage’?
(a) the vegetation with a rapid growth
(b) the amount of food hunted to sustain a large number of carnivorous animals
(c) the apparent amount of food to support large quadrupeds which is much exaggerated
(d) the southern part of Africa as a sterile country
Answer: (b) the amount of food hunted to sustain a large number of carnivorous animals

Question. (g) What struck Mr. Burchell while entering Brazil?
(a) large animals and lush vegetation.
(b) the splendour of the South American vegetation contrasted with that of South Africa
(c) multiple species of quadrupeds
(d) quantity of the vegetation
Answer: (b) the splendour of the South American vegetation contrasted with that of South Africa

Question. (h) Which big mammal was killed by Dr. Smith’s party?
(a) hippopotamuses
(b) elephants
(c) buffalos
(d) rhinoceros
Answer: (a) hippopotamuses

Question. (i) Which word in the passage means same as ‘lush’? (para 1)
(a) impenetrable
(b) luxuriant
(c) allusion
(d) vitiated
Answer: (b) luxuriant

Question. (j) ‘The belief that where large quadrupeds exist, the vegetation must necessarily be luxuriant’ but the converse was far from true. For Dr. Smith, how did it occur?
1. Incredible 2. Astonishing
3. Exhilarating 4. Customary
(a) 1 and 3
(b) 1 and 2
(c) 2 and 3
(d) 2 and 4
Answer: (a) 1 and 3

Passage

1. In ancient India, nearly 5000 years ago, there lived a young Nishada (a tribe of hunters) prince by the name of Eklavya. Even though he was a hunter by birth, being the son of the chief of hunters in the forests of Hastinapur, he aspired to become a great archer and a brave warrior. He expressed this desire to his father, “Father, I want to be an archer and become a disciple of the great Guru Dronacharya, the greatest teacher of the art of archery and the science of warfare in the kingdom. Please give me your blessings before I set out for his Gurukul.”His father remained silent. Eklavya knew what was bothering his father. He said, “Father, I know we are Shudras, belonging to the hunting tribe. But the Guru is a wise and learned man. Please allow me to become his disciple.”Eklavya’s father was a kind man and did not wish to refuse his son. So he gave his blessings and sent his son on his way.
2. Eklavya reached the Gurukul of Guru Dronacharya, who was also the royal teacher of the Pandavas and the Kauravas. Thrilled at the prospect of finally meeting the Guru he had idolised, his eyes eagerly sought out the teacher. He soon spotted him instructing a boy, none other than the Pandava Arjun. Eklavya went to Drona and folded his hands in greeting, bowing down low to touch the sage’s feet. Drona was surprised to see the stranger and asked him, “Who are you?” “Oh Guru, I am Eklavya, the son of the Chief of the Nishada tribe of hunters in the forests of Hastinapur. Please accept me as your humble shishya and teach me the art of archery and the science of warfare”, replied Eklavya. Dronacharya reflected for a minute, then said, “Eklavya, if you are a Nishada hunter, then you are a Shudra, the lowest caste in the kingdom. I am a Brahmin, the highest of castes. All my students are Kshatriyas, the warrior caste. I cannot teach a Shudra boy.”
3. The Pandavas stood watching the exchange. Encouraged by the Guru’s words, Arjuna spoke up, “Guru Dronacharya is a royal teacher, appointed by the King to train us, the princes of the kingdom. How dare you expect to be taught by him! Leave the gurukul now. ”Eklavya was surprised and hurt at the Guru’s words, and stunned by Arjuna’s insult. He was a chief’s son, yet he had never insulted anyone. He quietly left the gurukul. Resolute in his determination to learn archery, he went back to the forest. There he built an idol of Guru Dronacharya with mud and placed it in a secluded clearing. Eklavya believed that if he practiced faithfully in front of his Guru, he would be able to master the art of archery. So every morning he would pray to the idol and practice throughout the day. After years of practicing, he became a skilled archer, even surpassing the best archer in the kingdom Arjuna.
4. One day, while practicing, a dog started barking some distance away. Its constant barking irritated Eklavya, who fired seven arrows in quick succession, filling the dog’s mouth without injuring it. The dog was no longer able to bark and roamed around the forest. Thus roaming, the dog reached the Pandavas, who were practicing in the forest along with Guru Dronacharya. Drona was amazed to see such a feat of archery. He realized that only an extremely skilled archer could have done this. He, along with the Pandavas, set out to look for the archer. Soon they came across a young man, dressed in a hunter’s clothes practicing archery. It was Eklavya. Dronacharya went up to him and asked, “Your aim is remarkable! Who is your teacher ?” “You, Sir,” replied Eklavya. Dronacharya was stunned. “How can I be your Guru when I have never met you before ?” “I am Eklavya, the boy who came to learn archery from you at your gurukul. After you refused, I came back to the forest and made a mud idol of you. I prayed to it every day and with its blessing I was able to master the skills of archery”, replied Eklavya.
5. Arjuna was angry, as he was sure of his place as the best archer in the world. Dronacharya also realised that Eklavya had the skills to surpass even Arjuna. However, as the royal teacher, Eklavya’s excellence would put him in a difficult situation, as a mere Shudra hunter would surpass a Kshatriya prince under his tutelage. He devised a way out. To Eklavya he said, “Seeing that you have learnt from me, you will now have to pay guru dakshina, my gift for training you.” Eklavya was overjoyed at this. A guru dakshina was the offering made to a teacher when the teacher considered the shishya to have completed his learning. He replied, “I am blessed that you have asked me for guru dakshina. I would never refuse anything that you ask.” Dronacharya seized his chance, “Eklavya, as guru dakshina, you have to give me your right thumb. ”Everyone was shocked, even Arjuna. Everyone knew that an archer could never shoot an arrow without his right thumb.
6. Eklavya looked steadily at Dronacharya. He realised the reason behind this demand. Nevertheless he replied, “I will never disobey your wish, Sir. I am grateful that you recognised me as your disciple even though I am a Shudra.” Saying this, he took a knife and cut off his right thumb and placed it at his Guru’s feet. Everyone, including Dronacharya marvelled at the boy’s courage. Dronacharya was humbled and blessed Eklavya, “You will be known far and wide as a great archer, even without your thumb. Moreover, you will always be remembered as the greatest student ever for your loyalty towards your guru.” So saying, Dronacharya and the Pandavas left the forest. Eklavya learnt to shoot with forefinger and middle finger and remains an example of the ideal student till today.

Question. On the basis of your understanding of the passage, answer any ten of the following questions by choosing the most appropriate option:

Question. (a) By birth, Eklavya was a......
(a) shudra
(b) nishada
(c) hunter
(d) All of the options
Answer: (d) All of the options

Question. (c) Arjuna’s behaviour towards Eklavya was......
(a) rude
(b) polite
(c) friendly
(d) cruel
Answer: (a) rude

Question. (d) Based on your understanding of the passage, choose the option that lists the CORRECT sequence of the given sentences.
1. Eklavya expressed this desire of wanting to be an archer and a disciple of the great Guru Dronacharya to his father.
2. Eklavya was a Nishada prince, a hunter by birth, and the son of the chief of hunters in the forests of Hastinapur.
3. There he built an idol of Guru Dronacharya with mud and placed it in a secluded clearing.
4. Dronacharya was a Brahmin, Dronacharya’s students were Kshatriyas, and so, refused to accept Eklavya, who was a Shudra for his disciple.
(a) 2, 1, 4, 3
(b) 1, 2, 3, 4
(c) 2, 3, 1, 4
(d) 4, 3, 2, 1
Answer: (a) 2, 1, 4, 3

Question. (e) Based on the given passage choose the option that is NOT TRUE.
1. Arjuna was angry, as he was sure of his place as the best archer in the world.
2. Dronacharya also realised that Eklavya would not have the skills to surpass even Arjuna.
3. However, as the royal teacher, Arjuna’s excellence would put him in a difficult situation.
4. As a royal teacher a Shudra hunter would surpass a Kshatriya prince under his tutelage
(a) 2, 1
(b) 2, 3
(c) 1, 3
(d) 4, 3
Answer: (b) 2, 3

Question. (g) What was Eklavya’s desire which he revealed to his father?
(a) he wanted to get good education
(b) he wanted to become Dronacharya’s disciple
(c) he wanted to become an archer
(d) Both (b) and (c)
Answer: (d) Both (b) and (c)

Question. (h) What was bothering Eklavya’s father when Eklavya expressed his desire?
(a) they belonged to the hunting tribe
(b) Eklavya’s inconsistency
(c) Eklavya’s distraction
(d) they were too poor to pay the fee
Answer: (a) they belonged to the hunting tribe

Question. (i) Why did Dronacharya refuse to teach Eklavya?
(a) he didn’t like Eklavya
(b) Eklavya was undisciplined
(c) Eklavya belonged to lower caste
(d) Eklavya’s father misbehaved with Dronacharya
Answer: (c) Eklavya belonged to lower caste

Question. (j) Which word in the passage means opposite to ‘half-hearted’? (para 3)
(a) encouraged
(b) resolute
(c) determined
(d) stunned
Answer: (b) resolute

Question. (k) Identify the synonym for the word ‘overjoyed’ in the above passage.
(a) hurt
(b) stunned
(c) surpass
(d) thrilled
Answer: (d) thrilled