CBSE Class 12 English Unseen Passage I

Read the passage given below:

1. The analysis of handwriting has a long history—some say it goes back to Roman times. Modern graphology began early in the 19th century when French churchman Jean Hippolyte Michon created the first graphological “catalogue” examining, for example, where letters fall on the line, their shape and the pressure exerted. Allan Conway, a professional graphologist for 12 years says, “Handwriting says more about you than many chosen words, simply because you cannot hide yourself in your handwriting—it’s not really your hand that’s writing, but your brain. It’s your personality frozen in ink.”

2. Despite public skepticism, graphology plays a covert role in British management. Many companies use it for executive recruitment and analysis. Graphology tells them about the candidates’ temperaments, highlighting both weaknesses and strengths. There are about 300 movements on an unlined A4 page of writing and students must find and interpret them all. He also needs to know three things about the writers: their sex, their age and if they are left or right-handed. Then he looks for 16 dominant elements, including the size of the writing, the pressure, the speed and slant of the words, how connected the characters are as well as the form of the connections, the proportions of the “middle zone” (covered by small letters such as “o” and “n”) and “upper” and “lower” zones (where letters extend up or down, as with “d” or “p”), and the rhythm and regularity of writing. “But there is one golden rule,” Rees says, “No single sign on its own must ever be taken to mean anything.”

3. The principles, according to Conway, are straightforward. The baseline—whether the writing goes straight across the page or slants up and down—helps to determine the writer’s state of mind. A very upward baseline shows a creative, ambitious and outgoing person. A slightly downward one can reveal dissatisfaction or unhappiness though it could simply be a sign of fatigue. “A sharp downward baseline usually indicates serious problems or illness, probably emotional”, says Conway, “while a straight one is an excellent sign of emotional stability. An irregular baseline can mean an excitable writer with poor self discipline.” The way letters are formed and connected is important: a writer with angular letters, for example, is often persistent and decisive.

4. Arched letters suggest the writer is reluctant to express emotions freely and may appear cold. Where the bottoms of letters are curved like a cup the writer is likely to be open to the world and at ease. And writing with letters threaded—connected together as if by a length of cotton—can indicate speed or laziness. The more connected the letters, the more co-ordinated the patterns of thought. Character size can also be significant. Larger letters tend to suggest vitality, enterprise and self reliance, while small letters can reveal a lack of self-confidence, but are also found in fields of research where concentration and exactness are necessary. The slant of a person’s writing indicates their emotional make-up. Where all the letters are vertical the writer is likely to be someone uncomfortable in groups. For right-handers, left-word slant shows introversion while rightward slant reveals someone outgoing, friendly and ambitious. A constantly varying slant betrays an unpredictable personality.

5. The spacing between words points to the writer’s organizational abilities: wide spacing suggests individuality, extravagance, self-confidence and sociability. Even the colour of ink a person chooses can be telling. Blue may indicate someone with no desire to be exceptional or pretentious, green likes to impress and red to shock. Brown is often used by people who work in high-security jobs, able to keep secrets, while black shows a demanding or forceful character who wants to make an impression. — Geoffrey Wansell

On the basis of your understanding of the above passage, answer ANY TEN of the questions given below:

Question.  The upward baseline proves that the person is ....................
(a) creative
(b) ambitious
(c) outgoing
(d) all of these

Answer: D

Question.  The letters small in size reveal that the writer may be ....................
(a) a researcher
(b) confident
(c) arrogant
(d) humble

Answer: A

Question.  The spacing between words indicates the writer’s ....................
(a) forceful character
(b) exceptional talents
(c) organisational abilities
(d) oratorical abilities

Answer: C

Question.  Which of these words is not an ANTONYM of ‘reluctant’ (para 4)?
(a) Willing
(b) Eager
(c) Hesitant
(d) Ready

Answer: C

Question.  Why do you remember Jean Hippolyte Michon?
Answer: Jean Hippolyte Michon was a French Churchman He had created the first graphological catalogue in the 19th century.

Question.  How is a sharp downward baseline different from a straight baseline?
Answer: Allan Conway thinks that a sharp downward baseline indicates emotional problems of the writer when a straight baseline is linked to an excellent sign of emotional stability.

Question.  The black colour of ink indicates .................... character.
Answer: forceful

Question.  Your personality is embedded in handwriting . (True/False)
Answer: True

Question.  What helps to determine the writer’s state of mind and how?
Answer: The study of baseline whether straight or slanted indicates the various mental conditions of the writer.

Question.  How can we learn one’s emotions and patterns of thought through handwriting?
Answer: We can learn of one’s emotions from the way letters are formed and connected.

Question.  What secret of the writer is revealed by using large letters?
Answer: The large letters are the significant aspect of a writer’s personality. They point out that the writer is very important, enterprising and full of self confidence.

Question.  Find the word in para 5 similar in meaning to ‘profligacy’.
Answer: Extravagance