What is Reading Comprehension?
The purpose of reading is to gain comprehension. Readers are not reading if they can read the words but do not understand or relate to what they are reading. Good readers are both purposeful and active, with the ability to absorb, analyse, make sense of, and apply what they read. Before doing Reading Comprehension Passages, and Exercises for English Class 12th, understand the meaning of skimming, why we need skimming, and important steps while doing comprehension. I hope, the following discussion will boost your knowledge of Reading Comprehension.
What do you mean by skimming? How does it help comprehension?
Skimming is a method of strategic, selective reading in which you concentrate on the main ideas of a text. When skimming, skip text that contains details, stories, data, or other elaboration. Rather than reading every word, concentrate on the introduction, chapter summaries, first and last sentences of paragraphs, bold words, and text features. Skimming is the process of extracting the essence of the author’s main points rather than the finer points.
Courtesy: Giphy
Why do we need skimming?
- When reading, you need the big picture or major points.
- Even if you plan to read the book in-depth, skimming can help you better understand what you read.
- Knowing when and how to skim will make you a better reader.
- You’ll get better at determining the text’s importance.
- Sometimes your lecturer wants you to focus on the big picture rather than the minute details. In such conditions, skimming helps you grasp the text’s main ideas.
- Skimming helps in Maximum utilisation of time
- You can’t always read everything. Skimming lets you get through a lot of information quickly and gives you more time to do other things.
- Even if you don’t have time to finish your reading before class, skimming will help you remember the most important parts and help you learn more in class.
- Skimming is also a good technique to refresh your memory before an exam.
- Skimming a text helps to recall material and organisation.
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Reading Comprehension: 32 Unseen Passages Solved
While doing comprehension, keep the following steps in mind:
Step 1: Before looking at the questions, skim as quickly as possible to determine the main idea. At this point, don’t be concerned about unfamiliar words.
Step 2: Highlight the words you don’t understand to help you understand the passage completely. This will allow you to answer the vocabulary questions more quickly.
Step 3: Carefully read the words. It is recommended that you keep the order of the questions on the test paper. Read the section relevant to the answer carefully.
Step 4: Concentrate on the vocabulary items and find out the meanings of unfamiliar words from the context.
Consider the following points while Skimming
- Read the passage carefully and find out the main points or theme explained in the passage.
- Underline the keywords like causes, results, and effects.
- Don’t ignore the signal words like versus, pros and cons, advantages and disadvantages.
- Read the passage at least two times.
- Now, read the questions again.
- Start the second reading of the passage. This reading should be exhaustive. Highlight key sentences or words related to the questions.
- Make every effort to use your own words. This means you must summarise and interpret information rather than copy entire ‘chunks’ from the passage.
- When answering factual questions, do not include information not provided in the passage.
Reasons Behind Poor Reading Comprehension
The following are the main reasons behind poor reading comprehension:
- Ineffectiveness in understanding the words
- unable to understand the sentence.
- inability to understand the technical aspect of the paragraph.
- Inability to connect the sentences while doing comprehension.
- I am unable to understand the organisation of ideas in the paragraphs while doing reading comprehension.
- lack of interest in the subject.
- unable to concentrate on the subject.
- Lack of vocabulary while doing comprehension
- lack of concentration while doing comprehension.
Frequently Asked Questions: Comprehension
What is the connection between word reading and reading comprehension?
- Reading consists of two parts: word recognition and language comprehension. Both are required for reading comprehension to take place.
- Children who struggle with word reading, on the other hand, will read the text more slowly and may not be able to decode all of the important words accurately.
- This can result in significant reading comprehension deficits.
- Strong word reading thus contributes significantly to the ease and quality of a child’s reading comprehension.
What do mean by reading comprehension, and why is it required?
- Reading comprehension refers to the ability to read text, process it, and comprehend its meaning.
- It is based on two interconnected skills: word reading and language comprehension.
- We don’t merely remember what we read when we comprehend a text.
- Reading with purpose requires good comprehension.
What factors contribute to good comprehension?
- Background information and vocabulary
- Abilities in integration and inference
- Comprehension of language structure/connections
- Understanding and application of text structure
- Monitoring comprehension
Does the amount of time students spend reading affect their comprehension skills?
- Reading time always improves students’ comprehensive skills because they understand the topic better when they devote more time to reading.
- Reading to young children and helping them in building positive reading mindsets can help them develop a habit that will allow them to build competency skills and knowledge throughout their careers.
ReadLearnExcel English Grammar:
- 12 Tenses in English Grammar: The Beginning of the English Learning Language
- English Grammar: Active and Passive Voices with Examples of 12 Tenses
- Direct and Indirect Speech: Steps & Rules to Change Narration
- Modal Auxiliaries for all Classes: PDF
- Articles in English: The Beginning of Learning English Grammar PDF
- Articles in English: The Beginning of Learning English Grammar
Chapter 2: Comprehension of Unseen Passages from previous years’ exams.
Question Paper Class12 English,Year-2020(BSEH)
SECTION – A
(Reading Skills)
1. Read the passage given below and answer the
questions that follow :
About one in five people in the world follow the teachings of the Buddha, who lived about 2600 years ago. He was born in 563 B.C. The Buddha is a title, not a name. It means ‘The
Enlightened One’ or ‘The One Who Knows.’ The Buddha’s real name was Siddhartha. He was the son of a Sakya King in northern India. He and his family were all Hindus and belonged to the
Gautama clan. Gautama Siddhartha was brought up in luxury.
He lived in his father’s palace and saw nothing of the outside world until he was a young man. Then one day accompanied by his
charioteer Channa, Prince Siddhartha went round the city. On his way, he saw some sights that he had never seen before. First, he saw a man who was very old and bent with age. Then
he saw a man who was suffering from a terrible disease, possibly leprosy. And then he saw a dead man who was being taken to the cremation ground. These sights made the prince very sad.
(i) ‘The Buddha’ means …………..
(a) Gautama the Buddha
(b) Siddhartha the Buddha
(c) Siddhartha Gautama the Buddha
(d) The Enlightened One
(ii) The real name of the Buddha was …………..
(a) Siddhartha
(b) Gautama
(c) Sakya
(d) The Enlightened One
(iii) Who was Channa?
(a) Prince Siddhartha’s charioteer.
(b) The chief of the Gautama clan.
(c) A Sakya King in northern India.
(d) A cook in the King’s palace.
(iv) Prince Siddhartha knew nothing of ………..
until he was a young man.
(a) luxuries and joys of life
(b) the life outside his father’s palace
(c) the life inside his father’s palace
(d) anything inside and outside the palace
OR
Today we know about every part of the world. No land or sea is not known to us. Man has explored every corner of the world, and he knows all the ways and routes
from anywhere to everywhere in the world. He can reach from one place to the other as safely, easily, and quickly as he likes. He has maps to guide him and the fastest means of transport to
carry him. But for ages most of the world was unknown to man. To begin with, he lived in caves. Then he came out of caves and started making homes in little corners of forests or
behind the hills.
He was afraid of wild animals and also of the clouds and the winds. He offered prayers and sacrifices to gods who, he thought, controlled the clouds and the winds. But, slowly
through long centuries, men began to explore what lay beyond the caves, hills, and forests where they had their homes. They went in their boats, first on the rivers and then across the
seas. At first, they remained close to the shore and each new voyager went a little farther than the previous one.
Questions : 1 × 4 = 4
(i) Today there is no part of the world that
is ………….
(a) unknown (b) unexplored
(c) Both (a) & (b) (d) Neither (a) nor (b)
(ii) To begin with man lived ………… .
(a) in caves (b) in forests
(c) in small homes (d) in little villages
(iii) The early man used to offer prayers and
sacrifices to gods because …………
(a) he was afraid of the clouds and the
winds.
(b) he thought gods controlled the clouds
and the winds.
(c) he lived in caves and forests.
(d) he had very little homes in the corners
of forests.
(iv) What did the early explorers do?
(a) They went in boats on the rivers.
(b) They went in big ships across the seas.
(c) They went farther and farther into the
sea.
(d) They used steamships in place of
boats.
Reading Comprehension for class 12 English:2018(BSEH)
1. Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow :
For four days, I walked through narrow lanes of the old city, enjoying the romance of being in a city where history still lives – in its cobblestone streets and in its people riding asses, carrying
vine leaves and palms as they once did during the time of Christ. This is Jerusalem, home to the sacred sites of Christianity, Islam and Judaism. This is the place that houses the church of the
Holy Sepulchre, the place where Jesus was finally laid to rest. This is also the site of Christ’s crucifixion, burial, and resurrection. Built by the Roman Emperor Constantine at the site of an
earlier temple to Aphrodite, it is the most venerated Christian shrine in the world. And justifiably so. Here, within the church, are the last five stations of the cross, the 10th station where Jesus was stripped of his clothes, the 11th where he was nailed to the cross, the 12th where he died on the cross, and the 13th where the body was removed from the cross, and the 14th, his tomb. For all this weighty tradition, the approach and entrance to the church are nondescript. You have to ask for directions. Even to the devout Christian pilgrims walking along the Via Dolorosa – the Way of Sorrows – the first nine stations look clueless.
Then a courtyard appears, hemmed in by other buildings and a doorway to one side. This leads to a vast area of huge stone architecture. Immediately inside the entrance is your first stop. It’s the stone of anointing: this is the place, according to Greek tradition, where Christ was removed from the cross. The Roman Catholics, however, believe it to be the spot where Jesus’s body was prepared for burial by Joseph. What happened next? Jesus was buried. He was taken to a place outside the city of Jerusalem where other graves existed and there, he was buried in a
cave. However, all that is long gone, destroyed by continued attacks and rebuilding; what remains is the massive – and impressive – Rotunda (a round building with a dome) that Emperor Constantine built. Under this, and right in the center of the Rotunda, is the structure that contains the Holy Sepulchre. “How do you know this is Jesus’s tomb ?” I asked one of the
pilgrims standing next to me. He was clueless, more interested, like the rest of them, in the novelty of it all and in photographing it, than in its history or tradition. At the start of the first century, the place was a disused quarry outside the city walls. According to the gospels, Jesus’ crucifixion occurred ‘at a place outside the city walls with graves nearby ….. ‘. Archaeologists have discovered tombs from that era, so the site is compatible with the biblical period. The structure at the site is a marble tomb built over the original burial chamber. It has two rooms, and you enter four at a time into the first of these, the Chapel of the Angel. Here the angel is supposed to have sat on a stone to recount Christ’s resurrection. A low door made of white marble, partly worn away by pilgrims’ hands, leads to a smaller chamber inside. This is the ‘room of the tomb’, the place where Jesus was buried. We entered it in a single file. On my right was a large marble slab that covered the original rock bench on which the body of Jesus was laid. A woman knelt and prayed. Her eyes were wet with tears. She pressed her face against the slab to hide them, but it only made it worse.
Questions : 1 × 4 = 4
(i) How did Jerusalem still retain the charm of the ancient era?
(a) There are narrow lanes
(b) Roads are paved with cobblestone
(c) People can be seen riding asses
(d) All of the above
(ii) Holy Sepulchre is sacred to :
(a) Christianity
(b) Islam
(c) Judaism
(d) Both (a) and (c)
(iii) Why does one have to constantly ask for directions to the church
(a) Its lanes are narrow
(b) Entrance to the church is nondescript
(c) People are not tourist-friendly
(d) Everyone is lost in enjoying the romance of the place
(iv) Where was Jesus buried
(a) In a cave
(b) At a place outside the city
(c) In the Holy Sepulchre
(d) Both (a) and (b)
OR
“It is impossible to think about the welfare of the world unless the condition of women is improved. IA bird can’t flyon only one wing.” – Swami Vivekananda Women are not born, but made. What is better than India to exemplify this statement by Simone de Beauvoir. With the whole world celebrating International Women’s Day with great pomp and show, it would be only apt to analyse the position and space Indian women occupy today and compare it to the times 60 years ago when the country had just gained independence. With the women participating in nationalist movements to being pushed into domestic households place, to their resurgence as the super-women today, women in our country have seen it all. There have been innumerable debates about gender in India over the years. Much of it includes women’s position in society, their education, health, economic position, gender equality, etc. What one
can conclude from such discussions is that women have always held a certain paradoxical position in our developing country. On the one hand, the country has seen an increased percentage of literacy among women, and women are allowed to enter into professional fields, while on the other hand the practices of female infanticide, poor health conditions, and lack of education persist. Even the patriarchal ideology of the home being a woman’s real domain and marriage being her ultimate destiny hasn’t changed much. The matrimonial advertisements, demanding girls of the same caste, with fair skin and slim figures, or the much-criticized fair and lovely ads, are indicators of the slow-changing social mores.
If one looks at the status of women then and now, one has to look at two sides of the coin; one side which is promising, and one bleak side. When our country got its independence, the participation of women nationalists was widely acknowledged. When the Indian Constitution was formulated, it granted equal rights to women, considering them legal citizens of the
country and equal to men in terms of freedom and opportunity. The sex ratio of women at that time was slightly better than what it is today, standing at 945 females per 1000 males. Yet the conditions of women screamed a different reality. They were relegated to their households and made to submit to the male-dominated society, as has always been prevalent in our country. Indian women, who fought as an equal to men in the nationalist struggle, were not given that free public space anymore. They became homemakers and were mainly meant to build a strong
home to support their men who were to build the newly independent country. Women were reduced to being secondary citizens. The national female literacy rate was an alarmingly low 8.9 percent. The Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) for girls was 24.8 percent at the primary level and 4.6 percent at the upper primary level (in the 11 – 14 years age group). There existed insoluble social and cultural barriers to the education of women and access to organized schooling.
Questions : 1 × 4 = 4
(i) The writer says that the women have seen it all because :
(a) They participated in the nationalist movements.
(b) They were pushed into household space.
(c) They have become superwomen today.
(d) All of the above.
(ii) Pick one statement which brings out the paradoxical nature of
women’s position in society today :
(a) They are entering professional fields and becoming literate.
(b) They lack education and female infanticide is still rampant.
(c) They are still victims of a patriarchal mindset.
(d) While they are allowed to enter professional fields they are still
victims of patriarchal mindsets.
(iii) The Indian Constitution did not ensure :
(a) that women get equal rights.
(b) that they were considered equal to men.
(c) that the sex ratio would be 945 females to 1000 males.
(d) that they were legal citizens of India.
(iv) Despite the provisions of the constitution :
(a) women were relegated to the household.
(b) women were not allowed free space.
(c) women were dictated by patriarchy.
(d) all of the above.
Reading Comprehension Passages FOR class 12 English: Solved Example for Practice(updated on Sept. 12,2022)
1. Read the following passages carefully and answer the questions that follow. (HBSE Reappear 2022)
Rights and duties are two sides of the same coin. One can’t exist without the other. Duties without rights are mere slavery. Similarly, rights without duties ammount to lawlessness. In any civilized society, rights and duties must go side by side. But in today’s world eveybody talks much about his rights. There is a great hue and cry if our rights are infringed. But nobody seems to bother much about his duties. That is why there is great unrest in our present-day-life. Actually duties come first and rights afterwards. Many a time, one man’s right is another man’s duty and vice-versa. For example every man has the right to have an undisturbed sleep. So it becomes the duty of his neighbour not to tune his radio at too high a pitch. If we want to enjoy our rights, we should act in such a way that the rights of others are not trepassed. It can happen only if we take due account of our duties also. In short rights and duties are complimentary things and not contradictory. 1*5= 5
Questions: Choose the correct option:
(1) Which are the two sides of the same coin mentioned in the passage?
(A) Slavery and lawlessness
(B) Freedom and rights
(C) Rights and duties
(D) All of the above
Ans. (C) Rights and duties
(2) What place do rights and duties have in a civilised society?
(A) Rights come before duties
(B) Rights and duties go side by side
(C) Duties come before rights
(D) Rights and duties have no place
Ans. (B) Rights and duties go side by side
(3) Why is there a great unrest in the present-day life?
(A) Because nobody seems to bother much about his duties
(B) Because rights and duties go side by side
(C) Because duties come before rights
(D) Because there are neither rights nor duties
Ans. (A) Because nobody seems to bother much about his duties
(4) What do people do when their rights are infringed?
(A) They gave up their rights
(B) They start doing their duties
(C) They place their rights before their duties
(D) They make a great hue and cry
Ans. (D) They make a great hue and cry
(5) Rights without duties amount….
(A) To slavery
(B) to lawlessnes
(C) to civilised society
(D) to none of the above
Ans. (B) to lawlessnes
2. Read the following passage given below and answer the questions that follow : (HBSE March 2019), Class 12 English
New Year is the time for resolution. Mentally, at least most of us could compile formidable lists of ‘do’s and don’ts’. The same old favourites recur year in and year out with monotonous regularity. We resolve to get-up early each morning, eat healthy food, exercise, be nice to people we don’t like and find more time for our parents. Past experience has taught us that certain accomplishments are beyond attainment. If we remain deep rooted liars, it is only because we have so often experienced the frustration that results from failure. Most of us fail in our efforts,
at self-improvement because our schemes are too ambitious and we never have time to carry them out. We also ‘make the fundamental error of announcing our resolution to everybody so
that we look even more foolish when we slip back into our bad old ways. Aware of these pitfalls, this year I attempted to keep my resolutions to myself. I limited myself to two modest ambitions, to do physical exercise every morning and to read more in the evening. An overnight party on New Year’s Eve provided me with a good excuse for not carrying out either of these new resolutions on the first day of the year, but on the second, I applied myself diligently to the task. The daily exercise lasted only eleven minutes and I proposed to do them early in the morning before anyone had got up. The self-discipline required to drag myself out of bed eleven minutes earlier than usual was considerable. Nevertheless, I managed to creep down into the living room for two days before anyone found me out. After jumping about on the carpet and twisting the human frame into uncomfortable positions, I sat down at the breakfast table in an exhausted condition. It was this that betrayed me. The next morning the whole family trooped in to watch the performance. That was really unsettling but I fended off the taunts and jibes of the whole family good-humouredly and soon everybody got used to the idea. However, my enthusiasm waned. The time I spent at exercises gradually diminished. Little by little the eleven minutes fell to zero. By January 10th, I was back to where I had started from. I argued that if I spent less time exhausting myself at exercises in the morning, I would keep my mind fresh for reading
when I got home from work. Resisting the hypnotising effect of television, I sat, in my room for a few evenings with my eyes glued to a book. One night, however, feeling cold and lonely, I
went downstairs and sat in front of the television pretending to read. That proved to be my undoing, for I soon got back to the old bad habit of dozing off in front of the screen. I still haven’t
given up my resolution to do more reading. In fact, I have just bought a book entitled ‘How to Read a Thousand Words a Minute’. Perhaps it will solve my problem, but I just have not had
time to read it.
Questions : 1 × 5 = 5
Questions: Choose the correct option:
(1) What were the writer’s two resolutions ?
(A) Physical exercise in the morning
(B) Read more in the evening
(C) Both (a) and (b)
(D) Not to make more resolutions
Ans. (C) Both (a) and (b)
(2) How much time did the daily exercise last initially ?
(A) 10 minutes
(B) 11 minutes
(C) 5 minutes
(D) 8 minutes
Ans. (B) 11 minutes
(3) How many days did the narrator continue his resolution?
(A) 8 days
(B) 9 days
(C) 10 days
(D) 7 days
Ans. 9 days
(5) On which date, the author came back to where he had started?
(A) 10 August
(B) 10 January
(C) 11 December
(D) None of the above
Ans. (B) 10 January
(4) Which book did the narrator buy ?
(A) How to read a thousand words a minute
(B) How to be a good reader
(C) How to be firm on your resolutions
(D) The importance of exercising
Ans. How to read a thousand words a minute
3. Read the following passage given below and answer the questions that follow : (HBSE MARCH 2019) Class 12 English
Many of us believe that ‘small’ means ‘insignificant’. We believe that small actions and choices do not have much impact on our lives. We think that it is only the big things, the big actions and the big decisions that really count. But when you look at the lives of all great people, you will see that they built their character through small decisions, small choices and small actions that they performed every day. They transformed their lives through a step-by-step or day-by-day approach. They nurtured and nourished their good habits and chipped away at their bad habits, one step at a time. It was their small day-to-day decisions that added up to make tremendous difference in the long run. Indeed, in matters of personal growth and character building, there is no such thing as an overnight success. Growth always occurs through a sequential series of stages. There is an organic process to growth. When we look at children growing up, we can see this process at work; the child first learns to crawl, then to stand and walk, and finally to run. The same is true in the natural world. The soil must first be tilled, and then the seed must be sowed. Next, it must be nurtured with enough water and sunlight, and only then will it grow, bear fruit and finally ripen and be ready to eat.
Gandhi understood this organic process and used this universal law of nature to his benefit. Gandhi grew in small ways, in his day-to-day affairs. He did not wake up one day and find himself to be the “Mahatama”. In fact, there was nothing much in his early life that showed signs of greatness. But from his mid-twenties onwards, he deliberately and consistently attempted to change himself, reform himself and grow in some small way every day.
Day-by-day, hour-by-hour, he risked failure, experimented and learnt from mistakes. In small and large situations alike, he took up rather than avoid responsibility. People have always marvelled at the effortless way in which Gandhi could accomplish the most difficult tasks. He displayed great deal of self-mastery and discipline that was amazing. These things did not come easily to him. Years of practice and disciplined training went into making his successes possible. Very few saw his struggles, fears, doubts and anxieties, or his inner efforts to overcome them. They saw the victory, but not the struggle. This is a common factor in the lives of all great people: they exercised their freedoms and choices in small ways that made great impact on their lives and their environment.
Each of their small decisions and actions, added up to have a profound impact in the long run. By understanding this principle, we can move forward, with confidence, in the direction of our dreams. Often when our “ideal goal” looks too far from us, we become easily discouraged, disheartened and pessimistic. However, when we choose to grow in small ways, taking small steps
one at a time, performing it becomes easy. 1 × 5 = 5
Questions: Choose the correct option:
(1) The main idea in the first paragraph is that :
(A) Big things, big actions and big decisions make a person great
(B) Small actions and decisions are important in one’s life
(C) Overnight success is possible for all of us
(D) Personal changes are not important
Ans. (B) Small actions and decisions are important in one’s life
(2) What does the writer mean by saying ‘chipped away at their bad habits’ ?
(A) Steadily gave up bad habits
(B) Slowly produced bad habits
(C) Gradually criticized bad habits
(D) Did not like bad habits
Ans. (A) Steadily gave up bad habits
(3) Which of the following statements is true in the context of the third paragraph ?
(A) Gandhi became great overnight
(B) Gandhi showed signs of greatness in childhood itself
(C) Every day Gandhi made efforts to change himself in some small way
(D) Gandhi never made mistakes
Ans. Every day Gandhi made efforts to change himself in some small way
(4) What is done by great people to transform their lives ?
(A) They approach life on a day-by-day basis
(B) They build character in small ways
(C) They believe in performing everyday
(D) All of these
Ans. (D) All of these
(5) When do we become easily discouraged, disheartened, and pessimistic?
(A) when ideal goal is near
(B) when ideal goal can’t be achieved
(C) When ideal goal looks far away
(D) All of the above
Ans. (C) When ideal goal looks far away
Reading Comprehension: CBSE Class 12 English(Core) Question Paper 2022 Solved Set-1
(Reading) (14 marks)
1. Read the passage given below: 8
1 Last week, a wild elephant was radio-collared for the first time in Assam State Forest Department and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) India, it is being described as a step to study and mitigate human-elephant conflict. The department plans to collar at least five elephants in high-conflict habitats in the coming months. Experts say the exercise is challenging and runs the risk of low success.
2 What it means? Radio collars are GPS-enabled collars and can relay information about an elephant’s whereabouts. They weigh roughly 8 kg identifying a suitable candidate (generally an adult elephant), darting it with a sedative, and fitting the collar around its neck before it is revived. Additionally, the team also attaches an accelerometer to the collar to understand what exactly the elephant is doing at any given time (running, walking, eating, drinking, etc.).
3 Why is it done? The objectives are two-fold, said M.K. Yadava, Chief GPS would help us track and study the movement patterns of the herd, across regions and habitats, he said. Added Hiten Ba e will know where they are moving, which corridors they frequent, if the habitat is sufficient, if it needs protection, what is driving the conflict. The second objective is incidental : The collar would serve as an early warning system to people if elephants incidents, said veterinarian and elephant expert Kushal Konwar Sarma, who is involved in the exercise.
4 The Plan in Assam : In March 2020, the Ministry of Environment of Forest and Climate Change gave approval to collaring of five elephants nitpur and Biswanath districts. It set a number of of periodic reports. The Challenges : Collaring is an extremely time consuming and challenging exercise. We have to identify the matriarch of the herd we will tag ……. identification alone takes time
and involves us stalking them for days, said the elephant expert Sarma.
5 For there to go on foot. There is risk for very skilled experts on board and they are doing the job with utmost care. officials said, not all components for radio collaring are available in India including collars and tranquilising drugs. These have to be imported and are another challenge. Also elephants grow collars may become tight, so we usually take a senior elephant so there is less chance Baishya said, They will have it on for maximum six months, before it falls off , id Bibhuti Lakhar, a senior scientist. Last year, an elephant, which had strayed into Guwahati from Amchang Wildlife Sanctuary in 2019, was radio-collared on a trial basis. We monitored it for a month, but due to the weight of the belt and the elephant brushing against trees, the signal was feeble and ultimately the collar fell off, aid a forest official.
6 Is it worth it ? Yadava said while there were risks and the success rate was low, there has been no better mechanism than collaring to study conflict long-term.
Based on your understanding of the passage, answer any eight questions from the nine given below : 8 1=8
Q. (i) Show evidence from the passage that radio collaring of elephants is a challenging task.
Ans. The radio-collaring of elephants is a challenging task because they have to be imported and soon become tight and fall down.
Q. (ii) What purpose is served by radio collaring of elephants ? 1
Ans. The purpose of radio collaring is to track and study the movements of the elephant.
Q. (iii)Which device in the collar gives information about the elephant’s activities ? 1
Ans. Radio collars with GPS give information about the elephant’s moments.
Q. (iv) What are the twin objectives of collaring the elephants ? 1
Ans. The twin objectives of collaring the elephants are to track them at the moment and, second, the collar would serve as an early warning system to people if elephant incidents occur.
Q. (v) What two conditions are prescribed by the concerned Ministry for collaring elephants ? 1
Ans. The weight of the collar shouldn’t be more than 8 kg and should be on the neck for a maximum of six months.
Q. (vi) Why is collaring a time consuming exercise ? 1
Ans. Collaring is a time-consuming exercise as darting it with a sedative and fitting the collar around its neck is very difficult. Second, the identification of the matriarch of the herd is again a difficult task.
Q. (vii) Why is it not advisable to put a collar on a young elephant ? 1
Ans. It is not advisable to put a collar on a young elephant, as the young elephant will grow and become fat and the collar will become tight.
Q. (viii) Why does the collar fall off from the elephant’s neck? 1
Ans. The collar falls off from the elephant’s neck as the weight of the belt and the elephant brush against trees.
Q. (ix) Find the word in the passage which means “to make a person or animal unconcious”. (Para 5) 1
Ans. tranquilising
2. Read the passage given below : 6
1 Research by a team of scientists has uncovered a surprising way to stimulate the development of healthy fat in humans. In the long-term, findings may have implications for the development of weight loss medication. These scientists found that the kind of stress that accompanies third degree burns may induce the human body to convert normal fat cells into brown fat, which burns calories at a higher rate. If future research can determine how and where the body accomplishes this conversion, it may be possible to develop drugs that induce artificial yet remarkably rapid fat burning in obese patients.
2 White adipose tissue normal, white fat accounts for most of the fat in the bodies of most mammals. Small mammals and newborn humans, however have a high proportion of brown fat. The difference between the two types led scientists to believe that brown fat has the potential to combat obesity. This is because brown fat contains excess of mitochondria : the structures within body cells that are responsible for producing energy. This means that brown fat burns more calories and releases more heat when it burns. After all, the function of naturally occurring brown fat is to generate heat in small animals, or in human infants, who do not yet have the ability to shiver.
3 The research began with the observation that patients with severe, widespread burns needed to consume more calories each day in order to maintain their weight. On studying the fat cells of 48 severe burn patients throughout their treatment, analysis of the fat samples revealed that what was once white adipose tissue , acquiring many characteristics similar to brown fat, including its ability to burn fat at a high rate. Of course we are still long way from the practical applications of these findings. This research however indicates the possibility of converting white fat into brown and reveals something about the conditions that catalyze such a conversion. BODY FAT CHANGES
Based on your understanding of the passage, answer any six out of the seven questions given below : 6 1=6
Q. (i) What has the team of scientists uncovered ? 1
Ans. The team of scientists have uncovered the way to stimulate the development of healthy fat in humans.
Q. (ii) What kind of implications will the findings have ? 1
Ans. The findings may have implications for the development of weight loss medication.
Q. (iii) Does the information in the graphsupport the author’s statements regarding brown fat percentages in humans ? 1
Ans. Yes, the information in the graphsupport the author’s statements regarding brown fat percentages in humans.
Q. (iv) Based on the data in the graph, state at what age does the greatest percent change occur in body fat type. 1
Ans. The greatest percent change occur in body fat type is at age of 20.
Q. (v) What accounts for most of the fat in the bodies of mammals ? 1
Ans. White fat accounts for most of the fat in the bodies of most mammals.
Q. (vi) What does the passage state about small mammals and newborn humans ? 1
Ans. Small mammals and newborn humans have a high proportion of brown fat.
Q. (vii) What does brown fat contain ? What is it responsible for ? 1
Ans. Brown fat contains excess of mitochondria and it has the potential to combat obesity.
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