Class XII English 12 Marks Practice Questions
FACTUAL PASSAGES
1.1. Read the following passage carefully. [12 marks]
[AI, Delhi 1997]
1. So great is our passion for doing things for ourselves, that we are becoming increasingly less dependent on specialized labour. No one can plead ignorance of a subject any longer, for there are countless of-it-yourself publications. Armed with the right tools and materials, newly-weds gaily embark on the task of decorating their own homes. Men of all ages spend hours of their leisure time installing their own fireplaces. Laying-out their own gardens; building garages and making furniture. Some really keen enthusiasts go so far as to make their own record players and radio transmitters. Shops cater for the do-it-yourself craze not only by running special advisor services for notices, but by offering consumers bits and pieces which they can assemble at home. Such things provide an excellent outlet for pent up creative energy, but unfortunately not all of us are born handymen.
2. Wives tend to believe that their husbands are infinitely resourceful and versatile. Even husbands who can hardly drive a nail in straight are supposed to be born electricians, carpenters, plumbers and mechanics. When lights fuse ,furniture gets rickety, pipes get clogged, or vacuum cleaners fail to operate, wives automatically assume that their husbands will somehow put things right. The worst thing about the do-it-yourself game is that sometimes husbands live under the delusion that they can do anything even when they have been repeatedly proved wrong. It is a question of pride as much as anything else.
3. Last spring my wife suggested that I call in a man to look at our lawn mower. It had broken down the previous summer, and though I promised to repair it, I had never got round to it. I wouldn’t hear of the suggestion and said that I would fix it myself. One Saturday afternoon I hauled the machine into the garden and had a close look at it. As far as I could see, it only needed a minor adjustment; a turn of a screw here, a little lightening up there, a drop of oil and it would be as good as new. Inevitable the repair job was not quite so simple. The mower firmly refused to mow, so I decided to dismantle it. The garden was soon littered with chunks of metal, which had once made up a lawn-move. But I was extremely pleased with myself. I had traced the cause of the trouble. One of the links in the chain that drives the wheels had snapped.
4. After buying a new chain I was faced with the insurmountable task of putting the confusing jigsaw puzzle together again. I was not surprised to find that the machine still refused to work after I had reassembled it, for the simple reason that I was left with several curiously shaped bits of metal which did not seen to fit and anywhere. I gave up in despair. The weeks passed and the grass grew. When my wife nagged me to do something about it. I told her that either I would have to buy a new mower or let the grass grow. Needless to say that our house is now surrounded by a jungle. Buries somewhere in deep grass there is a rusting lawn mower which I have promised to repair one day. (539 words)
1.1.1 Answer the following questions briefly. (6 marks)
(a) Why do people not reply on specialized labour so much nowadays, according to the writer? (1)
(b) How do business organizations encourage people to do things for themselves? (2)
(c) What do wives tend to believe about their husbands? (1)
(d) Why do husbands think they can do anything even when provided otherwise? (1)
(e) ‘Do-it-yourself’ craze has its own advantage. What is it? (1)
1.1.2 ‘Do-it-yourself’ activities are good to purpose because: (3 marks)
(a) ……………………………………………………………………………………………………
(b) ……………………………………………………………………………………………………
(c) ……………………………………………………………………………………………………
1.1.2 Find the words in the passage which convey the similar meaning as the following: (3 marks)
(a) Zealous people (para I)
(b) Carried (para 3)
(c) Broken (para 3)
1.2 Read the following passage carefully. (12 marks)
TOWERING HIMALYSIS POSE GROWING THREAT TO VALLEYS BELOW
1. Mount Everest has long attracted the curiosity of mystics, scientists and thrill seekers, who have for centuries risked their lives to reach the top of its treacherous peak. Their something-deadly adventures have been documented at length in magazines, movies and books around the world. Nut little has been written about how the fabled Himalayas threaten the loves of thousands of villagers who live in the valleys below.
2. Earthquakes rumble through the region as the collision between tectonic plates beneath the continents of Asia and India continue to push the towering Himalayas even higher. Villagers in the foothills also fall prey to frequent avalanches, floods and landslides unleashed by melting glaciers and monsoon rains.
3. Due to global warning glacier-related disasters are to on the rise. The risks increase during the summer months, when warm temperatures and monsoon rains shrink the enormous sheets of ice. And as the warm, wet weather of the Himalayan summer sets in, scientists warm that the chances of disaster grow every day.
4. Glacial melting already has begun to wreak havoc, scientists suspect. Last August in Nepal, during the hottest year on record, landslides and flashfloods left more than 350 dead and 10,000 families homeless. Since 1954, more than 7,000 people have died in 11 major floods in Bangladesh. And this year’s monsoon rains have spread water-borne diseases, fever, influenza and stomach ailments throughout Bangladesh, India and Nepal.
5. One reason for these catastrophes, scientists said, is that Himalayan glaciers – formed by more than 2 million years of snowfall – are receding faster than ever before. As the glaciers continue to shrink, landslides, ice avalanches and floods will increase, scientists warn.
6. ‘Catastrophic natural processes triggered by these glacial changes are responsible for considerable death and destruction throughout the mountains; said Jagdish Bahadur, who wrote a scientific report on the topic. Ice avalanches, which occur when glaciers melt on steep slopes and slide down sparsely vegetated valleys, and landslides, cascading boulders and debris unleashed when melting glaciers dislodge them, have caused hundreds of deaths in the last year alone.
7. But some of the most devastating effects of glacier meltdown occur when glacial lakes overflow. These lakes, which are formed throughout the mountain range by melting glaciers, threaten to flood entire valleys, putting tens of thousands of people’s lives at risk. For decades glacier ice and debris have acted like natural dams to contain the growing lakes. But when melting glaciers feed the lakes faster than water can drain, a violent torrent of liquid and debris often escapes as pressure in the burgeoning lake causes it to literally push past the glacier ice or debris that holds it back. Due to rapid glacial melting, these ‘glacial lake outburst floods’ – once a rarity – have become a frequent occurrence.
8. The chances of a glacial lake outburst increases in the summer, when glaciers melt, and rainwater from the monsoon season adds pressure to the swelling lakes, according to Paul Mayewski, director of the Climate Change Research Centre at the University of New Hampshire also say that global warming has accelerated the formation of glacial lakes. The Bulleting of Water and Energy Commission (WEC) has labelled many of these lakes as ‘dangerous’.
9. ‘We’re constantly worried by forecasts about these lakes reputing,” Pemba Sherpa , a resident of Monjo village, which is located close to the high-risk Imja glacier lake, told the World Wildlife Fund. But a lack offending coupled with the difficulty and dangers associated with accessing the glaciers have made it nearly impossible to even monitor them.
10. ‘There is a need to monitor high altitude glaciated regions to understand the natural processes and the magnitude of natural hazards for mitigation measures,” Bahadur stated. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is trying to establish a monitoring system that will warn endangered villagers when a glacial outburst or landslide is imminent. The program also would monitor potentially high-risk lakes, which can be drained to reduce the risk of a disaster.
11. If global warming is the culprit for glacier recession, then the huge masses of ice of the Himalayas will one day melt away altogether. ‘Glaciers’ in the Himalayas are receding faster than in any other part of the world and, if the present rate continues, the likelihood of them disappearing by the year 2035 Is very high,’ stated a recent report by the International Commission for Snow and Ice (ICSI). Though the disappearance of the glaciers would bring an end to the deadly floods and landslides that plague the region, another disaster would follow.
12. Without glacier melt water, many lakes and rivers that serve as lifelines for millions of people could dry up. And about 10 percent of the world’s population – 500 million people – would be at risk at losing their water supply. (792 words)
1.2.1 On the basis of your reading of the passage, answer the following questions as briefly as possible. (9 marks)
(a) Why are the Himalayas prone to earthquakes? (1)
(b) In what ways does the warm and wet weather of the Himalayan summer prove to be devastating? (1)
(c) What threat do melting glaciers pose to people living in the Himalayan region? (1)
(d) What is the role being played by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to reduce the risk of the disasters caused by glaciers? (1)
(e) What is causing the Himalayan glaciers to melt? (1)
(f) What will happen when the Himalayan glaciers have melted? (2)
1.2.2 Pick out the words/phrases from the passages which mean the same as: (3 marks)
(a) cause a lot of destruction (para 4)
(b) Disaster; devastation (para 5)
(c) Set off; (caused (para 6)
