answer these extracts
(A) The cry of not having money to do anything except carry on the business of making bangles,
not even enough to eat, rings in every home. The young men echo the lament of their elders. Little
has moved with time, it seems, in Firozabad. Years of mind-numbing toil have killed all initiative
and the ability to dream.
(a) What problem was prevalent in all the homes of Firozabad?
(b) Were the young men able to overcome this problem?
(c) Was there any improvement in their living conditions?
(d) Why did they not have any ability to do something else?
(B) This went on until July. But I was still not satisfied. I was not sure that all the terror had left.
So I went to Lake Wentworth in New Hampshire, dived off a dock at Triggs Island, and swam two
miles across the lake to Stamp Act Island. I swam the crawl, breast stroke, side stroke, and back
stroke. Only once did the terror return. When I was in the middle of the lake, I put my face under
and saw nothing but bottomless water. The old sensation returned in miniature.
(a) What went on until July?
(b) Who went to Lake Wentworth and why?
(c) How many styles of swimming is mentioned in the extract?
(d) What does ‘old sensation” mean here?
Answers
Explanation:
The bangle-makers of Firozabad are bom in poverty, live in poverty and die in poverty. For generations these people have been engaged in this trade-working around hot furnaces with high temperature, welding and soldering glass to make bangles. In spite of hard labour throughout the day, the return is meagre. Some of them have to sleep with empty, aching stomachs. Others do not have enough to eat. Whatever they do get is not delicious or nourishing. The stinking lanes of their shanty town are choked with garbage. Their hovels have crumbling walls, wobbly doors and no windows. These are overcrowded with humans and animals.
Poverty and hunger, social customs and traditions, stigma of caste and the intrigues of powerful lobby that thrives on their labour combine to keep them poor, uneducated and hungry. The moneylenders, the middlemen, the policemen, the keepers of law, the bureaucrats and the politicians-all are ranged against them. Children are engaged in illegal and hazardous work. Years of mind-numbing toil have killed all initiative and ability to dream. They are unable to organise themselves into cooperative due to lack of a leader and fear of ill-treatment at the hands of the police. They seem to carry the burden that they can’t put down. They can talk but not act to improve their lot.
Answer: The given extracts are from Lost Springs and Deep Water.
Explanation:
Extract A :
Ans (a) : Problem of poverty was prevalent in all the homes of Firozabad.
Ans (b) : No, the young men are not able to overcome this problem and the cycle of poverty is continued over generations.
Ans (c) : The living conditions become more and more worse. Every family is engaged in bangle making and no family is able to come out of poverty and the health of family members is also ruined.
Ans (d) : The years of toiling and mind numbing has killed the ability of desire to something else.
Extract B :
Ans (a) : The author completed his training in April but to fully overcome his fear of water, he went on to swim in swimming pool to train more and more until July.
Ans (b) : The author William Douglas went to Lake Wentworth for making sure that he has overcome his fear of water.
Ans(c) : Four styes of swimming is mentioned : Crawl stroke, Back stroke, Breast stroke and Side stroke.
Ans (d) : Old sensation refers to the fear of water.
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