Q. Read the following passage carefully:
Trees are of importance not only to man but also to birds and animals. The branches of trees give shelter to millions of birds and forest give shelter to numerous wild animals. We value trees not only for their usefulness but also for their beauty. They have a way to refreshing the eye and also refreshing the mind. Perhaps that is why the rishies of olden days were drawn to the forests, and they and their peoples chose to going forest homes in company of Nature. In modern times when Rabindranath Tagore started a school, he too chose a place full of trees and called it Shanti Niketcrn or the home of peace.
Once upon a time large areas of India were covered with forests full of numerous kinds of trees. As the population grew, trees began to be cut down for mans use. That is how the wonderful forest described In our ancient poems came to be destroyed, and a great part of our forest wealth was lost. Now we are trying to replace this loss, and our government wants trees to be planted all over the country. A new festival called ‘Van Mahotsava’ has been started for this purpose. Since trees are the country’s wealth we must consider it our sacred duty to protect them. We should plant new trees wherever we can and look after them well.
On the basis of the reading of the passage, answer the following questions in brief:
1. How are trees important for birds and animals?
2. Why did the rishies in olden days make forests their homes?
3. Mention the reason that became the cause for the destruction of the wonderful forest.
4. How can we replace the loss of forests?
5. What is meant by ‘Shanti Niketan’? Who started it?
6. Why is Van Mahotsava organised?
7. What message do we get from the above passage?
8. Give a suitable title for the above passage.
Q. Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
One of the small boys was Ha'penny, and he was about twelve years old. He came from Bloemfontein and was the biggest talker of them all. His mother worked in a white person's house, and he had two brothers and two sisters. His brothers were Richard and Dickie, and his sisters Anna and Mina.
"Richard and Dickie?" I asked.
"Yes, sir."
"In English," I said, "Richard and Dickie are the same name."
When we returned to the reformatory, I sent for Ha'penny's papers; there it was plainly set down. Ha'penny was a waif, with no relatives at all. He had been taken from one home to another, but was naughty and uncontrollable, and had eventually taken to pilfering at the market.
I then sent for the Letter book, and found that Ha'penny wrote regularly, or rather that others wrote for him till he could write himself, to Mrs Better Maarman, of 48 Vlak Street, Bloemfontein. But Mrs Maarman had never once replied to him. When questioned, he had said,perhaps, she is sick. I sat down and once again wrote to the Social Welfare Officer at Bloemfontein, asking him to investigate.
The next time I had Ha'penny out in the car I questioned him again about his family. He told me the same as before, his mother Richard and Dickie, and Anna and Mina. But softened the the "D" of Dickie, so it now sounded like Tickie.
"I thought you said Dickie," I said.
"I said Tickie," he said.
He watched me with concealed apprehension, I came to the conclusion that the waif of Bloemfontein was a clever boy, who had told me a story that was all imagination, and had changed one single letter to make it safe from any question. And I thought that I understood it too, that he was ashamed of being without a family and had invented them all, so that no one might discover that he was motherless and fatherless and no one in the world cared whether he was dead or alive. This gave me strong feelings for him, and I went out of my way to manifest towards him that fatherly care that the State, though not in those words, had enjoined upon me by giving me this job.
(a) Give the meanings of each word as used in the passage. One word answers or short phrases will be accepted.
(i) waif (ii) pilfering (iii) concealed
(b) Answer the following questions briefly:
(i) How old was Ha'penny? Where was he from?
(ii) What do you know about his family?
(iii) What did the narrator come to know about Ha'penny when he sent for his papers?
(iv) What did the Letter book reveal about him?
(v) What conversation took place between the narrator and Ha'penny when he took him out in the car ?
(vi) Write two character traits of the boy as mentioned in the passage.
(c) In 50words, summarise how the narrator developed strong feelings for Ha'penny.
Answers
Answer:
Ans 1) The branches of trees give shelter to millions of birds and forest give shelter to numerous wild animals
Ans 2) They have a way to refreshing the eye and also refreshing the mind. Perhaps that is why the rishies of olden days were drawn to the forests,
Ans 3)the reason that became the cause for the destruction of the wonderful forest. is As the population grew, trees began to be cut down for mans use.
Ans 4) our government wants trees to be planted all over the country. A new festival called ‘Van Mahotsava’ has been started for this purpose. Since trees are the country’s wealth we must
Ans 5)
he too chose a place full of trees and called it Shanti Niketcrn or the home of peace. rabindernath Tagore started it
Answer:
and 1 trees are very important for animals and birds as they provide shelter to both animals and birds.
ans 2 rishes in the olden times starts living in forest so that they can praise God without any disturbance as we all know that forests have a peaceful environment.
ans 3 as the population grows people begin to cut down trees for their own benefit.
ans4 by growing more and more trees
ans 5 Shanti niketan was a school which was started by rabindernath tagore .
ans 6 the government is trying to fulfill the loss of trees by growing more and more trees for this the government has started the van mahotsav.
ans 8 trees : our lifeline