Q3. Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:-
If there is life on the planet Mars it will have to stand extreme cold at night. This should not be too difficult for plants. Cold
country plants on earth tolerate arctic conditions for some months each winter, and plants that grow on high mountains in
the tropics survive temperatures which frequently fall below freezing point during the night. Large animals on earth try to
keep from freezing, but many insects spend the winter in frozen surroundings. Bacteria, protozoa and other small organisms
can be kept frozen for many years and thawed out alive and healthy. So life on Mars should not have too much trouble with
cold. An obvious way to avoid the short-period cold of the Martian night would be to burrow into the ground as many cold
country animals do on earth.
Another difficulty for life on Mars is scarcity of Oxygen and water, but these lacks may not be as serious as they appear from
the human point of view. Perhaps an atmosphere like the earth’s is a luxury, not a necessity. Martian plants might have
strong impervious skins to keep the moisture in their tissues from evaporating into the thin dry air. If they need oxygen when
the sun is not shining, as the earth's plants do, they may store it as a gas or as some oxygen rich chemical compound. They
would need some way
of absorbing a little carbon dioxide, but in other respects they could live for most of the time
independently of the atmosphere full stop in the moist Martian spring time they would absorb enough water to last them
until the following year, and during the same season they would probably do most of the growing and reproducing.
Martian animals would have a tougher time, but if there are plants on Mars, there must be animals of some sort. An animal,
by the scientist definition is an organism that eats plants, using part of the plant material to build its own body and the rest
to burn for energy. We usually think of animals including men, as preying on plants, but if we choose, we can think of them
as the plants' benefactors. If there were no plant-eating animals on earth, not even bacteria, the plants would grow until
they had absorbed all the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Then they would die.
a) Give the meaning of each of the following words as used in the passage. One word answers or short phrases will be
accepted.
b) i)tolerate ii) survive iii) scarcity
c) Answer the following questions briefly ,in your own words.
I) Mention two conditions on Mars that would make life difficult. What are they ?
ii) How do we know that living creatures could survive the freezing temperatures of Mars ?
iii) How could living creatures escape from cold on Mars in the night time ?
iv) Give the meaning of, “An atmosphere like the earth’s is a luxury.”.
b) In not more than 50 words of your own, State how plant and animal life could exist on Mars
Answers
Answer:
a) Tolerate - to allow the existence, presence, practice, or act of without prohibition or hindrance; permit. to endure without repugnance; put up with: I can tolerate laziness, but not incompetence.
b) Survive - continue to live or exist, especially in spite of danger or hardship.
c) Scarcity - Scarcity refers to a basic economic problem—the gap between limited resources and theoretically limitless wants. This situation requires people to make decisions about how to allocate resources efficiently, in order to satisfy basic needs and as many additional wants as possible.
1) DIFFICULTY FOR LIFE ON MARS IS SCARCITY OF OXYGEN AND WATER
DIFFICULTY FOR LIFE ON MARS IS THERE IS EXTREME COLD AT NIGHT
Explanation:
SORRY , I KNOW ONLY THESE MANY ANSWERS , I DON'T KNOW THE REST