Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
Until a few thousand years ago Man was merely a hunter on the Earth. Not until the Neolithic period (about 7000 years ago) did he begin to settle down to agriculture. By tending the soil he was able to increase his food supply without roaming over large areas in search of it. And he has continued to improve his practice of agriculture; until today he is able to produce greater and better yields from the soil than it ever gave before. But as far as the seas are concerned, he is still almost entirely a hunter. He catches fish and other aquatic animals but does little to encourage their growth and continued supply. So far, his under – water hunting has yielded him considerable supplies of highly nutritious protein to supplement the supply he gets from his farming of the land. But with the growing increase in world population Man may soon need so much protein from the sea that its supplies, enormous but not inexhaustible, will be in danger of running out – unless Man takes steps to maintain adequate supplies through some form of sea – farming.
Fish – farming on a small scale has already been successfully carried out in fish – ponds, and in lakes, especially the artificial lakes created by the construction of dams for hydro – electric projects. Already the protein supply has been increased by the yield from fresh – water fishponds, some of them developed in rural communities with the help and supervision of Agricultural Officers.
Once fish – ponds have been stocked with young fish, it is fairly simple to give the fish healthy surroundings to grow in, and see that they have an adequate supply of food. The basis of all water feeding is plankton, thename foe very minute plants and animals which float in great numbers on the water. The small fishes feed on this, and in their turn serve as food for the bigger fishes. Since plankton itself depends for ite growth on the presence of certain minerals in the water, the amount of plankton can be increased by the addition of fertilizers to the water, just as we fertilize the soil for growing plants.
However, several problems will have to be solved before the farming of the oceans can be both practicable and profitable. For instance, there would be no point in fertilizing a portion of the sea if the sea currents are going to scatter the fertilizer away over miles and miles of unproductive water. Even if the fish – farmer could restrict the fertilizer to a definite area he would still have to find a way of keeping within his ‘own’ area the fish which his fertilizers had fed to maturity. And to get the maximum returns for his expenditure he would have to find a way of keeping the food to the fish he wants to feed. This would involve some sort of ‘weeding’ – removing the numerous inedible water creatures which would be sharing the sea – food with ‘his’ fish.
Obviously these problems will not be very easy to solve, especially when we remember the vastness of the ocean, which covers nearly three quarters of the surface of the Earth. And the water of the seas, unlike those of ponds and some lakes, are constantly moving about in currents. Most probably the problems will be solved gradually. In the foreseeable future Man may start fish farming on a small scale in the shallow off – shore waters near the continents. A further development of the aqualung (water lung) already in use with some form of under – water tractor (adapted perhaps from submarines)for moving about and doing simple jobs, he could fence off an area of water. He could then stock the area with the particular types of fish he wants to grow, ‘weed’ it by removing undesirable aquatic animals which may reduce the food of his fish, fertilize the area when necessary, and finally gather in a harvest of mature fish from time to time.
Even when this stage has been achieved, however, the problems to be solved before the open seas can be similarly turned into fish farms will still be tremendous. But if the time ever comes when of necessity they have to be solved to obtain sufficient food for a greatly increased world population, then Man will certainly solve them, as he has solved similar difficult problems in the past.
(a) Give the meaning of each of the following words as used in the passage. One word answers or short phrases will be accepted. (3)
(i) Tending
(ii) Considerable
(iii) Minute
(b) Answer the following questions briefly in your own words.
(i) As per the passage, what advantage does agriculture have over hunting? Give a reason to support that sea – farming probably will become necessary after some time.
(2)
(ii) What exactly is the purpose of fertilizing a fish – pond? (2)
(iii) In which part of the ocean will farming probably begin? (1)
(iv) What kind of machinery may be used for the purpose? (2)
(v) What reason does the writer give to indicate that the problem of sea farming will be solved in future? (2)
Answers
The answers to the given questions are as follows:
(a)
i) The meaning of Tending based on the passage is " making it ready".
- In this passage, the term "Tending the soil" is used that means making the soil ready for growing crops".
ii) The meaning of Considerable is "Reasonable".
- In the passage, the term " water hunting has yielded him considerable supplies of highly nutritious protein" is used that means water hunting has yielded humans reasonable supplies of protein.
iii) The meaning of Minute is " Small".
- In the passage, the term " very minute plants and animals which float in great numbers" is used that means very small plants and animals which float in great numbers.
(b)
i) Agriculture has lot of advantages then hunting because hunting can lead to extinction of the prey whereas by doing agriculture we can increase the supply of the food and meat.
Sea farming will become necessary after some time because due to continuous hunting, seafood will reduce in number and will become insufficient for people to consume.
ii) The purpose of fertilizing a fish-pond is to increase the amount of plankton. Plankton are very small plants and animals which are used to feed the fishes. As they can grow in the presence of certain minerals, fish-ponds are fertilized.
iii) In the future, farming will probably begin on a small scale in the shallow off – shore waters near the continents.
iv) If the time comes when the need of food supply will not be sufficient with growing population, the problem of sea farming will be solved.
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Answer:
Explanation:
The answers to the given questions are as follows:
(a)
i) The meaning of Tending based on the passage is " making it ready".
In this passage, the term "Tending the soil" is used that means making the soil ready for growing crops".
ii) The meaning of Considerable is "Reasonable".
In the passage, the term " water hunting has yielded him considerable supplies of highly nutritious protein" is used that means water hunting has yielded humans reasonable supplies of protein.
iii) The meaning of Minute is " Small".
In the passage, the term " very minute plants and animals which float in great numbers" is used that means very small plants and animals which float in great numbers.
(b)
i) Agriculture has lot of advantages then hunting because hunting can lead to extinction of the prey whereas by doing agriculture we can increase the supply of the food and meat.
Sea farming will become necessary after some time because due to continuous hunting, seafood will reduce in number and will become insufficient for people to consume.
ii) The purpose of fertilizing a fish-pond is to increase the amount of plankton. Plankton are very small plants and animals which are used to feed the fishes. As they can grow in the presence of certain minerals, fish-ponds are fertilized.
iii) In the future, farming will probably begin on a small scale in the shallow off – shore waters near the continents.
iv) If the time comes when the need of food supply will not be sufficient with growing population, the problem of sea farming will be solved.
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