The question that needs t is to be asked is why do children, many of whom are destitute and abandoned run away from government-run homes that supposedly aim to protect them A recent visit to such a home revealed the reasons and filled one with anguish as much as despair. Sad little faces had one thing in common on their tiny lips. Help me get out." A newly admitted child bitterly wept. "Who will now care for my baby brother? We've no one except each other. "he wobbed. These children were barely six or seven and, one or two even younger, who sat on the floor of dark rooms staring vacantly at blackboards filled with words that were written in English. But the children spoke mostly Hindi or other regional languages. Many children are unhappy here because they have nothing worthwhile to do or learn For most of them in the 10-16 years age-group, it is a precious period when they pick up a trade, as poverty forces them to work The remand homes have been set up for destitute and abandoned children who are likely to be abused and exploited. The homes must provide services for the physical, mental. moral and spiritual welfare of the children and facilities for self-improvement. But such programmes do not exist. The children are neither given any education nor any work-training to help them face life once they are freed after attaining the age of sixteen Visits to the homes are controlled by the government. This restriction must end. Erring officials must be brought to book. The children must be given their basic rights, love and care and the system will only then truly be helpful from which few would try to escape L.
Answer the following questions
1. What are the government-run homes meant for?
2. Why do the children try to escape from remand homes?
3. What are the remand homes meant for?
4. What suggestions are made in the passage?
5. Find words or phrases from the passage which mean:
(1) came to know (2) hardly
Find words from the passage which are opposite
1. gently 2. relaxation
Answers
Answer:
1) They are the perfect pets for Christmas: small, furry, engagingly active and they won't leave a mess on the carpet or need their cages cleaning out. A range of battery-powered toy hamsters, are proving to be among the must-have toys of the moment. Stock is flying off British and American shelves and a market has developed on eBay.
(2) Britain's Toy Retailers Association last month put the range in the "dream dozen" for this year's fesåve presents, while the retailer Argos included them in its top ten Christrnas gifts in September.
(3) The relatively low price for this latest generation of smart toys is apparently proving a boon in the recession. Jon Driver, the managing director of Character Group, said 600,000-700,000 toys and accessory packs, which can cost up to double the price of the animals, had been sold in the UK so far.
(4) "The craze has been incredible", he told the Guardian. "Children love the movement, magic, personality and emotion of the toys and I think parents love the price point, which you have to consider in the difficult times we are in. "
5) The man whose company invented the robotic rodents told the Financial Times that more "sorts of cute things" will follow, including chipmunks, squirrels, hedgehogs and rabbits.
6) Russell Hornsby, an entrepreneur whose small US company Cepia launched the line this summer, said intense demand in the US meant the hamsters only spent between thirty seconds and three minutes on store shelves before being bought. About 6m pieces had been shipped so far and he expected that figure to double by the end of the Christmas period. "People ask us how does this happen. The answer is that if I knew that, we'd have a hit every week. " Storch told the FT that his company did not put the range, known in the US as Zhu Zhu Pets, in its Christmas catalogue to avoid disappointing customers. "Word of mouth alone stimulated demand to the point that if we advertised it would only be bad for business. " The "artificially intelligent" hamsters are called Pipsqueak, Chunk, Mr Squiggles and Num Nums They have numerous accessories from skateboards and surfboards to cars and garages, and have two play modes - nurturing, where they coo and purr; and adventure, where they explore habitats.
(a) What makes toy hamsters perfect pets? * 1 point
(i) they are suitable as traditional Christmas gifts
(ii) they are must-have toys
(iii) they are surprisingly real looking but not messy like the real ones
(iv) they are approved by parents
(b) Children love hamster toys because they * 1 point
(i) want only the latest and the most expensive electronic toys
(ii) do not want real hamsters because of the mess they create
(iii) always buy the toys that other children are buying
(iv)love movement, magic, personality and emotion of these toys
(c) The company had not initially put the hamster range on sale because * 1 point
(i) the range was not properly advertised before launch
(ii) it feared the customers would not be interested in them
(iii) the price of the toys was very low
(iv) it did not have enough stocks
(d) Storch believes that advertising these toys would have been bad for business probably because * 1 point
(i) the toys would not have sold much
(ii) the toys had become popular without any advertisement
(iii) advertising them would have reduced the company's profits
(Iv) advertising them would have put the customers off
(e) By Christmas, the hamster toy sales were expected to reach a mark of * 1 point (i) six million pieces
(ii) twelve million pieces
(iii) six hundred thousand pieces
(iv) seven hundred thousand pieces
f) State whether the following statements are true or false
(i) Hamster toys were predicted to be a run-away success * 1 point True False
(ii) A hamster toy's accessories cost more than the toy itself. * 1 point True False
(iii) The toys were launched at the time when businesses were in boom. * 1 point True False
(iv) Russell Hornsby had a sure idea for a hit in the toy business. * 1 point
True False