Beginner's Passage Worksheet with Questions and Answers आधुनिक विद्या निकेतन ट्यूशन सेंटर Visit: avnlearn.com

Introduction

Passage 1

Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow:

I was ten years old then, and my brother, Nick, was fourteen. For both of us this buying of a gift for our mother on Mother’s Day was a time of excitement and great importance. It was our first gift to her. We were very poor. It was just after the First World War and we lived in difficult times of trouble. Our father worked sometimes as a waiter. Birthday and Christmas gifts were taken care of by him as well as he could, but such a thing as a Mother’s Day gift was out-of-the-ordinary luxury. But we had been lucky, Nick and myself. A second-hand furniture store had opened on the block, and deliveries were made by means of loading the furniture on a pushcart which we carefully pushed through traffic, to the customer’s home. We got a nickel each and, perhaps, a tip. I remember how Nick’s thin, dark face lighted up with the joy of the present. He had first thought of it in school; and the thought of surprise and giving grew in him, and me, and we were highly excited.

Questions :

1. How old is the narrator?
2. What work did the father do? Was it a regular job? Pick out the word that gives you the answer.
3. Why couldn’t the family afford a Mother’s Day gift?
4. Which gifts were bought by the father?
5. What made the boys feel lucky?
6. How much were they paid for their work?

Answers:

1. The narrator is ten years old.
2. The father worked as a waiter. No, it was not a regular job. ‘Sometimes’ is the word that gives the answer.
3. The family couldn’t afford a Mother’s Day gift because it was out-of-the-ordinary luxury.
4. Birthday and Christmas gifts were bought by the father.
5. The boys felt lucky because they had got a job of delivering furniture at a second-hand furniture store opened on the block.
6. They were paid a nickel each for their work.

Passage 2

Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow:

With the state gearing up for eight- phase Panchayat polls in April, 2011. The state election commission (SEC) has uploaded online formats for Panchayat voters through which they can make addition, modification and deletion in the existing electoral roll. The format which will be available on the website, www.secbihar.org, will help the voters to apply for inclusion or deletion of their names from the electoral roll, free of cost.

Urban voters can also apply, as for rural voters, for inclusion of their names in the electoral roll. They can either download the application format from the SEC website or apply to respective Block Development Officers (BDOs) or any other officer deputed for the job.

No application in these respects will be entertained by the SEC office, said its sources. While format B needs to be filled up for deletion of wrong names entered in the voters’ list, through format C, any other information can be included.

To include a name in the roll, voters or electorates need to fill up the format D.

The SEC has also made it clear that under no circumstances any application or voters will be entertained after January 18. Meanwhile, the voters should either apply online or to respective BDOs and applications filled up both online and to the BDO will not be entertained, said SEC sources.

Questions :

1. How many possible phases are there for Panchayat polls?
2. Write down the website for the format?
3. Who is the in-charge officer for rural areas?
4. Why is January 18 important in the given passage?
5. What are the formats B and C for?
6. Expand the given words:
   1. SEC
   2. BDOS

Answers:

1. There are eight possible phases for Panchayat polls.
2. The website for the format is www.secbihar.org.
3. The Block Development Officer is the in-charge officer for rural areas.
4. January 18 is important because no applications or voters will be entertained after this date.
5. Format B is for deletion of wrong names entered in the voters’ list and Format C is to get any other information included.
6. 1. State Election Commission
   2. Block Development Officers

Passage 3

Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow:

Buddha was one of the world’s greatest religious teachers. His real name was Gautam Sidhartha. He was born as a prince. His father was the king of Kapilvastu. But he did not want to become a king. He wanted to find out the meaning of life. He left his palace as a young man. He went out to seek the truth. For years he lived a hard life of poverty. He went to many teachers. But they could not help him. At last, the light came to him. He was thinking deeply under a Bodhi tree near Gaya. He became the Buddha or ‘Enlightened One’.

Questions :

1. Who was Buddha?
2. Where was Buddha born?
3. What was his real name?
4. How did he become the Buddha or ‘Enlightened one’?

Answers:

1. Buddha was one of the world’s greatest religious teachers.
2. He was born in Kapilvastu.
3. His real name was Gautam Sidhartha.
4. Once, he was thinking deeply under a Bodhi tree and light came to him. Thus, he became the Buddha or ‘Enlightened one’.

Passage 4

Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow:

The landlords of India, as is well known, are largely the creation of British imperialism. The bigger landlords have always solidly stood with imperialism and have been its strongest props in the countryside. Nationalism has no meaning to these people - except jobs in the higher services; and if any political power is to be given to Indians on account of nationalist forces gathering strength, then the balance of such power. They themselves are not interested in opposing or even agitating against imperialism. Their entry into politics is merely to ensure that their interests do not suffer on account of any power being ‘transferred’ to Indian hands. No one with the least political understanding or experience can talk of unity with the landlords. Here is the second breach in national unity.

Questions :

1. Who are the creations of British imperialism?
2. What are their interests in entry into politics?
3. What, according to the author, is the second breach in national unity?

Answers:

1. The landlords of India are the creations of British imperialism.
2. Their entry into politics is merely to ensure that their interests do not suffer on account of any power being ‘transferred’ to Indian hands.
3. According to the author, the second breach in the national unity is that no one with the least political understanding or experience can talk of unity with the landlords.

Passage 5

Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow:

What does it mean to eat intelligently? It means exercising enough to keep your from accumulating enough fat but not so much that you get incredibly thin. Dieting is something that you should never resort to. The growing body requires all the essential food groups. Eat well, eat enough and eat sensibly.

Skipping meals can lead to stomach ulcers. Your body pours acid into your stomach as it digests food. Eating too little or not eating at regular times can result in the acid tearing away the tissue that lines the stomach. It doesn’t matter if you eat a few big meals or many small ones, but eat at regular times everyday. Fast foods,soft drinks, excessive consumption of fat, meat products,liquor, etc. have to be replaced by the traditional foods of Indians such as cereals, wheat, vegetables,pulses,rice and milk.

Questions :

1. What does ‘eat intelligently’ mean ?
2. Why is Dieting not advisable ?
3. Why is it important to eat regularly ?
4. Which foods does the author recommend ?

Answers:

1. It means exercising enough to keep your body from accumulating enough fat, but not so much that you get incredibly thin.
2. Dieting is not advisable because a growing body requires all the essential food groups.
3. Because not eating at regular times can result in the acid tearing away the tissue that lines the stomach.
4. The author recommends traditional Indian food such as cereals, wheat, vegetables, pulses, rice and milk.

Passage 6

Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow:

An old man had three sons who often quarrelled with one another. They paid no heed to their father’s advice not to do so. One day he called his sons together and gave them a bundle of sticks and asked each of them tried but failed. The old man then asked them to untie the bundle and break the sticks separately. Not to speak of the eldest,even the younger ones broke the sticks without any difficulty. Then the old man told his sons that they should see the power of union. If they lived united,no harm would come to then; if they quarrelled, they would have to face difficulty.

Questions :

1. How did the three sons behave with one another ?
2. What did the old man do next ?
3. Were the sins able to break the bundle ?
4. What morals do you get from the above passage?

Answers:

1. The three sons often quarrelled with one another.
2. The old man called his sons together and gave them a bundle of sticks and asked each of them to try in turn to break the bundle.
3. No, the sons were not able to break the bundle.
4. The moral of the passage is ‘unity is strength’ .