Comprehension

Read the given passage carefully

A Wonderful Mind
Albert Einstein, the genius was born on 14 March 1879 in the German City of Ulm.
At the age of two and a half, Einstein still wasn’t talking. As he was a late talker, his
parents were worried. His mother thought him to be a freak. At last, at the supper
table one night, he broke his silence to say, "The soup is too hot.” Greatly relieved
his parents asked why he had never said a word before. Albert replied, "Because
up to now everything was in order.” As a child, he played by himself because his
friends found him boring. He loved mechanical toys.

When he saw his new mom sister Maja, he is said to have said, "Fine, but where
are her wheels?” A headmaster once told his father that whatever profession he
chooses, "He'll never make anything. "He went to high school in Munich and
scored good marks in almost every subject. He was highly gifted in Mathematics
and Physics. In 1900, at the age of 21, Einstein was a university graduate, but he
was unemployed. He finally secured a job in 1902 as a technical expert in the
patent office in Bern. In 1903, he married a girl named Mileva. He got world fame
when he published his General Theory of Relativity, which provided a new
interpretation of gravity. Einstein died in 1955 at the age of 76. Even today he is
remembered as a visionary and scientific genius.
One of Einstein's colleagues asked him for his telephone number one day. Einstein
reached for a telephone directory and looked it up. "You don't remember your
own number” the man asked startled. "No”, Einstein answered, "Why should I
remember something I can so easily get from a book?”

Answer the following questions.

1. What was the opinion of the following people about Einstein?

(a) Mother___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
(b) Friends___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
2. Who thought that Einstein would never succeed in life?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
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3. What happened in Einstein's life on the following dates?
(a) 1879 ____________________________________________________________

(b) 1900 ____________________________________________________________

(c) 1902 ____________________________________________________________

(d) 1903 ____________________________________________________________

(e) 1955 ____________________________________________________________

4. Why is Einstein remembered even today?

___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
5. What answer did Einstein give to his friend for not remembering his telephone
number?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

6. Write a word from the passage which means:

a) a person with original ideas about what the future will or could be like.

____________________________

b) A person who looks different from others.

____________________________

c) A person with exceptional skill in a particular area of activity.

____________________________

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 Comprehension
Read the given passage carefully.
Migratory Birds
As winter sets in, many birds leave their breeding grounds and fly long distances to warm
places. Here it is easier for them to find enough food. As spring comes they fly back to their
homes. This amazing annual journey is called migration. Some mammals and fish too migrate.
Most species of penguins migrate by swimming. Emus in Australia have been observed to
undertake long distance movements on foot during droughts.

Long ago people did not know where birds went in the winter. Some were sure that they flew
up to some other planet. Others felt that they hid at the bottom of wells.

The Arctic tern is the greatest traveller of all. Each year it flies from the Arctic to the Antarctic
and back again To and fro, this is almost 40,000 kilometres.

The scientists are still confused how these creatures navigate so accurately. They probably use
the sun and the stars as guides, or may be the rivers and mountains as landmarks.

While the Arctic tern flies the longest distance, bar headed geese fly at the greatest heights,
close to eight kilometres. Huge flocks of geese fly over the Himalayas, the highest mountains in
the world. They fly almost as high as a jet plane. Most other migratory birds fly below 100
metres.

The migratory birds that visit our country include the pelicans, the beautiful brahminy duck,
the colourful mallard, the pintails and the little stints. Most of these feathered guests migrate
from Europe and Central Asia. Birds such as spoonbill, pied cuckoos and painted storks migrate
within our country.

There are many threats to migratory birds. In addition to surviving storms and bad weather,
exhaustion and other natural obstacles, migratory birds face human threats. Deforestation,
effluents from factories, harmful gases and above all war are the most harmful. Advanced
missiles and other weapons used for long periods harm the environment as they destroy
plants and kill animals.

For example, after the war in Afghanistan in 2002, endangered migratory birds such as the
siberian crane could not reach India. The air over Afghanistan was so poisonous that some died
and some turned back.

Pollution of the sea, water and air also affects them. Migratory birds are also disturbed and
killed by skyscrapers, lighthouses and other unnatural manmade formations that mislead
them. Sadly many migratory birds are hunted for food and for sport or for superstitious
reasons. Human activities- or should we call them inhuman activities-disturb migratory birds.
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Answer the following questions.

1. What do you understand by the term migration?

___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

2 Why do most birds migrate in winter?

___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

3. Long ago what did people think about the migrating birds?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

4. According to scientists how do migratory birds find their way?

___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
5. Name the migratory birds that visit our country.
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

6. Name some human activities that disturb the migratory birds.

___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

7. Name the following birds:

(a) greatest traveller of the longest distance _______________________________
(b) the highest flier ___________________________________________________
(c) two birds that migrate within India ____________________________________
(d) a bird which could not reach India after the Afghan war __________________

8. In your view what will happen if forests are destroyed and air and water is
polluted?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

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 Comprehension
Read the given passage carefully.
The Snake Catcher

Chandan Singh was an active and alert snake catcher. Perhaps, I would not be an
exaggeration to say that there is no living person who knows more about the different
species of snakes than Chandan Singh. As an expert he know that poor knowledge and
long-standing fear about snakes have led to several of them being attacked even
though most of them are harmless.

It was a hot Sunday morning and ideal for snake searching. He had been searching
carefully, but without success for over an hour, when a faint rustling sound caught his
ears. He spotted the latter half of a large snake disappearing slowly into the tangle of
grass. He laid his fork- like stick across the snake's back and, pressing it hard against
the ground, he picked it up by the tail and swung it in the air. He had done this
innumerable times before. All that remained now was to get his collecting bag from
his pocket and pop the thing into it . Suddenly there came a loud hiss and almost
instantaneously he feel a sharp prick in his finger. Perhaps it was either a cobra or a
krait. His immediate reaction was to release the snake, which dropped to the ground.
He quickly placed his foot on its tail and applied a slight pressure to prevent its escape.
Then he focused his attention to his hurting finger and saw two beads of blood. This
must be the spot where the snake's fangs had entered, he thought. So he hastily
whipped out the razor-blade which he always carried for such incidents, and began
making cuts above and below the bite. Blood flowed freely, and he sucked vigorously
at the cuts he had made to get out as much of the poison and spat it out.

As soon as he began to move, he became conscious of a growing pain in his body and
finger which by now was swelling rapidly. He was able to reach the road and manage
to wave to a halt, a passing motorist . When he got to the hospital, the fact that he had
the snake with him was objected by hospital staff. But after Chandan Singh explained
his reasons for wanting the snake to remain alive, it was carried away in its bag by one
of the nurses to a safe place in another room. He was instructed to lie down on the
operating table and was treated successfully.

Later on, almost every staff member and the doctor in the hospital, or so it seemed,
came to view the bite. The fact that he, an experienced snake catcher was bitten by a
snake whilst attempting its capture seemed to amuse them all. They said it was for the
first time they had treated as exceptional a case as that of Chandan Singh.

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QUESTIONS

A. Tick the correct answer:

1. It would be right to say that Chandan Singh ......

a. was in the snake-breeding business for almost a century.
b. knew more about snakes than any other person.
c. never had the misfortune of being attacked by snakes.

2. As an expert Chandan knew.......

a. most snakes are harmless.
b. most of the snakes are harmful.
c. cobra and kraits are the most poisonous snakes.
B. Answer the following.

1. Why did Chandan Singh put his foot down firmly on the snake?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

2. Why did the snake-catcher always carry a razor-blade with him?

__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

3 What did the hospital staff do with Chandan Singh?

__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

4. Suppose your neighbour has been bitten by a snake. Before taking him to the
hospital, what would you do to prevent the poison from spreading in the entire
body?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

5. Why do you think the hospital staff was amused?

__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
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6. Do you think Chandan Singh was lucky that a passing motorist saved his life?
Why do you think so?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
7. Write a word from the passage which means: a statement to magnify
something beyond its limits of truth. _____________________________

C. Make sentences with:

1. immediate reaction
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

2. growing pain
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

3. innumerable times
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________