Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow. 8
Air pollution in India’s capital surged after Diwali, with a haze reducing
visibility to 50 meters at times and prompting calls for government action.
The level of PM2.5, tiny particles suspended in the air that can lodge in
lungs and cause disease, hit a new peak after the country
celebrated Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights last week. Fine particles of
diameter less than 2.5 microns penetrate the alveolus of the lungs where
the exchange of oxygen and carbon-di-oxide takes place.
“We saw an increase in pollutants this year because of very low wind
speed,” said Dr. Dipankar Saha, scientist and in-charge of the air laboratory
at the Central Pollution Control Board.
Mean wind speed dropped to 1.8 meters per second last week compared
with 3.4 meter per second around the same time last year, reducing the
amount of pollutants that were dispersed.
The problem was also aggravated by a reversal in normal direction of wind,
said R. Vishen, in-charge of the regional weather forecasting center of
India Meteorological Department, New Delhi. “Normally, the wind direction
in Delhi is north westerly (west to east). But from October 28 till date, the
north easterly (east to west) component was prevailing, preventing
pollutants from dispersing and allowing them to accumulate in the air,” he
said.
New Delhi is the 11th most polluted city in the world, with an annual
average PM2.5 measurement of 122. PM2.5 levels have been rising in the
city over the past five years.
The World Health Organization recommends that PM2.5 is kept below 10 as
an annual average. It says exposure to average annual concentrations of
PM2.5 of 35 or above is associated with a 15% higher long-term mortality
risk.
Burning of stubble in paddy fields to prepare them for the next harvest in
the neighboring states of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh also add to
Delhi’s own air pollution woes: emissions from vehicles, industries using coal
for power and dust from construction activities and movement of vehicles.
The burning of trash, which can contain plastic, rubber and metal items
and gives off toxic emissions, also adds to the city’s acrid air.
“Unless we control our pollution from combustion, crop burning, vehicular
emissions and other sources on a regional scale, this problem of pollution
can’t be solved,” he said.
I. What happens to humans when the levels of PM2.5 increase? 1
II. How did the rising level of pollutants affect motorists? 1
III. What was unusual about the speed of the wind during the time when the
level of pollutants rose?
1
IV. What does the passage say about the direction of wind and its effect on
pollution?
V. Compare the levels of PM2.5 in Delhi with WHO specifications. 1
VI. Explain the meaning of ‘15% higher long-term mortality risk’. 1
VII. Comment on the action of the farmers of Punjab with reference to the
pollution in Delhi.
1
VIII. What danger does trash disposal pose to the people of Delhi? 1
A. 2. Read the passage carefully. 12
I would gladly forget what my family and I went through that frightful
afternoon in 1913 when the cry ”The dam has broken!” spread like a grass
fire through the East Side of Columbus. The West Side was at the time of the
scare under thirty feet of water during the great spring flood. The east Side
(where we lived and where all the running occurred) was not, it turned out
later, in any danger.
The broken-dam rumour, as i recall it, about noon on March 12. High Street,
the main canyon of trade, was loud with the placid hum of business.
Suddenly somebody began to run. It may be that he had simply
remembered, all of moment an appointment to meet is wife. Whatever it
was, he ran east. Then somebody else began to run, perhaps it was a new
boy in high spirits. Another man, a portly gentleman of affairs, broke into a
trot. Inside of ten minutes everybody in High Street from the Union Depot to
the Courthouse was running with grotesque desperation. A loud mumble
gradually crystallized into the dread word “dam”. “The dam has broke!”
the fear was put into words by nobody knows who. Abruptly, two thousand
people were in full flight; hundreds of them streamed by our house in wild
panic, screaming “Go east!” East away from the river, east to safety.
People ran out of the houses leaving fires burning and food cooking and
doors wide open. My mother took with her a dozen eggs and two loaves of
bread. It was her plan to seek refuge in the top of Memorial Hall, two blocks
away. But the seething throngs shouting “Go east!” drew her and the rest
of us along with her. Grandfather, turned upon the mob like a vengeful
prophet and exhorted the men to form ranks and roaring, “Go east!” in his
powerful voice, he caught up in one arm a small child and in the other a
slight clerkish man of perhaps forty-two and we slowly gained on those
ahead of us. Firemen, policemen and army officers in dress uniforms – added colour to the surging billows of people. “Go east!” cried a little in a
piping voice, as she ran past a porch on which drowsed a colonel of
infantry.
Trained to make quick decisions, the officers bounded off the porch and
running at full tilt, soon passed the child, bawling “Go east!” The two of
them rapidly emptied the houses of the street they were in. “What is it?”
“What is it?” demanded a fat waddling man who intercepted the colonel.
The officer dropped behind and asked the little child what it was. “The dam
has broke!” gasped the girl, “The dam has broke!” roared the colonel. “Go
east!” He was soon leading, with the exhausted child in his arms, a fleeing
company of three hundred persons.
I Answer the following. 2x4 =8
a. Why was the afternoon of 1913 frightful?
b. Describe the dram on High Street.
c. What did the people do in frenzy?
d. What had the narrator’s mother planned to do? Why could she not put it
into action?
II Complete the following.
The colonel of the infantry was trained to make a. ....
i. quick decisions ii. good food
iii. moulds iv. plans
A rumour of the dam having broken started at ... b.
i. the main canyon of trade ii. the appointed time
iii. when all were running iv. once
Everyone screamed to go... c.
i. quickly ii. to West Side
iii. east iv. immediately
Pick out a word from the passage that means ‘hopelessness’ d.
i. desperation ii. grotesque
iii. placid iv. trot
B. 1 I peeked at my watch It was exactly 12 midnight. I had missed the last bus
home and hence walked for almost an hour. Thank God! Home was just a
few kilometres away. Suddenly...Complete the story in any suitable way in
about 80-100 words.10
B. 2. People rarely understand the educational value of travelling. Based on the
information given above and using the ideas from the unit, Travel and
Tourism and your own ideas, write an article in about 120 words on the
topic.
B. 3 Read the following passage and fill in the blanks with suitable words. 3
1. Most of us fail in our efforts (a) _____________ improve ourselves because our
schemes are too ambitious and we never spend enough time
(b)_____________ carrying them out. We also make the fundamental error of
announcing our resolution to everybody so that we look even more foolish
when we slip back (c) _____________ our bad old ways. Aware of these
pitfalls, this year I attempted (d) _____________ keep my resolution to
myself. I limited myself to two modest ambitions, to do physical exercise
every morning and to read more (e) _____________ the evening. An
overnight party on New Year’s eve provided me with a good excuse (f)
_____________ not carrying out either of these new resolutions on the first
day of the year, but on the second, I applied myself assiduously to the task.
C. Rearrange the following to form meaningful sentences. 3
a. Is its/ remarkable feature / preciousness / the most / of time
b. opportunities / of golden / every moment / thousand / brings / with it
c. slip away / not allow / we must / time to / such precious
D. In the passage given below, a word has been omitted in each line. Write
the missing word along with the word that comes before and the word that
comes after ir in your answer sheet. Underline the word supplied by you.
Most people travel as part of their as a part
daily routine because it enjoyable a.
There are lots places to explore in b.
the world. Travelling worth every c.
penny you spend memories last forever d.
When travelling, one the opportunity e.
to meet different people from different f.
places. One the most important social g.
skills that we learn is how interact and h.
communicate with different people
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