Sample Questions (Reading)

English Communicative, Class X

Summative Assessment

(Sample Questions) 

Section – A (Reading)

Q1. Read the following passage carefully 

Scientists at the Indian Institute of Science have successfully tested an alternative to syringes for drug delivery. The method, tested on mice, delivers medicine through tiny capsules when triggered by a micro-shock wave.

Developing methods for alternative delivery of drugs has gained importance considering the large number of infections that are spread through contaminated, non-sterilised syringes. “Each year, 1.3 million early deaths are caused by unsafe injections,” said Dipshikha Chakravortty, a biologist on the team of aerospace engineers and cell biologists who developed the model. Their research was published in the journal The Royal Society of Chemistry last month.

The researchers designed tiny biocapsules made of a polymer (spermidine-dextran sulfate or Sper–DS). The capsules are so small that 10 of the biggest ones could be placed in a length of one millimetre. The capsules are loaded with either insulin or the antibiotic ciprofloxacin. They are then placed on the infection site — for instance, external diabetic wounds — and are triggered by micro-shock waves produced by a handheld machine.

“The micro-shock waves we create last a millionth of a second, and affect a small area. They don’t affect living cells in the body,” said Jagadeesh Gopalan, Professor, Department of Aerospace Engineering, IISc.

The result, say the researchers, is that a controlled portion of the drug is released with every shock wave (on an average 20 per cent of the medicine is released with every wave). Almost 90 per cent of the drug release was observed when the particles were exposed to micro-shock waves five times. “It can be used where there is a need for frequent injections (diabetes, for instance). This method can help do away with invasive procedures,” Ms. Chakravortty said.

The shock waves have an added benefit, the researchers noted. Infections by bacteria such asStaphylococcus (cause of foot infections that people living with diabetes are susceptible to) are lethal as they form a biofilm around the protein in the cell. The shock waves tear this biofilm and aid the treatment, scientists said.

On the basis of your reading of the above passage, fill in the blanks with one word each:

1. The scientists at the Indian Institute of Science are developing a drug that can be used in place of ------.
2. A large number of diseases are caused by the syringes that are --------- and ----------.
3. The Royal Society of Chemistry is a well-known -------- that published the research carried out by the scientists.
4. The drug is in the form of a ------- that is very -------- in size.
5. The drug is supposed to be delivered to the -------through micro-shock waves.
6. The most common disease for which it would be very useful is ---------.
7. This method would be able to --------- the invasive procedures of injections to a large extent.

Q2. Read the following passage carefully

Crocodiles, just like humans, think surfing waves, playing ball and going on piggyback rides are fun, a new study suggests.

Vladimir Dinets, a research assistant professor in psychology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, has observed crocodiles engaging in play-like behaviour.

He has conducted an informal survey of crocodilian-themed groups on social media and various conferences. Previous research by Dinets discovered that crocodiles are able to climb trees, work as a team and use lures such as sticks to hunt prey.

The new research shows that crocodilians engage in all three main types of play distinguished by behaviour specialists: locomotor play, play with objects and social play.

Play with objects is reported most often. Crocodilians have been spotted playing with wooden balls, noisy ceramic bits, streams of water, their prey and debris floating in the water. Cases of locomotor play include young alligators repeatedly sliding down slopes, crocodiles surfing ocean waves and caimans riding currents of water in their pools.

Observed cases of social play include baby alligators riding on their older friends’ backs, baby caimans playfully “courting” each other and a male crocodile giving his lifetime mate rides on his back. Crocodiles have also been seen playing with other animals. Mr. Dinets observed a juvenile alligator playing with a river otter.

In rare cases, individual crocodilians have been known to bond so strongly with people that they become playmates for years. For example, a man who rescued a crocodile that had been shot in the head became close friends with the animal.

They happily played every day until the crocodile’s death 20 years later.

“The croc would swim with his human friend, try to startle him by suddenly pretending to attack him or by sneaking up on him from behind, and accept being caressed, hugged, rotated in the water and kissed on the snout,” said Mr. Dinets.

Mr. Dinets’ work provides further evidence that play is a universal feature of “intelligent” animals — those with complex, flexible behaviour. This knowledge might help determine how intelligence evolves and what is needed for its development.

2.1 On the basis of your reading of the above passage, fill in the blanks with one word each:

1. Crocodiles, just like humans, are --------- animals.
2. Professor Vladimir Dinets did not conduct a --------survey to observe the ---------of the crocodiles.
3. Young alligators sliding down slopes is a type of play known as ---------- play.
4. A male crocodile giving his life-time mate ride on his back is an example of --------- play.
5. The examples of crocodiles becoming the friends of human beings is -----------.
6. -------- is, thus, associated with complex and -------- behaviour of intelligent animals.

 2.2 For each of the following phrases find a word from the passage that means the same as the given phrase:

     a) things that attract (para 3)

     b) an animal/bird that is hunted (para 3)

     c) waste material (para 5)

     d) develops or changes gradually (para 10)

Q3. Read the following passage carefully

In the summer of 1945 when I was in a summer camp of the Students’ Congress on the bank of the river Ravi in Lahore, Jawaharlal Nehru came to the city after being released from jail. We all went to the railway station to receive him. I could not get anywhere close to him and was pushed to the edge of the large crowd gathered outside the railway station. A platform had been built and Nehru stood at the centre, trying to quieten the very large crowd while attempting to persuade it to allow some of the distinguished friends to join him on the central stage. I was a little amused at his belief that the dense crowd could be so persuaded. But pretty soon, I found that Nehru had disappeared in the middle of the crowd, and using his brief baton streaking a path through which he managed to get Dr. Khan Sahib (Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan) to walk through to the central stage! This impressive accomplishment was done through a magical persuasion of the crowd. I began to feel that he did have a special relation with people in numbers.

The same afternoon Jawaharlal, responding to our invitation, came to visit us in our study camp. We eagerly gathered in a small tent which was furnished with a table and a chair for him. He started chatting with us as he walked in and was escorted to the single chair and we all sat on the floor in front of him. Our secretary walked next to his chair and pulled out a large sheet of paper on which he had written the welcome address he had prepared. We were all eager to hear how he would address this supreme leader of India and share his desire of joining him in our struggle for Independence. He looked at him and declaimed in a vibrating voice making flattering references to him, and stopped, because he saw Nehru rising from his chair. Nehru ordered him to stop and said that he had not come here to listen to this nonsense. “Sit down and let us talk,” he said. The speed at which he dispensed with formalities struck us, as did his passion and seriousness. “We have a war of independence to fight.” I do not remember everything he said, but I do remember we were all ready to walk with him ...

I had once visited Shahdara in Delhi to listen to Nehru speak. I found the way to get to the lecture venue. It was pretty disorganised and very crowded. The bus service was almost non-existent. We waited a long time for Nehru to appear and after he finished speaking, we started trying to find a bus back to New Delhi, a rather difficult enterprise. As night descended, I was concerned for my mother waiting at home; she would worry that I would lose my way in the then riot-torn Delhi.

When I finally reached home at about 1.30 a.m., I learnt that my brother, Omi, decided that the only sensible way of finding out the time at which the function in Shahdara got over was to somehow get the time from the Prime Minister himself. The Prime Minister was available on call and gracious enough to respond personally and give assurance of help to the boy in case he needed it.

Omi remembered that there was a big public telephone booth near India Gate. He took out a chawani from his pocket and dialled the number of the Prime Minister. When it was answered by a “hello,” Omi immediately asked, “Is this Panditji’s home?” The answer was immediate, “Yes, brother, this is Jawaharlal speaking. Tell me what’s the matter.”

The Prime Minister understood my mother’s worries and appreciated Omi’s clever way of finding when his brother could be expected to return home. Omi was told to wait another half-hour and get back if I had still not returned ...

 (Yash Pal is former Chancellor, Jawaharlal Nehru University. The article is an edited excerpt from a speech he recently delivered at the 75th session of the Indian History Congress.)

On the basis of your reading of the passage fill in each blank with one word only:

1.    The writer could not get ……………… to Jawaharlal because he had been ……………. out by the crowd.
2.    The writer was impressed to see the way Jawaharlal was able to …………….. with the people.

3.    The way Jawaharlal ordered the secretary to stop speaking showed that he did not like ………………………….. under …………………….

4.    The person for whom he got down the stage outside Lahore railway station was ……………………………….

5.    The writer reached late after listening to Nehru at Shahdara mainly because of the …………………. transport service then in Delhi.

6.    One of the reasons due to which the writer’s family members were more worried was that Delhi was............then.

7.    When Omi called up the Prime Minister’s house, the phone was picked by ……………………..himself.

Q4. Read the following passage carefully:-

After receiving the Ashok Chakra (Class I) award in 1966 on behalf of her husband Chaman Lal, a fireman of a goods train, Aasha Rani, mother of a three-year-old daughter and a 40-day-old son, had expressed her desire to see her son don the Olive Green.

Chaman Lal was neither in the Army nor guarding the frontiers in face of a severe attack mounted by the enemy across the border during the 1965 Ubdi-Pak war. But he single-handedly tried to contain the losses. On September 13, 1965, a goods train at Gurdaspur station on the Amritsar-Pathankot section was subjected to heavy bombing by Pakistani planes. As a result, three wagons carrying diesel caught fire and one exploded. Sensing the impending disaster, Chaman Lal, fireman of the train, rushed to the spot and disconnected the wagons. He was, however, burnt to death.

Now, staying at her parental house in Gali Valtohian Wali near the Golden Temple in Amritsar, Asha Rani has only one regret – her two grandsons could not join the defence forces.

She was only 24 when she lost her husband. Hailing from Amritsar, she had married Chaman Lal of Habitpindi village in Pathankot district. They had been married for seven years when the tragedy struck. She was given a class IV job at the Railway Hospital, from where she took voluntary retirement in 2002 on health grounds. Her pleas for a job for her son yielded nothing.

The government had given Chaman Lal’s family Rs.7000 in 1965. A monthly pension of Rs 39, which has grown to Rs 7,000, was also given. The family also receives Rs 6,000 from the Ministry of Home Affairs as monthly allowance for the gallantry award. Another Rs 14, 000 monthly allowance is given by the Sainik Welfare Board. In 1998, the board also offered them Rs 1.25 lakh in lieu of a promised piece of land.

However, what the family most wants is to perpetuate his memory for posterity. Every year on September 13, they pay tributes at his memorial, set up by the railways at Gurdaspur railway station, and organize langar. What is disappointing is that no official is deputed to pay homage to the martyr despite invitation.

(Not a soldier, but just as brave, Neeraj Bagga, The Sunday Tribune, 8 Feb 2015)

On the basis of your reading of the passage fill in the blank with one word only:

a)    Chaman Lal was working as ___________ with the Railways at the time of his death.

b)    Asha Rani Wanted her son to join the ________________.

c)    By ____________ the wagons, Chaman Lal had been able to ________________ a serious loss to life and property.

d)    Asha Rani herself got a job, but not the _____________ for her son.

e)    She is from___________, while her husband hailed from a __________________ in Pathankot district.

f)     It is sad to note that his memorial ceremony is not attended by any ________________.