Practice Exercise 1
Category : 10th Class
Passage - 1
One of the largest mangrove forests in the world and a unique tiger habitat, the Sunder bans in West Bengal is facing a serious threat to its ecosystem from poaching and felling of trees. The Sunder bans is situated at the mouth of the Bay of Bengal, in the Ganga-Brahmaputra delta, the largest in the world. Known for its biodiversity, the region has been identified as a World Heritage Site. Although forest officials deny that any felling of trees has been going on, the increase in the region's population has led to the exploitation of the Sunder bans. Most people in the region are poor and depend on the forest for livelihood and, more specifically, their firewood needs. The blame does not lie with the poor local residents alone. There is a major racket being run in the Sunder bans by timber merchants, who bribe forest officers and workers and get a freehand in collecting as much timber as they wish. The Sunder tree, a variety of mangrove from which the Sunder bans got its name, is fast vanishing from the region as it has become one of the prime targets of the timber merchants. Another problem threatening the mangrove ecology of Sunder bans, is the collection of tiger prawn seeds. The Sunder bans has a mono-crop agricultural pattern, which means that the people of the region have no other sources of income. Thus, burdened by poverty, over two lakh people have turned to collecting tiger prawn seeds, using nylon nets, which are dragged along the river banks. In the process, apart from destroying mangrove seedlings and eliminating the possibility of a regeneration of mangroves along the river banks, at least 74 species of fish are also destroyed. The increased exploitation of the forest is directly related to the decrease in the tiger population in the Sunder bans.
Read the passage carefully and tick the correct answers:
Which of the following sentence is not true about Sunder bans?
(a) It is one of the largest mangrove forests in the world
(b) It is situated at the mouth of the Bay of Bengal
(c) It got its name from the Sundari tree
(d) It was the largest delta in the world
(e) None of these
The people of the region of Sunder bans are poor. Their dependence on the forest is mainly for:
(a) Livelihood
(b) Firewood
(c) Sundari tree
(d) Mono-crop agriculture
(e) None of these
The racket relating to exploitation of trees in Sunder bans mainly rests with:
(a) People of the region
(b) Poor local residents
(c) Timber merchants
(d) Forest officers
(e) None of these
The system of mono-crop agriculture refers to:
(a) Only one source of income
(b) Collection of tiger prawn seeds
(c) Destroying mangrove seedlings
(d) Reducing regeneration of mangroves
(e) None of these
Passage - 2
All these years scientists and biometrics went on experimenting on animals paying little or no attention to the plight of the living things. Many scientists say that they have faced absolutely no problem in getting clearances for the number or kind of animals to be experimented upon. In eight institutes across the country, horses are used for manufacturing antidotes for snakebite. The horses are administered the venom and after a certain period the blood is extracted. The antibodies produced to counter the venom are then used to prepare the antidote. Excessive and random injection of venom without proper precautions had resulted in some horses losing their eyesight. Many even developed different kinds of skin infections. All these violate a host of rules accepted internationally. Another case which brings out the ignorance in the scientific establishment involves the anti-rabies vaccine made from sheep's brain. This requires infecting the sheep's brain with the rabies virus, much of which is done without giving anesthesia. The brain is then removed and with the help of the antibodies produced by the sheep, a vaccine is prepared. The World Health Organization banned this vaccine in 1980. The government was taken into account, and an institute in Kasauli was asked to change over to the tissue culture method. Today, India and Tunisia are the only two countries where neurogenic tissue vaccines continue to be produced. Recently, a researcher made a demand for about 120 monkeys. In the end, the researcher agreed to bring the demand down to 25. This means the project can actually be done with 25 monkeys. So why did they ask for more in the first place? Obviously, a proper estimate was never made out.
Read the passage, carefully and tick the correct answers:
From the passage, it appears that the animals used for experimenting of medicines are:
(a) Unnecessarily killed for no cause
(b) Sometimes needlessly the animals are injected upon who have to bear severe pain
(c) Proper estimation of animals for experiment was never done
(d) Animals are brutally injected who suffer serious diseased
(e) None of these
The World Health Organization has, in 1980, banned:
(a) Rabies vaccine
(b) Anti-rabies vaccine
(c) Medicine produced from sheep's brain
(d) None of these
India along with another country are the only two producers of:
(a) Neurogenic tissue vaccines
(b) Rabies vaccines
(c) Antibodies
(d) Venom
(e) None of these
Anti-rabies produced from the brain of sheep involes:
(a) Infecting the sheep's brain with anesthesia
(b) Removal of the brain of the sheep
(c) Producing of antibodies from the sheep
(d) Procuring of neurogenic tissue
(e) None of these
Passage - 3
The terror that the wolf struck into medieval man, can easily be imagined. Packs of ferocious wolves roamed around the woodlands and even the not, dusty plains of India. Hunting in groups, they were a problem for other wild animals, livestock herds and man himself in they became bold. By the end of the 16th century, wolves had been hunted to extinction in England, and within 200 years had been wiped out throughout the rest of the British Isles. But they were still moving freely in the rest of Europe, where fear of the wolf showed itself in stories, such as the tale of Little Red Riding Hood. During the 16th century, when the European colonies in North America were being settled, Henry VIII was on the English throne and Galileo was making his first astronomical studies, with his newly invented telescope. France was in the midst of a religious movement where the mere accusation of being a werewolf resulted in thousands of innocent people being hanged or burned along with other unfortunates charged with being witches and wizards. In one period of just over 100 years, between 1520 and 1630, there were 30,000 trials of werewolves in France. Most of those found guilty were quickly killed by their fearful fellow countrymen. Luckily, by the end of the 16 the century a growing sense of doubt about the strength of belief as well as a feeling of communal guilt, led to more mild treatment of 'werewolves'. After all, most of them were simply mentally disturbed peasants, suffering from lycanthropy, the belief that they could be transformed into werewolves.
Read the passage carefully and tick the correct answers:
The appropriate synonym of 'ferocious' is:
(a) Heinous
(b) Aggressive
(c) Strong
(d) Violent
(e) None of these
From the passage, it could not be ascertained that:
(a) Wolves were wiped out from England
(b) British Isles was made free from wolves
(c) Wolves posed serious threat to mend and animals
(d) None of these
The men who were found guilty in the trals in France were:
(a) Unnecessarily harassed and punished
(b) Quickly killed by the fearful fellow countrymen
(c) Killed by the law makers
(d) Hanged or burned on charges of being witches and wizards
(e) None of these
The more mild treatment of 'warewolves' developed with:
(a) Strength of belief and communal guilt
(b) Treatment of mentally disturbed peasants
(c) Suffering from Lycanthropy
(d) All of these
(e) None of these
| Passage - 1 | |||
| 1. D | 2. B | 3. C | 4. A |
| Passage - 2 | |||
| 1. C | 2. B | 3. A | 4. B |
| Passage - 3 | |||
| 1. D | 2. C | 3. B | 4. A |
Passage - 1
Passage - 2
Passage - 3
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