Skip to main content

6.Bio-Diversity

UNIT-6
Bio-Diversity

A. Reading:
Environment

Wangari Maathai started the Green Belt Movement and also fought for equal rights for women in Africa. She is the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. NHK Radio of Japan interviewed her. In this interview she shared many of her ideas about environment.

Basic needs of the rural areas can be fulfilled by protecting forests. Like African stool three legs are necessary for society namely peace, good governance and sustainable management of resources. We lost our local biographical diversity. So that’s a lot of damage to our environment. In the beginning restoration is difficult but people soon gained confidence and became competent foresters. We can see two transformations – one is of their landscape and another fight for their rights. She said plant a tree is her greatest activity.

Education News

Glossary
Green Belt Movement (n) : a movement to protect environment
Fodder (n) : food for farm animals
Forested (adj) : forested areas are covered in forests (place where trees are densely grown)
Pristine (adj) : extremely fresh or clean
Indigenous (adj) : native
Biological diversity (n) : the variety of plants and animals in a particular place
Exotic species (n) : unusual plants

Phrasal Verbs
Go about ( ph.r v) : tackle
Fight over (phr. v) : argue about something

B. Reading:
Or Will The Dreamer Wake?
(Poem)
Medora Chevalier warns the reader to awake an environmental destruction through this poem. Tiger growls in pain in the east about its cubs’ future. White bear snuffles on melting glaciers in the north. Bird thinks about its eggs in the west. Whale sings in doubt in the south. Poet’s grandchild asks "That was the moment! And did the dreamer wake?"

Through his grandchild, poet turns the poem in a different direction to give message.

Education News

Glossary
Plaintive (adj) : sounds sad
Snuffles (n) : to breathe noisily through your nose
Gleaming (adj) : to shine softly
Glaciers (n) : a large mass of ice which moves slowly down a mountain valley
Warbles (v) : to sing with a high continuous but quickly changing sound
Birth fills (n) : the process of giving birth to a baby
Solemn (adj) : very serious and not happy

C. Reading:
A Tale of Three Villages
It is a real story of three villages. These three villages are facing lot of health problems and facing death every time due to pollution. It is not by the villagers but from far away rich lands.

Koko village in Nigeria became a dump yard of chemicals by the Italian government. Trucks of dangerous chemical drums were dumped there.

Ponnimanthuri is a village in India. A leather factory in that village is releasing many lethal chemicals, metals like cadmium, arsenic and chromium. The village was affected with ulcer and sores.

Vorobyov is a village in Ukarine (Former USSR). It was affected with explosion from Chernobyl. A big explosion heard on 26th April 1986. The radioactive dust killed many people. The village became barren.

Education News

Glossary
Out stretched (v) : stretched out to full length
Trailed off (phr. Verb) : it (voice) becomes gradually quieter and then stops
Apron (n) : piece of clothing that covers the front part of your clothes and is tied around your waist.
Radioactive dust (n) : the dust that comes out of radioactive reaction

Phrasal Verbs
Trailed off ( phr v) : became gradually quieter and stopped
Broke down (phr v) : lost control of feelings and started crying

SYNONYMS
Profound : deep, fathomless

ANTONYMS
Exotic x indigenous
Ominous x auspicious
Barren x fertile

 

 

Summative Assessment Paper-1 13E

 

 

 

Time: 2 Hours 45 Minutes Marks: 40

 

Section – A:

Reading Comprehension
(Questions 1-7): Read the following Interview
NHK Radio: What transformations did you see?
W M: One of the bigger transformations that I saw was that ability of an ordinary, illiterate woman to get to understand and to be able to plant trees that in five or ten years became big trees and she was able to cut them and be able to give herself energy; to be able to sell those trees and give herself an income; to be able to feel confident that she had done something for herself. That sense of pride, sense of dignity that they are not begging, that they are doing things for themselves was very empowering. That transformation was very powerful.

The other is the transformation of the landscape. Places where there was dust, there are no more dust. There are trees, even birds and rabbits. They come back and they make the environment very beautiful. There is a shade and sometimes even dry springs come back because the water is not running, the water is going into the ground. Very profound transformation.

And the other transformation that I saw was the willingness of the people to fight for their rights; to decide that they have a right to a good clean environment; to decide that they will fight for their forests, they will protect their forests, and they will not allow corrupt leaders to take their public land.

Now, answer the following questions. Each question has four choices. Choose the correct answer and write (A), (B), (C) or (D) in your answer booklet. (4x1=4 marks)

  1. What is the meaning of the word "transformation" in this passage?
    A. transport from one place to another
    B. change
    C. modification of the forest
    D. plating trees
  2. "That transformation was very powerful" What is ‘that transformation’?
    A. dignity
    B. confidence
    C. pride
    D. empowerment
  3. She said ‘the water is going into the ground’. That means before the movement it must be running to somewhere. Where did it go?
    A. Water went into sea
    B. Water dried up
    C. water went into reservoir
    D. No water at all
  4. Who made the environment very beautiful?
    A. dust
    B. dry springs
    C. shade
    D. birds and rabbits

    Answer the following questions in two or three sentences. (3x2=6 marks)
  5. She saw the ability of an ordinary illiterate woman in the transformation. What was that?
  6. Write the transformations that Wangari Maathai was able to bring about over the years.
  7. Maathai transformed Africa. Is it possible anywhere in the world? How?

    (Questions 8-12): Read the following poem "Or will the Dreamer Wake". Or will the Dreamer Wake?

    Out in the East the jungle listens
    The tigress, plaintive, growls in pain,
    The great trees hear her breathing, shaking
    Inside her still, the new lives wait,
    These cubs could be the last ones ever
    To freely live and roam and mate.
    Our grandchild knows the tiger never
    Or will the dreamer wake?
    Far in the North the white bear snuffles
    Down in her lair the gleaming snow
    She waits for all the life she's making
    Outside the crashing glaciers grow.
    These cubs could be the last cubs ever
    To freely live and roam and mate.
    Our grandchild knows the white bear never
    Or will the dreamer wake?
    There in the West the song thrush warbles
    She weaves her nest to hold her clutch
    A long wait now to find a partner
    The eggs are laid, there are not much.
    These chicks could be the last ones ever
    The last to fly and sing and mate.
    Our grandchild knows the song thrush never
    Or will the dreamer wake?
    - Medora Chevalier

    Now, answer the following questions. Each question has four choices. Choose the correct answer and write (A), (B), (C) or (D) in your answer booklet. (3x1=3 marks)
  8. Why does the thrush weave her nest?
    A. to lay eggs in it
    B. to find a partner
    C. to fly
    D. to sing
  9. The tiger growls in pain because ………………..
    A. it has no cubs
    B. her cubs died
    C. it was wounded
    D. afraid of its race’s future
  10. The grand child in this poem symbolizes ……………………
    A. destructor
    B. creator
    C. future generation
    D. representing human kind

    Write answers for the given questions in one or two sentences (2x1=2 marks)
  11. What do you think the poem is about?
  12. Who is the dreamer here? Will he awake?
     

    Section – B:


    Vocabulary & Grammar
    (Questions 13-17): Read the passage given below. Five sentences in the passage are numbered (13-17) at the beginning. Each of these sentences has an error. Correct and rewrite them in the answer booklet. (5x1=5 marks)

    Mr. Sunday Nana stopped, frowning, a troubled look on his face, (13) "In the last five years, 13 people have die in this village, my own elder brother one of them. They have been in pain, terrible pain. (14) We have never seen deaths like that after. Lots of our children are sick. (15) We have asked the Government to take the drums away, but they do everything. We have written to Italy, but they do nothing. The Chief says we should move our houses to another place. (16) But we have no money to buy land. We have no choice. We have to stay here. (17) "And they"….pointing to the mountain off death in the clearing –"are our neighbours."

    Questions 18-22): Complete the passage choosing the right word from those given below it. Each blank is numbered and for each blank has four choices (A), (B), (C) or (D) given. Choose the correct answer from these choices and write (A), (B), (C) or (D) in your answer booklet. (5x1=5 marks)

    "It happened …………….. (18) April the 26th 1986. I remember the date because it was my mother’s birthday. We heard the explosion early in the morning. We didn’t worry, because there had been ………………. (19) before from Chernobyl. But this one was bigger. Everyone stopped what they were doing and listened. Then we ran out ………….. (20) the garden. We could see a cloud of white smoke ………………. (21) from the nuclear reactor." Natasha Revenko wiped her hands nervously on her apron. Tears came to the corners of her eyes, and slid …………… (22) down her pinched, pale cheeks.
     
  13. A. on
    B. in
    C. at
    D. from
  14. A. expressions
    B. explosions
    C. noise
    D. exploitation
  15. A. above
    B. upon
    C. into
    D. for
  16. A. come
    B. came
    C. did come
    D. coming
  17. A. slow
    B. slowly
    C. slowed
    D. slowing
     

    Section C:

    Creative Writing
    (Discourses)

    Education News
    Kailash Satyarthi (born 11 January 1954) is an Indian children's rights advocate and an activist against child labour. He founded the Bachpan Bachao Andolan (lit. Save the Childhood Movement) in 1980 and has acted to protect the rights of more than 83,000 children from 144 countries. It is largely because of Satyarthi's work and activism that the International Labour Organization adopted Convention No. 182 on the worst forms of child labour, which is now a principal guideline for governments around the world. His work is recognized through various national and international honours and awards including the Nobel Peace Prize of 2014, which he shared with Malala Yousafzai, a female education activist from Pakistan.

    (Question 23): Write an imaginary interview with Kailash Satyarthi.

    Or
    Write a play on child labour (10 marks)

    (Question 24): Prepare a notice on pollution

     

Paper –I
Answers
Section-A:

  1. B
  2. D
  3. A
  4. D
  5. The transformation is to get to understand and to be able to plant trees. They were able to cut and sell for their income. They felt confident and sense of pride. They were doing things for themselves.
  6. Enable the illiterate people get to understand and able to plant trees.
    1. Transformation of the landscape
    2. The willingness of the people to fight for their rights.
  7. Not only in Africa it is possible anywhere in the world because situations are same all over the world. Our will changes the ‘deforestation’ into ‘afforestation’. Even in India Sundarlal Bahuguna and many people tried it.
  8. A
  9. A
  10. C
  11. The nature is being destroyed. All the creatures on the land are afraid of their future generations’ existence.
  12. Human being is the dreamer here. He has to awake. Otherwise his existence falls in danger.
     

    Section-B

  13. People have die in this village - people have died in this village
  14. Deaths like that after - deaths like that before
  15. But they do everything - but they do nothing
  16. We has no money to buy - we have no money to buy
  17. The mountain off death - the mountain of death
  18. A
  19. B
  20. C
  21. D
  22. B
     

    Section-C

  23. Interview
    Student: Congratulations sir. Whole India is proud of you.
    Kailash Sathyarthi: Thank you very much.
    Student: How do you feel after being honoured?
    K.S. : It is a great recognition and honour for millions of children in the world. I hope many more people will join the fight against child slavery. This isn't just about India. It's a global phenomenon. We'll work for this globally. I've been working in 140 countries and my responsibility is with all the world's children.

    Student: Tell me about your childhood and Education.

    K.S. : I was born on 11 January 1954 in Vidisha (Madhyapradesh). I studied Electrical Engineering. My parents looked after me very much. They took care of everything. My mother and father.

    Student: Did you start your work after study?
    K.S.: No. It is already started when I was a student. I saw inequalities. I asked my class mates to donate text books and money to the underprivileged. After my engineering I started my engineering profession. But it did not give much satisfaction. So I gave up. I started working on child labour.

    Student: Did your parents accepted to that?
    K.S. : My mother saw me being attacked. She cried when I left engineering for this cause. She understood my fight, encouraged me. I remember all those who were with me in this struggle, including two colleagues who were killed. Whenever I free children from slavery and take them back to their mothers, the tears of happiness in their eyes are like blessings of God. When I see the faces of liberated children, I find their smile of freedom divine and it gives me divine strength. I never feel I'm liberating them, rather it feels like they're giving me freedom.

    Student: Tell me about your organisation, BBA.

    K.S. : I started a journal, "The Struggle Shall Continue" in 1980 in order to create awareness. I gathered likeminded people. We formed Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA) and started raids on factories to liberate bonded child labourers. The success of BBA led to the creation of the South Asian Coalition on Child Servitude (SACCS) in 1989. It liberated thousands of bonded labourers.

    Student: You received many awards also for your work.

    K.S. : I am working in 144 countries. So I received awards from many nations. Kennedy Human Rights Award (1995), Freedom Award (US-2006) and Nobel Peace Prize 2014 are very few among them.

    Student: What is your message to the civil society?
    K.S.: Consumers can boycott goods and services that involve children in manufacturing products. Don't accept hospitality from eateries and from shops employing children. Have the courage to tell them that you refuse to take their services because they employ children, which is a crime. This will put psychological pressure on the industries too. Demand a guarantee from shops you visit that they don't employ children. Use social media to prevent exploitation.
    Student: Thank you very much for giving an opportunity to talk to you sir. I wish you all success in the future.
     

    Child Labour

    Gentle man: What’s your age?
    Girl: Twelve
    GM: Then you can’t work here. Meaning, you cannot wash the cars here from today. (saying this he waved the notice on the girl)
    GM: do you have any problems?
    Girl: I don’t have any but the Government has. Sir, it’s difficult at home. Dad committed suicide, mom washes clothes for others, two sisters at home, I am studying and by washing 10 cars, I get some money that is too critical for us…
    (GM had no answers.)
    GM: I understand your problem son….
    Girl: No! (She interrupted) You won’t understand my problem. I want to study, for that I am ready to work. But you force me to become a beggar. You are forcing me to beg. If your kids sing or dance in TV, they get money, fame and are appreciated in papers. They are not imprisoned. But if I wanted to work, I am imprisoned. How can you explain me this?
    GM: My dear girl. You should look other ways. Government is giving free education with Midday meal. Go to a Government school. They will give you two pairs of uniform. Ask your mom to join Dwacra group. They will help her. Join your younger sister in anganwadi. They will provide food and education. Utilise the opportunities.
    Girl: Sir thank you for your suggestion. But we need shelter, food and clothes. For that we have to work. My mother earnings are not enough.
    GM: OK I accept. I will give you monthly Rs. 500/- as charity. Take it.
    Girl: I am not beggar. Thank you for your kindness. Bye.
     
  24. Notice ZILLA PARISHAD HIGH SCHOOL – NEMTOOR
    Medak Dist, Telangana State
    Notice

    All the students and teachers are hereby informed to follow certain principles regarding pollution. We know pollution is increasing day by day in all parts of the nature. Today on wards each one has to do some kind of anti pollution activity on every Saturday. Every Saturday we have to celebrate Pollution awareness day in our school.
     

    Sd./-

    Date: 01-04-2015.

    Chairman
    Clean and Green Committee ZPHS Nemtoor

 

Summative Assessment Paper-II 14E

 

Time: 2 Hours 45 Minutes Marks: 40

Section – A:

Reading Comprehension
(Questions 1-7): Read the following passage.
"How can you buy or sell the sky, the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us. If we don’t own the freshness of air and the sparkle of water, how can you buy them from us?

Every part of the Earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every clear and humming insect are holy in the memory and experience of my people. The sap which courses through the trees carries the memory and experience of my people. The sap, which courses through the trees, carries the memories of the red man.

We are a part of the Earth and it is a part of us. The perfumed flowers are our sisters, the deer, the horse, the great eagle, these are our brothers. The rocky crests, the juices in the meadows, the body heat of the pony, and the man, all belong to the same family. So, when the Great Chief in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land, he asks much of us. The Great White Chief sends word, that he will reserve us a place so that we can live comfortably to ourselves. He will be our father and we will be his children. So we will consider your offer to buy land. But it will not be easy. For this land is sacred to us.

This shining water that moves in streams and rivers is not just water but the blood of our ancestors. If we sell you land, you must remember that it is sacred blood of our ancestors. If we sell you land, you must remember that it is sacred, and you must teach your children that it is sacred and that each ghostly reflection in the clear water of the lakes tells of events in the life of my people. The water’s murmur is the voice of my father’s father.

The rivers of our brothers quench our thirst. The rivers carry our canoes and feed our children. If we sell you our land, you must remember to teach your children that the rivers are our brothers, and yours, and you must henceforth give the rivers the kindness that you would give my brother.

Now, answer the following questions. Each question has four choices. Choose the correct answer and write (A), (B), (C) or (D) in your answer booklet. (4x1=4 marks)

 

  1. What type of text is the passage?
    A. narration
    B. biography
    C. essay
    D. speech
  2. According to the passage water in streams and rivers is ………….
    A. voice of fathers
    B. life of people
    C. the blood of ancestors
    D. brothers
  3. "The memories of the red man". Here ‘red man’ means ……….
    A. red coloured people
    B. red Indians
    C. people live in red lands
    D. people of communist countries
  4. "We are a part of the Earth and it is a part of us." This expression means …
    A. people belong to earth
    B. earth belongs to people
    C. they are mutually connected
    D. earth is everything

    Answer the following questions in two or three sentences. (3x2=6 marks)
  5. Passage tells us ‘earth is sacred to them.’ Why it is sacred?
  6. Who are treated as brothers and sisters?
  7. Is man the sole owner of the Earth?

    (Questions 8-12): Read the following passage.
    He stood on the grass verge by the side of the road and looked over the garden wall at the old house. It hadn’t changed much. The old house built with solid blocks of granite wasn’t altered at all. But there was a new outhouse, and there were fewer trees. He was glad to see that the jackfruit tree still stood at the side of the building casting its shade on the wall. He remembered his grandmother saying: ‘A blessing rests on the house where the shadow of a tree falls.’ And so the present owners must also be receiving the tree’s blessings. At the spot where he stood there had once been a turnstile, and as a boy he would swing on it, going round and round until he was quite dizzy. Now the turnstile had gone, the opening walled up. Tall hollyhocks grew on the other side of the wall.

    ‘What are you looking at?’
    It was a disembodied voice at first. Moments later a girl stood framed between dark red hollyhocks staring at the man. She was only twelve or thirteen, slim and dark, with lively eyes and long black hair.

    Now, answer the following questions. Each question has four choices. Choose the correct answer and write (A), (B), (C) or (D) in your answer booklet. (3x1=3 marks)
     
  8. What was he looking at?
    A. old house
    B. garden wall
    C. the grass
    D. granite blocks
  9. Why was he looking at the house?
    A. to buy that
    B. to sell that
    C. just wanted to see
    D. it is the only beautiful house there
  10. What changes he observed there?
    A. new outhouse
    B. fewer trees
    C. no turnstile
    D. all of the above

    Write answers for the given questions in one or two sentences (2x1=2 marks)
     
  11. Why was he glad?
  12. According to you, who is the writer? Why he came to the house?
     

    Section-B:

    Vocabulary and Grammar
    (Questions 13-17): Read the following passage given below focusing on the underlined parts and answer the questions given at the end as directed. (5x1=5 marks)

    The pathetic plight were (13) that the people of the villages hurried to the safer places for their lives leaving everything they had – houses, properties, lands and cattle. Heart-rending (14) sights welcomed them when they were back home after the flood catastrophe. Poor cattle – cows and calves, buffaloes and bullocks and other domestic animals, unaware of what was to come, had to die as they were fastened (15) in their sheds. The grief-struck people stood aghast at them (16) paddy fields, which were about to be reaped, engulfed by the massive floods. The government officials and voluntary (17) organizations that arrived at the spot witnessed the badly damaged roads, railways and collapsed bridges.
     
  13. Choose an appropriate verb form from the given options.
    A. is
    B. was
    C. are
    D. be
  14. What is the appropriate meaning of the word "heart-rending"?
    A. agonizing
    B. heart attack
    C. causing death
    D. leaving village
  15. Choose an appropriate synonym from the given options.
    A. pasted
    B. died
    C. tied
    D. left
  16. Choose the correct form from the given options.
    A. they
    B. there
    C. those
    D. their
  17. Choose an appropriate antonym from the given options.
    A. compulsory
    B. many
    C. private
    D. non-profit

    (Questions 18-22): Complete the passage choosing the right word from those given below it. Each blank is numbered and for each blank has four choices (A), (B), (C) or (D) given. Choose the correct answer from these choices and write (A), (B), (C) or (D) in your answer booklet. (5x1=5 marks)

    Amateur Radio Operators …………… (18) to qualify in an examination conducted by Ministry of Communications, Government of India and obtain license for operating / possessing a Radio Station. ………… (19) individual above the age of 12 …………… (20) permitted to appear for Amateur Station Operator License Examination and No Educational qualification is prescribed. It takes just two months (say two hours a day training) to ……………… (21) eligible for the examination. One should qualify a simple test …………………….. (22) in three subjects.
     
  18. A. has
    B. have
    C. had
    D. having
  19. A. any
    B. no
    C. every
    D. some
  20. A. are
    B. were
    C. is
    D. was
  21. A. become
    B. can
    C. have
    D. may
  22. A. will conduct
    B. conduct
    C. conducting
    D. conducted
     

    Section C:

    Creative Writing (Discourses)
     
  23. Kailash Satyarthi
    Education News Born11 January 1954 (age 60) Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh, India
    NationalityIndian
    EducationElectrical engineering
    Alma materSamrat Ashok Technological Institute, Vidisha
    OccupationActivist
    Known forActivism for children's rights and children's education
    ReligionHinduism
    AwardsThe Aachener International Peace Prize, Germany (1994) Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award (1995) Alfonso Comin International Award (2008)
    Medal of the Italian Senate (2007) Defenders of Democracy Award (2009) Nobel Peace Prize (2014)
    (Question 23): Depend on the given profile write biography of ‘Kailash Sathyarthi’.
    Or
    Write an essay on ‘Environmental Pollution. (10 marks)


    (Question 24):
    Education News

    Malala Yousafzai (born July 12, 1997) is a Pakistani student and education activist. She is known for her activism for girls' and women's rights, especially for being allowed to go to school. Yousafzai is originally from the town of Mingora in the Swat District. She was a victim of a gunshot attack in October 2012. Yousafzai is the youngest person to have won the Nobel Peace Prize. She won the prize in October 2014. She was 17.

    In 2009, at age 11, many people got to know her through a weblog of the BBC News' Urdu language service. The BBC published translated writings about her life under Taliban rule. On 9 October 2012, Yousafzai was shot in the head and neck in an assassination attempt by Atta Ullah Khan, a Taliban gunman. She was given emergency treatment in Pakistan and then moved to England for more medical treatment. She had titanium plate put over hole in skull and cochlear implant to restore her hearing.

    In May 2012 David Trumble, an award-winning artist, made a cartoon of Yousafzai as a Disney princess as part of a drawing of other feminist icons that he had made into princesses that was in the Huffington Post.

    On 12 July 2013, at age 16, she made a speech at headquarters of the United Nations, stressing the right to education for all and for human rights and peace and non-violence against terrorism and intolerance citing the proverb: "the pen is mightier than the sword".

    She was nominated for the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize. She has won a lot of prizes. She is the 2013 recipient of the Sakharov Prize. She was one of the winners of Glamour magazine's Women of the Year. Lady Gaga, who was also a winner and was on the month's cover, said that Yousafazi should have been on November's cover of Glamour instead of her.

    On October she met President Obama, Michelle Obama, and their daughter Malia in the Oval Office.

    The Taliban have said that they still want to assassinate Yousafzai.

    In October 2013 a book about her life I am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban was published, with her help. The book was banned in Pakistani private schools.

    On 27 November 2013 Yousafazi was given the GG2 Hammer Award at the GG2 (Garavi Gujarat2) Leadership Awards 2013. Yousafazi was chosen by TIME magazine as a candidate for 2013's Person of the Year. She was nominated for the World's Children's Prize for the Rights of the Child in 2014. In 2014 Yousafazi has won Nobel Peace Prize and will be given a Doctor of Civil Law degree by the University of King's College.

    Depend on the write up prepare a profile of Malala (5 marks)

 

 

Paper –II
Answers

Section-A:

 

  1. D
  2. C
  3. B
  4. C
  5. Earth is sacred because:
    1. The shining water that moves in streams and rivers is not just water but the blood of their ancestors.
    2. Each ghostly reflection in the clear water of the lakes tells of events in the life of their people.
    3. They listen to the voice of their ancestors in the water’s murmur.
  6. The perfumed flowers are treated as sisters. The deer, the horse and the great eagle are treated as brothers.
  7. No. man is not the sole owner of the Earth because man is a part of the Earth. He cannot rally own earth. The Earth owns man as its part. Living and non-living things on Earth are connected like family.
  8. A
  9. C
  10. D
  11. He was glad to see the jackfruit tree still stood at the side of the building casting its shade on the wall.
  12. He may be the former owner’s son of the old house. To trace his memories he came there to see the house.

    Section-B
  13. B
  14. A
  15. C
  16. D
  17. A
  18. B
  19. A
  20. C
  21. A
  22. D

    Section-C

  23. Kailash Satyarthi - Biography
    Kailash Satyarthi is a renowned Indian child rights activist. He has been honored with several awards for his relentless humanitarian work, including the Nobel Peace Prize for 2014 which he shares with the Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzay.

    He was born on 11 January 1953 in Vidisha, a small town in Madhya Pradesh, a state in India. He noticed that some children did not go to school like me and instead worked under harsh conditions to earn money. Disturbed by the inequalities he witnessed, he decided to do something about it. He asked his classmates to donate textbooks and money to the underprivileged so that the poor kids too got a chance to study. He studied electrical engineering in a Bhopal college and went on to earn a post-graduate diploma in high-voltage engineering.

    After his graduation he began working as an engineer. A lucrative career lay ahead of him but the young man’s heart was not in an engineering job. He wanted to help people, especially the poor children who worked as bonded laborers and thus he quit his job. He started a journal called ‘The Struggle Shall Continue’ in 1980 in order to create awareness about the problem of child labor. When he learned of a factory in which children were forcibly kept and made to work, he decided it was time to take action.

    He joined hands with a group of like-minded people and conducted raids on factories from where he rescued several children and their parents who were held as bonded laborers. This was a dangerous idea and he often got beaten up. He formed the Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA), a movement dedicated towards eradication of human trafficking and bonded child labor.

    BBA was the first organization of its kind in India which worked to enlighten the society about the rampant evil of child labor and highlighted the importance of rescuing these children and providing them the chance to live a normal and healthy life. The success of the BBA led to the creation of the South Asian Coalition on Child Servitude (SACCS) in 1989. SACCS has till date liberated several thousands of child laborers working in different industries.

    He has served as a member of the UNESCO’s Education for All and has addressed the U.N.’s General Assembly, International Labor Conference, and U.N. Human Rights Commission.

    He received many Awards. 2009: Defenders of Democracy Award (US), 2008: Alfonso Comin International Award (Spain), 2006: Freedom Award (US), 1995: Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, 1985: The Trumpeter Award (US), 1984: The Aachener International Peace Award (Germany) are a few among them.

    Essay
    Environmental Pollution
    Environment means all the natural things that surround us. These include animals, trees, mountains, the earth’s atmosphere apart from air and water. Man needs these natural things to survive. These are valuable gifts of nature and all mankind must learn to preserve these.

    The earth is rich with natural resources and it is the duty of mankind to exploit them to a desired extent. Man has been making the mistake of exterminating these natural resources and thereby creating an imbalance in the environment. Man has perhaps never thought of or visualised earlier that such a hostile attitude towards nature will one day endanger it to the point of extinction.

    The environment has been polluted with vast expanded industries particularly chemical industries. Although these industries have served mankind to a great deal, they also have polluted the atmosphere, resulting dramatic decrease of oxygen content in air. People living close to such industries have developed health problems related to the respiratory system.

    The felling of trees has also reduced the oxygen level in the atmosphere. Although the government has passed laws for the protection of the forests, it is often observed that these laws are not implemented efficiently. Man has also intruded into the peaceful environment of the animal kingdom. There are many species of animals that have almost become extinct. The tiger is one such example of an animal who is now protected by the government. Hunting of wildlife is punishable by law and this has helped considerably in checking the disappearance of the tiger.

    The smoke and soot from vehicles on the road are another great menace. These have damaged the environment to such an extent that people are seen driving their vehicles with masks to protect them from breathing the heavily polluted air.

    With the passage of time, mankind is realising that it is essential to preserve the gifts of nature. Our rivers, our mountains, trees, air, land, sea, etc are our treasures and we have to realize the need to protect these at any cost.
     
  24. Malala Profile
     

    Name

    Malala Yousafzai

    Born

    12 July 1997, Mingora, North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan

    Residence

    Birmingham, England

    Nationality

    Pakistani

    Ethnicity

    Pashtun

    Occupation

    Blogger and activist for rights to education and for women

    Known for

    Female education activism

    Religion

    Islam

    Parents

    · Toorpekai Yousafzai (mother), Ziauddin Yousafzai (father)

    Awards

    · Nobel Peace Prize -2014
    · Sakharov Prize
    · Simone de Beauvoir Prize
    · Honorary Canadian citizenship
    · National Youth Peace Prize

 

Published date : 28 Oct 2023 03:44PM

Photo Stories