Advertisements
Advertisements
Question
What, according to Ruskin, are the limitations of the good book of the hour?
Advertisements
Solution
According to Ruskin, the limitations of the good book of the hour are that these are not true books but merely letters or newspapers in good print. The good books of the hour are simply some useful or pleasant talk of some person whom one cannot otherwise converse with. These good books are written merely for the purpose of communication to a wider audience. According to the essayist, these good books are rather books of talk which are printed only because their authors cannot speak to thousands of people at once. These are mere conveyance of voice through printed words.
APPEARS IN
RELATED QUESTIONS
A1. Order
Arrange the following sentences in the chronological order as they appear in the passage:
(i) On celebrations, parents can invest Rs. 200 and plant a sapling of a tree representing the child’s birth star.
(ii) He wants to create Brihat Panchvati.
(iii) He has been able to increase the areas of the Pavitra VanaVana.
(iv) Plans are afoot to create a Saptaswara forest.
Today, Reddy is one of the most well - known environment specialists in India. With his influence, he has been able to increase the areas of the Pavitra Vana and has plans to bring about awareness of Puranic trees and flowers for the knowledge of the Indian citizen.
He wants to create near the Pavitra Vana, a Brihat Panchavati so that parents can show their children the forest where Shakuntala lived or Sita spent her final days. There will also be a hillock where people can meditate. Plans are also afoot create a Saptaswara forest, pertaining to different ragas in music. Scientists have found that certain plants react in a particular way to different ragas. So in such a forest, when a musician performs certain ragas, the plants will reach in such a manner that it will benefit the audience, the musician and the whole environment. The other idea is an ecopark for children. On celebrations, like birthdays, parents can invest Rs. 200 and plant a sapling of a tree representing the child's birth star. The plant will also carry the child's name. The Pavitra Vana also houses a garden of Prophet Mohammed, which has some plants mentioned in the Holy Quran. There is the date plant - sacred to Islam - and the Mimosops elengi, the latter a highly fragrant variety. There is also the garden of Eden for housing plants sacred to Christianity, but the Pavitra Vana authorities have to procure most of them in the new sections.
A2. Find specialities
Write down the specialities of the following:
(i) Brihat Panchavati: ........................ ..... . .
(ii) Saptaswara Forest: ..................... ..... .............. . .
(iii) Eco-park: ..................................... . .
(iv) A garden of Prophet Mohammed:
A3. Antonyms Find antonyms for the following words from the passage:
(i) same
(ii) decrease
(iii) destroy
(iv) lost
A4. Language study
(i) He wants to create near the Pavitra Vana, a Brihat Panchavati. [Pick out an infinitive from the given line and use it in your own sentence]
(ii) Reddy is one of the most well-known environment specialists in India. [Begin with: Very few ………]
A5. Personal Response
Do you think one person alone can create an awareness towards environment conservation ? Support, your answer with appropriate reasons.
Who was Selden? Why was he on the moor?
Read the passage given below :
(ii) he added a lot of grandeur to Mewar.
(iii) of his valour, sacrifice and patriotism.
(iv) both (ii) and (iii)
(b) Difficulties in the way of Mewar were :
(ii) ancient traditions of the kingdom.
(iii) its small area and small population.
(iv) the poverty of the subjects.
(ii) the flag of Mewar was hoisted high.
(iii) the people of Mewar showed gallantry.
(iv) most of the rulers heaved a sigh of relief.
(d) Mewar was lucky because :
(ii) most of its people were competent.
(iii) most of its rulers were competent.
(iv) only a few of its people were incompetent.
Answer the following questions briefly:
(h) How could art and literature flourish in Mewar?
(i) How did the rulers show that they cared for their subjects?
(j) What does the erection of Vijaya Stambha and Kirti Stambha in the same fort signify?
(k) Find words from the passage which mean the same as each of the following:
(ii) evidence (para 4)
Attempt a character sketch of Mrs. Hall.
Read the following passage and do the given activities:
B.1) Comparison
Write the comparison between the parts of the modular phone and the human body:
| Modular Phone | Parts of Human Body |
Every phone you buy, no matter how costly and latest it is, will go out of date in a year or so. That’s how quickly the smartphone world is moving right now. To keep yourself up to date with the current specification you will have to keep switching phones every once a while. What’s the solution to this problem?
MODULAR PHONES!
A modular device is a phone, tablet or another device where individual components such as the screen, camera, CPU, battery, memory can be removed by the user and replaced by others with a different specification. Imagine your body to be your phone and your clothes as the components, you can wear anything according to your needs and moods. Similarly, modular phones let you choose between components of different properties and specifications.
This would mean we’ll have the liberty to customize our phones, just like Lego building blocks! The main components of the phone will be Brain (processor), Spine (frame, screen) and Heart (battery). The other components may include a camera, storage memory, GPS, audio jack, speakers, USB module, etc. and the phone will have a motherboard, i.e. a base that will hold all components together
B.2) Give examples:
Write two examples that give the liberty to customize our phone.
• ____________________
• ____________________
B.3) Framing sentence:
Use the given phrases in sentences of your own:
(i) up to date
(ii) once a while
B.4) Write as instructed:
Rewrite the sentence as interrogative:
(i) We’ll have the liberty to customize our phones.
(ii) We will have the liberty to customize our phones. (Rewrite using the present participle form of the underlined word)
B.5) Personal Response
If given a chance to design a modular phone, what new features would you add?
Read the text below and summarise it.
The Great Desert Where Hippos Once Wallowed
The Sahara sets a standard for dry land. It’s the world’s largest desert. Relative humidity can drop into the low single digits. There are places where it rains only about once a century. There are people who reach the end of their lives without ever seeing water come from the sky.
Yet beneath the Sahara are vast aquifers of fresh water, enough liquid to fill a small sea. It is fossil water, a treasure laid down in prehistoric times, some of it possibly a million years old. Just 6,000 years ago, the Sahara was a much different place.
It was green. Prehistoric rock art in the Sahara shows something surprising: hippopotamuses, which need year-round water.
“We don’t have much evidence of a tropical paradise out there, but we had something perfectly liveable,” says Jennifer Smith, a geologist at Washington University in St Louis.
The green Sahara was the product of the migration of the paleo-monsoon. In the same way that ice ages come and go, so too do monsoons migrate north and south. The dynamics of earth’s motion are responsible. The tilt of the earth’s axis varies in a regular cycle — sometimes the planet is more tilted towards the sun, sometimes less so. The axis also wobbles like a spinning top. The date of the earth’s perihelion — its closest approach to the sun — varies in cycle as well.
At times when the Northern Hemisphere tilts sharply towards the sun and the planet makes its closest approach, the increased blast of sunlight during the north’s summer months can cause the African monsoon (which currently occurs between the Equator and roughly 17°N latitude) to shift to the north as it did 10,000 years ago, inundating North Africa.
Around 5,000 years ago the monsoon shifted dramatically southward again. The prehistoric inhabitants of the Sahara discovered that their relatively green surroundings were undergoing something worse than a drought (and perhaps they migrated towards the Nile Valley, where Egyptian culture began to flourish at around the same time).
“We’re learning, and only in recent years, that some climate changes in the past have been as rapid as anything underway today,” says Robert Giegengack, a University of Pennsylvania geologist.
As the land dried out and vegetation decreased, the soil lost its ability to hold water when it did rain. Fewer clouds formed from evaporation. When it rained, the water washed away and evaporated quickly. There was a kind of runaway drying effect. By 4,000 years ago the Sahara had become what it is today.
No one knows how human-driven climate change may alter the Sahara in the future. It’s something scientists can ponder while sipping bottled fossil water pumped from underground.
“It’s the best water in Egypt,” Giegengack said — clean, refreshing mineral water. If you want to drink something good, try the ancient buried treasure of the Sahara.
Staff Writer, Washington Post
What kind of a person do you think the narrator is?
Comment on the way in which the theme of the story has been introduced.
How does the insertion of dialogue in the story contribute to its interest?
Explain the line:
She makes too much steam–you want to hang the monkey wrench on the safety valve!
How does 'A Munda song' show that the perspective of the tribal mind towards the girl child is different from that of [other ] mainstream communities?
'Whose roots lay deeper than our lives' – what aspect of human behaviour does this line reflect?
Read the following statement and mark those that apply to you.
I have a large group of friends but no best buddy.
Make sentence of your own using the following expression.
bargain:
Pick out words from the poem to fill in the web diagram. They should be related to the theme in the web.

Read the story and complete the following.
At first, Revathi’s plants did not look normal and healthy because, ____________.
Pick out words that refer to ‘means of living’ and fill them in the Web.
(profession/recreation/occupation/job/ pastime/employment/hobby/career/entertainment/mission/trade/buisness/sports/retirement/placement)

Find proof from the poem for the following.
The poet’s minute observations of the steady growth of the cherry tree.
Read the story and choose the appropriate meaning.
Skeleton branches ____________.
‘Dull would he be of soul who could pass by.’
This line of the poem can be rewritten as:
'He would be of a dull soul.'
The figure of speech is known as ‘Inversion’.
Find out one more example of Inversion from the poem.
Read different stories about intelligent ministers of kings, whose judgments helped to bring about law and order in society. For example - Birbal, Tenalirama, etc. Write 5 such stories in your notebook.
Say WHY. . . . . .
Ramanujan had to be hospitalized.
Make a list of the channels available on your TV under the following categories: News, entertainment, sports, movies, music, etc. Which are the channels on which you can watch programs on animals, wildlife, conservation of the environment, etc.?
From the internet or other sources, find the other names by which Kabaddi is known in different parts of our country and the world.
Find one more example which shows that a beautiful appearance is not enough.
State a type of drama each from any four periods of history.
Write a short monologue using one of the following ideas. Write down the monologue and present it in the class.
Yonamine’s father worrying about getting her married.
Form a pair. Write at least one short dialogue for the following expression.
I agree.
What question did Shalihotra ask Sushruta?
Portia’s suitors chose the gold and silver caskets.
Hold a mock trial for the following offence. There should be a complainant, a defendant, and lawyers to argue the case on behalf of them. The whole class can vote to pass the judgment. On what occasions will you plead for justice? What punishment will you suggest? When will you plead for mercy?
A poor man stole some ornaments from a rich girl.
What characteristics of Mr. Nobody do we learn about from this poem?
Write the rhyme scheme of the poem (Autumn).
Complete the following diagram.

Fill in the blank choosing the appropriate word/idiom from the lesson.
He was dizzy and he ______ the room.
Find out how the following game is played.
Kabaddi
Identify the character or speaker
He repented and implored his brother’s forgiveness.
What did the bird suggest Chulong, in exchange for its freedom?
Read the following line from the poem and answer the question given below.
They growl at that and they growl at this;
Whatever comes, there is something amiss;
- What does the word ‘growl’ mean here?
- Why do they find everything amiss?
Write the name of the toys against each picture.

Who told the children the story about the ghosts on Haunted Hill?
drenched – thoroughly wet
He is drenched to the skin. ______
Complete the sentence given below with word/phrase.
The buffalo ______ in the hole.
Find example of alliteration and write them in the blank.
Spring Is pretty
but short and sweet
Match the actions with the picture.
| mixes for community food service | ![]() |
| sows the grain | ![]() |
| feeds the birds | ![]() |
Which place was the last stand of the Indian army?
Choose the picture for the passage.
| Our national emblem is taken from Ashoka’s pillar at Sarnath. It is found on all government documents, coins, currency notes, postcards, and envelopes. It consists of four lions standing back to back but, we can see only three lions at a time. There is a Dharma chakra in the centre of the base plate, with the figure of a bull in the right and that of a horse in the left. The entire structure is sitting on a lotus. The words ‘Sathyameva Jayate’ is written under it in Devanagari script. These words mean, ‘Truth alone Triumphs’. |
Choose what the elephant did.
Answer using Yes or No and pick sentence from the story to support your answer.
Did Robinson kill Friday?
Choose the champion of the year.
Meena went to ______ her father.
Hundial is a______ pot.
Mostly piggy banks look like______.
The king gave______ seeds.

Bihar people saved trees by______ painting.
Finally, ______, he got permission to study Science.
What did the boy wonder about?
On the basis of your understanding of the given passage, make notes in any appropriate format.
The Sherpas were nomadic people who first migrated from Tibet approximately 600 years ago, through the Nangpa La pass and settled in the Solukhumbu District, Nepal. These nomadic people then gradually moved westward along salt trade routes. During 14th century, Sherpa ancestors migrated from Kham. The group of people from the Kham region, east of Tibet, was called “Shyar Khamba”. The inhabitants of Shyar Khamba, were called Sherpa. Sherpa migrants travelled through Ü and Tsang, before crossing the Himalayas. According to Sherpa oral history, four groups migrated out of Solukhumbu at different times, giving rise to the four fundamental Sherpa clans: Minyagpa, Thimmi, Sertawa and Chawa. These four groups have since split into the more than 20 different clans that exist today
Sherpas had little contact with the world beyond the mountains and they spoke their own language. AngDawa, a 76-year-old former mountaineer recalled “My first expedition was to Makalu [the world’s fifth highest mountain] with Sir Edmund Hillary’’. We were not allowed to go to the top. We wore leather boots that got really heavy when wet, and we only got a little salary, but we danced the Sherpa dance, and we were able to buy firewood and make campfires, and we spent a lot of the time dancing and singing and drinking. Today Sherpas get good pay and good equipment, but they don’t have good entertainment. My one regret is that I never got to the top of Everest. I got to the South Summit, but I never got a chance to go for the top.
The transformation began when the Sherpa Tenzing Norgay and the New Zealander Edmund Hillary scaled Everest in 1953. Edmund Hillary took efforts to build schools and health clinics to raise the living standards of the Sherpas. Thus life in Khumbu improved due to the efforts taken by Edmund Hillary and hence he was known as ‘Sherpa King’.
Sherpas working on the Everest generally tend to perish one by one, casualties of crevasse falls, avalanches, and altitude sickness. Some have simply disappeared on the mountain, never to be seen again. Apart from the bad seasons in 1922, 1970 and 2014 they do not die en masse. Sherpas carry the heaviest loads and pay the highest prices on the world’s tallest mountain. In some ways, Sherpas have benefited from the commercialization of the Everest more than any group, earning income from thousands of climbers and trekkers drawn to the mountain. While interest in climbing Everest grew gradually over the decades after the first ascent, it wasn’t until the 1990s that the economic motives of commercial guiding on Everest began. This leads to eclipse the amateur impetus of traditional mountaineering. Climbers looked after each other for the love of adventure and “the brotherhood of the rope” now are tending to mountain businesses. Sherpas have taken up jobs as guides to look after clients for a salary. Commercial guiding agencies promised any reasonably fit person a shot at Everest.
How can we identify insecure websites?



