CLASS XIII

SECTION A: READING

PRACTICE WORKSHEET-2

1. Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given at the end. (12)

1. Parsons and Markwardt are the two characters of the story. They are both blind, but that is
where the resemblance ends. Parsons is introduced to us as a gentleman, a person who is
successful in life as he has made it his business to take his handicap as something which is
unavoidable and does not allow it to stand in his way. Parsons is grateful that he has been
given the gift of life and is an insurance agent whereas earlier he had been nothing more than
a skilled labourer.

2. On the other hand there is Markwardt, who uses his blindness to gain sympathy from all
whom he meets and he turns into a common beggar. Fate brings the two men together.
Markwardt attempts to sell Parsons a cigarette lighter and on being questioned about the
cause of his blindness, he tells Parsons an all too familiar tale.

3. Markwardt relates the story of an incident which had taken place fourteen years earlier, a
chemical explosion at C shop at the Westbury plant. In this explosion a hundred and eight
people had been killed and two hundred injured. According to Markwardt he was one of
those who had been crawling to safety when another man had climbed on top of him, hauled
him back, trampled him and got out. At this point of the story, Parsons tells him that the story
is true, except for one detail – Parsons had been the one who had been trampled upon by
Markwardt.

4.We now realize the difference between the two men. It is a fact that both are blind, but it is
only Markwardt who does not see and has no eyes. Parsons sees the beauty in life and thanks
God for giving him life. He celebrates the fact that he is alive and makes use of the faculties
he still has. Markwardt is truly blind, wrapped up in his disability, and self pity, so plagued
by his guilt that perhaps he has rationalized the fact that he is the one to blame for another’s
handicap or perhaps death. It appears as though he actually believes what he is saying. The
story has a message for the reader, a message that tells us to look at life positively and make
the most of all God’s blessings.

1.1 On the basis of your reading of the passage, answer the following questions by
choosing the best of the given choices:- ( 1x4=4 )

a) What was Markwardt’s opinion towards his life:

(i) guilty

(ii) self-pity

(iii) both (i) and (ii)

b) _____________blames another for his handicap

(i) Parsons

(ii) Markwardt

(iii) beggar

c) What is Parsons’ opinion towards his life?

(i) guilty

(ii) thankful

(iii) self-pity

(iv) none

d) What is the message of the passage?

(i) look at life positively

(ii) make the most of all God’s blessings

(iii) Both (i) and (ii)

(iv) None of the above

1.2 Answer the following questions briefly: (1x6=6)

1) Who was the blind beggar who met Mr. Parsons? Describe him

2) Why is it said that Mr. Parsons was glad to be alive?

3) How had Markwardt got blind?

4) What was the flaw in Markwardt’s story?

5) Who was the man who had no eyes? Give reason for your answer.

6) How does Parsons see life?

1.3. Find the words from the passage which mean the same as: (1 x 2=2)

a) Compulsory (para 1)

b) Crushed under feet (para 3)

2.Read the following carefully and answer the questions that follow: (8)

It has been a long time since the days when some of us imagined that major Indian languages
could be like Chinese and become languages of high technology, bringing rich and poor
together in a race to the top. It hasn't happened, and now it won't. It's going to be English.
And that means that every child in India should have the chance to learn English, and be able
to be compete with the ones who can take it for granted.
The only thing that remains to be settled is strategy: how to ensure that children do learn
English. It's much-abused truism that any child can learn any language'. It is true that children
are genetically empowered to discren language structure from the welter of sound all around
them, and by five can speak their first language, and maybe chunks of other languages around
them, too. But children in Indian school do not pick up Japanese. Why? Because they are not
exposed to it.
If you ever sat and tried to help children form Hindi medium schools with their English
lessons this is exactly the scenario you would find. The comprehension passages they have to
read are written in abstruse adult language, so much so that it is hard to imagine even their
teachers catching all the word play there. So children who are probably very bright get used
to living with incomprehension. They somehow learn English eventually, in spite of their
lessons at school.
How do children in the top English medium schools learn English? Well, more than half of
them come in already knowing English, and together with the teacher provide the rich
environment that constitutes exposure for the others. Many of the children can understand
English, but not speak it. These children remain in listening mode, and then on fine day they
start speaking English in full sentences. With children who do not understand English at all,
the teacher at first communicated one-to-one in the local Indian languages, so that the child is
never actually lost. But all the while the child hears simple instructions in English to the class
: 'Line up, take out your books, put away your books, come here'. And the child simply sees
the others and follows. And the meaning of these words sinks in subconsciously.
It takes more than a bad textbook or a child to make use of the genetic aptitude for learning a
second language. Suppose you cannot achieve this rich English-Learning environment in all
the schools, what then? Can we appeal to this natural ability for language learning? We can,
but here is where you need to use a lot of strategy. There is a big misconception that you save
time by rushing at the start, especially in language learning. Here is where we would do well
to take a look at poor Indian migrants and see how they manage to pick up I languages so
easily as they move to a new place.
The first thing the child needs is time .Time to just listen, and not be rushed to speak or write.
Not be rushed into making mistakes which; might become endemic. The child needs to steep;
in and environment where the teachers are speaking English. We have to respect the child's
wish to avoid making mistakes, even if it means silence. The other thing the child needs is for
learning to go on, a parallel track, in a language the child knows. The child needs to be clear
about a lot of things, and it is just possible that these things won't be learnt at all if the child
has to learn English in order to understand.
We also need to understand what sort of reading material child new to English would need.
We need write who know how to put information across simply and clearly, and who care
whether their young readers enjoy the pieces they read in their textbooks. At the moment
what we have is adult-level text which needs deciphering. We need to evolve separate
curricula for children new to English, so that they go slow at first and develop a feel for
English. Later on, we can thing about whether it is necessary for them to face the same
English papers in Boards as children from English-medium schools.