From the beginning, however, I had an aversion to the water when I was in it. This started when I was three or four years old and father took me to the beach in California. He and I stood together in the surf. I hung on to him, yet the waves knocked me down and swept over me. I was buried in water. My breath was gone. I was frightened. Father laughed, but there was terror in my heart at the overpowering force of the waves. My introduction to the Y.M.C.A. swimming pool revived unpleasant memories and stirred childish fears. But in a little while, I gathered confidence. paddled with my new water wings, watching the other boys and trying to learn by aping them. I did this two or three times on different days and was just beginning to feel at ease in the water when the misadventure happened. Questions: Q.1. The writer had an intense dislike for water …………………….. . A. since he was three or four. B. when he was in water. C. when he was at some beach. D. Both A’ and ‘B’ Q.2. ………………………….. caused terror to the writer. A. The beach in California B. His father’s pressure on him C. The overpowering force of the waves D. The swimming pool Q.3. What were the unpleasant memories for the writer? A. Those that he had been in the surf with his father in California. B. Those that he had learnt about the dangers of being in water in his school. C. Those stories that he had heard from his friends. D. All of these three Q.4. The meaning of the phrase ‘feel at ease’ means ……………………….. . A. ‘without any effort’. B. ‘quite relaxed’. C. ‘comfortable’. D. Both ‘B’ and ‘C’

1. D. Both A’ and ‘B’ 2. C. The overpowering force of the waves 3. A. Those that he had been in the surf with his father in California. 4. D. Both ‘B’ and ‘C’

From the beginning, however, I had an aversion to the water when …

“Why not organise yourselves into a cooperative ?” I ask a group of young men who have fallen into the vicious circle of middlemen who trapped their fathers and forefathers. “Even if we get organised, we are the ones who will be hauled up by the police, beaten and dragged to jail for doing something illegal,” they say. There is no leader among them, no one who could help them see things differently.

Their fathers are as tired as they are. They talk endlessly in a spiral that moves from poverty to apathy to greed and to injustice. Listening to them, I see two distinct worlds – one of the family, caught in a web of poverty, burdened by the stigma of caste in which they are born; the other a vicious circle of the sahukars, the middlemen, the policemen, the keepers of law, the bureaucrats and the politicians. Together they have imposed the baggage on the child that he cannot put down. Before he is aware, he accepts it as naturally as his father.

To do anything else would mean to dare. And daring is not part of his growing up. When I sense a flash of it in Mukesh I am cheered. “I want to be a motor mechanic,’ he repeats. He will go to a garage and learn. But the garage is a long way from his home. “I will walk,” he insists. “Do you also dream of flying a plane?” He is suddenly silent. “No,” he says, staring at the ground. In his small murmur, there is an embarrassment that has not yet turned into regret. He is content to dream of cars that he sees hurtling down the streets of his town. Few aeroplanes fly over Firozabad.

Questions :
Q.1. The meaning of the phrase ‘hauled up’ is ……………………… .
A. ‘punished’. B. ‘tortured’. C. ‘arrested’. D. ‘supported’.

Q.2. The ‘baggage on the child’ is ………………………… .
A. ‘force the profession on the child’.
B. ‘the load of the bag full of rags’.
C. ‘the debts that their parents have incurred’.
D. None of these three.

Q.3. What is different with Mukesh?
A. He dreams of flying a plane.
B. He wants to be a motor mechanic.
C. He does not want to be seized to be a ragpicker.
D. Both ‘B’ and ‘C’.

Q.4. Mukesh is content to…
A. become a pilot. B. become a car driver.
C. become a car owner. D. become a motor mechanic.

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The great prose-writers of the world may not admit it, but my conviction grows stronger day after day that prose-writing is not and cannot be the true pursuit of a genius. It is for the patient, persistent, persevering drudge with a heart so shrunken that nothing can break it; rejection slips don't mean a thing to him; he at once sets about making a fresh copy of the long prose piece and sends it on to another editor enclosing postage for the return of the manuscript. Questions Q.1. Who according to the narrator can be a prose-writer?
A. One who is a drudge and possess a shrunken heart.		B. One who is patient but is highly emotional.
C. One who can persist but cannot accept rejection.		D. One who has contacts with Editors.
Q.2. How does a prose-writer deal with rejection?
A. He remembers that he is not a genius.		B. He allows his heart to shrink.
C. He patiently accepts the outcome.		D. He sends his manuscript to another editor.
Q.3. Which word in the passage means 'hunt'?
A. drudge	B. rejection	C. pursuit	D. shrunken
Q.4. Who has penned the passage?
A. Kothamangalam Subbu	B. Asokamitran	C. Vasan	D. Krishna Sastry

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Someone called the group an international circus. They weren't very good on the trapeze and their acquaintance with animals was only at the dinner table, but they presented two plays in a most professional manner. Questions Q.1. Which group was called an international circus?
A. Middle Reorganization Army		B. Moral Reorganisation Army
C. Morale Re-armament Army		D. Moral Re-armament Army
Q.2. What is meant by trapeze?
A. acrobatics	B. gymnastics	C. clowning	D. cycling
Q.3. How many members were there in the group?
A. 100	B. 150	C. 600	D. 200
Q.4. Give the adjective form of 'table'.
A. tabled	B. tabling	C. tabular	D. tables

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The great prose-writers of the world may not admit it, but my conviction grows stronger day after day that prose-writing is not and cannot be the true pursuit of a genius. It is for the patient, persistent, persevering drudge with a heart so shrunken that nothing can break it; rejection slips don’t mean a thing to him; he at once sets about making a fresh copy of the long prose piece and sends it on to another editor enclosing postage for the return of the manuscript.

It was for such people that The Hindu had published a tiny announcement in an insignificant corner of an unimportant page – a short story contest organised by a British periodical by the name The Encounter Of course, The Encounter wasn’t a known commodity among the Gemini literati.

I wanted to get an idea of the periodical before I spent a considerable sum in postage sending a manuscript to England. In those days, the British Council Library had an entrance with no long-winded signboards and notices to make you feel you were sneaking into a forbidden area. And there were copies of The Encounter lying about in various degrees of freshness, almost untouched by readers.

When I read the editor’s name, I heard a bell ringing in my shrunken heart. It was the poet who had visited the Gemini Studios-I felt like I had found a long lost brother and I sang as I sealed the envelope and wrote out his address.

I felt that he too would be singing the same song at the same time-long lost brothers of Indian films discover each other by singing the same song in the first reel and in the final reel of the film. Stephen Spender. Stephen-that was his name.
Questions:
Q.1. Who is mentioned as ‘drudge’ in this prose extract?
A. A genius B. A prose writer C. An editor D. A heart-shrunk person

Q.2. Here ‘Gemini literati’ means ………………………………….. of Gemini Studios.
A. ‘Versatile actors’ B. ‘Painters’ C. ‘intellectuals’ or ‘master minds’ D. ‘Spot boys’

Q.3. ‘I heard a bell ringing in my shrunken heart’. Another expression for these words is:
A. ‘It was a warning for him. B. ‘He was completely disappointed’.
C. ‘A hope enlivened in his disappointment’. D. ‘His last hope also disappeared’.

Q.4. ‘Stephen Spender. Stephen’ is the name of ……………………… .
A. An editor B. A song C. The composer of a song D. The poet

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Greta Garbo must have used it, Miss Gohar must have used it, Vyjayantimala must have also used it but Rati Agnihotri may not have even heard of it. Questions
Q.1. What is being spoken of in the above lines?
A. Pancake make-up material	B. Hair dos	C. Film costumes	D. Movie props
Q.2. The above passage is an excerpt from.....................
A. The Boss and me		B. Ananda Vikatan
C. My Years with Boss		D. My stint with Gemini Studio
Q.3. What was Greta Garbo's nationality?
A. American	B. British	C. Spanish	D. Swedish
Q.4. Why wouldn't Rati have heard of it? A. Pancake make-up material had been replaced during her time. B. She didn't appreciate this make-up brand. C. She is averse to the brand as she has an allergy. D. Pancake make-up material's owner is no more.

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“It was all a mistake, of course,” she continued. “But anyway I don’t think we ought to chase away a human being whom we have asked to come here, and to whom we have promised Christmas cheer.” “You do Preach worse than a parson.” Said the ironmaster, “I only hope you won’t have to regret this.” Questions
Q.1. Who is she in the passage ?
A. Ironmaster’s youngest daughter C. Ironmaster’s granddaughter		B. Ironmaster’s oldest daughter D. Ironmaster’s wife
Q.2. What was her advice ? A. They had made a mistake and it should be corrected. B. They should not treat the stranger as a criminal. C. The should not invite the stranger next Christmas. D. They should not chase away someone they had invited home.
Q.3. What was the ironmaster’s retort? i. His daughter was preaching to him. ii. His daughter was making mistakes. iii. His daughter was worse than a parson. iv. He hoped his daughter wouldn’t have to regret what she was going to do.
A. i, iii, iv	B. i, ii, iv	C. ii, iii, iv	D. i, ii, iii
Q.4. What is the adjective form of ‘human’ ?
A. humaning	B. humanly	C. humane	D. humans

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Sophie watched her back stooped over the sink and wondered at the incongruity of the delicate bow which fastened her apron strings. The delicate-seeming bow and the crooked back. The evening had already blacked in the windows and the small room was steamy from the stove and cluttered with the heavy-breathing mem in his vest at the table and the dirty washing piled up in the corner. Sophie felt a tightening in her throat. She went to look for her brother Geoff.

He was kneeling on the floor in the next room tinkering with a part of his motorcycle over some newspaper spread on the carpet. He was three years out of school, an apprentice mechanic, travelling to his work each day to the far side of the city. He was almost grown up now, and she suspected areas of his life about which she knew nothing, about which he never spoke. He said little at all, ever, voluntarily.

Words had to be prized out of him like stones out of the ground. And she was jealous of his silence-. When he wasn’t speaking it was as though he was away somewhere, out there in the world in those places she had never been. Whether they were only the outlying districts of the city or places beyond in the surrounding country – who knew?-they attained a special fascination simply because they were unknown to her and remained out of her reach.

Questions:

Q.1. Passage 1 reads that Sophie is …………………… .
A. greatly angry. B. terribly irritated.
C. extremely happy. D. quite thoughtful.

Q.2. The untidy scene/s in the room was/were ………………….. .
A. the heavy-breathing man at the table.
B. the dirty washing piled up in the corner.
C. the steam from the stove.
D. Both A’ and ‘B’

Q.3. ‘Words had to be prized out of him like stones out of the ground’. This sentence shows ……………….. nature of Geoff.
A. outspoken B. shy
C. reticent D. indifferent

Q.4. ………………………. remained subjects of special fascination for Sophie.
A. Many places in her surroundings and beyond
B. The areas of her brother’s life
C. Her brother’s activities
D. All of these three.

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“Your parents were not anxious enough to have you learn. They preferred to put you to work on a farm or at the mills, so as to have a little more money. And? I’ve been to blame also. Have I not often sent you to water my flowers instead of learning your lessons? And when I wanted to go fishing, did I not just give you a holiday?”
Questions
Q.1. Whose parents are being spoken about ?
A. Franz	B. Hauser	C. Wachter	D. None of the above.
Q.2. Which one of the following is incorrect ? A. Parents preferred to send their children to work in the farm. B. Parents wanted children to water the plants in the garden. C. Parents preferred children to work in the mills. D. Parents wanted their children to earn money.
Q.3. Who is ‘I’ in the passage ?
A. Hauser	B. Franz	C. Wachter	D. Hamel
Q.4. Give the verb form of ‘little’.
A. dolittle	B. alittle	C. belittle	D. littleness

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My acquaintance with the barefoot ragpickers leads me to Seemapuri, a place on the periphery of Delhi yet miles away from it, metaphorically. Those who live here are squatters who came from Bangladesh back in 1971. Saheb’s family is among them. Seemapuri was then a wilderness. It still is, but it is no longer empty. In structures of mud, with roofs of tin and tarpaulin, devoid of sewage, drainage or running water, live 10,000 ragpickers.

They have lived here for more than thirty years without an identity, without permits but with ration cards that get their names on voters’ lists and enable them to buy grain. Food is more important for survival than an identity. “If at the end of the day we can feed our families and go to bed without an aching stomach, we would rather live here than in the fields that gave us no grain,” say a group of women in tattered saris when I ask them why they left their beautiful land of green fields and rivers. Wherever they find food, they pitch their tents that become transit homes.

Children grow up in them, becoming partners in survival. And survival in Seemapuri means rag-picking. Through the years, it has acquired the proportions of a fine art. Garbage to them is gold. It is their daily bread, a roof over their heads, even if it is a leaking roof. But for a child, it is even more.

Questions:

Q.1. “Seemapuri is yet miles away from Delhi, metaphorically”. One of the following sentences explains this briefly. Pick it out.
A. Seemapuri is quite distant from Delhi.
B. Seemapuri is underdeveloped, uncultured in comparison to Delhi.
C. Seemapuri is a home-place for ragpickers only.
D. None of these three

Q.2. The phrase ‘without an aching stomach’ here means ………………… .
A. ‘without any physical disorder’. B. ‘without any trouble’.
C. ‘with stomach full’. D. ‘without taking sleeping pills.

Q.3. The words ‘land of green fields and rivers’ refer to the land of …………………………. .
A. Kolkata. B. Bangladesh. C. Delhi. D. Pakistan.

Q.4. ‘Garbage is gold’ for the residents of Seemapuri because it gives them ……………………… .
A. food to eat. B. a shelter to live in.
C. money to start their own industry. D. Both ‘A’ and ‘B’

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“lf I start a school, will you come ?" I ask, half-joking. Yes,” he says, smiling broadly. A few days later I see him running up to me. “Is your school ready ?” “It takes longer to build a school,” I say, embarrassed at having made a promise that was not meant. But promises like mine abound in every corner of his bleak world.
Questions
Q.1. What was promised to the boy ?
A. A school	B. A job	C. Some food	D. A pair of shoes
Q.2. Where does the scene take place ?
A. Faridabad	B. Firozabad	C. Alkapuri	D. Seemapuri
Q.3. What activity was done by the boys ?
A. bangle making	B. working at tea-stall	C. rag picking	D. studying in a school
Q.4. Give the adjective form of ‘school’
A. scholastic	B. schooled	C. schooling	D. schools

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