UNSEEN PASSAGES
Discursive writing expresses opinion on issues It can be argumentative, i.e., may give reasons. explanations, or explore cause and effect relationship. Passages of this kind are analytical. Sometimes the author presents his views with great depth of reasoning or force of argument with the intentions of convincing the reader to his point of view. Such texts have great persuasive power. Some examples of discursive writing are given below.
(a) Argumentative
1. Read the following passage carefully:
1. President Barack Obama likes to draw parallels between himself and Abraham Lincoln. One reason Obama seeks inspiration from the US's greatest leader is the enormity of the challenges he faces. The new administration's highest priority will be an economy heading for the severest recession since at least the 1970s. Obama also inherits two wars, and a lurking threat from terrorism. Though all this places in comparison to the political landscape that confronted Lincoln, the newest US presidency sees climate change as an existential threat of a kind never before faced by a White House resident.
2. On the day before moving into the nation's most storied house, Barack Obama visited a shelter for teenagers with no home. with sleeves rolled up, he spent a few minutes painting for the benefit of the cameras that trail him everywhere now.
Cara Fuller, a sheller worker, asked if he was sweating?"
"Nah, yet. But then again, it is still early.
3. Throughout the 77 days since his election, he has been a font of cool confidence, never too hot, never too cold, seemingly undaunted by the magnitude of troubles awaiting him and unbothered by the few setbacks that have tripped him up.
4. He will eventually have to chose between competing advice and priorities, risking the disappointment or anger of constituencies that for the moment can still see in him what they hope to see. What the country has seen of his leadership that for the moment can still see in him what that hope to see. What the country has seen of his leadership style so far evokes the discipline of George W Bush and the curiosity of Bill Clinton. Obama is not shy about making decisions and making them expeditiously - he assembled his team in record time - but he has also sought to tap into the nation's intellectual dialogue at a time of great ferment.
5. More than any president since he was an infant, Obama has taken a place in society that extends beyond political leadership. He is as much symbol as substance, an icon from the young and a sign of deliverance for an older generation that never believed a man with his skin color would ascend those steps to vow to preserve, protect and defined a constitution that originally counted a black man as three-fifths of a person.
1.1 On the basis of your reading of the passage, answer the following questions by choosing the best of the given choices.
(a) What is the parallel between president Barack Obama and Abraham Lincoln?
1. Both are negroes.
2. Both faced enormous challenges.
3. Both faced wars and terrorism.
4. Both faced climate change.
(b) What is Obama's 'inheritance' as the President ?
1. troubled political landscape
2. climate change
3. recession, two wars, terrorism
4. all of the above
(c) The challenges faced by Obama ....... .
1. are greater than those faced by Lincoln
2. are as great as those faced by Lincoln
3. are not as great as those faced by a Lincoln
4. are greater than those faced by any president of the USA
(d) Obama's style of leadership includes the quality of ............ .
1. posing for cameras
2. representing the negroes
3. making intellectual dialogue
4. making decisions boldly and quickly
(e) 'Pales' in paragraph 1 means ........... .
1. a light shade of yellow
2. appears weak
3. appears strong
4. appears bright
(f) 'To tap' in paragraph 4 means .......... .
1. to measure
2. to communicate with
3. to hit lightly
4. to let out liquid
1.2 Answers these questions briefly.
(a) What does Obama mean when he says, 'I don't sweat?'
(b) What image dis Obama project during his election campaign?
(c) What is the importance of Obama as president of the USA beyond politics?
(d) What does Obama share with his predecessors George Bush and Bill Clinton?
(e) Find the word which means the same as a 'reservoir' (para 3).
(f) Find the word which means the same as 'areas from where politicians fight elections' (para 4).
2. Read the following passage carefully:
EDUCATION FOR CITIZENSHIP
1. It is good to see the NCERT director raising some fundamental issues about education for public debate. Krishna Kumar writes about the philosophy failure of education by not recognizing education as an experience and by missing out its core components, which are understanding and values. According to him, we fail to take a long-term view by treating education as an opportunity to proceed further in life and to increase income.
2. It is indeed often forgotten, and India the purpose of education is primarily to help students become better human beings and effective citizens. Making people into good engineers, doctors, accountants, managers and lawyers is, at least in the long term, a secondary objective of education.
3. The kind of education, which is now imparted starting at a very early stage and continuing into what is often referred to as higher education, can at best be called vocational education because it prepares participants to become proficient in their chosen profession. The loser is what should appropriately be called basic education. The result is that the trained personnel we have are good at doing vocational and professional work but lack basic human qualities. The myriad social tensions and issues that we face today, we are an inevitable consequence of this.
4. In my work on electoral and political reforms as a civil society activist, I continue to be struck by the large proportion of people from all walks of life, including intelligentsia and college students, who seem to be blissfully ignorant of the fact that being a citizen also entails some responsibilities. While most people I come across, seem to be quite aware and knowledge about the fundamental rights enshrined in our constitution, few seem to be aware of the fundamental duties of citizens listed in Article 51 (a).
5. This is one of the major ills of Indian society. The civics and social studies curricula at various levels of education do not seem to have been effective in delivering the appropriate level of citizen education. There is, therefore, an urgent need to devise mechanisms to ensure that all citizens, not only school and college students, become conscious of their responsibilities as citizens.
6. US Supreme Court judge, Felix Frankfurter, noted that an active citizenry is an essential condition for democracy to succeed. No office in the land is more important than that of being a citizen.
2.1 On the basis of your reading of the passage, answer the following question by choosing the best of the given chances.
(a) What is the mistaken view people take about education?
1. Education gives opportunity to do progress in life.
2. Education is for earning more.
3. Education refines quality through experience and values.
4. Education make people civilised and heuristic.
(b) What is the primary purpose of education?
1. to give knowledge of science and technology
2. to make people become good human beings and effective citizens.
3. to give life skills to the students.
4. to teach literature and philosophy.
(c) The NCERT director believes that education should be recognized as...
1. a means to earn well
2. an opportunity to progress
3. for making good engineers, doctors, etc.
4. an experience which imparts under-standing and values.
(d) The most important element of citizen education is that........... .
1. citizens should know their rights
2. citizens should know the Constitution of India
3. citizen should be aware of their responsibilities
4. citizens should know that taxes must be paid.
(e) 'Core' in paragraph 1 means ............ .
1. important
2. valuable
3. basic
4. central
(f) 'Mechanisms' in paragraph 5 means ............. .
1. Machinery
2. institutions
3. system
4. schools and colleges
2.2 Answer these questions briefly.
(a) Who or what are losers in the education process?
(b) What strikes the author in the course of his work on electoral and political reform?
(c) What is meant by 'no office in the land is more important than that of being a citizen' ?
(d) How can citizen education be improved ?
(e) Find the word which means the same as 'able to do something well because of training and practice' (para 3).
(f) Find the word which means the same as 'staff' (para 3).
3. Read the following passage carefully:
HEALTH HAZARD OF NOISE POLLUTION
1. Although pollution of land, sea and air has been well documented, the latest and the best recognized version is the swelling tide of noise which is engulfing urban as well as rural areas. This has long-term implications on the ecology, health and productivity of a fast developing country like India.
2. Unlike other pollutants, noise lack visibility, seldom registering on the consciousness, except as a trifling irritant to be dismissed at will and therefore less likely to be perceived as a threat. Available data indicate that noise does pose a threat to health and is known to have caused a number of complications Declining productivity among workers in certain industries has been directly correlated with noise levels, particularly those under constant exposure to the menace.
3. The first ever survey of the impact of noise on health, conducted by All India Institute of Medical Sciences, has established that noise not only impairs the physical and psychological functioning of the human organism, but also causes nausea, vomiting, pain, hypertension and a lot of other complications including cardio-vascular complaints.
4. A study by Post Graduate School of Basic Medical Sciences, in Chennai, confirms such as conclusions. In 50 per cent of industries it was found that workmen exposed to higher intensities of noise in occupational capacities, were often irritated, short - tempered and impatient and more likely to resort t agitation and disrupt production. This was true of units in heavy industrial pockets in and around the four metropolitan centres.
5. Recreational noise, another ugly facet, is becoming more widespread in cities and towns. Loudspeakers and turned at full volume during marriages, festivals, jagrans, musical programmes, particularly at night, without the least consideration for others. Even at 50dB, sound can awaken a person from deep slumber. As experiments have shown, loudspeakers with output from 60 to dB cause the pupils of a slumbering person to dilate, with increasing intake of oxygen, resulting in palpitation. The effect is more pronounced in narrow lanes. TV sets are played at full volume at prime time, invariably disturbing neighbours. Noise making seems to have become the latest status symbol, be it an election campaign or slogan shouting or advertising ownership of a TV set.
8.1 On the basis of your reading of the passage, answer the following questions by choosing the best of the given choices.
(a) What is the difference between noise and other pollutants?
1. Noise is not resented.
2. Noise is regarded as a small irritant and dismissed.
3. People are not aware of noise as a pollutant.
4. Noise can be found in rural as well as urban areas.
(b) What are the diseases connected with the impact of noise?
1. hypertension and cardio-vascular problems
2. nausea, vomiting, pain
3. impaired physical and psychological functioning
4. all the above
(c) Recreational noise is created during
1. public speeches
2. revelries and excursions
3. sports events
4. weddings, festivals and jagrans at night
(d) In what way can creating noise be considered a status symbol?
1. by playing loud music
2. by showing off one's TV with a loud sound.
3. by making speechless
4. by talking loudly
(e) 'Invariably' in paragraph 5 means...... .
1. often
2. sometimes
3. covered
4. divided by a gulf
8.2 Answer these questions briefly.
(a) Why were the workmen in industries irritated and short-tempered?
(b) What are the two types of recreating noises?
(c) Loudspeakers of what output cause the pupils of a slumbering person to dilate?
(d) Explain the meaning of the statement, 'Noise lacks visibility'.
(e) Find the word which means the same as 'recorded' (para 1 ).
(f) Find the word which means the same as 'covering something completely' (para 1).