Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow :

Why don’t Indian people go to libraries anymore ? The reason is that even though India has a population of approximately 100 crores, only 50% are literate and only 30% educated. So, out of 100% only 30% of the population visit libraries and make use of the facilities.

Most of this educated class lives in the metros or smaller cities and towns. Life in the smaller towns and cities is slower than in the metros and at the end of the day they get time to fulfill their hobbies. But only a fragment of this class can afford to pursue a hobby. People cannot afford to lose themselves in the fantastic world of books due to monetary constraints. Often those who are interested in reading do not have financial backup, whereas people who are rich enough to buy all the luxuries of the world do not consider books a money spinning investment.

People do not mind spending thousands of rupees on clothes but think twice before buying a book. People no longer have the space, time and energy in their lives to read.

Another aspect, which needs to be highlighted in this context, is the inception of television. It is largely responsible for the decline in reading habits, especially in the youth. Today we are addicted to the television. As a result, children instead of going through big bulky books for pleasure or purpose prefer watching their favourite television channel and those who do read do not necessarily read good literature. As somebody said, ‘Education has produced a vast population able to read but unable to distinguish what is worth reading’.

It is a fact that a major setback to the libraries all over the world has come from the Internet. Nobody has the time and the patience to go to libraries. Instead they prefer accessing online e-book services, which save time and money.

Another factor, which fails to draw people towards the library, is that a number of them are funded by state governments which are always short of resources to update the stock of books and facilities and as a result, fail to provide the reader with the latest and handy information.

(a) On the basis of your reading of the above passage make notes on it, using headings and sub-headings. Also use recognizable abbreviations, wherever necessary. Supply an appropriate title to it.

(b) Write a summary of the above passage in about eighty words.

Read the passage given below :

1. Rio 2016 continues to celebrate the Olympic Games established by the Greeks more than 2,000 years ago. Meanwhile, it is interesting to revisit India’s contribution to a set of games that is played not out there in the physical field, but is more in the category of mind games. India is credited to have created 4 popular board games – snakes and ladders, backgammon, chess and chaupar. Chaupar is said to be the precursor to Ludo, described as a race game.

2. Playing board games is a human activity and it answers human needs. Before modern times when there was no money or internet, in the ‘innocence of antiquity’, archaeological evidence suggests the evidence of some kind of games.

3. The games have been thought of as a way to beat boredom, but they also mimic life situations with lessons to offer. Irving Finkel gives an example of Rajasthan villages, where people play a game which has a linear board with squares or sometimes triangles, where you have one tiger and nine sheep and if sheep are really clever, they can trap the tiger in the corner and win over the tiger. On the other hand, the tiger could jump towards the sheep in another square and eat them.

4. “Snakes and ladders is a very ancient game, but there has always been a tradition that the squares in all the rows have lessons on them, about wickedness, kindness…you go up the ladder if you are a good person and you get stung in the neck if you are wicked. The whole purpose is to teach that nirvana could be achieved by good behaviour,” adds Irving Finkel.

5. Interestingly, Jain monks are known to play a special game of snakes and ladders with their inscriptions and imagery painted on the board. “In one Jain temple, monks would play the game in earnest every day, as it was thought to reflect their own personal growth. So it was more of a functional thing and they took it very seriously,” he says.

6. Indian board games are not ‘time pass’ in the conventional sense of the term. Their origin may have been from the time you went out hunting, killed a bison, ate it and then sat about in the cave, but even the simplest of games was very sophisticated, which meant that you had to have an agreement that there was a board, a limited space outside of which did not count, and goal and rules, power of pieces. “I know people say gorillas are closest to homo sapiens and they can do most things we can do, but I don’t know of any gorilla playing chess; it is an extremely human thing to do – to play board games,” says Finkel.

7. Chaupar, for instance, is a sophisticated game. Played properly, you are required to throw the dice many times until the one which means the end of your throws and then use the aggregate score to your best advantage; so if you score 57, you could use 39 to move up some squares and rest to move up others. It requires you to be very quick and good at math. But somewhere around the 19^th century, a few Englishmen took this board game to England for commercial reasons, dubbed it down, dropped the rules and turned it into a game of five by 3 squares, where you simply throw the dice and go around the blocks and called it Ludo. “And Ludo became the world conqueror in its own right and came back to India,” says Finkel. And that is the irony.

8. He wishes someone in India would find time to study ancient games, collect them and put them in a museum. Else, he fears, old cloth boards will get eaten by moths and the game will disappear totally. But until that happens we can take solace in the fact that although we gave the world ‘zero’, adding to many people’s math woes, we also gave them ‘time pass’ – something to lighten their days !

(1.1) Answer the following questions very briefly :

(a) Why did Jain monks play their board game earnestly ?

(b) Why were the Indian board games not considered a ‘time pass’ ?

(c) What makes Gorillas different from human beings ?

(d) Why is Chaupar considered to be a sophisticated game ?

(e) Besides giving a zero, in what other way has India contributed to the world ?

(f) Why does Finkel say that board games offer lessons ?

(1.2) Choose the meaning of the words given below from the options that follow :

(a) Mimic (Para 3)

(i) mime

(ii) imitate

(iii) mute

(iv) mike

(b) Earnest (Para 5)

(i) serious

(ii) hearing

(iii) earning

(iv) nesting

(c) Aggregate (Para 7)

(i) aggressive

(ii) gated

(iii) total

(iv) agriculture

(d) Solace (Para 8)

(i) solitude

(ii) solar

(iii) serious

(iv) comfort

Your school observed “Save Water Day”. As part of the school activities, you were asked to design a poster on the need for water conservation. Design a poster in 50-60 words. You are Rohan/Roshini.

OR

You have received an invitation to be a judge in a debating competition in St. Jose School. Send a reply in 50-60 words confirming acceptance. You are Ravi/Raveena.

You are Rohan/Rihana, 20 Mall Road, Delhi. You feel that city roads are no longer safe for the pedestrians and cyclists. Write a letter in 120-150 words addressed to the editor of a national daily, giving your views on this problem. Suggest measures to deal with it.

OR

You are Rohan/Rohini. You feel that the public transport system in your area is very poorly managed. Write a letter in 120-150 words to the Manager, Delhi Transport Corporation telling him about the problem. Suggest measures that would improve the condition. You live at 20, Mall Road, Delhi.

Your school, Jeevan India School, hosted a ‘Book Week’. The event included several competitions like quiz, painting and a play. Mr. Raghu, the author of award winning novel, ‘Birds’ was also invited. The event was graced by several other known authors. As President of the Literary Association, write a report covering the event

for the school magazine. You are Mayank/Mayanka. (150-200 words)

OR

The youth in many parts of the country are working hard to keep the Indian tradition and culture alive. Write a speech on the importance of preserving our culture and the role the youth, society and government can play in it. (150-200 words)