Read the passage given below carefully and answer the questions that follow:

1. Close at hand is a bridge over the River Thames, an admirable vantage ground for us to make a survey. We are here to consider facts; now we must fix our eyes upon the procession—the procession of the sons of educated men. There they go, our brothers who have been educated at public schools and universities, mounting those steps, passing in and out of those doors, ascending those pulpits, preaching, teaching, administering justice, practicing medicine, transacting business, making money. It is a solemn sight always—a procession, like a caravan crossing a desert....But now, for the past twenty years or so, it is no longer a sight merely, a photograph, or fresco scrawled upon the walls of time, at which we can look with merely an aesthetic appreciation.

2. For there, traipsing along at the tail end of the procession, we go ourselves. And that makes a difference. We who have looked so long at the pageant in books, or from a curtained window watched educated men leaving the house at about nine-thirty to go to an office, returning to the house at about six-thirty from an office, need look passively no longer. We too can leave the house, can mount those steps, pass in and out of those doors,...make money, administer justice.

3. Nobody will dare contradict us then; we shall be the mouthpieces of the divine spirit—a solemn thought, is it not? We are here, on the bridge, to ask ourselves certain questions. And they are very important questions; and we have very little time in which to answer them. The questions that we have to ask and to answer about that procession during this moment of transition are so important that they may well change the lives of all men and women forever. For we have to ask ourselves, here and now, do we wish to join that procession, or don’t we? On what terms shall we join that procession? Above all, where is it leading us, the procession of educated men?

4. As you know from your own experience, and there are facts that prove it, the daughters of educated men have always done their thinking from hand to mouth; not under green lamps at study tables in the cloisters of secluded colleges. They have thought while they stirred the pot, while they rocked the cradle. It was thus that they won us the right to our brand-new sixpence. It falls to us now to go on thinking; how are we to spend that sixpence? Think we must. Let us think in offices; in omnibuses; while we are standing in the crowd watching Coronations and Lord Mayor’s Shows; let us think...in the gallery of the House of Commons; in the Law Courts; let us think at baptisms and marriages and funerals.

Adapted from ‘Three Guineas’, Virginia Woolf

Find words from the passage which mean the same as the following:

i) ceremonial occasion (para 2)

ii) spokespersons (para 3)

Read the passage given below carefully and answer the questions that follow:

1. Close at hand is a bridge over the River Thames, an admirable vantage ground for us to make a survey. We are here to consider facts; now we must fix our eyes upon the procession—the procession of the sons of educated men. There they go, our brothers who have been educated at public schools and universities, mounting those steps, passing in and out of those doors, ascending those pulpits, preaching, teaching, administering justice, practicing medicine, transacting business, making money. It is a solemn sight always—a procession, like a caravan crossing a desert....But now, for the past twenty years or so, it is no longer a sight merely, a photograph, or fresco scrawled upon the walls of time, at which we can look with merely an aesthetic appreciation.

2. For there, traipsing along at the tail end of the procession, we go ourselves. And that makes a difference. We who have looked so long at the pageant in books, or from a curtained window watched educated men leaving the house at about nine-thirty to go to an office, returning to the house at about six-thirty from an office, need look passively no longer. We too can leave the house, can mount those steps, pass in and out of those doors,...make money, administer justice.

3. Nobody will dare contradict us then; we shall be the mouthpieces of the divine spirit—a solemn thought, is it not? We are here, on the bridge, to ask ourselves certain questions. And they are very important questions; and we have very little time in which to answer them. The questions that we have to ask and to answer about that procession during this moment of transition are so important that they may well change the lives of all men and women forever. For we have to ask ourselves, here and now, do we wish to join that procession, or don’t we? On what terms shall we join that procession? Above all, where is it leading us, the procession of educated men?

4. As you know from your own experience, and there are facts that prove it, the daughters of educated men have always done their thinking from hand to mouth; not under green lamps at study tables in the cloisters of secluded colleges. They have thought while they stirred the pot, while they rocked the cradle. It was thus that they won us the right to our brand-new sixpence. It falls to us now to go on thinking; how are we to spend that sixpence? Think we must. Let us think in offices; in omnibuses; while we are standing in the crowd watching Coronations and Lord Mayor’s Shows; let us think...in the gallery of the House of Commons; in the Law Courts; let us think at baptisms and marriages and funerals.

Adapted from ‘Three Guineas’, Virginia Woolf

On the basis of your understanding of the passage, complete the statements given below by choosing the most appropriate option:

1. The main purpose of the passage is to:

A. emphasize the value of a tradition.

B. stress the urgency of an issue.

C. highlight the severity of social divisions.

D. question the feasibility of an undertaking.

2. The author uses the word “we” throughout the passage mainly to

A. reflect the growing friendliness among a group of people.

B. advance the need for candor among a group of people.

C. establish a sense of solidarity among a group of people.

D. reinforce the need for respect among a group of people

Read the passage given below carefully and answer the questions that follow:

1. Close at hand is a bridge over the River Thames, an admirable vantage ground for us to make a survey. We are here to consider facts; now we must fix our eyes upon the procession—the procession of the sons of educated men. There they go, our brothers who have been educated at public schools and universities, mounting those steps, passing in and out of those doors, ascending those pulpits, preaching, teaching, administering justice, practicing medicine, transacting business, making money. It is a solemn sight always—a procession, like a caravan crossing a desert....But now, for the past twenty years or so, it is no longer a sight merely, a photograph, or fresco scrawled upon the walls of time, at which we can look with merely an aesthetic appreciation.

2. For there, traipsing along at the tail end of the procession, we go ourselves. And that makes a difference. We who have looked so long at the pageant in books, or from a curtained window watched educated men leaving the house at about nine-thirty to go to an office, returning to the house at about six-thirty from an office, need look passively no longer. We too can leave the house, can mount those steps, pass in and out of those doors,...make money, administer justice.

3. Nobody will dare contradict us then; we shall be the mouthpieces of the divine spirit—a solemn thought, is it not? We are here, on the bridge, to ask ourselves certain questions. And they are very important questions; and we have very little time in which to answer them. The questions that we have to ask and to answer about that procession during this moment of transition are so important that they may well change the lives of all men and women forever. For we have to ask ourselves, here and now, do we wish to join that procession, or don’t we? On what terms shall we join that procession? Above all, where is it leading us, the procession of educated men?

4. As you know from your own experience, and there are facts that prove it, the daughters of educated men have always done their thinking from hand to mouth; not under green lamps at study tables in the cloisters of secluded colleges. They have thought while they stirred the pot, while they rocked the cradle. It was thus that they won us the right to our brand-new sixpence. It falls to us now to go on thinking; how are we to spend that sixpence? Think we must. Let us think in offices; in omnibuses; while we are standing in the crowd watching Coronations and Lord Mayor’s Shows; let us think...in the gallery of the House of Commons; in the Law Courts; let us think at baptisms and marriages and funerals.

Adapted from ‘Three Guineas’, Virginia Woolf

Answer the following briefly:

a) Why is the author jubilant on looking at the procession?

b) What/who did the procession traditionally consist of?

c) According to the author why were is the purpose for the women to be on the bridge?

d) How have women learnt to think as different to men?

e) What do the range of places and occasions in paragraph 4 emphasize?

f) What does ' sixpence' mean?

Read the passage given below:

This isn't a mountain region of mere subjective beauty. Nor one, which claims its greatness, based on just an overwhelming opinion of a large majority. For Sikkim is a treasure that few know about. However, the facts of its remarkable geography bear enough testimony to pitch Sikkim in a slot that no other mountain region, anywhere in the world, could duplicate or rival. What Everest is to peaks, Sikkim is to the mountains. Tragically, a region so wild and exotic and with such geographic and climatic extremes, that its amazing wilds and not its unremarkable hill stations, ensure its accessibility to the adventurous only.

Just delve on these facts a bit. From the plains, in a mere 80 kms as the crow flies, the altitude reaches 28,168 feet at the very top of Kangchenjunga, the third highest peak in the world. Such a sharp elevation is unrivalled anywhere else and is the first geographical claim of Sikkim.

The second is an offshoot of the first. Nowhere else do so many 7,000 metre plus peaks crowd up in such a confined space. And the third is really a consequence of the first and the second with the sharp gradation creating the most variegated flora and fauna possible anywhere in the mountains. The fourth uniqueness is also a consequence of the first and the second and lies in the extremes of the climate which ranges from the tropical to the typical arctic type. And the fifth claim is its thin permanent population and relatively fewer travellers by virtue of its remote far-eastern Himalayan location.

The startling facts about Sikkim never seem to end. For starters, all of Sikkim lies in a mere 110 kms by 65 kms of mountains, peaks, glaciers, rivers and forests. A little dot on the map at latitude 27 degrees North and longitude 88 degrees East. Its 7,000-sq kms make it about as large as the National Capital Region of India! To the North and extending to the East of Sikkim, is Tibet / China and to the West is Nepal. To the South are the Himalayan and sub Himalayan regions of West Bengal.

It is, in fact these geographical extremes and the resulting ambience that makes mountaineers trek here, when they are not climbing, besides fuelling mountaineering dreams in the minds of trekkers, what with the closest possible proximity to magnificent peaks while trekking.

On the subject of trekking here, it is strange but true that acclimatisation is much tougher in Sikkim than elsewhere. It may have something to do with being closer in latitude to the Tropic of Cancer, besides the rather sharp stages involved in each day of trekking. The closeness to the Tropic of Cancer has meant that the snowline will always be much higher and therefore human settlements are seen even at altitudes of 16,000 feet!

Adapted from a travelogue by Ashish Kaul, Travel Writer

(a) On the basis of your understanding of the above passage, make notes on it using headings and sub-headings. Use recognizable abbreviations (wherever necessary-minimum four) and a format you consider suitable. Also supply an appropriate title to it.

(b) Write a summary of the passage in about 80 words.

You are Romi/Rohit, Sports Captain of Sunshine International School. Your school has organized a marathon to promote a cause. Design a visually appealing poster about this in about 50 words. Include all relevant details.

OR

You are the Dean, Admissions, MNT Professional College, Chandigarh. Draft an advertisement in about 50 words giving information about admission to undergraduate courses offered by your College. Include all relevant details.