Read the following passage carefully.

“Mum!” I shouted. “Are you okay?” I saw her little tent shuddering in the gale and listened closely for her response. Her voice was almost casual: “Oh, yes, I’m fine.” That’s my mother. It was the first night of our cycling trip through the interior of Iceland—a region so remote and inhospitable that for centuries, according to legend, it was abandoned. The weather was decidedly hurricane-like, but Mum wasn’t concerned. Months ago, I told her about my plan to pedal across Iceland. “It will be really difficult,” I said. “The roads are unpaved and often washed out, and the wind is blowing constantly — sometimes so hard that it pushes you off the road.” There was silence for a moment. Then she asked, “Can I come?” “Sure,” I replied. “But like the rest of us, you have to train to do two 160 kilo metres a day back-to-back,” “Wow,” she said, “I could never do that.” I had more faith in my mother’s physical abilities than she did. I’d seen her raise six children and put in long hours doing physical labour on our small farm. “Sure you can,” I told her, “Start tomorrow.” What really concerned me was what 1 perceived to be her frustrating humility: I thought her too self-depreciating about her intellect just because she had not completed college. 1 felt she underestimated her attractiveness just because she was not the type to wear makeup or fancy clothes. As I had grown into adulthood, the life I’d chosen seemed light-years away from Mum’s quiet existence, still caring for her children and her children’s children. Sometimes, on a visit home, I’d describe some recent trip I’d taken, and her blue eyes would shine with interest. So I couldn’t help thinking this trek might revitalize Mum, who had started to slow down in her 50s. It might spice up what I saw as her humdrum life. And it might be a boost to her tentative and retiring persona. Mum trained furiously, months in advance. As the trip roster was pared down to Mum, my good friend Allen and me, she stood as the most dedicated. Soon she was riding 80-100 kilo metres per day, and was as strong a rider as Allen or I.

On the basis of your reading of the passage, answer the following questions briefly:

(a) How does the narrator describe the weather and road conditions in Iceland?

(b) What training did the adventure cycling trip require? Why did the narrator have faith in his mother’s physical ability to undertake the trip?

(c) In what way did the narrator think the trip would help his mother?

(d) When were the narrator and his friend sure about his mum’s preparation?

Read the following passage carefully.

We sat in silence in the dark of the night as the large head appeared from the large foliage. The female, was young, healthy and alert. Seconds later, she walked confidently to the edge of a waterhole followed by not one, not two, but three beautiful young cubs. Like works of art on display, all four tigers bent low at the waterhole that had been created for them and for the myriad creatures that shared their troubled kingdom. The Goshri tigers had come visiting and we watched them with rapt attention on our closed-circuit TV screens, in the conservation retreat of Harsh and Poonam Dhanwatey, a husband and wife team whose life had been dedicated to the protection of tigers in and around Maharashtra’s Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve. Their son Nikhii carefully positioned the cameras and cabled them 40 metres from their conservation retreat, near the waterhole that had turned into a magnet for every conceivable animal found in the Tiger Reserve itself. We were making preparations to set up one of the first Community Conservation Reserves in Central India. Originally into business, the Dhanwatevs changed tracks midstream by shutting down a thriving interior design business in response to just one meeting they had with Dr. Ullas Karanth and Valmik Thapar, two of India’s finest tiger people, in Nagpur. In their own words: “From admirers of wildlife we became passionate defenders and we launched our non- governmental organization called Tiger Research and Conservation Trust (TRACT).” The Dhanwatevs lived for years in a small hut that was their field camp near the famous Tadoba Lake and they discovered the secrets of the forest in the best way possible, by walking its trails, and generally learning all they could about the magical mix of life that comprised this tropical, dry deciduous forest.

Based on your reading of the passage, complete the following sentences with appropriate words/phrases:

(a) The narrator and the others watched with rapt attention as the

(b) Harsh and Poonam Dhanwatey had dedicated their lives to the cause of

(c) Before taking up the cause of tigers the Dhanwateys were .

(d) The waterhole is referred to as a magnet because

(e) The narrator had gone to the Tiger Reserve to

(f) The meeting with Dr. Ullas Karanth and Valmik Thapar changed the lives of

(g) The Dhanwateys discovered the secrets of the forest by

(h) TRACT stands for

Read the following passage carefully.

“Mum!” I shouted. “Are you okay?” I saw her little tent shuddering in the gale and listened closely for her response. Her voice was almost casual: “Oh, yes, I’m fine.” That’s my mother. It was the first night of our cycling trip through the interior of Iceland—a region so remote and inhospitable that for centuries, according to legend, it was abandoned. The weather was decidedly hurricane-like, but Mum wasn’t concerned. Months ago, I told her about my plan to pedal across Iceland. “It will be really difficult,” I said. “The roads are unpaved and often washed out, and the wind is blowing constantly — sometimes so hard that it pushes you off the road.” There was silence for a moment. Then she asked, “Can I come?” “Sure,” I replied. “But like the rest of us, you have to train to do two 160 kilo metres a day back-to-back,” “Wow,” she said, “I could never do that.” I had more faith in my mother’s physical abilities than she did. I’d seen her raise six children and put in long hours doing physical labour on our small farm. “Sure you can,” I told her, “Start tomorrow.” What really concerned me was what 1 perceived to be her frustrating humility: I thought her too self-depreciating about her intellect just because she had not completed college. 1 felt she underestimated her attractiveness just because she was not the type to wear makeup or fancy clothes. As I had grown into adulthood, the life I’d chosen seemed light-years away from Mum’s quiet existence, still caring for her children and her children’s children. Sometimes, on a visit home, I’d describe some recent trip I’d taken, and her blue eyes would shine with interest. So I couldn’t help thinking this trek might revitalize Mum, who had started to slow down in her 50s. It might spice up what I saw as her humdrum life. And it might be a boost to her tentative and retiring persona. Mum trained furiously, months in advance. As the trip roster was pared down to Mum, my good friend Allen and me, she stood as the most dedicated. Soon she was riding 80-100 kilo metres per day, and was as strong a rider as Allen or I.

Choose the most appropriate meaning of the given word from the options provided:

(a) The word ‘perceived’ means

(i) associate (ii) acknowledge (iii) pressurize (iv) notice/ become aware of

(b) The word ‘revitalize’ means

(i) to pause (ii) to enjoy (iii) to give new life (iv) to end something

(c) The word ‘tentative’ means ..

(i) hesitant/not certain (ii) sure/ certain (iii) tense (iv) tempted

(d) The word ‘abandoned’ means

(i) to give up/leave behind (ii) to choose (iii) to accept something

You have noticed many stray animals on the road during the busy hours of the day. Write a letter to the editor of a leading newspaper about the nuisance created by the stray animals. Sign your name as Kriti/ Krishna. (100-120 words)

While reading the newspaper, you came across the following news items.

Such incidents deter tourists from visiting the country. Based on the information given above, and using the ideas from the Unit ‘Travel and Tourism’ and your own, write an article for a national newspaper in about 100-120 words on the subject offering suggestions for improving tourist facilities. Also give a suitable title.