According to the latest survey by UNICEF, almost half of all children under the age of three are underweight. Malnutrition is one of the biggest challenges the country is facing. Despite many schemes implemented by the government the situation is quite grim. Write a letter to the editor of a newspaper expressing your concern about malnutrition and the importance of counselling the parents about junk food and right eating habits. (100-120 words)

OR

The government has taken the initiative for cleaning the rivers especially the Ganges. The government has also urged the people of India to realize the dream of a ‘Clean India’. Write an article in about 100-120 words mentioning the measures people can take a cleaner and greener country.

Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow –

Big, bold and beautiful, the Rafflesia arnoldii boasts the title of the largest flower in the world and can grow to massive proportions, with a flower diameter of up to one meter (three feet) and a hefty weight of up to 11 kilograms (24 lbs). It might seem like a great gift for that special someone except that it's nicknamed the corpse flower and smells like rotting meat, so may not be quite as endearing as expected.

Resembling the coiled tentacles of an octopus up close, the stinky flower leaves such a lasting impression that it was once described by Swedish zoologist Eric Mjöberg in 1928 as having “a penetrating smell more repulsive than any buffalo carcass in an advanced stage of decomposition.” Nice. Technically a plant, although it has no leaves, stems or roots that the eye can see, the corpse flower relies on its strong perfume to attract insects that help with pollination. The other not so pleasant qualities of the flower are its parasitic tendencies; by living off the water and nutrients from the hapless Tetrastigma vine, the corpse flower is able to grow as large as it does. And whether it's considered a beauty, beast, or both, the lure of this bewitching flower is hard to resist. However, to be successful in a quest to find it, a few stars need to align. Found only in the dwindling rainforests of Sumatra and Borneo, pollination is rare and the bud death rate is high at 80-90%. The few buds that actually bloom take many months to do so, and when they do they last no more than a few days before dying. The good news is that there are great conservation efforts in place to protect the habitat of the Rafflesia species so future generations can experience the sight and smell of the largest flower on Earth

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

(1) Why Rafflesia is called the largest flower in the world?

(2) What is the nickname given to Rafflesia and why?

(3) Why cannot Rafflesia be used as a gift for someone

(4) How is its smell useful for the flower?

(5) Why Rafflesia is called a parasite?

(6) Where are the flowers Rafflesia generally found?

(7) Why is a Rafflesia in full bloom a rare sight?

(8) What efforts are being done to protect the flower and why?

Read the passage given below:

According to a survey, out of the world’s hundred richest people today, 27 are heirs and 73 are self-made. Of the self-made 18 have no college degrees and 36 are children of poor parents, but some billionaires had neither a degree nor wealthy parents. In other words, super-achievers are not born; they are self- made people. It is not external favour that makes one a super-achiever, but one’s own struggle. Super achievement is not got through inheritance, but is self- acquired success.

No one is a born billionaire, but everyone is a potential billionaire. It is the unfolding of one’s own potential that makes one a billionaire or super achiever. Nature does not discriminate between one person and another. Nature’s gifts come to everyone equally. It is the receiver himself who either utilizes them or not. So called deprived persons are in fact, privileged persons. Their state of deprivation serves as inner motivation when they see others are progressing, it creates a strong incentive in their mind. It is this incentive that makes a person super. It inculcates a strong urge in the individual to make something of his life.

Any state of deprivation brings about a kind brainstorming which enhances inner spirit. They enter the world of competition working to their full capacity. They develop the spirit of doing or die. It is this spirit that leads them to success.

There are numerous examples of one rising to a high position through one’s own struggle, while one’s children might have turned ‘dull’. The reason is simple. The parent started his life with the spirit of discontent; while his children started their lives with contentment. This reason is responsible for the difference between parents and children.

One who is born into a poor family and achieves success by way of struggle achieves one more thing, which is more important than wealth i.e. intellectual development. His circumstances automatically develop an intellectual struggle in his mind. This struggle unfolds his inner capacity, and consequently, he emerges an intellectually developed person.

The laws of nature are greater than everything else. They are eternal they cannot be changed. The law of nature in this regard says that it does not ease but difficulty, effort not facility makes achievers out of ordinary people. So the future is full of hope and opportunity!

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

i. How can deprived people become privileged people?

ii. How do the children of some successful parents become ‘dull’ according to the writer of this passage?

iii. Why does intellectual development take place faster in children of ‘poorer parents’?

iv. What is the message the author is trying to give in this passage?

v. Identify the meaning of the word “potential”

a. Latent qualities

b. Prospective

c. Possible

d. Probable

vi. Identify the word which means same as ‘incentive’

a. Motivation

b. Enticement

c. Consideration

d. Temptation

vii. Identify the word which means the same as ‘discontent’

a. Struggle

b. Dissatisfaction

c. Deprivation

d. Discrimination

viii. Identify the word which means the same as ‘eternal’

a. Intellectual

b. Ephemeral

c. Everlasting

d. Incentive

Nelson Mandela once said, “The greatest glory in living lies not, in never falling, but in rising every time you fall.” Write a short story about someone who failed at something but found the strength to get up, fight back and be successful.

OR

You move to a new house in a new locality. When you go to school and introduce yourself to your classmates they gasp in shock and horror when you tell them your address…

Write in about 150-200 words what had happened after you mentioned your address

Read the passage given below and fill in the blanks by choosing the most appropriate word from the given options.

The quality _________(a) quantity of sleep depend among other factors ______(b) the synchronization _________ (c) the body's internal clock with a sleeping and waking schedule.

(a)

a. and b. on

c. Of d. or

(b)

a. and b. on

c. of d. or

(c)

a. and b. on

c. of d. or