You are Ajeet / Anika, a student of S.M. Public School, Delhi. You are concerned about the water crisis which has become very dangerous .Write a letter to the editor of a newspaper highlighting the need to provide water in drought hit areas and the dire need of creating awareness about the conservation of water through informative posters.

OR

You are Naman /Nalini. You feel that some of your friends are leading a life which is very harmful to their health as they use WhatsApp all the time and waste a lot of their valuable time. They prefer living alone in their rooms and do not communicate with the members of the family or relatives Write an article on 'Importance of Time Management” ' (100 -120 words)

Read the following passage given below –

Evolution has designated vultures to be the ultimate scavengers. Enormous wingspans allow them to circle in the air for hours. Their beaks, while rather horrifying, are weak by bird standards, made to scoop and eat flesh. However unappealing they may seem, vultures serve an important role in the ecological cycle: processing dead bodies of animals.

Only 20 years ago, India had plenty of vultures—flocks so enormous they darkened the skies. But by 1999, their numbers had dropped due to a mysterious kidney ailment. By 2008, 99.9 percent of India’s vultures were gone. It was finally discovered that they had been killed by a drug called diclofenac (a pain reliever along the lines of aspirin or ibuprofen). Indians revere their cows, and when a cow showed signs of pain, they treated it with diclofenac. After the animal died, the vultures would eat the corpse. And though they boast perhaps the world’s most efficient digestive system, vultures cannot digest the drug.

India banned the use of diclofenac for veterinary use in 2006, but it’s still widely used. The near extinction of vultures has caused a disease in the country, as rats and dogs moved in to take their place—spreading pathogens that would have otherwise been destroyed by the vultures

Vultures need large ranges to scan for food and undisturbed areas in which to nest. They also need an abundance of prey species since they rely more on chance than their own hunting skills to eat. All of these things have been reduced by human activity. Meanwhile, there is a dramatic increase in secondary poisoning. Vultures feed on carcasses laced with poison, intended to kill jackals or other predatory carnivores. Or they are poisoned by the lead in animals left behind by hunters.

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

1. Who are the natural scavengers?

2. How do the special beaks and wings work?

3. How did their numbers decrease?

4. Why do we need these ‘scavengers’?

5. Why do vultures need more prey?

6. Why are the dead bodies laced with poison?

7. What is ‘secondary poisoning’?

8. Give any two factors responsible for the death of vultures?

Read the passage given below:

1. Children in India live in diverse circumstances and have diverse needs and rights. Along with their need to be educated, healthy and skillful, they need, and have rights to adequate nutrition, to live in a safe and supportive environment, have opportunities to reach their optimal potential and generally lead healthy, joyful and fulfilling lives so that they can be productive and well-adjusted citizens of tomorrow.

2. Children in our country face many challenges. Many of them are first generation learners and face myriad problems throughout their schooling. They, due to the socio-economic and cultural determinants may be vulnerable in many ways. Peer pressure and lack of positive role models may prompt them to make unsafe and unhealthy choices. Anxiety and depression amongst the students, to the point of turning them suicidal, have been a cause of concern in the recent past.

3. Girls are more vulnerable and face discrimination at many levels from being unwelcome since birth to being pulled out of school for a variety of reasons. Dropping out of school, low motivation for academics and general disinterest in sports and physical activities too are some of the problems that need to be addressed. Child malnutrition is rampant in most parts of the country. This has an adverse bearing on their cognitive capacities, learning performance and physical capacity.

4. Our children have a right to age appropriate education, skills building, a safe and supportive environment, positive role models, empowerment, and friendly health services and counseling. Well informed and skilled children are likely to make better decisions concerning not only their careers and relationships, habits, physical and mental health, but will be successful and an asset to the society.

5. They also need to understand and deal with emerging issues like newly available career choices, pollution, water and energy conservation, global warming, protection of environment, terrorism and disasters. Dealing with anxiety and depression, negative peer pressure, violence, accidents, are some other significant issues that impact individuals health and also the social, economic and health indicators of the country. Gender sensitivity, prevention of female infanticide and good parenting are some important social issues that all children need to understand. Children require guidance and assistance - both covert and overt- from their Parents, Teachers, peers and society in general to complete the various "tasks" of development and deal with such issues.

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

a. What makes girls’ lives more challenging?

b. How does malnutrition affect the children?

c. How are well-informed children better than the other children?

d. What are the social issues which the children have to deal with?

e. Identify the meaning of the word:- ‘a great number’ (para2 )

a. Vulnerable

b. Determinant

c. Myriad

d. Peer pressure

f. Identify a word which means the same as “easily hurt” (para 3)

a. Vulnerable

b. Discrimination

c. Malnutrition

d. Motivation

g. Identify a word which means the same as ‘a valuable person or thing’(para 4)

a. Appropriate

b. Asset

c. Adverse

d. Cognitive

h. Identify a word which means the opposite of ‘ covered’ (para 5)

a. Covert

b. Overt

c. Energy

d. Conservation.

Complete the story in about 150 -200 words -----

My mother asked me to go to the market in the evening. Initially first I wanted to avoid but then thinking she needed milk for my little brother I left home reluctantly. I reached the market and was about to pay money for the milk, when suddenly I saw a ----------------------------------.

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

I was touched (e.g.) when I saw my neighbours sending off their son. I could understand their pain (a) -------------- their only son leaving home. It is always a difficult time for parents (b) -----------it is also inevitable. How long can you keep the birds in cages (c) ----------- their wings are strong and they are ready to fly.