(a) On the basis of your reading of the above passage make notes on it using headings

and subheadings.Use recognisable abbreviations and a format you consider suitable.

Also, supply a title to it.

1. Flexibility and mobility are essential not only to reduce the risk of injuries but to
generally feel better. Living a nine to five desk life can be demanding on health and
wellness. Here is how you can keep the most common problems at bay.

2. Even if you are not exercising you need to make sure that you maintain correct
posture and sit at your desk in the right way. It is important that your chair is placed
correctly and your legs are not left hanging. Proper alignment ensures that your neck
and back are not strained. Exercises and abdominal crunches two to three times a
week can strengthen the core. It will help take the pressure off your back and will
make it easier to maintain good posture. Chairs with a back that support your upper
back are preferable for those who work long hours in front of screens.

3. Constant typing, writing reports, and answering e-mails can exert your wrists
leading to long-term damage. The frequency of your use and how you position your
wrists at your keyboard can be a reason. The telltale signs of exertion would be a
tingling sensation or numbness. One should not ignore initial signs. Make sure that
you rest your wrist at regular intervals. To relieve tension quickly fold your hands in a
NAMASTE in front of your chest with elbows moving out and lower your hands till
you feel a good stretch in your wrists. Also rotating your fists inside and outside
provides much relief to strained wrists.

4. Since those who work on desks spend a lot of time looking at a computer screen,
they are at a risk of straining their eyes. This may also lead to dry eyes and fatigue.
Poor eyesight is the result of continued and improper exposure to screens. Keeping
the computer screen at an optimal distance helps a lot in minimising strain to eyes.
The screen shouldn’t be too close or too far. To ease eye strain use good lighting and
make it a point to look at a distance away from your screen every twenty to thirty
minutes.

Answer:
(a) Health and Wellness for Desk users

1. Correct posture

1.1 Place chair correctly for neck and back

1.2 Don’t hang legs
1.3 Excises & abdominal crunches
1.4 Choose chairs with support from upper back

2. Maintaining wrist flexibility

2.1 Wrong position can cause wrist damage, cause tingling
2.2. Relax wrists reg’ly in Namaste position and stretch
2.3 Rotate wrists inside and outside.

3. Preventing eye strain

3.1 Eye strain can cause dry eyes and fatigue

3.2 Keep computer screen at an optimal distance to prevent poor eyesight
3.3 Use good light’g
3.4 Look at a distant spot every 20-30 minutes.

Key to the Abbreviations Used

1. corr’ly – correctly
2. ex’cises – exercises
3. abdom’l – abdominal
4. damg – damage
5. reg’ly – regularly
6. light’g – lighting

Jahangir was born on 30 August 1569, to Akbar, the Mughal Emperor, and his Hindu
wife, Jodha Bai. He was crowned on 24 October 1605. In the twenty-two years, he
was Emperor, till his death on 28 October 1627, he had many battles to fight and
many rebellions to suppress. But he always found time for his greatest hobby-the
study of animals and plants. He was an avid bird watcher or an ornithologist as he
would be called now, and a keen naturalist. The care and accuracy with which
Jahangir described various characteristics of animals and birds, their geographical
distribution and behaviour, would have done credit to a full-time naturalist. His
observations are recorded in his memoirs, the Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri.

2. Jahangir had a small zoo and he would spend hours-sometimes days and nights
together-on his observations. For the first time in the history- of ornithology, he noted
how sarus cranes mate brood over their eggs in turn, and how chicks are hatched and
taken care of. He also observed one human quality in this bird: the parents love not
only their eggs and chicks but also each other.

3. The Emperor had several famous painters in his court. When he came across a rare
animal, bird or plant, he would instruct an artist to draw it. The painter who excelled
in this art was Ustad Mansur. For modern ornithologists, Jahangir’s collection of
paintings provides a strikingly accurate description of the natural history of the day.
Unfortunately, most of these paintings are no longer to be found in India. With the
disintegration of the Mughal Empire, foreign adventures looted this treasure. Most of
the paintings were thus lost.

4. In 1958, a Russian researcher, A Ivanoc, created a sensation when he discovered, a

rare portrait of the dodo, a large non-flying pigeon-like bird, which became extinct
about three centuries ago. This portrait was found in a collection of paintings at the
Institute of Orientalists of Soviet Academy of Sciences. There was no way of
identifying the painter, but the style, without doubt was that of Ustad Mansur. Now
there is evidence to show that it was the portrait of Mauritian dodo that was presented
to Emperor Jahangir around 1624. Over three centuries after their death, Jahangir and
his dodo made a dramatic reappearance in the world of ornithology!

5. Jahangir also loved gardens, but his dissertations in botany and horticulture were
mostly confined to how a lotus traps hornets or how saffron sprouts from soil.
However, he was responsible for the cultivation of high altitude trees such as the
cypress, juniper, pine and Javanse sandal in plains.

6. Jahangir had many other scientific interests. He once conducted an experiment to

show that the air of Mahmudabad (in Gujrat) was healthier than that of Ahmedabad.
He was fascinated by the movement of the stars and the planets and used to regularly
record the occurrence of solar and lunar eclipses. When a comet made its appearance,
he recorded the growth and decay of its tail.

(a) On the basis of your reading of the above passage, make notes on it in points.
Also, suggest a suitable title.

Emperor Jahangir: The Naturalist

1. An ornithologist & animal enthusiast

(i) described ch’stics distribution & behaviour of animals & birds
(ii) had a private zoo – observed sarus cranes’ behaviour as families

2. Documentation of observations
(i) rare animals, birds, plants were painted by skilled artists-Ustad Mansur,
outstanding artist
(ii) recorded observations in autobiography ‘Tuzuk-i-Jahangir i’
(iii) Mughal paintings looted by foreign adven’rs.
(iv) Portrait of Mauritian Dodo (presented to Emperor Jahangir in 1624) found by
Russian researcher A. Ivanoc in 1958

3. Other sci’fic interests

(i) wrote dissertations on botany, horticulture

(ii) cultiv’n of high altitude trees in plains
(iii) expts on air
(iv) movem’t of stars & planets, eclipses & comets

Key to abbreviations:

ch’stics – characteristics
adven’rs – adventurers
sc’fic – scientific
cultiv’n – cultivation
expts – experiments
move’mt – movement

Effective speaking depends on effective listening. It takes energy to concentrate on

hearing and to concentrate on understanding what has been heard. Incompetent
listeners fail in a number of ways. First, they may drift. Their attention drifts from
what the speaker is saying. Second, they may counter. They find counter-arguments to
whatever a speaker may be saying. Third, they compete. Then, they filter. They
exclude from their understanding those parts of the message which do not readily fit
with their own frame of reference. Finally, they react. They let personal feelings about
the speaker or subject overside the significance of the message which is being sent.

What can a listener do to be more effective. The first key to effective listening is the
art of concentration. If a listener positively wishes to concentrate on receiving a
message, his chances of success are high!

It may need determination. Some speakers are difficult to follow either because of
voice problems or because of the form in which they send a message. There is then a
particular need for the determination of a listener to concentrate on what is being said.

Concentration is helped by alertness. Mental alertness is helped by physical alertness.

It is not simply physical fitness but also positioning of the body, the limbs, and the
head. Some people also find it helpful to their concentration if they hold the head
slightly to one side. One useful way for achieving this is intensive notetaking, by
trying to capture the critical headings and subheadings the speaker is referring to.

Note-taking has been recommended as an aid to the listener. It also helps the speaker.
It gives him confidence when he sees that listeners are sufficiently interested to take
notes, the patterns of eye contact when the note taker looks up can be very positive;
and the speaker’s timing is aided he can see when a note-taker is writing hard and can
then make effective use of pauses.

Posture too is important. Consider the impact made by a less competent listener who
pushes his chair backward and slouches. An upright posture helps a listener’s
concentration. At the same time, it is seen by the speaker to be a positive feature
amongst his listeners. Effective listening skills . have an impact on both the listener
and the speaker.

(a) On the basis of your reading of the above passage make notes on it using headings
and subheadings. Use recognizable abbreviations wherever necessary and also suggest
a suitable title.

Answer:
(a) Effective Listening Leads to Effective Speaking

1. Incompetent listening
(a) attention drifts
(b) lis’nr counters arguments and competes
(i) filters msgs
(ii) reacts to the msg

2. How to listen effectively

(a) concentration is needed

(i) alertness helps in concentration
(ii) physical fitness → mental alertness

(b) Note-tkg aids effective listening

(i) lis’nr tries to capture the main pts
(ii) note-tkg helps the spkr too

(c) Determination is needed to

(i) overcome voice and other pecul iarities
(ii) decipher the form of the msg

(d) Posture helps

(i) upright posture of lis’nr helps in concentration
(ii) helps the spkr

3. Conclusion

Effective listening impacts the lis’nr and the spkr

Key to abbreviations:

lis’nr – listener
msg – message
tkg – taking
pts – points
spkr – speaker

1. Twenty-one-year-old Jyoti Amge, the smallest woman in the world, laughs easily
and often. Perhaps, from a height of twenty-three inches, the world does look a bit
funny.

Afflicted with achondroplasia, a form of pituitary dwarfism, 21-year-old Amge is a bit

shorter than her two-year-old nephew and a lad taller than her framed Guinness
certificate. In fact, Amge, the youngest of five, wasn’t even visible in her mother’s
womb. The doctors thought she wasn’t alive and her mother Ranjana, who underwent
a two-hour caesarian operation in her tenth month to birth her, welcomed her
youngest as a blessing. In all of Amge’s birthday pictures in the album, her height is
the same from age three to twenty-one. Kitted out in custom made frocks and bright
red lipstick; with fancy beads lining her permed hair, the tiny Amge turned heads in
Nagpur and became a hit with Hindi news channel crews that approached her for
bytes, any excuse would do, even the elections. Apart from a cameo in a Mika Singh
video, she appeared briefly on the reality show Big Boss 6.

“I have always wanted to be an actor,” says Amge. Amge was quick to say yes when
the producers of ‘American Horror Story’ Freak Show contacted her. “They had seen
my interview in a New York daily,” says Amge, who readily agreed to play the role of
Ma Petite, the miniature sari- and-bindi-clad assistant of a woman.

“In spite of the name the show was not about freaks it was about compassion,” says
Amge. “What makes the world so interesting in that we are different and some folks a
little bit odd,” she said. Sadly, Amge’s own home country does not seem to respect
differences. Amge’s brother complained that unlike the West where “people ask
permission before clicking a photo,” Indians take her privacy for granted. People look
at her like she’s a wonder, an ajooba and try to get too close to her. I have to shelter
her like a body guard, adds Satish.

Amge’s family members now make up her entourage. They help Amge, who suffered
an accident in Kashmir that severely fractured her left leg, with everything from
braiding her hair to carrying her to the washbasin. Be it the nearby mall or a trip to
China, one or more of them always accompany her.

(a) On the basis of your reading make notes on the above passage. Using
abbreviations where necessary. Give a suitable title to your notes.
(b) Write the summary of the passage in your words. Don’t forget to write the title.

Answer:
(a) 1. Jyoti Amge: The smallest woman in the world.
(i) only 23″ tall at 21 years of age
(ii) dwarf due to achondroplasia
(iii) was not visible in her mother’s womb
(iv) same ht from 3 to 21 years.

2. Media exposure
(i) Jyoti a hit on a Hindi news chnl in Nagpur
(ii) cameo in a Mika Singh video and Big Boss 6
(iii) ‘American Horror Story’ a Freak Show of the US

3. No respect for privacy in Ind

(i) Ppl stare at her
(ii) Fml has to shelter her or accompany her.

Key to abbreviations:

ht – height
chnl – channel
Ind – India
ppl – people
fml – family
Everyone needs a holiday, both to relax and to have a change of environment. The
holidaymakers feel relaxed and refreshed at the end of the holiday and look forward to
the resumption of their duties, be it at school, office, or factories, with renewed
vigour. This is the reason why all establishments grant their employees annual leave.
With the end of the academic year, the schools and universities grant their pupils a
long holiday during mid-summer. This lasts until early September when the new
school term starts. Of course, the parents will like to take advantage of this and take
their leave to coincide with the children’s vacations. This has become a traditional
holiday season in most European countries, particularly in England.

With the coming of August, the traditional holiday season in Britain reaches its peak
point and most of the holiday resorts are packed to capacity. In order to avoid the
crowd, some prefer to take their holiday a little earlier if facilities so warrant. Those
who have already taken their holidays can console themselves not only with
reflections on the happy days spent in the country, at the seaside or abroad but also
with the thought that holiday expenses are over for the year and that by taking an
earlier holiday they have missed the August rush.

The main thing, of course, is the weather and that would be hazardous to prophesy.
But whatever the weather is like, the essence of a holiday for most is the carefree
atmosphere in which it can be enjoyed. “Take all you need but leave your worries
behind” is the sound advice for the holidaymaker. Private worries are not always easy
to escape from. However, even the pessimist would admit that for the moment things
appear brighter than they have been.

Holiday time is surely a time for shedding serious pre-occupations and seeking the
pleasures that appeal to us. It is true that we may not always succeed in finding them,
indeed there are people who maintain that the great thing about the holiday is that it
gives you an ampler appreciation of home comforts – a view no doubt more widely
held among the elderly than you.

(a) On the basis of your reading the above passage, make notes using headings and
subheadings. Use recognizable abbreviations, wherever necessary. And also suggest a
suitable title for it.
(b) Write a summary of the above passage in not more than 80 words using the notes
made by you.
Answer:
(a) Importance of Holidays

1. Need for holidays

(i) holidays give relaxation to students and workers
(ii) establishments grant annual holidays
(iii) schools and univs give holidays mid-summer
(iv) Aug-Sept are holidays season in Europe, England

2. Aug-Sept peak holiday season

(i) resorts packed to capacity
(ii) some take early holidays in Aug.
3. Carefree atmosphere-the essence of holidays
(i) weather may be bad
(ii) private wor’s are difficult to forget
(iii) we shed wor’s during holidays
(iv) Holidays give us keener appr’cn of home comfort

Key to abbreviations:

Univs – universities
Aug – August
Sept – September
Wor’s – worries
Appr’cn – appreciation