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PASSAGE- 10
1. The novel coronavirus has given rise to a global pandemic that has destabilized most institutional settings.
While we live in times when humankind possesses the most advanced science and technology, a virus invisible
to the naked eye has massively disrupted our lives, economies, healthcare, and education systems worldwide.
Given the coronavirus's current situation, some households have also had time to introspect on gender roles and
stereotypes. For instance, women are expected to carry out household chores like cooking, cleaning, and
looking after the family. With men sharing household chores responsibilities during the lockdown period, it
gives hope that they will realize the burden that women have been bearing and will continue sharing such
responsibilities.
2. This tough period also gave people some time to reflect on the importance of keeping themselves fit. With
sufficient time in hand, people started investing their time learning new ways to exercise. Those who never
exercised before, giving excuses of busy lives, too developed some new habits of Yoga, Pranayam and
exercises during the lockdown period. These new habits and people's increased focus on their health, wellness
and immunity will surely change the way we lead our lives even in future.
3. The nature too healed itself during the lockdown period. Restricted human movement led to better air quality,
cleaner water bodies and joyful wildlife movements. The human beings, we hope, reflected during this time,
how some of their unconscious activities cause disruption in nature and worked out ways to adopt
environmental-friendly options for their activities in future. This situation also affected the education sector to a
great extent. It has forced us to shift from offline to online mode of teaching-learning process, almost
immediately without prior preparation. Is it giving us a peek into the reality ahead? Technology-enabled
teaching is definitely the future we are looking towards, but it is important to identify key challenges for
students and teachers in the current scenario. Once identified, academic leadership and the government can
address these through innovations in the focused areas to minimise the effect of pandemic on the education of
the students.
4. The current scenario has also affected our economies to the extent wherein many businessmen had to bear
heavy losses in their businesses. The governments and individuals need to take actions to mitigate risk and
minimize transmission while maintaining social and economic activities. However, relaxed control measures,
declining risk perception and the understandable desire to return to normalcy have led to reduced protective
behaviours and more social and workplace interactions, often in confined, close-contact settings, where the
virus spreads really fast.
5. It is our responsibility that we take all necessary precautions through mask-wearing, physical distancing,
hand hygiene as part of daily life. It is highly important to make these new behaviours part of our everyday
habits. Travelling to new places, casual café visits with a large bunch of friends, spending our weekends in
shopping, window-shopping and casual strolls, large gatherings in birthday parties and other celebrations will
require some modifications and patience to fit into "New Normal" keeping all the safety norms in mind. We are
sure that regular communication from authorities, improved understanding of individual responsibility and,
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subsequently, a greater willingness to adopt infection prevention practices can be a stepping stone to a "new
future".
Based on your understanding of the passage, answer the following questions.
(i) The outbreak of COVID-19 is called a pandemic because
(a) it has spread across the globe.
(b) it has spread across India.
(c) it is invisible to the naked eye.
(d) it has disrupted many institutional settings.
(ii) Choose the option that is NOT TRUE.
People, who never exercised before, started exercising during the lockdown period because
(a) they had sufficient time in hand.
(b) exercise was the only way to treat people from the novel coronavirus.
(c) people learnt new ways to exercise their body.
(d) people understood the importance of health and wellness in the face of the pandemic.
(iii) Which of the following has NOT led to reduced protective behaviours amongst people?
(a) relaxed control measures
(b) declining risk perception
(c) physical distancing
(d) understandable desire to return to normalcy
(iv) Which of the following is NOT an appropriate behaviour in the context of COVID-19?
(a) Wearing Mask
(b) Being in crowded places
(c) Washing hands
(d) Maintaining physical distancing
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(v) What does the phrase "stepping stone" in para 5 refer to?
(vi) A positive change was seen in nature during the lockdown period in terms of cleaner air and water
bodies because............ .
(vii) How did schools continue educating students during the pandemic?
(viii) During the lookdown period, men started sharing responsibilities related to household chores.
(True/False)
(ix) Select the option that makes the correct use of "disrupt" as used in para 1.
(a) He is a popular leader so many union members disrupt his decision.
(b) Climate change could disrupt the agricultural economy.
(c) She wants to improve her relationship with her brother so she attempted to disrupt with him.
(d) It is important for him to disrupt the odds in his favour if he wants to be successful in his plan.
(x) The word 'mitigate' as used in para 4 means.................
Answers:
(i)(a) it has spread across the globe
(ii) (b) exercise was the only way to treat people from the novel coronavirus.
(iii)(c) physical distancing
(iv) (b) Being in crowded places
(v) Something used as a way to progress
(vi) there was less human movement due to lockdown.
(vii) During the pandemic schools adopted online mode of teaching.
(viii) True
(ix) (b) Climate change could disrupt the agricultural economy.
(x) alleviate
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