PROGRESSIVE

COMPREHENSION
FOR THE CERTIFICATE
By

D.H. HOWE and DOROTHY HEAPY

RAY ENGLISH COURSE

Dipakai untuk kalangan sendiri

Contents Page

1. On the Air .......................................................... 2

2. The Deaf Musician ............................................. 7
3. Wisdom’s Friend................................................. 11
4. The Summit ....................................................... 15
5. Show .................................................................. 20
6. Down a Coal Mine .............................................. 23
7. The Tape Recorder.............................................. 27
8. A Shocking Accident .......................................... 50
9. Television ........................................................... 57
[Link] Human Heart............................................... 64
[Link] ........................................................... 71
[Link] for Actors ............................................... 78
[Link] .............................................................. 85
[Link] Old Style ..................................... 92
[Link] ............................................................... 99
[Link]........................................................ 106
[Link] ............................................................. 112
[Link] Child at Five ................................................ 120
[Link] Detectives................................................. 128
[Link] a Career ............................................. 135

2
[Link], Intelligence, and Reason...................... 142

1. 0N THE AIR

At last, the great moment arrives. The television play goes

‘on the air’. The sets have all been dressed and lit during
the studio rehearsals. The artistes to make the first
appearance are in position on the opening set. The rest of
the cast are standing by, waiting.
5 The cameras are in their place as laid down in the camera
script, all ready to take pictures.
Cables snake across the floor of the studio between a
mass of equipment. Lights are blazing and microphones
dangling from the ends of the booms. Perhaps twenty or
thirty people (apart from the actors and actresses) are
10 quietly moving about the studio–stage hands, firemen,
property men, make up girls, and various technicians of
different types.
The director says a few words to his cast and production
assistant. He then goes into the control gallery
overlooking the studio to direct the performance with his
team of assistants. Very soon, a red light comes on in
15 the studio. This is warning from the engineers that they
are ready to connect the studio to the ‘network’ – the
system, which will carry the sound and vision signals to
the transmitting station. Immediately, the red light comes
on, there is complete silence. Everyone feels a little tense.
Seconds seems like hours as they wait for the play begins.
After a few second, two
20 signs light up ‘Sound–On and Vision–On’. The studio has
been connected to the network and is alive.
The producer gives an instruction to the production
assistant on the ‘intercom’. ‘Cue artistes’, says their
producer. The production gives a signal the play begins.

3
25 The artistes say their first line and the first pictures are
taken…As the play proceeds, the dolly operators move
their cameras silently across the studio floor, and the
cameramen take pictures from all angles. Working to their
camera script, they move from set to set for the different
scenes, and take thousands of pictures.
30 As the various cameras move about the studio, the ‘shots’
from each of the four (or whatever number it may be)
appear on their respective television screens in the
control gallery. The director watches the screens most
critically and selects the pictures in the correct order for
transmission.
Switching from camera to camera, he selects the pictures
as they are
35 required to cover the action, and they are transmitted
within a split second of their being taken. And also the
television play comes on to your screen.

1. General Understanding
a). Choose the best answer.
(i) ‘The sets have all been dressed…
This mean….
a. Scenery, etc, has been put into place on the set.
b. The lights have been turned on.
c. The artistes are wearing suitable clothes.
d. The cameras are in position on the sets.
(ii) By ‘the opening set’ the writer means…
a. The artistes to make the first appearance.
b. The first pictures.
c. The place where the first scene is to be acted.
d. The beginning of the play.
(iii) Which of the following is nearest in meaning to
‘cast’?
a. Painters c. Actors and actresses
b. Camera operators d. Stage hands
(iv) When the red light comes on, this means that…

4
 a. The sound and vision signals are being broadcast.
b. The studio will soon be connected to the network.
c. The studio is ‘alive’.
d. The play has begun.
(v) Which of the following is nearest in meaning to
‘tense’?
a. Nervous c. Impatient
b. Bored d. Worried
(vi) A ‘cue’ is…
a. A signal to begin c. A letter
b. An instruction d. A line of people
(vii) The cameramen move from one set to another
according to the…
a. Camera c. Signs which light up
b. Control gallery d. Production assistant’s signal
(viii) The director’s task is to…
a. cue the artistes c. switch on the cameras.
b. transmit the pictures d. decide which picture is
to be transmitted
b). Some of the following statements, based on the
passage, are true, but some are false. Pick out the
false statements and explain why they are so.
(i) The people taking part in a play are known as the
‘cast’.
(ii) There are no more than thirty people in the
studio at one time.
(iii) The studio can be seen from the control gallery
only on television screens.
(iv) When there is complete silence, the red light
comes on.
(v) Only one camera at a time takes pictures.

2. Vocabulary
a) Give true meaning of each of the following as used in
the passage. You may give a word or short phrase.
(i) artistes (iv) tense

5
 (ii) mass (v) from all angles
(iii) transmitting (vi) various

b) For each of the four words given below compose a

sentence of at least ten words, in which the words is
used unchanged in form but with a different meaning
from its meaning in the passage.
(i) set (iii) tense

(ii) cast (iv) screen

3. Comprehension Questions
a) What does ‘on the air’ mean?
b) Explain what a ‘camera script’ is!
c) With what are the cables on the studio floor compared?
d) What are the duties of:
(i) Stage hands?
(ii) Property men?
(iii) Make up girls?
e) Why do ‘seconds seem like hours’?
f) We are told that the studio is ‘alive’. What does this
mean?
g) Explain the meaning of ‘respective’.
h) Why does the director watch the screens ‘most
critically’?

4. Summarizing
a) In not more than 60 words, describe the scene in the
studio before the red light comes on.
b) In not more than 40 words, explain what the producer
(director) does.

5. Language Practice
a) Complete these sentences by adding suitable
preposition or adverbial particles.
6
 (i) Some of the artistes are … position and the
others are standing … waiting.
(ii) The camera script lays…instruction for the
cameramen.
(iii) People appearing …television have their faces
made.
(iv) Everyone is quiet when the red light…
(v) When all is ready, two signals light…
(vi) Pictures are taken several different angles…the
same time.
(vii) The director decides … which picture shall be
transmitted.

b) 1 2
The artistes are in position on the
opening set.
Compose sentences like this one using the following
words in place on the ones in the boxes:

1 2
(i) The players on the field
(ii) The chess on the board
pieces on the parade ground
(iii) The soldiers on each side of the road
(iv) The bandits on the shelf
(v) The books

Example:
(i) The players are in position on the field.

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 2. THE DEAF MUSICIAN

Although Beethoven could sit down and make up music

easily, his really great compositions did not come easily at
all. They cost him a great deal of hard work. We know how
often he wrote and corrected his work because his
notebooks are still kept in museums and libraries. He
always found it
5 hard to satisfy himself.
When he was 28, the worst difficulty of all came to him.
He began to notice a strange humming in his ears. At first,
he paid little attention; but it grew worse, and at last, he
consulted doctors. They gave him the worst news any
musician can hear; he was gradually going deaf.
Beethoven was in despair,
10 he was sure that he was going to die.
He went away to the country, to a place called
Heilingestadt, and from there he wrote a long farewell
letter to his brothers. In this, he told them how depressed
and lonely his deafness had made him. It was impossible
for me to ask men to speak louder or shout, for I am deaf,
he wrote. How could I
15 possibly admit an infirmity in the one sense (hearing)
which should have been more perfect in me than in
others…I must live like an exile! He longed to die and said
to the death, “Come when you will, I shall meet you
bravely.”
In fact, Beethoven did something braver than dying. He
gathered his
20 courage and went on writing music, though he could hear
what he wrote only more and more faintly. He wrote his
best music, the music we remember him for, after he
became deaf. The music he wrote was very different from
any that had been composed before. Instead of the

8
 elegant and stately music that earlier musicians had
written for their wealthy
25 listeners. Beethoven wrote stormy, exciting, revolutionary
music, which reminds us of his trouble and courageous
life. He grew to admire courage more than anything, and
he called one of his symphonies the ‘Ercica’ or heroic
symphony, ‘to celebrate the memory of a great man’.
Describing the dramatic opening notes of his famous Fifth
Symphony, he said, “Thus fate
30 knocks on the door.”
In time Beethoven went completely deaf, so deaf that he
could not hear even the stormiest parts of his exciting
music. But in those years, he wrote more gloriously than
ever. He could ‘hear’ his music with his mind, if not with
his ears. His friends had to write down what they wanted
to say to
35 him. He was lonely and often unhappy, but in spite of this,
he often wrote joyful music. In his last symphony, the
Ninth, a choir sings a wonderful Hymn of joy. Because of
his courage and determination to overcome his terrible
disaster, his music has given joy and inspiration to
millions of people.

1. General Understanding
a) Choose the best answer.
(i) In the first paragraph, we are told that
Beethoven found that writing great music…
a. was easy c. was straight forward
b. was difficult d. was expensive
(ii) A museum is a place for keeping…
a. Manuscripts of famous musical compositions.
b. All kinds of books.
c. Objects which are examples of history, art,
science, etc.
d. The notebooks of famous people.

9
 (iii) To say that Beethoven was ‘in despair’ means
that he…
a. was very frightened c. had given up hope
b. was unhappy d. was in great pain
(iv) Beethoven knew that he was going to deaf…
a. on his twenty – eight birthday
b. when he could not hear himself humming a tune.
c. when he heard a humming noise
d. when the doctors told him
(v) An exile is a person who…
a. cannot hear properly
b. has been sent away from his country
c. is suffering from a serious illness
d. is depressed and lonely
(vi) In the fourth paragraph, we are told that
Beethoven…
a. died bravely
b. wrote more faintly
c. courageously continued to write music
d. regained his hearing
(vii) Which of these words best describe Beethoven’s
music after his hearing began to fail?
a. stately c. elegant
b. turbulent d. loud

b) Which of these statements it untrue, according to the

writer? Explain why !
(i) Beethoven consulted a doctor as soon as he
heard the humming in his ears.
(ii) Beethoven did not allow his deafness to make
him unhappy.
(iii) Beethoven’s deafness changed his view of life.
(iv) When Beethoven eventually went completely
deaf, his friends had to write his music for him.

2. Vocabulary
10
 a) For each of the following, give a word or phrase that
could be substituted without changing the meaning.
(i) make up (iii) infirmity
(ii) depressed (iv) elegant
b) Explain the meaning of these phrases using the italic
words.
(i) His really great compositions did not come
easily.
(ii) Gathered his courage.
(iii) He grew to admire courage.
(iv) His music has given joy and inspiration to
millions of people.
(v) We are told that Beethoven often rewrote his
work i.e. wrote it again. How many words can
you think of beginning with remaining ‘again’?

3. Comprehension Questions
a) Explain clearly and fully in your own words how we
knew that Beethoven worked hard at his great
compositions.
b) What is a ‘perfectionist’?
c) Why do you think Beethoven went away to
Heiligenstadt?
d) Why did the earlier musicians write ‘elegant and
stately music’?
e) Why did Beethoven write ‘story, exciting, revolutionary
music’?
f) Explain the most surprising feature of Beethoven’s
music after he became deaf.

4. Summarizing
In about 100 words, describe how fate knocked on the
door of Beethoven and how he became responded.

5. Language Practice
11
a) Complete these sentences by adding prepositions or
adverbial particles.
(i) Another phrase for compose is ‘make…’
(ii) When Beethoven heard that he was going to be
deaf, he was …despair.
(iii) Even though he could not hear, he went…writing
music.
(iv) We remember Beethoven mainly…his later
music.
(v) His later music was very different…the music he
wrote before his deafness.
(vi) His revolutionary music reminds us…his own
misfortune.
b) Complete these sentences by adding the present
simple, present perfect or past tenses of the verbs
given in brackets.
(i) Beethoven (have) to work at his great
compositions. They (cost) him a great deal of
effort. We (know) this because of his notebooks.
(ii) Beethoven (write) his best music after he
became deaf and this (be) the music we
remember him for.
(iii) The later music that he (write) was exciting and
revolutionary and it (remind) us of the dreadful
misfortune he (suffer).
(iv) Although he often (feel) unhappy, his music (be)
often joyful. His last symphony for examples,
(contain) a Hymn of Joy.
c) It was impossible for me to ask men to speak louder.
Make up six sentences like this one, using your own
words.

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 3. WISDOM’S FRIEND

The Greek word for wisdom is ‘sophia’ and ‘philos’ means

a friend. So ‘philosopher’ means a friend of wisdom, and
this is the best possible description of Socrates, who was
one of the wisest and bravest teachers the world has ever
known.
5 Socrates lived in Athens, nearly 500 years before the birth
of Christ. He was not born important or rich, and indeed
all his life he was poor, for he never asked his pupils to
pay for what he taught them. He taught for the love of
wisdom not for money.
And what he had to say was always new and worth
hearing. Before his time,
10 most philosophers had been interested in studying what
he would now call magic or superstition. Socrates, on the
other hand, was interested in how ordinary people ought
to behave and think. He did not just tell his pupils what he
thought they should do – in fact, he was fond of saying
that he himself knew nothing. Instead, he would ask them
endless questions
15 about what they thought and believed; then he would talk
about their answers and make them talk too. He would
cunningly lead the conversation round in such a way that
at the end of it, people would suddenly see for themselves
what was really true and right. They would feel they had
worked it out for themselves – which of course Socrates
had helped them to do –

13
20 and would feel much more sure of it than if Socrates had
just told what to think and do, without helping them to
see the reasons why.
Socrates taught that the man who is master of himself is
truly free. By being master of oneself, he meant first
knowing oneself, one’s faults and weaknesses and one’s
good points, without making any pretence and
25 without being vain, and then being able to control oneself.
This knowledge of himself was what helped a man to be
courageous, and the courageous man has a very
important sort of freedom: freedom for fear. Socrates
himself, because he was not afraid of the consequences,
always felt free to teach what he thought was right,
however, unpopular this might make him
30 with the powerful people in Athens.
No wonder all his pupils loved Socrates. But he made
some dangerous enemies by his strange ways of teaching
and asking questions. Some of the rulers in Athens did not
like people to be encouraged to ask too many questions
for fear they would begin asking questions about what
their rulers
35 were doing. So they accused Socrates of teaching young
men wicked things and leading them to throw off their
religion. This was false, for in fact, Socrates was a very
religious man. At last, his enemies had him arrested, and
he was condemned to death.
During the 30 days that lay between Socrates’ trial and
execution, his
40 friends and pupils were allowed to spend a great deal of
time with him in his prison.
They were astonished to find that he was calm and
cheerful and seemed to have no fear of dying. He talked
to them and taught them just as he used to in the streets
and market places of the city. One of his pupils, Crito,
bribed

14
45 to gaoler to let him escape, but even then he would not
go.
The Greeks’ way of executing people was to make them
drink a cup of hemlock, which is deadly poison. When the
hemlock was brought up to Socrates, his friends were in
tears, but Socrates took the cup quietly and drank it as if
it were a glass of wine at a banquet.

1. General Understanding
a) Choose the best answer
(i) According to the writer, Socrates was…
a. Poor. c. unimportant
b. Rich d. a Christian
(ii) In the first paragraph, we are told that Socrates
was…
a. friendly c. a good friend
b. wise and friendly d. very wise
(iii) Which of these statements about Socrates is
true?
a. He never said anything; he merely asked
questions.
b. He was not interested in magic or superstition.
c. He himself knew nothing.
d. His pupils asked many questions.
(iv) ‘Lead the conversation round’ means that
Socrates…
a. Did most of the talking
b. Always began the conversation
c. Kept the conversation going
d. Guided the conversation
(v) Which of these statements is NOT true, according
to the teaching of Socrates?
a. To be free from fear on must be able to control
oneself.
b. To control oneself must understand oneself.
c. A courageous man may have some weaknesses.

15
 d. A courageous man is free from consequences.
(vi) Socrates was arrested because…
a. The rulers of Athens were jealous of his
popularity.
b. He taught wicked things to the young men.
c. He attacked religion
d. He encouraged people to ask questions.
(vii) The main idea of the last paragraph but one
(beginning ‘During the 30 days…) is that…
a. Socrates was tried and executed.
b. His friends and pupils spent a lot of time with
him.
c. Socrates was unaffected by the thought of death.
d. Socrates could have escaped but he did not.

b) Some of the following statements, based on the

passage, are true, some ore false. Pick out the false
statements and say briefly how you know they are
false.
(i) Socrates was the wisest and bravest teacher the
world has ever known.
(ii) Socrates helped people to see the reasons why
they should behave in certain way.
(iii) Socrates taught that understanding other people
is the first step towards becoming courageous.
(iv) Everyone loved Socrates.
(v) The rulers of Athens did not like their actions to
be discussed.
(vi) Socrates made no attempt to avoid death.

2. Vocabulary
a) Give the meaning of each of the following as if it used
in the passage. You may use EITHER one – word
answers OR short phrases.
(i) superstition (vi) consequences
(ii) ordinary (vii) condemned

16
 (iii) endless (viii) bribed
(iv) cunningly (ix) banquet
(v) master
b) Explain briefly in your own words with particular
reference to the words in underlined:
(i) They would feel that they had worked it out for
themselves.
(ii) ‘….without making any pretence and without
being vain…’
(iii) No wonder all his pupils loved Socrates.

3. Comprehension Questions
a) Why did Socrates die a poor man? (Your answer should
contain two points)
b) In what way did Socrates’ interests differ from those of
earlier philosophers?
c) Why did Socrates ask so many questions?
d) How did Socrates show that be himself was free from
far? (Your answer should contain two points.)
e) Explain in your own words why Socrates was
condemned to death.
f) Why do you think the rulers accused him of leading the
young men to throw off their religion?

4. Summarizing
a) Describe Socrates’ method of teaching. Do not use
more than 60 words.
b) Explain in not more than 50 words what Socrates
meant by ‘the man who is master of himself is truly
free’.

5. Language Practice
a) Supply suitable tenses of the verbs given in brackets.
‘Philosopher’ (mean) a friend of wisdom. Since
Socrates (be) one of the wisest and bravest teachers the
worlds (know), this (be) a good description of him. He
17
 (live) in Athens. All his life (be) poor for he never
(expect) his pupils to pay for what he (teach) them.
Earlier philosophers (be) interested in magic or
superstition but Socrates (be) interested in the lives of
ordinary people. Even today, Socrates (be) remembered
as a great teacher and his method of teaching (be) still
used.

b) Supply suitable tenses of the verbs given in brackets.

Notice that all in the passive form. The first has been
done for you.
Socrates was accused of teaching wicked things. He
(arrest) and (condemn) to death. His friends (allow) to
visit him in prison and they (astonish) to find him calm
and cheerful. A gaoler (bribe) to let him escape but
Socrates would not go. In those days, when a man
(condemn) to death, he (execute) by being made to
drink poison. Hen the poison (bring) to Socrates, his
friend (overcome) by grief, but he took the cup and
drank it quietly.

4. THE SUMMIT

In 1953, the year Queen Elizabeth was crowned; man

finally set foot on the highest point in the world – Mounts
Everest was climbed. The two men who finally
accomplished what so any others had failed to do were
Edmund Hillary and the Nepalese mountain guide, Sherpa
Tenzing. James Morris, a
5 journalist who was writing an account of the expedition for
the London ‘Times’, tells here now he and his companions,
waiting on the slopes of Everest, caught sight of the

18
 climbers returning from the final attempt on the summit:
had it been success or failure? I rushed to the door of the
tent, and there emerging from a little gully, not more than
five hundreds yards
10 away, were four worn figures in windproof clothing. As a
man, we leapt out of the camp and up the slopes, our
boots sinking and skidding in the soft snow, Hunt wearing
his big dark snow-goggles, Gregory with the bobble on the
top of his cap jiggling as he ran, Bourdillon with braces
outside his shirt, Evans with the rim of his hat turned up in
front to like
15 American stevedores. Wildly we ran and slithered up the
snow, and the Sherpas, emerging excitedly from their
tents, ran after us.
I could not see the returning climbers very clearly, for the
exertion of running had steamed up my goggles, so that I
looked ahead through a thick mist. But I watched them
approaching dimly, with never a sign of success
20 or failure, like drugged man. Down they trampled,
mechanically, and up we raced trembling with
expectation. Soon I could not see a thing for the steam, so
I pushed the goggles up from my eye; and just as I
recovered from the sudden dazzle of the snow, I caught
sight of George Lowe, leading the party down the hill. He
was raising his arm and waving as he
25 walked! It was thumbs up! Hillary brandished his ice axe
in weary triumph. Tenzing slipped suddenly side ways,
recovered and shot us a brilliant white smile, and they
were among us, back from the summit, with men shaking
their hands and embracing them, laughing, smiling,
crying, taking photographs, laughing again, smiling again,
till the noise and the delight of
30 it all rang down the slope and set the Sherpas, following
us up the hill, laughing in anticipation.
We moved into the big tent, and sat round the summit
party, throwing questions at them, still laughing; unable

19
 to believe the truth. Everest was climbed, and these two
mortal men in front of us, sitting on old boxes, had
35 stood upon its summit, the highest place on earth! And
nobody knew but us! The day was still dazzling bright, the
snow so white, the sky so blue; and the air was still
vibrant with excitement and the news, however, much we
expected it, was still somehow such a wonderful surprise-
shock waves of that moment must still linger up there, so
potent were they, and so glorious-
40 ly charged with pleasure. The whole world knows the story
now: how the two of them had spent a terrible night in the
tiny tent of Camp IX, crookedly pitched on an
uncomfortable ridge, one half of the floor higher than the
other; how they had struggled and talked and dreamed
the night away, eating sardines. How early on the morning
of May 29th they had crept
45 out of the tent, to find the day fine and clear, so that the
monastery could be seen there, ten miles away and
19,000 feet below. And the little lake; how they had
laboured along the last ridge, and hauled themselves a
brutal chimney, and expected each successive bump to
be the summit, until at last, at 11.30 in the morning, they
had found themselves truly at the top, with
50 the flags they carried fluttering in the breeze.
Tensing had placed some small offerings on the ground, to
propitiate the divinities suppose to live on that
mountaintop. They had embraced each other, and taken
photographs, and eaten some mint cake; and after fifteen
minutes on the summit, they had turned and begun the
downward climb. ‘
55 “What did I feel like when we got there? Well, I’ll tell you,
though I don’t know if Tenzing agrees; when we found it
really was the summit at last, I heaved a sigh of relief, and
that’s fact. No more steps to cut! No more ridges to
traverse! It was a great relief for me, I can tell you. D’you

20
 agree, Tenzing?” And Tenzing, his hat pushed back on his
head, his face
60 permanently wreathed and crinkled with smiles, laughed
and nodded and ate his omelette, fine sight, sitting there
in his moment of triumph.
1. General Understanding
a) Choose the best answer.
(i) ‘Accomplished’ means…
a. succeeded in doing c. did so well
b. set out to do d. did together
(ii) Which one of the following could be used to
replace ‘summit without change of meaning?
a. mountain c. steepest slope
b. highest mountain d. top level
(iii) Why do you think the returning climbers at first
gave no sign of success or failure?
a. They had been taking drugs.
b. They were too tired.
c. They could not see the men waiting for them
d. They were afraid of slipping.
(iv) The writer wore goggles…
a. because he had poor eyesight.
b. to help him see through the mist.
c. to keep out the cold.
d. to protect his eyes from the brightness of the
snow.
(v) ‘embracing them’ means…
a. congratulating them c. dancing with them
b. thanking them d. putting their arms around
them
(vi) The phrase ‘laughing in anticipation’ tells us that
the Sherpas below…
a. were amused at the sight
b. had guessed what had happened
c. were laughing because Tenzing has slipped
d. did not know why they were laughing.

21
 (vii) The phrase ‘the summit party’ refers to…
a. the food they were eating
b. the men who just returned.
c. the celebration
d. that part of the mountain.

b) Decide which of the following statements, based on the

passage, are false and explain why.
(i) No one had ever tried to climb Mount Everest
before.
(ii) The returning climbers could not be seen very
clearly because they were walking through a
thick mist.
(iii) The climbers looked as if they had been drugged.
(iv) The gesture ‘thumbs up!’ is a signal of victory.
(v) When the writer went to meet the climbers, the
Sherpas were between him and the climbers.
(vi) The writer and his companions had not expected
the climbers to succeed.
(vii) The summit of the mountain had been in clear
view of the climbers all the time.
(viii) When they reached the top, they found flags
flying there.

2. Vocabulary
Give the meaning of each of the following words or
phrases as used in the passage. In the case of single
words, you may give either one-word answers or short
phrases.
(i) emerging (v) vibrant
(ii) as a man (vi) potent
(iii) exertion (vii) propitiate
(iv) ahead (viii) traverse

3. Comprehension Questions

22
 a) The word ‘rushed (1.8) suggests the eagerness of the
writer and his companions to learn whether the
attempt had been successful. What other words or
phrases in the second paragraph are convey the same
idea?
b) Explain what impression you receive from the word
‘mechanically’?
c) What is the meaning of mortal? Why does the writer
use this word?
d) Suggest three adjectives to describe the feelings of the
party when the climbers returned.
e) What particular reason did the writer have for inquiring
about the climbers’ feeling when they reached the
summit?

4. Summarizing
a) Write an account in about eight lines of the return of
the climbers from the point when the writer rushes out
to see them until they move into the big tent.
b) Describe in about 80 words the two climbers’ ‘terrible
night’ and their successful climb the next morning.

5. Language Practice
a) Give suitable verb form for the words in brackets.
(More than one answer may be possible).
(i) Morris rushed into the door of the tent and …
(see) the climbers… (come) out of the little gully.
Although he …(do) not know it then, they …
(climb) Mount Everest.
(ii) Morris could not see the …(return) climbers very
clearly his goggles …(be) steamed up.
(iii) The leader of the party was raising his arm and
…(wave) as he walked. The summit …(be)
reached!

23
 (iv) Now everyone …(know) the whole story but at
that time only the members of the expedition …
(know) that they…(accomplish) their mission.
(v) Several attempts …(be made) to climb Everest
before but none …(succeed). The 1953
expedition …(be) the first to succeed. Since then,
however, several others …(try) and some…(be)
successful.

b) Hillary and Tenzing were the first man

to climb Everest.
1 2 3
Make up sentences like this one using the words given
below in place of the words in the boxes.
1 2 3
(i) You are the first boy finish
(ii) She was the second girl ask that question
(iii) He is the last person enter the
always the next person classroom
(iv) He was the best person read
(v) He is help us

c) Now compose five more sentences of your own.

5. SHOW

India is the world’s biggest democracy. Every sixth man in

the world is an Indian, a human being subsisting on a total
income of ten shillings a week. For ten shillings a week is
all the average Indian has to exist on for seven long days,
from which to provide for everything – education, health,
old
5 age, unemployment, as well as food, clothes and shelter.
In addition, from these ten shillings a week, which is what

24
 many schoolboys get as pocket money in the West, a
whole shilling has to be squeezed out to pay taxes.
Poverty such as India’s has to be seen to be believed.
Poverty in India is made the more striking because it is
highlighted by
10 contrasts. On the same pavement, some people sleep,
live and die, while others step out of expensive
restaurants, be jeweled and gay. A hand-pulled rickshaw
dragged by a coolie so thin that his bones stick out of his
skin, is parked next to a large-chauffeur-driven motor car.
Smart restaurants and chauffeur-driven motor cars are
very few, but the
15 poor are everywhere. Yet the word ‘India’ magically
evokes a land of fabulous wealth, maharajas, gold plated
elephants, and costly brocades, because so much of what
riches there are in this land of all–embracing poverty are
spent on show.
The outsider is misled by this show and imagines that
there is a great deal
20 more wealth than the eye can see; but in reality what
catches the eye is very not only the whole of the wealth,
but more than the whole, so deep has ‘show’ wormed
itself into India’s way of life. Even the village 85% of
India’s population lives in villages exist surrounded by
‘show’. Village women are adorned with jewellery of silver
and gold. But this jewellery is all
25 the family’s savings, the safest substitute for a Savings
Bank in a land where only one man in five can read and
post offices are few. When money is needed, the jewels
are pawned-to buy seeds or bullocks, or to marry
daughter. Weddings are extravagances ordered by
custom. For a wedding, the father of the bride may have
to borrow a whole year’s income at
30 exorbitant rates of interest, and the money will be spent
very largely on the wedding feast, and not, as in the West,
on setting the couple up in their new life together.

25
1. General Understanding
a) Choose the best answer
(i) Which one of these statements is true?
a. 6% of the world’s population is Indian.
b. One sixth of the world’s population is Indian.
c. Out of every five men in the world, one is an
Indian.
d. One in six of the men in the world is an Indian.
(ii) Which of these statements is NOT true?
a. India is a democratic country.
b. The average weekly income in India is ten
shillings.
c. One tenth of the average income is used to pay
taxes.
d. Schoolboys in West India receive ten shillings a
week as pocket money.
(iii) In the second paragraph, we are told that in
India…
a. Some people make their homes on the
pavement.
b. Few people drive their own cars.
c. Poor people are to be found even in smart
restaurants.
d. There is fabulous wealth everywhere.
(iv) By ‘more than the whole’ the writer means that…
a. There is more wealth than one can see.
b. One often seems to see more wealth than there
really is.
c. All wealth is on display.
d. The observer did not see the poverty.
(v) Which of these statements is NOT true?
a. Most Indians live in villages.
b. Most Indian villagers are wealthy.

26
 c. Spare money is used to buy jewellery.
d. Most Indians are illiterate.
(vi) The main point that the writer is making about
weddings is that they…
a. follow custom
b. are gay affairs.
c. provide a feast for a lot of people.
d. are waste of money, which the newly married
couple could use to set up a home.

2. Vocabulary
a) Give the meaning of each the following as it is used in
the passage. You may use either one word OR short
phrases.
(i) subsisting (iv) substitute
(ii) evokes (v) pawned
(iii) misled (vi) exorbitant
b) Explain the meanings of the following phrases given in
italic:
(i) has to be squeezed out (iii) land of all-
embracing poverty
(ii) highlighted by contrasts (iv) extravagances
ordered by custom

3. Comprehension Questions
a). What effect upon reader does the writer intend to
produce by the use of the phrase’
b). The writer says that the average Indian has ‘to exist
on’ ten shillings a week. Try to explain in your own
words the difference between ‘existing’ and ‘living’.
c). Why does the writer mention schoolboys’ pocket
money?
d). Explain in your own words why the word ‘India’
magically evokes a land of fabulous wealth.

27
 e). Give the two reasons mentioned to account for
jewellery being used as a substitution for a Savings
Bank.
f). Explain the comparisons implied in the following
examples as figurative language:
(i) squeezed
(ii) wormed

4. Summarizing
a). In not more than 40 words explain the three contrasts
made in the second paragraph.
b). In about five lines, give two examples of ‘show’ and
the poverty behind it.

5. Language Practice
a) Rewrite these sentences beginning with ‘Although…’
Note that ‘but’ is now omitted.
(i) The average Indian earns only ten shillings a
week but he has to pay a whole shilling in taxes.
(ii) Some people live on pavement but others can
afford expensive restaurants.
(iii) India seems very rich but there is poverty
everywhere.
(iv) Village women are adorned with jewellery but
this does not mean that they are rich.
(v) The bride’s father may be poor but he will still
insist upon an expensive wedding.
(vi) The newly married couple need the money but it
is spent on the wedding feast.
b) The coolie was so thin that his bones stuck out of his
skin.
1 2 3

Compose sentences like this using the words given

blow in place of those in boxes 1 and 2. Use any words
you wish in place of box 3.

28
 1 2
(i) dog fat
(ii) horse old
(iii) man rich
(iv) car big
(v) hill high
(vi) window small
(vii) box heavy
(viii) women old
(ix) street noisy
(x) day hot

Example: (i) The dog was so fat that it could not run.

6. DOWN A COAL MINE

Probably you have to go down several coalmines before

you can get much grasp of the processes that are going
on around you. This is chiefly because the mere effort of
getting from place-to-place makes it difficult to notice
anything else. In some ways it is even disappointing, or at
least is unlike

29
5 what you have expected. You get into the cage, which is
steel box about as wide as a telephone box and two or
three times as long. It holds ten men but they pack like
pilchards in a tin, and a tall man cannot stand upright in
it. The steel door shuts upon you and somebody working
the winding gear above drops you into the void. You have
the usual momentary qualm in
10 your belly and a bursting sensation in the ears, but not
much so abruptly that you could swear it is going upwards
again. In the middle of the run, the cage probably touches
sixty miles an hour; in some of the deeper mines, it
touches even more. When you crawl out at the bottom,
you are, perhaps, four hundred yards underground. That is
to say, you have a fair-sized
15 mountain on top of you; hundreds of yards of solid rock,
bones extinct beast, subsoil, flints, roots of growing
things, green grass, and cows grazing on it – all this
suspended over you head and held back only by wooden
props as thick as the calf of your leg. But because of the
speed, at which the cage has brought you down, and the
complete blackness through which you
20 have travelled, you hardly feel yourself deeper down than
you would at the bottom of the Piccadilly Tube. What is
surprising, on the other hand, is the immense horizontal
distances that have to be travelled underground.
Before I had been down a mine, I had vaguely imagined
the miner stepping out of the cage and getting to work on
a ledge of coal a few yards away. I
25 had not realized that before he even gets to his work he
may have to creep through passages as long as from
London Bridge to Oxford Circus. In the beginning, of
course, a mineshaft is sunk somewhere near seam of coal.
But as that seam is worked out and fresh seams are
followed up, the workings get further and further away
from the pit bottom. If it is a mile from the pit

30
30 bottom to the coalface, that is probably an average
distance; three miles is a fairly normal one; there are even
said to be a few mines where it is as much as five miles.
But these distances bear no relation to distance above
ground. For in all that mile or three miles as it may be,
there is hardly anywhere outside the main road, and not
many places even there, where a man can
35 stand upright.
1. General Understanding
a) Choosing the best answer
(i) Why, according to the writer, is one visit to a
coalmine probably not enough to understand the
processes going on?
a. It is very dark
b. There are long distances to travel
c. It is all so unlike what one would expect.
d. Moving about requires so much effort that one
fails to observe what is happening.
(ii) Which of the following best describes the lift by
which the writer went down the mine?
a. a small square box c. like a telephone box
b. a small, narrow box d. a small, low, narrow box.
(iii) Which of these is the nearest in meaning to
‘void’?
a. mine c. bottom
b. empty space d. earth
(iv) The movement of the cage is most noticeable...
a. when it begins to drop c. in the middle of the
run
b. as it gains speed d. as it slows down
(v) When he reached the bottom of the mine, the
writer felt that he was...
a. not far beneath the surface
b. beneath a mountain
c. hundreds of yards underground
d. sixty miles underground

31
 (vi) Which of the following would be nearest to the
writer when he was down the mine?
a. solid rock c. roots of growing things
b. subsoil d. green grass
(vii) Which word in the second paragraph refers to a
layer of coal?
a. seam c. coal cage
b. ledge d. passage
(viii) By the words ‘bear no relation to’ the writer
means that distances in a mine ... distances
above ground.
a. are much longer than c. cannot compared with
b. are not as straight as d. are not measured in the
same ways as
(ix) Why do distances down a mine bear no relation
to distances above ground?
a. it is dark
b. there are no roads
c. The distances are horizontal
d. There are few place where a man can stand
upright

b) Some of these statements; based on the passage, are

true, some are false. Pick out the false statements and
say briefly how you know they are false.
(i) A visit to a coalmine is completely disappointing.
(ii) Several visits to a coalmine are probably
necessary in order to understand what is
happening.
(iii) When the cage gets near the bottom, it begins to
go upwards again.
(iv) At the bottom of a mine, it is possible to see the
roots of growing things.

2. Vocabulary

32
 a) Give the meaning of each of the following words it is
used in the passage. One word answers or short
phrases will be accepted.
(i) grasp (iv) suspended
(ii) sensation (v) vaguely
(iii) touches
b) Explain each of the following, using in your explanation
of the words printed in italic.
(i) Get much grasp of the processes that are going
on round you.
(ii) You have the usual momentary qualm.

3. General Comprehension
a) Give three reasons why going down a coalmine is a
cage can be an uncomfortable experience.
b) Why do you think the writer mentions the rock, bones,
subsoil, flints, etc? What effect does this have?
c) Why did the writer not feel that he was very deep
underground?
d) Why is the coalface often a long distance from the
main shaft?

4. Summarizing
a) In not more than 50 words, describe the journey down
the mineshaft.
b) What did the writer find disappointing in his visit to the
coalmine? You should not use more than 40 words in
your answer.
c) In not more than 60 words, explain what surprised the
writer and why this was so.

5. Language Practice
Supply suitable forms of the verbs in brackets.
a) Several visits to a coalmine are necessary before you
(begin) to understand the things that (happen) around

33
 you. This (be) because getting from place to place
(take) so much effort that it (be) difficult to notice
anything else.
b) The cage is steel box. It (hold) about ten men. If they
(be) tall, they cannot stand upright. It (drop) very
quickly and when it (slow) down, you (feel) as if it
(move) upwards again.
c) When you (reach) the bottom, you are about four
hundred yards underground. Above you there (be) fair-
sized mountain which (consist) of rock, subsoil, flints
and roots of growing things. On top of all this, people
and animals (move) about. All this (hold) up by wooden
props. But because you (travel) down so quickly and in
complete darkness, you (not feel) that you are very far
under the ground. Before down a mine, the writer use
to think that miners (have) only short distances to
walk. He (not realized) that a miner may have to crawl
long distances before he (reach) his work he (be).

7. THE TAPE RECORDER

Twenty years after Edison’s original invention of the

gramophone, a Danish engineer, Valdemar Poulsen,
devised the first magnetic recorder, which he called a

34
 Telegraphone. It worked with steel wire and could take
hour-long recordings, which could be played back
hundreds of times without signs of
5 wear. Unfortunately, the sound quality was poor and
indistinct and this failing led to the almost complete
disappearance of the Telegraphone by 1910.
Then, eighteen years later, Pfleumer, a Dresden scientist,
modernized Poulsen’s old steel wire contraption by
replacing the steel with paper tape.
10 This new version was much more practical and attracted
the attention of other scientists as well as of telegraph
companies, who were among the first to put it to use.
Improvements started to spring up, each seeming to
inspire further improvements. The paper tape that
replaced the cumbersome steel tape was itself replaced
by plastic tape, which proved so successful that it is
15 now the accepted method of magnetic everywhere.
Because of this, most people now say ‘tape recording’ in
preference to ‘magnetic recording’.
The quality of magnetic recordings was for many years
worse than that gramophone records. But it gradually
caught up as the equipment was improved.
20 By 1940, tape recorders of an advanced design were
being produced, suitable for professional use but not for
the home. Then, in 1947, American manufacturer took
these large, heavy machines that ate up tape at the rate
of thirty inches every second and began to turn then into
a real rival to the gramophone. The reduced the size and
weight, lowered the running speed,
25 raised the sound quality and increased the playing time
for beyond the four minutes, which at that time
represented the gramophone record’s maximum.
The record industry’s answer to this threat was to
introduce the long-playing record, which not only gave
much longer continuous recording than before but also
better wear and durability and much better quality. This

35
30 increases in the sound quality on gramophone records
was mainly due to tape recorders being used to make
better original recordings. So, strange as it may seem,
tape recorders helped to save the record industry from
the threat of tape recorders.
When recordings were made on disc, one wrong note
could spoil a
35 complete recorded performance of a symphony being
performed by a full orchestra. Now, thanks to tape, any
passage in which a wrong note occurs can be recorded
and the sound engineer, acting as a musical ‘doctor’, can
then snip out the spoilt patch and stick in the perfect
replacement.
Since 1950, tape has led the way not only in quality but
also by producing
40 the first really successful stereo recordings, by making a
recording a hobby available to all and by bringing a vast
new treasury of music into the record catalogues, for the
ease with which music can be recorded on the tape has
opened the way for many compositions ignored in the
expensive days of disc recording.
45 Sound technicians worked away at the problems of
magnetic recording until they reached a point where
really superb recordings could be made on a tape
recorder with a seven-inch spool holding 1,200 feet of
tape which was pulled across the magnetic pick-ups
(called heads) at a speed of fifteen inches per second.
They might have stopped at this point, but as science is
50 the land where nothing is regarded as final or effect, they
did not.
Instead, they changed their target and started developing
cheaper machines that would give as good as the old
ones, and also play longer before spools had to be
changed. They devised three ways of increasing the
playing time – by developing thinner tape so that more
could be wound on to a spool, by

36
55 running the tape at a slower speed so that it took longer
to reach the end, and by recording more than one track
along the tape.
The first advance in reducing the thickness of the tape
was called long-play tape, to show that it allowed more
tape to be wound on to a spool than the standard tape.
The next step was double-play tape, followed by triple–
play
60 and, the most recent advance, quadruple-play tape which
is thinner than human hair!

1. General Understanding
a) Choose the best answer
(i) The first person to devise a tape – recorder was...
a. Edison c. Valder Poulsen
b. A Danish engineer d. a Dresden scientist
(ii) The first devise for reproducing sound was...
a. the gramophone c. the paper tape recorder
b. the steel wire recorder d. the plastic tape
recorder
(iii) In the first sentence of the third paragraph, the
writer is referring to...
a. durability c. quality of materials used
b. quality sound d. type of music recorded
(iv) By the words ‘a real rival to’, the writer means
that tape recorders become ... the gramophone.
a. the equal of c. superior to
b. a competitor with d. almost as good as
(v) Which of these statements are true?
a. In 1940, tape recorders suitable for amateurs
were available.
b. In 1947, American manufactures converted tape
reorders into gramophone.
c. In 1947, the playing time of a tape became
longer than that of the gramophone record.

37
 d. In 1947, American manufactures designed new
tape recorders that ran at a speed of 30 inches
per second.
(vi) Using tapes for original recording made it
possible to produce records...
a. that played longer c. that went slower
b. that lasted longer d. that had better sound
quality
(vii) In line ‘compositions’ refers to ...
a. discs c. pieces of music
b. tapes d. a person who writes
music.

2. Vocabulary
a) Give the meaning of each of the following as used in
the passage. You may give EITHER one word answers
OR short phrases.
(i) original (vi) rival
(ii) indistinct (vii) durability
(iii) failing (viii) snip
(iv) inspire (ix) spool
(v) cumbersome (x) ignored
b) Explain each of the following phrases, without using in
your explanations any of the words printed in italic.
(i) suitable for professional used
(ii) represented the gramophone’s maximum
(iii) The expensive days of tape recording
3. Comprehension Questions
a. What were the two advantages and one advantage of
the Telegraphone?
b. What does the word ‘contraption’ suggest about the
Telegraphone?
c. What is the main difference the Telegraphone and the
modern tape recorder?

38
 d. What improvements in gramophone records were
made in answer to the competition of the improved
tape recorder?
e. How did the tape recorder help to improve
gramophone recording?
f. How did the technicians increase the playing time of
tape?

4. Summarizing
a. In not more than 35 words, explain the fault of
professional tape recorders in 1940.
b. How did recording tape help in the production of
gramophone records? Do not use more than about 50
words.
c. ‘Since 1950, tape had led the way’. How does the
writer justify this statement? Your answer should
contain not more than 4 words.

5. Language Practice
Find the following expressions in the passage and see how
they are used for each one make up three sentences of
your own.
(i) attracted the attention of
Example: Her unusual behaviour attracted the
attention of a number of passers-by.
(ii) among the first
Example: He was among the first to join the new
society.
(iii) proved so successful that
Example: His attention proved so successful that he
was offered a great deal of memory for it.
(iv) a real rival to
Example: Although he was young, he was a real rival
to his older brothers in many ways.
(v) was mainly due

39
 Example: His loss in weight was mainly due to eating
the wrong kind of food.
(vi) thanks to
Example: Thanks to the fact that everyone worked
together, this year has been a very successful one.
(vii) opened the way
Example: Passing the examination opened the way to
a choice of several attractive careers.

8. A SHOCKING INCIDENT

General Durrell, the well-known English naturalist, has

made many journeys to other countries in search of
different sorts of animals for zoos. Here, he tells us about
an incident, which took place during a trip to South
America. He and his companions were returning from a
successful day’s
5 hunting with a boat-full of specimens, including a friendly
porcupine and an electric eel.
The setting sun glided and polished the creek to a
building radiance and flooded the forest with light making
the leaves seem an unearthly green against which orchids
stood out like precious stones. Under the arch of
10 trees, it was already gloomy, and the water lost its amber
tints, becoming as smooth and black as pitch. Lazily we
paddled; light headed with hunger and fatigue, humming
a vague accompaniment to the songs of the paddlers and
the steady beat of their paddles. The air was warm and
drowsy, full of the scents of the forest. The regular clop
and gurgle of the paddles had a
15 soothing, almost hypnotic, effect, and we began to feel
pleasantly sleepy. At that bewitching twilight hour when
everything was quiet and peaceful, as we relaxed

40
 contently in the smoothly sliding canoe, the electric eel
escaped from its basket.
My attention was suddenly drawn to this by the
porcupine, who climbed up
20 my leg, and would, if I had let him, have gone right up to
my head. I passed him back for Bob to hold, while I
investigated the bows of the canoe to see what had
frightened him. Looking down, I perceived the eel wiggling
along the sloping canoe bottom towards my feet. I will
always maintain that next to a snake, an electric eel
approaching your feet will produce the most
25 astonishing muscular reaction the human body is capable
of. How I got out of the way, I don’t know, but when I
landed in the canoe again the eel had wiggled past and
was heading towards Bob.
“Look out!” I yelled, “The eel’s escaped.”
Clasping the porcupine to his chest, Bob tried to stand up,
failed, and fell
30 flat on his back in the bottom of the canoe. Whether the
eel had turned off its current, or whether it was too
frightened to bother about electrifying my companion, I
don’t know, but the fact remains that it slid past his wildly
trashing as harmlessly and as swiftly as a stream of water
and headed for the first paddlers. Evidently, he also
shared our dislike of coming into close
35 contact with electric eels, for he gave every indication of
abandoning ship as the creature approached him. Our
combined attempts to get as far away from the eel as
possible were making the canoe rock violently. Bob, in
trying to sit upright, put his hand on the porcupine, and
his yell of surprise and agony, convinced me that the eel
was returning and had attacked him in
40 the rear. Apparently, it convinced the porcupine as well for
the hastily climbed up my leg again and tried to clamber
on to my shoulder. If the first paddlers had jumped over
the side, I am sure; the canoe would have turned over. As

41
 it was, the situation was saved by the second paddlers,
who was obviously used to frolicking about in canoes with
electric eels. He leaned
45 forward and pinned the creature down under the board
blade of his paddle. Then he made wild gestures at me
until I threw him the wicker basket. This was now very
much the worse for wear, as I had knelt on it by mistake
while avoiding its occupant. The second paddlers pushed
the eel back into the basket, and everyone felt better and
started smiling at everyone else in a
50 rather forced sort of way. The paddlers handed the basket
to his companion, who passed it hastily on to Bob who, in
turn, reluctantly accepted it. He was just passing it to me
when the bottom fell out. Bob was holding the basket as
far away as possible from himself, so when the eel fell out
it landed draped over the side of the canoe.
55 It was unfortunate that its head should have been on the
outside, for it needed no second chance; a quick wiggle, a
splash, and it was gone into the dark depths of the creek.
Bob looked at me. “Well”, he said, “I’d rather went outside
than in.” I regret to say that I agreed with him.

1. General Understanding
a). Choosing the best answer
(i) Which of the following is nearest in meaning to
‘twilight’?
a. dawn c. afternoon
b. morning d. early evening.
(ii) Why do you think Gerald Durrell and his
companions were contented?
a. They had a successful day’s hunting.
b. It was the twilight hour.
c. Everything was quiet and peaceful
d. They had an electric eel in the canoe.

42
(iii) Which of the following could be used to replace
‘investigated’ without altering the meaning of
the sentence?
a. Visited c. examined
b. Uncovered d. walked towards
(iv) When the electric eel wiggled along the bottom
of the canoe towards the writer, what happened?
a. The eel wiggled over his feet.
b. The eel wiggled between his feet.
c. He stopped or jumped over the eel.
d. He jumped into the water and then got into the
canoe again.
(v) Why did the eel not give Bob an electric shock
when it passed him?
a. It had turned off its current c. It was wet.
b. It was too frightened d. We do not now.
(vi) What effect did the approach of the eel have
upon the first paddlers?
a. He looked as if he intended to jump into the
water.
b. He jumped over the side.
c. He gave a yell of surprise.
d. He thrashed about in the bottom of the boat.
(vii) Why did Bob yell?
a. He thought that the eel was returning.
b. The eel attacked him in the rear.
c. He put his hand on the porcupine.
d. The porcupine climbed up his leg.
(viii) The words ‘convinced me’ mean…
a. made me guess. c. suggested to me
b. suggested the idea d. made me certain
(ix) The words ‘in the rear’ mean from…
a. behind c. the side
b. the front d. below
(x) Why was the basket ‘very much the worse for
wear’?

43
 a. The writer had thrown in to the first paddlers.
b. The writer had knelt on it.
c. It had contained the eel.
d. The bottom had fallen out of it.

b). Some of the following statements contradict

information given in the passage. Pick out the false
statements and show briefly, why they are false.
(i) We are told that Gerald Durrell had made many
trips to South America.
(ii) The porcupine was frightened by the electric eel.
(iii) The porcupine attacked Bob.
(iv) The second paddler was not afraid of the electric
eel.
(v) Bob deliberately threw the electric eel over the
side and the writer was glad that he did.

2. Vocabulary
a). Give the meaning of each of the following as it is used
in the passage. One word answers or short phrases are
acceptable.
(i) incident (v) gestures
(ii) perceived (vi) frolicking
(iii) clasping (vii) reluctantly
(iv) thrashing (viii) draped
b). Explain each of the following phrase, without using in
your explanations any of the words printed italic.
(i) was heading towards.
(ii) gave every indication of abandoning ship
(iii) our combined attempts
(iv) the situation was saved
(v) the worse for wear

3. Comprehension Questions
a. How does the writer convey the peacefulness of the
situation before the eel escaped? Why does he do this?

44
 b. Why was it so difficult for the writer and his
companions to aoid the electric eel?
c. What first told the writer that the electric eel had
escaped?
d. Why was it surprising that Bob did not receive a shock
from the electric eel?
e. Explain how the second paddlers saved the situation.
f. What two circumstances led to the escape of the eel?

4. Summarizing
The writer has recounted the incident in such a way as to
bring out the humour. Ignoring the humour, retell the
main facts in not more than 150 words.

5. Language Practice
1 2 3
a. I passed him back for Bob to hold
Write sentences like the above using the given words
below to replace the words in the boxes.

1 2 3
She bought her family eat
some his little read
He bought a brother sign him a form
book his father see painting
The teacher the children copy into the shop
gave the tailor the whole class read
She held up the best essay on the wall
She took a
dress
He pinned

Example: She bought some meat for her family to eat.

Now make up five sentences of your own like the one
above.

45
 9. TELEVISION

The television camera is rather like a human eye. Both the

eye and the camera have a lens, and both produce a
picture on a screen. In each case, the picture is made up
of millions of spots of light.
Let us see how the eye works. When we look at an object
– a person, a
5 house or whatever it may be – we do not see all the
details of the object in one piece. We imagine that we do,
but this is not the case. In fact, the eye builds up the
picture for us in our brain, which controls our sight, in
millions of separate parts, and, although we do not realize
it, all these details are seen separately.
10 This is what happens when we look at something. Beams
of light of different degrees of intensity, reflected from all
parts of the object, strike the lens of the eye. The lens
then gathers together to the spots of light from these
beams and focuses them on to a light sensitive plate –
retina – at the back of the eyeball. In this way, an image
of the object is produced on the
15 retina in the form of a pattern of lights.
The retina contains millions of minute light-sensitive
elements, each of which is separately connected to the
brain by a tiny fibre in the optic nerve. These nerve fibres,
working independently, pick out minute details from the

46
 image on the retina and turn the small spots of light into
nerve impulses of
20 different strengths. They then transmit these impulses to
the brain. They do this all at the same time.
All the details of the image are fed to the brain, and, as
we have taught our brain to add them together correctly,
we see a clear picture of the object as a whole.
25 Television, which means vision at a distance, operates on
a similar principle. A television picture is built up in
thousands of separate parts.
Beams of light reflected from the subject being televised
strike the lens of the television camera, which correspond
to the lens of the eye. The camera lens gather together
the spots of light from these beams and focuses
30 millions of photo-electric elements sensitive to light.
The spots of light forming the image on the plate cannot
be transmitted as light. So they are temporarily converted
into charges of electricity.
These electrical impulses are then sent through space on
a wireless wave
to the home of the viewers. They are picked up by the
aerials and conveyed
35 to the receiver – to the television sets. There, they are
finally converted back into the spots of light that make
the picture on the television screen.

1. General Understanding
a). Choose the best answer
(i) In the first paragraph, we are told that the
television camera resembles the human eye in...
a. one way c. three ways
b. two ways d. a large number of ways
(ii) Which of the following statements are NOT true
according to the writer?
a. The eye is made up of millions of spots of light.

47
 b. We think that we see the details of an object in
one piece.
c. We see all the details of an object separately.
d. Our sight is controlled by our brain.
(iii) Which of the following is nearest in meaning to
‘beams’?
a. spots c. details
b. rays d. images
(iv) When we see something, its image appears...
a. on the eyeball c. on the object
b. on the lens d. at the back of the eyeball
(v) Which of the following could be used to replace
‘minute’ without change of meaning?
a. delicate c. brief
b. short d. very small
(vi) The small spots of light eventually become...
a. light sensitive elements c. optic nerves
b. tiny fibres d. nerve impulses
(vii) Which of the following is nearest in meaning to the
prefix ‘tele’ in the word ‘television’?
a. vision c. at a distance
b. wire d. picture
(viii) The plate coated with photo-electric elements acts
ways as...
a. a lens c. optic nerves
b. the retina of the eye d. the optic nerve
(ix) Which of the following could be used to replace
‘converted’ without change of meaning?
a. sent c. transmitted
b. changed d. crossed over
(x) Which of the statement is NOT true?
a. The charges of electricity travel through space.
b. Wireless waves travel through space.
c. The spots of light travel through space
d. Aerials are connected to the television sets.

48
2. Vocabulary
a). Give the meaning of each of the following word as it is
used in the passage. One word answer or short phrases
may be given.
(i) spots (vi) transmit
(ii) works (vii) temporarily
(iii) reflected (viii) converted
(iv) image (ix) conveyed
(v) vision
b). Explain each of the following phrases without using in
your explanation any of the word in underlined:
(i) Beams of light of different degrees of intensity
(ii) Television operates on a similar principle.
(iii) Which corresponds to the lens of the eye
c). For each of the words given below, compose a
sentence (i.e. FOUR sentences in all) of at least ten
words, in which the word is used unchanged in form
but with an entirely different meaning from its meaning
in the passage. (You may, if you wish, use the words as
a different part of speech).
(i) case (iii) beams
(ii) object (iv) operates

3. Comprehension Question
a). In what ways does the television camera resemble the
human eye?
b). Explain the difference between what we think happens
when we see something and what really happens.
c). What difference are there between the way in which
the image on the retina is conveyed to the brain and
the way in which the image on the plate of the
television camera is conveyed to the television set?

4. Summarizing
a). How is an image made on the retina of the eye? Do not
use more than 40 words.

49
 b). How is the image on the retina conveyed to the brain?
Your answer should contain not more than 50 words.
c). Explain in your own words as far as possible how the
image find in the television camera is conveyed to a
television set. Your answer should contain 60 words.

5. Language Practice
Join these sentences together using suitable conjunctions.
Do NOT use and or but. The first one is done for you.
a). We look at an object. We do not see all the details of
the object in one piece. (when). When we look an
object, we do not see all the details of the object in one
piece.
b). All the details are seen separately. We do not realize it
(although).
c). The eye builds up a picture in our brain. Our brain
controls our sight. (which).
d). The retina contains millions of minute light sensitive
elements. Each of these is separately connected to the
brain. (of which).
e). television operates on a similar principle to that of the
eye. Television means seeing from a distance. (which).
f). The camera lens focuses an image on to a plate. The
surface of the plate is coated with millions of light-
sensitive elements.
g). The electrical impulses are conveyed to the television
sets. They are converted back into spots of light. These
make up the picture on the television screen. (when,
which).

50
 10. HUMAN HEART

The heart, which in man is about the size of a closed fist,

lies inside chest cavity, between the lungs. It is enclosed
in a thin double-walled sac, the pericardium, and we may
regard the heart simply as two muscular pumps lying side
by side, each with two compartments. The left heart-
pump
5 receives the ‘fresh’ blood (i.e. blood rich in oxygen) from
the lungs and pumps it to all the other parts of the body.
The blood returns from these organs poor in oxygen and
rich in carbon dioxide, and passes to the right heart-
pump, which sends it round through the lungs to the left
heart-pump again. In its passage through the lungs, the
blood loses carbon dioxide and
10 takes up a fresh supply of oxygen. In it passage around
the body, the blood loses oxygen and takes up dissolved
food and the waste product carbon dioxide. The right
heart-pump is concerned only with sending blood to the
lungs, while the left heart-pump is concerned with sending
blood to the rest of the body.
15 The heart of an adult man at rest beats about 70 – 80
times a minute. Each ‘beat’ consists of the emptying of
the four chambers of the heart, followed by their filling
while the heart muscles rest for a short interval. The
heart-beat can be felt just below the fifth rib on the left
side of the chest, because at each contraction the left
hear-pump presses against the
20 chest wall at this point. The heart-beat can also be
counted by feeling the pulse, which is the wave of
pressure that passes down the arteries following each
contraction of the heart-pump. The pulse may be felt

51
 wherever an artery comes close to the surface of the
body, and especially when it is backed by bone as at wrist
and temple or inside the elbow and ankle.
25 When the left heart-pump forces blood into the main
artery and thence to the arteries, these tubes are
stretched, but their walls are elastic and between the
heart-beats they continue to squeeze blood along the
tubes in a direction away from the heart, because the
walls tend to return to their original position and the
valves of the heart prevent back – flow. Thus a
30 fairly high blood pressure is kept up in the arteries, and
this is increased for a time after each fresh contraction of
the heart-pump. When a man of per average size is at
rest, this left heart-pump delivers about 2½ pints of blood
per minute. The total amount in a man’s body is about 10
pints.
Most arteries run well below the surface of the body and
they are only
35 damaged by deep wounds. If an artery is cut, the blood
rushes out from the wound in a series of jerks or pulses. It
is bright red. The flow may be stopped if pressure is
applied to the artery or flesh on the side of the wound
that nearer to the heart. When a large artery is cut, an
animal is serious danger of bleeding to death unless such
pressure can be quickly applied.
40 The blood in the large arteries is pumped along them as
speeds as great as 50 cm per second. The loss of blood,
therefore, is very rapid and enough pressure to supply the
brain cannot be maintained in the rest of the circulation,
so that the victim becomes unconscious.

1. General Understanding
a). Choosing the best answer
(i) Which of these statements is NOT true?
a. The pericardium is inside the chest.
b. The heart is between the lungs.

52
 c. The pericardium is inside a thin, double-walled
sac.
d. The heart is inside the pericardium.
(ii) Which of these statements is true?
a. The right heart-pump sends blood to all parts of
the body.
b. There is a high proportion of carbon dioxide in
the blood when it enters the left heart-pump.
c. There is a low proportion of oxygen in the blood
when it enters the right heart-pump.
d. Blood picks up oxygen as it passes around the
body.
(iii) Which of these statements is true?
a. The muscles of the heart never stop working.
b. The heart is situated on the left side of the chest.
c. The left heart pump can be felt below the fifth rib
on the left side of the chest.
d. The pulse can be felt anywhere on the body.
(iv) When the writer speaks of an artery being
‘backed by bone’, he means that it…
a. is supported by bone c. has bone behind it
b. contains bone d. circulation
(v) The blood cannot flow back to the left heart-
pump because…
a. The valves of the heart prevent it.
b. The walls of the artery are elastic.
c. The walls of the artery return to their original
position.
d. The arteries stretch.
(vi) The movement of the blood around the body is
called the…
a. pulse c. back flow
b. blood pressure d. circulation
(vii) Which one of these statements is true?
a. An artery is usually just below the skin.

53
 b. Unconscious may be caused by failure of the
blood to reach the brain.
c. If an artery is cut, pressure should be applied
over the wound.
d. When an artery is cut, the blood flows out quickly
and smoothly.
b). Decide which of the following statements are untrue,
according to the passage, and explain why.
(i) The heart could be held inside a closed fist.
(ii) Both heart-pumps have the same amount of work
to do.
(iii) When a large artery is cut, death quickly follows.
(iv) The brain needs a constant supply of blood.

2. Vocabulary
a). Give a word or short phrase which could be substituted
for each of the following without change of meaning.
(i) sac (ii) chambers (iii)
maintained
b). Explain briefly the meaning of the following:
(i) rich in oxygen (iv) at rest
(ii) in its passage (v) contraction
(iii) waste product (vi) in a series

3. Comprehension Question
a). How many ‘compartments’ does the heart contain?
b). Explain in your words what effect the lungs have upon
blood passing through them.
c). What is a ‘heart-beat’?
d). Why are arteries situated well below the surface of
the body?
e). What are the signs that blood is coming from an
artery?
f). Why should pressure be placed on the side of a wound
nearest the heart when blood is coming from an
artery?

54
4. Summarizing
a). In not more than 50 words, explain the changes that
take place in the blood as it circulates.
b). In not more than 60 words, explain how blood pressure
is maintained.

5. Language Practice
a). Complete the sentences by adding the word of phrases
given. (You will need to use one word twice).
Side by side; up; between; as; around; through; out;
from; in; per.
(i) The heart lies……the lungs.
(ii) It consists of two pumps lying…
(iii) While passing…the lungs, the blood takes …
oxygen.
(iv) Blood undergoes changes as it passes … the body.
(v) A high blood pressure is kept … in the arteries.
(vi) 70 – 80 times a minute is a normal heart-beat for a
man … rest. His heart pump is then delivering about
2½ pints of blood … minute.
(viii) When an artery is cut, the blood rushes … the
wound in a series of jerks. The animal or person is
then … serious danger of bleeding to death.

b). The total amount of blood in a man’s body is about ten

pints.
1 2
Compose sentences like this one using the words given
below to replace those in boxes 1 and 2. (Change is to
was).
1 2
(i) petrol in the car 10 gallons
(ii) water in the 100,000 gallons
reservoir 5 pounds
(iii) wool in the bag 5 cc
(iv) liquid in the test 500 loaves
55
 tube 60 sacks
(v) bread in the
delivery van
(vi) flour in the
warehouse

Example: The total amount of petrol in the car was

about 10 gallons.
Now compose another eight similar sentences
beginning:
The total number of…

11. INSURANCE

Taking out an insurance policy is a way of taking

precautions against some unforeseeable misfortune, such
as one’s house burning down or a serious illness, which
prevents one from earning one’s living. People also insure
against a foreseeable event, such as old age, which may
last a long or a short
5 time. People who have dependants – a father of a young
family, for example – insure so that, if anything should
happen to them, their dependents will be provided for.
Nowadays works a Government may make insurance
against some things compulsory for everyone; but most
insurance is a matter of choice.
10 Insurance works like this. Let us imagine that a group of
people decide to
club together, each making regular small payments into a
fund with the understanding that if a particular accident
should occur to one of them, that one would be entitled to
a certain sum of money from the fund to help to repair his
loss. It might happen that in some years, no one would
have an

56
15 accident, and much money would accumulate in the fund,
while in other years, there might be many accidents and
the fund would get low.
It would be against all the ordinary rules of chance that all
the members of the group should suffer some accident in
the same year. In course of time, people would find by
experience how much each number of the group
20 must pay in order to ensure that there was enough and
not too much money for paying grants to those who
suffered the misfortune insured against.
Histories say that arrangements like this can be traced in
Assyria some 2,500 years ago, and again, later, in Angelo-
Saxon England. In the modern world,
25 the practice of insurance is widespread. All insurance
works on this general principle. The most common kinds
of insurance are against losses by such things are fire,
theft, storm and tempest, or loss of life or limb; but it is
possible to insure against almost any misfortune, for
example, to insure a Church fate against a rainy afternoon
and consequent loss of takings; or a
30 municipal council against the conciliation of a Royal visit.
This kind of insurance is a service supplied by firms, which
reckon to make a profit by it. Insurance companies study
statistics and learn how frequently certain types of
accident have been known to occur. They then adjust the
charge they make for each particular type of insurance so
that the sums of money
35 collected will be sufficient to meet the claims that may
arise, to cover the administrative costs of their service,
and to leave the company some profit.
When a person makes a contract with an insurance
company, he is said to ‘take out a policy’ with it. A policy
is complex legal document stating on great detail and in
formal language what the company will and will not do if
40 the disaster occurs, and what the insured person should
do in such circumstances, when a person wants to insure

57
 he must choose with which of many companies he will
deal. If he is wise, he will deal only with a company of
good reputation, and having decided which of these
provides the best service, he will the policy through
carefully before he signs it.

1. General understanding
Choose the best answer
(i) Which of the phrases is nearest in meaning to
‘club’?
a. work with each other c. join together to help each
other
b. fight among themselves d. meet regularly
(ii) Which of the following words, all taken from the
second paragraph, is nearest in meaning to ‘occur’
as used in line 13?
a. works c. happen
b. chance d. suffer
(iii) In line 15, ‘accumulate’ means…
a. be paid into c. be used
b. be paid out of d. grow
(iv) ‘It would be against all the ordinary rules of chance’,
(line 17) means that it would be…
a. very improbable c. quite possible
b. impossible d. unlucky
(v) According to the writer the idea of insurance…
a. is modern
b. is common only in some arts on the world
c. is quite
d. first occurred in England
(vi) Which of the following is nearest in meaning to
tempest?
a. violent storm c. high wind
b. flooding d. heavy damage
(vii) By ‘consequent loss of takings’ the writer means
that …

58
 a. It may rain
b. Rain may cause the cancellation of the Church fate.
c. Rain may reduce the number of people attending.
d. Rain may reduce the amount of money made.
(viii) In line 30, the writer is referring to a municipal
council incurring itself because…
a. A royal person may not make a visit previously
arranged.
b. The expense of a royal visit may be greater than
expected.
c. Rain may prevent a royal visit.
d. They may want help in paying the expenses of a
royal visit.
(ix) The insurance companies decide how much a
particular kind of insurance will cost by…
a. adjusting the charges
b. making a profit
c. covering administrative costs
d. studying how often the accident occurs
(x) Which of the following titles best sums up the last
paragraph?
a. taking out an insurance policy
b. the importance of insurance
c. the importance of reading an insurance policy
carefully
d. choosing an insurance company

2. Vocabulary
a). Give the meaning of each of the following words as it
is used in the passage. You may give one word answers
or short phrases:
(i) unforeseeable (v) traced
(ii) dependants (vi) consequent
(iii) compulsory (vii) contract
(iv) entitled

59
 b). Explain each of the following words, without using in
your explanations any of the words printed in
underlined:
(i) repairs his loss
(ii) to cover the administrative costs
(iii) a company of good reputation

3. Comprehension Questions
a). What are the two main kinds of insurance mentioned
in the first paragraph?
b). Why do insurance companies study statistic?
c). What two precautions does the writer advise when
talking out of insurance policy?
d). Why is an insurance policy written informal language?

4. Language Practice
a). Supply the missing words.
(i) We take … an insurance policy as precaution … a
misfortune which might prevents us … earning a
living.
(ii) People whom others dependent often take … a
policy to provide… their dependants.
(iii) Early insurance arrangements probably took the
form of people clubbing…to pay money… a fund. If
one of them suffered an incident, he would be
entitled to a certain sum money…the fund. Such
people would learn…experience how much money
must be paid…order to provide enough paying
grants.
(iv) Before taking… a policy…a particular insurance
company, it is advisable to read…the policy
carefully, even though it is written… great deal and
… formal language. It is best to deal only … a
company… good reputation.

60
b). Note how the following expressions are used in the
passage and then use each in three sentences of your
own.
(i) precautions against, example:
Emergency exits and a plentiful supply of fire-
extinguishers are some of the precautions against
fire taken in cinemas.
(ii) a matter of choice, example:
In some schools, all pupils up to the fifth form wear
school uniform but in the sixth from clothes are a
matter of choice.
(iii) with the understanding that, example:
I lent him $50 with the understanding that he
would pay back half in a week’s time and the rest at
the end of the month.
(iv) by experience, example:
How to get on well with other people is something
we learn by experience.
(v) the most common kinds, example:
the most common kinds of pets are cats and dogs
but some people keep snakes or even alligators in
their homes.
(vi) in great deal, example:
he described his journey in great details so that one
almost felt that one had gone with him.

12. SCHOOL FOR ACTORS

An acting life is considered by almost people to be a

vocation and the actor’s interest and enthusiasm for the
profession must be strong enough to carry him through a
rigorous and hard training with scarcely any free time of

61
 leisure. This was certainly the case for the Chinese actor
in part of this
5 century when the young would be actor was subjected to
a training which must, in its degree of severity and
discipline be regarded as far hasher than that of his
western counterpart.
It may be of interest to the reader to have a more detailed
knowledge of this training and its hardships to judge for
himself the strength of mind and
10 character required of the young student to complete a
successful course.
They rose at 5 o’clock in the morning in summer and at 6
o’clock in winter. To start the day, beginners had to do an
hour’s strenuous exercises to loosen their stiff leg muscles
for acrobatics. This was called carpet exercise.
The western equivalent would probably be bar work for
ballet training, but
15 these exercises were practiced on a carpet on the floor.
Senior students practiced the more advanced acrobatics
feats.
To relax the tension of their strained limbs, the students
then walked through the town to the city walls where they
sang at the tops of their voices; this was done so that
they could judge the quality of their singing by
20 the sound deflected from the wall. The students then
returned for a well-earned breakfast at about 8 o’clock.
When this was finished, training with stage weapons
would commence. In this training, all the stage fights and
duels with spears and swords were learned. Manipulation
of other stage properties was also learned. Acting and
singing lessons were usually held
25 next until lunchtime. Before lunch, a short rest was
allowed for half an hour.
During the afternoon, the beginners were sent off to the
school theatre to see the senior students perform and

62
 would return at about 6 o’clock in the evening for supper.
If they had no other duties, they had to continue their
30 practice in singing and acting and then they were allowed
to go to bed. The senior students would, if requested,
perform in outside theatres during the evenings. If, during
a performance, one of these pupils made a mistake, the
whole class or group of students would be beaten with a
bamboo cane. In extreme cases, severe punishment was
meted out to the erring pupil.
35 At this time, no women were allowed on the stage and
only female impersonators existed. For certain roles these
students had to learn to walk on stilted shoes, the training
for which was very difficult. They had to stand with one
leg on a brick and the other leg help up above their head
and remain in this position for an hour. The pupil started
with the brick lying
40 flat, then it was turned on the side, and finally on end!
This was practiced during carpet practice.
Apart from the theatrical training, there was no education
at all in this school. The students were from poor families
and were for the most part illiterate. They learned all their
roles in more or less parrot fashion. Only
45 those who came from educated families in Peking were
themselves educated and these were few indeed, as
generally actors were locked down upon by the scholarly
families in Peking.

1. General Understanding
Choose the best answer
(i) A ‘vocation’ (line 1) is another word for...
a. severe discipline
b. a very interesting occupation
c. a career to which one is devoted
d. hard training
(ii) The main idea of the first paragraph is ...
a. an actor’s life is an interesting one.

63
 b. Chinese actors in the early part of this century had
to undergo very rigorous training.
c. Chinese actors had very little spare time.
d. Chinese actors were very enthusiastic
(iii) In the second paragraph, we are told that in order to
complete their training successfully, actors had to...
a. be very interested c. have strength of mind and
character.
b. be young d. be studious.
(iv) Which of the following statements in NOT true?
a. The actor rose earlier in the summer
b. They began the day with carpet exercises.
c. They did acrobatics after carpet exercises.
d. The exercises were practiced between 5 o’clock and
6 o’clock every morning.
(v) The students sang in front of the city walls...
a. To work up an appetite for breakfast
b. So that no one would hear them
c. To test their voices
d. To make their voices sound louder
(vi) ‘Manipulation of stage properties’ (line 23 and 24)
means...
a. stage fighting with spears and swords
b. fighting duels on the stage
c. handling objects used on the stage
d. learning to act and sing
(vii) In the fifth paragraph, we are told that...
a. The beginners went to bed at 6 o’clock.
b. The senior students went to bed at 6 o’clock.
c. The beginners usually had some more singing and
acting practice after supper
d. The senior students performed in outside theatre
every evening.
(viii) In line ‘meted out to the erring pupil’ means that
the punishment was ...
a. unfair

64
 b. given to the wrong very severe
c. very pupil
d. given to the pupil who had mad a mistake

2. Vocabulary
a). Give the meaning of each of the following words or
phrases as used in passage. In the case of single
words, you may give a short words or phrase.
(i) rigorous (iv) western counterpart
(ii) leisure (v) strenuous
(iii) would-be (vi) deflected
b). For each of the words below compose a sentence of
not fewer than ten words, in which the word is used
unchanged in form but with an entirely different
meaning from its meaning in the passage.
(i) case (iii) interest
(ii) degree (iv) mind
c). (i) Give the noun form of strong
(ii) Give the adjective form of severity
(iii) Give the noun form of complete
(iv) Give the verb form of successful
(v) Give the noun form of practiced
(vi) Give the adjective form of tension

3. Comprehension Questions
a). Why must an actor have a strong interest in and
enthusiasm for his profession?
b). What is the purpose of the second paragraph?
c). What caused the ‘tension of their strained limbs’?
d). A person who had never seen Chinese opera would
learn two of its features by reading the fourth
paragraph. Describe these two features in your won
words.
e). Why do you think the beginners were sent to see the
senior students perform?
f). Why were female impersonators necessary?

65
4. Summarizing
a). In not more than 30 words explain why the students
breakfast was ‘well-earned’.
b). in not more than 40 words, explain why and how
practice with a brick was carried out.
c). In the last paragraph, we are told that the students
received training but no education. Explain in not more
than 40 words the difference between training and
education.

5. Language Practice
1 2
Apart from the theatrical training, there was no education
at all.
Compose sentences like this, using words given below to
replace the words in the boxes.
1 2
(i) a little rice food
(ii) a few birds noise
singing nothing to drink
(iii) a little water nothing on the desk
(iv) some writing nowhere to go
paper nothing to be seen
(v) the cinema no one in the school
(vi) a fishing boat
(vii) the character

Example: Apart from a little rice, there was no food at all.

13. DREAMS

66
 Several of us were seated at dinner one night when one
remarked that he had had a most peculiar dream the
night before. “I dreamt that I was in Trafalgar Square, and
as I looked, all the statues, the lions, Nelson and all,
suddenly came to life.” This got us talking about dreams.
Asked what he
5 dreamt about, one said, “Oh! The usual dream trying to
catch a train and only just managing it.” Another said she
only dreamt of trifling things that had happened the day
before, whilst another woman said, “All I dreamt about
was the word ‘Lame’- but why I should dream of that I do
not know, it is a place in Scotland which I have not been
to for 20 years, and then only
10 for one night, crossing over to Ireland.” Our host
described nightmarish dreams he often had going through
dark tunnels with terrific apprehension, or being chased
with feet as heavy as lead; and a medical student
mentioned a constant nightmare of “something – a bat or
spider – seizing hold of my stomach, which gave me such
excruciating pain that I cried out, and I woke
15 up crying.”
Finally, a quiet young woman asked about her dreams
replied, “I’d really rather not say!”
Thus, men and women have talked about their dreams for
centuries and centuries, and the curious is that in spite of
the bizarre and nonsensical
20 nature of dreams, people have persisted in believing that
dreams have got a meaning and that they are significant
for our daily lives.
Dreams are of interest to all of us, because all of us
dream. Some find them amusing, some worrying, some
terrifying, some regard them superstitiously; gypsies take
them as warnings, the superior regard them as merely
stupid,
25 while others, like the psychoanalysts, study them
scientifically and make use of them in the everyday

67
 treatment of neurotic disorders. Dreams have always
fascinated mankind, because they open to us a realm of
our personality which we did not know existed. We are
surprised at the things we dream about St. Augustine
thanked God he was not responsible for his
30 dreams!
The mild person dreams of himself standing up to others,
the humble person of great achievement, the philosopher
dreams of doing the most irrational things, the calm
individual of being in a berserk rage. Dreams indeed seem
to go by the opposites. What does it all mean? Is it all
chance,
35 is it all nonsense, or has it all a meaning for our lives? At
any rate, we cannot help being fascinated by the bizarre
products we find emerging from the depths of our
personality, and which are the products of our own
unconscious images creation.
For night after night even the most unimaginative of us go
on creating
40 images and stories so fantastic that we could never
produce them by any conscious effort in our waking life,
however, hard we were to try. Not only do we create these
stories, but we are ourselves partakers and actors in these
fantasies we unconsciously fabricate, and reluctant as we
are admit it, we are affected by them in our daily life, and
often troubled.

1. General Understanding
Choose the best answer
(i) All the dreams mentioned in the first paragraph...
a. have something to do with fear
b. are nightmares
c. are connected with real life
d. are difficult
(ii) In line 21, the words ‘they are significant for out
daily lives’ means that dream...

68
 a. foretell the future
b. recall something that has happened to us
c. have some meaning in connection with our
everyday affair(87)
d. influence what is going to happen to us.
(iii) According to the write to the writer dreams may be
of real use..
a. as a source of amusement
b. as wring
c. as interesting topics in conversation
d. in the study of the working of the mind
(iv) What kinds of people take least notice of dream?
a. people who worry
b. psychoanalysts
c. people who are superstitions
d. people who think they are better than other people
(v) ‘Dreams indeed seem to go by opposites’. This
means that
a. Completely different kinds of people have similar
dreams.
b. When you dream about a future event, the opposite
happens.
c. In their dreams people are often the opposite kind
of person to what they are in real life.
d. If a person has a certain of dream on one occasion,
he will have a completely different kind of dream
next time.
(vi) In the last paragraph, we are told that
a. everybody dreams
b. only unimaginative people dream
c. only imaginative people dream
d. people dream only when they are troubled

2. Vocabulary

69
 a). Give the meaning of each following as used the
passage EITHER one word answer OR short phrases will
be accepted.
(i) came to life (vi) mild
(ii) trifling (vii) irrational
(iii) apprehension (viii) conscious
(iv) constant (ix) fabricate
(v) realm
b). Explain briefly in your own words with particular
reference to the underlined words:
(i) ‘People have persisted in believing.’
(ii) ‘Psychoanalysts ... make use of them in the
everyday treatment of neurotic disorders.
(iii) ‘ The mild person dreams of himself standing up to
others’.
c). For each of the words given below compose a sentence
of at least ten words in which the word is used
unchanged in form but with an entirely different
meaning from its meaning in the passage. (You may, if
you wish, use the word as a different part of speech).
(i) catch (iii) hard
(ii) interest (iv) admit

3. Comprehension Question
a). Why if they begin talking about dreams?
b). What is the writer’s purpose, in the first paragraph, in
mentioning so many different dreams?
c). Explain in your own words the ‘curious thing’
mentioned in the second paragraph.
d). Why do you think St Augustine thanked God he was
not responsible for his dreams?
e). What point is the writer making when he mentions the
dreams of the mild persons, the humble person, the
philosopher and the calm individual?

4. Summarizing

70
 Write a summary of the whole passage in not more than
150 words.
Note: This will provide good practice in summing up a
number of details in one phrase or sentence. For
example, you will not be able to refer to each dream
mentioned in the first paragraph. The same is true
of the details in the third paragraph.

5. Language Practice
a). At the end of the first paragraph, we are told that a
quiet young woman said that she would rather not say
what her dreams were about. This means that she did
not want to say, that she preferred not to. How many
sentences can you compose beginning ‘I would rather
not’? Example:
I would rather not go to the cinema tonight, thank you.
I have a lot of homework.
b). Read again the first sentence in the last paragraph.
Note particularly the construction go on meaning
continue. The past form is went on.

Complete the following sentences using went on or go

on. The first has been done for you.
(i) ...even though no one was listening.
He went on talking even though no one was
listening.
(ii) ...even though the bell had rung for the end of
the lesson.
(iii) ...even after the referee had blown his whistle.
(iv) ...even if I were given a million dollars. (Begin: I
should...)
(v) ...even though he was suffering great pain.
(vi) ...even after the teacher entered the room.
(vii) ...even though she had been told not to.
(viii) ...even after they had been warned by the police.
(ix) ...even after the rain stopped.

71
 (x) ...even though they have been warned that
tobacco is bad for the health.

14. EXAMINATIONS – OLD STYLE

During the Ming dynasty, the most important and difficult

examination in the whole of China was the examination
for Doctorate of Letters. They very few men who
succeeded in passing it were honoured by everyone who
knew them. There is an account of how a certain Paul Hsu
sat this examina-
5 tion in the year 1604.
At dawn on the seventh of May, first day of the
examination, armed with three brushes, inkpot, ink and
paper, Paul approached the immense examination
building surrounded by high walls, characteristic of every
provincial capital. At the gate, he was stripped and
searched even his inkpot
10 being inspected for cribs. When the candidates, several
masters of art, had assembled, the gates were sealed and
a strong guard posted. The examiners a Chancellor and an
Academician, announced the themes for the seven essays
to be written that day: three sentences chosen from the
Four Books, compulsory of all, and four sentences from
each of the other less important
15 works which made up the nine Classics, every candidate
specializing in only on of these subsidiary books.
The scholars were then led to a central courtyard
dominated by a building consisting of four thousand small
hutches, each able to hold a man. A desk and a stool. In
these, the candidates were locked. A light meal had been
laid

72
20 out in the hutches, between which communication was
impossible. All day long, in company with the most
brilliant men of China, most aged between thirty and
forty, but some with white hair, Paul toiled away in his tiny
cell, spinning out of himself a cocoon of silken eloquence.
Each essay must contain no more and no less than five
hundred characters
25 – even here number was king – and would be judged not
only for orthodoxy but for style, since the written
language stood for national unity. The final versions he
wrote in a special book, putting at the end his own name
and those of his father, grandfather, together with his
address. At dusk the enclosure was unlocked, the weary
candidates stumbled out, to be
30 stripped for their exquisite threads of thought by lean,
sharp-eyed officials. They in turn handed the compositions
to scribes who copied them in red ink into another book.
The anonymous versions in red letters were finally
presented to the examiners.
On the second day of the examination, Paul wrote essays
on ancient
35 history; on the last day, judgements in three legal cases.
The examiners then close the three hundred best groups
of essays, which were compared with the originals to
ascertain the successful names. The great day came; lists
of the new aristocracy were published and Paul’s name
was among them. He had attained the coveted rank of
Doctor of Letters. Later a book giving a
40 family and address of successful candidates would be
published, together with the most notable compositions.
Every year it would be revised in the light of promotions
and degradations, for Paul was now linked by a fraternal
bond to the other doctors of his year, and by a filial bond
to the examiners, whom he would treat with reverential
respect until their dying
45 day.

73
1. General Understanding
Choose the best answer
(i) Which of the following could replace ‘characteristic
of’ without altering the meaning?
a. typical of c. surrounding
b in defence of d. giving atmosphere to
(ii) Which of the following is closest in meaning to
‘cribs’?
a. the wrong colour ink
b. a reference book
c. dictionary
d. material used by an examination candidate for
cheating
(iii) On how many themes did each candidate hove to
write?
a. Three c. Five
b. Four d. Nine
(iv) How many book was each candidate expected to
have studied?
a. three c. five
b. four d. nine
(v) Below are four words all taken from passage. Which
is nearest in meaning to ‘cell’?
a. courtyard c. cocoon
b. hutch d. building
(vi) We are told that the essays would be judged not
only for the style in which they were written but also
for their...
a. beauty for character formation
b. neatness
c. originality
d. expression of approve opinions
(vii) When the weary candidates emerged from their
enclosure they...
a. were searched

74
 b. were questioned
c. gave their essays to the officials
d. read their essays to the officials
(viii) After the essays had been marked, the officials were
able to tell which were Paul’s ...
a. because he had written his name and address on
them
b. by comparing them with the originals
c. because they were written in re ink
d. because each one had the candidate’s number on it
(ix) In line ‘coveted’ mean...
a. elevated c. academic
b. eagerly desired d. special
(x) Which of these statements is NOT true?
a. Paul’s family and address would be published in a
book.
b. Paul’s would always treat his examiners with the
kind of respect that he would show his parents.
c. The three hundred best essays would be published
in a book.
d. Those who passed the examination had a brotherly
relationship towards each other.

2. Vocabulary
a). Give the meaning of each of the following as used in
the passage EITHER one word answers OR short
phrases may be given.
(i) immense (vi) toiled
(ii) stripped (vii) lean
(iii) posted (viii) anonymous
(iv) themes (ix) ascertain
(v) brilliant (x) aristocracy
b). Explain briefly in your own words, with particular
reference to the underlined words:
(i) armed with three brushes, inkpot, ink and paper.
(ii) every provincial capital

75
 (iii) every candidate specializing in only one of these
subsidiary books.
c). For each of the words given below compose a sentence
(i.e. four sentences in all) of at least ten words, in
which the word is used unchanged in form but with an
entirely different meaning from its meaning in the
passage. (You may, if you wish, use the word as a aprt
of speech).
(i) light (iii) book
(ii) characters (iv) lean

3. Comprehension Questions
a). Why were Doctors of Letters honoured by everyone
who knew them?
b). From what you are told about the nature of the
examinations would you say that memory was
important?
c). What comparison is being made in the words ‘spinning
out of himself a cocoon of silken eloquence?
d). Explain in your own words how the names of the
candidates who had written the three hundred best
groups of essays were ascertained.
e). Explain briefly the effect of his success on Paul.
4. Summarizing
a). In not more than 60 words, describe the precautions
taken to ensure that there was no possibility of
cheating. (Your answer should refer to both candidates
ad examiners)
b). What facts given in the passage demonstrate the
highly competitive nature of the examination? (Your
answer should contain not more than 50 words.)

5. Language Practice
a). Supply the missing words
(i) The examination took place ... dawn... the
seventh of May.

76
 (ii) The examination building was surrounded ...high
walls which were a characteristic ...provincial
capitals.
(iii) The candidates had to write ... three themes ..the
four books, which were compulsory... all ... addition
each candidate specialized ... one of the nine
Classics.
(iv) The candidates were locked ... cells, where a light
meal had been laid ... for them. There was no
means of communication...the cells.
(v) Paul was examined in company ... some of the
cleverest men... China, most of them aged thirty
and forty but some ... white hair.
(vi) The essays were judged...style and orthodoxy.
(vii) ...dusk, the candidates were allowed ...and handed
their compositions... turn to a scribe.

15. ROBOTS

There is a lot of talk these days about ‘automation’. This is

a word which has been invented to describe what the
owners of factories are doing when they buy expensive
machinery to make more and more of their work
automatic, and so dispense with a great many workers.
These machines,
5 some of which are so cleverly made that they seem to
think like human beings, are sometimes called ‘robots’.
But it is only in manufacturing that these robots can be
used – they can also be used in war.
Everyone knows that atom bombs and H-bombs have
completely altered the nature of warfare. Fewer realize
that tremendous changes have come

77
10 about following the development of the robots. With
ordinary weapons, if an enemy threw a bullet or a bomb
at you the changes were that he would miss. Unless you
are travelling very fast, this is no longer true. Even with
ordinary explosives, shells fitted with proximity fuses can
wreak havoc on an army in the comparative safety of its
trenches as the German and the
15 Japanese found their cost at the end of the Second World
War and for the guided missile, ships, cities and slow-
moving aircraft are perfect targets.
Add to the accuracy of the robots the destructive power of
atomic explosives, and you have the recipe by which the
opponents in a future war could successfully destroy each
other, leaving the victory to neither. The
20 only thing more or less safe from one guided missile is
another guided missile, for example, a rocket travelling
across continent and oceans towards its target, at
thousands of miles an hour and at a height of hundreds of
miles. It is true that there are means of defence even
against missiles of this sort but when they are carrying H-
bombs, you have to be
25 sure of intercepting everyone. This is impossible. In short,
attacking is easy but defending is hopeless.
Suppose, however, you decide you want at least to try to
defend yourself. When you are threatened with high-
speed rockets, every second counts, so it is no use having
a man watching a radar screen and when he sees a rocket
30 coming, have him telephoning to Commander-in-Chief
who can then give his orders to the defending forces. No,
the whole thing must happen automatically, by robots,
which can immediately direct guided missiles to intercept
the rocket which the radar has spotted. Nor is it any good
waiting until war is declared before setting the robots on
watch, because only by a
35 surprise attack could the enemy hope to wipe you out
before you were able to hit back.

78
 So the robots would have to be permanently on guard,
and they could also have to have control of your attacking
forces so that they would launched at the enemy, in
retaliation, with the least possible delay. If they are to be
40 any use at all, the robots have to take the responsibility
for ‘declaring war’ and fighting it, with us humans
covering in the background.
For years past there has been a great deal of talk about
the ‘push button war’, in which generals are supposed to
release great barrages of missiles by giving one order. On
the contrary, it really looks as though, if robots are
45 going to be used as much as they can be, no one will
actually have to push a button, and no human will have to
take a military decision. Perhaps when there is no glory in
being a general and no profit in fighting, wars will o out of
fashion.

1. General Understanding
a). Choose the best answer
(i) Which of the following words or phrases is nearest
in meaning to ‘automatic’?
a. expense c. very accurate
b. self-acting d. cleverly made
(ii) According to the writer some robots ...
a. are as clever as human beings
b. look like human beings
c. can manufacture expensive machinery
d. appear to think like human beings
(iii) In line 9, ‘Fewer;’ refers to...
a. an atom bombs and H-bombs c. tremendous
changes
b. people d. robots
(iv) In the second paragraph, one example of an
automatic weapon is…
a. an atom bomb c. a shell fitted with a
proximity fuse

79
 b. a bullet d. a slow-moving aircraft
(v) The writer says that if rockets carrying H-bombs
are used in a war..
a. they cannot be intercepted
b. the rockets will destroy each other
c. both sides will win
d. there is no complete defence
(vi) Which of the following is nearest in meaning to
‘intercept’ as used in the passage?
a. detect on a radar screen
b. attack
c. attack
d. prevent something from reaching its destination
(vii) In line 28, the words ‘every second counts’ mean…
a. all the rocket must be counted
b. when one rocket misses, the next will reach its
target
c. the speed of the rockets must be calculated
d. quick action is essential
(viii) The main idea of the forth paragraph is that…
a. It is easy to defend a country against a rocket
attack.
b. Defence against a rocket attack must be
automatic.
c. Rockets travel very fast.
d. Robots must be placed on watch as soon as war
is declared.
(ix) In line 39, the phrase ‘in retaliation’ means…
a. in return for being attacked
b. automatically
c. as means of defence
d. as a surprise attack
(x) In the last paragraph, the writer says that if robots
are fully used…
a. There may be more wars
b. More guided missiles may be used

80
 c. It will be easier to make military decision.
d. War will cost more money
b). Some of the following statements contradict
information given in the passage. Pick out the false
statements and say why they are false.
(i) Automatic leads to fewer workers.
(ii) All automatic machines are known as ‘robots’.
(iii) Automation has made total destruction possible.
(iv) By using guided missiles controlled by robots all
the enemy’ rockets could be intercepted.
(v) It would still be necessary to tell the robots when
to retaliate.
(vi) The use of robots means the ends of wars.

2. Vocabulary
a). Give the meaning of each of the following as it is used
in the passage. One word answers or short phrases will
be accepted.
(i) invented (iv) spoiled
(ii) missile (v) permanently
(iii) recipe (vi) release
b). Explain each of the following phrases without
using in your explanation any of the words underlined:
(i) dispense with a great many workers
(ii) the chances were that he would miss
(iii) can wreak havoc on an army
(iv) wars will go out of fashion

3. Comprehension Questions
a). What is the difference between a robot and a
machine?
b). What has brought about the situation today in which it
is possible for countries to destroy each other, neither
side winning?
c). Why is defence by robots necessary nowadays?

81
 d). Explain in your own words the writer’s reason for
thinking that wars will go out of fashion.

4. Summarizing
a). Why is attacking easy but defending hopeless? Do not
use more than 40 words.
b). Explain in not more than 60 words, why the defence of
a country must, in the writer’s opinion, be controlled by
robots.

5. Language Practice
When you are threatened with high-speed rockets every
second counts.

a). Make up sentences like this one using the words below
to replaces ones in the box.
(i) two cars are colliding
(ii) a person has been seriously injured
(iii) there are only a few minutes of the examination left
(iv) the enemy has declared war
(v) a building catches fire
(vi) the game is almost finished

Example: When two cars are colliding, every second

counts.

b). Now make up five more sentences like the ones above,
using your own words in place of the ones in the box.

16. ANAESTHESIA

82
 Anaesthesia in any part of the body means a loss of
sensation, either permanent or temporary. The term is
usually used to describe the artificially produced loss of
sensation, which makes a surgical operation painless.
Crude attempts at anaesthesia were made in ancient
times, patient about to
5 undergo an operation were stupefied with wine or with the
juices of narcotic plants. In 1846, an American dentist,
W.T Green Morton, was the first to demonstrate effectively
an anaesthetic in the form of a sulphuric ether vapour,
and he extracted the tooth of a patient who had inhaled in
the vapour.
10 In Boston in the same year, a surgeon, James C. Warren,
removed a tumour from a patient’s neck, and in London
Robert Liston performed the first operation using
anaesthetics in Britain. The Scottish physician, Sir James
Young Simpson, introduced chloroform as an alternative to
ether in 1847, and for a time it superseded ether. Both
had certain disadvantages, and
15 other anaesthetic agents were sought. Today new
material and methods are constantly being introduced.
There are four main types of anaesthetics: general, spinal,
regional, and local. Anaesthetics may be given as gases,
by inhalation; or as drugs injected into a vein. A patient
given general anaesthesia loses consciousness.
20 Anaesthesia of a fairly large area of the body results from
injecting the anaesthetic drug into the spinal canal; all
that portion of that body below the level at which the drug
is injected is anaesthetised. Regional anaesthesia is
injecting of the nerves as they emerge as the spinal
column; the anaesthesia introduced by this method
affects only that area of the body
25 supplied by those nerves. In local anaesthesia, the drug is
injected directly at the site of the operative incision and
sometimes also into the nearby surrounding tissues.
Formerly the most commonly used local anaesthetic was

83
 cocaine, a drug extracted from the leaves of the coca
bush and introduced in 1879. but cocaine has some
disadvantages and, sometimes,
30 undesirable side effects. For spinal, regional and local
anaesthesia, procaine, or one of several modifications of
procaine, is now widely used instead of cocaine. For very
limited and short operations, such as opening a small
abscess, local anaesthesia may be introduced by spraying
(rather than injecting) as chemical, ethyl chloride, on a
small area of the skin, in
35 changing from the liquid to the gaseous state this drug
freezes the area sprayed, and permits painless incision.
In the early days, anaesthetics were often administrated
by any available assistant, or by the surgeon himself.
Inevitably there were accidents, patients receiving too
little or too much and even sometimes fatal over
40 doses. It was son recognized that specialists were needed,
and now the anaesthetist is an important member of the
surgical team. During the operation, it is his duty to keep
a careful watch on the patient’s pulse and respiration, to
keep the operating surgeon informed as to the patient’s
general condition, and to be ready to use oxygen and
other restorative
45 methods in case of collapse. Modern operations
sometimes take hours to perform, and the anaesthetist
has to ensure that the patient is able to withstand the
strain. Before the patient leaves the ward for the
operating room, he is given an injection, which soothes
him and induces a feeling of drowsiness.
50 In pre-anaesthetic days, the surgeon had to concentrate
on speed, his main concern being to end patient’s ordeal
as quickly as possible, but the introduction of anaesthesia
has widened the scope of surgery enormously. An
operation is no longer a desperate procedure undertaken
as a last resort but a careful planned undertaking to
remedy structural or functional

84
55 defects.

1. General Understanding
Choose the best answer
(i) Anaesthetics were used for an operation in Britain
for the first time by…
a. W. Green Morton c. James C. Warren.
b. Robert Liston d. Sir James Young Simpson

(ii) Which of the following statements is NOT true?

a. Ether was used before chloroform
b. Chloroform at one time was used instead of ether.
c. Ether was the way first kind of anaesthetic used.
d. Ether and chloroform were both unsatisfactory
(iii) In line 1 ‘sensation’ means…
a. consciousness c. pain
b. excitement d. feeling
(iv) Which of these statements is NOT true?
a. Anaesthetics can be given in at least two ways.
b. There are four kinds of anaesthesia.
c. When an anaesthetic is injured into the spinal canal
the patient loses consciousness.
d. An injection into the spinal canal produces loss of
sensation below the place of injection.
(v) When an anaesthetic is given by inhalation, this
means it is given…
a. as a drug c. as a gas
b. by injection d. by being sprayed on the
skin
(vi) when gas is used as an anaesthetic the anaesthesia
is …
a. general c. regional
b. spinal d. local
(vii) The words ‘the site of the operative incision’
means…
a. the nearby surrounding tissues

85
 [Link] place at which the cut is to be made
[Link] place of injection
[Link] area of the body supplied by particular nerves.
(viii)In the forth paragraph we are told that…
[Link] use to be popular general anaesthetic
[Link] is now commonly used as a local
anaesthetic
c. cocaine was once in general use as a local
anaesthetic
d. procaine is now in general use for local anaesthesia
only.

2. Vocabulary
a). Give the meaning of each of the following words as it
is used in the passage. One word answers or short
phrases are acceptable.
(i) crude (vi) induced
(ii) stupefied (vii) fatal
(iii) effectively (viii) respiration
(iv) inhaled (ix) drowsiness
(v) emerge

3. Comprehension Questions
a). Explain in your own words the difference between the
strict meaning of anaesthesia and the way in which the
word is generally used.
b). What are the four kinds of anaesthetics mentioned in
the third paragraph?
c). What is the difference between special and regional
anaesthesia?
d). What is the most widely used anaesthetic nowadays?
e). Can you suggest two reasons why specialists in
anaesthetics becomes necessary?

4. Summarizing

86
 a). In not more than 80 words describe the different types
of anaesthesia mentioned in the third paragraph.
b). Given the brief outline of the development of drugs
used as anaesthetics as described in the passage. Your
answer should contain not more than 80 words. (Note
that your answer should be confined to the second and
fourth paragraphs.)

5. Language Practice
Supply suitable tenses of the verbs given in brackets.
Note that the meaning often changes from the present
time to the past time and the reverse. Sometime the
passive form is necessary.
a). Anaesthesia (mean) a loss of sensation which
(produce) artificially. Some kinds of anaesthesia
(administer) even in ancient times. Today new methods
and materials (introduce) all the time.
b). The most widely used local anaesthetic formerly (be)
cocaine. It (have) several disadvantages, however, and
sometimes (produce) undesirable side effects. Today
procaine (use) instead of cocaine.
c). In the early days surgeon themselves often
(administer) anaesthetics or any available assistant
(use). It soon (become) obvious, however, that
specialists (need), and now the anaesthetics (be) an
important member of the surgical team. Nowadays,
many operations (last) for several hours and for the
whole of this time, the anaesthetist (have) to keep a
careful watch on his patient’s condition.

87
 17. DRAGONS

Of all the queer creatures, which appear in mythology,

there is none more important and few more ancient than
the dragon. Very many centuries ago, this fabulous
monster crowded wriggled and flew its way all over
Europe and Asia Kings, emperors and princes have
proudly worn the dragon badge,
5 and Roman soldier followed the dragon standard into
battle. Before the Norman conquest the dragon was the
chief English royal ensign in war. Not only in England only,
but all over Europe and beyond, the dragon has appeared
on military standard. In China the dragon was the symbol
of the Emperor, and in Japan there is a national dragon
myth.
10 What is the dragon like? A detailed description by the
Chinese writer Wang Fu, who lived in the Han Dynasty
(206 BC-AD 220) runs. ‘His horns resemble those of a
stag, his head that of camel, his eyes those of a demon,
his neck that of a snake, his belly that of a calm, his
scales those of a carp, his claws those of an eagle, his
soles those of a tiger, his ears those of a cow.
15 “The mixture of creatures in the dragon’s make up
suggests the monster was created by adding together bits
of various animals.
This is, indeed, what happened. One of the earliest
pictures of a dragon appears on a Babylonian seal; it
shows a serpent like beast with horns and paws. This
dragon is the goddess Tiamat, who is also depicted with
wings.
20 She had the power to create monsters to help her fight
against the dog Marduk. But she was defeated for her
represented the life giving spring sun, and she stood for
dark confusion and chaos as well as for the ocean which

88
 Babylonians thought of as existing in the beginning of
things. The dragon also appears in the Egyptian myths of
the battle between the gods
25 Osiris and Set. Ever since those ancient days the dragon
has been thought of as representing the struggle which
goes on in the world between the powers of good and evil.
According to the mythology of the Greeks and Romans
there were, however, some good dragons in Europe. But
they became increasingly
30 regarded as bad beasts, and the devil himself was
depicted with claws, horns, and wings like a dragon. In
China, on the other hand, although there are ancient
records of horrible dragon monsters lurking in the rivers
which had to be appeased by human sacrifices, the
dragon has long been thought of mainly as the bringer of
prosperity and good fortune. The mythological
35 beast is always connected in the same way with water,
either in the rivers, sea or clouds. The Chinese dragon is
believed to be ‘the heavenly bringer of the fertilizing rain’
without which the crops would fail and people would
starve. When the Chinese went rain, they perform a
dragon dance. These contrary notions about the dragon
probably arose from its connexion with
40 the thunderstorm. People thought of the thunderstorm as
the source of prosperity, as with it comes the fertilizing
rain which matters so much to the inhabitants of parched
countries, but they also feared the thunderbolt and
noticed the lighting could shatter trees or strike people
dead. Thus the dragon of the rain and thundercloud came
to be considered in some places
45 and at some times as the bringer of good and at other
places and times as an evil power. The dragon is mythical
creature, but it stands for something of which every one
of us has experience the conflict between good and evil.
This is one of the reasons why beliefs about it have been
popular over a great part of the world.

89
1. General Understanding
a). Choose the best answer
(i) The main idea of the first paragraph is that…
a. The dragon is the oldest creature in mythology.
b. The dragon is the most important creature in
mythology.
c. Dragons once existed in Europe and Asia
d. The dragons once the chief English royal ensign
in war.
(ii) According to the second paragraph, the dragon…
a. was invented by the writer, Wang Fu
b. was made up of a number of different animals
c. was originally seal
d. began as snake
(iii) By ‘serpent-like’ the writer means that the dragon
resembled…
a. a worm c. an imaginary creature
b. a seal d. a snake
(iv) Which of the following licks the third paragraph
with the second paragraph?
a. according to line 1 c. but 1
b. however, 1 d. on the other hand 1
(v) In line 20, ‘her’ refers to…
a. Tiamat c. marduk
b. a dragon d. a monster
(vi) In the last paragraph, we are told that…
a. There are some good dragons in Europe
b. Human sacrifices were at one time made to
dragons thought to live in rivers.
c. In China the dragon has always been regarded as
bringing good luck
d. One of the purposes of the dragon dance was to
prevent floods.
(vii) With which of the following has the symbol NOT
been connected at some time or other?

90
 a. the Emperor of China c. the devil
b. the god Marduk d. water
b). Some of the following sentences contradict information
given in the passage. Pick out the false statements and
show briefly why they are false.
(i) At one time real dragons lived all over Europe
(ii) The dragon is the oldest and most important
creature in mythology
(iii) The god Marduk represented confusion and chaos.
(iv) The Romans and Greeks believed that all dragons
were good.
(v) The Chinese associated the dragon with water.
(vi) People have always hated thunderstorms.

2. Vocabulary
a). Give the meaning of each of the following as used in
the passage. You may give a single word or short
phrase.
(i) ensign (vi) appeased
(ii) conquest (vii) fertilizing
(iii) resemble (viii) contrary
(iv) depicted (ix) source
(v) chaos (x) coached
b).For each of the following words given below compose a
sentence of at least ten words in which the word is
used unchanged in form but with in entirely different
meaning. (You may, if you wish, use the word as a part
of speech)
c). Use your dictionary to find the meaning of ‘myth’ and
‘fable’. Find in the first paragraph a noun formed from
‘myth’, and an adjective formed from ‘fable’.
3. Comprehension Questions
a). What does ‘literally’ mean? Is the second sentence in
the passage literally true? Is the third sentence literally
true?

91
 b). Can you suggest that the goddess Tiamat was
defeated?
c). Why was the devil thought to have claws, horns and
wings like a dragon?
d). Can you think of any reason why, in ancient China,
dragons were thought to live in rivers?
e). Earlier in the passage, we are told that Marduk
represented the spring sun, and later that the dragon
was connected with water. In what way are the spring
sun and water similar?
f). Explain what is meant by ‘the conflict between good
and evil’? why is the thunderstorms a symbol of this?

4. Summarizing
In not more than 80 words, summarize what the writer
says about the dragon as a symbol of the power of good.

5. Language Practice
a). Complete these sentences by adding a suitable tense
for each of the verbs in brackets. (In some cases, more
than one answer may be possible).
(i) Many strange creature (appear) in mythology.
(ii) In older days, many rulers and soldiers (fight) under
the dragon ensign.
(iii) The Chinese writer, Wang Fu, said that a dragon’s
horns (resemble) the horns of a stag.
(iv) The comparisons made by Wang Fu (suggest) that
the dragon was a mixture of animals.
(v) Since ancient times the dragon (consider) a symbol
of the struggle between good and evil.
(vi) There (be) ancient records in China today of
dragons living in rivers.
(vii) A thunderstorm sometimes (cause) damage but it
also (bring) rain to make crops grow.

92
b). Of all the queer creatures in mythology, there is none
more important
1 2
than the dragon.
3
Compose sentences like this one, using the words
below in place of the words in the boxes.

1 2 3
(i) boys in the more hard working Andi
school more beautiful ours
(ii) schools in the more popular Mr. Lee
country more useful this one
(iii) teachers we more interesting my cousin
have had more useful this one
(iv) books I have
read
(v) people I have
talked to
(vi) tools I have
ever used

Now make up sentences of your own

Example: Of all the boys in the school, there is none more

hard working than Andi.

18. THE CHILD AT FIVE

A child at five is friendly, competent and obedient,

although he may be bossy with other children and is

93
 sometimes sufficiently independent to call his mother
names. He is still dependent on adult approval and praise,
and so oriented to the grown-up that he tells tales without
seeing the other
5 child’s point of view. There is no real discussion yet – fives
talking together indulge in a ‘collective monologue’,
quarrelling with words often begins towards the end of the
year. Group play is often disrupted because everyone
wants to be the mother or the bridge or the captain of the
fire brigade. Each child has an urgent need for constantly
recurring contact with
10 an adult in spite of all his effort to be independent. In his
unsure ness, he may make statements about his own
cleverness beauty, hoping that the adult will praise him
this is not conceit but cry for reassurance. He loves to say,
“Watch what can I do”. Reality and fantasy are still
intermingled and this confusion may lead him to elaborate
on facts.
15 A child usually anticipates school with great pleasure but
may panic on occasion and get a stomach upset. Parents
sometimes want to know how intelligent he is at the end
of the first day, so adding to his anxiety about his exciting
new adventure. At school, he has two social adaptations
to make, as he is still oriented to adults, he naturally puts
his teacher into the place of
20 his mother only to find that he must share her with a large
number of other children. Here also, probably the first
time, he meets a large group of his peers and so can
measure his powers against those of his equals and take
his share responsibility for himself and for helping others.
Five is a conformist who generally does not think of
questioning adult authority, by
25 the end of the year he is usually comfortably established
at school.
By the time a child is five, he is usually able to run lightly
on his toes and is skilful, at all sorts of stunts and

94
 activities which involve swinging, digging and sliding. He
can skip on alternate feet and can stand still on one foot
for eight or ten seconds, and he can even hop on one foot
for two or three
30 yards. When he hears music whose rhythm appears to
him, he may dance in time to the tune. He can grip
strongly with either hand and may ride a tricycle so
furiously that he terrifies onlookers- needlessly, or he is
now such an expert that the procedure is far than it looks.
He can count the fingers of one hand with the index finger
of the other
35 hand, and may count ten or more separate objects
correctly. His vocabulary now runs to some 2,000 words,
so he can communicate quite freely and easily with adults
or other children, and he frequently asks the meaning of
words which he hears for the first time. He can names
coins and usually knows about four colours whose names
he can employ in describing
40 pictures.
He may need help and supervision in washing and drying
himself although capable of doing both. He can dress and
undress himself quite quickly and is able to distinguish
the back and front of his garments although he may put
them on back-to-front or inside-out occasionally. Many
five-years-olds
45 are still unable to tie their shoelaces and have difficulty
with their ties or with in accessible buttons. Children of
this age will often play very well together in pairs with real
co-operation, while previously they tended to play rather
independently although in close proximity. The games
they play on the floor are often complicated and
imaginative.
1. General Understanding
(i) A competent (line 1) child…
a. can make friends easily c. does what he is told

95
 b. can perform certain tasks d. plays without her
children
(ii) A five –year-old child sometimes shows his
independence by…
a. making friends
b. calling his mother names.
c. seeking adult approval and praise
d. telling tales without seeing the other child’s point of
view
(iii) A monologue is…
a. one person speaking by himself
b. a conversation
c. a recitation
d. a kind of quarrelling
(iv) Which of the following is nearest in meaning to
‘disrupted’?
a. broken up c. spoilt
b. interrupted d. halted for a moment
(v) In line , ‘this’ refers to…
a. an urgent need for contact with adults
b. his efforts to be independent
c. making statements about his own cleverness
d. conceit
(vi) The last sentence of the first paragraph tells us that
the five-years-old child…
a. like to recite facts
b. tells lies
c. sometimes mixes up what is real with what is unreal
d. sometimes tells long complicated stories
(vii) In line 28, ‘alternate’ means…
a. a both c. either
b. one after the other d. both together
(viii) Which id the following is nearest in meaning to
‘rhythm’ as used in line?
a. tune c. rhyme
b. sound d. beat

96
 (ix) Third paragraph is mainly about a five year old
child’s…
a. ability to run c. ability to dance
b. ability to run and skip d. general physical ability
(x) the fourth paragraph is mainly concerned with how a
five-year-old child…
a. counts c. asks questions
b. use words d. knows colours
(xi) The last paragraph has two main ideas. They are…
a. help and supervision c. competence and so-
operation
b. dressing and undressing d. ability and inability

2. Vocabulary
a). Give the meaning of each of the following words as it
is used in the passage. One word answers or short
phrases will be accepted.
(i) urgent (v) stunts
(ii) conceit (vi) employ
(iii) fantasy (vii) supervision
(iv) anticipates (viii) inaccessible
b). Explain each of the following phrases, without using in
your explanations any of the words printed in
underlined.
(i) so oriented the grown-up
(ii) constantly recurring contact with an adult
(iii) five is a conformist
(iv) tended to play rather independently although in
close proximity

3. Comprehension Questions
a). Explain in your own words what we are told in the first
paragraph about how a fie-year-old child speaks. Your
answer should contain three main points.
b). In the first paragraph, we are told of two
characteristics of five-year-olds that might earn the

97
 disapproval of adults if they did not understand this
stage of development. What are they?
c). What are the two social adaptations that a five-year-
old child has to make when he first goes to school?

4. Summarizing
a). What are we told in the first paragraph to illustrate the
statement that five-year-old child is oriented towards
the adults?
b). Write a summary of the first four paragraphs, using
one sentence for each paragraph. Do not use more
than 70 words.

5. Language Practice
a). Find each of thee phrase in the passage and note how
they are used. Then use each one in three sentence of
your own:
(i) Point of view
Example: Each speaker expresses a different point
of view.
(ii) an urgent need for
Example: There is an urgent need for more houses
in this town
(iii) in spite of al (his) efforts
Example: In spite of all the firemen’s efforts, the
building was completely destroyed.
(iv) by the end of
Example: By the end of the month, we will have
finished this book.
(v) by the time
Example: By the time the police arrived, the
burglars were now here to be seen
b). He may ride a tricycle so furiously that he terrifies
onlookers
1 2 3

98
 Write sentences like the one above using these words
to replace the words in boxes.

1 2 3
(i) He put the violent it cracked
glass ly no one could hear
(ii) She read softly the passenger fell over
the poem sudde that no one could read his
(iii) The bus nly writing
moved off badly even bicycle over took it
(iv) He wrote slowly
(v) The car
went

Example: He put the glass down so violently that it

cracked.
c). Now make up five more sentences of your own
following the same pattern

19. EARTH DETECTIVES

If we behave like detectives and search for clues and

piece them together to build up a picture of events as
they may have happened, we may discover for ourselves
a lot of interesting things about the rocks which compose
the earth’s surface on which we live. This is what
geologists do; and in geology,
5 which is the study of the earth, people who are not
experts may make useful observations and discoveries.
Often it is only a matter of keeping a sharp eye for
whatever may be seen in walks or travels.

99
 The first thing to notice when looking at the face of a cliff
is that the rocks are most usually in layers one above the
other. These layers, called strata,
10 are of different thickness, sometimes being less than an
inch and sometimes many feet in thickness.
Most of them were formed long ages ago from sediments,
which settled at the bottom of lakes, estuaries or seas.
Though we usually think of a rock as being something
hard, any such strata are spoken of as rock, though they
15 may be composed of clay, loose gravel, or a mineral like
common salt. In rocks made in this way, the lower strata
must obviously be older than the upper strata; and the
type of rock reveals the sort of sediment it was made of.
So it has been possible to piece together much of the
history of the earth in former ages by studying the strata
in the rocks.
20 Rocks formed of sediments often contain fossils, which are
the remains or impressions of animals or plants, which
sank or drifted into a place where sediments were
accumulating, and so became preserved, or fossilized,
when the sediments turned into rock. Fossils are of special
interest because by then we can tell in what period the
rocks containing them were formed,
25 since each period had its own characteristic types of plant
or animal life. The oldest fossil-bearing rocks reveal only
primitive forms of life, while in succeeding ages more and
more advanced types of animals and plants made their
appearance. Many creatures of former ages no longer
exist, but have become extinct. While some died out in
this way, others developed still
30 further to produce the great variety of plants and animals
we know today.
Although the surface of the earth is composed of different
sorts of rocks, we do not see rocks everywhere because
they are hidden by the surface layer which we call soil.
This year is only a foot or two thick, sometimes shallower

100
 and sometimes deeper. The soil is composed partly of
various
35 plant and animal matter, both dead and living. The soil is
generally well mixed because it is constantly being
disturbed by the many living things in it, and especially by
earthworms. Rain soaks into it, and it can retain water like
sponge; and the fine roots of grasses, plant and trees help
to bind the soil and prevent its being washed away, as it
would be if there were no
40 vegetation.
From the economic point of view, the quality of the
soil at any place is of great importance. Obviously it
depends on several things the nature of the surface rocks,
the climate and the altitude of the locality, and the nature
of any special cultivation, like farming. In countries such
as those of Western
45 Europe where there is a variety of woodland and mixed
farming, there is usually a brown soil. It is relatively rich,
but is deficient in certain ingredients, so that when crops
are grown, these have to be supplied by dressing the soil
with lime and manure. Where there is a high proportion of
decayed mater, called humus, the soil is the rich ‘black
earth’, which is
50 found in certain areas of North America, Africa and Russia.
Conversely, in certain desert places where there is no life,
there can be no accumulated humus, and so there is no
soil in the ordinary sense at all, but only sand or powdered
rock.

1. General Understanding
Choose the best answer
(i) A clue is..
a. a piece of evidence
b. a kind of adhesive
c. a fact or idea which suggest an answer to a
problem

101
 d. a part of a picture
(ii) In the word ‘geologist’, the first syllable, ‘geo-‘,
means…
a. study c. knowledge
b. an expert d. the earth
(iii) Which of the following statements is true?
The thickness of rock strata is …
a. sometimes less than one foot.
b. never less than one foot.
c. never more than one foot.
d. never less than one inch
(iv) When something settles to the bottoms of a lake,
river or sea, it is known as…
a. a rock layer c. strata
b. sediment d. clay
(v) Which of the statements is NOT true?
a. all rock is hard.
b. Clay is a kind of rock.
c. Strata of lose gravel are known as rock
d. Upper strata were formed after lower strata
(vi) Which of these statements is true?
a. There are always fossils in rock formed from
sediment
b. Fossils are animals or plants which once lived in
sediment.
c. The sediment kept animals and plants alive.
d. Fossils are formed inside rock.
(vii) Fossils tell us…
a. how old the animals or plants were
b. what kind of rock there was
c. something about history
d. the age of the rock strata
(viii) When we say that certain creatures are extinct we
mean that…
a. they have become fossilized c. they have died
out

102
 b. they have changed d. they are dead
(ix) Soil is kept in place by…
a. earthworms c. roots
b. the rain d. rocks.
(x) The soil is which crops grow best is…
a. brown soil c. sand
b. black earth d. powdered rock

2. Vocabulary
a). Give the meaning of each of the following words as it
is used in the passage. You may give one word answers
or short passage.
(i) events (viii) accumulating
(ii) compose (ix) primitive
(iii) ages (x) variety
(iv) estuaries (xi) particles
(v) obviously (xii) eroded
(vi) former (xiii) retain
(vii) remains
b). Explain each of the following phrases without using in
your explanation any of words printed in underlined…
(i) Only a matter of keeping a sharp eye for whatever
may be seen.
(ii) Each period had its own characteristic types of
plant or animal life.
(iii) From the economic point of view, the quality of the
soil to any place is of great importance.
(iv) It is relatively rich but is deficient in certain
ingredients.

3. Comprehension Questions
a). In what why is geologist like a detective?
b). Why does the writer suggest looking at the face of a
cliff?

103
 c). Describe briefly in your own words the composition of
the surface of the earth. (Do not discuss the nature of
the soil).
d). Explain in your own words what is soil composed of.
e). Why is the type of soil of economic importance?

4. Summarizing
a). In about 80 words explain how strata are formed and
how those, with the fossils in them, tell us much about
the history of the earth.
b). Explain why, and in what ways, the equality of soil
varies indifferent parts of the world. Do not use more
than about 70 words.

5. Language Practice
a). Replace each of the verb in underlined with suitable
tense of one of the following: build up; find out, put
together, take place, make up.
Geologists, like detectives, assemble clues in order to
construct a picture or events as they many have
happened. In this way, it is possible to discover a lot of
interesting things about the rock which compose the
earth’s surface on which we live.
b). Add the where necessary. Please note that in several
cases nothing is needed.
When we look at…face of a cliff, …first thing to notice
is that…rocks are usually in …layers one above…other.
Most of these were formed form…sediments which
settled at…bottom of…lakes, estuaries or seas. In …
rocks made in this way it is clear that…lower strata
must be older than …upper strata…kind of…rock tells
us…sort of …sediments from which it was formed. In
this way, by studying …strata…in…rocks, we can learn
a great deal about ..history of…earth.

104
 20. CHOOSING A CAREER

When a boy is deciding what occupation to take up, he is

bound to be influenced to a considerable extent by the
sort of natural abilities he possesses (most of us know
very well that there are occupations we should never do
well at, even in the most favourable circumstances) ; but
in most
5 cases he will also be influenced (or his parents will see
that he is influenced) by the ‘prospects’ offered by the
possible occupations. The ‘prospect’ is not only a matter
of the wage which is offered at the moment, but also
concerned with the assurance of better wages when the
job has been fully learned, and with assurance of regular
employment. These things
10 are more likely to be secured in a trade where the
demand for labour is expanding than in one where it is
contracting.
There is, however, one other thing, which has to be taken
into account. The occupations which offer the best
‘prospects’ are usually occupations which require a long
training, it is not surprising that this should be so, since
most
15 of the highest degrees so skill can only be acquired by the
combination of long training with natural ability, and the
necessity of a long period of training is itself a reason why
the supply of such kinds of labour should be scarce. As
things were until a few years ago, the opportunity of
undergoing the longer periods of education and training
was only to the children of
20 wealthy parents and this limitation made the supply of
such trained labour scarcer than it would have been
otherwise. During the last few years, a great deal has

105
 been done to widen these opportunities. As a result, it has
probably become less for common for people possessing
exceptional abilities to be prevented from making use of
those abilities by lack of training. But it is
25 still the case that the supply of persons with exceptional
natural abilities is less than what is needed for the more
skilled and responsible occupations, so that the gaps have
to be made up by people whose skill is mainly derived
from the training they have received, or from more
experience in holding positions which they have gained
through the influence possessed by their
30 friends or relatives, rather than because of any particular
qualifications they possessed themselves. And it is still
the case that the children of poorer parents are
handicapped by their inability to content themselves with
low earnings while they acquire experience, they will
prefer an occupation which yields as moderate income
quickly to one which starts lower but may yield a
35 much higher income later on. (It is this which pushes the
children of the very poor into blind-alley occupations; and
the same thing closes professions like the law to most of
those whose parents come from the middle class.) It is in
those directions that the most serious inequalities of
opportunity still exist in our society, but to achieve a
greater equality in
40 these respects will not be an easy matter.

1. General Understanding
Choose the best answer
(i) In choosing an occupation, a boy is influenced by...
a. his possessions c. the prospects only
b. his ability only d. his ability and the
prospects
(ii) Which of the following is nearest in meaning to ‘to a
considerable extent’?
a. a little c. greatly

106
 b. to a certain d. discovered
(iii) Which of the following does the writer refer to as
‘prospects’?
(i) ability (ii) favourable circumstances
(iii) present wages (iv) future wages
(v) the assurance of regular employment?
a. (i), (ii) and (iii) c. (iv) and (v)
b. (iii) and (iv) d. (iii), (iv) and (v)
(iv) Which of the following is nearest in meaning to
‘secured’?
a. obtained c. made safe
b. made certain d. discovered
(v) In line 10 and 11, ‘the demand for labour is
expanding’ means that...
a. the number of vacancies is growing
b. there are mere people looking for jobs
c. there are fewer people looking for jobs
d. people are working too hard
(vi) In line 12, ‘one other thing’ refers to the fact that...
a. Occupations which offer the best prospects usually
require a long training.
b. A high degree of skill needs ability and training.
c. The supply of highly skilled labour is scarce.
d. At one time only the children of wealthy parents
could have a long period of training.
(vii) In line 20, ‘this limitation’ refers to...
a. the need for long training
b. the need for natural ability
c. the scarcity of trained labour
d. long periods of education and training being open
only to the children of wealthy parents.
(viii) Which of the following statements, according to the
writer is NOT true?
a. Scholarships and grants have made longer periods
of training more widely available.

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 b. There are not enough people with exceptional
natural ability
c. Nowadays people with exceptional ability are always
provided with the education and training they went.
d. Some people who lack of exceptional ability hold
highly skilled posts.
(ix) A ‘blind alley occupation’ is...
a. a job in the street c. a job with good prospects
b. a poorly paid job . a job with no prospects
(x) In line 36, ‘the same thing’ refers to...
a. ‘Inability to content themselves with low earnings
while they acquire experience’.
b. ‘A moderate income’.
c. Lack of training and ability
d. ‘The children of the very poor’.

2. Vocabulary
a). Give the meaning of each of the following words as it
is used in the passage. One word answers or short
phrases may be given.
(i) bound (iv) influence
(ii) scarce (v) handicapped
(iii) exceptional (vi) moderate
b). Explain each of the following phrases, without using in
your explanations any of the words printed in
underlined.
(i) by the sort of natural abilities he possesses.
(ii) the gaps have to be made up
(iii) is mainly derived from
(iv) blind-alley occupations
(v) inequalities of opportunity

3. Comprehension Questions
a). In the first paragraph, the writer hints that a boy’s
parents may differ from the boy in their attitude

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 towards taking up an occupation. In what way might
they differ?
b). Why are occupations with the best prospects usually
those which require a long training?
c). What has improved the supply of trained labour?
d).Why do the children of the very poor tend to enter
blind-alley occupations?

4. Summarizing
a). What are the considerations influencing a boy in
deciding what occupation to take up, as mentions in
the first paragraph? Your answer should contain not
more than 35 words.
b). Explain the circumstances, which, according to the
writer, enable people of no great ability to enter skilled
and responsible occupations. Your answer should not
contain more than 70 words.

5. Language Practice
a). Supply the missing words
(i) A boy is influenced...a number of considerations
when deciding what occupation to take...
(ii) He is unlikely to decide ...an occupation he will
never do well..., even favourable circumstances...
(iii) ...most cases, he will be concerned.... the
prospects. This is not only a matter.... what can be
earned....the future.
(iv) One thing more must be taken....account the
necessity ...a long period ....training. This is a
requirement.... most occupations.....the best
prospects.
b). Notice how the following are used in the passage and
then use them in sentences of you own.
(i) in most cases
(ii) more likely
(iii) to be taken into account

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 (iv) during the last few years a great deal has been
done
(v) as a result
(vi) will not be an easy matter

21. INSTINCT, INTELLIGENCE, AND REASON

The behaviour of the lower animals is mainly instinctive.

When a n animal is able to learn by experience, it is said
to show intelligence. Experiments show that even such
lowly animals as insects are not completely without
intelligence.
5 Bee, for instance, can learn that honey is to be obtained
from yellow containers but not from these of another
colour. In all animals below mammals, intelligence
probably plays a quite minor part in their activities. Dogs
and cats, however, quickly learn a great many simple
things, such as to come and be fed when called.
Experiments have shown that they can
10 learn such things as how to release themselves from a
cage by pulling a string which passes over a pulley and is
attached to the catch of the door.
Man is distinguished from the lower animals not only by
hid greater intelligence, but by his power of reasoning.
The difference between intelligence and reason can be
illustrated in this way. A monkey learns to
15 open to door of a cage by pulling a string. It has
discovered, in the first place by accident that the door
opens when the string is pulled. Being intelligent, it
remembers this next time, and instead of trying to force
its way out of the cage, looks for the string and pulls it. If

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 the monkey were capable of reasoning, it would not only
discover that pulling the string
20 opens the door; but would understand why pulling it does
so. In other words, it would be able to form general ideas
about mechanical devices and how they work. It is clear
that an animal is capable of reasoning can behave much
more successfully in unaccustomed situations than can
animal which is merely intelligent. Instead of blundering
on in the chance of finding the
25 right solution by trial and error, it can think out how to
modify the actions which it had found effectual in different
but somewhat similar situations, so as to suit the present
situation. Experiments have demonstrated some power of
reasoning in apes, and it appears to exist to a very slight
extent in cats and dogs.
30 Man, however, clearly stands by himself among all other
animals in the extent of his power of reasoning. This has
been greatly helped by his capacity for speech, for words
enable us to formulate much more complicated ideas than
we could express without their use, just as long
multiplication sum would be impossible without symbols
to express the
35 different numbers. Moreover, language enables people to
share their ideas and experiences and hand them down
from one generation to another. This is one of the most
important factors in education and training, processes
that take longer and longer as the human race advances
and knowledge grows. For examples, it now takes about
thirty years to train the most highly
40 qualified scientific research workers – five in the nursery,
ten in the school, four in the university as
undergraduates, four or more learning research methods,
and perhaps another five years working under some kind
of direction or supervision.

1. General Understanding

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a). Choose the best answer
(i) The writer says that intelligence is...
a. instinct
b. the ability to learn by experience
c. the ability to reason
d. the ability to do the simple things
(ii) Which one of these statements is NOT true?
a. Insects have any little intelligence.
b. Bees are coloured-blind.
c. Dogs and cats have more intelligence than
bees.
d. The actions of lower animals are more often the
result of instinct than of intelligence.
(iii) The word ‘minor’ means...
a. small c. important
b. big d. young
(iv) Which of the following is nearest in meaning to
‘distinguished’?
a. more important c. cleverer
b. different d. more intelligent
(v) In line 22, ‘capable of reasoning’ means...
a. intelligent
b. able to think
c. able to form general ideas about something
d. able to remember how to do something
(vi) Which one of thee statements is true?
a. Man is the only intelligent creature able to
reason.
b. Apes are capable of reasoning
c. Dogs and cats are sometimes intelligent but
cannot reason.
d. Cats and dogs are more intelligent than apes.
(vii) In line 25, ‘effectual’ means...
a. useful c. useless
b. worth trying d. successful
(viii) Which one of the statement is NOT true?

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 a. Man’s ability to reason is much greater than
that of any other animal
b. Man’s ability to use language has increased his
ability to reason
c. Language permits the spreads of ideas.
d. Without language, we could not reason.
(ix) Which one of the following words could replace
‘symbols’ without changing the meaning?
a. letter c. signs
c. characters d. marks
(x) As the human race advances, education, and
training take longer because...
a. people live longer
b. there is more knowledge to pass on
c. people learn more slowly longer
d. people stay at school
b). Some of the following statements contradict
information given in the passage. Pick out the false
statements and show briefly, why they are false.
(i) All animals have some intelligence.
(ii) All animals make little use of intelligence.
(iii) Dogs and cats are among the more intelligent
animals.
(iv) Apes have the same ability to reason as man.
(v) The development of language has made
complicated ideas unnecessary.

2. Vocabulary
a). Give the meaning of each of the following words as
used in the passage. One word answers or short
phrases will be accepted.
(i) lowly (v) modify
(ii) illustrated (vi) enable
(iii) unaccustomed (vii) advances
(iv) solutions

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 b). Explain each of the following phrases, without using in
your explanation any of the words printed in
underlined.
(i) in the first place by accident
(ii) instead of blundering on in the chance of finding the
right solution by trial and error.

3. Comprehension Questions
a). What is the difference between behaving instinctively
and behaving intelligently?
b). Which kind of animals makes the greatest use of
intelligence?
c). What is the biggest difference between man and other
animals?
d). Why do education and training need more and more
time?

4. Summarizing
a). What does the writer tell us about intelligence in
animals other than man? Your answer should contain
not more than 50 words.
b). What does the writer mean by ‘the power of
reasoning’? Your answer should contain not more than
80 words.
c). In not more than 50 words, explain how man’s capacity
for speech has helped his power of reasoning.

5. Language Practice
Add a, an or the when necessary. Sometimes no addition
is required.
(i) We say that ... animal shows.... intelligence when it is
able to learn by....experience.
(ii) We have learned from.... experiments that .... insects
are not without .... intelligence. For example, ... bee
can be taught that ... honey can be obtained from ...
yellow container, but not from.... containers of ....

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 different colour. ....dogs and ....cats can quickly be
taught .... number of simple things. For example, they
can learn how to release themselves from .... cage by
pulling ....string which goes over ... pulley and is
attached to... catch of... door.
(iv) There is ... big difference between ... intelligence and
his ability to reason and this is what distinguished ...
man from ... lower animals.... monkey can learn to free
itself from cage by pulling.... string to open ... door of
the cage but it cannot understand why pulling ....string
opens....door.

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