1. Opera refers to a dramatic art form, originating in Europe, in which the emotional content is conveyed to the audience as much through music, both vocal and instrumental, as it is through the lyrics. By contrast, in musical theater an actor’s dramatic performance is primary, and the music plays a lesser role. The drama in opera is presented using the primary elements of theater such as scenery, costumes, and acting. However, the words of the opera, or libretto, are sung rather than spoken. The singers are accompanied by a musical ensemble ranging from a small instrumental ensemble to a full symphonic orchestra.

Ques 1.Which of the following statements about Opera can be supported from this text?

2.  Read the passage and answer the following question.

In Asia and much of the Third World, trees are still destroyed in an old-fashioned way: they are cut down for fuel and cropland. In Europe, there is a new and potentially more deadly culprit. The German call it ‘Waldsterben’, the dying forest syndrome. But the disease is far more than a German phenomenon. Since it was first observed by German scientists in the autumn of 1980, the mysterious malady has raced across Europe, blighting woods in countries as far apart as Sweden and Italy.

Explanations for the epidemic range from a cyclic change in the environment to a baffling form of tree cancer. But the most convincing evidence points to air pollution. Indeed, saving the rapidly deteriorating forests of Europe will probably require a two-pronged strategy: an offensive campaign that includes the breeding of pollution-immune trees and a defensive scheme that calls for reductions in toxic emissions. But both will require more money than is currently being spent on such measures, as well as total commitment to protecting the environment.

 Why do you think the narrator calls the reasons for cutting the trees in the third world countries, ‘old fashioned’?

3.  Read the passage and answer the following question.

A rain forest is a thick jungle which gets an unusually large amount of rain. Rainforests cover about 6% of the earth’s surface. They hold about one-half of the world’s plant and animal types. The four layers of a rain forest are the emergent layer, canopy layer, understory layer and forest floor.

The emergent layer is made up of very tall trees up to 200 feet high. They are usually evergreens. There is good sunlight there. The canopy layer forms a roof over the 2 remaining layers. Animals like snakes, toucans, and tree frogs live in this layer. Not much sun reaches the next layer, the understory layer. Plants then have to grow larger leaves to try to reach the sun. Jaguars, leopards and many insects live here. The final layer, the forest floor, has almost no plants. Many leaves decay quickly there due to the darkness. Giant anteaters live in this layer.

Rainforests are found in five major areas of the world. Central America is famous for its brightly colored birds. The Amazon jungle in South America is the world’s largest rain forest. It has the greatest variety of plants and animals of any other place on earth. Central Africa contains the world’s second largest rainforest. The rainforests of Asia stretch from India in the west to the islands of Java and Borneo in the Pacific Ocean in the east. Australia’rainforeststs are very dense and lush.

The plants that live in the rainforests provide shelter and food for the animals. They also participate in gas exchanges and provide much of the world’s oxygen supply. Plants compete for sunlight on the ground so some plants live on the branches of other plants. Aerial plants can get food from the air itself using air roots.

Some interesting animals live in the rain-forest. Toucans are colorful birds with short and thick necks. The bright colors on their bill help attract a mate. Their bills are sharp and can tear off pieces of big fruit. They eat lizards and small birds and live in holes in trees. Toucans live in the canopy layer in South and Central America. They are important because they help to scatter the seed from the fruit they eat.

 Which of the following statements are supported by information given in the text?

4. A clean river nurtures plankton and water-weeds, which are the food and nourishment of small fish. This natural cycle of life becomes a feature of any stretch of water; even an artificially created piece of water like a pond or a canal will, if left alone, start its own “life cycle”, beginning with things that wriggle in the mud. In a short time, small predators will move in, and a complex little food chain will have started. All water, whether still or flowing, is richly productive, for where there is water there is life. You often see people fishing in a narrow water channel; they fish in ponds the size of puddles, in streams that look like gutters. And they are nearly always rewarded with a catch. The combination of water and organic matter can always be counted upon to produce some kind of living matter. The one condition is that the water must have a certain proportion of oxygen, for all life needs some oxygen. In other words, it must not be polluted with chemicals.

Which of the following statements are supported by information given in the text?

5.

Learning through ‘doing

Modern education attaches great importance to learning through doing. It is fully recognized that the knowledge gained through actually doing the task is more effective and lasting than that gained through mere reading. That is why all the modern methods of education give top priority to some hand-work round which they base the teaching of the curriculum.

Three R’s replaced

In the past, whereas education laid stress on training of three R’s i.e. Reading, Writing and Arithmetic, modern education attaches great importance to the training of three H’s i.e. Head, Heart and Hand. It has been realized that the head, the heart and the hand get the best training through self-activity with hands and brain, especially when carried out in cooperation with others. Mere reading of books or listening to others does not help much in this direction.

Participation, not listening

In modern education, the student is not merely a passive listener but is an active participant in the process of education. In the past, it was the teacher who did most of the talking. Now it is the student who is expected to be more active and up and doing and the teacher is merely a guide. For the healthy development of the mind, it is most essential that the student should be an active giver and not merely a passive receiver. It is this activity of the mind which will lead to emotional integration, so necessary for a healthy personality. If the child is merely a recipient, all the time listening to his teachers, his own personality gets dwarfed because the teachers’ personalities dominate over his personality.

Which of the following statements about modern education can be supported from the text?