A new and extreme tourist attraction has just exploded on to the scene in Iceland: Volcano Walking. It would appear, according to Trip Advisor, that this is one trip that cannot be missed, despite the extortionate cost. The idea of making Thrihnukagigur volcano accessible was the brainchild of Ami B. Stefansson, a doctor in Reykjavik and a lifelong cave enthusiast. He has been studying caves in Iceland since 1954 and some would argue that there is no-one who has more experience. Thrihnukagigur has always been special to Stefansson ever since he was the first to descend down to the crater base in 1974. Like most people who experience it, he was utterly spellbound by its uniqueness and beauty and made it his mission to protect and preserve this stunning natural phenomenon. Unlike others who may have only seen the profit that could be made from walking into the mouth of a volcano, Stefansson believed that the primary focus was to treat such a grand natural wonder with the utmost respect, to protect and defend it.
The first ‘volcano tourists’ entered the volcano in 2005 and it has since been labelled as one of the most unique tourist attractions in the world. Volcano walkers are taken to the mouth of the crater from where they are lowered in a basket into the depths of the earth. People once thought that volcanoes were portals to Hell and associated with death and destruction and yet the entrance to the crater is awe-inspiring and almost ethereal. The vastness of it can feel overwhelming; it is the size of a cathedral and the Statue of Liberty could easily fit into the shaft. After 6 minutes and 120 metres, visitors arrive at the crater base. The ground space is the size of three full-sized basketball courts placed next to each At the bottom there is a reverent hush. People whisper in respect to the sleeping giant who has lain dormant for 4,000 years. The subterranean walls are scorched with colours from a divine palette: magenta red, vibrant purple, burnt orange, vivid green and honey yellow.
The colour intensifies in certain places where 4000 years ago the magma was pushed out with brutal force. This is Mother Nature’s secret place, her private art studio where visitors feel like trespassers. The protruding rock faces show a tapestry of patterns and formations that have been molded by heat, pressure and time. Floodlights illuminate the walls and draw attention to the beauty humans were never intended to see. A light rain weeps from the porous rock above and covers the crater sides with a shine that makes it sparkle. The scorch marks can be seen close up – at one point in time these rock faces were glowing red with fiery heat. This giant, although sleeping, is still dangerous: an 80-metre drop into the void is disguised by a collection of rocks close to where visitors stand. It is a soul-enriching experience and visitors often report feeling deeply moved by the beauty and tranquillity of something that was once so destructive and angry. Confronted with this result of the unrestrained forces of nature, it is hard not to feel small and powerless in comparison. Sadly, the magical spell is broken when the basket appears, indicating that it is time for visitors to return to reality. On the return hike, visitors walk across the lava fields as though they are astronauts on the moon. They pass enormous open wounds where the landscape is literally tearing itself apart as tectonic plates slowly shift. It serves as one final reminder that this giant is merely dormant, not dead.
Q.1 How do tourists reach the base of the crater?
- They descend in a basket 2. They go across lava fields 3. They go through the tectonic plates 4. They walk down
Q.2 What is the most appropriate title for the passage?
- Adventures of a Cave Enthusiast 2. Volcano Walking- A Unique Experience
- Harnessing of Destructive Forces 4. The Mysteries of the Subterranean
Q.3 Who came up with the idea of making the volcano accessible to tourists?
- Ami B. Stefansson 2. Thrihnukagigur 3.Trip Advisor 4. Reykjavik
Q.4 Select the correct synonym of the word
EXTORTIONATE
- exorcist 2. Exonerate 3. Exorbitant 4. Exotic Q.5 Select the correct antonym of the word. TRANQUILLITY 1. repose 2. Composure 3. Agitation 4. wilderness
Q.6 The volcano is referred to as the ‘sleeping giant’ in the passage because
- it is a dormant volcano 2. it is very deep 3. it is an active volcano 4. it is very destructive
Q.7 Why is the bottom of the volcano called ‘nature’s art studio’?
- the rocks sparkle with a divine light 2. the walls are covered with patterns in bright hues 3. it looks like a cathedral 4. the entrance is vast and ethereal
Q.8 What feelings do visitors have when they visit the volcano?
- indifference 2. Anger 3. Reverence 4. fear
Q.9 The given passage is a passage.
- narrative 2. Didactic 3. Literary 4. descriptive
Q.10 The tone of the passage is:
- formal 2. Laudatory 3. Apathetic 4. satirical
2.
Read the following passage and answer the questions given after it.
At the end of 2020, there were 82.4 million forcibly displaced people in the world, of which more than a quarter are refugees.
“By the end of 2020, the number of people forcibly displaced due to persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations, and events seriously disturbing public order, had grown to 82.4 million, the highest number on record according to available data,” according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Out of these 82.4 million forcibly displaced people in the world, more than a quarter are refugees.
Just five countries produce 68% of all refugees displaced abroad: the Syrian Arab Republic, Venezuela, Afghanistan, South Sudan, and Myanmar. The top five host countries, where these displaced people are currently located are: Turkey, Colombia, Germany, Pakistan, and Uganda. With 3.7 million displaced people now within its borders, Turkey hosts twice as many refugees as Colombia, the next highest host country, with 1.7 million people. The situation in Turkey illustrates the effects of proximity, as 92% of its refugees have come from neighbouring Syria, where war and armed conflict have now been raging for more than 10 years. It demonstrates that huge numbers of displaced people stay close to their point of origin.
There are more than 48 million internally displaced people – people who have had to flee their homes in search of safety elsewhere within their home nation. The highest increases in the number of internally displaced people happened in Africa and were provoked by a combination of armed conflict and humanitarian disasters. Civil war in Ethiopia, Africa’s second most-populated country, has sparked a wave of displacement in a region that was already facing what the UNHCR calls “a full-scale humanitarian crisis.”
All in all, more than a million Ethiopian people had to leave their homes behind last year, the UNHCR says. Q.1 The passage is mainly about
- refugees in host countries 2. internally displaced people 3. people devastated by conflicts and civil war 4. displaced persons around the world
Q.2 Which statement is NOT true according to the passage?
- 1.7 million people from Syria have been displaced till now due to war and armed conflict. 2. There are 82.4 million displaced persons in the world. 3. Turkey is presently hosting 3.7 million displaced people within its borders. 4. More than a million Ethiopian people were displaced last year due to civil war.
Q.3 The greatest number of people who have been displaced internally in their home country are in
- Turkey 2. Afghanistan 3. Ethiopia 4. Syria
Q.4 ‘Humanitarian disasters’ refer to all those given below except
- armed conflicts 2. earthquakes and floods 3. violence and persecution 4. civil war
Q.5 Why do Syrian refugees prefer to take shelter in Turkey? Select the main reason.
- Turkey is a beautiful country. 2. Turkey provides the refugees with all amenities. 3. Turkey is the nearest hospitable country to Syria. 4. Turkey is a hospitable country.
3.
Read the passage and answer the questions given after it.
The savanna landscape is typified by tall grass and short trees. It is rather misleading to call the savanna ‘tropical grassland’, because
trees are always present with the luxuriant tall grass. The terms ‘parkland’ or ‘bush-veld’ perhaps describe the landscape better.
Trees grow best towards the equatorial humid latitudes or along river banks but decrease in height and density away from the equator. They occur in clumps or as scattered individuals. The trees are deciduous, shedding their leaves in the cool, dry season to prevent excessive loss of water through transpiration, e.g. acacias. Others have broad trunks, with water-storing devices to survive through the prolonged drought such as baobabs and bottle trees. Trees are mostly hard, gnarled and thorny and may exude gum like gum arable. Many trees are umbrella shaped, exposing only a narrow edge to the strong winds.
Palms which cannot withstand the drought are confined to the wettest areas or along rivers. Vegetative luxuriance reaches its peak in the rainy season, when trees renew their foliage and flower. In true savanna lands, the grass is tall and coarse, growing 6 to 12 feet high. The elephant grass may attain a height of even 15 feet! The grass tends to grow in compact tufts and has long roots which reach down in search of water. It appears greenish and well- nourished in the rainy season but turns yellow and dies down in the dry season that follows.
The grass lies dormant throughout the long, rainless period and springs up again in the next rainy season. In between the tall grass are scattered short trees and low bushes. As the rainfall diminishes towards the deserts the savanna merges into thorny scrub. In Australia, this scrubland is particularly well represented by a number of species: mallee, mulga, spinifex grass and other bushes.
The savanna, particularly in Africa, is the home of wild animals. It is known as the ‘big game country’ and thousands of animals are trapped or killed each year by people from all over the world. Some of the animals are tracked down for their skins, horns, tusks, bones or hair, others are captured alive and sent out of Africa as zoo animals, laboratory specimens or pets. There is such a wealth of animal life in Africa that many of the animal films that we see at the cinema are actually taken in the savanna. There are, in fact, two main groups of animals in the savanna, the grass-eating herbivorous animals and the fleshing-eating carnivorous animals. The herbivorous animals are often very alert and move swiftly from place to place in search of green pastures.
They are endowed with great speed to run away from the savage flesh-eaters that are always after them. The leaf and grass-eating animals include the zebra, antelope, giraffe, deer, gazelle, elephant and okapi. Many are well camouflaged species and their presence amongst the tall greenish-brown grass cannot be easily detected. The giraffe with such a long neck can locate its enemies a great distance away, while the elephant is so huge and strong that few animals will venture to come near it. It is well equipped with tusks and trunk for defence.
The carnivorous animals like the lion, tiger, leopard, hyena, panther, jaguar, jackal, lynx and puina have powerful jaws and teeth for attacking other animals. Their natural colorings of light yellowish-brown, often with stripes like the tiger or spots like the leopard, match perfectly with the tawny background of the savanna. They often hide themselves in shady spots up in the branches or amidst the tall bushes, and many wild animals, as well as hunters themselves, are caught unawares in this manner.
Q.1 What helps an elephant fight its enemies?
- its tusks and trunk 2. its size and strength 3. its legs and ears 4. its neck and tail
Q.2 What kind of a passage is it?
- Informative 2. Narrative 3. Literary 4. Analytical
Q.3 Select the carnivorous animal from the following.
- gazelle 2. Zebra 3. Okapi 4. lynx
Q.4 Select the most appropriate meaning of the underlined word as it is used in the text. Palms which cannot withstand the drought are confined to the wettest areas or along rivers.
- Undergo 2. Endure 3. Suffer 4. Convert
Q.5 What is the main feature of Savanna landscape?
- dense forests with tall trees 2. tall trees and short grass 3. dry grass and low bushes 4. tall grass and short trees
Q.6 The main theme of the passage is
- Life in Savanna grassland 2. Grasses of the grassland Savanna 3. Wealth of animal life in Africa 4. Vegetation and animal life in Savanna
Q.7 Which species of vegetation is NOT found in Australian Savanna?
- mulga 2. elephant grass 3. spinifex grass 4. mallee
Q.8 Match the words with their meanings. Words- a. luxuriant, b. dormant, c. prolonged
Meanings- 1. continued, 2. lush, 3. sleeping
- a-2, b-1, c-3 2. a-2, b-3, c-1 3. a-1, b-3, c-2 4. a-3, b-2, c-1
Q.9 Which of the following trees has water storing capacity in its broad trunk?
- Acacia 2. Palm 3. Baobab 4. Gum arable
Q.10 Why is Savanna in Africa called the “Big Game Country”?
- There are both carnivores and herbivores. 2. It is home to many wild animals. 3. Thousands of animals are hunted here. 4. Animal movies are particularly shot here.
4.
Read the following passage and answer the questions given after it.
New Delhi -India is set to surpass China as the world’s most populous country in 2023, with each counting more than 1.4 billion residents this year, a United Nations report said on Monday, warning that high fertility would challenge economic growth. The world’s population, estimated to reach 8 billion by November 15 this year, could grow to 8.5 billion in 2030, and 10.4 billion in 2100, as the pace of mortality slows, said the report released on World Population Day.
India’s population was 1.21 billion in 2011, according to the domestic census, which is conducted once a decade. The government had deferred the 2021 census due to the Covid- 19 pandemic. The world’s population was growing at its slowest pace since 1950, having fallen below 1% in 2020, UN estimates showed.
In 2021, the average fertility of the world’s population stood at 2.3 births per woman over a lifetime, having fallen from about 5 births in 1950. Global fertility is projected to decline further to 2.1 births per woman by 2050. Referring to an earlier World Health Organization report — estimating about 14.9 million deaths relating to the Covid-19 pandemic between January 2020 and December
2021, the UN report said global life expectancy at birth fell to 71 years in 2021 from 72.8 years in 2019, mostly due to the pandemic.
The United Nations said more than half of the projected increase in the global population up to 2050 will be concentrated in eight countries — Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and Tanzania. Countries of sub- Saharan Africa are expected to contribute more than half of the increase anticipated through 2050.
However, the population of 61 countries is projected to decrease by 1% or more between 2022 and 2050, driven by a fall in fertility.
Q.1 What will be the consequence of high fertility?
- low mortality 2. low economic growth 3. high mortality 4. high economic growth
Q.2 After reading the above passage it can be inferred that it is
- a research report 2. a news item 3. a magazine article 4. a survey report
Q.3 Which statement is NOT correct according to the passage?
- World population is estimated to reach 10.4 billion in 2100. 2. The population of 61 countries will decrease by 1% or more between 2022 and 2050. 3. The countries of Asia will contribute more than half of the increase anticipated through 2050. 4. Since 1950, world population was growing at its a slowest speed.
Q.4 The passage presents the findings of a United Nations report which is mainly regarding
- the world population 2. the population in African countries 3. the population in India 4. the population in China
Q.5 According to the UN report, fertility rate in 1950 stood at how many average births per woman?
- 3 births per woman 2. 2.3 births per woman 3. 5 births per woman 4. 2.1 births per woman