USPC JAIN PUBLIC SCHOOL

SUBJECT-ENGLISH
CLASS – XI
READING SECTION

Note Making
Notes are short written record of facts to aid the memory. Notes are usually taken to record a speech
or dictation while listening to it or after reading a book, magazine or article. They are referred back
whenever needed and may be reproduced in the desired way.
The necessity of note making
Knowledge is vast and unlimited, but our memory is limited. We cannot remember all the information
all the time. Hence note-making is necessary. With the help of notes we can recall the entire
information read/heard months ago. Note-making is quite useful to students preparing so many
subjects. At the time of examinations, it is not possible to go through voluminous books. At such
critical times, notes are quite handy. Hence note-making fulfils three useful functions:
It keeps a lot of information at our disposal for ready reference.
It helps us reconstruct what was said or written and thus accelerates the process of
remembering/recall. .
It comes in handy in delivering a speech, participation in a debate/discussion, writing an essay and
revising lessons before an examination.
How note making helps us
While making notes we do not simply read the passage/listen to speech but consider various points
made by the writer/speaker and draw our own inferences about what is being presented. Thus note-
making helps us in understanding the passage in a better way and organizing our thoughts
systematically.

• Points to Remember for Note Making Format:

• Avoid using long sentences as heading or sub headings.
• Never lose the main idea of the passage
• Ignore information which is less important
• Be brief, clear, and specific
• Use logical sequencing
• Use proper indention
• Leave no spaces to avoid confusion
• Do not include your own version or understandings
• Use abbreviations
• Prepare notes using phrases only.
Mechanics of note making
While making notes we follow certain standard practices. These may be listed as follows:
(a) Heading and Sub-headings
(b) Abbreviation
(c) Note-form
(d) Numbering
Heading and sub-headings
The heading reflects the main theme whereas the sub-headings point out how it has been developed.
The selection of proper heading and sub-heading reveals the grasp of the passage by the students. In
the absence of proper assimilation of main ideas and subsidiary points it is impossible to make notes.
FORMAT:

TITLE (TITLE MUST BE WRITTEN IN CAPITAL LETTERS)

NOTES

1Main Heading

1.1 Sub heading

Left 1.2 Sub Sub-Heading (optional_

Margin

(do not 1.3 Sub Sub-Heading

Write no. 1.4 Sub-sub sub heading

In 2.Main Heading
margin)

2.1 Sub heading

2.2 Sub Sub-Heading

2.3 Sub Sub-Heading

2.4 Sub-sub heading

3.Main Heading

3.1Sub heading

3.2 Sub Sub-Heading

3.3 Sub Sub-Heading

3.4 Sub Sub-Heading

4.Main Heading

4.1Sub heading

4.2 Sub Sub-Heading

4.3 Sub Sub-Heading

4.4 Sub Sub-Heading

Solved example:
Q1. Read the passage:
I remember my childhood as being generally happy and can recall experiencing some of the most
carefree times of my life. But I can also remember, even more vividly, moments of being deeply
frightened. As a child, I was truly -terrified of the dark and getting lost. These fears were very real and
caused me some extremely uncomfortable moments.
Maybe it was the strange way things looked and sounded in my familiar room at night that scared me
so much. There was never total darkness, but a street light or passing car lights made clothes hung
over a chair take on the shape of an unknown beast. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw curtains move
when there was no breeze. A tiny creak in the floor would sound a hundred times louder than in the
daylight and my imagination would take over, creating burglars and monsters. Darkness always made
me feel helpless. My heart would pound and I would lie very still so that ‘the enemy’ wouldn’t
discover me.
Another childhood fear of mine was that I would get lost, especially on the way home from school.
Every morning, I got on the school bus right near my home—that was no problem. After school,
though, when all the buses were lined up along the curve, I was terrified that I would get on the wrong
one and be taken to some unfamiliar neighbourhood. I would scan the bus for the faces of my friends,
make sure that the bus driver was the same one that had been there in the morning, and even then ask
the others over and over again to be sure I was in the right bus. On school or family trips to an
amusement park or a museum, I wouldn’t let the leaders out of my sight. And of course, I was never
very adventurous when it came to taking walks or hikes because I would go only where I was sure I
would never get lost.
Perhaps, one of the worst fears I had as a child was that of not being liked or accepted by others. First
of all, I was quite shy. Secondly, I worried constantly about my looks, thinking people wouldn’t like
me because I was too fat or wore braces. I tried to wear ‘the right clothes’ and had intense arguments
with my mother over the importance of wearing flats instead of saddled shoes to school. Being
popular was very important to me then and the fear of not being liked was a powerful one.
One of the processes of evolving from a child to an adult is being able to recognise and overcome our
fears. I have learnt that darkness does not have to take on a life of its own, that others can help me
when I am lost and that friendliness and sincerity will
encourage people to like me. Understanding the things that scared us as children helps to cope with
our lives as adults.
Questions:
1. On the basis of your reading of the above passage, make notes using headings and subheadings.
Use recognizable abbreviations, wherever necessary. 5
2. Write a summary of the passage in not more than 80 words using the notes made and also suggest a
suitable title. 3
Answers:
NOTES:
TITLE: Memories of Childhood
1.Remembering childhood moments
1.1happy and carefree
1.2deeply frightened
1.3terrified of the dark and getting lost
1.4fears were real 2.Childhood
fears 2.1Feeling helpless in dark
2.2Moving curtains 2.3Creaking
sounds
2.4 Creating burglars and monsters
3. Fear of getting lost (on the way home from school)
3.1Scanning of school buses—friendly faces, same bus driver
3.2Not letting leaders out of sight.

3.3Taken to some unfamiliar neighborhood

3.4Surety of not being lost

4. Fear of disliking

4.1Quite shy 4.2worried about

looks 4.3wear the right clothes
4.4Imp. of popularity

2. SUMMARY
My childhood moment was the happiest and carefree moment. Darkness scared me with its shadows,
moving of curtains, and creaking sounds. It made me quite helpless and I used to lie still with a pounding
heart. I had the fear of getting lost while on way from home to school. Before getting in school bus, I
scanned it for friendly faces. I had the fear of being disliked by others. During the course of evolution from
a child to an adult, I realised those things that scared me as a child. I was always expecting help from others.
PRACTICE QUESTIONS:
Q1. Read the passage given below:
1. People tend to amass possessions, sometimes without being aware of doing so. They can have a
delightful surprise when they find something useful which they did not know they owned. Those who never
have to change house become indiscriminate collectors of what can only be described as clutter. They leave
unwanted objects in drawers, cupboards and attics for years in the belief that they may one day need them.
Old people also accumulate belongings for two other reasons, lack of physical and mental energy, and
sentiment. Things owned for a long time are full of associations with the past, perhaps with the relatives
who are dead, and so they gradually acquire a sentimental value.
2. Somethings are collected deliberately in an attempt to avoid wastage. Among these are string and
brown paper, kept by thrifty people when a parcel has been opened. Collecting small items can be a
mania. A lady cuts out from newspapers sketches of model clothes that she would like to buy if she
had money. As she is not rich, the chances are that she will never be able to afford such purchases. It
is a harmless habit, but it litters up her desk.
3. Collecting as a serious hobby is quite different and has many advantages. It provides relaxation for
leisure hours, as just looking at one's treasure is always a joy. One doesn't have to go out for
amusement as the collection is housed at home. Whatever it consists of – stamps, records first editions
of books, china there is always something to do in connection with it, from finding the right place for
the latest addition to verifying facts in reference books. This hobby educates one not only in the
chosen subject. But also, in general matters which have some bearing on it.
4. There are other benefits also. One gets to meet like-minded collectors to get advice, compare notes,
exchange articles, to show off one's latest find etc. So one's circle of friends grows. Soon the hobby
leads to traveling, perhaps a meeting in another town, possibly a trip abroad in search of a rare
specimen, for collectors are not confined to one country. Over the years one may well become an
authority on one's hobby and will probably by asked to give informal talks to little gatherings and
then, if successful, to larger audiences.
(a) Read passage and make notes
(b) Write summary of the given passage

Q2. Read the passage given below:

1. More than a century ago, some countries had no proper police force. Local leaders devised their
own method of ensuring that their orders were carried out and fulfilled. The offender was not given a
second chance to repeat his mistake for he was either killed or hunted out of district.
2. In England, the modern police force grew largely from an unofficial body gathered together by a
London magistrate. He found that it was practically impossible to apprehend any of the criminals in
his area unless he deployed some men secretly to detect and hunt the culprits. 3.These unofficial
constables had to patrol one large district. They looked upon their position largely as an honorary one
and had very little power. Worse still they were sometimes corrupt men themselves for they would
conveniently look the other way round in times of trouble, like theft, hooliganism and vandalism.
4. Magistrate Fielding enrolled a few men whom he could explicitly trust and employed them to catch
the thieves and other undesirable persons. Their remuneration was poor, their work was dangerous
and they were unpopular. The majority of the people resented what they thought was a threat to their
liberties, intrusion on their privacies and above all spying on them. They maintained that they should
have every right to drink themselves to death with any form of alcohol, as so many of them did. They
thought, too, that they should be allowed to quarrel, to fight and even to kill amongst themselves. The
situation was made worse by the fact that the penalties for offences were very heavy in those distant
days and a man could be hanged for the theft of some unimportant thing. Arrest by the magistrate's
men could bring disastrous results.
5. Contrary to general feeling, the authorities gradually admitted that these early policemen were
vitally necessary. After much discussion, argument and persuasion, the government secretly agreed to
reimburse the magistrate for the men he employed. This step was not made public lest it should be
thought that the government was planting spies amidst its people. Eventually the public came to look
upon the police with a more friendly spirit as the benefits became more noticeable. At long last, men
and women could walk along the streets by day and even by night without fear of robbery and other
acts of violence, Hitherto, the people were free to do practically anything—good or bad, irrespective
of the possible consequences. As the police force was built up, the people gave up their freedom to
commit evil deeds so that they might have a greater freedom to do good so as to enable one and all to
enjoy life peacefully and harmoniously.
(a) Read passage and make notes
(b) Write summary of the given passage