NAME: ______________________________________________________ GRADE & SECTION: _____________

READ THE FOLLOWING PASSAGES AND ANSWER THE QUESTIONS THAT FOLLOW. Encircle the letter of your answer.

FIRST PASSAGE

COMPASSIONATE

In modern times Abraham Lincoln stands as the model of a compassionate statesman. He showed this quality not only in striving for the
emancipation or the American blacks but in the dignity with which he conducted the American Civil War. Lincoln did not fancy himself as a liberator.
He thought it would be better for all if emancipator was a gradual process spread over many years.

' He proposed compensation for slave-owners in US bonds and grants for the rehabilitation of blacks— 'colonization' as he called it. But fate was to
deem otherwise. The haste with which the south wanted to break away from the Union with the North, compelled him to move faster than he
expected. Perhaps more than most men of his time he had thought through the issue of slavery.' We must free the slaves', he said,' or be ourselves
subdued 'Before reading his first draft of the Proclamation of Emancipation, he told his colleagues, In giving freedom to the slaves, we assure
freedom to the free'.

On September 22, 1862, Lincoln set his hand on the Proclamation of Emancipation declaring that on the first day of January 1863, all persons held as
slaves within any state. shall be then and forever free'.

Lincoln's revulsion for slavery left him without any moral indignation or passion against the slave - owners. The guilt of the slave - owners, he felt,
should be shared by the whole country, the North and the South, for it seemed to him that everyone in the nation was an accomplice in perpetuating
that system. To have whipped up any hatred against slave - owners would, to him, have been an act of malice.

I shall do nothing in malice; he wrote, `what I deal' with is too vast" for malicious dealing; As the Civil War was coming to a successful conclusion, a
Northerner demanded of Lincoln ` Mr President, how are you going to treat the southerners when the war is over?

Lincoln replied.' As If they never went to .war?

When the news came of the victory of the north against the Confederate forces, someone suggested that the head of the confederation
Administration, Jefferson Davies, really ought to be hanged. 'Judge not, that yet be not judged', Lincoln replied. As to the demand for the prosecution
of rebels,

Lincoln replied. We must extinguish our resentments if we expect harmony and union. This was his last recorded utterance.

1. What came in Lincoln's way of carrying out emancipation as a gradual process?

(a) His proposition to give a grant for the rehabilitation of slaves (b) His own over-enthusiasm to complete the process fast
(c) The inadequate compensation was given to slave – owners (d) The haste of the South to break away from the union with the North

2. The sentence' In giving freedom to the free 'means

(a) if we give freedom to the slaves, they will serve us better (b) if we do not give freedom to the slaves, they will free themselves
(c) by freeing slaves, we are honouring the concept of freedom (d) by freeing slaves, we are safeguarding our own interests

3. The term 'colonization' as used in the passage means

(a) handing over slaves to the slave-owners. (b) efforts made by American blacks to free themselves
(c) making separate dwelling arrangements for the slave - owners. (d) None of the above

4. Which of the following makes Abraham Lincoln a compassionate statesman?

(a) His hesitation in striving for the emancipation of American blacks
(b) Kiss efforts to force the American blacks from slavery
(c) I am indolenine in conducting the American Civil War (-I) NNW of I he above

5. The incidents in the passage prove that Lincoln was

(a) not an administrator. (b) sympathetic and kind-hearted statesman.
(c) afraid of the majority of slaves. (d) unduly concerned for the safety of rebels
6. According to Lincoln, the culprits of the system of slavery were
(a) the slave - owners alone. (b) the slaves alone
(c) Both the slaves and the slave-owners. (d) all the people in the country.
7. The author of the passage seems to be
(a) impressed with Lincoln's good qualities (b) an advocate of the system of slavery
(c) an opponent of the system of slavery (d) a staunch and biased critic of Abraham Lincoln
8. Lincoln did not have any hatred for the slave-owners because
(a) they were in a vast majority (b) they were not quality at all
(c) they all belonged to upper caste (d) None of the above
9. Which of the following statements is true in the context of the passage?
(a) Lincoln turned down the demand for the prosecution of rebels.
(b) Lincoln wondered how mere compassion could lead to harmony.
(c) Lincoln hailed the demand for hanging Jefferson Davies.
(d) The Civil War was fought by the Northerners and Southerners against the enemies
 SECOND PASSAGE
RICH BUSINESSMAN

In the town of Agra, there lived a rich businessman. But he was also quite a miser. Various people used to flock outside his house every day hoping
for some kind of generosity, but they always had to return home disappointed. He used toward them off with false promises and then never lived up
to his word. Then one day, a poet named Raidas arrived at his house and said that he wanted to read out his poems to the rich man. As the rich man
was very fond of poetry, he welcomed him in with open arms.

Raidas started to recite all his poems one by one. The rich man was very pleased and especially so when he heard the poem that Raidas had Witten
on him. In those days, it was a custom for rich men and kings to show their appreciation through a reward or a gift, as that was the only means of
earning that a poor poet possessed. So, the rich man promised Raidas some gifts and asked him to come and collect them the next day. Raidas was
pleased.

The next morning when he arrived at the house, the rich man pretended that he had never laid eyes on him before. When Raiders reminded him of
his promise, he said that although Raidas was a good poet he liked the poem which was written on him and the rest of the poems were very ordinary.
He also said that he had earlier promised a reward to Raidas not because he was really pleased or impressed, but to simply encourage him. Raidas
was extremely upset, but as there was nothing that he could do, he quietly left the house. On his home way, he saw his brother Kuber riding a horse.
So, he stopped him and asked for his help after narrating the whole incident. Kuber took him to Isis own house in order to come to rip with a plan.
After giving it some thought he asked Raidas to go to a friend's house with five gold mitts and request the friend to plan a dinner where the rich man
would also be invited. Ile then narrated his plan to him. Raidas had one trustworthy friend whose name was Mayadas. So, he went up to him and told
him the plan. The next day, Mayadas went to the rich man's house and invited him for dinner. He said that he intended to serve his guests in vessels
of gold, which the guests would get to take home after the meal. The rich man was thrilled to hear this and jumped at the offer. After `the rich man
arrived at Mayadas' house, he was surprised to see no other guests there but Raidas. And now, they welcomed him in and started a polite
conversation. The rich man had come on an empty stomach and so was getting hungrier by the minute.

Finally; at midnight, the rich man could bear his hunger no longer and asked Mayadas to serve the food. Mayadas sounded extremely surprised when
he asked him what food was he talking about. The rich man tried to remind him that he had been invited for dinner. At this point, Raidas asked him
for proof of the invitation. The rich man had no answer. At that point, Raidas reminded the rich man of the same treatment that he had meted out to
him. The rich man realised his mistake and begged for forgiveness. He said that Raidas was a good poet and had not asked him for any reward. He
himself had promised to give him some gifts and then cheated him out of them. To make up for his mistake, he took out the necklace that he was
wearing and gifted it to Raidas. Then, they all sat down to eat a happy meal.

1. Why .was the rich businessman thrilled on being invited over to dinner by Mayadas?
(a) He was thrilled to have dinner for free (b) No one had ever invited him over for dinner since he was very miserly
(c) Mayadas had promised to serve in gold dishes which the guests (d) None of the above
were allowed to take home with them
2. What did Raidas and Mayadas do when the rich businessman came over for dinner?
(a) They were thrilled to have a rich businessman as their guest and served him well
(b) They served him in gold utensils which he later took with himself
(c) They did not serve him any food until he learnt a lesson on what he had done with Raidas
(d) They forced him to give away his necklace to Raidas in return of the dinner which they had served
3. Why was the rich businessman pleased with Raid?
(a) Raidas had recited poems to him but had not asked for any gifts in return' (b) Raidas was also as miserly as him
(c) Raidas had invited him over for dinner (d) The businessman liked his poetry especially the one written on him
4. Why did the people always return home disappointed from the rich businessman's house?
(a) He would donate less than what he had promised to them (b) He made promises to them but never kept his words
(c) The rich man would only reward those who had written poetry on him* (d) None of the above
5. How did the rich businessman react when he realized his mistake of not keeping his promise which he had made to Raiders?
(a) He asked Raidas to come to his house the next day to take his reward (b) He left Mayadas' house immediately without having limited
(c) He justified that Raidas did not deserve an award since his poems were very ordinary (d) None of the above
6. Which of the following is true in the context of the passage?
(a) It was Raiders' brother Kuber's plan to teach the rich businessman a lesson (b) The rich businessman had to return empty stomach from Mayadas's house
(c) Mayadas was a trustworthy friend of the rich businessman (d) None of the above is true

THIRD PASSAGE

FUTURE
What is the future which awaits our children? The underlying assumption of the question that Indian children have a common future is itself dubious.
It can legitimately be asked whether a student who is well-fed, attending a boarding school in the salubrious climate of the hills, and learning to use
computers has any future in common with a malnourished child who goes to a school with no blackboards, if indeed he does go to school. The latter
may have no worthwhile future at all. And it might be worthwhile to analyze the significance of this marginalization of more than 75 per cent of the
children of this country.
The failure to provide an infrastructure for primary education in the villages of India more than 40 years after Independence is in sharp contrast with
the sophisticated institutions, for technical institutes of higher education are funded by the government, which essentially means that the money to
support them comes from taxes. And since indirect taxation forms a substantial part of the taxes collected by the government, the financial burden is
borne by all the people. L.K. Johan put it graphically when he observed that 25 paisa of every rupee spent on educating an IIT student comes from the
pockets of men and women whose children may never enter a proper classroom.

1. The author is trying to highlight which of the following?

(a) The greatness of L.K. Johan (b) Need to have common future for Indian children
(c) Need of sophisticated education for rural poor (d) Faulty system of direct taxes (e) None of these
2. What seems to be the likely answer of the author to the question posed by him in the first sentence of the passage?
A. There is no common future for Indian children.
B. The future is worthwhile for the majority of Indian children.
C. The majority may never enter a proper classroom.
(a) Only A (b) Only B (c) Only C (d) Both A and B (e) Both B and C
3. Which of the following pairs has been termed as 'sharp contrast' by the author?
I. Infrastructure for technical education
II. Lack of infrastructure for rural primary schools
III. 25 paise of every rupee earned by Government is spent on education.
IV. The financial burden of higher technical education is borne by all people. V. 75% of children have limited opportunities.
(a) II & IV (b) II & III (c) III & IV (d) I & II (e) IV & V
4. According to the author, who among the following does not have a hopeful and a prosperous future?
A. All students from technical institutes
B. All students financially supported by the Government SCORE
(a) Only A (b) Only B
(c) Both A and B (d) Neither A nor B PASSAGE 1: ______________________
(e) Not mentioned in the passage
5. Which of the following statements is not true? PASSAGE 2: ______________________
A. The author welcomes Goat’s initiative on primary education.
B. 75% of the children have a bright future. PASSAGE 3: ______________________
C. 25% cost of educating a technocrat comes from poor people.
(a) Only A (b) Only B
(c) Only C (d) Only A & B
(e) Only A & C

2. What seems to be the likely answer of the author to the question posed by him in the first sentence of the passage?
A. There is no common future for Indian children.
B. The future is worthwhile for the majority of Indian children.
C. The majority may never enter a proper classroom.
(a) Only A (b) Only B (c) Only C (d) Both A and B (e) Both B and C
3. Which of the following pairs has been termed as 'sharp contrast' by the author?
I. Infrastructure for technical education
II. Lack of infrastructure for rural primary schools
III. 25 paise of every rupee earned by Government is spent on education.
IV. The financial burden of higher technical education is borne by all people. V. 75% of children have limited opportunities.
(a) II & IV (b) II & III (c) III & IV (d) I & II (e) IV & V
4. According to the author, who among the following does not have a hopeful and a prosperous future?
A. All students from technical institutes
B. All students financially supported by the Government SCORE
(a) Only A (b) Only B
(c) Both A and B (d) Neither A nor B PASSAGE 1: ______________________
(e) Not mentioned in the passage
5. Which of the following statements is not true? PASSAGE 2: ______________________
A. The author welcomes Goat’s initiative on primary education.
B. 75% of the children have a bright future. PASSAGE 3: ______________________
C. 25% cost of educating a technocrat comes from poor people.
(a) Only A (b) Only B
(c) Only C (d) Only A & B
(e) Only A & C