Page 9, Paragraph-19, Level -1, Companions for Reading

Man is by nature a social being: he cannot but live among other human beings. The state
is an association of men living together. We cannot conceive of a state without a population.
Broadly speaking, the population of a state consists of three kinds of inhabitants: full members
state, called the citizens, who enjoy all rights and perform every duty towards their state; the
subjects or nationals of the state who enjoy some rights; and non-members, called aliens, who are
given only civil rights of life and property. The first two categories are the real elements of the
population of a state. The question, which had much occupied the attention of ancient as well as
modern thinkers, is: How large should be the population of a state? Plato believed that an ideal
state should have a population of 5,040 persons. Aristotle considered that it should be between ten
thousand to one hundred thousand persons. He, however, laid down a general principle that the
number should neither be too large nor too small. It should be large enough to be self-sufficient
and small enough to be wellgoverned. But the ideal of these thinkers was a city-state. Rousseau,
who also did not like large states, put the figure at 10,000. In modern times, the states consist of
large populations. There are small states with a population of few lakhs, like Panama or Albania,
and very large states such as USSR with 28 crores, or China with 100 crore population. No limit,
theoretical or practical, can be placed on the population of a state. Only one thing can be said: the
population should be so much as would be sufficient to perform all the needs of culture, arts,
learning, industry, agriculture, defence and civilised life. It should not exceed the natural and
human resources of the country.
Read the passage carefully and answer the questions.
 What is meant by “a social being”?
 What is a state?
 What are the types of “inhabitants in a state”?
 How large should be the population of a state?
 Should population of a state be fixed?

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 Page11, Paragraph-27, Level -1, Companions for Reading
A man may do things which are immoral; he may do things which are illegal; he may be
callous, or brutal, or, on a suitable occasion, rude; but he must not do any of those things for which
his class will cold-shoulder him. What these things are depends, of course, upon the country and
the age and the social class concerned. But in every country, in every age, and in every social class,
there are such things.
Fear of the herd is very deeply rooted in almost all men and women. And this fear is first implanted
at school. It becomes, therefore, a matter of great importance in moral education that the things
punished by the school herd shall be, as far as possible, undesirable things which it is within the
boy’s power to alter. But to secure this is extremely difficult. The natural code for a herd of boys
is, as a rule, not a very exalted one. And among the things which they are most likely to punish are
things which do not lie within the power of their victims. A boy who has a birth-mark on his face,
or whose breath is offensive, is likely to endure agonies at school, and not one boy in a hundred
will consider that he deserves any mercy. I do not think this is inevitable. I think it is possible to
teach boys a more merciful attitude, but the matter is difficult, and schoolmasters who like what is
called manliness are not likely to do much in this direction.
Read the passage carefully and answer the questions.
 According to the writer, what immoral things a person can do?
 What is meant by fear of the herd?
 Where is this fear first implanted?
 What is the natural code for a herd boy?
 Do you think it is possible for teachers to change herd mentality?

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 Page No. 12, Paragraph 29, A Companion for Readings
In fact, humans have always lived in the age of post-truth. Homo sapiens is a post-truth
species, whose power depends on creating and believing fictions. Ever since the Stone Age, self-
reinforcing myths have served to unite human collectives. Indeed, Homo sapiens conquered this
planet thanks above all to the unique human ability to create and spread fictions. We are the only
mammals that can cooperate with numerous strangers because only we can invent fictional stories,
spread them around and convince millions of others to believe in them. As long as everybody
believes in the same fictions, we all obey the same laws and can thereby cooperate effectively.
So, if you blame Facebook, Trump or Putin for ushering in a new and frightening era of
post-truth, remind yourself that centuries ago millions of Christians locked themselves inside a
self-reinforcing mythological bubble, never daring to question the factual veracity of the Bible,
while millions of Muslims put their unquestioning faith in the Quran. For millennia, much of what
passed for ‘news’ and ‘facts’ in human social networks were stories about miracles, angels,
demons and witches, with bold reporters giving live coverage straight from the deepest pits of the
underworld. We have zero scientific evidence that Eve was tempted by the Serpent, that the souls
of all infidels burn in hell after they die, or that the Creator of the universe doesn’t like it when a
Brahmin marries an Untouchable, yet billions of people have believed in these stories for
thousands of years. Some fake news lasts forever.
Read the passage carefully and answer the questions.
 “Homo sapiens is a post-truth species”. What does the writer mean?
 What is the unique feature of human beings as mammals?
 Is it right to condemn facebook for the post-truth era?
 What incidents have passed in human history as news and facts?
 What do you understand by this expression: “Some fake news last forever”

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 Page No. 15, Paragraph 35, A Companion for Readings
This reveals the peculiar dynamics of what economists call labour market: the markets that
determine what jobs are available, how much people will be paid for them, and whether they’re
able to find them. Understanding labour markets can shed light on why some people get paid so
much to sit around playing video games, whilst those in other, superficially more ‘worthwhile’
jobs might get paid too little.
At the most basic level, wages should be determined by how much you’re worth to your
employer. Economists refer to this as your ‘marginal product’ – how much monetary value your
employer makes from adding you to their workforces. The higher your productivity, or the
monetary value of what you can produce in an hour, the higher your wage. A baker who can make
ten cakes a day is worth more to bakery than a baker who just makes five, and so the former should
get paid more. Usually, this is key to explaining why some people get more than others.
Video games are no different. Most people play games free, or even pay to do so, but the best get
paid millions – precisely because they have a higher marginal product to their employers. There is
a massive demand for the entertainment offered by professional Fortnite connoisseurs – as
evidenced by the jam-packed Arthor Ashe Stadium, numerous subscribers to online gaming
platforms and sponsorship deals. When added up, the players’ multi- million-dollar salaries are
relatively small compared to the money made by the companies that hire them.
Read the passage carefully and answer the questions.
 What is labor market?
 Is there a relation between labor market and wages?
 Why some people get more wage than others?
 Is it justified to pay video game players hefty wages?
 What have you done to improve your worth in job market?

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