Discursive Passage - 2 | English Grammar Advanced - Class 10 PDF Download

Read the passage given below:

1. During our growing up years we as children were taught–both at home and school–to worship the photos and idols of the gods of our respective religions. When we grow a little older, we were I holy books like The Bhagwad Gita, Bible and Quran; we were told that there are a lot of life lessons to be learnt from these holy books. We were then introduced to stories from ou mythologies which taught us about ethics and morality–what is good and what is bad. 

2. I also learnt to be respectful towards my parents who made my life comfortable with their hard work, love and care, and my teachers who guided me to become a good student and a responsible citizen. Much later in life, I realised that though we learn much from our respective holy books, there is a lot to learn from our surroundings. This realisation dawned upon me when I learnt to enquire and explore. Everything around us–the sun, the moon, the stars, rain, rivers, stones, rocks, birds, plants and animals–teach us many valuable life lessons.

3. No wonder that besides the scriptures in many cultures nature is also worshipped. The message that we get is to save our environment and maintain ecological balance. People are taught to live in harmony with nature and recognise that there is God in all aspects of nature.

4. Nature is a great teacher. A river never stops flowing. If it finds an obstacle in its way in the form of a heavy rock, the river water fights to remove it from its path or finds an alternative path to move ahead. This teaches us to be progressive in life, and keep the lighting spirit alive.

5. Snakes are worshipped as they eat insects in the field that can hurt our crops, thus protecting the grains for us. In fact, whatever we worship is our helper and makes our lives easy for us. There are many such examples in nature, but we are not ready to learn a lesson. Overcome with greed, we are destroying nature. As a result we face natural disasters like drought, flood and landslides. We don’t know that nature is angry with us.

6. However, it is never too late to learn. If we learn to respect nature the quality of our life will improve.

2.1. On the basis of your reading of the passage, answer the following questions in 30–40 words each:

(a) What are we taught in our childhood and growing up years?

We are taught in our childhood to worship the photos and idols. We are taught in our growing up years to read holy books like the Bhagwat Gita, Bible and Quran. We were taught that there are a lot of life lessons to be learnt from these holy books.

(b) Why should we respect our parents and teacher.

We should respect our parents because they have made our life comfortable with their hard work, love and care. We should respect our teachers because they have guided us in becoming a good student and a responsible citizen.

(c) What message do we get when we worship nature?

When we worship nature the message we get is to save our environment and maintain ecological balance.

(d) How does a river face an obstacle that comes in its way?

When an obstacle comes in its way, the water in the river fights to remove it from its path. The river water can also find an alternative path to move ahead.

2.2. On the basis of your reading of the passage, answer of the following:
(a) In para 5, the synonym of ‘catastrophe’ is __________.
(i) overcome
(ii) greed
(iii) disaster
(iv) drought

Correct Option is (iii) disaster

(b) In para 3, the antonym of ‘discordance’ is __________.
(i) scriptures
(ii) harmony
(iii) recognise
(iv) discomfort

Correct Option is (ii) harmony

(c) When we worship nature, the message we get is to save our environment and maintain ecological balance. (True/False)

True

(d) The stories from our mythologies taught us about _________.

ethics and morality