Factual Passage - 5 - English Grammar Advanced - Class 10

Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow.

1. What makes a place sacred? A place where meditation is practised over many years automatically acquires certain powers. The place gets charged with the energy and vibrations from peaceful thoughts. Depending on the intensity of meditators, the sanctity and power of a particular place can thus remain charged, exuding powerful vibrations, for thousands of years. The Parshvanath Hills is one such place. Twenty–two of the 24 Jain Tirthankaras attained nirvana on this hill, and these enlightened persons were separated by thousands of years.

2. When a Tirthankara leaves his body, the equivalent of an atomic explosion takes place. The energy that united body and soul is released. This power is dispersed on the hill. The whole atmosphere and surroundings get surcharged. What the Parshvanath Hills are to the Jains, the Ganga is to the Hindus.

3. Lord Krishna said, “Among the armed, I am like Ram; I am like a crocodile among fish and the Ganga among rivers. Dear Arjuna, I am the beginning, the end and even the middle of existence”. The symbolism of the Ganga is worth understanding. Take away the Ganga from India and all the literature of India will become incomplete. Take away the Ganga and the names of many sages will perish; the spirit of pilgrimage will be lost. The Ganga has become the symbol of our collective spirit.

4. What is so special about the Ganga? There are rivers that are much longer, wider, larger, than the Ganga on this planet – the Brahmaputra, the Amazon, the Nile and the Hwang Ho… There is something unique about the Ganga that is not found in any of these great rivers: despite all the pollutants being pumped into the Ganga, it has somehow managed to maintain its relative purity. Chemically, it contains extraordinary properties –– its water does not putrefy or deteriorate even if kept bottled for long, unlike the water from other rivers. It is interesting to know that the water of the Ganga has properties different from those of other rivers but which seem to undergo a mystical change once they flow into the Ganga’s waters. This is a mystery that even science has not been able to understand, as yet.

Attempt the following questions on the basis of the passage you have read:
(a) The Ganga symbolizes __________.
(i) purity
(ii) faith
(iii) collective spirit
(iv) all of the above

Correct Option is (iv) all of the above

(b) The place which acquires certain powers is _________.
(i) where music is played
(ii) where meditation is practised
(iii) where there are statues idols
(iv) where bells keep ringing

Correct Option is (ii) where meditation is practised

(c) Water of the Ganga has properties different from those of other rivers. (True/False)

True

(d) Twenty of the 24 Jain Tirthankaras attained ‘nirvana’ on the Parshvanath Hills. (True/False)

False

(e) The four rivers as mentioned in the passage are __________.

The Ganga, The Brahmaputra, the Amazon, and the Nile.

(f) Complete the analogy. What the Parshvanath Hills are to the Jains, __________.

the Ganga is to the Hindus.

(g) All the literature of India will become incomplete if we take away __________.

the Ganga

(h) Find the word from the passage which means the same as “to become worse”. (para 4)

deteriorate